Man created twice
I got into a discussion with a Christian today who was using a literal interpretation of the bible, specifically Genesis, to justify a certain position, and I countered with a few of the logical absurdities in genesis were it to be taken literally (i.e. stars created after earth, day and night while the earth is still formless, etc., etc., etc.). One of the points I made was that in Genesis man is created twice. It got me to thinking... as a literal interpretation this breaks down, but it is one aspect that I don't fully grasp with a symbolic interpretation (though I suspect it is to do with spiritual versus material 'creations').
I would love to hear any symbolic interpretations of the first and second creations of man from genesis. What is the difference between the first created 'man' (and the female counterpart) and the second created 'man', named Adam, and the female counterpart, named Eve?
Of particular interest, to me, is that the first 'man' created is given dominion over the earth, but the second 'man' created is not; in fact, he is specifically ordered not to have dominion, but to remain in ignorance in the garden of eden alone.
Genesis: King James Version
Genesis 1:
26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 2:
1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
5And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael A. Williams on
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It's known that there are writings left out of the Old Testament, as there are writings that were left out of the New Testament. I'm no scholar on this, but it's these left out writings that could fill in the gap mentioned.
The legend of Lilith in Jewish Mysticism tells of her being Adam's first wife, made from the earth as he was. When she wouldn't become subservient to him she was thrown out of the Garden of Eden. From there, Eve was created from Adam's rib. As we all know, this is missing from the standard version of Genesis.
Of course, all this must be interpreted metaphorically and symbolically and there are too many interpretations to go into here.
There are probable members of this site who have studied all this in depth and can add more to the discussion.
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Permalink Reply by William John Meegan on
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Jon Fergus:
Here you hit on my expertise. I know the first four chapters of Genesis like the back of my hand. By the way Adam is created and/or made more than four times in the first two chapters of Genesis.
1) There are exactly 149-words (69-Sun & 80-Moon) in the sixth day of creation and this word count symbolically refers to Yahweh Elohym (Lord God). This symbolic interpretation is based upon previous word counts throughout the first chapter of Genesis. It would take too long to go into this again here but if you read my blog on Esotericism: Chapter One this word count is explained there fully.
2) Thus when the phrase "Let us make Adam into our image and likeness" it's referring to the eternal combat betwen Yahweh (sun) and Elohym (moon).
3) Yahweh 'makes' Adam into his image by combining male and female into a single unit.
4) Elohym on the otherhand 'creates (separates) Adam into male and female.
This is why Christ in the New Testaments says, "Let no man put asunder that which God (Yahweh) has put together"> No man can separate what man (Yahweh) put together. Only the female (Elohym) can separate what Yahweh put together.
So in the sixth day of creation Adam is actually created in one instance and in another he is made: whereas, in the second chapter of Genesis
5) 7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul
Here Yahweh Elohym formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostril EVE: the breath of Life.
Note that when Adam got on that operating table (altar) what was taken out of him other than what was put into him. So in the second chapter of Genesis Adam is made and then created. You may want to call this YOGA: breathe in breathe out breathe in breathe out, etc., etc...
Also take cognizance that the first chapter of Genesis uses the words Male and Female and the second chapter uses the word Man and Woman: curious. There is a very good reason for this and that is because the second, third and fourth chapters of Genesis were symbolically inserted into the Genesis Creation Account.
Read the sixth day of creation then go directly to the fifth chapter of Genesis it is as if a heart beath was not missed between the first and fifth chapters. What connect these chapter harmoniously is the worlds MALE AND FEMALE.
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Hi All,
A small extract from Foundations of Esoteric Philosophy, writings of HPB
According to HPB the animals mentioned in chapter 1 are the signs of the Zodiac, while the man, ‘male and female’, is not man, bit the Host of Sephiroth, FORCES or Angles, ‘made in his(God’s) image and after his likeness’.
The “God’ of the first chapter is the Logos, and the ‘Lord God’ of the second chapter the Creative Elohim, the lower powers
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The wording of any text an initiate reads is most likely very ambiguous.
I agree that male and female (when they are separate) is not "ADAM".
When Yahweh Elohym made Adam: male and female made He them: He was marrying them: however,
When Elohym (by herself) created (separated) Adam into male and female She was in fact divorcing them.
This is why Christ said, "let no man put asunder that which Yahweh has put together"
Statistically, in the real world, it is the man that marries and it is the female that divorces her husband.
I don't know where you read that Elohym was the lower powers unless it was a statement referring Her esoteric science codified beneath the surface of the sacred scriptures. I know that you read this from Foundations of Esoteric Philosophy; however, often ambiguous quotes are culled into one volume from many volumes as if they all agree with each other. This similar how bible scholars translating the Old Testament gods: Yahweh and Elohym do so interchangebly and this is because they no concept that one is the Sun and the other the Moon. One is the Sky God and the other the Great Goddess.
Here is something meditate on: YAHWEH is a transitory god: meaning that he dies and other local deity is raised up to take his place and he will be called YAHWEH another transitory god.
Actually, if you read the first word of Genesis properly you will see Yahweh setting (dying) only to be resurrected as a new deity each sunrise.
Why do you think that Yahweh could not see Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit? It was the cool of the evening where a new day begins: thus the sun (Yahweh) was setting (dying). Adam and Eve had walked out of the sunshine (garden of Eden) into the realm of Elohym (Goddess).
Whereas, Elohym as the moon never sets for she is the eteranal GODDESS.
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I don’t know if this is any help or not; Notes bottom page 2, Vol 2 SD.
* See Genesis ch. ii., v. 19. Adam is formed in verse 7, and in verse 19 it is said: “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.” Thus man was created before the animals; for the animals mentioned in chapter i. are the signs of the Zodiac, while the man, “male and female,” is not man, but the Host of the Sephiroth; FORCES, or Angels, made in his (God’s) image and after his likeness.” The Adam, man, is not made in that likeness, nor is it so asserted in the Bible. Moreover, the Second Adam is esoterically a septenary which represents seven men, or rather groups of men. For the first Adam—the Kadmon—is the synthesis of the ten Sephiroth. Of these, the upper triad remains in the Archetypal World as the future “Trinity,” while the seven lower Sephiroth create the manifested material world: and this septennate is the second Adam. Genesis, and the mysteries upon which it was fabricated, came from Egypt. The “God” of the 1st chapter of Genesis is the Logos, and the “Lord God” of the 2nd chapter the Creative Elohim—the lower powers.
* Thus saith Pymander—“This is the mystery that to this day was hidden. Nature being mingled with the Heavenly man (Elohim, or Dhyanis), brought forth a wonder . . . Seven men, all males and females (Hermaphrodite) . . . according to the nature of the seven Governors”—(Book II. v. 29)—or the seven Hosts of the Pitris or Elohim, who projected or created him. This is very clear, but yet, see the interpretations of even our modern theologians, men supposed to be intellectual and learned!
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