I took a break from working on the book today to very briefly elaborate on a portion of Genesis which I thought you guys might find enlightening in the story of Adam and Eve, as well as a sort of part 2 to our last post. This will be a very brief overview.
In our last post, we discussed Paul’s meaning of wives submitting to husbands, and how we interpret it esoterically. Today we’re going to look at the state of Adam before there was Eve, as well as the state of humanity after, and what this may also mean.
In mystical Hebrew literature, Adam is discussed as being androgynous, having both male and female qualities. We have already learned in posts of the past that this essentially doesn’t have anything to do with gender, but something akin to the Eastern understanding of the yin and yang force of life, and therefore, Adam BEFORE Eve represents a state of consciousness unlike what we are experiencing now. In the first Adam, there is not yet a fragmentation of the mind, no separation of a lower and higher nature that is manifested through consciousness in physical creation, or duality. In this respect, the Garden of Eden is not a physical location, but symbolic of a state of consciousness in bliss before being fragmented into the higher and lower nature.
Adam as the archetypal man contains all of creation. This is evident in Genesis 2 as the language is somewhat reversed from Genesis 1 and subtly hints at the fact that the animals came after Adam:
“And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air: and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof” (Genesis 2:19).
In other words, God brought all aspects of creation to Adam to name. The symbolic act of Adam naming them suggests that the symbolic nature of all living creatures is in Adam, as qualities of man, and more importantly, of the mind.
So in the archetypal man, Adam, we also have the archetypal mind. This is also what we might term the mind of God. It is a mind that has not yet been fragmented into the conscious and subconscious, but exist in a state of consciousness akin to paradise, or bliss. There is no awareness yet of sin, because there is no immersion of the mind in the world of duality yet, of separation, and of opposites. But the potential for the physical creation is in Adam. But the creation doesn’t exist in the fullest sense, with man as a physical being until the expulsion from Eden, and man had to earn his living from toiling amongst the thorns and thistles of the ground.
The mystical Rabbis do tell us that the serpent is also called the “skin of creation,” for the serpent in one sense represents the world of duality, and was the cause of creation. Remember, this is all symbolic in the myth.
Back to Eve:
“And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, and she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:21-23).
What does all this mean, and what does it have to do with the mind?
First, consider this scripture:
“God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27).
Again, we understand from the text that since God is a spirit, male and female here is not speaking of gender, but of masculine and feminine spiritual principals, or Yin and Yang. From the mind’s perspective, the conscious and the subconscious.
As we analyze the scripture about Eve being creating, it all begins to make more sense. The deep sleep of Adam most likely symbolizes the state of unawareness before duality.
God forms Eve from Adam’s rib (a symbol obviously meaning close to the heart, emotions). And here we see the beginning of consciousness evolving.
What Adam says next is telling. She is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.
Gaskell tells us that bones signify “…the spiritual nature to which the higher and lower qualities of the soul are attached.”
Esoterically, we have the narrative of Genesis explaining the psychological makeup of the individual.
Remember, all the cattle and fowl and creatures of the earth represent qualities of the soul. Bones are the anchor of the flesh, the flesh signifying the lower nature with our desires and passions, which spirit inhabits for the process of involution and evolution.
So now we have everything in place for the physical creation and the experience of duality. You know the rest of the story. The serpent appears. Man is still in a state of unawareness, as he is naked and does not know it. The serpent, or the skin of creation, the force bringing it into fruition, tempts (symbolic of consciousness falling into duality), and man is expelled from the garden, meaning consciousness begins the process of involution and evolution in a physical world.
Of course there is much more to the story, but I just thought I would provide a quick overview in case anyone felt like discussing it.
For those that are interested, in the next post I’ll be taking an in depth look at atonement, blood, and the sacrifice of Jesus.
Blessings.
Yes. I like this. I can’t even read the extracts from the scriptures without a part of me feeling ‘but I’m as good as Adam, how come I am only part of him’ ! (And then feel bad for disputing – more theraoy sessions needed!) So again the interpretation is well received by me. I also appreciate your comment ‘all creatures of the earth represent qualities of the soul’ as this fits with the work I do – using people’s relationship with their dog to help them transform – to higher levels of enlightenment. I further interpret this to suggest that each animal has a role for man’s spiritual evolution.
Animals play a big role in ancient and indigenous religions. It seems that they have been downgraded by many in today’s culture, and maybe we can gain from redressing the balance.
I have just been rereading Rosalyn L Bruyere’s ‘Wheels of Light’ where she talks a lot about the different interpretation of the serpent (or snake or dragon), through different ages and religions. She draws attention to this creature relating to rebirth, shedding of skin, the cycle of renewal. The serpent is also linked to Kundalini, which I see as the rising (hopefully) energy of enlightenment in each individual (but i’m pretty sure you’ve written a lot about this already!)
She also makes the point that ‘the evolution of a species is repeated in the evolution of the individual’ and references the development of the human embryo, with gills at 26 days and a tail at 37 days.
You hint at the question of what came first – Adam or creatures. I like this ambiguity. Another book I have been reading is ‘What its like to be a Dog’, written by Gregory Berns, a professor of neuroeconomics. In it he touches on evolution and how the brain was developed. The first creatures that we would recognise as animals, he says, were like jellyfish, radially symmetric with a nervous system, but no brain. In terms of the evolution of the nervous system, the next big change came when animals broke from radial symmetry to left-right symmetry – bilateral bodies. When I read that I thought ‘wow’, the first sign of duality in evolution. He writes ‘In a bilaterian nervous system, one of the most important tasks is to co-ordinate the actions of left and right side’. and he goes on to describe development of brains in animals/humans. His main goal seems to be to prove that our brains, our emotions are not so different from other animals.
Regarding the question of ‘who came first’ I remind myself that scientists are still arguing about what time is, and where consciousness is held so its ok to have these seemingly contradicting views! Aren’t grappling with these conundrums part of the journey?!
Jumbled thoughts but share in the hope that it stimulates other ideas 🙂
I view the teachings in the bible as complete map of our inner workings and how to deal with them.
Separating emotion from action…..
I love animals, as they teach without admonishment, teach the only way they know how…..by doing.
Trusting by how you treat them, not what you say to them…following this train of thought will improve your inner strength. <3
Only we humans will try to pretend we are something we are not. Animals are themselves and live only in the now, if you observe this in action, it helps to understand unconditional love. They actually show us by simply doing it…we just don't listen…ever, well some of do.. 😉 My point being, we can learn by truly observing the actions of others…then you will see the truth…which can be so hard to admit at times….
May peace and love find you always
Joanne…
What a wonderful comment for further discussion! I wasn’t expecting so much thought from this post since it was written rather quickly and incoherently, as I was more jotting down some notes which will be developed for future posts in detail.
And yes, every animal, location, and city name has a special symbolic meaning in scripture, always relating back to the soul. This can be shown through repeating themes in the Bible quite easily when one dedicates themselves to understanding them. Even seemingly inconsequential terms like grass have special meaning.
Bruyere’s work seems fascinating. The Rabbi’s never considered the serpent in the Garden to be related to some devil-type figure as this developed later in Christian doctrine. And yes, the serpent, even in scripture, is related to Kundalini and the Holy Spirit. This becomes evident in Genesis and especially in Exodus with Moses. In fact, Moses climbing the mountain and meeting God in the burning bush and then being given the power to lay down and pick up the staff as a serpent is all about the raising of Kundalini.
As to your final paragraph, from what I have understood, the main part of the brain separating us from animals from a biological point of view is the prefrontal cortex, where complex reasoning comes into play. But when we see the human brain as a structure that contains everything from reptilian to mammal sensory input we can see how evolution, or what I like to term consciousness evolution, played out as consciousness learned to more experience itself as it evolved through matter.
One of the things I used to consider as a child that was wrong with the Christian religion was that in the beginning everything was created perfect and like it is. But if that were true, nothing would make sense in our world today. For example, we know in the natural world it’s a dog-eat-dog world. If god created a great white shark to be perfect from the beginning then he created a world nothing akin to the paradise that traditional religion teaches. So, did the devil make the great white shark turn predatory? lol. The notions are ridiculous! The lion will never lay next to the lamb and not eat it unless it has already ate something else and is full, or else it wouldn’t be a lion anymore! So of course it’s symbolic!
Anyway, enough rambling myself. Thanks again for your insightful comment.
The Greek meaning and Hebrew meaning for “name,” means: “The nature of or the character of a person.” So I see it as Adam was in the “nature” of the animals and he had no “wife” or mind to experience God consciousness with. He certainly didn’t name all the animals. That’s silly. If so, he had a busy day that day, with naming the animals and having surgery to build his wife on the same day lol. I always see the woman as the mind of man and the prostite that follows man all through the Bible.
The mind is where sin is conceived and therefore she will always seek to cling to and rule her husband, but he MUST RULE over her. Notice how Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “quit clinging to me woman, for I have not yet ascended to my father.” The mind is a tool meant to be used, but not where we are to find our identity. Only through meditation and such can we really learn to silence the woman and make her subjective to her husband once more.
Paul never hated women but said they weren’t to speak in the church (our bodily temple). And before going up on the mountain to see God, He said you better not touch a woman for seven days prior. And like you said, being formed from a rib bone seems to symbolize that as long as we remain in lower consciousness, with Adam still asleep, our vital organs (the heart) are exposed.
Jesus is the second Adam, having cast out the seven demons from his companion and bride (who was a “prostitute”, because the mind prostitutes herself out to many ideas through ones life…as in Solomon’s case). So I see this as Jesus killing the ego and making his wife or companion obey his will, thus “ruling over her,” as was the original command.
It’s kind of like Eckhart’s (who I still love and am determined to go to a retreat one day) teachings on how to silence the never ending past-future time continuum of the minds story telling and our deriving our identities from every thought and becoming unconscious of our life right NOW, therefore always living out a life situation of past memory and future projection.
Lastly, I see Cain as the first ego. Whoever try’s to kill the ego or “Cain” will have vengeance taken out on them seven times, as seen in Magdalene, and the angels plagues in Revelation. When we set out to kill the ego and rise to higher realms, the ego stands it’s ground like a BEAST.
The serpent has many meanings to me; with desire being one. As Buddhists teach, desire is the reason for all misery and Solomon said the eyes of man are never full. To me that’s why it’s the lowest of all the animals of the soul. Two serpents intertwined is the symbol of medicine (I think), and as I read somewhere in a post I can’t remeber the total meaning of…we have to crush one of the heads of the two.
I don’t go quite as deep with Kundalini and such, although that’s where the deeper meanings are leading, with the “Christ secretion” and such, and the brain being a replica of the arc of the covenant. I’ve been told to Google images and see the amazing resemblance between the two.
I’m certainly not right on all of this, but maybe hit something close to something somewhere lol. Nice article Josh. I quit writing for now. But I still get emails and my last one said they enjoyed the ten articles I had and said they subscribed to you due to a couple references to your site. You’re welcome 😉
Kris…
Good to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well. Any reason for not writing for awhile? As life gets busy, I have gone through similar stages.
You have brought up many interesting points. I do believe that the symbolism in Genesis clearly teaches that the woman is definitely part of the mind, just as the man. Paul tells women to be silent in the church because as the conscious choice to “be still and know that I am God” takes place within you, balance returns and the subconscious yields up it’s treasures of the higher emotions.
Very interesting point about Cain as the ego with the 7 times vengeance theme as God said. I have never thought about this in relation to Revelation and the 7 churches, which clearly indicate the main chakra system, and the type of ego transformation that happens. Great point there.
And thank you for the references. Always appreciated. Let me know when you begin writing again. This stuff is so important and I hope to see many more sites and people studying esoteric knowledge in the Bible.
Hi Josh,
A great article as ever but what is this book you are writing about? Did you mention it on the blog before? Is it about Bible interpretation or an unrelated subject?
Esoteric Bible interpretation is a little like mathematical equations. It depends on which value you attribute to x, y and z what the outcome of a certain sum is. Often the solutions will be different when you change the values of x, y and z but that does not mean that the outcome will be wrong in either case. When applying this principle to different approaches to symbolic Bible interpretation sometimes the outcomes will enhance each other, giving added significance but sometimes also they will seem to contradict each other. In that case we should let them stand side by side and judge them each on their own merits. This might be the case in this creation story which I interpret differently as you of course already know because I often mentioned my interpretations in my articles and comments. So our respective interpretations might be two sides of a coin as it were.
To begin with I totally agree with you that in the beginning Adam is androgynous, which is both male and female, though I interpret that as two different but equal sides. Of course all interpreted symbolically. I agree with this whole paragraph but where you write Adam BEFORE Eve, I would write Adam BEFORE Adam and Eve, because the second Adam equals only one half of the first Adam, just like Eve equals the second half.
Then you quote: ‘“And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, and she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:21-23).’
In this verse the word rib is the translation of the Hebrew word tsela, which also means side. This is the translation I choose for my interpretation, and which makes both sides equal. I am not the only one to do so because I still remember that in the film Yentl yeshiva students were arguing about this point. You might say that the rest of the verse disproves this possibility but where it says that God had taken one of the ribs of ‘the man’, then that cannot be correct in my view as before this moment of separation Adam was not yet a man but androgynous. So I believe that the rest of this text was an interpretation, made already when this text was written. No need to agree of course.
Then you write: ‘The deep sleep of Adam most likely symbolizes the state of unawareness before duality’. I see the deep sleep, or tardema, as the illusion or virtual reality they enter into by their descent into duality. I do agree that they were in a state of unawareness before they entered duality but I see that duality as this deep sleep, not the state of unawareness before they entered it. This tardema is a state of unawareness of the Real World and we are still living in it, though becoming aware of it, which is called awakening.
When you quote this scripture: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27), I have another view as well, which Paul Young made me aware of some years ago. He indicated that this sentence contained the whole involution – evolution cycle which in the end turns man into the image of God. I did not understand it then but have finally come round to his view. And of course, to begin with time does not even exist so this whole process of man turning into the image of God takes place in the eternal Now..
Anny,
You wrote:
“When you quote this scripture: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27), I have another view as well, which Paul Young made me aware of some years ago. He indicated that this sentence contained the whole involution – evolution cycle which in the end turns man into the image of God. I did not understand it then but have finally come round to his view. And of course, to begin with time does not even exist so this whole process of man turning into the image of God takes place in the eternal Now”
I agree with this interpretation. The ancient Egyptian beliefs support what you wrote. They believed that the creator/god gave a “piece” of itself to all created beings. The god also says that humans were created in it’s image.
From Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch:
“In many Egyptian sources the creation of life involves three elements: the creation of a body, the transfer to that body of some part of the divine essence of the creator, and the animation of the body by the breath of life…The second element, the transfer of the divine essence, eventually led to the concept that all deities, or even all living beings, were not just made by a transcendent creator but were in some sense forms of the creator.”
From Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE By Françoise Dunand, Christiane Zivie-Coche:
“‘Well, provided are men, the herd of the god. It is for them that he made the
sky and the earth. It is for them that he repulsed the greed of the water. It
is so that their nostrils might live that he made the breezes, FOR THEY ARE HIS
IMAGES, ISSUED FROM HIS FLESH.. It is for them that he rises in the sky: it is to
nourish them that he made plants, herds, birds, and fish.’
Also, the creator god is both female and male or feminine and masculine.
From “Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt” by Geraldine Pinch:
“Before creation begins there is no division into genders. The creator seems to include both the male and female principles. Creator deities were commonly called “the father
and mother of all things.”
From “The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt” by Richard H. Wilkinson:
“Like Atum, however, Ptah was also viewed as combining male and female elements within himself.”
Thank you for these comments, Nightshadetwine! I love it when symbols from different religions come together as it were. It shows that all religious mythologies come from the same source initially.
Anny, both sides as you say are equal. We have to see them as such because both the conscious and subconscious are still ONE mind, and any part of the whole, while fulfilling a different function in duality is still the whole in reality. The only difference is the function. This is not to say one function is more important than the other either, only when the function is performed correctly, the best balance is achieved.
You also write: “I see the deep sleep, or tardema, as the illusion or virtual reality they enter into by their descent into duality. I do agree that they were in a state of unawareness before they entered duality but I see that duality as this deep sleep, not the state of unawareness before they entered it. This tardema is a state of unawareness of the Real World and we are still living in it, though becoming aware of it, which is called awakening.”
Absolutely correct. And in the story chronologically we see this played out when the serpent arrives, man completes his fall, and the result symbolically is being expelled from conscious paradise.
Finally, you wrote: “(Genesis 1:27), I have another view as well, which Paul Young made me aware of some years ago. He indicated that this sentence contained the whole involution – evolution cycle which in the end turns man into the image of God. I did not understand it then but have finally come round to his view. And of course, to begin with time does not even exist so this whole process of man turning into the image of God takes place in the eternal Now..”
Again, I see this as correct also. However, if God evolves in man in duality, we must also say that the image has room for growth as well, through duality that is. And that is the meaning in my article.
Hi Josh,
Sure you are right in the last paragraph of your comment. The problem is how to catch the essential nature of a thing as seen from a highter level of consciousness into words which are limited to the reality of the world of the dream. So each of us phrases it from the point of view we are looking from at the moment. But I think it is impossible to include all aspects.
However, the more aspects we show in our articles and comments, the more sides people get to see.
Hi,
Chris kidd mentions Cain. For me the account of Cain and Abel is another version of the creation of Adam and Eve. Abel means breathe and when Cain murders his brother he is actually quenching the spirit through jealousy. He is banished to the land of Nod which is another way of been cast out of the Garden of Eden just like the 1st Adam. It is a process of learning until complete obedience is achieved. A mark was placed just like in revelations to allow him to trade but without being killed. He is trading his earthly ambitions for spiritual ones and although he does undergo a process of death, crucifixion of the ego, his soul is protected. Being avenged 7x is another way of saying 7 times itself which is 49 which points to the feast of weeks. It points to the period of time when one receives the manna, the bread which kills the old way of thinking. It is the counting of the omer, (an omer is 1/10 of an ephah), 1 tenth of an ephah for 50 days which is 50 over 10 = 5 (5 barley loaves). Also there are 6 genealogies before Cain reaches Lamech who has 2 wives. All this tells me that Cain is in the process of being created just as Adam and Eve were created on the 6th day. The 2 wives representing 2 measures of knowledge or duality as you refer to it. Between them they have 4 children pointing to the 4 pillars which separate the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, ready to enter into his rest. Noah’s father is also called Lamech and Noah means rest. This is how I understand it and I know there is much more to all of this, but to give an idea of how scripture repeats itself. I am not sure there is a chronological account but the storylines are repeated from different angles.
For example when Adam is in a deep sleep and the woman is being created, this for me happens, when he eats from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and then he realizes that he is separate from God and is ashamed. The penalty for eating is death and to me this is the deep sleep that Adam is experiencing because a side of him is put to death in order to awaken his spiritual side, Eve.
Kris…
You state: “He is trading his earthly ambitions for spiritual ones and although he does undergo a process of death, crucifixion of the ego, his soul is protected. Being avenged 7x is another way of saying 7 times itself which is 49 which points to the feast of weeks. It points to the period of time when one receives the manna, the bread which kills the old way of thinking. It is the counting of the omer, (an omer is 1/10 of an ephah), 1 tenth of an ephah for 50 days which is 50 over 10 = 5 (5 barley loaves). Also there are 6 genealogies before Cain reaches Lamech who has 2 wives. All this tells me that Cain is in the process of being created just as Adam and Eve were created on the 6th day. The 2 wives representing 2 measures of knowledge or duality as you refer to it. Between them they have 4 children pointing to the 4 pillars which separate the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, ready to enter into his rest. Noah’s father is also called Lamech and Noah means rest. This is how I understand it and I know there is much more to all of this, but to give an idea of how scripture repeats itself. I am not sure there is a chronological account but the storylines are repeated from different angles.”
A fascinating interpretation! We have to admit that any literal interpretation of this text makes no sense within doctrine, that God would protect Cain here with such vengence.
Gaskell states this about the symbol of Cain: “A symbol of the centre of the personality – the I am I feeling in the lower mind, which causes the illusion of separateness, and represents the lower self.”
Scriptures which also reinforce this are that Cain was a TILLER OF THE GROUND. No doubt this refers to life in duality, in which the I Am feeling is made manifest in the lower mind, as separate from everything else. I agree with your interpretation above, in the sense that it is through this physical life, through suffering, as Jesus learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8). In other words, the experiences in duality, when we submit the I Am of the lower self on the altar, will yield up the higher spiritual understandings. So the real significance of your comment resides in the fact that the lower nature in the realm of duality is part of God’s overall plan of moral and spiritual development.
Thank you for the insights!