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Home Preface 5 Planes of Existence Introduction Five Planes of Manifestation A to Z Related Information |
GENESIS 2
The Seventh Day: God Rests HEAVEN and EARTH – Spirit and Matter
The Creation
of Man
EATING
- A symbol of the acquisition of knowledge as sustenance for the
mind, by means of sensation and experience. Also, in a higher sense,
the reception of spiritual food which is Wisdom, Truth, and Love. Adam Names the Animals 18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19And 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. 20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. HELPMEET – (Ezer Kenegdo) The phrase translated as “help meet” comes from two Hebrew words, ezer and kenegdo. Ezer means “help,” but in a distinct way. In English, a “helper” is sometimes thought of as someone in a low position, but ezer describes strength. It suggests that the individual has power to rescue others. See Also: ANDROMEDA GROUND: EARTH - A symbol of the lower nature of the soul, which requires tilling ' and "sowing to produce good "fruit." So the mind having ceased to be influenced from the buddhic plane (Eden) is directed by the Supreme law towards the lower plane activities whereof its own nature has been built up. BEASTS, CLEAN - Symbolic of the superior emotions of the lower nature, that is, emotions in the astral course of production which are ready for transmutation. “Thus in the living soul shall there be good beasts, in gentleness of action, and good cattle, which neither if they eat (become one with), shall they over-abound, nor if they do not eat, have they any want (addiction). FIELD - A symbol of the lower nature; the arena within which the soul's evolution takes place. "The great elements (earth, etc.), egoism (self-consciousness), the understanding, the unperceived also, the ten senses, and the one (mind) and the five objects of sense, desire, aversion, consciousness, pleasure, pain, body, courage, thus in brief has been declared the Kshetra with changes (development)." - Bhagavad-gita, Ch. XIII. FOWLS OF THE AIR - Symbol of aspirations which rise in the mind (air). ADAM (Higher Aspect) - A symbol of the Divine nature of humanity ,—the Archetypal Man on the three higher planes. ADAM (Lower Aspect) - A symbol of the lower mind energized from the desire plane, but receptive of impressions from the higher nature. This is the "fallen" mind (Adam). "We must consider that the man who was formed of earth , means the mind which is to be infused into the body." CREATURES - A symbol of the outgoing desires, passions and emotions of the lower nature, which, as it were, feed upon the instincts and sensations. "The living creatures of the earth represent the emotions connected with the will. . . . The instinct of mankind has always read these forms aright (correctly). To this day, wherever the primitive language of symbol remains, the passions are still characterized by the names of different beasts." - A. JUKES, Types of Genesis, p. 37. NAME - A symbol of perception of difference, whereby one quality is distinguished from another. Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." - GENESIS. ii. 19. The primitive lower mind (Adam) began to perceive and reflect upon the differentiations of the sensations, desires, and lower emotions presented to the consciousness. And according as the mind energized the desires, so each emotion was distinguished. Knowledge commences in the perception of differences. When we read scripture as it was intended we see Adam (a male which represents our mind) was not naming animals, which has no significance to our spiritual growth or understanding, but rather the dual aspect of Adam (our mind) recognizing and distinguishing the desires and emotions within it. When Jesus said “know thyself” this is what he meant. It is our ability to recognize what it is inside of us that makes us do what we do. Until we self reflect, access, and utilize our higher mind we are no different than the actual animals of creation. CATTLE (Lower) - Those emotions of the lower nature, which are under control of the higher nature. BIRDS; FOWLS OF THE AIR - Symbolic of aspirations; aspiring tendencies in the qualities of the soul; thoughts which soar heaven-ward in the mind (air). "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." - GENESIS. i. 20. And the Supreme now directs that the desire-nature (lower “water," astral) shall be the means of gradually giving rise to the lower emotions that have evolving life, and these are gradually to take wings and be the means of raising the lower impulses through aspiration, to the mental and higher planes. “but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him” – Even though God created our “creatures”, our primitive desires, emotions, and passions these were of no help to us in our spiritual evolution. ANDROMEDA, DAUGHTER OF CEPHEUS AND CASSIOPEA - A symbol of the emotion-nature produced by the astral and buddhic principles. Andromeda (the Soul), the better part of Man, is on the point of being devoured outright by the baleful dragon of Negation, the agent of the lower nature, and the ravager of all the hopes of mankind. Her name-identical with the terms in which is described the first Woman of Hebrew story-indicates her as the helpmeet and ruler of man; her parentage denotes the origin of the Soul from the astral Fire or aether, signified by the land of Ethopis (the kingdom of Cepheus); the brazen fetters with which she is bound to the rock typify the present bondage of the Divine in man to his material part; and her redemption, espousal, and exaltation by the hero Perseus, prefigure the final and crowning achievement of the Son of God, who is no other than the Spiritual Manhood, fortified and sustained by Wisdom (Athena) and Thought (Hermes)."-The Perfect Way, p. lxv. In almost all cultures the male, Hermes in this case, represents the mind or thought. The female aspect of ourself, in most cultures, is almost always the spiritual drive within us. Israel is derived from the Egyptian terms Isis, Ra, and El meaning the feminine (Isis) the masculine (Ra) and the inner power of God (El). The Creation of Woman 21And the LORD God 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; 22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. RIB OF MAN, FROM NEAR THE HEART - A symbol of a high sub-plane of the mental plane, from which the emotion-nature (woman) evolves. BONES OR SKELETON - A symbol of the spiritual nature to which the higher and lower qualities of the soul are attached. "By bones in holy Scripture we understand virtues ; as it is written, 'The Lord keepeth all his bones; not one of them shall be broken (Ps. xxxiv. 20). 'His flesh shall waste away, and his bones which were covered shall be laid bare' (JOB Xxxiii. 21). For when every outward pleasure is worn away by the pressure of the rod, the bones of inward firmness are laid bare. For what is meant in this place by the word flesh but fleshly pleasure itself? Or what by bones but the virtues of the soul? The flesh therefore wastes away, and the bones are laid bare, because while carnal pleasure is brought to nought by the reproof of scourges, those steady virtues are laid open, which had long been concealed, as it were, beneath the flesh." - GREGORY THE GREAT, Morals on the Book of Job WOMAN - A symbol of the emotion-nature of the soul, which is to be transmuted from the astral to the buddhic state. The woman or feminine aspect of ourself also encompasses our spirit. "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, 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 the man said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." - GENESIS. ii. 21-3. And the Love-Wisdom within the soul caused a state of latency to overtake the mind (man), so that it was for a time unable to carry on its activities. And on the mind plane, one of the higher sub-planes (rib) was specifically selected in accordance with the Divine scheme, as the abode of the higher soul related to buddhi, and thereon was the emotion-nature (woman) evolved; and this new factor was brought into relation with the lower mind. And the mind acknowledges the better half of itself to be now of its own substance, and recognizes in mind-emotion that which is apparently dual within the mind itself. "Auharmazd spoke to Mashya (man) and Mashyoi (woman): You are man, you are the ancestry of the world, and you are created perfect in devotion by me; perform devotedly the duty of the law, think good thoughts, speak good words, do good deeds, and worship no demons.' Both of them first thought this, that one of them should please the other, as he is a man for him; and the first deed done by them was this, when they went out they washed themselves thoroughly." - Bundahis, Ch. XV. 6, 7. “The Supreme uttered its commands to the evolving Soul through the mind (man) and emotion (woman) nature. 'Keep true to the ideals within you fulfil the law of your own evolution recognize the three-fold nature, spiritual, ethical, and expressive, under-lying your activities: and bow down before no unworthy object.' Originally, mind and emotion were not in conflict, for desire had not entered in. The first process which was undergone within thein was the instinctive, automatic, fulfilling of their Own true natures lawfully and rightfully. They acknowledged unconsciously the Supreme source of their being. They acted truthfully (washed) in accordance with the Divine Law of growth at this stage of involution on the buddhi-manasic plane, prior to the fall. FATHER, GOD THE; OR THE GREAT INVISIBLE FORE-FATHER - A symbol to indicate Absolute Being, -the First or unmanifest Logos, -the Source of all that is. No conception is possible of Potential Deity, -it is a "thrice unknown Darkness" to the lower mind. From the Father proceeds the Son, -the Second Logos, God manifest and limited in His creation. MOTHER, DIVINE - A symbol of the feminine, or receptive, aspect of the manifesting Spirit, which brings forth from latency within the forms the qualities and activities apparent in nature. This mother principle, buddhi, directs human evolution, and it is eventually through her functioning, and through the raising of the soul by intuition, that the buddhic state of consciousness is attained. "But Chaos did not know its own creation. From its embrace with Spirit, Mōt was born. From her (Mōt, the Great Mother) it was that every seed of the creation came, the birth of all the cosmic bodies" (Sanchuniathon). – PHILO BYBLIUS, Fragment. WIFE - A symbol of the emotion-nature (woman) in alliance with the mind (man). "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh." - GENESIS. ii. 24. The mind, recognizing a superior duality within itself, shall quit sense and desire, its lower parentage, and go in search of the ideal higher emotions (buddhic, feminine). The twain are one when the mind and higher emotion-nature are harmonious and at peace together. MAN AND WIFE - A symbol of the mental and emotional natures united in the soul, and productive of thoughts and actions (children). "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh." - GENESIS. ii. 24. The mind, recognising that which is apparently of its own substance, and dual within itself, shall quit sense and desire which brought it into active being, and go in search of the ideal-higher emotions (buddhi, feminine). The mind with the ideal are one, when the mind and higher emotions are in harmony together in the liberated soul. NAKEDNESS (HIGHER ASPECT) - A symbol of purity, that is, freedom from the limitations and opinions (garments) of the lower nature. – See JOB i. 21. NAKEDNESS (LOWER ASPECT) - A symbol of a state of ignorance, a lack of ideas and opinions (clothes). As all external states have analogous reference to internal states, this condition is emblematic of an empty state of soul.
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