The Flesh and the Fruit

If, after reading this book, your life hasn't changed and you don't feel renewed and awakened, read it again, more slowly.

from the Foreword by Thomas Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Care of the Soul

I have not been as electrified by a book since Women Who Run with the Wolves. Vanya's sensuous unpacking of the Eden myth intricately braids together the personal, symbolic and cultural to reveal new depths in this foundational story and its ongoing shadow over the feminine psyche. She masterfully shows how the tired trope of Eve's temptation has wrongly vilified feminine power and creativity for millennia. This meticulous skewering of toxic interpretations puts forth a refreshing, soulful vision of Eve finally reclaimed as a heroine of consciousness and sovereignty.

Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman, artist and illustrator of The Divine Feminine Oracle

What if we conceived of Eve as powerful, creative, curious? Not fallen, but wildly transgressive and able to choose her own path in life. In her excavation of the Eden myth, the author skilfully reimagines this foundational story that has stained women as sinful and shameful. In doing so, she liberates us to discover a way back to our truest and most alive Selves.

Mary Reynolds Thompson, author of The Way of the Wild Soul Woman and Reclaiming the Wild Soul

Dr Vanya Leilani explores the Eden myth as a foundation stone of patriarchy and domination. She weaves together her own lived experiences growing up in a conservative Christian community with her deep understanding of psychology and myth to show us how profound and invasive the story of the woman to blame is in our western culture. If we are, as I believe, the stories we have been told and tell ourselves, then this book reveals Eve as the mother of us all.

A beautiful blend of scholarship and a life well-lived, The Flesh and the Fruit can be a light held up to show the way toward true sovereignty and freedom.

Gina Martin, High Priestess, author of the When She Wakes and Daughters of the Goddess series

The Flesh and the Fruit weaves memoir and mythology through one woman's profound journey to claim her sovereignty and her whole and holy self. Bittersweet and so very relatable to women seeking the sacred in their own image, The Flesh and the Fruit is an important addition to the growing collection of women's work that invites and inspires us to look within our deepest knowing to find the answers to the questions that Patriarchy doesn't want us to ask. Both fierce and tender, it provides steady companionship for women at every stage of their individual and spiritual rebirth.

Amy Wilding, author of Wild & Wise: Sacred Feminine Meditations for Women's Circles and Personal Awakening