Eden is a metaphor for living true to one’s own nature and in harmony with one’s ecosystem.
In the same way that animals naturally live true to their own nature and in harmony with their ecosystems, humans at an earlier stage of evolution used to as well.
The Eden story is an allegory about humanity losing its innocence as human consciousness advanced.
The story of Eden isn’t literally true. But it’s very much metaphorically true in its insistence that our heightened consciousness has in some way set us apart from our world.
It feels like we’re half in and half out. Torn between exploring the vastness of consciousness and possibility with our primal and practical need to remain intimately connected with the natural world.