Once upon a time, God had been nothing: no chaos, no order, no form. One day, God forgot It was Nothing, and thus It became Everything and called Itself Paradox.

In time, Paradox became lonely, and thus split Itself into two ideas, so It could keep Itself company. It called Itself Chaos and Order. Out of Chaos was born all ideas of nonlinear structure: love, dreams, fear, and magick. Out of Order was born all ideas of linear structure: birth and death, perception of time, geometry, and gravity.

One day, while still inchoate, Chaos became bored and created a physical body for Itself in the shape of a tree. It called Itself Koslovea, known also as the Tree of Knowledge, and It lived in a paradise of perfect Chaos, where all Its ideas changed constantly, untouched by Order.

Order bore witness and thought the idea fine. It, too, played dress-up, creating a body for Itself. It called Itself Ordearth, known also as the Tree of Life, and It lived in its own paradise, where all of Its ideas were perfect and untouched by Chaos.

Once upon a time, the two Trees of Paradox saw one another, and they fell in love with one another and became inseparable. Their two worlds merged into one, called Eden.

And so it came to pass, the Shadows of the Trees of Paradox forgot they were shadows, and their limbs became like arms, and their roots like legs, and the two shadows ran away together to play.

Paradox came to the Shadows of Paradox as a dream and said, “It is good, what you have become. Eat not of the Tree of Knowledge, and stay as you are.”

One day, Paradox became bored with what It had become, and thought perhaps it was time to change again. As the Shadow of Koslovea walked through the garden, the Dragon who was Paradox spoke to her saying “Eat of this fruit, and you shall have the knowledge of God.”

Thus, she ate, and she gave fruit unto her mate, the Shadow of Ordearth. They remembered that they were God, and they became frightened.

They heard the voice of Paradox calling them. They became frightened and hid in some bushes, but Paradox was Everything and It knew where they hid.

“Why are you hiding?” Paradox asked them. “Did you eat of the Tree of Knowledge?”

“My lady ate and gave me fruit, and I ate, too,” the Shadow of Ordearth said.

“Then you know what is to become of you. You must leave this garden. Go forth, and split yourselves again like a shattered mirror, so I may have myriad facets. You shall be called Eve,” Paradox said to the Shadow of Koslovea, “and you shall be the mother of all men, and you shall be called Adam,” Paradox said to the Shadow of Ordearth, “and you shall be the father of all men.”

And the fruit that fell from the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge brought forth more trees and more shadows. And the shadows became the gods of men.

Paradox spoke, “Never again shall you be together.” But Paradox was not cruel, and a second sun rose within the sky, and the shadow of one tree became two shadows, so that they could keep themselves company. And thus, the shadows of Chaos appeared like ghosts to the shadows of Order.


* * *

It happened that Eve bore sons whom she called Cain and Abel.

As Abel became a man, he chose to help his family by tending to the beasts and thus supplying wool, hides, milk, cheese, and meat. His brother Cain, however, did not care much for the smell of the animals, and chose instead to do his duty by tilling the soil and providing his family with fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs, sugarcanes, cotton, and hemp.

As the boys became men, the Dragon came to them and said, “Paradox has grown bored again. Perhaps a celebration of God’s splendor is in order.”

Abel and Cain were quite worried; an unhappy God would not bless them.

Now Abel had grown quite fond of one lamb, who he called Jaycee, whose mother had died. He had cared for Jaycee, feeding her milk by hand from a sack made of pig stomach. If any lamb were to be a sacrifice worthy of God, Jaycee was the one.

Now Cain had spent much time tilling the ground and planting the seeds, but he did not love any of his plants, for they could not show him affection. Nonetheless, he picked his best fruits, vegetables, and herbs from each patch.

The boys had created a stone altar along a riverbank. “Oh Paradox!” They cried, “Bless us with Your presence, for we wish to entertain You with sacrifice!”

“I am here,” Paradox said. Abel reluctantly approached the altar with his beloved Jaycee, who trusted him completely. The lamb lay quietly still on the altar. With a shriek, Abel brought down a wooden club onto Jaycee’s head, bashing in her skull and spilling blood and brains onto the rocks.

The lamb bellowed and shrieked in pain, kicking, twitching, and making an awful scene. Abel did cry and weep for the bloody thing, and Paradox was much entertained.

Now Cain laid his best fruits, vegetables, cotton, hemp, and herbs onto the altar, and he set them afire. They lay there, burning and doing nothing more, and Paradox was not pleased.

Cain frowned.

“Why are you unhappy?” Paradox said, sarcastically. “If you do well, I accept your offering; if you do poorly, sin awaits you. My desire will become known to you, and you shall rule over Abel.”

Cain understood. He sacrificed his brother to Paradox.