Okay hear me out.
Bloodletting as a form of reconciliation on Eden.
You are supposed to return your body to the dirt so the concept of giving of your body as a religious ritual already exists to them. Reconciliation is all about turning back to god and choosing religion over sin to make up for wrongdoings. I don’t think the father in Eden’s religion has underlings like priests, so I imagine him to be like a lower pope. Talking to the pope for something is a huge deal so it would make sense that people would have a ritual which doesn’t require the father’s oversight, right? Blood letting into the dirt for the last tree wouldn’t really require the father’s involvement. Kneeling down and giving of your body to the tree would fulfill all those requirements: praying for forgiveness, proving dedication to god, and giving of yourself to make up for wrongdoings.
Now hear me out for Bloody Mary implications. Simon on Erid with Rocky’s imitation tree. He doesn’t know how to cope with so much of Grace’s resources being used on him. They used so much medical supplies on him before he woke up and Grace practically forced him to take half the food rations for himself. Grace suffered more because Simon was around and he just can’t handle the fact that someone would do such a thing.
So he goes to the false tree. False idols are not to be praised but if god can be at the bottom of an ocean, there can be god in any tree, can’t there? He kneels down, very carefully slicing his palms and pressing them to the dirt. He presses his head to the ground, keeping his palms firmly in the fine gravel. It was the closest he’d ever seen to dirt outside of the last tree’s terrarium. He sits there praying. He doesn’t know what for. The blood makes him sick, he can smell the iron. It was a punishment, he knew it was. God was laughing at him for daring to still live. Forgiveness had to be earned, fought for, just like everything else.
I also offer you Rocky and Grace going to check on Simon who fell asleep while kneeling. They go to nudge him before realizing he’s face down in the gravel and his hands are covered in blood. They panic, thinking he’s dead. Grace, in his panic, decides to try and resuscitate him. Simon wakes up at being shoved on his back and shoots up, smacking his head against Grace’s.
They settle on doing gardening together instead of the bloodletting. Blood isn’t all that good for plants anyways.