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THE  UUKARY 

URIGHAM  Yqih\G  UNIVERSIT* 

PROVO,  LT   H 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Brigham  Young  University 


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THE   TWO   CREATION    STORIES 
IN   GENESIS 


The 

Tw^o    Creation    Stories 
in    Genesis 

A   Study   of  their   Symbolism 


WITH   FOOTNOTES,  APPENDICES  AND   INDEX 


BY 

JAMES    S.   FORRESTER-BROWN 


LONDON 
JOHN    M.  WATKINS 

21   CECIL  COURT,  CHARING  CROSS   ROAD,  W.C.2 

1920 


WE  LIBRARY 


PREFACE 

TWO  distinct  stories  of  creation  are  contained  in 
the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis.  They  form 
the  introduction  to  the  Old  Testament,  and  are 
occasionally  referred  to  therein,  but  it  cannot  be 
said  that  any  definite  claim  is  made  by  the  writers 
that  these  are  documents  which  narrate  actual 
history.  Indeed,  no  historic  validity  appears  to 
be  ascribed  to  them  in  any  of  the  sacred  writings  of 
the  Hebrews. 

The  fact  of  there  being  two  accounts  of  creation 
in  Genesis,  one  succeeding  the  other  without 
explanation  of  any  kind,  has  always  been  a 
puzzle  to  commentators,  especially  to  those  who 
attribute  to  them  an  historic  basis.  Many  and 
varied  are  the  views  which  have  been  expressed 
concerning  them  for  centuries  past.  Attempts 
have  even  been  made  to  show  that  the  first 
creation  story  is,  primarily,  a  revelation  con- 
cerning the  geology  of  the  earth. 

If,  however,  the  stories  were  not  recorded  for 
historical  or  scientific  purposes,  then  to  what  end 
were  they  written,  and  wherein  lies  their  value 
if  they  are  neither  history  nor  science  ? 

Among  the  earlier  critics  of  the  narratives  is 
Origen  (185-254  A,D.),  one  of  the  greatest  of  the 
Church  Fathers,  who  says  (de  Principius  IV ;  i.  16) : 


vi       THE  TWO    CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

**  What  man  of  sense  will  suppose  that  the  first 
and  the  second  and  the  third  day,  and  the  evening 
and  the  morning,  existed  without  the  sun  and 
moon  and  stars  ?  Who  is  so  foolish  as  to  believe 
that  God,  like  a  husbandman,  planted  a  garden 
in  Eden  and  placed  in  it  a  tree  of  life  that  might 
be  touched,  so  that  one  who  tasted  of  the  fruit 
by  his  bodily  lips  obtained  life  ?  Or  again,  that 
one  was  partaker  of  good  and  evil  by  eating  that 
which  was  taken  from  a  tree  ?  And  if  God  is 
said  to  have  walked  in  a  garden  in  the  evening, 
and  Adam  to  have  hidden  under  a  tree,  I  do  not 
suppose  that  any  one  doubts  that  these  things 
figuratively  indicate  certain  mysteries,  the  history 
being  apparently,  hut  not  literally,  true.  Nay, 
the  Gospels  themselves  are  filled  with  the  same 
kind  of  narrative,  as,  for  example,  when  the 
devil  took  Jesus  up  to  a  high  mountain." 

It  is  evident  that  to  Origen  the  two  creation 
stories  are  of  value  for  the  symbolic  mysteries 
they  contain  :  mysteries  which  compare  with 
those  of  the  Gospels. 

Views  such  as  these,  although  continuing  to 
this  day  to  be  held  in  some  mystical  traditions, 
fell  out  of  general  favour  during  the  fifth  century, 
and  have  since  for  the  most  part  been  neglected. 

The  following  pages  are  written  in  the  belief 
that  Origen  is  right,  and  that  under  the  veil  of 
symbol  the  two  creation  stories  contain  sacred 
truths  deeply  embedded  :  truths  which  can  be 
discerned  by  those  who  seek  with  patience  and 
an  understanding  heart.  They  are  narratives  of 
a  spiritual  order,  told  in  such  a  form  as  to  arrest 


PREFACE  vii 

attention,  and  suggesting  keys  to  the  deepest 
problems  which  confront  humanity  in  every  age  : 
problems  as  to  the  nature  of  man,  his  Creator, 
and  the  world-order.  Believing,  further,  that 
these  creation  stories  are  part  of  a  profound  know- 
ledge which  once  existed  in  the  world,  and  which 
has  been  embodied  in  these  and  similar  allegories, 
also  that  the  symbolism  is  capable  of  deep  and 
mystical  interpretation,  I  have  attempted  to  arrive 
at  their  meanings  in  some  detail. 

Notwithstanding  the  acceptance  by  some 
modern  commentators  of  the  allegorical  nature 
of  the  two  creation  stories,  no  effort,  so  far  as 
I  know,  has  been  made  by  them  to  show  that  the 
symbolism  is  based  on  a  definite  and  consistent 
plan.  The  line  I  have  adopted  in  these  pages  is 
not  a  mere  fancy  of  my  own.  From  Neo- 
Platonic,  Kabalistic,  and  other  storehouses  of 
early  exegesis,  and  from  a  comparative  study  of 
other  sacred  writings  and  cults,  I  have  sought 
for  the  root-ideas  which  appear  to  underlie  the 
symbolism  of  the  two  stories,  and  have  then 
endeavoured  to  build  on  this  foundation  a 
correlated  and  coherent  interpretation  of  the 
successive  phases  of  the  narratives. 

When  seeking  such  an  interpretation,  it  is 
important  to  be  sure  of  the  precise  meaning  of 
the  writers'  words  and  phrases,  and  it  soon 
becomes  apparent  that  our  lexicons,  current 
translations  and  commentaries  are  coloured  by 
pre-conceived  ideas,  so  that  to  fathom  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  Hebrev/  and  Septuagint  versions 
which  have  come  down  to  us,  is  a  slow  process, 


viii   THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

not  always  successful.  Again,  our  ordinary 
renderings  of  the  Divine  Names,  such  as  "  God," 
**  the  Lord  God,"  '*  the  Lord,"  and  others,  give  no 
clue  to  the  many  ideas  suggested  by  the  Hebrew 
words  so  translated.  These  Hebrew  names  con- 
tain deep-lying,  comprehensive  conceptions  which 
are  in  no  way  reproduced  in  our  translations, 
and  in  consequence  are  lost  to  the  ordinary  reader. 
In  this  connection  I  may  quote  from  the  preface 
to  the  Kabbalah  Unveiled,  dated  May  1887, 
where  Macgregor  Mathers  writes  : — '*  I  wish 
particularly  to  direct  the  reader's  attention  to 
the  stress  laid  by  the  Qabalah  on  the  Feminine 
Aspects  of  the  Deity,  and  to  the  shameful  way 
in  which  any  allusion  to  these  has  been  suppressed 
in  the  ordinary  translations  of  the  Bible."  In  the 
following  pages  the  Divine  Names  which  are 
found  in  the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis  will 
be  given  as  in  the  Hebrew,  in  order  that  something 
may  be  conveyed  of  the  ideas  that  lie  at  their 
roots.  Such  ideas  must  be  intimately  connected 
with  the  mystery  of  our  own  existence,  if  the 
teaching  of  these  stories  is  true  that  man's 
essential  nature  is  based  on  that  of  his  Creator. 

One  of  the  deepest  of  the  many  mysteries 
hidden  within  the  two  creation  stories  is  con- 
nected with  the  use  of  the  terms  ""  male  "  and 
^'  female,"  terms  which  express  powers  possessed 
by  both  'Elohim  (the  Divine  Name  of  the  Supreme 
Creator  in  the  first  story)  and  ''  man."  It  is 
suggested  in  these  pages  that  what  is  described 
as  ''  male  "  represents  the  mode  of  consciousness 
belonging  to  the  Divinity,  as  also  to  the  essential 


PREFACE  ix 

nature  of  each  and  every  human  being,  which 
expresses  itself  in  an  integral  and  spontaneous 
manner  ;  so  it  may  be  called  the  out-of-time 
or  ^  timeless  '  consciousness,  not  depending  on 
temporal  sequence.  It  is  further  suggested  that 
what  is  described  as  '^  female  "  represents  the 
complementary  mode  of  consciousness  which  also 
is  common  to  the  essential  nature  of  the  Divinity, 
as  of  each  and  every  human  being,  expressing 
itself  through  process  in  time  and  space  :  the 
secondary  or  temporal  consciousness.  And, 
moreover,  as  the  essential  nature  of  each  unit  of 
humanity  is  both  male  and  female,  that  the  Self 
is  simultaneously  in  both  the  out-of-time  and 
time  orders  of  consciousness.  These  male  and 
female  expressions  of  Divine  energy  are  spoken 
of  here  as  '  Sparks  '  and  '  Breaths  '  respec- 
tively, and  regarded  as  correlatives  of  Spirit 
and  Soul. 

As  key  to  a  general  understanding  of  the  two 
creation  stories,  I  suggest  that  the  first  reveals 
and  manifests  (from  Gen.  i.  3)  the  ^  noumenal  ' 
or  spiritual  universe  of  Real  Being  in  terms  of 
its  eternal,  archetypal  Ideas  ;  that  the  second 
is  an  unfoldment  of  the  total  meaning  of  this 
earlier  manifestation  in  terms  of  Movement  and 
Form,  which  belong  to  the  Soul  order  and  the 
universe  of  the  senses  ;  and  moreover,  that 
both  stories  are  intimately  concerned  with  the 
essential  nature  of  mankind,  both  collectively 
and  individually. 

I  have  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  Miss 
Minnie  B.  Theobald  for  very  kindly  placing  at  my 


X         THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

disposal  some  of  her  unpublished  manuscripts, 
which  have  helped  me  towards  a  more  com- 
prehensive treatment  of  the  symbolism  con- 
tained in  these  profoundly  important  chapters  of 

Genesis. 

London,  12th  October  1920. 


I 


CONTENTS 

PART    I.— THE    FIRST    CREATION    STORY 

Gen.  i.  i-ii.  4a. 

Page 
Ch.  I.  (Gen.  i.,  ii.,  Hi.)  The  Creations  recorded  in  the 

Two  Stories         .         .         .         i 

Ch.  II.  {Gen.  i.  1-4)  The  First  Day — 'Elohim  creates 

the  incipient  world-order — 
Also  '  Noumenal '  Light — Its 
Unitary  and  Dyadic  powers        15 

Ch.  III.         {Gen.  i.  5)  The   First   Day   {concluded) — 

In  the  world-order  appear 
numberless  pairs  of  polar 
opposites     ....       29 

Ch.  IV.         {Gen.  i.  6-8)  The  Second  Day— Light's  First 

material  garment:  The  Triad       39 

Ch.  V.  {Gen.  i.  9,  10)  The    Third    Day,    evening — 

Light's  Second  material 
garment :  The  Tetrad— 
The  Outgoing  into  physical 
manifestation      ...       45 

Ch.  VI.         {Gen.  i.  11-13)  The    Third    Day,    morning — ■ 

Light's  Third  material  gar- 
ment :  A  twelvefold  ordering 
— The  Incoming,  by  the  Way 
of  Mind       ....       51 

Ch.  VII.        {Gen.  i.  14-ig)  The     Fourth     Day— Light's 

Fourth  garment,  based  on 
the  First  day's  Dyad — Two 
orders  of  Beings  .         .       66 

Ch.  VIII.      {Gen.  i.  20-23)  The  Fifth  Day— Light's  Fifth 

garment,  based  on  the 
Second  day's  Triad — Beings 
of  the  heaven  order — The 
first  Blessing        ...      78 

Ch.  IX.         {Gen.  i.  24,  25)  The     Sixth    Day,    evening — 

Light's  Sixth  garment,  based 
on  the  Third  day  evening's 
Tetrad — The  Twelve  living 
zodiacal  signs      ...      83 
xi 


xii       THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

Page 
Ch.  IX.         (Gew,  i.  26-31,  ii,  i)    The    Sixth    Day,    morning — 

Light's  Seventh  garment, 
based  on  the  Third  day 
morning's  twelvefold  powers 
—  Archetypal  Man  —  The 
second  Blessing  ...       85 

Ch.  X.  {Gen.  ii.  2-4a)  The  Seventh  Day — The  Crea- 

tion is  hallowed — The  third 
Blessing      ....       98 


PART   II.— THE   SECOND    CREATION    STORY    (I.) 

Gen.  ii.  4b-25. 

Ch.  XI.         {Gen.  ii.  4b-6)  The    Creator's   Name    in   the 

Second  story — The  stories 
compared    .         .         .         .105 

Ch.  XII.        {Gen.  ii.  7)  Jahveh        'Elohim        creates 

"  man  "  from  the  dust — 
Breathes  Life  into  his  nos- 
trils —  Man  becomes  ' '  a 
living  soul  "        .         .         .118 

Ch.  XIII.      {Gen.  ii.  8,  9)  Man  is  placed  in  a  garden  in 

Eden — Trees  spring  forth — 
And  "  in  the  midst  "  the 
trees  of  life  and  of  know- 
ledge   131 

Ch.  XIV.       {Gen.  ii.  10-14)  A  River  flows  from  Eden  to 

the  garden — Manifests  itself 
through  four  energies  or 
principles    .         .         .         .144 

Ch.  XV.        {Gen.  ii.  15-20)  The   man   has   to    dress   and 

keep  the  garden — Warned 
as  to  the  tree  of  knowledge 
— "  Names  "  the  animals 
and  birds — Is  "  alone  " — 
This  is  "  not  good  "    .         .    154 

Ch.  XVI.       {Gen.  ii.  21-25)  The  Creator  causes  the  man 

to  sleep — Removes  a  rib — 
Transforms  this  into  a 
woman  {'ish-shdh)  —  The 
man  "  names  "  the  woman 
— -They  are  naked — Un- 
ashamed    .         .         .         .163 


CONTENTS 


Xlll 


PART  III.— THE  SECOND   CREATION    STORY    (II.) 

Gen.  iii.  1-24. 

Ch.  XVII.     {Gen.  iii.  1-6) 


Ch.  XVIII.   {Gen.  iii.  7-13) 


Ch.  XIX.       {Gen.  iii.  14,  15) 


Ch.  XX.        {Gen.  iii.  16-20) 


Ch.  XXI.      {Gen.  iii.  21,  22) 


Ch.  XXII.     {Gen.  iii.  23,  24) 


Who  is  the  Serpent  ? — "  Dy- 
ing, thou  shalt  not  Die  " — 
The  eating  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree       .... 

Girdles  of  fig-leaves — Hear- 
ing the  Sound  of  Jahveh 
'Elohim — Hiding  themselves 
— the  Call  and  the  Return    . 

The  Serpent  is  cursed — En- 
mity between  serpent  and 
woman — The  Seed  of  the 
Serpent  and  the  Seed  of  the 
Woman       .... 

The  woman  is  cursed — Also 
the  man  —  The  man  re- 
"  names  "  the  woman — 
Through  her  the  Curse  will 
become  a  Blessing 

Jahveh  'Elohim  provides 
"coats  of  skins"  —  The 
man  and  the  woman  are 
clothed       .... 

The  sending  forth  from  the 
garden — The  Cherubim — 
The  Flaming  Sword   . 


Page 


178 


193 


203 


213 


227 


240 


Appendix  I.      On  the  Cube  :    as  Symbol  of  Manifestation,  as 

also  of  the  Creative  Week        .         .         .         .251 

Appendix  II.  On  Reincarnation,  and  the  Immediate  Realisa- 
tion "Here  and  Now"  of  the  Divine-human 
status 256 

Appendix  III.  The  'Ish-shdh  as  Virgin  Mother  of  the  Soul 
Regenerate,  and  the  Sacred  Marriage  of  Spirit 
and  Soul 266 

Appendix  IV.  The  Logos  acts  through  Seven  Living  Powers 
on  the  Unformed  Substance  of  the  Human 
Soul,  establishing  Vital  Centres  within  it  and 
rendering  it  a  Living  Organism     .         .         .271 

Bibliography  of  some  of  the  Modern  Books  consulted  .  ,  282 
Table  of  Biblical  References  ...••••  285 
Index 288 


The  Two  Creation  Stories 
in  Genesis 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN   GENESIS,  AS  RECORDED 
IN   THE   FIRST   THREE    CHAPTERS 

THE  book  of  Genesis  is  a  mosaic  of  various  Hebrew 
writings  which  were,  apparently,  edited  and  re-edited 
until  the  book  acquired  its  present  form.  It  is  simple 
in  style,  and  is  usually  regarded  as  the  simplest  of  the 
Old  Testament  books.  But  even  if  we  confine  ourselves 
to  the  literal  sense,  many  difficulties  remain  unsolved. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  we  realise  that  the  book  is  written 
throughout  under  the  method  of  allegory  and  symbol, 
we  shall  find  that  it  deals  continuously  with  the  real 
problems  confronting  mankind,  and  shall  probably 
agree  with  a  well-known  critic  and  commentator  that 
^*  Genesis  is  the  most  difficult  book  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.'' 1 

It  will  further  appear  that  the  first  three  chapters  are 
even  more  difficult  than  the  rest,  because  they  deal  in 
a  very  concentrated  form  with  origins,  and,  moreover, 
suggest  the  immediate  goal  and  purpose  of  creation, 
a  goal  which,  when  seen  in  symbolic  vision  as  if 
actually  attained,  is  again  described  in  the  last  three 
chapters  of  the  Apocalypse. 

^   New   Commentary  on   Genesis,  by  Franz  Delitzsch  (i 8 13-1890), 
translated  in  1888,  two  vols. :  Edinburgh,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  vol.  i.  pp.  57,  58. 


2     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

The  setting  forth  of  inner  truths  under  cover  of 
symbol  and  symbolic  story,  has  been  practised  in  many 
lands  from  a  remote  period.  We  know  that  the 
exegetical  method  was  applied  to  the  writings  of  the 
Prophets  by  the  Haggadists  who  came  after  them,^ 
and  was  common  among  the  Rabbis.  We  are  told 
that  Jesus  taught  **  the  word  "  by  parables  **  as  the 
multitude  were  able  to  hear  it,  and  without  a  parable 
spake  he  not  unto  them."  ^  Paul  the  Apostle  asserts 
concerning  the  story  of  Abraham's  two  wives  :  *  *  Which 
things  contain  an  allegory."  ^  Philo  [ciy,  20  B.C.- 
40  A.D.)  describes  allegory  as  dear  to  men  of  vision — 
6paTLKo'i<;  avSpda-Lv^  Clement  of  Alexandria — who  was 
probably  an  Athenian  {d.  about  213  A.D.) — main- 
tains that  the  Christian  Scriptures  are  of  like  nature 
with  the  symbolic  writings  on  Divine  subjects  of  all 
peoples  and  countries,  **  both  Barbarians  and  Greeks," 
and  veil,  as  these  do,  sacred  mysteries  and  the  first 
principles  of  things  in  symbol  and  allegory.  He  points 
out  that  Homer  and  Hesiod,  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and 
Aristotle,  the  Epicureans  and  Stoics  wrote  largely  for 
those  who  would  seek  under-meanings,  and  proceeds  ; — 
**  Life  would  fail  me  to  adduce  the  multitude  of  those 
who  philosophise  in  a  symbolic  manner."  Quoting 
Sophocles,  who  says  that  God  is  **  ever  the  revealer 
of  enigmas  to  the  wise,"  he  even  maintains  that  if  the 
searchers,  including  those  who  seek  within  the  scrip- 
tures of  the  **  Barbarian  philosophy,"  put  in  practice 
in  their  lives  the  inner  truths  they  find,  they  will 
possess  **  the  true  theology."  ^ 

Augustine  of  Tagaste  in  Algeria,  bishop  of  Hippo 
(353-430),  one  of  the  greatest  exponents  of  Scriptural 

^  The  Book  of  Jubilees  is  an  example  of  Haggada. 

2  Mark  iv.  33,  34. 

'   Gal.  iv.  24. 

*  De  Plantatione,  36. 

^  See  Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library,  vol.  xii.  pp.  234,  254,  etc 


AS  RECORDED  IN  FIRST  THREE   CHAPTERS     3 

interpretation,  bases  the  expository  part  of  his  work 
on  his  acceptance  of  the  principles  of  allegory.  Gregory 
of  Nyssa  [d.  about  390  A.D.)  speaks  of  the  creation  in 
Genesis  as  **  ideas  in  the  form  of  a  story,"  symbolic 
narratives  which  are  not  to  be  taken  for  actual  history. 
Even  the  somewhat  literally-minded  Irenseus  (d.  202 
A.D.)  argues  that  the  narrative  of  Eden  and  the  Fall 
must  be  regarded  not  **  historically  "  or  **  literally," 
but  **  spiritually,"  if  we  are  to  give  its  language  any 
satisfactory  interpretation.  Bishop  Gore  tells  us  of 
this,^  adding  that  the  principle  was  thoroughly  familiar 
**  both  in  Jewish  and  in  heathen  literature  "  in  the 
period  when  Christianity  came  into  the  world,  and  was 
generally  applied  to  the  opening  narratives  in  Genesis. 
We  also  see  that  the  allegorical  nature  of  the  Genesis 
creation  stories  was  accepted  by  prominent  Church 
Fathers  to  the  time  of  Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo, 
say,  till  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century. 

In  the  uncritical  ages  which  followed  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  empire,  the  creation  stories  were  interpreted 
literally,  and  for  many  generations  were  regarded  as 
historical.  With  the  scholastic  philosophy  of  Thomas 
Aquinas  (1226-1274  A.D.)  this  view  passed  into  the 
dogmatic  theology  of  the  Reformation,  and  yet  during 
these  many  centuries  there  were  some  in  every  age 
who  regarded  the  stories  as  parables  of  spiritual  truths 
rather  than  as  historical  records. 

A  sacred  myth  or  story  is  an  embodiment  of  ideas 
whose  ultimate  appeal  is  not  to  the  normal  mind  but 
to  the  eternal  and  essential  Mind  within  us.  Such 
ideas  have  been  presented  to  man  in  all  ages  and 
nations,  calling  on  him  to  **  see  "  and  **  hear  "  with 
his  inner  powers. 

When  we  realise  that  these  three  chapters  of  Genesis 

^  In  an  article  entitled  *'  Symbols  in  Religion  "  in  The  Constructive 
Quarterly  for  March  191 4. 


4     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

contain  words  which  are  actually  symbolic  pictures, 
sometimes  even  the  letters  of  a  word  being  symbols, 
problem  after  problem  will  rise  up  before  us,  and,  as 
we  work  our  way  through  them,  we  shall  find  ourselves 
seeking  for  truths  which  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  world- 
order  in  which  we  live. 

The  Genesis  stories  of  creation  have  been  interpreted 
very  diversely  down  the  ages,  and  this  was  inevitable, 
for  each  generation  must  interpret  eternal  realities 
its  own  way,  in  the  fresh  light  of  the  discoveries  of  its 
time.  Each  of  the  two  stories  is  a  true  Scripture  which 
cannot  be  limited  to  any  one  finite  meaning,^  and  its 
values  should  be  realised  and  expressed  again  and  again, 
in  language  that  is  minted  and  issued  anew  in  terms  of 
current  life  and  activity.  To  grasp  these  truths  we 
must  arouse  the  creative  imagination,  and  release  our 
interpretations  from  personality.  Most  of  our  beliefs 
are  distorted,  and  the  Scriptures  of  the  world  are 
misunderstood,  because  we  have  been  engrossed  in 
self  and  controlled  by  the  prejudices  of  our  age  and 
race.  Our  views  will  gain  new  life  and  meaning  as 
we  adventure  in  the  quest  of  truth  and  discover  for 
ourselves,  and  so  attain  to  freedom.  Old  and  abandoned 
terms  will  then  be  revived,  and  being  detached  from 
personal  considerations  will  be  found  to  have  gained 
fresh  interest  and  value.  Their  full  interpretation 
and  power  will  only  be  revealed  as  we  apply  them 
in  our  life  and  conduct  during  that  hidden  struggle 
where  good  and  evil  find  their  battle  -  ground 
within  us. 

The  religious  conceptions  of  the  Hebrews  have  a 
long  and  involved  history  behind  them.     The   Ham- 

^  Origen  held  {De  Princip.  iv.  2,  4)  that  all  Scripture  has  (i)  a  body, 
the  common  historical  sense  ;  (2)  a  soul,  the  figurative  meaning,  to  be 
intellectually  known  ;  and  (3)  a  spirit,  an  inner  sense,  to  be  discerned 
by  the  spiritual  Mind.  Jelalu-d-Din  Rumi  (1207-1273),  Sufi  poet  and 
mystic,  maintained  that  each  passage  of  the  Koran  has  seven  senses. 


AS  RECORDED  IN  FIRST  THREE  CHAPTERS     5 

murabi  Code  (2200  B.C.)  ^  and  the  Tell-al-Amarna 
tablets  ( 1 450-1 400  B.C.)  ^  show  that  for  some  centuries 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Israelites — from  Chaldea  and 
the  mouths  of  the  Euphrates,  and  later  from  Egypt 
and  the  Nile — Palestine  was  steeped  in  Babylonian 
civilisation,  itself  the  descendant  of  earlier  civilisations, 
including  the  non-Semitic  Sumerian.^  From  the 
eighth  to  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  the  religious  views  of 
the  Hebrews  were  vitally  influenced  by  contact  with 
the  same  great  empire  of  Babylon,  and  also  that  of 
Assyria,  empires  whose  people  were  of  the  same 
Semitic  race  as  themselves,  and  such  influence,  direct 
and  indirect,  appears  to  have  profoundly  affected  the 
character  and  setting  of  their  prophetic  works  as  well 
as  of  the  creation  stories  in  Genesis.  The  influence  of 
Persia,  which  conquered  and  absorbed  the  empire  of 
Babylon  seven  or  eight  decades  after  Babylon  had 
overthrown  the  might  of  Assyria,  is  also  shown  in 
these  writings. 

The  two  creation  stories  were  doubtless  received  (in 
vision  or  otherwise)  through  human  channels  specially 
prepared  by  national  history,  personal  training,  and 
the  circumstances  of  the  time.  Their  permanent 
value  lies  apart  from  the  framework,  and  is  found — 
looking  through  them  as  through  a  living  lens — in  the 
Ins|  iration  they  communicate  and  reveal. 

The  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis  are  not  the  uniform 

^  The  code  of  Hammurabi  was  recovered  to  modern  times  in 
December  1901  and  January  1902,  by  the  discovery  of  a  black 
diorite  stele  with  cuneiform  inscription  containing  about  8000  words, 
at  Susa,  the  ancient  Persepolis,  once  capital  of  Elam. 

^  These  tablets,  discovered  in  1887,  consist  of  letters  and  despatches 
addressed  to  Amen-hetep  iii.  and  iv.  of  Egypt,  by  kings  and  governors 
in  Mesopotamia  and  V/estern  Asia,  between  whom  and  Egypt  im- 
portant trade  existed  from  very  early  times  ;  they  are  nearly  all  written 
in  a  Semitic  dialect,  in  the  cursive  cuneiform  character  which  had  been 
used  for  despatches  and  letters  as  early  as  2300  B.C. 

^  Jerusalem,  Hebron,  Bethel  and  Shechem  were  sacred  sites  even 
to  the  primitive  nor -Semites,  ages  before  the  Hebrews  occupied  them. 


6     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

work  of  a  single  author,  but  have  come  down  to  us 
from  two  distinct  sources  whose  actual  origins  are 
unknown.  Both  in  the  form  in  which  the  two  stories 
are  embodied,  and  in  the  views  they  appear  to  enshrine, 
they  declare  themselves  to  be  of  a  comparatively  late 
date  in  the  history  of  the  Hebrews,  the  earlier  story 
being  written,  say,  after  600  B.C.,  many  centuries 
after  the  time  of  Moses,  their  reputed  author.  Dillmann 
holds  that  Gen.  i.  i  to  ii.  4a,  the  first  creation  story, 
dates  from  the  times  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  that 
the  writer  belongs  to  the  circle  of  the  priests  at  the 
central  sanctuary  in  Jerusalem,  also  that  his  work 
was  remodelled  and  enlarged  in  exilic  and  post-exilic 
times.  He  adds  : — ^*  The  treatment  of  the  material  is 
pre-eminently  of  an  erudite  character,  resting  upon 
research,  calculation,  and  reflection,  and  turning  to 
account  varied  stores  of  knowledge,  but  with  a  strong 
tendency  to  systematise  and  schematise."  ^  The 
author  of  Pentateuchal  Criticism  remarks  that  the 
style  and  vocabulary  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
**  seem  more  than  accidentally  related  to  the  literary 
priestly  circles  which  partly  preceded,  and  immediately 
succeeded,  Ezekiel's  activities."  ^  This  refers  to  the 
first  of  the  two  creation  stories.  It  appears  to  have 
originally  been  written  about  twenty-five  centuries  ago, 
during  the  remarkable  period  in  human  history  which 
saw  the  rise  of  Confucius  in  China,  Gautama  Buddha 
in  India,  Zoroaster  in  Persia,  and  Pythagoras  in  Greece. 
The  second  creation  story,  from  Gen.  ii.  4b  to  iii.  24, 
immediately  follows  without  explanation  of  any  kind, 

1  Genesis  Critically  and  Exegetically  Expounded,  by  August 
Dillmann  (written  1872-1895),  translated  in  1897,  2  vols. :  Edinburgh, 
T.  &  T.  Clark,  vol.  i.  p.  8  ;   see  also  generally  pp.  1-52. 

"  By  the  Rev.  D.  C.  Simpson,  M.A.,  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1914, 
footnote  to  p.  46.  Ezekiel,  son  of  a  priest  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem, 
was  carried  away  captive  to  Babylon  in  597  B.C.  (2  Kings  xxiv.  12-14), 
and  appears  there  as  prophet  five  years  later,  his  work  extending  over 
twenty-two  years. 


AS  RECORDED  IN  FIRST  THREE   CHAPTERS      7 

the  method  and  precision  of  the  first  story  giving  way, 
in  the  second,  to  freedom  and  dramatic  picturesqueness. 
Dillmann  holds  that  the  ideas  and  knowledge  which 
influenced  the  writer  of  the  second  story  are  those  of 
the  later  prophets,  and  that  no  particularly  high 
antiquity  need  be  demanded  for  the  author  or  authors.^ 

In  the  following  pages  it  is  held  that  the  two  creation 
stories  are  distinct  works,  the  second  of  which  pre- 
supposes the  first  and  springs  from  it.  But  though 
diverse  in  their  origins,  the  plan  on  which  they  are 
arranged  and  set  forth  appears  to  be  one  and  the  same, 
the  later  writer,  or  subsequent  editors,  having  woven 
them  into  a  coherent  whole. 

The  earlier  story,  from  Gen.  i.  i  to  ii.  4a,  pictures  in 
its  two  opening  verses  the  creation  in  germ  by  'Elohim 
(the  Name  of  the  Creator  in  the  first  story),  of  the 
living,  evolving,  phenomenal  universe  of  the  Soul 
order,  with  its  dual  possessions  and  powers,  described 
as  *^  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  This  is  immediately 
followed  by  the  calling  into  being,  as  described  in 
verse  3,  of  the  *  noumenal  '  universe  of  Spiritual 
Light,  the  Divine  Consciousness  in  the  eternal  order  : 
the  order  which,  being  independent  of  process  in  time 
and  space,  manifests  the  fullness  of  the  Divine  Nature 
in  terms  of  integration  and  wholeness.  Implicit  in 
this  living  universe  of  Spirit  is  its  Content  or  Soul  or 
Soul- Substance,  its  Other  Self,^  which  has  a  different 

1  op.  cit.,  pp.  13-16. 

2  *  *  Reality  is  not  conditioned  by  matter  alone,  nor  by  spirit  alone  ; 
for  matter  is  not  without  spirit,  nor  spirit  without  matter.  They  must 
in  the  very  nature  of  things  co-exist ;  and  every  phase  of  their  ex- 
istence is  in  itself  practical  reality  and  theoretic  reality  in  mutual 
embrace."— G.  R.  S.  Mead,  Some  Mystical  Advenhtres ;  John  M. 
Watkins,  London,  1910,  p.  226. 

"  Not  life  only,  nor  form  only,  but,  like  everything  else,  life  inform.** 
— Mysticism  and  the  Creed^  by  W.  F.  Cobb,  D.D.,  Rector  of  St.  Ethel- 
burga's  in  the  City  of  London  ;   Macmillan,  London,  1914,  p.  20. 

**  Life  and  matter  are  not  two  realities,  but  two  directions  in  an 
original  movement.     The  one  is  the  inverse  of  the  other,  and  the 


8     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

mode  of  manifestation  from  Spirit,  for  it  declares  the 
Divine  Nature  and  Consciousness,  of  which  it  is  the 
image  and  Hkeness,  in  terms  of  differentiation.  In 
virtue  of  this  power  whereby  the  One  is  expressed  in 
the     Many,     Changelessness    through     Diversity,     the 

*  noumenal  '  creation  of  Universal  Light  is  further 
revealed  in  the  rest  of  the  first  story  through  certain 
typical,  characteristic  conditions  or  **  works  "  of 
universal  character,  which  are  found  to  be  of  seven 
orders,  this  number  being  again  emphasised  by  the 
number  of  *'  days  "  in  this  creation  story.  The  seven 
orders  include  Ideal-Forms  and  Archetypal  Beings, 
Prototypes  of  the  living  forms  of  the  second  story. 
This  inceptive  creation  of  Light  and  its  Powers  is  an 
ordered  wholeness,  an  harmonious  unity  of  Conscious- 
ness and  Content,  and  is  declared  to  be  **  very  good." 
It  is  the  manifestation  of  the  One  Reality  in  its  Primary 
mode,  that  of  the  *  noumenal  '  or  Spiritual  order  : 
ever  summing  up  and  expressing  in  an  eternal,  living, 
creative  **  Now  "  that  which,  if  dependent  on  time, 
would  appear  as  past,  present,  and  future.^  It  con- 
stitutes the  all-encompassing.  Positive  Pattern  in  the 

*  noumenal  '  universe  in  accordance  with  which  the 
evolving  creation  of  soul,  soul-substance,  described  in 
the  two  opening  verses,  is  moulded  and  stamped. 

The  second  creation  story,  from  Gen.  ii.  4b  to  iii.  24, 
represents  the  coming  down,  or  **  fall,"  of  Spirit — the 
omnipresent,  indivisible,  eternal  Consciousness,  with 
its  implicit  Soul-content — from  the  *  noumenal  '  order 
into  the  soul  order,  for  Self-expression  in  the  soul  mode 
of    consciousness,   that    Universals   may  be   expressed 

ultimate  reality  holds  both  within  itself." — The  Philosophy  of  Change^ 
by  H.  Wildon  Carr,  D.Litt.  ;  Macmillan,  London,  1914,  pp.  171-2. 

-  It  may  be  symbolised  as  a  Sphere  of  Light,  possessing  conscious- 
ness of  the  eternal  order,  actively  radiated  forth  from  all  parts  of  its 
surface  ;  its  living  Content  or  Soul,  its  '  substantial  '  Other-Self, 
being  represented  at  the  centre  by  a  Cube. 


AS  RECORDED  IN  FIRST  THREE   CHAPTERS     9 

thereby  through  Particulars.  To  this  end,  Spirit 
appears  to  sacrifice  itself  by  clothing  *  a  part  of  ' 
itself,  as  with  a  garment,  with  Soul,  Soul-substance,  its 
hitherto  latent  Other-Self.^  By  thus  apparently  re- 
stricting or  negating  a  part  of  itself,  Spirit,  the  Unitary 
Consciousness,  gives  prominence  to  its  Soul-substance, 
its  eternal  emanation  and  image,  enabling  this  to  come 
into  existence  in  the  soul-order,  and  express  itself  there 
actively  and  in  detail  in  terms  of  Qualities,  through  the 
principle  of  Otherness,  that  is,  of  Duality.  The  second 
story  lays  stress,  therefore,  at  this  coming  down  of 
Being  into  existence,  on  the  birth  of  Relativity,  the 
coming  into  existence  of  many  sets  of  Two  contrasting 
or  apparently  opposed  principles,  such  as  Spirit  and 
Soul-substance,  light  and  darkness,  wholeness  and 
limitation,  integration  and  differentiation,  good  and 
evil. 2  This  is  the  manifestation  of  the  One  Reality 
in  the  Secondary  or  Dualistic  mode,  the  mode  of 
Soul-substance  and  the  phenomenal  order. ^ 

The  two  stories  of  creation  appear,  indeed,  to  be  based, 
respectively,  on  two  separate  and  yet  inter-related 
aspects  of  the  Supreme  Being,  whose  essential  nature 
it  is  necessary,  therefore,  briefly  to  consider.  The 
nature  of  the  Divinity  in  manifestation  has  been  held 
(by  Neo-Platonic  and  other  thinkers)  to  possess  Three 

^  To  assist  ideas  with  regard  to  Spirit  and  Soul,  or  '*  heaven  " 
and  "  earth,"  we  may  symbolise  the  unitary,  monadic,  spontaneous 
consciousness  of  **  heaven  "  or  the  Spirit,  as  the  Sun,  and  the  aware- 
ness of  "  earth,"  or  the  Soul  under  time,  space,  and  process,  as  the 
Moon  ;  and  may  say  that  when  the  consciousness  of  Spirit  "  falls  " 
into  the  soul-order,  the  Sun  clothes  itself  with  the  Moon,  and  when 
the  soul-order  "  returns  "  to  that  of  Spirit,  the  Moon  clothes  itself 
with  the  Sun.     This  is  the  idea  behind  the  symbolism  of  Rev.  xii.  i. 

^  As  the  unitary  consciousness  of  the  *  noumenal  '  creation  is 
independent  of  limitation,  it  interpenetrates  this  soul  realm  which  is 
based  on  duality,  and  is  eternally  in  a  state  of  conscious  unity  with  it. 

^  The  second  story  ends  before  the  soul  has  clothed  itself  in  dense 
physical  bodies,  and  prior  to  its  actually  functioning  in  this  outermost 
physical  environment. 


10     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

distinct  phases,  appearing  as  Three  Hypostases  or 
**  Persons."  Beyond  these,  or  rather,  as  containing 
these,  is  Transcendent  Being,  the  Ineffable,  the  Absolute, 
the  Unconditioned.  This  Transcendent  Deity  is  usually 
described  in  terms  of  Negation  as,  for  example,  in 
Hinduism,  Neti,  Neli,  Not  this,  Not  this,  and  has  also 
been  regarded  as  a  limitless  ocean  of  negative  light, 
which  has  no  centre. 

**  But  when  the  Concealed  of  the  Concealed  wished 
to  reveal  Himself,  He  first  made  a  single  point."  ^ 
This  luminous  **  point,"  or  focus,  may  be  regarded  (in 
symbol)  as  the  Active  or  Affirmative  aspect  of  Ineffable 
Being,  and  as  the  First  Person  of  the  manifesting 
Trinity,  containing  the  potentiality  of  the  Second  and 
Third  Persons.  These  two  aspects  of  the  Divinity, 
namely,  the  Unmanifest  and  the  Manifesting,  or  the 
Negative  Light  and  the  Luminous  Point,  compare  with 
each  other,  in  one  sense,  as  the  Nought  and  the  One. 
The  Zohar  describes  the  First  or  **  Crown  "  of  the 
Supreme  Kabalistic  Trinity  (the  Second  being  the  King, 
and  the  Third  the  Queen)  as  partly  concealed  and  partly 
manifest,  and  pictures  this  as  a  Vast  Profile  Countenance 
of  which  the  Unseen  side  symbolises  **  the  Negatively 
Existent  one."  In  other  words,  the  Vast  Countenance 
(Macroprosopus)  appears  to  represent  the  One  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Nought.  But  this  Unconditioned 
Power  cannot  really  be  defined  in  any  terms  of  human 
thought,  as  indeed  is  implied  by  the  appellation  *'  the 
Transcendent."  The  Supreme  Manifestor  may  be 
regarded  as  the  'Elohim  of  the  First  Creation  Story. 

The  Second  Phase  of  the  manifesting  Trinity  is 
**  Real  Being,"  or  the  Spiritual  Universe.  It  is  the 
Greek  6  vovs,  the  Divine  Mind,  or  Universal  Thought 
or  Intelligence,  comprising  the  Totality  of  Divine 
Thoughts  or  **  Ideas  "  (as  in  Plato).     These  are  Real 

^   Zohar  i.  15a. 


AS  RECORDED  IN  FIRST  THREE  CHAPTERS    ii 

Beings  who  aspire  to  the  Originating  Source  of  All  and 
are  themselves  the  eternal  Archetypes  and  Originals 
of  all  that  exists  in  lower  forms,  ^  including  Matter, 
which  is  the  *  ultimate  '  mode  or  condition  of  Spirit. ^ 
In  this  Spiritual  Realm,  all  phases  of  existence,  whether 
of  Spirit  or  Matter,  are  ideally  present  from  eternity. 
It  is  the  reflection  or  emanation  of  this  Second 
Phase  of  the  Supreme  Manifesting  Being,  revealed 
as  if  in  (seven)  groups  of  Living  Powers  gathered 
around  the  Godhead's  Throne  for  contemplation 
and  service,  which  apparently  forms  the  subject- 
matter  of  the  First  Creation  story,  from  Gen.  i.  3 
to  ii.  4a. 

Real  Being,  or  the  Spiritual  Universe,  eternally 
emanates  and  images  the  Third  Phase  of  the  Divinity, 
the  Universal  Soul,  or  Soul  of  the  All.  This  All-Soul, 
or  Celestial  Soul,  as  Vital  Principle,  is  the  eternal  and 
direct  cause  of  Movement  and  Form  in  the  phenomenal 
order.  It  contemplates  ^  the  Divine  Thoughts  or 
''  Ideas  "  of  the  spiritual  universe,  and  is  the  im- 
mediate Manifestor  of  the  material  or  sense-grasped 
universe  which  it  establishes  in  time  and  space  con- 
ditions on  the  principle  of  Reason,  or  Ground  and 
Consequence,  the  cosmos  being  its  emanation,  image 
and  **  shadow."  The  All-Soul  includes,  and  is,  All- 
the- Souls  in  the  universe  of  the  (seven)  senses.  Such 
souls  ultimately  express  in  the  dualistic  order,  the 
order  of  relativity,  their  eternal  likeness  to  the  Second 
aspect  of  the  Godhead,  their  true  spiritual  exemplar, 

1  Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  insisted  on  the  reality  of  Archetypes, 
an  idea  which  is  held  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  great  religions  of  the 
world. 

2  Matter  is  not  contradictory  of  Spirit,  for  it  cannot  succeed  in 
negating  Spirit,  but  is  Spirit  under  boundary  or  limit.  It  is,  therefore, 
in  its  degree,  living  and  conscious.  The  world-process  appears  to 
have,  for  one  of  its  goals,  the  intensification  of  the  consciousness 
(or  rather,  awareness)  of  Matter. 

3  *'  Contemplation  is  Love." — Thomas  Aquinas. 


12     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

uttering  this  in  terms  of  Qualities.^  They  can  do  so, 
however,  only  after  the  Purifications  that  are  necessary 
on  account  of  their  plunge  within  the  regions  of 
Existence,  v/hich  are  at  first  in  darkness,  ignorance, 
and  **  sin."  It  is  the  preliminary  stage  of  this  emana- 
tion or  reflection  of  the  Third  aspect  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  expressed  through  mankind  on  this  earth,  which 
apparently  forms  the  main  subject-matter  of  the  Second 
creation  story,  from  Gen.  ii.  4b  to  the  close  of  chapter  iii., 
later  stages  being  also  foreshadowed. 

Each  of  the  Three  Divine  Hypostases  is  a  Unity, 
and  the  Three  are  One,  One  Supreme  Being.  Hence, 
too,  all  Nature,  all  substance  or  Matter — Matter 
representing  Spirit  in  its  negative  mode,  that  is,  under 
limit — is  essentially  within  the  Sphere  or  Realm  of 
Being,  and  is  in  its  degree  living,  and  *  contemplates ' 
and  aspires.  All  forms  and  phases  of  existence  *  flow  ' 
from  the  Divine  Realm  (using  spatial  terms,  though 
changes  of  condition  are  implied),  and  strive  to  return, 
stage  by  stage,  to  the  Originating  Source,  and  remain 
there. 2 

It  is  suggested  in  the  following  pages  that  the  two 
creation  stories  allegorically  record  : — 

I.  Gen.  i.  I,  2  : — The  putting  forth  into  manifesta- 
tion of  the  living  Soul  of  the  Universe  in  its  two  modes, 

1  Thomas  Vaughan  (1621-1665)  wrote  (see  "Works,"  ed.  and 
annotated  by  A.  E.  V'/aite,  London,  1919,  p.  13)  : — "  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite  .  .  .  compares  God  the  Father  ...  to  a  Root  whose 
Flowers  are  the  Second  and  Third  Persons,"  and  proceeds:  "This 
is  true,  for  God  the  Father  is  the  basis  or  supernatural  foundation  of 
his  creatures  ;  God  the  Son  is  the  pattern,  in  whose  express  image 
they  were  made  ;  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Creator  Spirit,  or  the 
Agent  who  framed  the  creature  in  a  just  symmetry  to  his  Type." 

2  See  The  Kabbalah,  by  C.  D.  Ginsburg,  LL.D. ;  London,  Longmans, 
1865.  Also  the  so-called  Chaldean  Oracles,  an  Alexandrian  Neo- 
Platonic  work  of  the  end  of  the  second  or  beginning  of  the  third 
century,  tr.  (1908)  with  comments  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead  {Echoes  from  the 
Gnosis,  vols.  viii.  and  ix.).  And  Plotinus  (205-270  A.D.)  :  "  The 
Ethical  Treatises,"  tr.  Stephen  MacKenna,  London,  191 7,  the  comments 
by  the  translator,  vol.  i.  pp.  118-121, 


AS  RECORDED  IN  FIRST  THREE  CHAPTERS     13 

described  as  **  heaven  "  and  '*  earth,"  the  **  heaven  "- 
world  being,  relatively,  archetypal  and  positive,  and 
the  **  earth  "-world  in  the  germ  or  evolving  state  in 
time  and  space. 

2.  Gen.  i.  3-ii.  4a,  the  rest  of  the  first  story  : — The 
revealing  of  the  Divine  Order,  the  order  of  Spirit, 
symbolised  as  Light  (or  Consciousness  in  activity),  with 
its  seven  inter-related  powers,  the  seventh  being  **  Man," 
the  Divine  Man-of-the-universe.  This  Spiritual  Order 
of  Light  and  its  seven  powers  acts  upon,  and  moulds, 
the  evolving  Soul  of  verses  i  and  2. 

3.  Gen.  ii.  4b-iii.  24,  the  second  story  : — The  creation 
of  Mankind  in  the  dualistic  mode  of  the  Soul  order, 
with  definite  qualities  and  powers,  enabling  it,  subject 
to  its  own  free-will,  individually  and  as  a  collective 
whole,  even  in  the  dense  *'  earth  "  regions  of  the  Soul 
order,  consciously  to  unify  itself  with,  and  manifest, 
the  Spiritual  order.  Mankind  is  created  perfect  in  the 
ideal  realm  of  the  Soul  order  {Gen,  ii.  4b  to  the  close 
of  Gen.  ii.),  and  has  to  express  this  perfection  while 
incarnate  in  the  **  earth  "  regions  of  that  order.  To  this 
end  each  individualised  soul  is  practically  trained  under 
the  world-process  through  the  discipline  of  personal 
Fate,  coming  under  the  law  of  Necessity,  this  earlier 
period  in  its  history  (described  in  various  phases  through- 
out the  Old  Testament)  being  outlined  in  Gen.  iii. 
The  need,  however,  for  this  personal  training  passes 
after  the  soul  is  born  **  from  Above  "  into  the  law  of 
true  Liberty  during  earth-life  and  proves  itself  to  have 
attained  its  enlightened  manhood  state,  using  its 
special  gifts  for  the  benefit  of  all  that  lives.  It  becomes 
unified  with  the  Spiritual  order,  receiving  power  actively 
to  express  its  unique  personality  in  the  living  drama 
of  world-happenings.  These  later  phases  in  the  history 
of  the  human  soul  on  earth  (described  in  detail  in  the 
New  Testament)    are  also   outlined  in    Gen.   iii.     The 


14     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

second  creation  story  appears,  indeed,  to  declare  that 
the  immediate  goal  set  before  each  and  every  human 
soul  is  that,  enriched  through  experience  and  ennobled 
by  its  conscious  entry  into  the  Divine  Order,  it  shall 
fulfil  the  purpose  of  the  present  seon,  or  cycle,  or  dis- 
pensation, becoming  vitalised  by  the  Spirit  as  an 
organic  member  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  **  on  earth," 
and  there  expressing,  in  active  co-operation  and  har- 
mony with  the  rest  of  mankind,  the  ''  new  "  heaven 
of  its  nature  in  terms  of  concrete  actuality. 

The  two  creation  stories  will  now  be  considered  in 
detail  in  the  following  chapters. 


THE    FIRST    CREATION    STORY 
CHAPTER   II 

FIRST   DAY    (i.) 
Gen.  i.,  verses  1-4 

Gen.  i.  i  : — "  In  the  beginning  ^Elohim  created  the 
heaven  (lit.,  the  heavens)  and  the  earth." 

The  very  striking  passage  with  which  the  first  story 
opens,  the  first  verse  of  Genesis^  has  lost  in  translation 
its  most  characteristic  feature.  The  first  word,  here- 
sMthy  should  arrest  the  attention,  but  its  rendering, 
*'  In  the  beginning,"  is  only  of  secondary  value.  The 
word  refers  to  the  mysterious  Power,  the  Third  Person 
of  the  Supreme  Trinity,  by  whose  immediate  agency 
Ineffable  Being  is  represented  in  the  phenomenal 
universe.  This  Manifesting  Power  is  personified  as 
the  Wisdom  of  God,  the  Supreme  Sophia,  or  Wisdom, 
concerning  whom  it  is  said  in  Prov.  viii.  22-30  : — 

"  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  His  way, 
Before  His  works  of  old    .    .    . 
When  He  prepared  the  heavens,  I  was  there  : 
When  He  set  a  compass  upon  the  face  of  the  deep  :  .  .  . 
When  He  marked  out  the  foundations  of  the  earth  : 
Then  was  I  by  Him  as  a  master  workman." 

This  is  the  same  '*  Wisdom  of  God  "  who,  personified 
in  Luke  xi.  49,  sends  prophets  and  messengers  to  earth. 
This  personified  **  Wisdom  of  God,  hidden  in  mystery," 
who  is  '*  not  of  this  world,"  is  proclaimed  and  preached 
by  Paul  the  Apostle  in  i  Cor.  2. 

An  extensive  **  Wisdom  "  literature  was  extant  for 

15 


i6     THE  TWO   CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

more  than  two  centuries  prior  to  the  Christian  era,  the 
subject  having  probably  been  considered  long  before 
that  time  by  the  schools  of  the  prophets.  The  atmo- 
sphere of  this  literature  may  be  realised  by  reference 
to  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  ch.  vii.,  and  Ecclesiasiicus, 
ch.  xxiv.,  especially  in  the  Septuagint  version.^  In  the 
former,  verse  22,  Sophia  (Wisdom)  is  described  as  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  (in  the  current  translation)  as  '*  Only- 
begotten  "  of  God. 2  In  verse  26,  She  is  the  Spotless 
Mirror  of  the  Divine  Activity,  and  Image  of  His  Good- 
ness. 

The  LXX.  translation  of  beresMth  is  iv  apxoj  and 
these  are  the  two  opening  words  of  the  prologue  to  the 
fourth  gospel,^  where  also,  as  in  the  opening  word  of 
Genesis,  the  particular  reference  is  to  the  personified 
**  Wisdom  of  God,"  the  Mother  aspect  of  the  Divinity.* 

^  The  Septuagint  of  the  Pentateuch  was  prepared  by  Hellenistic 
Jews  of  Alexandria  in  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (about 
275  B.C.),  the  translation  of  the  rest  of  the  sacred  books  following 
within  the  next  hundred  years.  This  Greek  version  varies  in  many 
places  from  the  text  of  the  Hebrew  which  has  come  down  to  us, 
known  as  the  Massoretic  text,  and  is  less  accurate  than  the  text  of  the 
Vulgate,  the  Common  Version  of  the  Latin  Church,  which  was  made  by 
Jerome,  383-400  A.D. 

2  The  word  /lovoyevfis  is  usually  translated  "Only-begotten"  in 
the  New  Testament.  But  the  LXX.  uses  the  same  word  in  regard  to 
Isaac.  This  cannot  mean  that  Isaac  was  the  "  only  begotten  "  son 
of  Abraham.  Compared  with  Ishmael,  who  apparently  stands  for 
the  (as  yet)  unregenerate  son,  Isaac  represents  the  son  who  has  attained 
the  Divine  order,  being  born  ^vaOev,  that  is,  "from  Above,"  from  the 
All,  and  so.  Son  of  the  Only  One,  hence  ij.ovoyevffs.  Such  a  trans- 
lation is  in  harmony  with  that  of  the  word  Tr€Tpoycv7]s,  an  epithet 
applied  to  Mithra,  meaning  Rock-born.  See  also  Luke  vii.  12  ; 
viii.  42  ;   ix.  38  ;    Ps.  xxii.  20. 

*  The  Vulgate  rendering  is  In  Principio.  The  words  eV  apxti 
appear  also  in  the  LXX.  translation  of  I^rov.  viii.  22,  a  chapter  which 
belongs  to  the  Wisdom  literature  of  the  Hebrews. 

^  "  The  Sophia  .  .  .  occurs  frequently  in  the  early  Christian 
literature.  .  .  .  This  Sophia,  or  Barbelo,  or  Heavenly  Mother,  is  the 
Supreme  Deity  on  its  mother-side.  ...  By  Sophia  were  all  things 
made  {Ps.  civ.  24)  ;  she  is  a  spirit  of  Jahveh  ( Isai.  xi.  2)  ;  she  is 
the  holy  spirit  from  above  {Wisd.  ix.  17)  ;  she  was  present  when  the 
world  was  made  {Wisd.  ix.  9),  and  reacheth  from  one  end  to  another 
mightily." — Mysticism  and  the  Creed,  by  W.  F.  Cobb,  D.D.,  p.  337. 


THE  FIRST  DAY  17 

But  the  secondary  meaning  is  again  adopted  in  the 
authorised  and  revised  versions,  so  that  the  primary  in- 
tention of  the  writer  of  the  prologue  is  not  conveyed.^ 

The  next  Hebrew  word  but  one  in  this  verse,  trans- 
lated **  God  "  in  our  versions,  is  'Elohim,  a  word  of 
pre-historic  origin.  It  seems  to  be  an  archaically 
formed  plural,  the  singular  being  probably  'elodh 
(Arabic  Hldh),  a  feminine  word  found  only  in  poetry, 
whose  plural  would  normally  be  in  the  feminine  form 
('elooth),  and  not  in  the  masculine. ^  But  in  any  case 
the  meaning  of  'Elohim  cannot  be  settled  by  etymology. 
It  is  translated  by  a  singular  noun,  on  the  ground,  it 
has  been  maintained,  that  it  is  a  plural  of  eminence, 
an  appellation  of  the  all-exalted  Creator  as  '*  the  Powers 
who  are  in  the  highest  degree  to  be  reverenced."  This 
suggestion  does  not,  however,  throw  light  on  the  prob- 
lem as  to  what  this  Divine  Name  may  have  implied 
concerning  the  essential  nature  of  'Elohim. 

In  168  A.D.,  Theophilus  of  Antioch  addressed  three 
books  to  Autolycus.  He  draws  attention  to  the  three 
days  which  elapsed  before  the  creation  of  the  luminaries, 
and  suggests  that  these  three  days  are  a  type  of  the 
Trinity.  He  thus  appears  to  ascribe  the  origin  of  the 
three  days  to  the  essential  nature  of  'Elohim,  the 
Supreme  Creator.  Again,  when  discussing  Gen.  i. 
26,  27,  verses  which  state  that  the  nature  of  'Elohim  is 
the  pattern  after  which  the  ^'  Man  "  of  the  first  story 
is  created  **  male  and  female,"  Theophilus  remarks  : 
**  He  considers  the  creation  of  Man  alone  worthy  His 

^  The  secondary  meaning  appears  to  be  more  precisely  stated  in 
2  Tim.  i.  9,  and  again  in  Tit.  i.  2,  in  the  words  Trph  xp^voov  awvioav, 
which  may  be  rendered,  before  time  was  manifested  in  aeons  and 
cycles. 

2  S.  L.  Macgregor  Mathers,  in  his  Kabbalah  Unveiled,  London,  1887, 
p.  22,  remarks: — "Inasmuch  as  im  is  usually  the  termination  of 
the  masculine  plural,  and  is  here  added  to  <■.  feminine  noun,  it  gives 
to  the  word  'Elohim  the  sense  of  a  female  potency  united  to  a  masculine 
idea." 

2 


i8     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

Two  Hands,"  and  proceeds  :  *'  To  no  one  else  did  He 
say  *  Let  Us  make  man  '  but  to  His  own  Logos  and  His 
own  Sophia."  'Elohim  the  Creator  is  thus  regarded  as 
One  God  having  Three  aspects,  hence  as  a  Trinity-in- 
Unity,  whose  Dual  manifesting  Powers  are  the  Logos 
and  the  Sophia,  corresponding  to  the  Creator's  Hands. 
About  the  same  time,  Irenseus  {d.  202)  wrote  :  "  We 
have  abundantly  shown  that  the  Logos,  that  is,  the 
Son,  was  always  with  the  Father,  and  Sophia  also, 
who  is  the  Spirit,  was  with  Him  before  any  created 
thing.  .  .  .  He  had  always  by  Him  the  Word  and  the 
Wisdom,  the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  through  whom  and 
in  whom  of  His  own  free-will  He  made  all  things,  and 
whom  He  addresses  when  He  says  :  **  Let  Us  make 
man  in  Our  image  and  likeness."  Irenaeus  also  speaks 
of  the  Son  (or  the  Logos,  the  Word)  and  the  Spirit 
(or  Sophia,  Wisdom)  as  **  the  Two  Hands  of  God."  ^ 
Similar  Trinitarian  views  of  the  Creator,  in  which  an 
externalising  Duality  is  an  essential  part  of  a  central 
and  all-encompassing  and  all-pervading  Unity,  existed 
long  previously  in  Egypt,  India,  and  elsewhere. 

The  three  Phases  of  the  Divinity  are  usually  per- 
sonified, because  the  human  mind  knows  no  higher 
consciousness  than  that  of  a  Person.  The  conscious- 
ness of  the  Logos,  the  Word,  the  Second  Person,  in- 
cludes subject  and  object,  and  transcends  them  ;  it 
is  essentially  of  the  universal  order,  the  order  of  whole- 

^  See  The  Origin  of  the  Prologue  to  St.  John's  Gospel,  by  Rendel 
Harris,  Cambr.  Univ.  Press,  1917,  pp.  21-23,  ^tc,  from  which  these 
quotations  are  taken.  On  p.  22,  with  regard  to  the  quotation  from 
Theophilus  of  Antioch  concerning  the  "  three  days,"  Dr.  Rendel 
Harris  says  : — **  This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  Trinity  in  theological 
literature,  in  express  terms  (rptas),  and  Theophilus  arrives  at  it  by 
a  bifurcation  of  the  original  Wisdom  into  Word  and  Wisdom."  On 
p.  49  he  remarks  that  behind  the  Christian  Trinity  "  there  is  the 
substratum  of  a  Christian  Duality  (the  Holy  Spirit  being  not  yet  come, 
in  a  theological  sense,  because  the  Divine  Wisdom  has  not  been  divided 
into  Logos  and  Pneuma)."  But  the  Trinity  seems  to  be  implied  in 
the  first  creation  story. 


THE  FIRST   DAY  19 

ness,  of  Spirit,  and  this  is  im-mediate  and  independent 
of  limitation  in  time  and  space.  Such  also  is  the  nature 
of  the  consciousness  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  Wisdom,  the 
Third  Person,  but  this  Phase  of  the  Triune  Creator  is 
especially  concerned  with  Soul-substance  or  Matter, 
hence  with  the  evolving  Soul  order,  the  dualistic  or 
relative  order,  which  is  under  succession  in  time  and 
position  in  space,  and  based  on  Reason.  The  per- 
sonified Wisdom  element  of  the  Trinity  is  chiefly 
accentuated  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Word  or  Son 
element,  in  the  New.  These  powers  of  Soul  and  Spirit 
are  possessed  and  transcended  by  'Elohim,  the  eternal 
and  everlasting  Three-in-One  Creator,  representative, 
in  the  Positive  (or  Manifesting)  order,  of  the  Trans- 
cendent Negatively-Existent  Being. 

The  second  Hebrew  word  in  Genesis,  coming  between 
the  two  words  which  have  just  been  considered,  is  the 
strong  verb  bdra\  translated  ^*  created  "  ;  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  verb  of  which  the  fundamental  meaning 
is  to  cut  or  hew,  to  hew  out.  It  is  used  on  three  im- 
portant occasions  in  the  story,  the  second  being  in 
verse  21,  recording  the  *^  creation  "  on  the  morning  of 
the  fifth  day  of  the  Divine  Beings  of  the  ^^  heaven  " 
order,  and  the  third  in  verse  27  (where  it  is  used  three 
times),  recording  the  **  creation,"  on  the  morning  of 
the  sixth  day,  of  the  Universal,  Spiritual  *^  Man,"  whose 
essential  nature  is  expressed  through  particulars  in  the 
^*  earth  "  order. 

Bereshith  hdra\  the  two  opening  words  in  Genesis, 
are  alliterative,  but  the  magic  and  cadence  of  their 
sounds  cannot  be  reproduced  in  translation.  They 
appear  to  signify  the  beginning  of  all  creation  or 
manifestation  in  the  universe,  through  the  revealing 
power  of  the  Third  aspect  of  the  Divinity,  namely, 
the  Universal  Soul,  or  Soul  of  the  All,  the  Manifestor 


20     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

or  Expressor  in  the  modes  of  time,  space,  and  materiality 
of  the  eternal  *  Ideas  '  of  the  Divine  Mind,  the  Second 
aspect  of  the  Divinity. 

The  shadow  or  reflection  or  emanation  of  the  Third 
Aspect  of  the  Divinity,  the  All-Soul,  is  the  living  Soul 
of  the  universe,  described  in  the  remaining  words  of 
the  opening  statement  as  appearing  in  two  modes  or 
conditions  or  states  :  **  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 
These  contrasting  and  complementary  modes  of  Soul- 
substance  correspond  to  stages  in  the  **  coming  down  " 
of  Being  into  Existence  :  they  compare  with  one  another 
as  positive  to  negative,  as  subject  to  object,  as  con- 
sciousness to  substance,  and  are  reflections  of  the  **  Two 
Hands  "  of  'Elohim.  The  *'  heaven  "  mode  is,  re- 
latively, unitary,  monadic,  and  eternal,  hence  inter- 
penetrates the  evolving  **  earth  "  mode  which  is 
relatively  dual  and  dependent  on  time,  space,  and 
sequence.  The  living  soul  of  the  created  universe  is 
thus  at  one  and  the  same  time  eternal  through  its 
**  heaven  "  nature,  and  temporal  and  phenomenal 
through  its  **  earth  "  nature.  The  dualistic  power 
**  earth  "  and  the  unitary  power  **  heaven  "  are  a 
three-in-one  reflection  in  the  world  of  form,  of  par- 
ticulars, of  the  Universal  Creator,  the  Three-in-One 
'Elohim. 

The  Divine  Creative  Will  proceeds  from,  and  is  of 
the  essence  of,  the  eternal  universe  of  Unity  and 
Completeness.  It  pertains  to  the  Greatnesses,  and 
is  not  under  the  dominion  of  time  and  space  even  while 
expressing  itself  as  the  spontaneous  Life-Force  within 
this  universe  of  differentiation  and  form.  The  Word 
and  the  Wisdom  unite  in  bringing  the  Will  into  Active 
Expression  in  the  phenomenal  order,  the  order  of 
duality.  The  Will  is  also  connected  with  the  fruition 
of  the  work  of  creation,  and  this  becomes  the  promise 


THE  FIRST  DAY  21 

of  yet  further  creation,  as  appears  to  be  suggested  in 
Isai.  Iv.  II,  which  continues  the  ideas  of  the  first  few 
verses  in  Genesis  :  **  My  word  that  goeth  forth  out  of 
My  Mouth.  .  .  shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but 
shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  shall  prosper 
in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 

The  Life-Force  or  Vital-Principle  which  brings  the 
universe  into  existence  is  of  the  harmonious  Three-in- 
One  nature  of  the  Divinity,  and  is  related  to  Love,  this 
being  understood  in  its  profoundest  meaning.  It  is  a 
spontaneous  power  which  creates  its  lover  and  its  loved, 
creates  the' subject  and  the  object  of  its  own  activity, 
its  ^^  heaven  "  and  its  **  earth,"  and  being  the  conscious 
creator  of  both,  holds  each  in  its  relation  to  the  other 
in  the  state,  not  of  attraction,  but  of  vital  poise,  and 
so  of  freedom  and  power. 

^'  From  love  the  world  is  born,  by  love  it  is  sus- 
tained, tov7ards  love  it  moves,  and  into  love  it  enters." 

Gen.  i.  2a  : — ''And  the  earth  was  waste  and  void  : 
and  darkness  was  on  the  face  of  [the)  deep." 

The  newly  created  *^  earth  "  of  verse  i  is  tohu-va- 
bdhu,  that  is,  without  order  or  form,  and  in  a  state  of 
confusion.^  The  word  translated  **  the  deep  "  is 
tehom,  used  without  the  definite  article,  so  that  the 
translation  is  misleading  in  this  respect.  Tehom  is  a 
mythological    word,    like     Okeanos    (Ocean),    and    is 

^  The  words  translated  "  waste  and  void  "  in  Gen.  i.  2  are  trans- 
lated "  confused  "  and  "  empty  "  in  Isai.  xxxiv.  11.  In  i  Cor.  xv.  8, 
in  the  word  'ewrpa'^a,  Paul  describes  his  ov/n  soul,  until  the  Divine 
Appearance,  as  being  unformed  and  unorganised,  a  state  correspond- 
ing to  the  tohU'Va-hohu  of  the  present  verse.  (His  words  wo-Trepei  t^ 
'eKrpdoixaTi  are  not  precisely  translated,  for  "  as  unto  one  born  out 
of  due  time  "  neglects  the  word  tw,  which  shows  that  he  is  alluding 
to  the  creation  myth  known  to  his  readers  at  Corinth,  who  were 
familiar  with  it  through  their  Mystery-religions.  In  that  myth,  the 
world-stuff,  the  Soul-substance  of  the  universe,  at  first  formless  and 
amorphous,  attains  perfection  only  through  the  fostering  care  of  the 
Divinity.) 


22     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

feminine  :  it  pictures  a  raging  deep  of  wild,  stormy 
waters,  corresponding  formally  and  materially  to 
Tidmai  {Tiamtu),  or  Chaos,  of  the  Babylonian  Epic, 
who  existed  before  Marduk,  the  Hebrew  Merodach, 
establisher  of  light  and  order.  Primeval  substance  is 
as  a  plastic  material  which  is  not  wholly  plastic,  a 
fiuidic  mass  with  a  core  of  stability.  Soul-substance 
is  in  its  essence  a  movement,  a  flow,  its  awareness  being 
a  power  of  grasping  or  holding  together  of  that  which 
is  flowing.  This  power  of  awareness,  or  consciousness, 
is  a  function  of  light.  But  Root-substance,  the  primal 
**  stuff  "  of  the  universe,  is  represented  as  covered  with 
darkness,  signifying  that  the  power  of  awareness  during 
activity  is  not  yet  possessed  by  it. 

Gen.  i.  2b  : — "And  the  Spirit  of  ^Eldhtm  [Ruach 
^  Elohtm)  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." 

The  word  Ruach  is  feminine,  and  comes  from  a  root 
which  means :  to  breathe.  As  the  Sepher  Yetzireh  says  : 
**  One  is  She,  the  Spirit  (lit..  Breath)  of  'Elohim,  Ruach 
'Elohzm.'^  ^  The  '*  Spirit  of  'Elohim  "  is  the  Universal 
Mother,  the  All-Soul  or  Vital-Principle,  who  is  repre- 
sented hovering  or  brooding  over  the  abyss  of  dark 
waters  which  at  present  envelops  primal  root-substance, 
these  forming  the  basic  dualism  of  the  **  earth  "  mode, 
the  phenomenal  mode,  of  the  soul-order.  The  **  Spirit 
of  'Elohim  "  works  upon  the  confused,  chaotic  mass, 
this  amorphous  root-substance  of  the  soul,  imparting 
to  its  every  atom  the  wholeness  and  spontaneity  of  the 
Divine  nature,  as  also  the  power  consciously  to  express 
this  in  the  world  of  differentiation  and  form.  The 
darkness  surrounding  the  primal  matter  of  the  soul  is 
enlightened  during  the  world-process,  and  the  material 


*  From  the  Kabbalah  Unveiled,  by  S.  L.  Macgregor  Mathers, 
p.  22,  also  note  on  p.  273.  In  its  present  form,  the  Kabala  dates  from 
between  the  tenth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  and  was  handed  down 
before  then  for  an  unknown  period. 


THE  FIRST  DAY  23 

nature  brought  to  order  by  the  power  of  Ideal-Form, 
until  at  length  the  soul's  ^*  earth  "  nature  is  in  harmony 
with  its  true  **  heaven  "  nature.  When  this  **  new  '* 
heaven-earth  power  consciously  expresses  in  actuality 
its  essential  oneness  with  Spirit,  it  becomes  a  fashioned 
three-in-one  instrument  of  the  Creator,  able  to  manifest 
in  the  phenomenal  order  the  fullness  of  the  nature  of 
Eternal  Being. 

Before  passing  on,  a  point  may  be  noted  which  appears 
to  disclose  certain  under-currents  in  the  writers'  minds, 
coming  to  them  through  Babylon  and  Chaldea.  It  is 
known  that  in  those  days  number-keys  of  various  kinds 
were  adopted  in  sacred  writings,  to  suggest  further 
ideas  to  searchers  of  more  deeply  hidden  meanings. 
An  elementary  key  (among  others)  appears  in  the 
comprehensive  opening  statement  (verse  i)  of  the 
narrative,  the  number  of  whose  Hebrew  words  is  seven, 
and  of  letters  in  these  words  twenty-eight.  In  Chaldea 
the  mother-principle  was  symbolised  by  the  Moon, 
to  which  the  numbers  2  (duality)  and  7  were  assigned, 
the  Moon  being  equated  with  the  phenomenal  order, 
the  Soul  order.  And  the  father-principle  was  sym- 
bolised by  the  Sun,  which  was  represented  by  the 
numbers  i  (unity)  and  4,  the  Sun  being  equated  with 
the  unseen  order  behind  the  phenomenal,  the  *  time- 
less '  order.  The  number  of  words  may  be  stated  in 
the  form  1x7,  and  of  letters  in  these  words,  4x7,  these 
expressions  being  the  products  of  the  numbers  of  the 
sun  and  moon,  the  father-mother  of  manifestation 
in  the  phenomenal  or  dualistic  order.  ^  The  under- 
meaning  of  the  opening  statement  would  thus  appear 
to  be  that  ^*  heaven  and  earth  " — positive  and  negative 

^  See  Gen.  xxxvii.  9,  10.  The  sun  was  also  a  symbol  of  the  im- 
mediate, spontaneous  consciousness,  and  the  moon  of  awareness 
based  on  step-by-step  reasoning. 


24     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

Soul-substance,  the  Monad  and  the  Dyad — are  fore- 
shadowing the  coming  of  Sun  and  Moon,  their  vice- 
gerents in  the  world-order.  These  cannot  appear  as 
living  powers  till  their  substance,  which  at  first  is  in 
the  germ  or  evolving  state,  is  befittingly  formed.  They 
do  not  appear,  indeed,  till  the  fourth  day,  the  first  three 
days  representing  the  work  of  the  Three  Divine  Persons 
in  forming  Root-substance  into  a  pure  and  accordant 
vehicle  of  expression. 

Gen.  i.  3  : — ''And  'Elohim  said  :  Let  there  he 
Light  :  and  there  was  Light  "  (lit..  Let  light  be,  and 
light  was). 

The  statement  "  'Elohim  said.  Let  Light  be,  and 
Light  was,"  introduces  the  Creator  in  His  Threefold 
attributes  of  Will,  Breath,  and  Word,  these  being  united 
in  the  One  creative  Purpose.  Of  the  Three  Persons 
who  are  One,  the  Will  is  as  the  Father,  the  Breath 
(RUach)  or  Voice  (Sanskr.  Vach)  as  the  Mother,  and 
the  Word  (**  Let  Light  be  ")  as  the  Son.  The  Word 
is  eternally  One  with  the  Breath  and  the  Will,  and  the 
Three  are  One.  This  Great  Trinity  of  Father-Mother- 
Son,  or  'Elohim,  represents  the  **  Father,"  whose 
Firstborn  **  Son  "  is  described  as  **  Light." 

**  Light  "  is  the  Primal  Self-manifestation  of  the 
Ineffable,  wrought  through  the  manifesting  power  of  the 
Will  and  Living  Breath  and  Supreme  Word  of  the 
Triune  Creator.  This  is  the  true  Light,  whose  con- 
sciousness is  not  only  actively  One  with  that  of  'Elohim, 
the  Being  who  is  **  above  the  heavens,"  but  is  also 
active  and  immanent  in  the  orders  of  **  heaven  "  and 
of  **  earth."  The  Light  is  able,  therefore,  to  declare 
on  earth  the  Supreme  Will  and  Purpose  in  the  modes  of 
**  heaven  "  and  **  earth,"  Spirit  and  Soul,  the  **  time- 
less "  and  temporal  orders.  Hence  the  significance  of 
the  Apostle  Paul's  words  :   *Mn  Him — the  mystic  Son — 


THE  FIRST  DAY  25 

dwells  all  the  fullness  of  the  Divine  nature  in  a  bodily- 
manner."  ^  The  Son,  the  Light,  not  only  bodies  forth 
and  expresses  in  the  temporal  order  the  two  harmonised 
modes  of  consciousness, ^  but  also  leads  the  way  to 
That  which  transcends  them.^ 

Gen.  i.  4a  :  ^^And  'Eldhun  saw  the  Light  that  it  was 
good," 

'Elohim,  the  Creator,  *^  saw,"  that  is,  knew  im- 
mediately in  the  eternal  mode  of  consciousness,  where 
all  opposite  forces  are  caught  up  in  an  all-embracing 
Unity,  that  the  Light  is  '*  good,"  in  other  words,  it  is 
of  the  Three-in-One  order,  and  able  to  manifest  the 
Reality  of  the  Triune  Divinity  as  Spirit  and  Soul, 
consciousness  and  living  substance,  unity  and  duality. 

Gen.  i.  4b  ;  ''And  'Elohim  divided  the  Light  from 
the  darkness." 

The  perfect  Light,  the  First-born  Son,  contrasts  with 
the  *'  darkness  "  of  the  soul-substance  of  '*  the  earth  " 
(verse  2),  whose  powers  are  in  a  state  of  disorder  and 

^   Col.  ii.  9. 

^  In  regard  to  the  two  modes  of  consciousness — the  two  ways  by 
which  v/e  become  conscious,  namely,  intuition  and  discursive  reason 
— it  should  be  clearly  grasped,  and  this  is  of  fundamental  importance, 
that  Time  is  not  a  thing  per  se,  nor  is  Eternity  time  indefinitely  pro- 
longed. Time  is  a  mental  concept  arising  from  the  consciousness  of 
change  in  the  phenomenal  world.  Eternity  is  connected  with  uni- 
versality and  completeness,  and  is  a  measureless  Present.  In  his 
Quod  Deus  sit  imniut.,  Philo,  following  Plato  {TimcBus  37),  speaks 
of  Eternity,  the  ^on,  as  "  the  archetype  and  pattern  of  time," 
and  adds  :  *  *  In  Eternity  there  is  nothing  past  and  nothing  future, 
but  only  present."  In  the  Ennead  i.  5,  7,  Plotinus  writes  (tr.  Stephen 
MacKenna)  :  "  We  must  not  muddle  together  time  and  eternity,  not 
even  everlasting  time  with  the  eternal ;  we  cannot  make  laps  and 
stages  of  an  absolute  unity  ;  all  must  be  taken  together,  .  .  .  not 
even  as  an  undivided  block  of  time,  .  .  .  but  completely  rounded, 
outside  of  all  notion  of  time.  .  .  .  Time  is  aptly  described  as  a  mimic 
of  eternity  that  seeks  to  break  up  in  its  fragmentary  flight  the  per- 
manence of  its  exemplar."  Space  is  also  constructed  by  the  mind 
through  a  logical  act.  Numbers  are  primarily  dependent  on  the 
spatial  activity  of  the  mind. 

'  Cp.  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  vii.  24  : — "  The  unwise  consider  Me  as 
the  Unmanifest  having  received  Manifestation,  not  knowing  My 
supreme  aspect,  exhaustless  and  devoid  of  anything  superior." 


26     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

chaos.  The  Light  will  enlighten  the  world  of  change 
and  becoming,  and  vivify  and  **  save  "  ^  the  primitive, 
incomplete  creation  whose  sphere  of  activity  is  the 
phenomenal  order.  But  the  Supreme  Light  cannot 
be  manifested  in  its  real  nature  in  the  phenomenal 
regions,  where  it  would  interfere  with  their  laws. 
Light  has,  therefore,  to  be  clothed  in  the  dualistic 
garb  of  these  regions,  in  the  appearances  of  their  con- 
traries or  polarities  which  mutually  exist.  Hence  is 
Light  **  divided,"  being  manifested  in  a  twofold  aspect, 
as  positive-negative,  or  light  and  not-light,  light- 
darkness,  the  Three-in-One  Light  appearing  to  abandon 
its  supreme  powers  at  the  threshold  of  the  dual  order. 

The  undivided  Light  represents  the  Son,  who  is 
eternally  of  the  transcendent  nature  of  the  Supreme 
Creator,  or  God  as  Super-Personal.  The  divided  light 
represents  the  Son  while  immanent  in  the  world 
of  duality  and  becoming,  or  God  as  Great  Person. 
Both  these  aspects  of  Light  are  necessarily  in  being 
together. 

The  dividing  of  the  Light  of  perfect  poise  and  harmony, 
Light  in  its  Oneness,  maj'-  be  pictured  as  caused — on  the 
borderland  between  the  eternal  and  phenomenal  realms 
— by  the  sword  of  Mind.  A  duality,  Twoness,  is 
produced  in  the  consciousness  of  light,  as  of  self  and 
not-self,  subject  and  object,  active  and  passive,  con- 
sciousness and  substance. 2  Light  becomes  aware  of 
darkness,    darkness    of    light.     The    two    modes    now 

1  In  Early  Christianity,  p.  22,  Professor  F.  C.  Burkitt,  D.D.,  points 
out  that  in  the  Syriac  Vulgate  "  Saviour"  is  Mahydnd,  life  giver, 
and  "to  be  saved  "  is  life  ;  he  also  suggests  that  in  the  genuine 
Aramaic  "  salvation  "  is  identical  with  "  life,"  and  that  the  Greek 
gospels  have  introduced  a  distinction  which  was  not  found  in  the 
Aramaic  usage.  (It  is  probable  that  parts  of  the  Gospels  were  trans- 
lated into  Greek  from  an  original  Aramaic  source,  in  this  process 
original  meanings  being  sometimes  obscured  or  lost.) 

-  Compare  this  with  the  uovs  of  Aristotle,  which  he  defines  as  of 
two  orders,  the  vovs  -n-ontTiKhs  (active),  and  the  vovs  iraOrjTiKhs  (passive). 


THE  FIRST  DAY  27 

embrace  in  the  dance  of  the  temporal  order,  the  order 
related  to  Tension  and  Passion. 

The  Light  thus  manifested  in  the  soul-realm  in  the 
dualistic  and  limited  condition,  ever  declares,  through  the 
timeless,'  and  time  modes  of  expression,  that  though 
the  soul  in  the  **  earth  "  mode  is  at  first  covered  with 
^*  darkness  "  and  unconscious  to  the  activities  of  Spirit, 
it  v/ill  come  under  the  process  of  the  universe  and  be 
awakened  to,  and  harmonised  with,  unitary  Spirit, 
returning  to  the  Central  Heart  in  a  high  state  of 
consciousness  in  activity,  there  to  be  reconstituted. ^ 

The  idea  of  Soul-substance,  originally  in  darkness, 
becoming  light  through  a  Power  which  is  related  to 
itself,  is  indeed  its  own  Complement,  forms  the  basis 
of  a  late  Gnostic  treatise,  the  Pistis  Sophia,  written  in 
the  second  half  of  the  second  century.  The  Great 
Mother,  Sophia  or  Wisdom,  brings  forth  the  Prototype 
of  the  substance  of  creation,  Primal  Matter,  which 
is  one  with  the  substance  of  the  World-soul  and  of 
individual  human  souls.  This  substance,  at  first 
unformed  and  unfashioned  (as  in  Gen.  i.  2),  spoken  of 
also  as  Sophia  the  daughter,  is  raised  from  the  state 
of  chaos  and  darkness  by  the  aid  of  Michael  and  Gabriel, 
the  two  Archangels  of  the  Sun  and  the  Moon,  respec- 
tively, who  act  in  the  world-order  under  the  One 
Supreme  Light.  In  twelve  stages  Sophia,  the  daughter, 
learns  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the  light,  and  '*  rises," 
in  spite  of  '*  counterfeits  "  of  the  light,  which  have 
caused  her  to  **fall."  At  length  she  '^ascends,"  and, 
as  everlasting  Life,  is  united  with  the  eternal  Light,  her 
true  Complement.  The  actors  in  this  symbolic  drama 
are  Light  and  Life,   Spirit  and   Soul,   **  heaven  "  and 

^  Philo  Judaeus,  the  Alexandrian  mystic  and  Platonist,  writes  : — 
"  He  (Moses)  was  recalled  by  God  the  Father,  who  was  changing 
him  from  being  dyad  .  .  .  into  the  nature  of  the  monad  that  tran- 
scends all  elements,  restoring  him  a  whole  through  wholes  to  Mind 
most  glorious  like  the  Sun." — [Life  of  Moses,  iii.  39.) 


28     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

**  earth,"  consciousness  and  expression  ;  in  their  essen- 
tial natures  they  are  the  two  complementary  halves, 
positive  and  negative,  of  the  Manifesting  aspect  of  the 
One  Reality. 

For  the  sake  of  clearness,  the  fact  of  Light  being 
**  divided  "  from  darkness,  may  also  be  referred  to  the 
physical  fact  suggested  by  the  Nebular  Hypothesis, 
of  the  central  body  of  the  solar  system  being  **  divided  " 
from  the  relative  darkness  of  the  as  yet  unformed 
planet,  **  heaven  "  from  **  earth,"  Spirit  from  Soul. 
The  antithesis,  however,  is  not  essentially  spatial,  but 
primarily  concerns  condition  or  state,  the  physical 
fact  being  the  symbol  and  outer  expression  of  the 
inner  reality. 


CHAPTER    III 

FIRST   DAY    [concluded) 

Gen.  i.,  verse  5 

Gen.  i.  5a :  "And  'Elohhn  called  the  light  Day, 
and  the  darkness  He  called  Night.'' 

Manifested  light  appears  in  the  regions  of  duality,  of 
the  polar  opposites,  of  relativity,  being  expressed  there 
in  the  derived  order  of  light,  light  of  the  light-darkness 
order.  The  naming  of  the  light  Day  and  of  the  darkness 
Night  implies  that  certain  activities  are  produced  by 
the  operation  of  the  light  of  the  dual  order  upon  the 
darkness  of  the  amorphous  substance  of  **  earth," 
which  **  call,"  or  evoke,  from  it  the  characteristics  of 
Day  and  Night.  Continuing  the  analogy  from  the 
Nebular  Hypothesis,  it  may  be  said  that  the  centrifugal 
and  centripetal  energies  of  the  central  nebulous  mass 
bring  the  relatively  dark  root-substance  of  the  sundered 
**  earth  "  under  these  antithetical  powers,  compelling 
the  primitive  *'  earth  "  to  revolve  round  the  glowing 
mass,  thus  producing  on  it  alternating  Day  and  Night 
phases.  The  effects  of  these  become  built  into  the 
awakened  sensitivities  of  the  earth's  root-substance. 

The  sun  and  moon,  as  such,  do  not  yet  exist ;    they 

appear  on  the  fourth  day  of  creation  as  Spiritual  Beings 

which  utilise  Divinely  prepared  root-substance  as  their 

local    habitation    and    means    of    organic    expression. 

But  in  the  meantime,  and  to  this  end,  on  the  first  of 

three    **  days,"   the   revolving    **  earth  "    comes   under 

the    influence,    by   turns,    of   Night    and    Day,    whose 

29 


30     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

essential  principles  become  stamped  into,  and  in- 
volved within,  its  root-substance  and  powers  of  aware- 
ness. Night  and  Day  are  effluences  from  the  ^*  Two 
Hands  "  of  'Elohim,  the  Triune  Creator,  Night  coming 
ultimately  from  Divine  Wisdom,  and  Day  from  the 
Supreme  Word  or  Logos.  Night  represents  the  dual 
or  relative  order,  whose  awareness  is  based  on  space, 
time,  and  materiality,  while  Day  represents  conscious- 
ness in  activity,  which  is  of  the  unitary  and  monadic 
order,  the  order  of  wholeness  and  completion,  and 
which  uses  the  infinite  divisibility  of  the  dualistic  order 
to  manifest  and  explain  the  One  Reality  in  the  drama 
of  world-happenings.^ 

The  symbolism  applies  also  to  each  individual  soul. 
The  age-long  focusing  of  the  activities  of  the  en- 
compassing universe  and  the  solar  cosmos  upon  the 
revolving  **  earth,"  belongs  also  to  the  history  of  the 
substance  and  awareness  of  the  soul  of  humanity, 
and  is  an  inalienable  possession  of  the  soul  of  each 
and  every  human  being.  The  compelling  forces  of 
Night  and  Day,  wrought  into  and  imprinted  on  soul- 
substance  through  untold  cycles  of  time,  are  at  the 
basis  of  man's  intuitions  and  experiences.  The  effect 
of  Night  on  the  substance  of  the  soul  intimates  to  it  its 
**  lesser  mysteries  "  of  the  temporal  order,  such  as 
were  represented  in  the  Greek  and  other  mystery-rites.^ 

^  **  Since  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  invisible  things  of  Him, 
even  His  everlasting  power  and  divinity,  are  clearly  seen,  being  per- 
ceived "  (that  is,  discerned,  understood)  "  through  the  things  that  are 
made  "  {Rom.  i.  20). 

-  Plato  relates  {Republic,  bk.  x.)  that  the  drama  of  Proserpina 
(representing,  according  to  Sallust,  the  "  lesser  mysteries  "  or  the 
descent  of  souls  into  earth-life,  De  Diis  et  Mundo,  iv.)  took  place  at 
Night.  In  the  Repvihlic,  vii.,  Plato  speaks  of  normal  earth-life  as 
"  nocturnal,"  and  the  descent  of  souls  into  the  body  as  "  sleep  and 
death."  Similarly  with  Heraclitus.  Paul,  too,  speaks  of  the  "  world- 
rulers  of  this  darkness"  {Eph.  vi.  12).  The  "lesser  mysteries" 
appear  to  have  declared  the  necessity  for  successive  earth-lives,  that 
the  soul  may  have  the  opportunity  under  their  discipline  to  acquire 
experience  and  attain  wisdom  in  the  time-order. — (See  Appendix  II.) 


THE  FIRST  DAY  31 

The  effect  of  Day  on  soul-substance  intimates  its  ex- 
istence in  the  cosmic  order  as  well,  so  that,  when  the 
soul  comes  **  of  age,"  having  attained  wisdom  through 
experience,  it  will  know  itself  to  be  of  the  **  heaven  " 
mode  as  well  as  of  the  **  earth,"  and  of  its  own  free- 
will will  joyfully  seek  to  co-operate  with  the  Higher 
Powers  to  express  the  Divine  Will  on  earth,  the  eternal 
order  through  the  temporal. 

The  impressions  wrought  through  countless  ages  by 
Day  and  by  Night  on  the  root-substance  of  **  the  earth," 
hence  also  on  the  root-substance  of  humanity's  soul, 
are  intimations  to  man  that  he  has  his  being  in  a  v^^orld- 
order  where  numberless  pairs  of  complementary 
opposites  exist,  each  member  of  which  is  necessary  to  its 
opposite  and  cannot  be  separated  from  it,  such  as 
positive-negative,  subject-object,  **  heaven  "-^*  earth," 
light-darkness,  truth-error.  Man  can  reach  towards 
the  knowledge  of  the  Divine  Purpose  in  creation  only 
through  wise  participation  in  the  varied  life  around 
him,  seeking  to  understand  both  phases  of  the  many 
contraries.  Though  in  these  regions  of  duality  they 
appear  to  be  irreconcilable  opposites,  yet  they  are  co- 
workers towards  the  same  goal.  For  the  one  cannot 
be  posited  without  the  other  being  an  essential  and 
intimate  part  of  the  complete  idea.  Thus,  for  example, 
the  idea  of  truth  cannot  be  held,  and  would  be  unmean- 
ing and  unreal,  if  separated  from  the  opposite  idea, 
error.  Though  each  of  the  two  opposite  ideas  appears 
to  exclude  the  other,  they  both  necessarily  exist  in  the 
synthesis  of  the  distinct  idea.  Truth.  ^ 

The  fact  that  a  distinct  idea  is  a  vital  synthesis  of  two 
opposite  ideas  each  of  which  annuls  the  other,  closely 
concerns   humanity,    for   it   touches   the   fundamental 

^  See  Croce's  What  is  Living  and  what  is  Dead  in  the  Philosophy  of 
Hegel.  Also  Dr.  Wildon  Carr's  The  Philosophy  of  Benedetto  Croce, 
Macmillan,  London,  1917,  ch.  viii. 


32     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

principle  of  existence.  The  negative  element  of  two 
opposites  becomes  of  equal  importance  with  its  positive 
element,  and  should  by  no  means  be  ignored  but 
comprehended.  Its  right  understanding  will  prove  to 
be  the  means  through  which  the  positive  element  will 
ultimately  attain  and  be  merged  in  its  transcending 
perfection,  the  negative  element  being  a  necessary 
constituent  of  the  process  leading  to  this  perfection. 
Without  darkness  light  cannot  appear  ;  light  is  only 
visible  when  reflected  by  a  dark  body.  In  the  same 
way,  evil  is  the  stepping-stone  to  a  practical  good. 
The  not-self  of  Nature  is  for  use  by  the  Self  of  Spirit  : 
it  is  fuel  for  the  flame  of  Spirit.  Substance  (object) 
is  the  means  through  which  consciousness  (subject) 
expresses  itself.  **  Earth  "  is  the  means  by  which 
**  heaven  "  is  manifested  in  the  phenomenal  order. 
Sorrow  is  the  medium  through  which  joy  takes  posses- 
sion. By  the  spiritual  law  of  self-sacrifice,  that  which 
appears  as  the  losing  of  one's  life  becomes  the  true  way 
of  saving  it. 

Good  and  evil,  virtue  and  vice,  life  and  death,  truth 
and  error,  real  as  they  appear  to  be  from  the  normal 
standpoint  of  these  evolving  and  incomplete  regions 
of  duality,  do  not  exist  as  independent  realities  in  the 
eternal  realm  of  Wholeness  and  Unity.  The  two 
opposite  elements,  whether  positive  or  negative,  are 
not  each  something  distinct  and  complete  in  itself,  but 
are  dependent  for  their  origin  and  nature,  in  these 
particular  cases,  on  the  dynamic  wholeness  of  the  ideas, 
respectively,  of  Good,  Virtue,  Life,  and  Truth.  The 
positive  and  negative  elements  are  in  all  cases  abstrac- 
tions from  the  true  reality,  and  in  actual  life  must 
correct  and  refine  each  other  again  and  again,  until 
the  duality  is  transcended  in  the  unity  of  sympathetic 
activity  which  is  of  the  universal  order.  It  is  only 
through    the   process    of   continually    overcoming   and 


THE  FIRST  DAY  33 

reconciling  the  contradictions  which  are  inherent  in 
the  world  of  manifestation,  that  man  becomes  able  to 
assimilate  and  embody  eternal  Reality,  and  express  it 
truly  in  the  temporal  order. 

It  has  always  to  be  remembered  that  the  eternal 
and  temporal  orders  are  co-existent.  It  should  also 
be  realised  that  there  is  no  past  in  the  sense  that  it  no 
longer  exists,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  dead  past, 
but  that  what  has  occurred  before  the  present  moment, 
and  what  will  occur  after,  are  included  in  the  magical 
and  eternal  present.  The  past,  though  determined, 
still  has  real  existence,  and  when  it  lives  and  acts  as  an 
integral  whole,  *^  biting  into  "  the  interest  of  the  living 
present,  it  is  then  that  the  positive  elements  of  the 
opposites — aided  thereto  by  their  respective  negatives — 
can  attain  and  express  their  fullness  of  power  in  the 
eternal  *  Now.'  ^  This  Moment  being  full  of  Light 
and  spiritual  meaning,  of  Mind  in  conscious  activity, 
spontaneously  creates  new  problems  and  forms. 

Gen.  i.  5b  :  *'  And  there  was  evening,  and  there  was 
morning,  one  day." 

This  is  the  burden  or  refrain  of  the  six  strophes  in 
the  narrative,  evening  in  each  case  representing  the 
earlier  half  of  the  day,  and  morning  the  later.  It  is 
true  the  Jews  reckon  their  day  from  sunset  to  sunset, 
but  that  fact  is  not  the  explanation  of  this  passage 
whose  significance'  may  be  gathered  from  the  preceding 
conclusions.  Evening  is  connected  with  sunset,  the 
West  and  Night ;  it  ushers  in  the  dark  half  of  the  day, 
and  is  on  the  negative  or  substance  side  of  things. ^ 
Morning  is  connected  with  sunrise,  the  East,  and  Day  ; 

^  *  *  The  present  moment  is  eternity  for  whoever  knows  how  to 
find  refuge  therein."  Croce's  Pratica,  p.  219,  quoted  by  Dr.  Wildon 
Carr  in  op.  cit. 

2  From  the  Hebrew  or  Semitic  ereh,  evening,  is  derived  Erebos, 
evening-land.  The  Erebos  of  Orpheus  appears  to  correspond  to  the 
Purgatory  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

3 


34     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

it  ushers  in  the  light  half  of  the  day,  is  positive,  and 
brings  about  conscious  activity  as  qualified  by  its 
substance  which  has  been  sensitised  and  vivified  during 
the  preceding  dark  half.  For  light  (of  the  dual  order) 
expresses  itself  through  its  own  negative  medium, 
which  is  darkness  ;  its  active  consciousness  has  no 
avenue,  no  method  of  manifestation,  except  through 
its  complement  which  is  substance  or  body.  The 
statement,  six  times  repeated,  that  evening  precedes 
morning  during  manifestation  in  the  *  noumenal  * 
order  appears,  therefore,  to  suggest,  by  analogy,  that 
throughout  the  process  of  the  human  soul's  creative 
evolution,  Soul  being  related  to  Spirit  as  object  to 
subject,  special  care  should  be  directed  to  purify  and 
perfect  the  *  substance  '  of  the  soul,  the  soul's  bodily 
vehicles,  that  it  may  become  a  living  and  responsive 
instrument,  able  increasingly  to  contain  and  express 
the  power  of  the  Spirit.^  It  would  be  unwise  to  attempt 
to  contain  the  wine  of  the  Spirit  in  leathern  **  skins  " 
which  are  imperfect,  for  they  will  not  hold  the  wine, 
and  the  skins  themselves  may  be  injured. ^ 

The  matter  may  be  considered  from  the  point  of  view 
that  every  man  and  animal  in  creation  is  a  sense- 
centre,  a  cell,  in  the  Body  of  the  Great  Lord  of  the 
Solar  Cosmos,  and  the  more  perfect  each  can  make  his 
*  body  ' — which  includes  the  subtile,  mental,  and 
spiritual  *  bodies  ' — the  more  life  and  power  from  the 
Master  can  play  through  it.  Developing  the  body  and 
the  mind,  we  participate  with  understanding  in  the 
fullness  of  life.  A  highly  developed  mind  with  a  highly 
developed  body  is  an  essential  pre-requisite  when 
coming  in  contact  with  the  magical  forces  of  regenera- 
tion   and    the    riches    of   true   wisdom.     The    Master, 

^  Apollo's  musical  instrument  was  a  perfectly  fashioned  seven- 
stringed  lyre,  corresponding  to  the  perfected  human  soul. 
2  Luke  V.  37,  R.V. 


THE  FIRST  DAY  35 

moreover,  is  dependent  on  every  one  of  his  creatures 
for  the  perfection  of  His  Body,  and  it  is  incumbent  on 
each  to  do  his  share  in  the  great  Work. 

The  '*  covenant  "  between  Jahveh  and  **  all  flesh  that 
is  upon  the  earth  "  ^  is,  essentially,  the  promise  of 
the  transmutation  of  the  **  earth  "  basis  of  the  soul's 
nature  into  a  finely  textured  and  more  translucent  and 
conscious  substance  as  it  becomes  worthy  to  be  **  en- 
formed  "  by  the  quickening  Spirit.  The  soul's  **  earth  " 
nature  is  refined  *'  seven  times  "  till  it  is  as  pure  gold 
and  transformed  as  was  Elijah's,  then  becoming  the 
fashioned  vehicle  of  the  Spirit,  Its  **  chariot  of  fire." 

The  Passover  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,   often 
linked  together  antithetically,  were  the  only  two  feasts 
out    of    seven  to  be   re-instituted  on  the  return  from 
Babylon.     The  Passover  recalls  the  soul's  awakening 
during  its  night-time  in   **  Egypt  " — that  is,  while  in 
bondage  to  the  body,  forgetful  of  its  Divine  nature — 
and  its  exodus  from  the  state  of  bondage,  even  during 
this  night-time,  towards  the  life  of  true  freedom.     So 
we  read  :    **  Thou  shalt  sacrifice  the  Passover  at  even, 
at  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  at  the  season  that  thou 
camest  forth  out  of  Egypt."  ^     And  again  :    *Mt  is  a 
night  to  be  much  observed  unto  the  Lord  for  bringing 
thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  ^     The  Passover,  in 
fact,    represents    the    foundation    of    the    regenerative 
work  upon  the  soul,  and  the  seven-day  feast  of  Taber- 
nacles the  carrying  on  of  the  work  under  seven  fashion- 
ing powers,  leading  the  pilgrim  soul  to  the  great  con- 
summation.    This  supreme  goal  is  *'  seen  "  on  the  day 
attached  to  the  latter,  the  eighth  day,  with  its  morning 
of  joy.^ 

1   Gen.  ix.  15,  16,  17.  ^  Deut.  xvi.  1-6.  ^  Ex.  xii.  42. 

"*  The  passover,  the  feast  of  the  barley  harvest,  and  the  tabernacles, 
of  the  harvesting  of  the  vine,  divide  the  year  into  two  parts.  They 
may  be  regarded  as  subsumed  under  the  later  feast  of  Pentecost, 
the  feast  of  the  wheat  harvest. 


36     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

These  two  feasts,  the  Passover  and  the  Tabernacles, 
connected  respectively  with  **  evening  "  and  **  morn- 
ing," the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  reincarnation  and  re- 
generation,^ compare  also  with  the  lives  of  Moses  and 
Elijah,  each  with  each.  Moses  was  "  drawn  out  of 
the  water  "  of  the  earthly  Nile  by  Pharaoh's  daughter 
and  trained  by  her  wise  men — signifying  his  substance- 
nature,  **  earth,"  being  uplifted  and  disciplined  under 
the  watchful  care  of  his  higher  Self,  **  heaven,"  - — 
and  then  is  chosen  to  guide  his  people  out  of  the  Egypt 
of  their  earth-bound  lives.  He  succeeds  in  leading  them 
from  the  moment  of  the  first  Passover,  through  the 
soul's  dark  night,  its  **  forty  years  "  of  *'  wandering  " 
in  '*  the  wilderness,"  till  from  **  the  Mount  "  of  spiritual 
exaltation  he  **  sees,"  for  them  as  also  for  himself,  the 
Promised  Land  at  the  dawn  of  coming  Day.  But  it 
is  as  from  afar,  and  not  with  the  near  vision  of  the 
perfected  seer.  On  the  other  hand,  Elijah — the  prophet 
of  fire  who  brings  down  fire  from  heaven,^  who  is 
borne  hither  and  thither  by  the  Spirit  of  Jahveh,  and  at 
the  last  ascends  from  the  earth  in  a  chariot  of  fire  ^ — 
represents  the  **  morning  "  of  the  soul's  true  life  in 
light, ^  and  is  the  herald  and  forerunner  of  all  that  the 
Eighth  Day  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  symbolises. 

^  See  Appendix  II. 

2  The  "  heaven,"  however,  of  the  **  old  "  order.  Hence  when 
Moses  was  of  full  age  he  chose  not  to  be  known  as  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  preferring  to  be  in  the  service  of  "  the  Christ,"  as  recorded 
in  Heb.  xi.  24-26,  and  margin  of  verse  26  (R.V.) 

3  I  iCiM^s  xviii.  38  ;  2  Kings  x.  10,  12.  ^  2  Kings  ii.  11. 

'^  See  The  Mystery  of  Three,  by  E.  M.  Smith,  Elliot  Stock,  1907, 
pp.  145  and  146.  The  same  ideas  had  been  established  in  ancient 
Egypt,  where  Ra,  the  God  One  "  Lord  of  Eternity,"  was  also  "  Ruler 
of  Everlastingness."  (See  Book  of  the  Dead,  tr.  Dr  Budge,  1901  : 
' '  Hymn  to  Ra  when  he  riseth,  from  the  Papyrus  of  Hu-nefer  ;  also 
"Hymn  to  Ra  when  he  setteth,"  Papyrus  of  Nekhtu-  Amen.)  In 
ch.  xvii.  29,  30,  Eternity  is  symbolised  as  the  Day  and  Everlastingness 
as  the  Night.  Isis  and  Nephthys,  daughters  of  Ra,  were  goddesses, 
respectively,  of  Morning  and  Evening,  Spirit  and  Soul-substance,  East 
and  West,  Sun  and  Moon,  Eternity  and  Everlastingness.  (See  ibid., 
the  vignette  of  ch.  xvi.) 


I 


THE  FIRST   DAY  37 

That  the  dense  and  subtile  bodies  of  each  individual- 
ised soul  require  to  be  fashioned  into  a  perfect  organic 
vehicle  of  the  Spirit,  is  affirmed  by  the  Apostle  Paul 
when  declaring  that  though  he  and  the  ^'  brethren  "  he 
was  addressing  were  in  possession  of  the  first-fruits  of 
the  Spirit  as  pledge  of  the  glorious  future,  yet  :  We 
**  groan  within  ourselves  "  as  we  wait  and  long  for 
^*  the  redemption  "  of  our  bodies — that  is,  their  magic 
transmutation  into  purer  forms — so  that  we  may  be 
openly  recognised  as  **  sons  of  God."  ^  In  other  words, 
we  wait  for  the  a-M/xa  {j/vxt-Kov,  the  ordinary  body  of 
flesh  and  blood,  the  outer  and  **  lower  "  powers  of 
soul-substance,  to  be  raised  and  harmonised  with  the 
o-(o/xa  TTvevfjiariKov,  the  inner  and  **  higher  "  powers  of 
soul-substance, 2  so  that  the  whole  substance-nature  of 
the  organism  may  become  an  abiding  vehicle  of  ex- 
pression for  the  TTvevixay  the  Spirit.  By  magic  tran- 
substantiation  **  the  body  of  our  humiliation  "  ^  will 
then  be  conformed  {a-vu/jLopffiov)  with  the  **  image  "  of 
the  ''  glorious  body  "  of  **  the  Son,"  the  Light. 

Gen.  i.  5c  :  *'  One  Day."  Thus  is  expressed  the 
completion  of  the  first  period  of  the  sevenfold,  archetypal 
creation,  seven  being  the  number  of  phases  in  which 
Soul-substance  expresses  the  Life  of  the  Light.* 

The  **  Day  "  is  represented  in  this  verse  as  the  third 

1  Rom.  viii.  23,  19. 

'^  I  Cor.  XV.  44.  It  is  only  from  our  normal  point  of  view  that  these 
terms  "lower"  and  "higher"  are  used.  In  the  Divine  economy 
each  function  must  be  as  important  as  the  other. 

^  Phil.  iii.  21. 

*  Under  the  symbolism  of  Chaldea,  substance  or  matter  is  repre- 
sented by  the  Moon,  Spirit  by  the  Sun,  the  former  being  negative  to 
the  latter.  The  negative  number  of  the  Moon  and  the  positive 
number  of  the  Sun  were  held  to  be  Seven  and  One  respectively.  The 
general  scheme  of  the  first  creation  story  is  based  on  the  idea  of  the 
One  being  expressed  through  the  manifesting  agency  of  the  Seven 
(1X7),  Spirit  through  Soul-substance,  the  Sun  principle  through  the 
Moon  principle,  Light  through  seven  constituent  colours  or  rays  as 
seen  in  the  rainbow  (cp.  Gen.  ix.  15-16). 


38     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

or  inclusive  term  into  which  the  evening  and  the 
morning  resolve  their  powers.  And  so  again,  Moses 
and  Elijah,  representatives  respectively  of  the  evening 
and  of  the  morning  of  the  Soul's  history,  are  the  two 
who  necessarily  appear  at  the  Transfiguration.  They 
are  described  as  **  appearing  in  glory,"  ^  for  they  add 
their  own  radiance — as  of  the  Moon  or  time  order,  as 
also  of  the  ^  timeless  '  order  of  the  rising  Sun — to  the 
Central  Figure  who,  in  relation  to  them,  represents  the 
*'  new  "  -^on,  their  Goal  or  Noon-day  Sun.  Indeed, 
it  is  definitely  stated  that  the  face  of  Jesus  '*  did  shine 
as  the  Sun."  ^ 

On  the  first  ''  day  "  appears  Light,  the  Transcendent, 
Conscious  Power  which  is  essentially  both  eternal  and 
everlasting.  This  day  also  supplies  the  dual  framework 
of  Soul-substance,  the  positive  and  negative  garments, 
through  which  Unitary  Light  is  manifested  when 
immanent  in  the  phenomenal  order.  These  two  modes 
or  conditions  of  Soul-substance  are  acted  on  for  **  three 
days,"  answering  to  the  activities  on  them  of  the  Triune 
Divinity,  until  on  the  Fourth  day  they  prove  to  be 
fashioned  vehicles  suitable  for  the  abode  of  Real  Being, 
Beings  who,  as  Agents  of  the  Supreme  Light,  will  act 
in  a  new  manner  upon  **  the  earth  "  and  the  evolving 
soul  of  verses  i  and  2. 

1  Luke  ix.  31. 

2  Matt.  xvii.  2.  The  Light,  the  Son,  is  represented  in  this  scene  in 
the  Three-in-One  aspect :  Unitary,  as  Light,  Spirit,  and  at  the  same 
time  DuaHstic,  as  Life,  Soul-substance,  the  Three  aspects  being 
essentially  One. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    SECOND   DAY 
Gen.  i.,  verses  6-8 

Gen.  i.  6  ; — "  And  'Elohim  said  :  Lei  there  be  a 
firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  divide 
the  waters  from  the  waters.'' 

Gen.  i.  7  ; — *'  And  ^Elohim  made  the  firmament,  and 
divided  the  waters  which  were  under  the  firmament  from 
the  waters  which  were  above  the  firmament ;  (b)  and  it 
was  so." 

Gen.  i.  8  : — *'  And  ^Elohlm  called  the  firmament 
Heaven,  (b)  And  there  was  evening  and  there  was 
morning,  a  second  day.'' 

The  words  **  And  'Elohim  said  "  precede  the  second 
work  of  creation,  the  work  of  the  second  day  ;  these 
words,  in  fact,  precede  each  of  the  eight  works  of  the 
first  creation  story,  the  calling  into  manifestation  of 
Light  and  the  seven  representative  powers  of  Light. 
In  addition,  they  precede  the  two  works  which  are  to 
be  carried  out  by  the  **  Man  "  of  verses  26  and  27,  the 
seventh  power  of  the  Light,  being  thus  recorded  three 
times  in  connection  with  the  creation  of  ^*  Man," 
making  ten  in  all.  Ten  being  the  number  of  perfection 
and  completeness. 

On  the  first  day  of  creation,  Spiritual  Light  of  the 
Triune  order  was  clothed  in  its  dualistic  framework, 
its  First  type  of  Ideal-Form,  based  on  Twoness,  and 
appears  as  light-darkness,  giving  rise  in  the  phenomenal 
or  soul  order  to  numberless  pairs  of  polar  opposites 

39 


40     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN   GENESIS 

which  thus,  of  necessity,  exist  in  that  order.  And 
now,  on  the  second  day  of  creation,  universal  root- 
substance  is  separated  into  three  modes  or  conditions, 
based  on  Threeness,  and  the  Supreme  Light  clothes 
itself  in  this  triadic  framework,  its  Second  type 
of  Ideal-Form:  described  as  waters  above,  and  waters 
below,  the  two  waters  being  separated  by  a  third 
principle  or  mode,  the  firmament,  lit.  (in  Hebrew),  the 
expanse. 

The  word  *^  firmament,"  used  in  the  translation,  is 
taken  from  the  Latin  word  used  by  Jerome  (331-420), 
its  root  idea  being  stability,  the  word  in  his  day  suggest- 
ing a  solid  vault  within  which  are  the  heavenly  bodies. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  root  of  the  original  Hebrew 
word  means  :  spread  out  by  beating,  the  word  denoting 
something  which  is  stretched,  expansiveness,  or  the 
expanse ;  ^  it  probably  refers  to  Space,  in  contrast  with 
the  first  day's  rhythmic  alternation  of  Night  and  Day, 
or  succession  in  Time. 

The  action  which,  on  the  first  day,  **  divided  "  Unity, 
as  by  a  sharp  sword,  bringing  about  the  Two-mode  of 
manifestation,  establishes  on  the  second  day  a  definite 
habitation  between  super-celestial  waters  and  waters  of 
the  **  earth  "  order.  This  may  at  first  appear  to  be  a 
wall  of  separation  between  the  Divine  order  and  the 
**  earth  "  order,  but  will  prove  to  be  a  bridge,  a  bridge 
of  the  Mind  order,  between  eternal  and  temporal  con- 
ditions, able  to  raise  earth  towards  heaven  and  express 
heaven  upon  earth. 

The  **  waters  above  the  firmament  "  were  apparently 
referred  to  in  passages  such  as  the  following: — **  The 
voice  of  Jahveh  sounds  over  the  great  waters"  :^  the 
eternal  waters  of  the  super-celestial  ocean.     And  again: 

^  This  Hebrew  root  occurs  in  Job  xxxvii.  18,  which  is  rendered, 
"  Hast  Thou  spread  out  the  sky  ?  " 
*  Ps.  xxix.  3  (margin). 


THE   SECOND   DAY  41 

**  Praise  Him  all  ye  heavens,  and  ye  waters  that  are 
above  the  heavens."  ^ 

A  triadic  framework  is  found  in  the  creation  myth 
of  the  Hermes  Trismegistus  tractate  known  as  the 
Poemandres,  or  **  Shepherd  of  Men,"  ^  being  repre- 
sented there  in  terms  of  three  primordial  elements, 
fire,  air,  and  slime  ;  of  these  the  first  corresponds  to  the 
**  waters  above  "  of  the  present  story,  air  is  the  middle 
term,  and  slime  equates  with  the  **  lower  waters." 
Slime,  or  earth  and  water,  is  described  as  follows  in 
paragraph  5: — **  Earth  and  Water  stayed  so  mingled 
with  each  other,  that  earth  from  water  no  one  could 
discern."  ^  The  Talmud,  too,  has  a  tradition,  probably 
received  through  Babylon,  that  before  the  present 
world  of  manifestation  which  is  based  on  four  elements, 
there  were  three  great  elements,  namely,  fire,  air,  and 
earth-and-water  mixed,  and  compares  them  with 
Spirit  or  Wisdom,  light  and  darkness. 

The  work  of  the  second  day  of  creation  describes  in 
pictorial  symbolism  the  universal  manifestation  of  the 
Unitary  Light  in  terms  of  Three  conditions  or  modes. 
The  **  waters  above  "  compare  with  the  eternal,  in- 
tegrating consciousness,  the  mode  of  Spirit ;  the 
**  waters  below  "  with  the  differentiating  consciousness, 
or,  rather,  awareness,  which  is  concerned  with  expres- 
sion through  process  in  time  and  space  :  this  temporal 
mode  of  Soul-substance  is  concerned  with  the  memory  of 
substance  and  the  emotions.  The  **  expanse  "  bridges 
the  gulf  between  the  *^  waters  above  "  and  the  **  waters 
below,"  and  possessing  the  powers  of  both  transmits 
and  explains  one  to  the  other.     It  will  be  seen,  further 

^  Ps.  cxlviii.  4,  Prayer-book  version. 

2  This  pre-Christian  tractate  has  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  oldest 
of  the  Corpus  Hermeticum  ;  it  has  apparently  come  down  from  a  very 
old  tradition. 

3  Thrice- Greatest  Hermes,  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead,  London,  1906, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  5. 


42     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

— and  this  appears  to  be  the  ultimate  meaning  of  the 
creative  work  of  the  second  day — that  this  division  of 
universal  substance  into  Three  modes,  whereby  Whole- 
nesses or  Universals  are  brought  into  relation  with 
Particulars  by  an  Intermediary  Power,  implies  the 
creation  of  the  *  substance  '  of  Mind. 

Anaxagoras  {d.  428  B.C.,  the  year  of  Plato's  birth) 
regarded  the  world-order  as  brought  about  under  a 
threefold  system,  of  Godhead,  Aoyos,  and  Matter  ;  he 
held  also,  that  God,  as  highest  Being,  made  use  of 
Xoyos  or  vovsf  Divine  Intelligence,  as  the  regulative 
principle  of  the  manifested  universe.  He  thus  asserted 
the  ascendency  of  Mind,  and  linked  Mind  with  a  three- 
fold system. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  held  in  various  forms  in 
Egypt,  India,  and  elsewhere  for  many  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era,  appears  to  correspond  to  the  three 
modes  in  which  the  mind  works.  John  Scotus  Erigena, 
one  of  the  most  important  thinkers  of  the  Middle  Ages 
(d.  about  877),  says  :  '*  The  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity 
are  less  modes  of  the  Divine  Substance  than  modes 
under  which  our  mind  conceives  the  Divine  Substance." 
Thomas  Aquinas  {d.  1274)  appeals  to  the  three  root- 
principles  with  which  the  mind  is  connected  when  he 
says  :  **  A  likeness  of  the  Divine  Trinity  is  observable 
in  the  human  mind."  ^ 

In  ancient  India  the  qualities  of  the  mind  were  re- 
garded as  of  three  modes  :  tamas,  fixed  or  enduring  ; 
sattva,  mutable  or  transformable  ;  and  rajas,  active  or 
executive.  These  may  be  compared  as  Sun-Mind,  Moon- 
Mind,  Earth-Mind  :    or  as  Father-Mind,  Mother-Mind, 

^  Quoted  in  Mysticism  and  the  Creed,  by  W.  F.  Cobb,  D.D.,  1914, 
p.  46.     The  Sufi  mystic  Jili  wrote  : — 

**  If  you  say  that  it  (the  Essence)  is  One,  you  are  right  ; 
or  if  you  say  that  it  is  Two,  it  is  in  fact  Two  ; 
Or  if  you  say,  '  No,  it  is  Three,'  you  are  right,  for 
that  is  the  real  nature  of  man." 


THE   SECOND   DAY  43 

Son-Mind.  They  are  analogous  to  the  Three  modes 
of  the  second  day  of  creation,  which  compare  as  God- 
head, the  Breath  or  Voice,  and  the  Son  or  Word  while 
under  the  process  of  Becoming. 

In  a  recent  philosophical  work  we  read  :  **  The 
process  by  which  we  make  our  consciousness  of  im- 
plicit reality  or  implicit  cognition  explicit,  ends  in  the 
formation  of  explicit  consciousness  only  in  so  far  as 
it  resolves  the  subconscious  unity  into  a  triplicity  :  the 
knowing  subject,  the  known  reality,  the  cognition."  ^ 
This  triplicity  compares  with  the  higher  and  lower 
waters  of  the  second  day,  and  with  that  which  links 
and  explains  one  to  the  other. 

To  human  consciousness  the  Mind-realm  is  thus  of 
Three  orders  or  modes.  And  it  would  appear  that  this 
division  of  universal  manifestation  into  Three  inter- 
related conditions  or  modes,  such  as  are  symbolically 
described  on  the  second  day  of  creation,  records  the 
creation,  the  ordering  and  rendering  explicit,  of  the 
framework  and  substance  of  Mind.  This  triplicity  is 
one  of  distinct  qualities,  however,  not  of  separate 
realities.  They  are  not  Three,  but  One  in  the  unity 
of  subconsciousness.  They  are  essentially  One  in  the 
Three-in-One  Consciousness  of  the  Supreme  Light. 

Gen.  i.  7  :  (b)  **  And  it  was  so."  ^  The  Divine  Will, 
expressed  through  the  Divine  Breath,  is  fulfilled  in  and 
by  the  Divine  Operation. 

Gen.  i.  8  :  (b)  *^  And  there  was  evening  and  there 
was  morning,  a  second  day."  The  three  modes,  or 
principles,  of  *  mind-stuff  '  in  which  Light  operates 
as  Mind,  are  perfected  and  rendered  conscious  to  the 
activities  of  Light  in  the  evening  of  the  second  day  of 
creation,  so  that  in  the  morning  of  the  day  it  is  able  to 

1   Know  Thyself,  by  Bernardino  Varisco,  1915,  p.  98. 
■^  In  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  there  is  a  direct  succession  of  some 
sixty  sentences,  all  beginning  with  the  word  "  And." 


44     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

express  itself  through  these  perfected  modes  as  con- 
scious vehicles. 

It  will  be  seen  that  on  the  fifth  day,  that  is,  after 
three  days,  this  triadic  framework  of  vital,  conscious 
mind-substance  is  filled  subjectively  with  "  living  souls  " 
of  the  order  of  Mind,  representative  Powers  of  the 
Three-in-One  Light,  who  express  themselves  through 
these  their  perfected  vehicles  of  the  second  day.  (The 
**  living  souls  "  of  the  fifth  day,  active  Mind  Powers 
of  the  *  noumenal  '  realm,  represent  the  perfect 
**  heaven  "  order  of  creation.) 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  statement :  **  And  'Elohim 
saw  that  it  was  good  "  is  repeated  after  the  creation  of 
only  six  of  the  eight  *  works  '  manifested  during  the 
six  working  days  of  creation.  This  accentuates  the 
number  Six  in  connection  with  the  creative  week.^ 
The  words  **  very  good,"  applied  in  verse  31  to  the 
noumenal  creation  as  a  whole,  are  recorded  immediately 
after  the  completion  of  the  eighth  work,  the  seventh 
power  of  the  Light  of  verse  3,  and  are  probably  in- 
tended to  apply  particularly  to  that  work  as  co-ordinator 
of  the  other  powers  of  the  Light.  In  any  case,  the  only 
work  which  is  not  at  once  followed  by  comment  as  to 
its  being  **  good  "  or  **  very  good,"  is  found  to  be  this 
of  the  second  day  which  we  have  been  considering. 
It  may  have  been  selected  for  omission  because  Mind 
Beings  not  having  yet  been  created,  the  substance  of 
mind  cannot  emerge  from  subconsciousness  into  con- 
sciousness. But  after  the  Light  and  its  powers  are 
fully  manifested,  these  are  all  **  seen  "  to  be  *'  very 
good,"  including,  therefore,  this  work  of  the  second 
day. 

^  See  Ex.  xx.  11  ;   2  Chr.  ix.  18  ;  John  ii.  6-8  ;   also  Appendix  I. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   THIRD   DAY    (i.    EVENING) 
Gen.  i.,  verses  9  and  10 

Gen.  i.  9  :  "And  'Eldhzm  said  :  Let  the  waters 
under  the  heaven  he  gathered  together  unto  one  place, 
and  let  the  dry  land  (lit.,  the  dry)i  appear  :  and  it 
was  so." 

Gen.  i.  10  :  ^^And  'Eldhzm  called  the  dry  land 
(lit.,  the  dry)  Earth  ;  and  the  gathering  together  of  the 
waters  called  he  Seas  :  and  'Elohtm  saw  that  it  was  good." 

On  the  third  day,  in  the  evening  or  earlier  half,  the 
lower  waters  are  separated  from  the  earth  with  which 
they  are  mixed,  so  that  two  distinct  elements,  or 
principles,  appear  in  place  of  one.  Including  the 
firmament  and  the  waters  above  the  firmament,  the 
Triadic  framework  is  found  to  be  replaced  by  a  Tetradic 
framework,  the  creative  principle  changing  from 
Threeness  to  Fourness.^  This  is  the  third  type  of 
Ideal-Form  assumed  by  the  Light. 

The  number  Four  appears  to  be  the  signature  of  the 
material  universe.     In  other  words,  the  creative  Three- 

^  So  also  in  Ps.  xcv.  5  ;   and  (in  the  Greek)  Matt,  xxiii.  15. 

2  "  The  human  race  has  always  had  sacred  numbers  in  religion 
and  philosophic  numbers  in  philosophy.  .  .  .  The  concepts  of 
philosophy  will  always  be  dyads,  triads,  quatriads,  and  the  like,  that 
is  to  say,  an  organic  unity  of  distinction  and  a  correspondence  of 
parts.  ...  If  distinct  concepts  constitute  a  unity,  they  must  of 
necessity  constitute  an  order  or  symmetry  of  which  certain  numbers, 
that  can  be  called  regular,  are  the  expression  or  symbol.  .  .  .  Why 
should  the  Spirit  be  less  rhythmical  and  less  symmetrical  than  the 
starry  sky?"  Logic,  by  Benedetto  Croce,  tr.  Douglas  Ainslie; 
Macmillan,  19 17,  pp.  273-4. 

45 


46     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

in-One  Light  of  verse  3  clothes  itself  in  the  Four-mode 
or  method  of  manifestation  when  expressing  itself 
externally  in  the  worlds  of  differentiation  and  form.^ 

Ezekiel  records  **  visions  of  God  "  seen  by  him  during 
his  captivity  in  Babylon.  In  the  first  of  these  symbolic 
visions  he  sees  **  Fire  infolding  itself."  **  Out  of  the 
midst  of  the  Fire"  appear  ''Four  living  creatures" 
who  are  driven  forth  by  the  Spirit  of  Life  and  go  forward 
as  in  a  flash  of  lightning  to  the  surrounding  firmament, 
following  in  their  movements  the  will  of  the  Spirit  of 
Life.^  The  **  faces  "  of  the  Four  were  those  of 
mythical,  symbolic  creatures  who  were  being  portrayed 
in  Babylon  on  walls  and  sculptured  in  stone  reliefs,  to 
represent  ideas  which  originally  came  from  Chaldea. 
The  "  Fire  infolding  itself  "  is  as  the  unitary  Light  of 
Gen.  i.  3,  which  is  ever  the  eternal  Consciousness  at 
the  heart  of  the  visible  universe.  The  *'  Four  living 
creatures  "  are  described  as  if  the  four  **  fixed  "  signs 
of  the  zodiac,  each  of  which  is  a  ruling  principle  of 
vital  manifestation,  belonging  to  one  of  the  four 
quarters  of  space  ;  from  the  order  in  which  they  are 
recorded  they  appear  to  describe  a  vast  four-armed 
cross  diagonally  drawn  across  throughout  space. ^ 
They  symbolise  the  universe  of  physical  manifestation 
in  a  state  of  vital  activity.  The  vision  appears  to 
declare  that  the  material  universe  is  based  on  an 
organised  Four-principle  which  proceeds  from,  and  is 

^  An  electric  current  in  any  direction  is  always  accompanied  by  a 
magnetic  field  at  right  angles  to  itself,  and  thus  Four  quarters  are 
dynamically  expressed.  (Electricity  and  magnetism  are  modes  of  the 
manifestation  of  light.) 

2  Ezek.  i.,  verses  i,  4,  5,  12,  etc. 

^  As  a  St.  Andrew's  cross.  In  the  Timceus,  36  ff..  Plato  speaks  of 
the  framing  of  the  universe,  and  introduces  the  symbol  of  the  four- 
armed  Greek  letter  x>  which  is  similarly  drawn  to  the  cross  described 
by  Ezekiel,  both  strokes  being  downward,  the  first  across  from  left 
to  right.  In  Rev.  iv.  7  the  same  four  signs  are  named,  not,  however, 
in  the  form  of  a  cross  but  in  sequence,  and  against  the  normal  order, 
for  they  now  represent  the  "  Return  "  from  manifestation. 


THE  THIRD   DAY  :    EVENING  47 

the  external,  living  manifestation  of,  the  One,  invisible, 
eternal  Son  or  Light,  in  His  function  of  Becoming. 

The  Pythagorean  school,^  observing  that  Four  was 
the  first  square  number,  and  that  the  sum  of  this  and 
the  three  primary  numbers  implicit  in  it  is  the  mystery 
number  Ten,^  the  L.C.M.  of  the  same  four  numbers 
being  Twelve,  made  Four  their  great  symbol,  speaking 
of  it  as  the  Holy  Tetraktys.  This  signified  to  them 
Four  essential  principles,  to  which  the  first  Four 
numbers  were  held  to  be  related,  principles  which  they 
regarded  as  the  fount  or  root  of  the  living  universe. 

In  the  symbolic  system  of  Chaldea,  the  first  and 
fourth  of  these  numbers  were  assigned  to  the  Sun. 
In  their  relation  to  each  other,  '*  One  "  is  positive, 
inner,  independent  of  time  and  space,  concerned  with 
integration,  subjective,  and  of  the  order  of  Spirit  ; 
**Four"  is  negative,  outer,  dependent  on  time  and 
space,  concerned  with  differentiation,  objective,  and 
of  the  order  of  Substance. 

In  Egypt,  at  sunrise,  the  One,  eternal  Source  was 
worshipped.  At  sunset.  He  was  praised  in  His  works 
in  the  Four-order,  these  works  being  based  on  the  four 
**  elements  "  which  make  up  the  external  universe. 

In  his  idealistic  philosophy,  Benedetto  Croce  {b.  1866) 
reduces  the  distinct  concepts  to  Four,  namely.  Beauty 

^  Pythagoras,  582-500  B.C.,  both  dates  uncertain.  It  was  said  that 
for  twelve  years  he  studied  the  Chaldean  mysteries  in  Babylon,  and 
then  travelled  in  Egypt  and  Greece  before  starting  his  "  school  "  in 
Crotona,  one  of  the  Dorian  colonies  in  South  Italy.  He  himself  wrote 
nothing,  his  teachings  being  oral. 

-  In  the  Arabic  symbolism  "  ten  "  is  "  10,"  a  Divine  number  which 
specially  relates  to  Origins.  For  "  i  "  symbolises  the  unitary,  eternal, 
Positive,  and  all-inclusive  "  One,"  the  Supreme  Creator  of  the 
manifested  universe,  and  "  0  "  (Nought)  symbolises  the  even  more 
mysterious,  Unmanifest,  Transcendent  Divinity  behind  the  "  One," 
the  Negative  Power,  the  "  Thrice-Greatest  Darkness  "  of  ancient 
Egypt,  who  is  behind  all  manifestation.  (The  use  of  the  Zero  in 
numeration  was  unknown  in  the  West  until  it  was  introduced  from  an 
Arab  source  as  late  as  the  third  century  A.D.) 


J 


48     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

and  Truth,  Usefulness  and  Goodness.  He  also  main- 
tains that  while  each  of  these  four  concepts  is  a  unity 
which  can  be  expressed  by  opposites,  none  of  the  four 
has  an  opposite  to  itself.  Croce  thus  holds  that  there 
are  Four  primary  concepts,  which,  taken  together, 
supply  a  complete  basis  for  the  manifestation  of  the 
One  Reality  in  terms  of  Qualities.^ 

The  symbolism  of  the  Four  and  the  One  appears  also 
in  the  second  creation  story,  in  the  '*  four  rivers  " 
which  proceed  from  the  One  ever-flowing  **  River  " 
between  Eden  and  the  garden,  when  the  subject  of  the 
manifesting  Four-order  will  again  be  considered. 

The  four  **  fixed  "  signs  of  the  zodiac,  as  seen  in 
Ezekiel's  vision  of  creation,  also  represented  in  the 
symbolism  of  Chaldea  the  four  primal  **  elements," 
or  principles,  of  manifestation.  These  root-elements 
are  four  aspects  or  facets  of  One  Substance,  four  methods 
or  states  of  One  Activity.  They  were  symbolised  as 
fire,  earth,  air,  and  water.  We  may  regard  '  fire  '  as 
the  Body  of  Mind,  and  as  consciousness  ;  '  earth  ' 
as  the  Body  of  Form,  and  as  stability  ;  *  air  '  as  the 
embodiment  of  the  Magnetic,  Vital  forces  of  the  body, 
and  as  individuality,  even  as  the  first  drawing  of  the 
breath  of  a  child  is  the  beginning  of  its  separated  life  ; 
and  *  water  '  as  the  Body  or  Substance  of  Soul,  and  as 
plasticity. 

Mind  and  individuality,  like  fire  and  air,  are  the 
obverse  of  each  other  ;  form  and  soul,  like  earth  and 
water,  are  also  the  obverse  of  each  other.  So  here  are 
two  dualities  :  fire  surrounded  by  air,  or  the  individual- 
ising of  consciousness ;  earth  surrounded  by  water,  or 
the  ensouling  of  form.     When  the  four  elements  are 

^  Plato  speaks  of  four  cardinal  virtues  which  comprise  All-Virtue, 
namely,  Wisdom  or  prudence ;  Fortitude  or  courage ;  Temperance, 
moderation,  self-restraint ;  and  Justice,  fairness,  or  the  altruistic 
and  other-regarding  virtues  generally. 


THE  THIRD   DAY:    EVENING  49 

thus  regarded,  as  a  central  core  of  fire  with  an  airy 
surround,  and  again  a  central  core  of  earth  with  a 
watery  surround,  the  two  former  being  positive  to 
the  two  latter,  fire  surrounded  by  air  is  related  to 
Spirit  or  consciousness,  wholeness,  *  timelessness '  and 
**  heaven  "  ;  earth  surrounded  by  water,  to  Substance, 
differentiation,  time-space,  and  ''earth."  Taken  to- 
gether, they  represent  polarities  such  as  Spirit  and 
Substance,  integration  and  differentiation,  timelessness 
and  time,  *'  heaven  "  and  **  earth,"  as  among  the 
manifesting  methods  of  the  Universal  Power,  as  also 
of  man. 

In  verse  10,  the  earth  (lit.,  the  dry)  is  **  called  " 
Earth,  and  the  waters  are  **  called  "  Seas.  In  other 
words,  certain  definite  and  comprehensive  qualities 
are  drawn  out  of  the  **  dry  "  nature,  and  expressed 
outwardly  as  *'  Earth,"  also  out  of  the  moist  nature, 
the  waters,  and  expressed  outwardly  as  **  Seas."  The 
**  Earth  "  spoken  of  is  in  the  *  noumenal  '  realm,  and  is 
the  prototype  and  source  of  the  first  of  the  four  *  king- 
doms '  which  are  to  be  established,  the  Mineral  kingdom. 
And  the  *^  Seas,"  which  also  are  '*  called  "  into  exist- 
ence in  the  '  noumenal  '  realm,  become  the  contributory 
source  of  the  Vegetable  kingdom,  the  second  of  the 
four  kingdoms  which  are  to  be  established.^ 

These  characteristics  are  *'  called  "  forth  from  the 
negative  elements  **  earth  "  and  *'  water,"  and  it 
would  appear  that  this  is  brought  about  by  the  respective 
positive  element  of  each.  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  a 
definite  nature  essentially  belonging  to  the  negative 
element  *  earth  '  is  called  into  activity  (as  **  Earth  ") 
by  its  own  positive  element  *  Fire,'  which  is  of  the 
*'  heaven  "  order,  the  two  being  related  to  each  other 
as   Consequence  to   Cause  ;    similarly,  that  a  definite 

1  The  third  kingdom,  the  Animal,  is  represented  by  the  "  Fire  " 
element;  the  fourth,  the  Human,  by  the  "  Air  "  element. 

4 


50     THE   TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

nature,  essentially  belonging  to  the  negative  element 
**  water,"  is  **  called  "  into  actuality  (as  **  Seas  ") 
by  its  own  positive,  **  heaven  "  element,  '  Air.'  The 
two  former  elements  are  correspondences,  reflections 
from  the  Primal  ideas,  of  Son  and  Father,^  the  two 
latter,  of  perfected  Human  Soul  and  Holy  Ghost. ^ 

When  the  four  root-elements  are  thus  considered  in 
relation  to  the  human  soul,  the  two  latter,  air  and  water, 
lead  it,  ultimately,  during  the  soul's  manifestation,  to 
its  *'  inner  hearing,"  the  two  former,  fire  and  earth, 
to  its  *^  inner  seeing,"  the  hearing  preparing  the  way  for 
the  seeing.^ 

^  John  V.  19  :  "  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  Himself,  but  what  He 
seeth  the  Father  doing  ;  for  what  things  soever  He  doeth,  these  the 
Son  also  doeth  in  like  manner." 

2  Luke  i.  35  :  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the 
power  of  the  Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee." 

^  That  both  these  powers  are  required  by  the  perfected  human  soul 
appears  to  be  stated  as  the  key  to  the  drama  of  the  book  of  /o&,  for 
in  the  last  of  his  many  speeches  (xlii.  5  ;  cp.  xxiii.  8,  9)  Job  declares 
to  Jahveh  the  value  of  his  trials  and  experiences  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

'  *  I  had  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear, 
But  now  [also]  mine  eye  seeth  Thee." 
These  are  as  the  Jacob  and  the  Israel  states  of  the  souJ,  respectively. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   THIRD   DAY    (ii.    MORNING) 
Gen.  i.,  verses  11-13 

Gen.  i.  II  :  '^And  'Elohim  said,  Lei  the  earth  cause 
to  put  forth  grass,  herb  yielding  seed  (lit.,  seeding  seed), 
and  fruit  trees  hearing  fruit  after  the  fruit  tree's  kind, 
in  which  fruit  the  fruit  tree's  seed  is,  upon  the  earth  : 
and  it  was  so." 

Gen.  i.  12  :  ''And  the  earth  sprouting  brought  forth 
grass,  herbs  yielding  seed  after  the  herb's  kind,  and  trees 
bearing  fruit  wherein  is  the  tree's  seed,  after  the  tree's 
kind :   (b)  and  'Elohim  saw  that  it  was  good." 

Gen.  i.  13  :  ''And  there  was  evening  and  there  was 
morning,  a  third  day." 

We  are  in  the  morning  or  second  stage  of  the  third 
day,  at  the  fourth  and  last  work  of  the  first  half  of  the 
six  days  of  creation.  The  '*  Earth  "  of  verse  10  is 
now  highly  transformed,  appearing  as  the  prototype 
of  the  Mineral  kingdom,  the  *  perduring,'  active  basis 
of  manifesting  life.  The  '*  Seas  "  of  verse  lo  are  also 
transformed,  having  contributed  largely  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  prototype  of  the  organised  Vegetable 
kingdom  with  its  regularly  flowing  Sap.  As  may  be 
gathered  from  verses  11  and  12,  this  kingdom  is  based 
on,  and  grows  out  of,  the  Mineral  kingdom.  These 
are  kingdoms  of  the  *  noumenal  '  realm,  archetypes  of 
those  in  the  physical  regions. 

The  mineral  kingdom  has  for  idea — atomicity,  and 
the  essence  of  form  ;    it  is  based  on  **  earth,"  living 

51 


52     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

substance,  which  is  negative  to  the  *  Fire '  principle  or 
element.  In  the  mineral  kingdom,  Spirit  (*  Fire  ') 
plays  into  every  atom  of  its  living  substance,  each 
atom  independent  of  the  others  for  its  existence.^ 
The  vegetable  kingdom  has  for  idea — extension  in 
space,  planted  out  ;  it  is  based  on  **  water,"  which 
is  negative  to  the  *  Air '  principle  or  element.  Plants 
have  not  the  atomic  life  of  the  mineral  kingdom, 
each  part  being  dependent  for  existence  on  one  central 
source  of  life,  the  roots  ;  a  leaf  dies  when  removed 
from  its  roots. 

In  terms  of  consciousness  the  manifested  mineral 
kingdom  represents  wholeness  and  synthesis,  the 
vegetable  kingdom  differentiation  and  analysis.  The 
one  kingdom  is  to  the  other  as  the  Primary  or  out-of- 
time  mode  of  the  One  Reality  to  the  Secondary  or 
temporal. 

If  we  regard  manifestation  as  the  outcome  of  a  series 
of  effluences  from  the  Creator,  we  may  look  on  the 
mineral  world  of  verses  ii  and  12  as  having  received 
a  Spark  of  Fire  from  the  Primary  mode  of  the  Divinity 
(corresponding  to  the  Second  Person)  ;  and  on  the 
vegetable  kingdom  which  proceeds  from  it,  as  possessing 
this  Spark  when  fanned  into  a  new  expression  in  terms 
of  extension  by  a  surrounding  sphere  of  Air  or  Breath, 
the  Secondary  mode  of  Divinity  (corresponding  to  the 
Third  Person)  :  it  may  be  pictured  as  possessing  one 
Spark  enfolded  by  one  Breath. 

Three  divisions  or  principles  of  the  vegetable  kingdom 
are  described  as  the  work  of  the  morning  of  the  third 
day  :  grass,  herbs  and  trees,  the  second  being  a  higher 
expression  than  the  first,  and  the  third  than  the  second  ; 
they  compare  symbolically  with  the  Three  divisions  of 

^  "  Each  atom  is  absolute,  a  species  of  material  God,  v/hich  exists 
by  itself  and  suffices  for  itself."  The  Great  Problems ,  by  Bernardino 
Varisco,  1914,  p.  182. 


THE  THIRD   DAY:    MORNING  53 

the  Mind  system  in  verses  6  and  7.  This  creation  im- 
mediately following  the  **  evening  "  work  of  physical 
manifestation  in  the  Four-order,  appears  to  signify 
a  **  return  "  from  this  manifestation  to  the  Originating 
Source  by  ''  the  Way  "  of  the  Mind. 

On  the  first  day  of  creation,  the  divine  Outbreathing 
proceeds  from  Unity  and  divides  Soul-substance  into 
Ideal-Forms  based  on  a  Dyadic  framework  ;  on  the 
second,  Soul-substance  is  separated  into  Ideal-Forms 
based  on  the  Triad  ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  third 
day,  on  the  Tetrad,  the  outgoing  principle  of  physical 
manifestation.  So  that  the  creation,  in  the  latter 
half  of  this  third  day,  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  with 
its  inward  Three-principle,  would  suggest  that  an  im- 
pulse, such  as  belongs  to  the  Mind  order  with  its  reflex 
activities,  is  communicated  to  the  outward  Four 
principle  of  manifestation,  and  that  this  acts  as  a 
controlling  force  on  the  positive,  outgoing  energy, 
arresting  it,  and  casting  around  it  a  limit  or  boundary. 
This  boundary,  moreover,  acts  as  a  new  force  against 
which  the  continuing  outgoing  energies  impinge,  so 
that  these  now  tend  to  **  return  "  from  the  boundary 
back  to  the  Source. 

When  the  One — the  internal  or  consciousness  side 
of  Light — changes  in  its  mode  and  is  expressed  in  the 
Many,  it  is  connected  with  the  number  Four,  the  number 
of  Light  on  its  external  or  objective  side,  the  signature- 
number  of  the  manifested  universe.  When  the  Many 
are  at  length  checked  in  their  forthgoing  activities  by 
the  control  exercised  by  the  inner  workings  of  the  Mind, 
a  limit  is  set  to  the  outgoing  order,  tending  ultimately 
to  bring  about  a  '*  return  "  of  the  manifested  universe 
to  its  Origin,  and  this  internalising  power  appears  to 
be  represented  by  the  number  Three,  the  signature- 
number  of  the  subjective  or  Mind-consciousness. 

So  we  read  of  Aaron's  rod — representing  the  root- 


54     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

substance,  the  *  timeless,'  spontaneous  order  of  his 
powers,  expressed  explicitly  in  the  Four  mode  of 
manifestation — **  budding,"  ^  that  is,  manifesting  itself 
in  time  conditions  as  the  fruition  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom or  the  "  inner  "  Mind  principle.  This  budding, 
moreover,  is  described  in  Three  stages,  for  the  rod  puts 
forth  buds,  blooms  blossoms,  and  bears  ripe  almonds, 
a  further  symbolic  statement  that  his  powers  were 
being  manifested  in  the  threefold,  inward  way  of  the 
Mind.  For  the  same  reason  was  the  command  given 
to  Noah  with  respect  to  the  Ark,  which  symbolises  his 
own  soul's  externalised  root-substance  :  *'  With  lower, 
second,  and  third  stories  shalt  thou  make  it.^  It  was 
to  be  built  up  during  time  conditions  to  express  the 
One  Reality  in  the  threefold  Mind  order  of  manifesta- 
tion. Hence,  too,  was  Solomon's  temple — signifying 
the  human  soul,  designed  to  become  the  **  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost" — necessarily  in  Three  parts  :  with  its 
porch  leading  to  the  holy  house,  and  this  to  the  most  holy 
house,  each  of  the  Three  being  square  on  plan.^  The 
root-substance  of  man's  nature  is  expressed  in  the 
outgoing  or  Four-order,  and  has  to  be  built  up  so  as  to 
manifest  the  Eternal  in  terms  of  the  inworking  of  the 
Three  mode  of  the  Spiritual  Mind. 

The  mineral  kingdom  with  its  Fourfold  principle 
appears,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  third  day  of  creation  ; 
we  meet  the  same  idea  of  fashioned  root-substance  in 
the  Revelation,  in  the  symbolism  of  the  **  city  "  of  the 
perfectly  fashioned  soul  of  humanity,  as  of  each  human 
soul,  namely,  the  **  holy  city  Jerusalem  "  which  *'  lieth 

'    Numb.  xvii.  8.  ^  Gen.  vi.  i6. 

^  2  Chr.  iii.  3,  4,  8.  The  depth  was  thus  three  times  the  frontage,  or 
side  of  each  square.  The  temple  at  Gizeh,  one  of  the  oldest  temples 
of  Egypt,  dating  from  about  4500  B.C.,  was  also  based  on  the  three 
system,  having  an  outer  court,  an  inner  court,  and  a  holy  of  holies. 
(The  "  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  "  was  taken  over  by  the  Hebrews, 
as  also  of  Babylon,  Chaldea,  Persia.) 


THE  THIRD   DAY  :   MORNING  55 

four-square,"  and  indeed,  is  represented  as  a  Cube.^ 
And  just  as  on  the  same  third  day,  basing  itself  on  the 
Four  of  the  mineral  kingdom,  appears  the  vegetable 
kingdom  with  its  Threefold  principle,  so  in  the 
symbolism  of  the  Revelation  do  we  find  three  sets 
of  portals  in  each  of  the  four  walls  of  the  ^'  holy  city," 
for  we  read  :  **  On  the  east  were  three  gates  ;  and 
on  the  north  three  gates  ;  and  on  the  south  three  gates  ; 
and  on  the  west  three  gates. ^  There  are  thus  Twelve 
gates  leading  into  and  out  of  the  **  holy  city."  The 
same  fact  as  to  Twelve  gates,  three  facing  each  of  the 
four  quarters  of  space,  of  a  **  city  "  whose  symbolic 
character  is  accentuated  by  being  named  **  Jahveh-is- 
there,"  is  also  spoken  of  by  Ezekiel  in  the  last  paragraph 
of  his  writings  ;  ^  as  a  young  man  he  had  probably  been 
a  priest  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  during  his 
subsequent  captivity  in  Babylon  became  familiar  with 
this  form  of  symbolism.* 

So  the  first  creation  story  represents  the  third  day  of 
the  *  noumenal  *  creation  as  being  connected  with  an 
inward.  Threefold  principle  which  succeeds,  grows  out 
of,  and  is  inter-related  with,  an  outward.  Fourfold 
manifesting  principle,  and  we  find  that  a  symbolism 
to  the  same  effect  is  elaborated  by  Ezekiel,  as  also  in 
the  Revelation.  It  seems  to  declare  that  manifestation 
is  based  on  the  Four-principle  of  Matter  which  is 
interpenetrated  by  the  Three-principle  of  Mind,^  hence 
is  necessarily  linked  with  Twelve  (that  is,  three  times 
four)  phases  or  facets,  each  of  which  is  distinct  from, 
and  yet  correlated  with,  the  rest.  The  Twelve,  more- 
over, proceed  from,  and  surround,  their  common 
Centre,   their   immediate   Origin.     Ideas   of  this   kind 

1  Rev.  xxi.  10,  12,  16.  ^  Ibid.y  verse  13. 

3  Ezek.  xlviii.  30-35. 

*  Ezek.  i.  3,  I  ;   2  Kings  jcviv,  12-14  >   597  B.C. 
5  In  the  Mneidy  vi.  724-7,  Virgil  remarks  that  the  world  is  inter- 
penetrated by  Spirit,  and  that  Mind  moves  Mass. 


56     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

appear  to  be  at  the  root  of  the  numberless  references  in 
Bible  symbolism  to  the  Twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  and  the 
rd'ti^y  or  order,  of  the  Twelve  disciples  of  Jesus  ;  ^ 
of  the  allusion  to  "  the  Tree  of  Life,  bearing  Twelve 
manner  of  fruits,  yielding  its  fruit  every  month,"  - 
and  the  *'  Mazzaroth  "  which  are  led  forth  **  in  their 
season,"  ^  namely,  the  living  powers  represented  in  the 
universe  by  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  each  of  which 
is  pointed  out  in  turn  by  the  Sun  for  thirty  days  of  the 
year.  Such  ideas  give  new  meaning  to  the  fact  that 
the  Solar  Year  is  represented  by  Twelve  revolving 
months  which  grow  out  of  the  four  quarters  or  seasons, 
three  from  each  quarter.  In  each  of  these  cases 
**  the  Twelve  "  manifest,  in  detail  and  as  a  whole,  the 
living  purpose  and  characteristics  of  their  common 
Origin. 

The  breastplate  of  the  high  priest  was  set  with  four 
rows  of  stones,  three  different  stones  being  in  each  row.* 
Clement  of  Alexandria  saw  in  this  a  symbol  of  the  four 
seasons  of  the  year  and  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the 
zodiac.^ 

The  least  common  multiple  of  the  numbers  i,  2,  3,  4, 
namely,  12,  is  the  smallest  whole  number  which  allows 
the  systematic  expression  of  ideas  which  are  related 
at  the  same  time  to  the  externalising  Four-principle  of 
Substance  and  the  internalising  Three-principle  of  Mind 

^  **  *  The  twelve  *  is  the  constant  name  for  .  .  .  the  immediate 
circle  of  disciples,  and  is  used  in  all  four  Gospels  (in  all  thirty  times), 
also  in  Ads  vi.  2  ;  i  Cor.  xv.  5  ;  and  Rev.  xxi.  14.  .  .  .  It  is  clear 
that  the  number  was  determined  by  the  number  of  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel.  See  Matt.  xix.  28  ;  Luke  xxii.  30  ;  Acts  vii.  8,  xxvi.  7  ; 
James  i.  i  ;  Rev.  vii.  5f,  xii.  i,  xxi.  I2f,  xxii.  2." — Mysticism  and  the 
Creed,  by  W.  F.  Cobb,  D.D.,  pp.  383  and  385.  In  the  O.T.,  see  Ex. 
xxiv.  4,  xxviii.  21  ;  i  Kings  xviii.  31 ;  Ezra  vi.  17.  James  dedicates 
his  epistle  (i.  i)  "to  the  twelve  tribes  which  are  scattered  abroad." 

2  Rev.  xxii.  2, 

'   Job  xxxviii.  32. 

*  Ex.  xxviii.  17-20. 

'^  Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library,  vol.  xi.,  p.  224. 


THE  THIRD  DAY  :   MORNING  57 

or  Spirit.  The  number  12  appears,  therefore,  as  the 
number  of  organised  manifestation. 

The  third  day  of  the  first  creation  story  is  important 
from  yet  another  point  of  view.  The  Unitary  Light, 
the  Son,  who  proceeds  forth  into  the  phenomenal 
regions,  imparting  to  them  Light  and  Life,  ever  remains 
the  innermost  principle  of  manifestation,  whether 
regarded  as  Unity  or  clothed  in  the  order  of  the  Dyad, 
or  Triad,  or  Tetrad.  The  sum  of  these  representative 
numbers  is  Ten.^  On  the  third  day  these  varying 
powers  are  attained,  and  they  co-exist.  On  the  third 
day,  therefore,  the  One  who  is  the  **  Dweller  in  the 
Innermost  "  within  the  phenomenal  universe,  sub- 
jectively possesses,  throughout  this  objective.  Twelve- 
fold Soul-Garment,  powers  of  the  Spiritual  Conscious- 
ness which,  according  to  the  symbolism  of  the  story 
before  us,  are  linked  with  the  number  Ten. 

The  number  Ten  has  especial  significance  in  Biblical 
symbolism  as  a  number  of  completeness  and  of  sub- 
jectivity. So  we  find  that  in  all  ten  generations 
(toldoth)  are  recorded  in  the  book  of  Genesis  ;  that 
Noah — the  story  of  whose  Regeneration  is  recorded  in 
symbolic  detail — is  the  tenth  generation  from  the 
Creator  along  the  Adam-Seth  line,  and  that  Abraham, 
the  first  of  the  Hebrew  Patriarchs,  is  the  tenth  genera- 
tion from  Noah.  In  a  dramatic  passage  we  read  that 
Jahveh  promises  Abraham  that  an  **  evil  "  city  will 
not  be  destroyed  if  **  ten  "  righteous  are  found  within 
it  ;  2  in  other  words,  it  is  declared  that  the  **  city  " 
of  the  individual  soul  only  truly  lives  when  its  subjective 

^  The  * '  f ulfiiment  "  of  a  number  was  held  to  be  the  sum  of  the 
series  of  numbers  from  i  up  to  its  value  ;  thus  the  fulfilment  of  4  is 
10,  of  10  is  55,  of  17  is  153,  of  100  is  5050. 

2  Gen.  xviii.  20-33.  According  to  Jewish  ideas,  ten  formed  a 
company,  so  that  where  ten  Jews  were  living  in  one  place,  there  was 
a  congregation,  and  there  a  synagogue  ought  to  be  built.  The  length, 
on  plan,  of  the  diagonal  of  Solomon's  temple  was  the  length  of  the 
side  of  any  of  its  three  component  squares  X  Vio. 


58     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

Self  is  established  as  the  controlling  focus  and  nucleus 
of  its  organised  content,  its  twelvefold  objective  self. 

The  Genesis  story  of  the  Flood  describes  the  spiritually 
dead,  and  tells  of  an  advanced  soul  with  its  sevenfold 
living  powers — represented  by  Noah  and  his  family  of 
seven — being  baptised  in  living  waters,  and  thereby 
set  on  **  the  Way  "  of  the  life  regenerate.  Immediately 
before  the  Flood,  Jahveh  fixes  the  life  of  **man"  on 
earth  at  *'  an  hundred  and  twenty  years."  ^  This  is 
a  passage  with,  of  course,  symbolic  meaning,  for  it  is 
recorded  that  Noah  lived  **  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  "  after  the  Flood,  or  seven  times  the  **  jubilee  " 
number  of  fifty  years.^  The  number  120  is  the  product 
of  12  and  ID,  Twelve  representing  the  evolving  human 
soul  in  the  temporal,  objective  order  (**  earth  "),  and 
Ten,  the  subjective  consciousness  of  the  soul's  true 
Ruler  in  the  *  timeless  '  order,  the  order  of  Spirit 
C  heaven  ").  The  soul  first  comes  under  the  law  of 
Fate,  of  necessity,  the  opportunities  of  its  earth-lives 
allowing  it,  if  the  soul  so  chooses,  ultimately  to  free 
itself  from  the  restrictions  of  the  lesser  law.  When 
its  nature,  its  substance  (12),  is  cleansed  and  perfected 
in  the  world-order,  so  that  it  is  in  harmony  with  its 
true  Self,  hence  able  to  ^*  increase  and  multiply  "  (  x) 
and  render  glorious  the  Self  of  the  Spiritual  order  (10), 
it  is  then  that  by  Divine  Power,  newly  granted  **  from 
Above,"  the  soul  transcends  these  bonds,  rising  into 
the  higher  order,  the  order  of  Regeneration.  It  is  in 
this  sense  that  the  life  of  man  **  on  earth  "  is  fixed  at 
**  an  hundred  and  twenty  years."  ^ 

The  number  of  persons  present  at  the  election  to 
complete  the  number  of  the  disciples  after  the  falling 
away  of  Judas,  was  '*  about  a  hundred  and  twenty."  ^ 

1   Gen.  vi.  3.  ^   Gen.  ix.  28. 

3  It  is  significant  that  Moses,  "  the  servant  of  Jahveh,"  "was  an 
hundred  and  twenty  years  old  when  he  died."     Deut.  xxxiv.  5,  7. 
*   Acts  i.  15. 


THE  THIRD   DAY:    MORNING  59 

This  is  the  number  found  in  the  story  of  Noah,  and 
appears  to  have  the  same  symbolic  purport.  It  directs 
attention  to  the  key  idea  that  the  risen  and  ascended 
Christ  is  as  the  unseen,  Subjective  Self  of  the  Ten- 
order,  and  that  **  the  Twelve,"  at  length  organically 
perfected,  as  implied  by  the  Pentecostal  gift  of  the  Spirit 
being  bestowed  a  few  days  after  the  election,  are  about 
to  be  enabled  fully  to  express  on  earth  the  Self  of  the 
eternal  order.  This  consummation  is,  indeed,  the  goal 
set  before  the  collective  soul  of  humanity,  as  also  before 
each  of  its  individualised  units. 

The  ancient  tradition  that  the  Twelve  signs  of  the 
zodiac  were  originally  Ten  in  number  appears  to  wrap 
up  the  idea  that  behind  the  objective  Twelve-order  of 
the  zodiac  is  the  Originating  subjective  Consciousness — 
this,  in  relation  to  the  Twelve,  being  of  the  Ten-order. 

Hebrew  Kabalists  held  that  the  22  letters  of  their 
alphabet  were  specially  adapted  to  express  Divine 
perfection,  22  being  the  sum  of  Ten  and  Twelve, 
numbers  which  symbolise  the  Primary  or  subjective 
and  the  Secondary  or  objective  elements,  respectively, 
of  the  Divine  nature.  They  developed  this  idea  in 
their  system  of  Gematria.  This  system  was  also 
applied  to  22  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet, ^  the 
earlier  Ten  of  the  letters  being  regarded  as  positive 
to  the  remaining  Twelve  letters  which  are  relatively 
negative  ;  the  number  values  of  the  latter  are  20,  30, 
40,  and  so  on  to  100,  the  remaining  three  being  200, 
300,  and  400.  These  values  are  seen  to  be  assigned 
in  an  orderly,  natural  way.  It  will  be  found  that  the 
^*  fulfilment  "  of  ten,  the  sum  of  the  first  Ten  values, 

^  The  Greek  letters  of  the  alphabet  being  commonly  used  to  denote 
numbers,  each  word  has  a  number-value,  the  sum  of  its  letter-values. 
This  idea  was  expanded  by  certain  writers,  and  applied  to  key-phrases 
with  identical  number-value,  so  as  subtilely  to  suggest  a  correspondence 
between  them.  The  number-valuation  about  to  be  described  is  known 
as  the  Milesian  system.     The  first  Ten  letter- values  are  i  to  10. 


6o     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

is  55,  whose  digits  total  lo,  and  again  i  ;  and  that  the 
sum  of  the  remaining  Twelve  values  is  1440,  whose 
digits  total  9.  These  totals  are  complementary  to  one 
another,  the  sum  of  their  digits  being  19  and  so  10  and 
i.^  So  that  the  sum  of  the  Ten  and  of  the  Twelve 
values  is  represented  by  Unity,  just  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Ten  values,  but  it  is  an  intenser  unity  with  a  **  new  " 
and  more  highly  organised  order  of  content. 

The  sum  of  the  objective  Twelve  values,  namely 
1440,  is  twelve  times  120,  the  number  spoken  of  in  the 
story  of  the  Flood.  It  re-appears  in  an  intensified 
form  in  Rev.  xiv.  i,  where  we  read  of  the  number  of 
the  **  redeemed  "  as  being  144,000.  This  is,  of  course, 
a  mystical  number  as  well  as  a  mystical  saying.  As 
a  number  it  is  based  on  10  and  12,  and  is  10  times 
120x120  or  10^X122.2  As  a  saying  it  implies  that 
the  **  redeemed  "  include  all  such  human  souls  as  are 
perfectly  fashioned  in  the  world-order  for  the  complete 
expression  of  the  Divine  Purpose,  in  the  two  modes, 
positive  and  negative,  subjective  and  objective,  of  the 
nature. 

With  regard  to  the  symbolism  of  the  '*  trees  bearing 
fruit  wherein  is  the  tree's  seed  after  the  tree's  kind," 
the  fruit  of  a  tree  is  its  organic  output,  just  as  what  a 
man  does  is  the  organic  utterance  and  outcome  of  his 
inner  life,  and  not  something  that  is  fastened  on 
fortuitously  from  without.^     We  may  proceed   to   try 

1  A  similar  result  is  obtained  if  the  letters  are  numbered  con- 
secutively from  I  to  22,  as  in  the  Orphic  or  Pythagorean  system  of 
Gematria,  This  early  system  was  applied  to  22  of  the  letters  of  the 
Greek  alphabet,  and  seems  to  have  been  adopted  for  certain  of  its 
key-phrases  by  the  mystic  school  of  thought  represented  by  the  Fourth- 
Gospel. 

-  The  raising  of  a  symbolic  number  to  its  second  or  higher  power 
was  held,  in  the  Pythagorean  and  Gnostic  schools,  to  represent  high 
grades  of  attainment. 

^  Cp.John  XV.  2. 


THE  THIRD   DAY  :    MORNING  6i 

and  interpret  the  fact  that  the  fruit  of  a  tree  grows  on 
its  branches,  and  not  on  its  roots. 

The  sap  of  a  tree  contains  the  self-creative  force. 
In  winter  sap  flows  down  to  the  roots  in  the  earth  ; 
in  spring  the  sap  rises.  Winter-time  may  be  taken  to 
signify  normal  human  life,  when  the  branches,  corres- 
ponding to  past  earth-lives,  are  silent.  Spring-time 
would  then  signify  the  dawn  of  spiritual  consciousness, 
when  the  **  life  "  of  the  man  rises  into  his  own  **  body 
of  resurrection." 

In  summer,  that  is,  in  a  high  ^'  heaven  "  of  spiritual 
consciousness,  the  branches  awaken,  and  the  capacities 
of  all  the  earth-lives  are  experienced.  The  conscious- 
ness is  drawn  away  from  normal  earthly  things,  and 
directed  to  the  true  meaning  of  the  life  of  all  the 
branches ;  this  helps  the  fruit,  preserving  its  seed 
within,  to  form  and  ripen  on  the  branches. 

At  Great  Birth  the  seeds  are  sown  on  earth  again, 
the  personal  life-force  stored  in  them  replenishing  the 
world. 

Gen.  i.  13 :  ''And  there  was  evening  and  there  ivas 
morning,  a  third  day." 

In  the  evening  of  the  *'  third  day,"  the  Four  root- 
principles  or  elements  are  established  in  the  '  noumenal  ' 
realms,  whereby  the  Light  of  verse  3  is  clad  in  the 
raiment  of  the  material  universe.  These  four  principles 
are  summed  up  in  the  mineral  kingdom  of  which  each 
atom  may  be  held  to  possess  its  first  Light-spark,  its 
monadic  principle,  from  the  *'  Fire  "  of  the  Cosmic 
Father.  From  this  kingdom  as  basis  springs,  on  the 
morning  of  the  day,  the  Vegetable  Kingdom,  ^  which 
signifies,  as  we  have  seen,  the  arrestation  of  the  Out- 

1  The  vegetable  kingdom  is  perhaps  best  symbolised  by  a  Tree,  its 
highest  mode  of  manifestation.  A  tree  is  frequently  used  as  a  symbol 
of  the  individualised  human  soul. 


62     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

going  into  manifestation,  followed  by  the  impulse  and 
tendency  to  the  Incoming  from  manifestation  :  the 
Return.  It  is  as  if  the  Spark  implanted  in  the  mineral 
kingdom  is  fanned  by  the  Breath  of  the  Cosmic  Mother, 
and  appears  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  as  a  vital  flame 
which  directs  the  awareness  of  the  substance-nature  to 
self-realisation  within,  following  the  self-realisation 
without.^  So  the  **  third  day  "  of  the  first  creation 
story  appears  to  supply  an  important  key  to  the  general 
plan  and  purpose  of  creation. 

It  has  been  seen  that  in  the  evening,  or  beginning,  of 
each  of  the  first  three  days  of  creation,  there  is  a  putting 
forth  of  the  Substance  or  objective  mode  of  the  One 
Reality  in  the  particular  framework  or  scheme  which 
belongs  to  the  day,  and  in  the  morning  of  the  same  day 
this  differentiated  substance  is  rendered  actively  con- 
scious in  terms  of  its  scheme.  As  we  proceed  we  shall 
find  that  each  of  the  next  three  days  is  concerned 
with  the  corresponding  manifestation — as  if  from  within 
the  perfected  frameworks  of  the  earlier  three  days — of 
Archetypal  Beings,  representatives  of  the  Spirit  or 
subjective  mode  of  the  One  Reality,  whose  activities 
are  expressed  through  these  respective  environments. 

The  earlier  three  days  are  thus  linked,  even  in  the 
*  noumenal  '  realm  of  the  first  creation  story,  with  the 
necessary  **  fall,"  or  detachment,  of  Substance  from 
the  whole,  or  complete,  state  of  Unity.  During  the 
second  period  of  three  days,  the  fall  of  Substance  is 
succeeded  by  the  **  ascent  "  or  **  return,"  whereby  the 
dissociated  parts  are  vitalised  and  co-ordinated  by  the 
conscious  activities  of  indwelling  Spirit,  till  ultimately, 
on  the  seventh  day,  they  are  harmoniously  integrated 
to  a  Unity,  a  Unity  which  is  more  intense  and  whose 

^  Hence  a  tree  becomes  a  symbol  of  the  soul  regenerate  also,  for 
the  "  Return  "  leads  to  Regeneration,  the  central  theme  of  religion. 


THE  THIRD   DAY  :    MORNING  63 

Content  more  varied  and  vivid  than  before  the 
process. 

Bergson  has  a  suggestive  passage  which  seems  to 
bear  on  this  :  *'  Matter,  the  reality  which  descends, 
endures  only  by  its  connection  with  that  which  ascends. 
But  life  and  consciousness  are  this  very  ascension."  ^ 

We  shall  find,  moreover,  that  the  creative  work  of 
any  of  the  first  three  days  is  complemented  and  fulfilled 
**  after  three  days."  For  example.  Substance  mani- 
fested or  created  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  appears 
on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  as  vessel  filled  with  life 
and  suitably  environed  for  self-manifestation.  The 
frequent  phrases  **  three  days,"  **  the  third  day," 
in  Bible  symbolism,  appear  to  relate  to  Substance  being 
unified  with  Spirit,  its  own  positive  mode,  and  rendered 
truly  conceptive  and  Self-conscious  in  its  activities  at 
a  definite  stage  after  it  is  put  forth  into  manifestation, 
a  stage  connected  with  the  symbolism  of  the  number 
Three.  The  **  three  days  "  represent,  indeed,  the 
creative  work  upon  the  soul  by  'Elohim  in  His  Triune 
nature.^ 

When  Moses  was  appointed  to  lead  his  people  out 
of  Egypt,  that  is,  away  from  a  state  of  bondage  to  the 
Four  or  objective  order  of  bodily  life,  he  was  instructed 
to  ask  permission  to  take  them  a  **  three  days' 
journey,"  ^  that  is,  to  the  stage  when  at  length  their 
Substance-nature,  with  all  its  detailed  parts  purified 
and  rendered  **  virgin,"  would  be  vitalised  into  a  new 
wholeness  of  organised  perfection  by  the  operation  of 
the  spiritual  Mind.     Jesus  said  :    '*  They  clamour  for  a 

^  Creative  Evolution,  by  Kenri  Bergson,  London,  Macmillan,  191 1, 
p.  390. 

^  Theophilus  of  Antioch  writes  : — "  The  three  days  which  elapsed 
before  the  creation  of  the  luminaries  are  a  type  of  the  Trinity,  that  is, 
of  God,  His  Word,  and  His  Wisdom."     {Ad  Autolyciim.) 

^  Exod.  iii.  18.  The  regular  route  to  Sinai  involved  a  three-days' 
journey  without  local  water.  The  objective  fact  was  used  to  evoke 
suggestions  along  higher  levels  of  thought. 


64     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

sign,  but  none  shall  be  given  them  except  the  sign  of  the 
prophet  Jonah.  For  just  as  Jonah  was  three  days  and 
three  nights  in  the  sea-monster's  belly,  so  will  the  Son 
of  Man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth."  ^  During  the  **  three  days  "  period  the  Sub- 
stance-nature undergoes  subtile  changes  in  the  world 
order,  in  the  process  of  being  fashioned,  in  detail  and 
as  a  whole,  for  the  supreme  happening  of  being  cast 
out  on  the  further  shore,  the  shore  of  Regeneration  ; 
the  Spirit  is  waiting  during  the  world-process  for  this 
great  consummation,  the  birth  **from  Above."  Ac- 
cusers of  Jesus  bore  witness  that  they  had  heard  Him 
say  :  **  I  will  destroy  this  temple  that  is  made  with 
hands,  and  in  three  days  I  will  build  another  made 
without  hands."  ^  Under  the  power  of  the  Transcend- 
ing Light,  in  '*  three  days  "  the  temple  of  the  body  is 
purified  and  transformed  into  the  living  temple  of  the 
resurrection-body,  when  it  becomes  the  vehicle  of  the 
Spirit.  And  again,  when  the  child  Jesus  was  Twelve 
years  old  He  was  found  in  the  temple — **  My  Father's 
house  " — after  **  three  days."  ^ 

It  would  seem,  too,  that  the  wonder-working  **  third 
day,"  so  often  spoken  of  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures 
and  the  New  Testament,  is  ultimately  a  reference  to 
the  day  when  the  Spiritual  Consciousness  is  able  to 
take  up  its  enduring  abode  in  the  soul's  fully  prepared 
vehicles,  the  dense  and  the  subtile,  thereby  quickening 
and  raising  their  powers.  So  Hosea  writes  :  **  After 
two  days  He  will  revive  us  ;  on  the  third  day  He  will 
raise  us  up."  ^  The  mystic  marriage  at  Cana  of 
Galilee  was  on  **  the  third  day."  ^  Jesus  said,  **  On 
the  third  day  I  " — the  phenomenal  I — **  am  perfected."^ 
On  the  **  third  day,    .    .    .   very  early  after  sunrise   .    .    . 

1  Matt.  xii.  40  ;  lit.,  of  (the)  Man.     ^  Mark  xiv.  58.     ^  Luke  ii.  46. 
*   Hosea  vi.  2,  3.  ^   John  ii.  i.  ^  Luke  xiii.  32. 


THE  THIRD   DAY:    MORNING  65 

they  saw  the  stone  was  rolled  away."  ^  The  change 
takes  place  on  the  third  day,  the  day  of  the  soul's  entry 
into  the  Divine  Triune  order,  when  the  sun  arises  ^*  with 
healing  ^  in  his  wings."  Consciousness  is  joyously 
active  throughout  the  whole  nature,  for  substance 
and  spirit,  time  and  eternity,  the  particular  and  the 
universal  explain  and  understand  one  another,  being 
in  mutual  harmony. 

1  Mark  xvi.  2-4.     See  also  Appendix  II. 
^  See  footnote,  p.  98. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    FOURTH    DAY 

Gen.  i.,  verses  14-19 

Gen.  i.  14  :  '*And  'EldMm  said,  Let  there  be  lights 
in  the  firmament  of  the  heaven  to  divide  the  day  from  the 
night ;  and  let  them  he  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for 
days,  and  for  years.  15  :  And  let  them  he  for  lights 
in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth : 
and  it  was  so." 

Gen.  i.  16:  ''And  'Eldhtm  made  the  two  great 
lights ;  the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser 
light  to  rule  the  night:  (b)  he  made  the  stars  also. 
17  :  And  'Eldhim  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  heaven 
to  give  light  upon  the  earth,  18  :  And  to  rule  over  the 
day  and  over  the  night,  and  to  divide  the  light  from  the 
darkness :    (b)  and  'Eldhim  saw  that  it  was  good." 

Gen.  i.  19  :  "And  there  was  an  evening  and  there 
was  a  morning,  a  fourth  day." 

The  works  of  the  third  day  were  based  on  the  tetradic 
principle  which  appeared  as  a  development  from  the 
triadic  principle  of  the  second  day — this,  in  its  turn, 
being  a  development  from  the  dyadic  light-darkness 
of  the  first  day.  But  now  a  complete  change  occurs, 
for  the  work  of  the  fourth  day  is  not  based  on  the  works 
of  the  preceding  day,  the  third,  but  primarily,  not 
wholly,  on  the  light-darkness  of  the  first  ;  the  work  of 
the  fifth  day  is  based  primarily  on  that  of  the  second, 
and  the  two  works  of  the  sixth  day  on  the  two  of  the 
third.     We  also  read,  on  the  fourth  day  apparently, 

66 


THE  FOURTH   DAY  67 

certainly  on  the  fifth  and  sixth  days,  of  Beings  with 
Self-conscious  life.  It  would  appear,  as  already 
suggested,  that  the  third  day  marks  the  final  putting 
forth,  in  the  *  noumenal  '  realm,  of  Substance,  the 
objective,  negative  mode  of  the  Triune  Light,  and  that 
the  works  of  the  following  three  days  are  connected 
with  the  activities,  by  means  of  this  specialised  and 
organised  Substance  as  its  vehicles,  of  Consciousness, 
the  subjective  or  positive  mode  of  the  Light,  the 
several  frameworks  or  ground-plans  or  typal  Ideal- 
Forms  of  creation  as  prepared  on  the  first  three  days, 
being  vitalised  and  animated — in  each  case  after  three 
days — by  corresponding  expressions  of  moving,  con- 
scious life. 

The  fourth  day  which  we  are  about  to  consider 
appears,  therefore,  to  mark  the  beginning  of  the  second 
part  of  the  drama  of  the  unveiling  and  revealing  of 
Conscious,  Active  Light  :  the  Divine  *^  Son  "  of  the 
Triune  Creator. 

On  the  first  day,  the  Primal  Light  was  **  divided  " 
from  darkness,  light  appearing  in  the  light-darkness 
order,  for  the  unfoldment  and  manifestation  of  the 
*  noumenal  '  or  spiritual  realm  in  the  phenomenal  or 
soul  order,  is  necessarily  connected  with  Duality  or 
Relativity,  hence  with  Consciousness  and  Substance. 
During  three  days  this  **  darkness  "  of  the  light- 
darkness  order,  signifying  root-substance  in  the  negative 
state,  the  state  of  zmconscious  activity,  absorbs  the 
living  light  into  its  root-substance  ;  this  becomes  so 
permeated  with,  and  transformed  and  organised  by, 
light,  that  it  is  able  to  reflect  and  refract  it.  The  light 
of  the  light-darkness  order,  on  the  other  hand,  signifying 
root-substance  in  the  positive  state,  the  state  of  con- 
scious activity,  is  able,  after  three  days,  to  transmit 
light  im-mediately.  This  transformed  positive  sub- 
stance is  now  suitable  as  the  abode  of  Real   Being, 


68     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

Beings  who  will  transmit  divine  light  directly.  The 
transformed  and  organised  negative  substance,  light's 
reflector,  is  also  suitable  as  the  abode  of  Real  Being, 
Beings  who  will  transmit  divine  light  reflectively. 
These  two  repositories  of  light,  literally,  light-bearers, 
light-bodies,  are  set  in  the  **  expanse  "  of  the  Mind- 
order,  which  is  above  the  **  waters  below  "  of  the  second 
day,  so  as  to  give  light  in  their  two  modes,  **  greater  " 
and  ^*  lesser,"  direct  and  indirect,  to  the  lower  waters, 
to  serve  and  be  used  there  '*  for  signs  and  for  seasons  " 
and  as  time-measurers.  (The  Hebrew  word  'oth,  trans- 
lated *^  sign,"  means  a  symbol  or  index.)  ^  These  two 
light-bearers,  to  be  compared  with  the  Sun  and  the 
Moon,  fashioners  of  the  seasons  and  also  time-measurers 
for  the  regions  of  duality,  are,  essentially,  enformed 
Intelligences,  Archetypal  Beings  of  the  spiritual  order. 
They  are  set  in  the  **  heaven  "  region  of  the  Mind 
consciousness, 2  to  serve  thence  as  living  representa- 
tives of  eternal  truths,  being  Vicegerents,  respectively, 
of  the  Second  and  Third  Persons  of  the  Trinity. 
Modulating  the  transcendent  Light  of  verse  3,  they 
act  as  Father-Mother,  Sun-Moon  ^  to  the  life  upon 
the  lower  waters.^ 

It  should  always  be  remembered  that  the    story  is 

^  The  Greek  word  for  "  sign,"  amxeiov,  frequently  occurs  in  the 
fourth  gospel,  and  in  the  A.V.  is  often  rendered  "  miracle,"  usually 
with  obvious  injury  to  the  sense,  as  in  iii.  2,  vi.  26,  vii.  31,  and  else- 
where. It  is  correctly  translated  "  sign  "  in  the  R.V.,  meaning  a 
symbol,  sometimes  a  symbolic  or  magical  rite  or  ceremony. 

-  Verse  8a.  ^  See  Gen.  xxxvii.  9,  10. 

*  Philo-Judaeus,  writing  On  the  Creation  of  the  World,  in  about 
40  A.D.,  says  : — '*  Moses  tells  us  .  .  .  that  the  lights  of  the  firmament 
.  .  .  were  created  also  for  signs,  that  is,  that  they  might  display  signs 
of  future  events."  (C.  D.  Yonge,  London,  Geo.  Bell  &  Sons,  1900,  xix.) 
On  this  point,  the  general  view  of  Plotinus,  about  two  centuries  later, 
is  of  interest : — "  We  may  think  of  the  stars  as  letters  being  cease- 
lessly .  .  .  rearranged  in  such  a  way  that  while  they  do  their  own 
work  in  the  universe  they  also  signify  to  us  .  .  .  The  universe  is  full 
of  signs,  and  the  wise  man  is  the  man  that  reads  the  reality  from  the 
symbols."     {Enneads  II.  3,  7,  tr.  Stephen  MacKenna,  vol.  i.,  p.  153.) 


THE  FOURTH   DAY  69 

dealing  in  symbol  with  the  *  noumenal  '  creation,  and 
not  describing  objective  manifestation  as  we  know  it. 
Though  the  terms  employed  may  appear  to  allude  to 
physical  happenings,  they  apply  rather  to  the  pre- 
existent,  essential  activities  in  the  inner  worlds,  which 
are  the  basis,  the  ground,  of  such  happenings. 

The  two  lights,  together  with  the  '*  stars  "  of  verse  16 
(to  be  considered  later),  will  bring  into  manifestation 
the  eternal  types  or  patterns  or  ideals  after  which  all 
things  will  be  fashioned  in  the  subjective  and  the 
objective  worlds.  Mythology  makes  the  two  lights  of 
heaven  a  god  and  a  goddess,  Shamash  and  Sin,^  but 
in  Genesis  the  two  lights  are  not  named.  Encompassing 
and  pervading  them  is  the  Transcendent  Light. 

In  regard  to  the  human  soul,  the  **  two  great  lights  " 
of  verse  16  are  essentially  the  two  modes  of  conscious- 
ness, its  inherent  possessions,  which  are  connected  with 
all  grades  of  manifestation  and  activity.  The  **  greater 
light,"  related  to  Sun  consciousness,  acts  after  the 
spontaneous,  direct,  cosmic  mode  of  the  Second  Person 
of  the  Triad.  The  **  lesser  light,"  related  to  Moon 
consciousness,  acts  after  the  mode  of  the  Third 
Person  of  the  Triad,  the  Great  Mother,  reflecting 
and  refracting  light,  and  manifesting  it  in  time, 
space,  and  materiality  in  terms  of  reason,  sequence 
and  process. 

An  early  chapter  of  Genesis  records  that  Lamech, 
the  seventh  in  descent  from  Adam  along  the  Cain  line, 
had  two  wives  :  Adah  and  Zillah,  these  names  meaning 

^  Bauer  derives  from  Shamash,  the  sun,  Shimeon,  or  in  Aramaic 
Shimun,  hence  Simon.  Sin  is  Selene,  Latin  Luna,  hence  Helen  as 
of  Troy  and  other  Moon  goddesses  of  Egypt,  Phoenicia  and  elsewhere. 
Sin  was  a  late  name  of  the  Moon-god  or  goddess  among  the  Semites. 
The  so-called  "  Epic  of  Creation  "  of  Babylon  speaks,  in  the  fifth  of 
its  seven  i  ablets,  of  the  creation  of  the  Sun-god  and  the  Moon-God, 
also  of  the  stars,  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  the  twelve  months  of  the 
year.     (L.  W.  King,  Seven  Tablets  of  Creation^  London,  1902.) 


70     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

**  brightness  "  and  **  darkness."  ^  They  probably 
symbolise  his  attainment  in  an  early  degree  of  the 
two  modes  of  consciousness,  corresponding  to  the  light 
half  and  the  dark  half  of  the  lunar  month,  whose 
meanings,  analogous  to  those  of  the  two  *'  light- 
bearers  "  of  verse  i6,  ultimately  link  with  Spirit  (or 
Mind  or  Consciousness)  and  Soul-substance.  It  will 
also  be  remembered  that  Paul  compares  Abraham's 
two  wives,  Sarah  and  Hagar,  the  one  to  '*  the  Jerusalem 
above  "  ('*  heaven  "),  the  other  to  *'  the  Jerusalem  that 
now  is  "  (**  earth  "),  and  these  again  to  **  the  Spirit  " 
and  **  the  flesh  "  (or  substance). ^  Sarah  and  Hagar 
are  thus  types,  respectively,  of  *'  the  greater  "  and 
''  the  lesser  "  light.^ 

In  the  Pistis  Sophia  Gabriel  is  the  angel  of  the  Moon, 
and  Michael  of  the  Sun.  They  are  not  actually  so 
designated  in  the  New  and  Old  Testaments,  but  these 
descriptions  will  apply  to  what  is  said  there  con- 
cerning them.  Gabriel,  as  angel-messenger  between 
the  Divine  and  the  phenomenal  worlds,  announces  the 
coming  birth  of  John  the  Baptist  to  Zacharias,^-  and  is 
the  angel  of  the  Annunciation  to  Mary.'^  In  the  book 
of  Daniel  his  function  is  the  same,  for  he  causes 
mundane  happenings  to  be  understood  by  revealing 
the  Divine  in  them.^  He  prepares  the  world  to  receive 
and  manifest  the  Solar  Power.  On  the  other  hand, 
**  Michael  the  archangel"  contends  with  the  devil,' 
and  '*  Michael  and  his  angels,"  as  light  -  powers, 
oppose  and  cast  down  the  dragon  and  his  angels,  the 

^   Gen.  iv.  19,  20.  ^  Gal.  iv.  25,  26,  29. 

^  Sarah's  son  represents  Regeneration,  Hagar's  Reincarnation. 
See  also  Appendix  II. 

*  Luke  i.  II,  19.  °  Luke  i.  26. 

^  Dan.  viii.  I5f,  ix.  211.  In  the  third  century  A.D.  Porphyry 
(the  Syrian)  pointed  out  that  Daniel  was  a  pseudonymous  document 
written  about  165  B.C.,  and  Renan  and  Cornill  have  maintained  the 
same,  the  latter  dating  it  January  164  B.C. 

'   JiidCf  verse  9. 


THE  FOURTH   DAY  71 

powers  of  '*  darkness."  ^  In  the  book  of  Daniel, 
Michael  twice  contends  for  the  Jews  against  Persia, 
and  appears  in  a  greater  struggle  **  at  the  time  of 
the  end."  ^  In  all  these  passages  Gabriel  would 
correspond  to  the  angel  of  the  Moon,  Michael  to  the 
angel  of  the  Sun. 

Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  states  that  the  followers 
of  Mani  represented  the  Moon  and  the  Sun  as  two  ships 
by  which  the  soul  journeys  to  the  world  of  Light.  The 
soul  is  first  bathed  in  the  **  good  waters  of  the  Moon," 
by  which  all  gross  impurities  are  removed  ;  it  is  then 
transferred  to  the  Solar  boat,  where  '*  the  good  fire 
of  the  Sun  "  consumes  all  inner  impurities,  leaving  it 
bright  and  luminous.^ 

When  the  individualised  soul  is  being  purified  and 
fashioned  in  the  earlier  or  '*  evening  "  stage  of  its 
earth-lives,  the  *'  lesser  light  "  takes  an  active  part  in 
preparing  *'  the  Way  "  for  the  coming  of  the  **  greater 
light  "  in  the  **  morning,"  for  Soul-substance  requires 
to  be  organised  as  **  a  temple,"  that  Spirit  may  take  up 
its  abode  there  and  express  itself  through  it.  So  the 
John  the  Baptist  in  us,  the  Moon  mode  of  our  conscious- 
ness, calls  to  us  while  we  are  **  in  the  wilderness  "  of 
our  self-involved  earth-lives,  to  repent  and  be  cleansed, 
declaring,  moreover  :  *'  He  that  cometh  after  me  is 
mightier  than  I.  ...  I  indeed  baptise  you  with  water. 
He  shall  baptise  you  with   .    .   .   fire."  * 

Another  saying  of  John  the  Baptist  bears  on  this 
subject  of  the  respective  influences  of  **  the  two  great 
lights"  on  soul-substance:     *^  He  must  increase  and 

1   Rev.  xii.  7.  "  Dan.  x.  13-21  ;   xii.  i. 

3  De  Haeres,  c.  46  ;  also  Epiphanius  and  others. 

^  Luke  iii.  16.  In  the  Enncad  I.  2,  4,  Plotinus  maintains  that 
Cleansing  the  soul  dispels  the  darkness  around  it,  and  brings  it  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  image  or  picture  of  the  Divine  Reality  which  has 
always  been  imprinted  on  it,  so  that  the  soul's  sight  is  henceforth 
directed  to  the  Original  of  the  image. 


72     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

I  must  decrease."  ^  It  will  be  remembered  that  John 
the  Baptist's  day  and  Christmas  Day  are  six  months 
apart  (within  a  day).  They  form  important  epochs 
of  the  year,  falling  as  they  do  at  the  solstices  which 
divide  the  year  into  two  equal  periods.^  During  the 
six  months  from  the  Summer  solstice  or  John  the 
Baptist's  day  (when  the  earth  in  its  orbit  is  furthest 
from  the  sun),  to  the  Winter  solstice  or  Christmas 
Day  (when  the  earth  in  its  orbit  is  nearest  to  the  sun), 
the  length  of  the  Night  in  north  latitudes  increases, 
so  that  daylight  decreases.  We  may  say,  therefore, 
as  regards  northern  latitudes,  that  these  six  months 
come  under  the  increasing  dominance  of  the  Moon 
principle  :  the  ^*  lesser  light,"  or  **  evening  "  ;  in 
other  words,  that  during  this  period  the  activities  of 
**  the  two  great  lights  "  upon  the  soul  in  these  **  lower 
waters  "  are  effective,  primarily,  in  terms  of  the  in- 
fluences of  the  **  lesser  light."  This  cries  out  with  no 
uncertain  voice,  calling  the  soul  to  **  repentance  "  and 
the  purification  of  its  substance-nature. 

On  the  other  hand,  during  the  following  six  months, 
from  Christmas  Day  ^  to  John  the  Baptist's  day,  the 
length  of  the  Day  in  north  latitudes  increases,  the 
nights  decreasing.  This  corresponds  to  the  condition 
alluded  to  in  the  second  of  the  two  sayings  of  the  Baptist. 
In  north  latitudes  these  six  months  come  under  the 
chief  rule  of  the  Sun  principle  :    the  **  greater  light," 

1  John  iii.  30.  The  word  translated  "must"  is  Se?,  literally,  it 
is  necessary  from  the  standpoint  of  the  spiritual  order.  The  writer 
is  treating  the  matter  from  the  subjective,  inner  view.  Augustine, 
bishop  of  Hippo,  points  out  that  the  statement  is  true  in  the  phenomenal 
order  as  well,  and  occurs  year  after  year  in  the  solar  cosmos,  as  is 
about  to  be  described. 

2  The  solstices  occur  at  the  turning-points  of  the  earth's  elliptic 
orbit  round  the  sun,  at  the  two  ends  of  the  major  axis,  when  the  sun 
appears  to  stand  still  (hence  the  word  '  solstice  ')  for  three  days. 

^  25th  December  was  a  Roman  festival  of  the  birthday  of  the 
Sun — "the  Unconquered  one."  This  date  was  appointed  in  the 
sixth  century  A.D.  to  commemorate  the  birth  of  Jesus. 


THE  FOURTH   DAY  73 

or  **  morning."  Moreover,  as  **  morning  "  follows 
**  evening  "  in  the  six  working  days  of  the  first  creation 
story,  so  the  ^*  fire  "  (Spirit)  or  Sun  principle  **  cometh 
after,"  and  is  **  mightier  "  in  its  power  of  transforma- 
tion than,  the  **  water  "  (Substance)  or  Moon  principle. 
This  accords  with  the  statements  in  the  earlier  saying. 
Substance,  the  Soul,  is  brought  under  the  time-process 
and  prepared  as  a  pure  and  perfect  **  temple,"  that  Spirit, 
proving  it  a  resting  place,  may  abide  there  and  glorify  it. 
That  which  occurs  objectively  year  by  year  upon  the 
earth  during  its  revolution  round  the  sun,  is  a  symbolic 
happening  which  must  have  its  correspondences  and 
due  interpretation  and  application  in  the  subjective 
regions  of  consciouness.  It  cannot  be  a  fortuitous 
circumstance,  for  example,  that  the  great  religions — 
most,  if  not  all,  of  which  appear  to  have  arisen  in 
latitudes  north  of  the  equator  ^ — have,  as  a  rule, 
collected  the  most  sacred  of  their  festivals,  to  which 
the  others  appear  to  lead  the  way,  within  the  six  months 
of  the  year  which  in  such  latitudes  come  specially  under 
the  governance  of  the  Sun  principle. 

Gen.  i.  16  (b):    "He  made  the  stars  also." 

The  root-idea  of  the  word  **  star  "  is  a  raying  forth. 

A  star  is  a  raying  forth  of  light  from  the   Supernal 

Light.     Stars  represent  the  splitting  up  of  the  Universal 

Intelligence  into  many  Light-rays  or  Ideas, ^  each  star 

^  The  earth  is  a  magnet.  Can  it  be  that  the  North  Pole  of  the  earth 
and  that  of  the  sidereal  universe  are  connected  with  the  Positive  or 
consciousness  element  of  our  nature,  and  their  South  poles  with  the 
Negative  or  substance  element,  and  that  in  relation  to  these  stand 
the  sun's  poles  oppositely  charged  ? 

2  Plato  has  a  suggestive  passage  in  the  TimcBus  41  v^^hich  bears 
on  this: — **  And  when  He  had  framed  the  universe,  He  distributed 
souls  equal  in  number  to  the  stars,  and  assigned  each  soul  to  a  star." 
(It  will  be  noted,  further,  that  Plato  speaks  here  of  the  framing  of  the 
universe,  followed  by  its  ensouling,  and  this  is  the  subject-matter  of 
the  first  three  days  and  of  the  second  three  days,  respectively,  of  the 
present  creation  story.) 


74     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

bringing  to  light  and  proclaiming  a  clear-cut  Idea 
proceeding  as  from  the  eternal,  archetypal  Beings  of  the 
spiritual  universe. 

Chaos  or  Matter  is  potentially  a  prism  which  refracts 
the  great  Light- Source,  splitting  up  the  Supernal  Light 
into  stars,  or  the  Supreme  Consciousness  into  Ideas. 
As  matter  or  substance  becomes  organised  and  develops 
mind,  its  power  as  a  prism  grows.  As  we  clarify  our 
minds  they  become  as  living,  organic  prisms  which 
act  with  increasing  precision  and  detail.  The  more 
definite  and  authentic  our  ideas,  the  more  accurate  and 
mathematical,  the  more  will  they  focus  Light  from  the 
Supreme,  till  *  sleeping  stars  '  slip  on  their  livery  of 
light.  The  more  exact  the  form,  the  closer  the  corres- 
pondence between  the  Son  (or  Form,  Prism,  Expression, 
Becoming)  and  the  Father  (or  Light,  Life,  Love, 
Understanding). 

It  is  very  probable  that  *'  the  stars  "  in  this  verse 
refer  also  to  the  planets,  or  rather,  to  the  seven  repre- 
sentative planets.^  In  such  case  they  would  appear  to 
signify  *'  ideas  "  which  are  definite  facets  or  phases  of 
the  '*  greater  light,'*  their  immediate  Source,  char- 
acteristics which  belong  to  the  angels  of  these  planets. 

Gen.  i.  17  :  "And  'Elohim  set  them  "  (the  two  great 
lights  and  the  stars)  **  in  the  expanse  of  heaven  to  give 
light  upon  the  earth." 

The  two  luminaries  and  **  the  stars  " — the  seven 
representative  planets  in  particular,  as  well  as  the 
fixed  stars  generally — are  set  on  high  in  the  **  expanse  " 
between  the  higher  and  lower  waters,  to  reflect  and 
refract  the  living,  conscious  Light  of  the  solar  cosmos 
and  of  the  universe  upon  the  lower  waters,  so  that  the 
activity  of  **  earth,"  root-substance,  shall  become  a 
conscious  activity.  The  destiny  of  the  earth  appears 
to  be  linked  with  the  process  of  in-volving  consciousness 

^  Cp.  Rev.  i.  20. 


THE  FOURTH   DAY  75 

more  and  more  in  every  grade  of  matter,  and  ultimately 
developing  in  root-substance  such  a  high  state  of 
adaptability  and  responsiveness,  that  true  *  Self  '- 
consciousness  shall  be  possible  whenever  Spirit  is 
clothed  with  ?,'Iatter. 

Gen.  i.  18  (b) :  "  And  'Elohim  saw  that  it  was  good." 

The  two  great  lights  (Divine  Beings),  aided  by  ''  the 
stars  "  (Ideas  from  the  spiritual  universe),  are  seen 
by  the  Creator  to  be  effective  for  transforming  **  earth  " 
from  its  primitive  state  of  *Markness,"  that  is,  of  un- 
consciousness during  activity,  and  for  enlightening  and 
vitalising  its  powers  of  awareness  and  consciousness. 

Gen.  i.  19:  ''And  there  was  an  evening  and  there 
was  a  morning,  a  fourth  day." 

If  we  consider  the  story  of  the  fourth  day  in  its 
application  to  the  human  soul,  we  may  say  that  the 
two  luminaries  and  **  the  stars  "  react  upon  it,  the 
**  lesser  light  "  taking  the  more  active  part  in  the 
evening  of  the  soul's  experience,  preparing  the  way  for 
the  coming  activity  of  the  ^*  greater  light  "  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  the  soul  is  vitalised  and  rendered  self-moving. 
The  works  of  the  evening  and  morning  are,  later, 
subsumed  into  a  higher  Unity. 

The  fashioned  soul  will  possess  the  perfected  powers 
of  both  orders  of  consciousness,  the  Moon  mode  and 
the  Sun  mode.  Ultimately — not,  however,  on  the 
fourth  day,  though  foreshadowed  on  that  day — these 
two  Powers  will  be  caught  up  into,  and  transfigured  by, 
a  supreme  Third  Power.  In  the  soul's  Moon  or  ^*  even- 
ing "  mode,  consciousness  is  as  the  centre  within,  the 
body  or  mass  as  the  sphere,  or  rather,  ovoid,  which 
surrounds.  1  In  the  soul's  Sun  or  **  morning  "  mode, 
consciousness  is  in  the  spherical  surround,  the  body  as 

^  **  Wherever  matter  e;trists,  God  sw&sists  as  its  imprisoned  essence." 
See  Contemplations^  by  W.  L.  Wilmshurst,  London,  J.  M.  Watkins, 
1 91 2,  p.  24.     Spinoza  brought  this  idea  into  prominence  in  his  day. 


76     THE  TWO    CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

the  point  of  focus  within.  When  the  Spiritual  Con- 
sciouness  is  actually  realised  by  a  particular  human 
soul  as  the  supreme  power  in  control,  it  may  be  spoken 
of  as  the  ''  Christ,"  or  ''  the  Light,"  in  him.i  This  is 
as  the  measureless  Radius  of  the  human  soul's  wheel 
of  evolution,  which  has  crossed  the  swirling  chaos  of 
atoms,  transforming  chaos  into  cosmos  and  rendering 
the  soul  a  Vehicle  for  the  Spirit.  This  Divine  principle 
or  power,  when  incarnate  and  active  in  the  fashioned 
human  soul,  co-ordinates  the  soul's  two  modes  of 
consciousness  and  establishes  Its  kingdom  over  them, 
increasing  their  **  power  "  and  **  glory,"  the  Three 
becoming  indissolubly  One. 

We  read  in  the  New  Testament  of  the  radiance  of 
the  **  two  light-bearers"  being  dimmed  by  the  efful- 
gence of  an  all-embracing,  unifying  Power.  "  The 
sun  will  be  darkened,  the  moon  will  not  shed  her 
light.  .  .  .  Then  will  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of 
(the)  Man  in  the  heaven."  ^  In  the  supreme  state  of 
the  soul,  its  dual  modes  of  consciousness  will  appear 
to  be  **  darkened  "  in  contrast  with  the  effulgence  of 
the  Light-beams,  the  Consciousness,  of  **  The  Son  of 
(the)  Man  "  (that  is,  of  the  heavenly  **  Man  ")  ^  when 
He,  **  the  Christ,"  the  true  Light, ^  appears  in  glory  to 
reign  over  the  kingdom  of  the  fashioned  soul.  This 
great  happening  befalls  on  the  Eighth  Day,  when  the 
outlook  is  no  longer  concerned  with  personal  fate 
but  with  Great  or  Cosmic  Fate.  The  heaven  and  the 
earth  of  the  old  order  pass  away  and  are  replaced  by  a 
new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  The  powers  as  of  the 
Moon  and  of  the  Sun  are  henceforth  exercised  by  the 

^  ".  .  .  this  '  mystery  '  .  .  .  which  is  :  Christ  in  you."  {Col.  i. 
27).  Cp.  "  The  light  which  lighteth  every  man  as  he  cometh  into  the 
world."  {John  i.  9  and  margin.)  This  essential  truth  is  at  the  heart 
of  every  religion. 

2  Matt.  xxiv.  30,  31.  ^  Ch.  ix.,  Gen.  i.  27. 

^  These  three  terms  are  used  as  synonyms  in  JoJm  xii.  34-36,  R.V. 


THE  FOURTH   DAY  77 

soul,  not,  as  hitherto,  partially  and  constrictedly,  but 
in  an  all-inclusive,  yet  distinctive  and  harmonious 
manner,  the  total-self  of  the  fashioned  soul  joyfully 
and  with  full  understanding  contributing  to  the  world- 
drama  of  real  events  the  perfected  fruition  of  its  own 
agelong  history  in  the  world-order,  its  unique  char- 
acteristics. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE   FIFTH    DAY 

Gen.  i.,  verses  20-23 

Gen.  i.  20  :  "  And  'Eldhim  said:  Let  the  waters  bring 
forth  abundantly  the  moving  creature  that  hath  life,  and 
let  fowl  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  open  expanse  of  heaven." 

Gen.  i.  21  :  ''And  'Eldhim  created  (the  emphatic 
verb  bdra'  is  once  again  used,  as  in  Gen.  i.  i)  "  the 
great  sea-monsters,  and  all  kinds  of  souls,  the  living  and 
moving,  which  the  waters  swarmed  forth  after  their  kind^ 
and  all  winged  fowls  after  their  kind.''  (b)  *'  And 
'Eldhim  saw  that  it  was  good." 

The  word  bdra'y  **  created,"  now  used  for  the  second 
time,  appears  to  point  to  the  Second  of  the  Three  aspects 
of  the  Triune  Creator,  as  being  the  particular  mark  of 
the  creative  work  of  the  Fifth  day,  its  use  in  verse  i 
having  emphasised,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Third  aspect. 

Under  the  creative  Will  and  Word,  the  triadic  frame- 
work of  the  second  day,  the  second  type  of  Ideal-Form 
— symbolised  as  lower  waters,  the  expanse,  and  the 
waters  above  the  expanse — **  swarms,"  after  three 
days,  with  moving,  living  creatures  who  breathe  or 
inhale  life,  being  possessed  of  nephesh  khayyah,  living 
breath.  The  triadic  framework  of  mind-substance, 
'  mind-stuff,'  is  thus  complemented  and  completed 
in  the  *  noumenal  '  realm  by  the  creation  of  Mind-Beings 
of  corresponding  orders,  who  use  this  prepared  mind- 
substance  as  their  vehicle  of  expression. 

78 


THE  FIFTH   DAY  79 

The  leviathan,  great  **  sea-monsters,"  ^  and  winged 
fowl  represent  in  their  life  and  movement  modes  of 
Mind.  They  are  Lords  of  Types  of  the  **  heaven  " 
order.  Archetypal  Intelligences  who  manifest  life  in 
one  of  the  three  modes  of  Mind,  each  creation  express- 
ing itself  in  numberless  terms  after  its  own  kind  or 
mould.  The  creations  below  the  expanse  are  related 
to  the  normal  mind,  emotional  nature  and  passions  ; 
the  creations  in  the  open  expanse  to  the  heights 
of  Reason,  and  those  above  the  expanse  to  Mind  of  the 
Divine  order. 

These  **  moving  creatures,"  symbolised  as  fish  and 
as  birds,  who  inhale  living  breath  and  express  life 
according  to  the  medium  they  work  in,  have  this  in 
common,  that,  whether  the  medium  fs  water  or  air, 
their  movements  are  continually  adjusted  by  a  poising 
of  themselves,  by  which  means,  while  rising  superior 
to  the  complex  circumstances  of  their  environment, 
they  preserve  their  own  harmony. 

The  use  of  the  harmonising  power  of  Poise  is  an 
essential  characteristic  of  beings  of  the  fifth  day,  who 
are  of  the  Mind  or  *'  heaven  "  order,  and  gives  the  key 
to  the  conduct  of  human  life.  Poise  is  not  in  any  way 
connected  with  indifference.  Passion  has  to  be  felt, 
and  when  this  is  conserved  and  uplifted,  the  soul  gains 
in  power.  Poise,  or  dispassion,  is  the  high  composure 
of  the  whole  nature,  whose  desires  are  intense,  and  yet 
for  the  time  are  without  direction,  for  direction  is 
conditioned  by  personality  and  the  normal  mind.  It  is 
a  state  of  true  inner  tranquillity,  attained  through 
conscious  effort  of  the  mind  and  will  during  the  storm 
and  stress  of  a  life  of  action.     The  soul  is  uplifted  into 

^  The  Hebrew  word  is  derived  £rom  a  verb  meaning  to  stretch,  and 
is  used  to  denote  any  great  monsters  ;  as,  for  example,  serpents  in 
Exod.  vii.  9,  crocodiles  in  Isai.  xxvii.  i,  dragons  in  Jev.  li.  34.  The 
"whale"  of  Jonah  i.  17  was  a  "sea-monster,"  apparently  of  the 
Archetypal  order. 


8o     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

a  region  of  calm,  its  own  '*  high  mountain,"  and  lives 
awhile  in  that  rare  air.  Refreshed  by  these  **  heaven  "- 
filled  moments,  it  **  comes  down  "  and  contributes 
these  high  characteristics  to  the  activities  of  the  world 
order. 

We  in  the  West,  with  our  active  lives,  do  not  usually 
realise  the  power  of  poise,  stillness,  solitude,  and  all 
such  things.  We  should  recognise  that  from  one 
point  of  view  it  is  not  necessary  to  rely  on  anything 
outside  ourselves  for  contentment,  and  should  at  suitable 
periods  *^  shut  the  door  "  against  the  world  without  and 
seek  for  the  kingdom  within.  All  religions  have  in- 
sisted on  such  retreats  into  *  the  Silence,'  for  those 
who  desire  to  lead  the  true  life  practically.^  When 
the  normal  reason  is  used,  everything  is  resolved  into 
a  sequence  of  ground  and  consequence.  But  when 
the  temporal  self  is  in  touch  with  its  true  Self,  the 
higher  judgment,  balanced,  stilled  and  full  of  power, 
comes  into  play  :  the  consciousness  alters  its  register, 
attuning  the  man  to  the  magic  sweep  of  cosmic  events 
and  raising  him  into  a  larger  and  fuller  life.  The 
**  heaven  "  of  the  nature  being  contacted  in  the  midst 
of  the  stress  of  daily  life,  the  personal  self,  refreshed 
and  revived  in  its  whole  being,  is  enabled  forthwith 
to  do  its  part  with  joyful  serenity  in  bringing  into 
actuality  the  aspiration  :  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in 
heaven,  so  on  earth." 

These  ''great  sea-monsters,"  ''winged  fowl,"  and 
living  and  moving  beings  of  the  waters  above  "  the 
expanse,"  are  Typal  "  living  souls,"  Mind-Beings, 
who  inhale  and  express  life  in  terms  of  the  three  modes 
of  Mind,  and  represent,  as  a  whole,  the  supreme  work 

^  The  '  Silence,'  Sige,  is  personified  in  the  pre-Christian  Tris- 
megistic  tractates  of  Egypt  as  the  Wisdom  and  Spouse  of  God.  The 
*^Key"  speaks  of  "Holy  Silence."  The  Poemandres,  para.  31, 
says: — "  O  Thou  unutterable,  unspeakable,  whose  Name  naught 
but  '  The  Silence  '  can  express." 


THE  FIFTH   DAY  8i 

of  creation  on  its  **  heaven  "  side.  On  the  next  day 
of  the  creative  work,  the  sixth  and  last,  appear  other 
**  living  souls  "  who  represent  the  supreme  work  of 
creation  on  its  '*  earth  "  side. 

Gen.  i.  21  (b):  "And  'Elohim  saw  that  it  was  good.'' 
These  Lords  of  Types  of  the  ^*  heaven  "  order — teeming 
expressions  of  life  created  (after  three  days)  within 
the  triadic  framework  of  the  second  day — are  '*  seen  " 
to  be  perfect  in  their  several  spheres. 

Gen.  i.  22:  ^^  And  'Elohim  blessed  them,  saying. 
Be  fruitful  and  multiply,  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas, 
and  let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth." 

The  importance  of  the  creative  work  of  the  fifth  day, 
shown  by  the  use  of  the  forcible  verb  hdra' y  **  created," 
in  verse  21,  is  still  further  emphasised  by  the  fact 
of  the  **  blessing  "  on  the  morning  of  the  day.  This 
is  the  first  blessing  during  the  creative  week.  To 
**  bless  "  is  to  state  the  High  Destiny  which  is  in  store, 
a  Destiny  related  to  Great  Fate,  Cosmic  Fate.  The 
utterance,  moreover,  by  'Elohim  of  the  blessing  actively 
evokes  the  capacity  in  these  Beings  to  increase  the 
powers  of  their  Mind-consciousness,  and  thus  they 
become  able  to  fit  themselves  for  this  Destiny. 

These  great  Beings  are  directed  to  multiply  their 
particular  powers  within  the  higher  and  lower  waters 
and  the  open  expanse  above  the  earth,  the  three  elements 
or  mind-principles  connected  with  the  work  of  the 
second  day.  As  they  fulfil  their  own  part  in  the  living 
work  connected  with  these  three  modes  or  conditions 
into  which  root-substance  is  separated,  so  will  they  rise 
with  these  powers  to  the  supreme  heights,  whereby  the 
mind-principles  of  the  lower  waters  and  of  the  firma- 
ment will  be  harmoniously  linked  with  the  waters  above 
the  expanse,  the  creative.  Spiritual  Mind  of  the  Divine 
order. 

The  **  heaven  "  order  of  creation  which  comes  under 

6 


82     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN   GENESIS 

the  blessing  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day,  expresses 
the  Three-principle  of  the  second  day  in  Vital  activity, 
and  is  the  basis  of  ideas  such  as  :  **  The  Way,  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life."  The  same  is  implied  in  the 
Hermetic  tractates  of  Egypt,  where  we  read  :  *'  There- 
fore am  I  called  Hermes,  the  Thrice-Greatest." 

The  blessing  of  the  fifth  day  will  again  be  dealt  with 
after  the  blessing  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  has 
been  considered. 

Gen.  i.  23  :  "  And  it  was  evening,  and  it  was  morning 
— a  fifth  day.'* 

The  evening  of  the  day  prepares  the  way  for  the 
fruitage  and  harvest  of  the  morning  to  which  the 
blessing  is  attached,  and  the  High  Destiny  which 
crowns  the  creative  v>^ork  of  the  fifth  day. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    SIXTH    DAY 
Gen,  i.  24-31,  and  ii.  i 

Gen.  i.  24  :  "  And  'EloMm  said,  Let  the  earth  bring 
forth  living  souls  after  their  kind  "  (that  of  these  living 
beings),  "  cattle^  and  creeping  animals,  and  the  wild 
beast  of  the  earth  after  its  hind :   and  it  was  so." 

Gen.  i.  25:  "And  'Eldhtm  made  the  wild  beast 
of  the  earth  after  its  kind,  and  cattle  after  its  kind,  and 
all  creeping  animals  of  the  ground  after  their  kind: 
(b)  and  'Elohim  saw  that  it  [was)  good." 

We  are  at  the  evening,  the  beginning,  of  the  sixth 
day.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  the  creative 
work  in  the  *  noumenal  '  realms  was  the  objective 
manifestation  of  **  earth,"  root-substance,  in  terms 
of  four  principles  or  *  elements,'  known  symbolically 
as  fire  and  air,  earth  and  water.  This  living,  sub- 
stantial framework,  this  organised  environment  or 
*  body,'  of  the  third  type  of  Ideal-Form  assumed  by 
the  Light,  is  now,  after  three  days,  filled  at  the  creative 
word  with  **  living  souls,"  nephesh  khayyah,  whose 
consciousness  is  expressed  through  these  four  'elements.' 
They  are  also  described  as  of  three  orders,  for  they  have 
three  kinds  of  power  :  of  behemoth,  or  great  dumb 
animals  who  express  themselves  by  activity,  of  rentes, 
and  of  khayyah.  The  root  of  the  word  remes  is  a  verb 
meaning  to  move,  of  khayyah  is  a  verb  meaning  to 
live.  The  symbolism  appears  to  declare  that  this 
creative  work  establishes  in  the   *  noumenal  '   realms 

83 


84     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

**  living  souls,"  environed  within  a  body  or  vehicle 
complementary  to  their  own  positive  natures,  who 
consciously  manifest  the  Four  mode  in  terms  of  activity, 
motion  and  emotion,  and  the  will  to  live.^ 

These  **  living  souls  "  are  Divine  Animals  of  the 
*^  earth  "  or  Four  order.  Lords  of  Types  who  corre- 
spond to  the  **  four  living  creatures  "  of  Ezekiel  and 
Revelation,  where  they  are  symbolised  as  the  four 
**  fixed  "  signs  of  the  zodiac.^  They  consist  of  four 
(outgoing)  Elemental  groups,  each  of  which  has  three 
(incoming)  kinds  of  power,  corresponding  to  the  three 
phases  of  the  Mind-order.  They  have  thus  a  Twelve- 
fold manifestation,  each  of  these  Twelve  expressions 
having  both  an  outward  or  objective  (earlier)  as  well 
as  an  inward  or  subjective  (later)  aspect.  This  was 
doubtless  understood  in  connection  with  the  living 
groups  of  the  universal  order  known  as  the  Twelve 
signs  of  the  zodiac,  whose  essential  purport  and  true 
understanding  have  unfortunately  in  large  measure 
been  lost  to  us. 

In  Ezekiel's  first  vision,  the  '*  four  living  creatures  " 
are  seen  to  support  above  their  heads,  the  firmament 
intervening,  the  likeness  of  a  Throne  on  which  appears 
the  likeness  as  of  the  **  Man  "-in-the-heavens.^  It 
seems  to  be  suggested  that  the  four  living  creatures — 
representing  the  four  quarters  of  the  zodiac,  and  so  the 
twelve  zodiacal  signs  with  their  respective  character- 
istics— signify  the  key-board  of  the  organised  living 
body  of  the  universe,^  by  means  of  which  are  expressed 

'  Corresponding  to  the  three  categories  of  the  Mind-order,  described 
in  India  as  Rajas,  Sattva,  Tamas.    These  compare  as  Earth,  Moon,  Sun. 

2   Ezek.  i.  5,  10,  X.  14  ;    Rev.  iv.  6,  7.  ^  Ezek.  i.  26-28. 

*  The  Lords  of  the  Four-mode,  "  living  souls  "  of  the  "  evening  " 
of  the  sixth  day,  and  Prototypes  in  the  *  noumenal  '  realms  of  the 
Twelve  zodiacal  signs,  should  not  be  confused  with  the  Lords  of  the 
fifth  day,  where  the  nephesh  khayyah,  the  "  living  souls  "  of  verses 
20,  21,  manifest  themselves  in  the  Three  or  Mind  mode.  (As  seen 
above,  the  Divine  Animals  of  the  Four-order  have  their  Three-order 
powers  as  well,  powers  concerned  with  Mind.) 


THE   SIXTH   DAY  85 

in  the  phenomenal  order  the  Will  and  Purpose  of  this 
heavenly  **  Man,"  the  Archetype  of  human  souls, 
whose  creation  is  about  to  be  described  in  the  Genesis 
story. 

Gen.  i.  25  (b)  :    "  And  ' Eldhmi  saw  that  it  was  good." 
The  Lords  of  Types  of  the  **  earth  "  or  Four  order, 
living  Originals  of  lower  forms,  are  ''  seen  "  by  'Elohim 
to  be  perfect  in  the  *  noumenal  '  realms. 

Gen.  i.  26  (a)  :  *'  And  'Elohim  said,  Let  us  make 
man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness." 

Comments  by  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  and  by  Irenaeus, 
on  this  important  passage  have  already  been  quoted.^ 
The  man  who  is  about  to  be  manifested  in  the  morning, 
the  later  half,  of  the  sixth  day,  is  to  be  essentially  of 
the  same  Triune  nature  as  the  Divinity.  This  is  not 
the  man  of  our  earth,  but  the  Universal  and  Archetypal 
Man-in-the-heavens  of  the  *  noumenal  '  or  Spiritual 
order,  who  will  manifest  Himself  through  the  Four- 
order  of  *  noumenal  '  substance. 

The  Hebrew  word  translated  **  image  "  is  zelem, 
literally,  a  copy  or  counterpart.  **  Let  us  make  man 
in  our  image,  after  our  likeness"  indicates  that  Man  is 
to  possess  the  essential  nature  of  the  Triune  Divinity, 
expressing  this  in  the  two  Divine  modes  of  conscious- 
ness, the  eternal  and  temporal  modes  of  the  Second 
and  Third  Persons  of  the  Triad,  respectively.  The 
same  idea  appears  to  be  repeated  in  the  book  of  Wisdom-. 

**  God    created    man    to    be    of    the    eternal    order 

*'  And  [also]  as  an  image  of  His  own  everlastingness 
created  he  him."  '^ 

Gen.  i.  26  (b)  :    "  And  let  them  subject  to  themselves 

^  See  chapter  ii.,  pp.  17,  18. 

'^  ii.  23 ;  vi.  9.  (The  same  word,  a^0apcrta,  is  used  by  Paul  in 
2  Tim.  i.  10  with  the  essential  meaning  of  "  incorruptibility.") 


86     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  the  birds  of  heaven,  and  the  cattle, 
and  the  whole  earth,  and  every  creeping  thing  upon  the 
earth." 

These  are  symbolic  references  to  the  various  living 
characteristics  of  the  vast  nature  of  the  coming  Man- 
in-the-heavens  of  the  Four-order.  The  'Elohim  purpose 
that  with  his  two  modes  of  consciousness  mutually- 
aiding  each  other,  **  Man  "  shall  hold  his  qualities 
under  his  own  control. 

Gen.  i.  27:  *'  And  'Elohini  created  man  in  his 
own  image:  in  the  image  of  'Elohim  he  created  him  ; 
male  and  female  he  created  them." 

Thus  is  recorded  the  creation  of  the  seventh  and  last 
of  the  Spiritual  Powers  who,  acting  together  under  the 
Supreme  Light  of  verse  3,  express  and  manifest  the 
Real  Being  of  the  Second  aspect  of  the  Divinity. 
The  word  translated  **  created  "  is  the  strong  verb 
bar  a'.  This  is  the  third  occasion  of  its  use,  the  first 
having  been  in  verse  i,  at  the  creation  of  the  as  yet 
*  unformed,'  evolving  Soul,  with  its  two  modes  of 
**  heaven  "  and  **  earth,"  this  creation  being  as  the 
**  shadow  "  or  emanation  of  the  Third  aspect  of  the 
Divinity.  The  second  was  in  verse  20,  when  Archetypal 
Beings  of  the  Three  or  Mind  order  were  created, 
representing  the  **  heaven  "  element  of  the  Second 
aspect  of  the  Divinity.  The  verb  not  only  appears  now 
for  the  third  time,  but  is  thrice  used  in  recording  the 
creation  of  the  first  **  Man  "  spoken  of  in  the  creation 
stories,  the  Archetypal  Man  of  the  universe,  who  is  of 
the  Four-order,  of  **  earth  "  or  Substance  ;  by  the 
Threefold  use  of  this  word  the  essential  relation  of  his 
nature  to  the  Triune  Creator,  and  to  the  Three-order, 
the  creative,  conscious  Mind,  is  emphatically  indicated. 
This  is  the  **  Man  "  seen  near  the  close  of  Ezekiel's 
first   vision,^    already    alluded    to,    the    Living    Power 

^  Ezek.  i.  26. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY  :    MORNING  87 

(the  *  Ten  ')  behind  the  **  four  living  creatures  " 
(symbolising  the  *  Twelve  '),  who  were  created  in  the 
earlier  half  of  the  sixth  day,  and  who  represent  his 
universal  Body,  his  substantial,  living  means  of 
manifestation  and  expression. 

In  verse  26  (a),  when  it  is  said  that  'Elohim  is  about 
to  create  Man  in  His  own  image,  after  His  own  likeness, 
the  dual  modes  of  consciousness  and  activity  of  the 
Creator  are  referred  to.  And  now,  at  the  creation  of 
Man,  verse  27  twice  records  that  he  is  created  in  the 
image  of  'Elohim,  indicating  that  Man  is  actually 
endowed  with  the  Creator's  two  powers  of  Spirit  and 
Soul.  This  is  even  further  accentuated  by  the  addition 
of  the  words  :  **  Male  and  female  He  created  them." 
Special  prominence  is  thus  given  to  the  declaration 
that  Man  possesses  the  same  two  modes  of  conscious- 
ness and  manifestation  as  'Elohim,  powers,  respectively, 
of  the  Second  and  Third  phases  of  the  Triune  Divinity. 
As  these  two  modes  are  complementary  to  each  other, 
and  necessary  for  the  expression  of  the  Divine  nature, 
they  are  of  equal  importance  in  the  Divine  Triunity. 
And  since  humanity  is  made  after  the  pattern  of  the 
Archetypal  Man  who  is  in  the  *'  image  "  of  the  Creator, 
the  two  modes  of  consciousness,  male  and  female,  of 
each  individualised  **  man  "  are  also  of  equal  value  in 
the  Divine  purpose. 

The  two  contrasting  statements  :  *Mn  the  image  of 
'Elohim  He  created  him  ;  male  and  female  He  created 
them,"  appear  to  declare  that  the  **  them  "  (dual)  is 
also  a  '*  him  "  (singular),  so  that  the  duality  implied 
by  **  them  "  is  a  duality-in-unity.  Moreover,  as 
**  Man,"  the  Universal  Man,  is  created  in  the  image 
of  'Elohim,  he  is  also  a  trinity-in-unity  in  his  essential 
nature.  These  conclusions  apply  ultimately  to  the 
nature  of  each  human  being  who,  while  a  duality-in- 
unity  as  regards  his  perfected  Soul-nature,  manifests 


88     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

his  human-Divine  nature  as  a  trinity-in-unity  when 
his  fashioned  dualistic  Soul  is  in  active  harmony  with 
the  eternal  Spirit. 

Distinct  echoes  of  the  ideas  of  the  present  verse  are 
found  in  the  epistles  of  Paul  the  Apostle,  as  to  man's 
true  nature  being  a  complex  of  the  two  orders  of  Spirit 
and  Soul,  the  eternal  and  the  temporal.  Using  the 
Septuagint  word  eUwy,  taken  from  this  verse  27,  he 
describes  man  as  the  cIkmv  Kai  So^a  ^eoO,  the  **  image  " 
as  well  as  **  glory  "  of  God.^  He  speaks  later  of  this 
ct/cw]/,  or  **  image,"  *^  of  the  heavenly,"  that  is,  of  the 
eternal,  as  being  the  ^'  pneumatic  body,"  2  and  declares 
elsewhere  that  this  cikw^',  the  pneumatic  or  spiritual 
body,  expresses  itself  by  its  So^a,  its  radiant  self-expres- 
sion in  the  temporal  order. ^  Through  this  feminine, 
externalising  Power,  the  power  as  of  the  Ruach 
'Elohtm  of  Gen.  i.  2,  which  is  specially  linked  with 
the  Third  Phase  or  Person  of  the  Supernal  Trinity, 
and  hence  with  the  Soul,  is  the  heavenly  *'  image  " 
manifested,  by  its  '*  glory  "  or  **  radiance  "  is  the 
Divine  Presence  revealed. 

The  idea  of  **  glory  "  as  the  explicit  and  time  revela- 
tion of  the  etKwi',  the  implicit  and  *  timeless '  nature 
of  Deity,  appears  throughout  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.* 
The  "  glory  of  Jahveh  "  covered  the  tabernacle  as 
with  a  sudden  fiery  appearance  in  the  cloud  **  in  the 
morning."  ^  When  Moses  came  into  the  **  glory  of 
Jahveh  "  which  *^  abode  upon  Mount  Sinai,"  his  face 

^  I  Cor.  xi.  7.  In  the  LXX.  version  of  Gen.  i.  27,  the  second 
clause,  **  after  the  image  of  God,"  is  rendered  kut  et/coi/o  deov. 

2  I  Cor.  XV.  49,  44. 

3  Phil.  iii.  21. 

*  The  same  idea  is  found,  though  in  a  different  setting,  in  the 
celebrated  Gdyatri,  the  ancient  passage  in  the  Rig  Veda  (iii.  62,  10), 
which  is  still  on  the  lips  of  every  Brahman  in  India  in  his  daily  prayers  : 
"  May  we  attain  the  surpassing  Splendour  of  "  Savitri  the  god  ; 
and  may  he  enlighten  our  minds." 

'  Exod,  xvi.  7. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY  :    MORNING  89 

shone,  and  he  had  to  veil  it  when  before  the  people.^ 
This  ''  glory  " — translated  8o^a  in  the  LXX.  in  Ps.  vii. 
5,  XXX.  12,  Ivii.  8,  cii.  15,  and  elsewhere — is  clearly 
related  to  the  Shekinah  of  later  Jewish  theology,  the 
radiant,  localised  Presence  of  the  Divinity.  So  in  the 
Targum  ^  on  Isai.  Ix.  2,  we  read :  *  *  In  thee  the  Shekinah 
of  Jahveh  shall  dwell,  and  His  glory  shall  be  revealed 
unto  thee."  When  the  individualised  soul  is  perfectly 
organised  and  fashioned  so  that  both  modes  of  Light, 
the  greater  and  the  lesser,  are  harmoniously  manifested 
by  it,  it  is  then  that  its  everyday  activities  reveal  the 
Divine  **  glory  "  of  the  indwelling  Shekinah.^ 

Gen.  i.  28:  ''And  ' Elohlm  blessed  them:  and 
'  Elohim  said  to  them :  Be  fruitful,  and  increase,  and 
fill  the  earth,  and  subdue  it,  and  subject  to  yourselves 
the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  the  birds  of  heaven,  and  every 
beast  that  moves  upon  the  earth." 

This  '*  blessing  " — the  second  in  the  story,  the  first 
having  been  bestowed  on  the  **  heaven  "  or  Mind- 
Beings  of  the  fifth  day — is  upon  **  them,"  dual,  and  is 
a  declaration  of  the  Great  Fate  prepared  for  the  *'  Man  " 
of  the  *  noumenal  '  cosmos,  the  possessor  of  the  two 
Divine  modes  of  consciousness.  The  utterance  of 
the  blessing  by  'Elohim  gives  the  Man,  moreover,  the 
power  to  qualify  Himself  to  attain  this  High  Fate.^ 

1  Exod.  xxiv.  16  ;   xxxiv.  29-35. 

"  The  Targums  were  Aramaic  paraphrases  of  the  Old  Testament, 
used  in  the  synagogues  at  the  time  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Hebrew 
language  having  quite  died  out  as  a  spoken  language. 

3  The  Zohar  describes  the  Shekinah  as  the  Archetypal  Moon, 
which  neither  waxes  nor  wanes,  but  reflects  the  Sun  in  its  fullness. 
On  the  Augoeides,  or  Radiant  Body  of  Greek  religio-philosophy, 
see  ch.  iii.  of  G.  R.  S.  Mead's  The  Doctrine  of  the  Subtle  Body,  London, 
J.  M.  Watkins,  191 9. 

*  "  The  Man  "  of  verses  26  and  27  being  the  Spiritual  Prototype 
of  ourselves,  we  may  say  that  mankind  also  has  to  attain  to  the  Greater 
Zone  of  Fate,  passing  out  of  bondage  to  personal  fate.  As  this  can 
only  be   gained   after  the   development   of    true   personality  under 


90     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 

The  blessing  is  connected  with  an  injunction  upon 
the  subjective  power  to  develop  and  control  the  various 
living  principles  connected  with  the  substance  of  the 
nature,  its  **  earth."  This  is  not  to  be  accomplished 
by  crushing  out  any  one  of  these  powers  or  denying  life 
to  it,  but  by  comprehending  it  and  by  right  action 
towards  it.  Its  essential  life  will  thereby  be  distilled 
and  brought  into  actuality,  to  the  benefit  of  the  objective 
as  also  the  subjective  nature.  The  work  is  to  be  carried 
out — note  that  **  they  "  are  blessed  —  through  the 
harmonious  use  of  the  two  Divine  modes  of  conscious^ 
ness  of  the  Man. 

Gen.  i.  29  :  "And  '  Eldhtm  said:  Behold,  I  give 
you  every  seed-yielding  herb  upon  the  face  of  the  whole 
earth,  and  all  trees  in  which  are  seed-yielding  fruits: 
let  it  serve  you  for  food. ' ' 

Of  the  three  classes  into  which  the  vegetable  kingdom 
was  divided  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  namely, 
grass,  herbs,  and  trees,  the  two  latter,  after  three  days, 
are  assigned  to  Man  **  for  food."  The  **  grass  "  has 
been  equated  with  the  lower  or  normal  mind  or  reason, 
and  with  the  instincts — unconscious  memories — which 
are  life's  antennae  ;  the  **  herb  yielding  seed  after 
its  kind,"  with  the  heights  of  the  human  mind  or 
reason  ;  and  the  **  tree  yielding  fruit  whose  seed  is  in 
itself,  after  its  kind,"  with  the  Nous  or  Mind  of  the 
Divine  order.  ^  Of  these,  the  two  latter,  representing 
the  higher  categories  of  the  substance  of  Mind,  are  set 
before    Man    for    his    **  food,"    from    the    eating    and 

experience  in  the  world-order,  it  would  appear  that  on  attaining  this 
goal  man  will  not  lose  the  knowledge  of  the  personal  point  of  view  or 
the  detailed  working  of  the  life-pulses  within  the  mechanism  of  time 
and  space,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  scope  of  the  Personal  will  be 
expanded  indefinitely.  The  statement,  "  I  and  My  Father  are  One," 
appears  to  declare  that  both  Immanence  and  Transcendence  will  be 
held  in  God  who,  in  one  aspect,  is  Great  Person  and,  in  another,  is 
Super-Personal. 

>  S^e  comment  on  Gen.  i.  11,  12,  pp.  52,  53,  etc. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY  :    MORNING  91 

digesting — that  is,  the  experiencing  and  full  under- 
standing— of  which,  he  is  to  train  and  qualify  himself 
to  carry  out  the  Divine  Will. 

Gen.  i.  30  :  "  And  to  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  to 
all  the  birds  of  heaven,  and  to  all  that  moveth  upon  the 
earth,  in  which  is  living  soul  "  (have  I  given)  "  every 
green  herb  for  food :  and  it  was  so." 

In  the  case  of  the  lower  elements  of  the  Four-order 
of  creation  that  appeared  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth 
day,  which  Man  is  enjoined  to  subject  to  his  own  higher 
nature,^  advance  is  to  come  about  through  the  vitalis- 
ing powers  of  ^*  every  green  herb,"  called  in  verses  11 
and  12  **  grass,"  that  is,  all  green  grass  and  herb. 
By  these  lower  elements  life  is  to  be  lived  in  the  exercise 
of  the  formal  and  instinctive  mind  or  reason.  Man, 
too,  is  to  bring  the  formal,  instinctive  mind  of  his  own 
nature  within  the  scope  and  control  of  his  own  sub- 
jective consciousness. 

The  two  sections  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  referred 
to  in  the  preceding  verse,  together  with  the  one  in  the 
present,  are  analogous  to  the  Three-mode  of  the  second 
and  fifth  days.  'Elohim  enjoins  upon  Man  to  use  as 
his  '*  food,"  and  thereby  build  into  his  root-substance 
through  experience,  the  threefold  creative  powers  of 
the  Mind  or  **  heaven  "  order,  expressing  them  through- 
out the  four  divisions  of  the  *'  earth  "  or  substance  of 
the  nature.  So  will  Man's  Twelvefold,  objective  nature, 
in  all  its  parts  and  as  a  whole,  come  into  harmonious 
adjustment  and  activity, understanding  itself  throughout. 

With  regard  to  the  statement  in  verse  29,  beginning  : 
^^  And  'Elohim  said,"  which  now  occurs  for  the  tenth 
and  last  time,  it  has  already  been  suggested  that  this 
records  the  manifesting  activity  of  the  Creator  in  His 
Triune  Power,  whereby  the  Divine  Will  is  expressed 

^  See  verse  28. 


92     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

through  the  creative  Breath  or  Voice,  and  the  creative 
Word.  The  statement  first  appears  in  verse  3,  before  the 
creation  of  Light  in  its  unitary  and  dual  modes  ;  then 
seven  times  before  the  creation  of  the  seven  aspects 
or  instruments  of  the  Light,  the  last  of  these  being 
**  Man."  The  ninth  and  tenth  occasions,  in  verses 
28  and  29,  are  addressed  direct  to  Man,  the  Universal 
Archetypal  Man  of  the  *  noumenal '  realm,  so  that  He 
appears  to  become  an  active  participator  in  the  creative 
work,  organising  the  later  stages  in  the  work  of  the 
sixth  day,  and  co-operating  with  the  Divinity  in  bringing 
about  His  own  perfection  in  the  regions  of  actuality. 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  the  two  blessings,  spoken 
of  near  the  close  of  the  last  chapter,  the  only  creations 
who  are  blessed  during  the  six  days  are  the  Divine 
Animals  of  the  fifth  day  and  the  Man  of  the  sixth. 
The  former  are  Lords  of  Types  of  the  **  heaven  "  and 
Triadic  order,  hence  more  fundamental  to  Spirit  than 
the  latter,  the  Man  of  the  sixth  day,  who,  being  of  the 
**  earth  "  and  Tetrad  order,  is  nearer  to  Root-substance. 

These  Lords  of  Types  of  the  **  heaven  "  order  are 
related  primarily  to  cosmic  Fire  and  cosmic  Air,  and 
may  be  called  **  Lords  of  Flame  "  and  regarded  as 
Councillors  or  Expressors  of  the  Lord  of  Fire.^  They 
are  not  concerned  with  a  man's  formal  thinking,  but 
with  the  attitude  to  Life  of  his  Mind's  Root-substance 
as  a  whole.  They  may  be  thought  of  as  re-grouping 
the  atoms  and  particles  of  Mind-substance — without, 
however,  any  making  up  into  forms — in  order  that  the 
Mind  as  a  whole  may  be  expressed  through  some 
particular  aspect  of  it,  representing  a  portion  of  Reality 
that  has  been  assimilated. 

^  If  we  fix  ideas  to  the  solar  system,  the  "  Lord  of  Fire  "  may  be 
symboHcally  regarded  as  the  Solar  Logos  in  activity,  the  "  Lords  of 
Flame  "  as  His  Seven  Powers  or  Planetary  Spirits. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY  :    MORNING  93 

In  contrast  with  the  Lords  of  Flame  of  the  "  heaven  " 
or  Three-order,  is  the  Man,  the  Universal  Man  of  the 
"  earth  "  or  Four-order,  who,  as  seen,  has  powers  over 
the  Three  order  as  well.  With  regard  to  humanity, 
this  *'  Man  "  may  be  regarded  as  the  Power  around  and 
within  every  man  whereby  the  "  earth  "  elements  of 
his  nature  are  magically  vivified,  raised  and  co- 
ordinated with  their  '^  heaven  "  elements.  This  power 
may  be  called  that  of  the  Christ-Man. 

The  Lords  of  Flame  of  the  Three-order  and  the  Christ- 
Man  of  the  Four-order  are  potential  powers  in  every 
man,  dwelling  in  the  borderland  between  Evolution 
and  Permanency. 

The  two  blessings  refer  to  the  High  Destinies  set 
before  these  two  Powers.^  The  statement  that  the 
Lords  of  the  Three  or  ^*  heaven  "  order  were  blessed 
prior  to  the  Man  of  the  Four  or  **  earth  "  order,  while 
this  Universal  Man  is  related  to  both  orders,  must  have 
been  recorded  for  a  purpose.  If,  to  fix  ideas,  we  assume 
that  a  problem  of  the  like  nature  applies  also  to 
humanity,  it  would  appear  that  when  the  individual 
man  has  become  more  than  man,  by  emerging  com- 
pletely out  of  subjection  to  the  fate-spheres  and  the 
law  of  necessity,  being  acknowledged  as  a  '*  Son  of 
Light,"  2  he  may  have  to  select  one  of  two  cosmic 
destinies,  each  of  which  may  be  concerned  with  this 
world.  He  may  become  a  Lord  of  Flame  connected 
with  the  Root-substance  of  Mind,  of  the  ''  heaven  " 
or  Triad  order,  or  else  a  human  **  Christ "  of  the  "  earth  " 
or  Tetrad  order,  a  Son  of  (the)  ''  Man."  Both  are 
connected  with  Great  Fate,  and  both  are  Sons  of  the 
Father;  but  the  Lords  of  Flame  are  not  Man-Christs, 
and  are  not  begotten  of  **  Man." 

1  The  blessing  of  Gen.  i.  28,  though  remembered,  is  generally- 
narrowed  in  meaning  and  application,  while  the  earlier  blessing  of 
the  Sacred  Animals  of  the  fifth  day  is  overlooked. 

2  John  xii.  36,  R.V. 


94     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES    IN   GENESIS 

It  is  recorded  that  when  the  Buddha,  as  the  Amitabha, 
had  the  power  to  attain  his  own  Hberation  and  exercise 
his  choice,  he  vowed  he  would  not  enter  Nirvana  till 
every  sentient  creature  in  the  world  should  be  free. 
He  chose,  we  may  say,  the  path  of  the  human-Christ 
whose  goal  is  reached  through  self-"  sacrifice  "  and  the 
"  earth  "-mode. 

Gen.  i.  31  (a) :  ''And  'Eldhtm  saw  everything  that  he 
had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very  good." 

The  creation  of  the  seventh  power  of  the  Light  com- 
pletes the  '  noumenal '  creation:  this  is  "seen"  by 
'Elohim  to  be  perfect  and  co-ordinated  in  all  its  parts, 
and  is  declared  to  be  "  very  good." 

Gen.  i.  31  (b)  :  "  And  it  was  evening  and  it  was  morn- 
ing, the  sixth  day." 

That  which  was  outlined  in  the  evening  and  again 
in  the  morning  of  the  third  day  is  now,  after  three 
days,  fulfilled  and  complemented  in  the  evening  and 
again  in  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day,  by  the  "  living 
souls  "  created  therein. 

Gen.  ii.  I  :  "And  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  all 
their  host  were  finished." 

Literally,  And  finished  were  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  all  the  (army  of)  beings  (that  filled  them). 
The  root  of  the  word  translated  "  host  "  being  con- 
nected with  ideas  of  splendour  and  glory,  the  passage 
appears  to  declare  that  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were 
completed  as  an  organised  whole  in  the  *  noumenal  ' 
universe,  with  all  their  spiritual  beings  manifested 
through  appropriate  ideal-forms,  the  whole  host  shining 
forth  star-like. 

The  emphatic  position  is  occupied  by  the  word 
"  finished."  Finished  is  the  putting  forth  of  the  whole 
*  noumenal  '  creation,  described  in  terms  of  Eight 
works,   namely,   the   Living   Light    (both   Unitary   and 


THE   SIXTH   DAY  :    MORNING  95 

Dual)  and  its  Seven  Powers.  This  will  enlighten  and 
vivify  **  the  heaven  and  the  earth  "  of  verses  i  and  2 
of  the  first  chapter,  whose  fashioning  has  to  be  attained 
and  expressed  in  the  modes  of  time,  space,  and  materi- 
ality in  accord  with  this  eternal  Pattern  in  the  spiritual 
heavens. 

Having  come  to  the  close  of  the  six  days'  work,  we 
are  in  a  position  to  look  back  and  consider  the  natures 
of  the  eight  works  or  orders  of  the  Creation.  The 
coming  into  being  of  each  is  preceded  by  the  words  '*  And 
'Elohim  said,"  the  last  being  represented  by  **  Man," 
the  Universal  Man-in-the-heavens  of  the  **  earth  " 
order.  ^  They  consist  of  the  Transcending  Light,  the 
Supreme  Consciousness  in  Activity — which  has  powers 
both  outside  and  within  the  regions  of  duality — and  the 
Seven  Powers  of  the  Light  who,  on  the  one  hand,  con- 
tact the  Unitary  Light  and,  on  the  other,  the  realms  of 
manifestation  and  the  evolving  souls  therein.  The 
link  between  the  Realm  of  Real  Being  and  the  regions 
of  manifestation  was  created  during  the  first  day,  by 
the  Unitary  Light  clothing  a  part  of  Itself  in  the  garb  of 
the  duality  of  the  phenomenal  order,  thus  becoming 
Immanent  in  it. 

The  Seven  Powers  of  the  Universal  Light  consist  of 
three  on  the  Substance  side  of  manifestation,^  and  four 
on  the  Spirit  side.^  Their  emphasis  is  thus  on  Spirit 
in  active  manifestation.  But  it  is  only  after  the  soul 
is  fully  prepared  that  it  is  able  to  bear  the  effulgence 
of  the  Supreme  Light  and  its  Powers. 

Till  then,  the  eight  works  of  the  six  days  have  to  be 
regarded  from  the  standpoint  of  the  solar  system. 
The    *  noumenal  '    creation    contains    within    itself    a 

^  These  words  are  also  twice  used  when  "Man  "  is  addressed  direct. 

2  That  of  the  second  day  and  the  two  of  the  third. 

3  That  of  the  fourth  day,  of  the  fifth  ("  heaven  ")  and  the  two  of 
the  sixth  {"  earth"). 


96     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN  GENESIS 

living  reflection  of  the  Unitary  Light,  in  terms  of  the 
duality  of  the  phenomenal  order ;  for  the  fourth  day's 
work  expresses,  after  three  days,  the  Supreme  Light 
in  terms  of  the  Living  Prototypes  of  the  Sun  and  the 
Moon.  These  two  luminaries  are  physical  represen- 
tatives of  Divine  Beings  who  are  expressors  of  the 
Supreme  Light,  and  they,  too,  are  associated  with 
seven  manifesting  Powers.  On  the  Substance  side, 
these  Powers  are  four  in  number,  ^  and  on  the  Spirit 
or  Life  side,  they  are  three. ^  Their  emphasis  is  thus 
on  Substance  in  living,  conscious  manifestation  in  the 
service  of  Spirit. 

These  Archangels  of  the  Sun  and  of  the  Moon, 
vicegerents  of  the  Supreme  Light  whom  they  express 
through  seven  manifesting  Powers,  appear  to  enfold  the 
World-egg — **  the  heaven  and  the  earth  "  of  verses  i 
and  2  of  the  first  chapter — and  to  maintain  their  sphere 
of  activity  in  regard  to  it  within  a  living,  universal 
**  surround,"  with  its  twelve  inter-dependent,  and  yet 
distinct  and  separate,  phases  or  characteristics. 

The  story  of  this  preliminary  activity  is  accentuated 
throughout  the  Old  Testament,  and  concerns  the  period 
when  the  human  soul  is  under  the  Law  of  necessity  and 
the  disciplinary  training  of  the  Fate-spheres.  The 
process  draws  out  the  soul's  implicit,  subconscious 
powers,  especially  on  the  *'  evening  "  or  Substance  side, 
for  this  has  to  be  purified  and  perfected  under  experience 
so  as  to  become  a  living  temple  and  highway  for  the 
eternal  Spirit.  The  soul  is  ultimately  enabled  to  see 
and  know  subjectively  the  Supreme  Light  of  verse  3, 
and  respond  to  the  influence  and  guidance  of  Its  Seven 
Powers  in  their  highest  aspects,  when  the  emphasis  is 
laid  on  the  ''  morning  "  or  Light-and-Life  side  of  the 

1  The  duality  of  the  first  day,  the  triad  of  the  second,  and  the  two 
of  the  tetrad-order  of  the  third  day. 

2  One  of  the  fifth  day  ("  heaven  ")  and  two  of  the  sixth  ("  earth  "). 


THE    SIXTH   DAY  :    MORNING  97 

nature.  The  soul's  personal  free-will  becomes  estab- 
lished in  accord  with  the  Supreme  Will,  the  first  heaven 
and  the  first  earth  give  place  to  a  **  new  "  heaven  and  a 
**  new  "  earth,  and  the  fashioned  soul  enters  joyfully 
on  the  activities  of  Great  Fate.  This  goal  is  one  of  the 
main  subjects  of  the  New  Testament. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE    SEVENTH   DAY 
Gen.  ii.,  verses  2-4  (a) 

Gen.  ii.  2:  "And  on  the  seventh  day  ' Elohtm 
finished  his  work  which  he  had  made  ;  and  he  rested 
(lit.,  desisted)  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work  which 
he  had  (creatively)  organised." 

Gen.  ii.  3  (a)  :  "  And  'Elohtm  blessed  the  seventh  day 
and  hallowed  it"   .   .   . 

The  work  of  the  *  noumenal  '  creation  is  "  finished  " 
on  the  seventh  day.  On  this  day  'Elohim  desists  from 
further  creation,  and  hallows,  that  is,  makes  whole 
and  perfect,  His  work  by,  as  it  were,  taking  to  Himself, 
indrawing,  inbreathing,  His  creation,  and  it  becomes 
One  with  Himself.^ 

The  six  days  of  work  have  been  described  in  two 
stages.  After  the  Unitary  Light  is  **  divided  "  so  that 
it  is  expressed  in  a  dual  mode,  there  is  first  the  Going 
Forth  or  **  Fall  "  of  Root-Matter,  the  Negative  mode  or 
condition  of  the  One  Reality,  with  its  enformation  in 
three  phases,  followed  by  the  Return  or  Ascent,  when 
this  enformed  Matter  is  enlightened  and  organically 
vitalised,  also  in  three  phases,  by  Real-Beings  of  the 
Spirit-order,  the  Positive  mode  or  condition  of  the  One 
Reality.  The  way  is  now  ready  for  the  further  exalta- 
tion of  Spirit  and  Matter  into  a  complete  and  harmonious 

^  The  word  "  hallowed,"  made  "  holy,"  comes  from  the  A.S.  root 
hdligf  lit.,  whole,  perfect,  healthy,  and  is  connected  with  the  words 
hail,  heal,  whole. 

98 


THE   SEVENTH   DAY  99 

Whole  on  the  seventh  day,  the  day  of  days  among  the 
seven. 

The  septenary  character  of  the  full  course  of  mani- 
festation, whether  symbolised  as  days  of  the  creative 
Week  or  as  Spirits  of  God,  Sacraments,  Orders,  Virtues, 
and  the  rest,  was  held  in  some  form  or  other  in  the 
religious  and  philosophical  systems,  the  mystery  and 
other  cults  of  Egypt,  Chaldea,  Assyria,  Babylon, 
Persia,  India,  and  Greece.  The  week  of  seven  days 
is  an  ancient  symbol  which  has  survived  to  the  present 
time. 

These  seven  "  days  "  or  stages  are  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  Moon  or  Mother  principle  of  life,  for  the 
activities  of  manifesting  life  in  the  time  order  are 
exhibited  in  septenary  periods.  We  are  familiar  with 
the  "  seven  ages  of  man,"  ^  which  precede  the  condition 
we  call  '*  death,"  also  with  the  fact  that  in  various 
diseases  the  7th,  14th,  and  21st  days  are  critical, 
in  other  words,  that  they  lead  up  to,  and  prepare  the 
way  for,  a  definite  change  in  vital  expression.  Ante- 
natal periods  are  also  multiples  of  seven  days,  whether 
in  human  beings,  animals,  birds,  or  insects.^ 

^  These  are  described  in  elegiac  verses  by  Solon  the  Athenian 
lawgiver,  by  Hippocrates  the  physician,  and  in  As  You  Like  It, 
Act  ii.  sc.  7. 

^  An  exception  to  the  rule  of  the  seven  is  the  bee  whose  phenomena 
are  pervaded  by  the  number  3.  The  normal  human  pre-natal  period 
is  40  weeks,  or  periods  of  seven  days  ;  hence,  no  doubt,  the  significance 
of  "forty"  days  or  years  in  Biblical  symbolism,  the  reference  to 
"  the  seven  "  being  implicit.  It  represents  a  period  of  preparation 
during  which  the  soul  acquaints  itself  practically  with  the  conditions 
which  concern  its  coming  activities,  before  it  can  be  born  into  the 
new  state,  for  power  to  function  requires  suitable  organic  structure. 
So  v/e  read  of  forty  days  of  flood  upon  the  earth  after  Noah  enters 
his  ark  {Gen.  vii.  17)  ;  of  forty  days  spent  by  Moses  on  the  Mount 
{Exod.  xxiv.  18)  ;  of  forty  years  in  the  wilderness  between  Egypt,  or 
the  power  of  the  body  over  the  soul,  and  the  promised  land  [Deui. 
xxix.  i)  ;  of  forty  days  spent  by  the  spies  in  spying  out  the  land 
{Num.  xiv.  34)  ;  by  Elijah  in  the  desert  (i  Kings  xix.  8)  ;  also  m  the 
case  of  Jesus  before  the  ministry  {Matt.  iv.  2),  and  again  after  the 
resurrection  {Acts  i.  3).     The  period  of  Lent,  from  Ash  Wednesday 


100     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

Gen.  ii.  3;  ''And  ' Eldhim  blessed  the  seventh  day 
and  hallowed  it  :  because  that  in  it  he  rested  (lit.,  de- 
sisted) from  all  his  work  which  he  had  creatively  effected  " 
(or  created  to  produce). 

We  no  longer  find  the  statement  which  has  been 
repeated  six  times  :  **  There  was  evening  and  there  was 
morning,"  for  the  formative  works  of  the  six  days  are 
completed.  The  Sun  and  the  Moon  appear  to  desist 
from  their  labours  in  expectation  of  a  yet  higher  order 
of  conscious  activity.  The  seventh  day  has,  indeed, 
a  new  outlook,  being  hallowed  by  'Elohim  and  blessed. ^ 

There  are  three  blessings  during  the  week  of  creation, 
on  the  fifth  and  sixth  days  and  now  on  the  seventh  day. 
The  **  living  souls  "  blessed  on  the  mornings  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  days  represent,  respectively,  the 
*  noumenal  '  "  heaven  "  and  the  '  noumenal  '  **  earth," 
two  complementary  halves.  Together  they  symbolise 
the  perfect  creation  as  a  whole.  It  is  this  fullness  of 
creation,  representing  the  fruition  of  the  activity  of  the 
Light  and  its  seven  powers,  now  gathered  up  by  'Elohim 
into  a  new  and  higher  expression  of  Unity,  to  take  form 
as  the  ^*  Son,"  which  receives  the  third  blessing.  This 
proclaims  the  High  Destiny  set  before  the  present 
creation,  when  Conscious  Activity  will  be  manifested 
from  within  the  Kingdom  of  the  Son  through  perfected 
souls,  in  a  mode  which  is  a  fulfilment  of  the  present 
evolution  and  at  the  same  time  a  new  beginning. 

The  seven  days  of  creation  may  be  regarded  as 
functions  of  the  One  eternal  Reality,  representing  seven 

or,  rather,  from  sunset  of  Shrove  Tuesday,  is  40  days  :  these  are  days 
of  preparation  for  the  Resurrection  from  the  tomb,  the  Re-birth  of  the 
soul  at  sunrise  on  Easter  Sunday.  (What  Sunrise  symbolises  in 
relation  to  the  Day,  Easter  Sunday  symbolises  in  relation  to  the  Year.) 
^  Clement  of  Alexandria,  the  Church  father,  quotes  Hesiod,  Homer, 
and  Callimachus  to  show  that  the  Greeks  recognised  the  seventh  day 
as  sacred,  and  adds:  "The  Elegies  of  Solon,  too,  intensely  deify 
the  seventh  day."  (See  Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library,  1869,  vol.  xii., 
pp.  281,  285.) 


THE   SEVENTH   DAY  loi 

different  and  yet  inter-dependent  principles  or  powers 
which  are  moving  forces  in  **  becoming."  Acting 
together  towards  the  same  goal,  they  are  the  means 
whereby  universal  Light-and-Life  will  ultimately  be 
manifested  on  earth  by  human  souls  :  who  will  be  the 
true  counterpart  of  the  Logos  of  our  system,  also 
possessing  seven  manifesting  centres  of  power,  and 
forming  with  Him  an  organic  Unity. 

In  the  world-order  to  which  we  belong,  the  Seven  are 
representatives  of  the  Supreme  Mother,  and  are 
manifestors  of  the  Great  Cosmic  Person,  the  Solar 
Logos,  their  essential  Origin  and  Source.  This  is 
signified  in  various  ways  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 
*^  Behold  the  stone  which  I  have  set  before  Joshua  " 
(a  name  kabalistically  rendered  '  Jesus  ')  :  **  upon  one 
stone  are  seven  eyes."  ^  Concerning  the  vision  of  a 
golden  candlestick  with  its  seven  lamps,  it  is  recorded  : 
**  These  seven  are  the  eyes  of  Jahveh  :  they  run  to  and 
fro  through  the  whole  earth."  ^  Chapters  8  and  9  of 
Proverbs  ^  speak  of  Wisdom — the  Third  Person  of  the 
Supreme  Triad  and  eternal  Manifestor  of  God  the 
Unmanifest — as  establishing  Her  dominion  over  the 
souls  of  men  through  seven  ruling  principles  or 
powers.  She  cries  aloud  to  the  sons  of  men  :  *'  Who- 
soever findeth  Me  findeth  Life,"  that  is,  life  in  form 
based  on  the  eternal  order,  and  to  this  end  it  is  stated: — 

**  VVisdom  hath  builded  Her  house, 
She  hath  hewn  out  Her  seven  pillars."  * 

When  the  preliminary  stages  of  the  Divine  work  are 
accomplished    in    the    material    order    by    the    seven 

^  Zech.  iii.  9.  Under  the  dominant  Persian  influence,  Zechariah 
conceived  of  a  celestial  hierarchy  of  seven  princes  under  One  Supreme 
Ruler.     He  wrote  chapters  i.  to  viii.  betv/een  520  and  518  B.C. 

-   Zech.  iv.  10. 

^  These  two  remarkable  chapters  form  part  of  the  vVisdom  literature 
which  was  probably  written  betv/een  300  and  200  B.C. 

^  Prov.  viii.  35 ;  ix.  i. 


102     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

representatives  of  the  Great  Mother,  the  Kingdom 
thereof  is  handed  over  to  **  the  Son,"  the  all-encompass- 
ing Eighth  Power  in  this  ordered  cosmos,  the  seven 
powers  then  expressing  in  the  phenomenal  order, 
through  Him,  the  Glory  of  the  Supreme  Father- 
Mother-Son,  '*  the  Father." 

The  washing  of  Naaman  the  Syrian  in  the  river 
Jordan  symbolises  the  possibility  of  the  birth  of  every 
man,  irrespective  of  race,  into  the  Jordan  Above,  the 
River  of  Regeneration,  of  the  Sonship  order,  the 
Eighth,  the  dipping  seven  times  implying  that  this 
higher,  *  timeless  '  Life  is  to  be  lived  and  expressed 
in  the  world  order  in  terms  of  the  seven  temporal 
functions,  or  manifesting  powers,  of  the  eternal 
order.  ^ 

In  a  Genesis  story  concerning  Regeneration,  the 
human  soul,  when  attaining  the  goal  set  before  the  old 
order,  is  represented  with  seven  manifestors,  as  we  are 
even  categorically  reminded,  for  the  epistles  of  Peter 
speak  of  "  Noah  and  seven  others,"  and  again  of  **  eight 
souls."  ^  They  are  taken  out  of  the  old  order  and 
brought  into  the  new,  and  though  this  is  at  first  ex- 
pressed imperfectly,  they  seek  to  manifest  the  world- 
order  in  the  higher,  transformed  mode  of  the  Octave. 
The  story  of  Noah  is  applicable  to  each  individualised 
soul  that  is  entering  the  state  of  regeneration,  Noah 
signifying  the  soul's  Sun  or  subjective  consciousness 
which  is  in  the  process  of  co-ordinating  and  harmon- 
ising **  the  seven,"  represented  as  his  family,  who 
stand  for  his  Moon,  or  objective,  consciousness. 
Noah  is  attempting,   with  Divine  aid,   to  carry  out  in 

^  2  Kings  V.  10-14.  The  two  rivers,  Abanah  and  Pharphar,  rivers 
of  Damascus,  represent  the  normal  regions  of  duaHty  in  v/hich  the 
soul  has  hitherto  consciously  plunged.  These  regions  are  henceforth 
charged  with  "  new  "  life,  the  gift  of  the  Third  Spaik  awakening  the 
conscious  imagination,  so  that  life  on  earth  is  transformed. 

^  2  Pet.  ii.  5  ;    i  Pet.  iii.  20. 


THE   SEVENTH   DAY  103 

his  own  soul  the  creative  and  re-creative  work  signified 
in  the  first  creation  story. 

The  last  chapter  of  the  mystic  fourth  gospel  tells 
of  seven  disciples  passing  through  water — the  negative 
element,  symbol  of  substance,  space,  and  time — and 
at  sunrise  partaking  on  the  further  shore,  the  shore 
of  Regeneration,  of  the  Sacrament  of  self-dedication 
to  Great  Fate  with  the  Risen  Christ  who  is  about  to 
ascend  in  glory.  ^  They  are  the  seven  fashioned 
time-powers  of  *'  the  Son,"  their  Eighth  Power, 
Him^self  Master  over  both  the  eternal  and  time  orders 
of  His  organised  cosmos.^ 

The  story  of  the  '  noumenal  '  creation  closes  with  the 
blessing  and  hallowing  of  the  seventh  day.  On  the 
first  three  days.  Substance  is  fitted  to  become  a  perfect 
vehicle  of  expression  for  Divine,  Archetypal  Intelligences 
who  appear  on  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  days,  re- 
spectively. On  the  seventh  day,  these  negative  and 
positive  powers.  Substance  and  Consciousness — each 
in  a  threefold  or  Mind  condition — are  unified,  and  the 
Creator  abides  therein,  **  blessing  "  the  creation  in 
preparation  for  its  activity  in  its  Eighth  expression  as 
a  perfect,  organic  "  whole."  This  higher  activity  is 
constantly  alluded  to  in  the  Old  Testament  as  being  the 
immediate  destiny  set  before  humanity,  and  is  a  main 
theme  of  the  New. 

The  first  creation  story  has  been  telling  of  the 
*  noumenal  '  Creation,  set  as  Prototype  and  Pattern  for 

^  Cp.  John  vii.  39:  "Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified."  The  Third 
Spark  has  to  be  fanned  into  flame  and  "glorified"  by  the  Third 
Breath  of  the  Great  Mother.  The  fourth  evangelist  is  always  striving 
to  show  that  "Jesus  "  represents  typically  the  enlightening  work  of 
the  Logos  in  every  man  that  comes  into  the  world.  The  same  idea 
is  found  in  the  Synoptics,  though  less  frequently.  In  Luke  xviii.  31, 
we  read  concerning  Jesus,  reXeaO-fiaeraL  "  he  shall  be  fully  initiated," 
implying  that  the  goal  set  before  each  human  soul  is  that,  in  these 
time-space  regions  of  materiality  he  shall  know  of  the  mysteries  of 
the  Divine  Life,  and  express  them  in  daily  life. 

2  For  further  comment  on  the  seven  powers,  see  Appendix  IV, 


104     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

the  moulding  of  the  evolving  soul  of  the  created 
universe,  of  verses  i  and  2  of  chapter  i.  Applying  the 
story  to  the  human  soul,  we  may  say  that  though 
possessing  in  germ  the  same  two  modes  of  consciousness 
and  self-expression  as  the  Creator,  it  is  at  first  uncon- 
scious of  possessing  these  magical  dual  powers,  repre- 
sented as  **  the  heavens  and  the  earth,"  its  substance 
being  as  yet  **  con-fused  "  and  unformed.  But  the 
Spiritual  Light  and  its  seven  powers  arouse  in  it  a 
knowledge  of  these  living  possessions,  and  they  are 
exercised  and  evolve  under  the  storm  and  stress  of 
actual  life.  Values  are  adjusted  and  transvalued  in 
response  to  v/ider  and  deeper  experience,^  and  veil  after 
veil  removed  from  the  ignorance  and  darkness  shrouding 
the  inner  vision.  Till,  at  length,  the  inner  Light  shines 
through  all  the  regions  of  the  soul's  ordered  and 
organised  nature.  This  becomes  One  in  purpose  with 
the  '  Noumenal  '  Spirit,  the  Logos,  as  the  essential  part 
on  earth  of  the  harmonised  Kingdom  of  His  cosmos, 
manifesting  the  universal  Father  in  daily  life.  That 
a  consummation  such  as  this  is  the  goal  set  before  the 
soul  of  humanity,  appears  to  have  been  recognised  in 
the  old  Orphic  saying  :  *'  as  above,  so  below,"  the  same 
faith  being  also  expressed  in  the  Christian  prayer  : 
**  Sicut  in  Caelo  et  in  Terra." 

^  "  To  know  signifies  to  value.  The  Great  Problems  are  problems 
of  value.  .  .  .  The  universe  is  not  only  a  collection  of  contents 
variable  according  to  certain  laws,  but  includes  also  values  which  are 
essential  to  it.  .  .  .  The  touchstone  of  comparison  is  in  the  end  the 
individual  consciousness.  ...  A  good  touchstone  is  the  upright 
consciousness  of  the  man  whose  will  is  always  directed  to  the  good, 
although  he  does  not  always  realise  it." — The  Great  Problems,  by 
B.  Varisco,  1914,  pp.  269,  274,  275. 

END   OF  PART   I. 


THE    SECOND    CREATION    STORY    (I.) 

Gen.  ii.  4a-25 

CHAPTER    XI 

Gen.  ii.,  verses  4-6 

THE  story  of  the  Second  creation  immediately  follows, 
without  introduction  or  explanation,  and  occupies  the 
remainder  of  the  three  chapters  of  Genesis,  falling 
naturally  into  two  parts.  Internal  evidence  shows 
that  it  comes  down  from  a  later  period  than  the  story 
of  the  First  creation. 

Throughout  the  second  story,  the  Creator  is  no 
longer  spoken  of  under  the  name  'Elohim,  but  Jahveh 
'Elohim.  What  is  to  be  understood  by  this  dual  name  of 
the  Second  Creator,  ^  and  what  by  a  second  creation  ? 

The  name  JaHVeH,  the  first  of  the  two  names,  is 

spelt  by  the  Four  Hebrew  letters,    Yod,  He,    Vau,  He, 

each  differing  from  the  other  in  inner  meanings,  and 

yet   inter-related.     The   uppermost   point   of   the   first 

letter,  Yod,  the   Tenth  letter  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet, 

was  held  by  Kabalists  to  symbolise  the  Transcendent 

Being  from  whom  proceed  nine  emanations,  the  fourth 

letter  standing  for  the  last  of  these,  the  world  of  form. 

The  Name-of-the-Four-letters,  JaHVeH,  typifies,  indeed, 

the   Great  Unmanifest,  the    Supreme  Triune   Creator, 

the  Intermediate  Beings  or  Emanations,  and  the  created 

material  world.     It  its  totality,   or  unity,   this  Name 

^  The  Rev.  John  Skinner,  M.A.,  D.D.,  Professor  of  O.T.  Exegesis, 
Cambridge,  maintains  in  The  Divine  Names  in  Genesis,  1914,  pp.  87, 
88,  275,  that  the  Divine  names  in  the  Massoretic  text  have  undergone  no 
material  variation  for  over  2000  years. 

?05 


io6     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN   GENESIS 

represents  the  Real  Being  of  the  universe,  the  Archetype 
and  Original  of  all  that  exists  in  lower  spheres,  the 
Second  Person  of  the  Supreme  Trinity  in  Whom  dwells 
the  Pleroma,  the  Fullness,  of  the  All-Father.  This 
Real  Being  appears  to  be  represented  by  the  whole 
*  noumenal  '  creation  of  the  first  story,  the  '*  Son  "  of 
the  Supreme  Father-Mother- Son,  who  is  the  Light, 
the  Logos,  with  seven  Powers. 

The  original  form  of  the  name  Jahveh  was  probably 
Yahweh  or  Yahwe,  a  Greek  transliteration  being  'Ia/3e. 
It  has  been  connected  with  the  Arabic  hawa,  to  blow, 
breathe,  and  with  the  Hebrew  hay  ah  (old  form  hawah)^ 
to  make  to  be,  to  create.^  The  four  letters  of  the  name 
JaHVeH  (IHVH)  are  capable  of  twelve  transpositions, 
each  of  them  conveying  in  Hebrew  the  idea  of  *'  to  be." 
These  twelve  words  have  been  called  by  Kabalists 
the  *'  twelve  banners  of  the  mighty  Name,"  and  com- 
pared with  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac.^  Hence, 
too,  the  importance  of  the  Primary  Name  Jahveh,  as 
implying  the  ''  I  AM  THAT  I  AM  "  of  Exodus,  the 
eyw  eljULi  of  the  fourth  gospel. 

According  to  Jewish  tradition,  the  **  Name-of-the- 
Four-letters,"  IHVH,  was  pronounced  only  once  a  year, 
by  the  high  priest  when  he  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies  : 
this,  moreover,  in  an  undertone,  so  as  not  to  be  heard 
by  the  people.  The  last  to  utter  the  name  in  this  way 
was  Simon  the  Just.  Philo  records  that  the  Name-of- 
the-Four-letters  was  not  uttered  in  his  time,  being  held 
to  be  too  sacred  to  be  pronounced,^  and  was  alluded  to 
as  the  Tetragrammaton,  the  Four-lettered  Name.^     In 


^  See  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  ii.  199  (Dr  Sanday),  iv.  280. 

2  Kabbalah   Unveiled,  pp.  30,  31. 

3  Life  of  Moses,  iii.  519,  520.  In  his  De  Natiird  Deorum  Cicero 
says  that  the  Egyptian  Hermes  had  a  name  that  durst  not  be  uttered. 

*  In  the  Coptic  Gnostic  work  known  as  the  Pistis  Sophia,  a  Primal 
Man,  coming,  it  would  seem,  from  a  more  ancient  tradition,  is  called 
by  a  Four-vowelied  Name,  a  Mystery  Name. 


JAHVEH    'ELOHIM  107 

reading  aloud,  the  Hebrew  name  ' Adondi  was  sub- 
stituted for  it,  in  Greek  Kvpio<iy  translated  "  Lord." 

Jahveh  (pronounced  Yahi^eh)  has  been  regarded  as 
the  Personal  Name  of  God  in  the  Old  Testament,  God 
as  Great  Person.  The  name  in  the  form  **  Jehovah  " 
is  not  older  in  date  than  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
(1520). 1  In  the  New  Testament,  Jahveh  is  identified 
with  the  Son  of  God  in  Mark  i.  1-3 ;  Heb.  i.  i  seq. ; 
Rev.  i.  10-20.2 

The  name  of  the  Creator  throughout  the  second  story 
is,  however,  not  Jahveh,  but  Jahveh  'Elohim.^  A  clue 
to  the  interpretation  of  this  combined  name  appears 
in  one  of  the  books  of  the  Zohar,  which  states  :  '*  (When 
it  is  said)  Yod,  He,  Vau,  He  (then  is  expressed)  the 
nature  of  the  male.  When  'Elohim  is  joined  therewith, 
there  is  expressed  the  nature  of  the  female."  *  Another 
of  its  books  says  :  **  Jahveh  'Elohim  is  the  full  name 
of  the  Most  Ancient  of  All,  and  of  Microprosopus ; 
when  joined  together  they  are  called  the  full  name."  ^ 
It  would  appear  that  the  use  of  the  **  full  name,"  this 
dual  Name,  declares  that  the  Creative  Power  is  the 
All- Soul,  the  Supernal  Mother,  the  Third  Person  of 
the  Trinity,  who  is  the  eternal  image  of  the  Second 
Person,  the  second  creation  being  the  emanation,  or 
^*  shadow,"  in  the  soul  order,  of  the  All-Soul.  The 
dual  Name  of  the  Creator  appears  to  imply,  moreover, 
that  the  respective  modes  of  manifestation  of  the 
Second  and  Third  persons  of  the  Trinity,  the  eternal 

^  "  The  transliteration  'Jehovah'  is  unsatisfactory;  in  any  case, 
it  is  an  impossible  form  from  the  Hebrew  point  of  view,  because  it 
consists  of  the  consonants  of  one  word  and  the  vowels  of  another." 
— W.  O.  E.  Oesterley,  D.D.,  Studies  in  Isaiah,  19 16,  p.  27. 

2  See  Theological  Symbolics,  by  G.  A.  Briggs,  D.D.,  D.Litt.,  1914, 
pp.  45,  48. 

3  This  combination  of  names  is  only  found,  in  the  Hexateuch,  in 
the  second  and  third  chapters  of  Gen.  and  in  Ex.  ix.  20;  else- 
where, in  a  few  instances  only. 

^    Kabbalah  Unveiled,  p.  84.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  202. 


io8     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

and  the  temporal,  are  imparted  to  All-the- Souls  of  the 
second  creation,  and  will  ultimately  be  expressed  by 
them  in  the  world-order. 

The  second  creation,  as  emanation  or  likeness  of  the 
Third  Person  of  the  Divinity,  is  represented,  it  will  be 
seen,  as  focused  in  the  Soul  of  humanity,  every  per- 
fectly fashioned  unit  of  which  will  ultimately  unite  in 
itself,  in  conscious  and  harmonious  activity,  the  upper 
and  the  lower  worlds,  **  heaven  "  and  **  earth,"  Spirit 
and  Soul,  wholeness  and  limitation,  eternity  and  time. 
Each  perfected  individual  will  represent  the  Divine 
Presence  in  human  form,  and  be  an  expression  **  in 
ultimates  "  ^  of  the  Universal  Spirit  as  an  organic 
instrument  of  Its  activities. 

The  '  noumenal  *  creation  in  the  earlier  story  is  the 
manifestation  of  the  Logos  or  Word  or  Jahveh,  the 
Son,  expressed  in  terms  of  Light  and  its  seven  powers. 
This  creation  appears  as  the  integration  of  an  un- 
limited number  of  activities  into  a  significant  number  of 
expressions,  representing,  in  the  mode  of  immediacy 
and  completion,  that  which  can  also  be  manifested  in 
detail.  It  is  therefore  not  yet  fully  manifested.  The 
vast  Content  of  all  that  is  implicit  in  it  is  as  yet  un- 
revealed.  Being  of  the  universal  and  *  timeless  '  order, 
expressing  itself  in  wholenesses,  it  requires  for  Comple- 
ment the  other  order  of  manifestation,  the  order  of 
limitation  in  time,  space,  and  materiality,  so  as  to 
supply  analysis  to  its  synthesis  and  give  multiplicity 
to  unity.  Hence  the  necessity  for  a  second  creation. 
The  second  creation  is  the  manifestation  of  the  first 
in  the  ideal  or  *  formless  '  realm  of  the  soul  order, 
the  order  of  differentiation,  and  is  the  emanation  of 
All-the- Souls,  each  of  which,  while  distinct  from  the  ^ 

rest,  is  essentially  a  unity,  a  living  monad,  of  the  nature 

1  Using  Swedenborg's  phrase. 


I  I  II  I       ■■ 


THE    CREATIONS    COMPARED  109 

3f  the  living  Whole.  The  first  and  second  creations 
:orrespond,  generally,  to  Spirit  and  Soul,  the  eternal 
ind  the  temporal,  the  universal  and  the  particular, 
:he  One  and  the  Many.  Spirit  will  function  in  terms 
3f  the  differentiating  Soul  element  of  Itself,  expressing 
[tself  in  the  actual  regions  of  Form  and  Movement 
:hrough  the  activities  of  these  living,  organic  wholes, 
Doth  individually  and  in  groups. 

The  Spirit  of  the  first  creation  story  and  the  Soul  of 
;he  second  correspond  in  many  respects  to  the  Idea  and 
:he  Soul  of  Plato.  Plato's  Ideas  are  the  Living 
Realities  and  Powers  of  an  invisible  world.  In  the 
Phcedo  the  Ideas  are  regarded  as  Originating  Causes, 
:he  Idea  of  Life  being  the  Source  of  the  soul's  Life ; 
:he  soul  is  akin  to  the  Ideas,  has  personal  attributes,  and 
s  self-moving,  self-knowing,  self-changing.  In  the 
Phcedrus  myth  the  Idea  is  described  as  **  the  pilot  of 
:he  soul,"  while  the  essence  of  the  soul  is,  again,  self- 
notion,  leading,  apparently,  to  self-originated  change 
3r  self-development,  since  a  proof  of  the  soul's  im- 
inortality  is  based  by  Plato  on  this  conception  of  the 
joul's  nature.  In  the  Laws  (book  x.)  soul,  as  the  self- 
moving  mover,  is  the  oldest  and  mightiest  principle  of 
:hange,  older  than  the  body  whose  office  is  to  obey  the 
soul  as  its  ruler.  ^ 

**  In  this  notion  of  the  soul  as  self-moving  we  have 
Plato's  last  word  in  psychology.  But  the  most  central 
discussion  of  the  soul  which  Plato  gives  us  is  to  be 
found  in  his  masterpiece  the  Republic.  In  this  great 
dialogue  the  dependence  of  the  soul  on  the  Ideas  and 
the  dependence  of  the  body  on  the  soul  are  discussed 
in  connection  v/ith  Plato's  educational  theories."  ^ 

^  Aristotle  held  that  the  body  obtains  from  the  soul  the  regulated 
movement  which  constitutes  its  being,  and,  indeed,  that  the  body 
exists  only  for  the  soul. 

2  See  article  in  The  Quest  for  Oct.  1914,  by  Professor  W.  R.  Boyce 
Cxibson,  on  Plato  v.  Bergson,  especially  pp.  49-57. 


no     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  body  appears  to  be  a  development  of  the  soul,  its 
vehicle,  instrument,  and  dependent.  Origen,  follow- 
ing Plato  and  Aristotle,  supported  this  view,  and  it  has 
many  defenders.^  To  Origen,  matter  [vXr])  is  the 
substratum  underlying  all  varieties  of  form,  and  its 
characteristic  is  endless  transmutation,  perpetual  flux ;  ^ 
but  beneath  this  endless  variation  of  form  and  change 
of  substance  is  the  seed  or  germinative  principle,  the 
ratio  insUa,  as  Jerome,  quoting  Origen,  translates  it,^ 
and  this  is  the  constitutive  unity  of  the  body  both  as  it 
is  and  as  it  is  to  be.*  So  that  to  Origen  the  soul  has 
a  vital  assimilative  spark,  a  germinative  principle, 
which  lays  hold  of  fitting  matter  surrounding  it,  and 
shapes  it  into  a  habitation  suitable  to  its  needs,  other- 
wise the  soul  could  not  be  in  harmony  with  its  surround- 
ings.^ Soul  creates  body.^  Identity  is  to  be  sought 
not  in  the  form  or  in  the  particles  but  in  the  soul 
within.^  And  this,  moreover,  is  involved  in  the  greater 
mystery  of  the  Real  Man  or  Self. 

^  Edmund  Spenser,  in  An  Hymne  in  Honour  of  Beautie,  writes  : — 
"  So  every  spirit  as  it  is  most  pure 
And  hath  in  it  the  most  of  heavenly  light, 
So  it  the  fairer  bodie  doth  procure 
To  habit  in,  and  it  more  fairly  dight 
With  cheerfull  grace  and  amiable  sight ; 
For  of  the  soule  the  bodie  lorme  do'.h  take ; 
For  soule  is  forme,  and  doth  the  bodie  make." 
In  his  Marriage  of  Heaven  and  Hell,  William  Blake  declares  :   "  Man 
has  no  Body  distinct  from  his  Soul,  for  that  called  Body  is  a  portion  of 
Soul  discovered  by  the  five  senses,  the  chief  inlets  of  Soul  in  this  age." 
■^  De  Principiis,  ii.  i,  4. 
^  "  Ratio  qucBdani  a  Deo  artifice  insita^ 

■*  See  The  Resurrection  and  Modern  Thought,  by  W.  J.  Sparrow 
Simpson,  London,  191 1,  pp.  348  ff. 

^  See  The  Christian  Platonisis  of  Alexandria,  by  the  late  Charles 
Bigg,  D.D.,  1913,  p.  271. 

^  Cp.  the  following  :  "  The  concept  that  a  special  existence  and 
a  vspecial  life  can  be  ascribed  to  the  soul,  so  that  to  be  as::ociatcd  with 
the  body  is  not  essential  to  it,  is  a  crude  interpretation  of  experience 
which  cannot  resist  criticism,  is  an  illusory  concept." — Know  Thyself, 
by  Bernardino  Varisco,  1915,  p.  289. 

'  If  this  is  so,  it  does  not  seem  unreasonable  to  asume  that  the 


GOD  REVEALED  THROUGH  MAN    iii 

In  the  kingdom  of  man's  soul  processes  are  going 
on  which  are  counterparts  of  those  in  the  universe  : 
the  soul  moved  to  its  depths  by  the  vision  of  the  starry 
sky,  is  itself  akin  to  that  on  which  it  gazes.  This 
universe,  living  throughout,  is  an  ensouled  living 
creature,  of  which  each  human  soul  is  an  epitome, 
containing  potentially  and  implicitly  the  whole  of 
its  powers.^  As  Philo  said,  man  is  the  little  universe, 
and  the  universe  is  the  Great  Man. 

The  Real  Man  hidden  in  the  individual  is  essentially 
the  same  as  the  Real  Man  in  all  men,  differing  only  in 
individualisation.  As  each  soul  discovers  this  spiritual 
Self,  It  will  unveil  and  the  soul  know  itself  to  be 
stamped  with  a  new  and  unique  Name,  its  own  true 
possession  in  the  Universal  Name.  It  henceforth 
*^  lives  "  this  Name,  and  so  mankind  utters  the 
continuous  revelation  of  God. 

Gen.  ii.  4  :  (a)  **  These  are  the  generations  (tdl'ddih) 
of  the  heaven  and  the  earth  when  they  were  created,  (b)  in 
the  day  that  Jahveh  'Elohim  made  earth  and  heaven.** 

This  verse  is  not  very  clear  as  it  stands.  Some 
modern  critics  maintain  that  the  first  half,  (a),  belongs 
to  the  first  creation  story,  and  that  (b)  is  the  actual 
beginning  of  the  second  story.  It  is  probable  that  this 
is  so,  (a)  completing  the  record  of  the  *  noumenal  ' 
creation. 

The  Massorah  points  out  that  the  word  toVdoth  is 
found  in  verse  4a  with  the  "  full  "  spelling,  two  vaus 

same  power  by  which  the  soul  repairs  the  daily  waste  of  our  organism 
enables  it,  earth-life  after  earth-life,  to  construct  wholly  new  tenements 
for  itself,  the  soul  retaining  as  potential  every  developed  faculty. 

^  "  We  must  look  upon  this  Universe  with  all  the  lives  within  it 
as  one  living-being  having  for  all  its  parts  one  soul  which  reaches  to 
every  member,  to  every  object  existing  in  the  sense-known  scheme. 
.  .  .  The  world,  by  virtue  of  its  unity,  is  linked  in  fellow-feeling." 
— The  Enneads  of  Plotinus,  iv.  4,  32,  tr.  Stephen  MacKenna,  191 7. 


r 


112     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

being  used.     The  intention  probably  was  to  accentuate 
the  fact  that  the  *  noumenal  '  creation  is  complete.^ 

Gen.  ii.  4b  :  **  7w  the  day  that  Jahveh  'Elohlm  made 
earth  and  heaven." 

The  antitheses  **  earth  "  and  **  heaven"  relate  ulti- 
mately to  the  two  modes  of  consciousness  which  are 
conferred  on  the  living  universe  of  Soul,  powers  belong- 
ing in  the  first  instance  to  the  Third  and  Second  Persons, 
respectively,  of  the  Triune  Divinity,  when  the  Persons 
are  separated  by  the  analytical  human  mind.  Other 
correspondences  are,  for  example,  the  particular  and 
the  universal,  outer  and  inner,  seen  and  unseen.  Views 
of  this  nature  appear  to  have  been  held  by  the  Sufi  poet 
and  mystic  Jami  (141 4-1 492),  who  says  in  one  of  his 
philosophical  works  :  **  The  universe  is  the  outward 
visible  expression  of  the  Real,  and  the  Real  is  the  inner 
unseen  reality  of  the  universe." 

On  the  subject  of  the  purpose  of  creation,  the  Sufis 
quote  their  famous  tradition  :  *'  I  was  a  hidden  treasure 
and  I  desired  to  be  known;  therefore  I  created  the 
creation  in  order  that  I  might  be  known."  As  nothing 
exists  outside  of  God,  the  Supreme  Monad,  this  saying 
proclaims  that  in  so  far  as  the  Immanence  of  the  Creator 
is  concerned,  Self-knowledge  is  one  of  the  purposes 
of  creation.  Knowledge,  however,  cannot  be  the 
ultimate  end  of  creation,  but  rather,  is  an  instrument 
towards  that  end.  It  is  of  value  in  the  furtherance 
of  Purposeful  Activity ;  for  knowing  and  acting,  the 
theoretical  and  the  practical,  are  co-operators  one 
with  another,  and   appear   to   complete   the   circle   of 

^  There  is  only  one  other  instance  in  the  Old  Testament  where  the 
same  spelling  is  found,  in  Ruth  iv.  18,  which  introduces  David  for  the 
first  time,  giving  the  generations  from  Perez  to  David.  It  appears 
to  indicate  that  David  represents  the  attainment  of  a  definite  stage  in 
the  soul's  history,  corresponding,  say,  to  the  quickening  period.  In 
ten  instances  in  Genesis,  all  referring  to  Adam  and  his  posterity,  the 
spelling  of  ioldoth  is  with  one  vau  only. 


THE  SECOND   CREATION  DRAMA  BEGINS     113 

Reality.  Creation  must  have  an  eminently  practical 
purpose. 

The  story  before  us  is  not  the  record  of  an  event 
which  happened  once  for  all  a  long  time  ago,  still  sur- 
viving, but  of  a  continual  creative  occurrence.  The 
universe  of  living  soul-substance  is  always  being  created 
throughout  the  time-order  :  issuing  fresh  from  the 
eternal  Heart  of  the  Creator,  and  proceeding  forth  by 
means  of  His  everlasting  Breath.  Every  moment  it  is 
created,  sustained,  indrawn,  and  re-created. 

Gen.  ii.  5  :  "  And  as  yet  no  plant  of  the  field  was 
upon  the  earth,  and  no  herb  of  the  field  had  as  yet  sprung 
up :  for  fahveh  'Elohim  had  not  yet  caused  it  to  rain 
upon  the  earth,  and  there  was  not  a  man  to  till  the  ground." 

The  creation  of  the  cosmos  of  soul-substance  is  about 
to  be  narrated  in  symbolic  story.  Jahveh  'Elohim  has 
not  yet  caused  *'  rain,"  so  there  is  no  vegetation  on 
the  earth.  Nor  has  **  man  "  appeared  as  agent  on 
behalf  of  the  Divine,  to  till  the  ground  and  develop  it. 

The  parent  forces  of  the  coming  creation  are  being 
symbolised  as  **  earth  "  or  **  ground,"  and  **  water," 
for  it  is  implied  that  "  rain  "  is  a  necessary  condition 
for  manifestation.  These  two  root-principles  under 
which  creation  is  to  appear  in  the  soul-order  and  be 
fostered  under  the  agency  of  **  man,"  are  as  yet  in  a 
state  of  essential  unity  in  the  *  timeless  '  regions  of  the 
inceptive  creation. 

Gen.  ii.  6  :  ''  And  a  mist  went  up  from  the  earth  and 
watered  the  whole  face  of  the  earth. 

In  the  book  of  Sirach,  written  in  Hebrew  about  180 
B.C.,  Wisdom  is  represented  as  a  pre-mundane  creation 
of  God,  which  came  forth  from  the  mouth  of  the  Most 
High,  and  covered  the  earth  as  a  mist.^  In  the  present 
verse  in  Genesis,  the  rising  of  a  '*  mist  "  and  its  return, 

^  Verses  9  and  3. 

8 


114     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

are  pictures  as  of  the  activity  of  Breath  :  symbol  of  the 
Third  Person  of  the  Triune  Divinity.  The  appearance 
of  the  **  mist "  proclaims  that  the  second  creation 
is  begun.  This  begins  by  the  water-principle  separating 
in  the  temporal  order  from  the  earth-principle  with 
which  it  is  eternally  united  in  the  out-of-time  order, 
and  while,  as  **  mist,"  it  does  not  leave  the  earth,  it 
returns  to  it  in  cyclic  measure,  baptising  it,  and  so 
revealing  it  to  itself. 

Of  the  two  actors  in  the  symbolic  drama,  **  earth  " 
is  the  fixed  and  permanent  element,  '*  water  "  the 
moving  and  changing. ^  **  Earth  "  becomes  a  symbol 
of  the  archetypal  realms  or  permanencies.  *'  Water," 
having  no  form  of  its  own,  symbolises  the  world  of 
manifestation  and  change  which  shapes  itself  according 
to  the  *  noumenal  '  plan,  just  as  in  the  phenomenal 
order  the  underside  of  the  ocean  conforms  to  the  various 
depressions  and  ridges  on  the  earth-surface  of  the  globe. 

"  Earth  "  in  this  verse  is  a  symbol,  in  the  world  of 
particulars,  of  the  *  noumenal  '  universe  of  Spirit, 
whose  perfection  is  expressed  in  the  soul  regions  in 
terms  of  stability.  "  Water  "  is  here  a  symbol  of 
the  universe  of  the  All- Soul,  whose  eternal  perfection 
is  about  to  be  manifested  in  terms  of  limitation  and 
process.  For  the  Creative  Spirit  is  appearing  in  the 
phenomenal  realm  under  two  activities,  duration  and 
change,  **  heaven "  and  "  earth,"  Sun  and  Moon, 
positive  and  negative,  **  earth  "  and  **  water." 

The  second  creation  begins  when  Unity  is,  as  it  were, 
stretched  into  Duality  :  the  One  appearing  as  Two 
under   the   principle   of   Tension."     When   Tension   is 

-  See  also  comment  on  Gen.  i.  ii,  12,  p.  52. 

"  The  word  "  tension  "  comes  from  the  Greek  TiraiVw,  Ep.  for 
reij/w,  to  stretch,  and  from  the  same  root  comes  the  word  Titan. 
According  to  Hesiod  there  were  twelve  Titans,  six  sons  and  six 
daughters  of  Ouranos  and  Gaia,  "  the  heavens  "  and  "  the  earth  "  : 
they  no  doubt  symbolised  the  stretching  out  and  dividing  up  of  space 


FOUR    ROOT-ELEMENTS    APPEAR  115 

exerted,  the  forces  brought  into  play  may  be  expressed 
in  two  equal  but  contrary  modes,  Ex-tension  and  In- 
tension. Ex-tension,  the  principle  which  later  will 
manifest  as  Space,  is  especially  related  to  the  Cosmic 
Mother  and  the  Soul,  the  principle  at  the  basis  of 
*'  water."  In-tension,  or  Intensity,  the  principle  which 
later  will  manifest  as  Time,  is  specially  related  to  the 
Cosmic  Father  and  Spirit,  the  principle  at  the  basis 
of  **  earth."  ^  Manifestation  is  to  be  expressed  in 
terms  of  both  Space  and  Time,  which  are  complementary 
the  one  to  the  other. 

The  returning  mist  waters  ^^  the  whole  face  of  the 
ground."  The  earth-and- water  which  were  mixed  as 
primordial  slime  or  root-substance  and  formed  the 
**  earth  "  of  Gen.  ii.  4b,  are  separated  in  the  *  form- 
less '  soul  regions — regions  between  the  archetypal 
and  the  physical, — the  mist  surrounding  the  earth. 
The  earth  now  gradually  solidifies,  and  the  water 
becomes  clear.  Together  they  form  a  mirror  which 
reflects  the  remaining  two  elements,  fire  surrounded 
by  air,  comprising  the  **  heaven"  of  Gen.  ii.  4b.  Thus 
in  the  soul  realm  the  four  root-elements  appear.  They 
are  the  archetypes  in  this  realm  of  the  four  kingdoms 
which  afterwards  appear  in  the  physical  regions  as 
mineral,  vegetable,  animal,  and  human. 

The  earliest  of  the  four  kingdoms  to  appear  in  the 
physical  regions  is  the  mineral,  which  has  special 
affinity  to  the  element  **  earth,"  and  then  the  vegetable, 
as  having  affinity  to  the  *'  v/ater  "  principle.  The 
mineral  kingdom  expresses  in  time  and  space  the 
changelessness  of  Spirit,  and  accentuates  the  mode  of 

into  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  of  which  six  are  masculine  and  six 
feminine,  alternately. 

1  In  Time  and  Free  Will,  London,  1910,  pp.  224-229,  Bergson  holds 
that  "intensity"  is  not  quantity  or  magnitude  but  quality;  his 
"  duration  "  {la  duree)  is  a  wholly  qualitative  multiplicity  which  does 
not  exist  in  the  external  world. 


ii6     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

"  tension  "  primarily  related  to  the  Cosmic  Father  : 
in-tension,  or  intensity,  or  time.  Into  this  mineral 
kingdom,  with  its  emphasis  on  the  monadic  centres 
(or  atoms)  of  the  earth  element,  the  *  fire  '  from 
"  heaven  "  descends,  and  thus  its  every  atomic  centre 
may  be  described  as  possessing  one  Spark  of  Spirit. 
The  Spark  in  the  centres  of  the  mineral  kingdom 
draws  down  in  due  course  the  complementary  *  air  ' 
element  upon  the  **  water  "  element,  and  so  is  born  the 
breathing  life  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  This  second 
expression,  the  vegetable  kingdom,  accentuates  the 
mode  of  tension  primarily  related  to  the  Cosmic  Mother, 
namely,  ex-tension  or  space.  It  may  be  described 
as  possessing  one  Spark  of  Spirit,  which  is  enfolded 
within,  and  fanned  by,  the  Breath  of  the  Mother,  just 
as  the  sun's  nebulous  centre  is  surrounded  by  its 
photosphere.  The  two  modes  of  time  and  space  are 
expressed  together,  while  each  is  accentuated  in  turn, 
and  thus  the  full  cycle  is  completed  in  a  dual  mode. 

These  two  earlier  kingdoms  are  based  on  the  "  earth  " 
of  Gen.  ii.  4b.  Two  other  kingdoms,  based  on  the 
"  heaven  "  of  Gen.  ii.  4b,  have  yet  to  be  established 
as  the  prototypes  of  what  will  subsequently  become 
the  animal  and  human.  The  earlier  kingdoms  are  re- 
latively negative  (and  horizontal)  to  the  later,  positive 
(and  vertical). 

The  harvest  of  the  first  cycle,  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
within  which  is  contained  the  impulse  of  the  mineral 
kingdom,  comes  under  the  vitalising  action  of  the  dual 
principles  of  Tension,  and  a  new  impulse  in  manifesta- 
tion is  stamped  upon  it  urging  it  to  a  *  positive  '  mode 
of  expression  along  a  second  cycle.  The  spontaneity 
of  Spirit  is  conferred  afresh  on  the  Cell  principle  ^  of 

^  The  tiny  Cell  is  a  microcosm  full  of  intense  activities,  which  are 
only  beginning  to  emerge  into  the  light  through  the  labours  of  the 
mathematical  physicist,  of  the  spectroscopist,  of  the  radiologist,  and 
of  the  physical  chemist. 


PROTOTYPES    OF   THE    FOUR    KINGDOMS       117 

the  vegetable  kingdom,  within  which  lies,  enfolded 
by  the  Breath  of  the  Great  Mother,  the  monadic  Atom, 
with  its  central  Spark  of  Spirit.  A  second  Spark  now 
acts  upon  it,  bestowing  new  potentialities,  and  trans- 
muting the  prototype  of  the  vegetable  Cell  into  the 
prototype  of  Blood.  This  '  blood  '  is  the  life-principle 
of  the  second  cycle.  Thus  is  the  animal  kingdom 
created  in  the  *  formless  '  soul  realm.  ^  It  is  the  first 
expression  of  the  second  cycle  of  manifestation  (this 
second  cycle  being  a  reflection  upon  earth  of  the 
''  heaven  "  of  Gen,  ii.  4b),  and  may  be  described  as 
possessing  two  Sparks  of  Spirit,  the  earlier  of  which 
has  been  enfolded  within,  and  fanned  by,  the  Breath 
of  the  Mother.     The  next  verse  continues  the  story. 

The  second  cycle  repeats  the  cyclic  movement  of  the 
first,  becoming  a  development  of  it  in  all  its  parts,  but 
in  a  ^*  new  "  and  positive  mode.  The  two  cycles  appear 
to  gyrate  in  time  and  space  round  the  ^  perduring ' 
Source  of  Manifestation. 

^  The  investigations  of  Sir  J.  C.  Bose  have  demonstrated  the  unity 
of  life-reactions  in  plants  and  animals. 


CHAPTER    XII 

Gen.  ii.,  verse  7 

Gen.  ii.  7:  (a)  ^^  And  Jahveh  'Eldhtm  formed  man 
('dddm)  ^  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,"  (b)  "  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  breath  of  life  {neshdmath 
chiim),  (c)  *'  and  [so]  man  became  a  living  soul " 
(nephesh  chayyah). 

(a)  The  word  'dddm,  translated  **  man,"  usually 
held  to  be  derived  from  the  root  'ddam,  to  be  red,  is 
thought  by  some  to  be  derived  from  an  Assyrian  root 
meaning  to  make,  produce,  so  that  'dddm  may  mean 
**  the  created  one."  In  the  bi-lingual  Babylonian 
story  of  the  creation,  the  non- Semitic  a-dam  is  trans- 
lated by  a  Babylonian  word  which  seems  to  mean 
**  a  number  of  men,  a  community."  ^  In  the  present 
verse  'dddm  appears  to  be  employed  as  a  collective 
term  for  mankind,^  or  rather,  for  the  soul  of  mankind  : 
which  is  one  in  essence  with  the  Universal  Soul. 

1  This  "  man  "  should  not  be  confused  with  the  Archetypal  "  Man  " 
of  the  first  creation  story,  the  seventh  power  of  the  Light. 

2  Dr.  T.  H.  Pinches,  in  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Light  of  the  Records 
of  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  pp.  78,  79. 

3  In  The  Gospel  of  Rightness,  by  Miss  C.  E.  Woods,  Williams  and 
Norgate,  1909,  pp.  105-106,  we  read  :  "  Variations  (of  the  Eden 
drama  and  its  dramatis  personcB)  appear  in  the  Egyptian  Books  of 
Thoth,  the  record  by  Pindar  of  the  Samothracian  mysteries — in  which 
the  Kabiri,  whose  generic  name  was  Adamas,  were  the  seven  ancestors 
or  progenitors  of  mankind — the  Hindu  Puranas,  and  elsewhere. 
Greatly  as  the  story  differs  in  the  various  records,  the  one  feature  of 
importance  common  to  all  is  that  the  name  Adam  is  not  an  individual, 
but  a  collective  term.  George  Smith  says  in  his  Chaldean  Account 
of  Genesis,  p.  86  :  *  The  word  Adam  ...  is  evidently  not  a  proper 
name,  but  is  only  us.^d  as  a  term  for  mankind.'  "  The  word  'dddm  does 
not  appear  as  a  proper  name  until  Gen.  iv. 

118 


MAN'S    SOUL    FORMED  119 

With  regard  to  the  creation  of  **  man  "  **  out  of 
the  dust  of  the  ground,"  ^  this  symbolism  introduces 
the  "  man,"  the  soul  of  humanity,  as  the  seed-plot  of 
many  human  souls,  each  of  which  is  a  spontaneous, 
monadic  centre  of  soul-consciousness.  Wycliffe  trans- 
lated the  passage  :  **  The  Lord  God  thanne  fourmede 
man  of  the  slyme  of  the  erthe,"  so  combining  the  root- 
elements  earth  and  water,  as  in  Gen.  i.  2  and  ii.  6,  to 
obtain  the  primordial  substance  of  creation,  and 
supplying,  as  it  were,  to  each  centre  of  consciousness, 
**  earth,"  a  field  of  activity  and  experience,  '^  water." 
The  water  element  gives  to  the  soul  of  humanity,  as 
to  each  individualised  unit  of  it,  inherent  power  to 
function  in  the  changing  world  of  form.  Both  render- 
ings are  of  value  for  their  symbolism. 

Jahveh  'Elohim  forms  the  substance  nature  of  the 
human  soul,  its  animal  organism  with  its  subconscious 
powers,  as  if  by  process.  The  verb  employed  is  very 
different  from  the  striking  verb  bdra'  used  in  verses  i, 
21,  and  27  of  chapter  i.  :  it  is  ydsar,  to  form,  fashion, 
a  picturesque  metaphor  borrowed  from  the  potter's  craft. 
In  the  Septuagint  the  verb  is,  similarly,  irXda-crwy  to  form, 
fashion,  mould,  as  a  potter  his  clay.^  The  picture  is  of 
Jahveh  'Elohim  as  a  Potter  or  Craftsman,  with  art  pro- 
ducing under  His  hand  man's  physical  body  with  its 
variouspowersfromclay,  that  is,  **  earth  "and  '*  water. "^ 

In  ancient  Egypt  the  creator,  Khnemu,  represented 
as  Ram-headed,*  with  his  own  hands  fashions  man  of 

^  See  Job  X.  8,  9;  Ps.  cxxxix.  13-16.  The  substance  of  "  man  " 
is  "  earth,"  which  is  reducible  to  dust,  to  atoms.  The  word  terra 
is  linked  to  the  same  idea,  being  from  tero,  I  wear  away,  as  also  the 
word  ground,  from  grind. 

2  This  verb,  rcxdcrffo}  is  used  in  the  New  Testament  in  Rom.  ix.  20 
and  I  Tim.  ii.  13. 

^  Cp.  Isai.  Ixiv.  8  :  "  Thou  art  our  Father  :  we  are  the  clay, 
and  Thou  our  Potter  ;  we  are  all  the  work  of  Thy  hand." 

^  An  allusion,  probably,  to  the  first  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac, 
which  are  pointed  out  by  the  sun  in  its  annual  course,  and  so  to  the 
formative  influences  of  the  zodiac  upon  the  soul. 


120     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

clay  on  a  potter's  wheel  which  he  works  v/ith  his  foot. 
The  symbolism  signifies,  indeed,  the  gradual  shaping 
of  man's  structure  and  nature  in  the  world-order,  for 
behind  the  creator  stands  Thoth,  the  Moon-god,  the 
god  of  process  in  time  and  space,  who  marks  off  the 
years  of  man's  life  on  a  notched  palm  branch.  The 
potter's  wheel  symbol  also  suggests  the  idea  of  time, 
for  time's  movement  is  not  along  a  straight  line  but  is 
cyclic  :  time  revolves,  history  repeats  itself,  and  man 
becomes  fashioned. 

Gen.  ii.  7  :  (b)  ''And  (Jahveh  'Elohim)  breathed 
into  his  nostrils  breath  of  life  "  [Neshamath  Chiim,^ 
literally,  breath  of  lives). ^  Soul-substance  having 
first  been  prepared  and  fashioned  by  Jahveh  'Elohim 
in  the  *  formless  '  realm  of  the  soul-order,  the  Creator 
crowns  the  creative  work  by  imparting  the  Breath." 
This  is  the  divine  e^7rvev(TL<5,  or  the  inbreathing  of 
the  TTvcvfxa,^  the  essential  Spirit,  into  **  man,"  whereby 
he  is  immediately  endowed  with  the  eternal  Light-and- 
Life  of  the  Divine  nature. 

The  Divine  Breath  is  breathed  into  the  "  man " 
in  the  condition  of  wholeness  and  completion,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  stamped  or  impressed  on  every  individual- 
ised unit  of  the  soul  of  humanity  in  the  form  of  the 
sevenfold  Pattern  or  Seal  of  the  Universal  Light  of  the 

1  On  p.  34  of  the  Kabbalah  Unveiled  Macgregor  Mathers  refers  to 
Neshamah,  Ruach,  and  Nephesh  as  correspondences,  respectively,  of 
Kether  {the  highest  of  the  Ten  Sephiroth),  Tipper eth,  and  Yesod ;  or  the 
Crown,  the  King,  and  the  Queen ;  and  sums  up  these  in  Chiim,  which 
is  analogous  to  Macroprosopus  and  the  Ineffable,  who  is  typified  by  the 
uppermost  point  of  the  first  letter  of  the  Four-lettered  Name.  The 
words  Neshamath  Chiim  of  the  present  verse  are  thus  full  of  the 
highest  signification. 

2  In  Gen.  ii.  9  the  Hebrew,  translated  "  tree  of  life,"  is,  literally, 
"  tree  of  lives." 

^  Cp.  Job  xxxiii.  4  :  "  The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me,  And  the 
Breath  of  the  Almighty  giveth  me  life."  And  Job  xxvii.  3  :  "  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  in  my  nostrils." 

*  From  irvew,  to  blow,  to  breathe. 


THE    DIVINE    BREATH    IMPARTED  121 

first  creation  story.  This  Eternal  Breath  which  has 
thus  been  absorbed  and  occluded,  is  to  be  manifested 
explicitly  by  each  and  every  human  soul  in  the  modes 
of  time,  space,  and  materiality. 

The  imparted  Breath  is  described  in  the  original  as 
'*  Breath  of  lives."  The  soul  of  humanity  is  em- 
powered to  manifest  the  dual  powers  of  consciousness, 
temporal  and  *  timeless,'  through  the  many  living 
human-soul  centres  of  spontaneous  and  quasi-in- 
dependent consciousness  which  are  comprised  in  it. 
The  plural  form  also  suggests  that  the  human  soul  is 
created  with  the  power  to  live  through  countless 
cycles  or  seons  of  time,  so  as  fully  to  express  in  the 
temporal  order  the  Creator's  eternal  Will  which 
embraces  this  order.  The  words  Neshamath  Chiim 
show,  indeed,  that  all  the  powers  of  the  Divinity, 
even  in  their  supreme  aspects,  are  imparted  to  **  man  "  : 
such  powers  are  mostly  implicit  in  him,  but  will  at 
length  be  rendered  explicit  by  him  in  the  phenomenal 
order  :  to  which  the  whole  universe — with  its  myriad 
centres  of  consciousness,  its  living  suns — contributes 
its  influence. 

The  process  described  in  the  comment  on  the  previous 
two  verses  is  now  at  the  stage  where,  in  the  ideal  or 
*  formless  '  soul  realm,  the  animal  kingdom  receives 
a  new  inflatus  from  Spirit.  Soul-substance  having 
been  successively  imprinted  or  embossed  with  the 
perfections  of  the  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal 
kingdoms,  comes  for  the  second  time  under  the  Mother- 
Breath  of  the  Spirit  and  is  thereby  vivified  into  a  new 
creation,  the  human  kingdom,  with  a  new  outlook  and 
destiny. 

In  the  phenomenal  region,  the  actual  appearance  of 
the  human  kingdom  in  the  animal  world  was  signalised 
by  the  change  of  posture  of  the  spine  from  the  horizontal 
to   the   vertical.     In   the   *  formless  '   soul-realm   with 


122     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

which  the  present  story  in  Genesis  is  dealing,  the  new 
creation  roots  itself  on  the  preceding  three  kingdoms 
and  stands  up  thereon,  expressing  their  powers  in 
a  new  manner.  Or  we  may  say  that  the  two  earlier 
kingdoms  form,  as  it  were,  the  horizontal  or  '  negative  ' 
limb  of  a  cross,  the  two  later — the  animal  and  human — 
the  vertical  or  *  positive  '  limb,  of  which  the  upper  part 
is  the  human. 

The  principles  expressed  by  Mineral-atoms,  Vegetable- 
cells  and  Animal-blood  are  now  focused  within  the 
Human-blood  principle.  This  new  principle  is  an 
outcome  of  the  idea  of  Personality,  and  by  the  power  of 
the  Breath  this  Idea  is  stamped  with  the  sevenfold 
Seal  of  the  Spirit  on  the  soul  of  humanity  as  a  whole, 
as  also  its  every  monadic  unit. 

We  may  picture  the  first  Spark  (mineral  kingdom) 
as  enfolded  and  fanned  by  a  surround  of  Breath,  and 
this  great  Sphere  (vegetable  kingdom)  baptised  through- 
out by  the  fire  of  the  second  Spark;  then  the  whole 
(animal  kingdom)  again  enfolded  by  another  surround 
of  Divine  Breath  (human  kingdom),  and  fanned  into 
further  life  which  awakens  new  possibilities.  For  all 
that  is  above  and  beyond  the  human  kingdom  is  at  first 
implicit  in  "  man,"  and  has  to  be  rendered  explicit 
during  the  phenomenal  order  in  the  stage  following 
man's  personal  participation  in  his  own  metamorphosis 
under  the  spiritual  magic  of  Regeneration. 

The  evolutionary  process  before  the  soul  is  part  of  a 
series  of  its  transmutations  in  the  phenomenal  order, 
and  is  referred  to  in  the  Kabalistic  axiom  :  **  A  stone 
becomes  a  plant,  a  plant  a  beast,  a  beast  a  man,  a  man 
a  spirit,  a  spirit  a  God." 

Having  received  the  Inflatus  of  the  Breath,  **  Man  " 
is  of  the  essential  nature  of  the  Triune  Creator,  so  that 
in  the  ideal  soul-realm  he  is  a  complete  and  perfect 
instrument   for  the   manifestation   of   Spirit.     But   he 


MAN  :    A    LIVING    SOUL  123 

has  yet  to  be  fashioned  under  experience  in  the  material 
regions  of  the  soul-order,  and  prove  himself  in  practical 
earth-life  to  be  in  accord  with  his  essential  perfection. 
In  the  Babylonian  story  of  creation,  emphasis  is  laid 
on  the  temporal  and  the  eternal  natures  of  man  by 
the  statement  that  he  is  made  of  dust  and  also  of  the 
blood  of  the  Creator  Bel.  These  correspond  to  the 
Substance  and  Spirit  of  clauses  (a)  and  (b),  respectively, 
of  the  present  verse.  In  the  classical  myth,  Prometheus 
forms  the  first  man  out  of  earth-and-water,  and  gives 
life  to  mankind  by  means  of  a  spark  stolen  from  the 
gods.^ 

Gen.  ii.  7  :  {c)  ''  And  [so]  man  became  a  living  soul." 
The  words  translated  '*  a  living  soul  "  are  nephesh 
chdyyah.  These  are  the  words  used  in  the  first  creation 
story  regarding  the  Lords  of  Types  of  both  the  Three- 
mode  and  the  Four-mode,  the  **  heaven  "  order  and 
the  "  earth  "  order,  who  were  **  created  "  {bard')  on 
the  fifth  and  sixth  days,  to  whom  was  given  nephesh 
chayyah,  life,  livingness,  in  the  '  noumenal  '  realms. 
This  important  and  suggestive  fact  cannot  be  inferred 
from  the  current  translations. 

The  **  man  "  of  Gen.  ii.  7  is  created  by  divine  process 
[ydsar)y  whereby  his  soul-substance  is  enriched  and 
made  pure ;  this  is  followed  by  the  Divine  Inbreathing 
communicated  direct  from  the  Godhead,  when  the 
whole  nature  is  made  perfect  throughout  by  the  power 
of  the  Breath.  And  so  '*  man  "  becomes  "  a  living 
soul,"  essentially  perfect  in  both  the  **  heaven  " 
(eternal)  and  the  *'  earth  "  (everlasting)  orders  of  his 
nature. 

Verses  19  and  20  of  the  present  chapter  speak  of 
other  * 'living  creatures"  being  formed  out  of  the 
ground  by  Jahveh  'Elohim.     These  "  lower  "  creations 

>  Ovid,  Metamorphoses,  i.  82, 


124     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

on  "  earth  "  have  "  life  "  [nephesh)^  or  a  general  soul, 
but  are  without  the  Divine  **  Breath,"  the  Neshamath 
Chiim  of  the  present  verse.  The  only  creation  **  on 
earth  "  which  receives  the  supreme  Inflatus  of  the  Spirit 
is  the  ^*  man  "  of  Gen.  ii.  7,  the  soul  of  humanity, 
who  is  of  the  essential  nature  of  the  Universal  Soul. 
The  fact  that  this  creation  is  made  perfect  in  the  ideal 
or  *  formless  '  soul  realm  is  clearly  set  before  us. 

The  **  soul  "  of  a  human  being  is  best  imagined 
outside  rather  than  within  the  physical  form.  For 
**  soul  "  is  primarily  connected  with  universality  and 
sameness.  Hence  it  cannot  correctly  be  said  that 
a  man's  soul  is  here,  or  there,  because  it  is  always 
everywhere  :  being  essentially  related  to  the  Universal 
Soul.^  At  the  same  time  the  Content  of  each  indi- 
vidual soul  differs  from  that  of  every  other,  and  has 
its  unique  personality  and  soul-history.  Its  true 
Name,  bestowed  on  itself  alone,  is  ever  recorded  at  its 
own  heart. 

The  earlier  stage  of  Gen.  ii.  7  pictures  in  the  soul 
realm  a  world-process  under  which  highly  evolved 
root-substance  is  prepared  for  the  creation  of  "  man."  ^ 
Man's  root-substance  is  thereby  stamped  with  the 
root-ideas  of  the  three  preceding  kingdoms,  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral.  We  know  that  the  mineral 
kingdom  is  within  the  vegetable,  and  the  vegetable 
kingdom  within  the  animal,  traces  of  each  lower 
kingdom  being  found  within  the  higher ;  in  the  same 
way   in  the   human  kingdom   are   stamped   the   root- 

1  "  The  Soul  itself  is  not  .  .  .  dismembered,  it  does  not  give  life 
parcelwise,  a  fragment  of  Soul  to  a  fragment  of  matter;  every  frag- 
ment lives  by  the  Soul  entire,  which  is  present  everywhere,  present 
as  a  unit  and  as  a  Universal,  as  is  the  Father  that  engendered  it." 
— Plotinus,  Emtead,  V.  i.  and  ii.,  tr.  Stephen  MacKenna,  vol.  i.  p.  132. 

'^  In  one  of  the  books  of  the  Zohar  we  read  :  "  Gen.  ii.  7.  And 
Jahveh  'Elohim  formed  the  substance  of  man,  completing  [him]  .  .  . 
formation  within  formation  from  the  most  ethereal  of  the  refined 
(element  of)  earth." — Kabbalah  Unveiled,  p.  226. 


MAN:    AN    EPITOME    OF   THE    PAST     125 

ideas,  or  essences,  of  the  three  earlier  kingdoms.^ 
The  mineral  impress,  symbolised  by  our  bones,  gives 
the  idea  of  atomicity,  root-substance,  and  the  essence 
of  form.  The  vegetable  impress,  basing  itself  on  the 
mineral,  gives  the  idea  of  extension  in  space  ;  man's 
flesh  bases  itself  on  the  bony  structure,  extending  him 
in  space.  The  animal  impress,  whose  symbol  is 
blood,  gives  to  the  human  kingdom  the  characteristic 
and  purpose  of  activity,  of  motion,  of  life. 

Ancient  India  classified  the  basic  qualities  in  human 
nature  in  three  groups  or  gunas,  named  in  Sanskrit 
tamas,  sattva,  rajas,  definable,  say,  as  will,  wisdom, 
activity.  These  are  as  the  mineral,  vegetable,  and 
animal  constituents  of  human  nature  :  its  Father, 
Mother,  Son  :   its  Sun,  Moon,  Earth. ^ 

The  human  kingdom  is  on  its  way  to  become  Divine,^ 

^  "  Each  higher  grade  includes  and  embraces  all  the  lov/er : 
minerals  have  e^j?;  plants,  e|ts  and  (pvais]  the  lower  animals, 
€^is,  <pv(Tis,  and  y\/vxr] ',  and  man,  e|i5,  (pvais,  t/^ux^j  ^"^  ^f^^^-  ^° 
that  there  is  a  real  solidarity  or  unity  stretching  '  through  all  the 
mighty  commonwealth  of  things,'  not  merely,  as  Wordsworth  says, 
'Up  from  the  creeping  plant  to  sovereign  man,'  but  from  the  lowest 
creations  of  even  inorganic  nature  up  to  sovereign  man." — James 
Adam,  Vitality  of  Platonism,  191 1,  p.  156. 

"  Living  plants  and  animals  in  the  processes  of  growth  and  develop- 
ment carry  into  their  bodies,  by  what  are  virtually  rhythmic  move- 
ments, a  large  number  of  the  elements  which  are  found  in  the  inorganic 
kingdom,  and  also  a  not  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  physical  forces 
of  that  kingdom,  v/hich  confer  on  it  rhythmic  and  other  movements. 
.  .  .  The  organic  rhythmic  movements  are  primary  or  fundamental 
movements,  and  are  absolutely  necessary,  not  only  to  the  v/ell-being 
of  plants  and  animals,  but  also  to  their  very  existence.  Without 
them,  plants  and  animals  could  neither  be  formed  nor  maintained. 
.  .  .  They  are  spontaneous,  independent  movements." — ^J.  Bell 
Pettigrew,  F.R.S.,  Design  in  Nature,  pp.  248,  251. 

"  The  upper  triangle  is  reflected  downward  upon  the  "  earth  " 
order,  so  that  the  mineral  kingdom — which  appears  first,  and  is  the 
basis  of  the  succeeding  kingdoms — takes  on  the  characteristics  of  the 
Will  {tamas)  of  the  Father,  with  its  stability  and  purposefulness. 

»  Cp.  the  following  :  "  Man  wishes  to  rise  to  a  yet  unknown  order, 
as  that  which  supplies  the  foundation  and  justification  of  the  order 
which  is  known  to  him  and  of  which  he  makes  use.  Such  is  in  its 
purely  logical  character,  the  raison  d'etre  of  religion — a  reason,  the 


126     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

this  attainment  being  effected,  so  far  as  man  is  con- 
cerned, through  his  activities  in  the  world-order. 
When  the  three  basic  principles  in  man's  nature  are 
raised  thereby  to  their  highest  properties,  ready  to  be 
co-ordinated  with  the  Divine  in  him,  then  is  the  way 
prepared  for  the  coming  gift  of  the  Third  Spark  from 
the  heavenly  Fire,^  leading  to  the  higher  state  on  earth 
that  is  set  before  mankind. 

In  sacred  symbolism  are  found  many  references  to 
**  three  "  who  are  exalted  through  their  Unifying 
Principle.  For  example,  while  Noah  and  the  seven  of 
his  family,  signifying  his  own  sevenfold  powers, 
pass  from  amongst  the  **  dead,"  the  unregenerate, 
through  **  living  waters  "  to  the  state  of  the  Twice- 
born,  the  **  blessing  "  is  declared  upon  the  One  and 
the  three. ^  In  the  book  of  Daniel  three  pass  through 
a  fire  baptism  and  are  refined  and  purified  thereby, 
as  evidenced  by  the  presence  of  One  who  appears  among 
them  **  like  a  son  of  the  gods."  ^  Kings  of  the  East, 
three  in  number  according  to  tradition,  bring  their 
three  gifts,  the  highest  qualifications  of  their  trans- 
formed natures,  and  find  their  goal  in  the  Child  Jesus.* 
The  gospels  tell  of  Jesus  on  a  **  high  mountain  "  with 
three,  the  representative  three  from  among  the  twelve, 
namely,  Peter,  James,  and  John.  Hermes  Trisme- 
gistus,  in  various  pre-Christian  tractates  in  Egypt, 
similarly  instructs  his  three  chief  disciples  Ammon, 
Asclepios,  and  Tat,  who  correspond  to  the  three  just 
mentioned,  each  to  each. 

The  three  lower  kingdoms  which  form  the  ground- 
value  of  which  cannot  be  reasonably  denied. —  Know  Thyself,  by 
Bernardino  Varisco,  1915,  p.  271. 

'  This  Fire  is  symbolised  as  the  "  fire  of  coals  "  in  the  last  chapter 
of  the  fourth  gospel  {John  xxi.  9). 

-  Gen.  ix.  i.  This  is  the  first  blessing  bestowed  by  'Elohim  after 
the  three  blessings  recorded  in  the  first  creation  story. 

3  Dan.  iii.  24-25,  R.V. 

*  Matt.  ii.  7-1 1  ;   cp.  Rev.  xvi.  12. 


THE    NEXT    STEP    IN    MAN'S    BECOMING     127 

work  of  the  substance  of  our  human  nature,  compare 
as  the  *' three  measures  of  meal"  of  the  parable.^ 
These  are  cast  into  the  mixing  bowl,  or  KpaTrjp,  of  the 
world-order  within  the  universe,  and  there  **  leavened  " 
into  a  Divine  **  whole,"  the  leaven  being  the  human 
element  or  kingdom  when  **  touched  "  by  the  Hand 
of  the  Spirit,  whereby  man  becomes  more  than  man. 
The  **  Woman  "  of  this  parable  is  the  Divine  Wisdom 
of  Prov.  viii.,  the  Third  Person  of  the  Supernal  Trinity, 
the  **  Breath  "  of  the  present  verse. 

By  raising  the  quality  of  the  three  lower  kingdoms 
which  constitute  the  foundation  of  his  human  nature, 
effecting  this  through  knowledge  and  action  under 
the  opportunities  of  the  world-order,  normal  man  by 
a  natural  process  is  on  the  way  to  realise  himself, 
and  will  become  truly  **  man  "  as  his  substance- 
nature  becomes  ready  for  the  gift  of  Regeneration  and 
the  descent  **  from  Above  "  of  the  Third  Spark. 

The  process  by  itself  can  never  accomplish  the 
goal,  for  time  and  space  conditions  alone  cannot  bring 
about  perfection,  any  more  than  Deity  can  be  explained 
in  terms  of  time  and  space.  Perfection  means  making 
complete,  and  that  which  evolves  can  only  be  made 
complete  by  that  which  does  not  evolve,  its  true 
complement.  Hence  before  purified  substance  can 
become  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  requires  to  be 
**  hallowed  "  and  made  **  whole  "  by  being  looked  upon 
by  Divinity, 2  and  breathed  upon  by  Divine  Breath. 

^  "  Another  parable  spake  he  unto  them  :  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a  Woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  measures 
of  meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened."  Matt.  xiii.  S3l  Liilie  xiii. 
20,  21. 

2  Gen.  iv.  4,  5,  records  that  Jahveh  "  looked  upon  "  Abel  and  his 
offering,  but  did  not  "  look  upon  "  Cain  and  his  offering.  Abel 
"  brought  of  the  firstlings  of  his  flock  and  of  the  fat  ones  thereof  '* 
as  offerings,  and  Cain  brought  "  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground."  The 
offerings  signify  the  acquirements  of  the  personal  nature  which  are 
offered  in  the  service  of  the  Divinity.     It  would  appear  that  Abel's 


128     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  Divine  Breath  is  connected  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Third  Person  of  the  Trinity,  the  essentially  Feminine 
mode  of  Deity.  It  reflects  the  image  of  the  Ideas  of 
the  Father  which  are  conceived  in  the  realm  of  Reality, 
bringing  about  the  connection  between  the  hidden  and 
the  manifest,  between  the  *  timeless  '  condition  and  the 
time.  As  we  cannot  smell,  or  even  taste,  without  our 
breath,  so  we  cannot  receive  Mental  inspiration  without 
the  Inner  Breath.  Breath  is  the  common  ground  of 
understanding  between  God  and  man. 

This  subtile,  spiritual  Breath  goes  forth  everlastingly, 
yet  never  loses  touch  with  the  Source  from  whence 
it  comes,  so  that  co-existing  with  the  idea  of  everlasting 
motion  is  that  of  eternal  rest  or  stability.  It  is  eternal 
Life  flowing  forth  to  all.^ 

In  his  Main  Currents  of  Modern  Thought,  Eucken 
asks  :  **  How  can  man,  who  at  first  appears  to  be  an 
infinitesimal  point,  participate  in  a  self-contained 
world,  in  a  world  as  a  whole,  such  as  the  spiritual  life 
represents  ?  "  He  continues  :  **  It  is  certain  that  he 
can  only  do  so  if  the  spiritual  life  has  existed  within 

self-dedication  to  Jahveh  was  of  the  highest  energies  and  powers 
of  his  own  qualified  threefold  substance-nature,  mineral,  vegetable, 
and  animal,  while  Cain's  qualities  which  were  offered  were  a  stage 
behind,  his  animal  nature  not  having  yet  been  brought  under  his  own 
control. 

^  Cp.  the  following  regarding  So^i'o,  the  Personified  Wisdom  of 
God  ( Book  of  Wisdom,  vii.  24-27)  : — 

(24)  *'  For  Wisdom  is  more  mobile  than  any  motion. 

Yea,  She  passeth  and  goeth  through  all  things  by  reason  of  her 
pureness. 

(25)  "  For  She  is  a  vapour  of  the  power  of  God, 

And  an  emanation  of  His  all-governing  glory,  without  alloy. 

(26)  "  For  She  is  a  reflection  of  eternal  Light, 

And  a  spotless  image  of  the  working  of  God, 
And  an  image  of  His  goodness. 

(27)  "  But  She  being  One  can  do  all. 

And  abiding  in  Herself  maketh  all  things  new, 

And  generation  by  generation  passing  into  holy  souls, 

Maketh  them  friends  of  God  and  prophets." 


MAN:    A    DIVINE    BEING    IN    GERM        129 

his  being  as  a  possibility  from  the  commencement.  .  .  . 
In  the  absence  of  such  an  indwelling  spirituality, 
humanity  can  have  no  hope  of  making  any  progress."  ^ 

What  Eucken  demands  is  maintained  in  the  Upani- 
shads,  the  mystical  doctrines  of  ancient  India,  which  are 
to  the  Vedas  what  the  New  Testament  is  to  the  Bible. 
Their  philosophy  is  :  "  Learn  to  recognise  in  thyself 
the  One  great  Self."  In  the  oldest  but  one  of  the 
Upanishads,  we  read  :  **  He  is  Myself  within  the  heart, 
smaller  than  a  mustard  seed  .  .  .  smaller  than  the 
kernel  of  a  canary  seed.  He  is  also  Myself  within  the 
heart,  greater  than  the  earth,  greater  than  the  sky, 
greater  than  heaven,  greater  than  all  these  worlds."  ^ 
And  in  another  :  **  He  is  the  One  God,  hidden  in  all 
beings,  all-pervading,  the  Self  within  all  beings, 
dwelling  in  all  beings."  ^ 

The  eternal  principle  in  man  is  often  referred  to  in 
the  Bible.  **  In  the  hidden  (man)  thou  shalt  make  me 
to  know  wisdom."  *  **  Receive  with  meekness  the 
inborn  word  which  is  "  able  to  *  save  '  your  souls."  ^ 
"  Whose  adorning  ...  let  it  be  the  hidden  man  of  the 
heart,  in  that  which  is  not  corruptible."  ^  This  is  also 
the  philosophy  of  Gen.  ii.  7.  At  the  creation  of  *^  man," 
his  "  earth  "  or  substance-nature  is  based  on  the 
characteristic  qualities  of  the  three  lower  kingdoms, 
these  springing  from  the  Root- Substance  of  the  Divine 
nature.  By  the  supreme  gift  of  the  Divine  Breath, 
Cosmic  life  is  granted  as  his  *'  heaven  "  nature,  and 
this  is  operative  in  him  from  the  very  outset,  ready 

1  Athanasius  (297-373)  said  that  if  a  man  may  become  Divine,  he 
must  already  be  so  in  germ.  Bernardino  Varisco  writes  :  "  We  shall  be 
justified  in  asserting  noumenal  reality  only  if  it  is  found  to  be  necessarily 
implicit  in  phenomenal  reality."      Know  Thyself,  p.  278. 

2  Chdndogya  Upanishad,  iii.  14;  translated  by  Max  Muller,  Six 
Systems  of  Indian  Philosophy,  1899. 

3  Svetasvatara  Upanishad,  vi.  11-13. 

*  Ps.  li.  6.  ^  James  i.  21.  ^  i  Pet.  iii.  4. 

9 


130     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

to  crown  and  complete  his  being.  So  that  in  both 
the  Substance  and  the  Spirit  elements  of  his  nature, 
his  **  earth  "  and  his  **  heaven,"  the  man  of  the  second 
creation  story  in  Genesis,  who  is  the  soul  and  prototype 
and  seed-plot  of  humanity,  is  of  the  Divine  order. 
Self-realisation  during  the  world-order  is  thus  repre- 
sented as  an  entirely  natural  process. 

To  quote  from  Jacob  Boehme  :  **  Adam  was  created 
to  be  the  restoring  angel  of  the  world.  His  nature  was 
twofold.  Within  he  had  an  angelic  soul  and  body, 
derived  from  the  powers  of  heaven.  Without  he  had  a 
life  and  body  derived  from  the  powers  of  earth.  The 
former  was  given  him  that  he  might  be  separate  from 
and  superior  to  the  world.  He  was  endowed  with  the 
latter  that  he  might  be  connected  with  and  operative 
in  the  world.  .  .  .  He  was  designed  to  be  the  father 
of  a  like  angelic  race  who  should  occupy  and  reclaim 
the  earth  for  God  .  .  .  educing  and  multiplying  the 
blessing  which  God  had  implanted." 


\ 


CHAPTER    XIII 
Gen.  ii.,  verses  8,  9 

Gen.  ii.  8:  (a)  "And  Jahveh  ' Eldhtm  planted  a 
garden  eastward  in  Eden  :  (b)  And  therein  he  placed 
the  man  whom  he  had  formed." 

Verse  7  represented  the  Creator,  Jahveh  'Elohim, 
manifesting  a  part  of  the  soul-substance,  or  Content,  of 
His  eternal  and  complete  nature  ^  under  the  mysterious 
principles  of  limitation  and  process,  the  Secondary  mode 
of  Divine  manifestation,  hence  in  terms  of  time,  space, 
and  materiality.  At  a  definite  stage  this  creation 
**  from  the  dust  of  the  ground  "  is  breathed  upon  by  the 
Divine  Breath  of  the  eternal  order,  its  every  atom  being 
immediately  imprinted  at  the  centre  as  if  with  the 
Sevenfold  Seal  of  the  Spirit.  The  Creator  is  now 
Immanent  in  His  creation,  being  represented  there  by 
*^  man,"  a  **  living  soul,"  who  is  essentially  one  with 
the  universal  soul.  Divine  Substance  such  as  was 
implicit  in  the  Creator,  is  now  explicitly  manifested 
in  man,  coming  under  differentiation  and  evolution, 
while  the  eternal,  universal  Spirit  which  was  explicit 
in  the  Creator  is  now  implicit  in  man  in  the  *  timeless  * 
order.  So  does  God,  in  so  far  as  He  is  Immanent,  bind 
Himself  to  man  as  man's  supreme  possession,  and 
thus  is  man  continually  being  directed  to  God  who, 
while  Immanent  in  His  creation,  is  at  the  same  time 
Transcendent. 

1  By  the  strict  mathematical  definition  of  infinite  quantities,  an 
infinite  is  that  to  which,  in  some  sense,  its  part  is  equal. 

131 


132     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

(a)  Verse  8  which  we  are  about  to  consider,  accentu- 
ates the  principle  of  limitation  and  process,  for  the 
**  living  soul  "  is  placed  in  a  garden  planted  by  the 
Creator,  a  garden  **  in  Eden."  This  verse  sets  new 
problems  before  us.  We  must  first  ascertain  what  is 
meant  by  Eden,  by  the  garden,  and  by  the  '*  eastward  " 
relation  between  Eden  and  the  garden. 

In  the  Zohar  we  read  :  ^*  What  is  Eden  ?  It  is  the 
supernal  Chokmah,  Wisdom."  ^  In  Prov.  viii.  23-31, 
Chokmah,  the  supernal  Wisdom,  is  the  means  whereby 
the  Creator  manifests  Himself.^  In  the  Vedas,  the 
Power  whereby  the  Ineffable  becomes  manifest  in 
time  and  space,  is  spoken  of  as  the  Shakti  (or  Spouse) 
of  Deity,  also  as  the  Maya  of  Deity  (from  mayin, 
wisdom — root  md,  to  measure.)  The  Hebrew  word 
Eden  ^  means  delight,  joy.  As  Delight,  Joy,  Wisdom, 
Eden  represents  the  Power  through  which  the  Creator, 
Jahveh  'Elohim,  is  manifested  in  the  phenomenal 
order. 

Ezekiel  speaks  of  Eden  on  two  occasions  as  "  the 
garden  of  'Elohim."  *  Eden  and  the  garden  **  in 
Eden  "  compare  with  one  another,  therefore,  as  the 
garden  of  'Elohim  and  the  garden  of  the  **  man  "  of 
Gen.  ii.  8.  Ezekiel's  Eden,  **  the  garden  of  'Elohim," 
is  apparently  the  whole  manifested  universe.  But 
when  Eden  appertains  to  Jahveh  'Elohim,  as  in  the 
second  creation  story,  it  appears  to  relate  to  the  solar 
cosmos.  In  either  case,  man's  **  garden  "  would  be 
represented  by  our  planet,  Earth. 

^    Kabbalah   Unveiled,  p.  284. 

2  See  also  Ps.  civ.  24  :  "In  Wisdom  (or  By  Wisdom)  He  hath  made 
them  all." 

3  With  regard  to  the  name  Eden,  Friedrich  Delitzsch,  Assyriologist, 
points  out  that  edina  was  one  of  the  Akkadian  names  for  a  plain,  and 
that  this  word  was  borrowed  by  the  Babylonians  under  the  form  of 
edinnu.  Dr.  T.  H.  Pinches  {op.  cit.,  p.  70)  speaks  of  a  territory  not 
far  from  Babylon  called  Edina. 

*   Ezek.  xxviii.  13;   xxxi.  0. 


THE   GARDEN  :     MAN'S   SCENE   OF   ACTION     133 

The  garden  is  planted  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  "  eastward 
in  Eden."  Eden's  relation  to  the  garden  **  in  Eden  " 
is  as  the  direction  of  the  rising  sun.  In  other  words, 
the  Divine  Light-and-Life  of  Eden,  of  the  solar  cosmos, 
which  is  centred  in  the  sun,  ever  illumines  and  re- 
generates the  garden,  this  evolving  soul-substance, 
the  planet  Earth,  even  as  sunrise  in  the  East  ever  turns 
the  darkness  and  torpor  of  our  planet  into  light  and 
life.  The  symbolism  is  spatial,  but  essentially  signifies 
state  or  condition,  declaring  the  ultimate  transformation 
and  regeneration  of  this  garden,  planetary  soul- 
substance,  the  substance  of  humanity's  soul,  into  a 
higher  order  of  expression. 

Gen.  ii.  8  :  (b)  "  And  therein  he  placed  the  man 
whom  he  had  formed." 

In  this  garden,  this  planet  within  the  solar  cosmos  of 
Eden,  Jahveh  'Elohim  places  the  man,  the  ^dddm,  the 
(ideally  perfect)  soul  of  collective  humanity.  The 
man's  soul-substance,  his  **  earth  "  nature  which 
evolves  under  process,  is  intimately  linked  with  this 
garden  planted  *'  in  Eden."  At  the  same  time,  the 
Divine  Breath  breathed  into  him  as  his  **  heaven  " 
nature,  which  he  is  ever  inbreathing,  is  related  to 
the  Solar  Logos,  and  so  to  Eden,  the  garden  of  Jahveh 
'Elohim,  the  solar  cosmos  which  encompasses  man's 
garden.  The  garden  is  thus  appointed  not  only  as 
the  particular  region  in  the  cosmos  wherein  the  man 
will  actively  function,  but  also  where  spiritual  power 
will  be  continuously  indrawn  by  him  and  manifested. 

Unitary  Being  is  represented  in  verse  8  under  Two 
aspects,  for  duality  or  correlation  is  necessary  to 
manifestation  in  space  and  time.  On  the  one  hand 
is  Jahveh  'Elohim,  on  the  other  **  the  man,"  the  soul 
of  humanity.  They  are  **  divided  "  in  the  temporal 
order  though  essentially  One  in  the  eternal  order. 
Eden  again  is  contrasted  with  **  the  garden  "  in  Eden. 


134     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

In  certain  respects  these  antitheses  compare  as  Spirit 
and  Soul-substance,  *'  heaven  "  and  *'  earth." 

The  soul  of  humanity  within  the  solar  cosmos 
contrasts  also  with  the  encompassing  living  universe, 
and  these — comparing  as  centre  and  circumference,  the 
particular  and  the  universal — are  again  two  components 
of  a  supreme  Unity.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the 
phenomenal  universe,  the  mirror  in  which  the  soul  of 
man  sees  itself,  is  the  complement  of  the  soul  of 
humanity,  hence  is  implicit  in,  is  essentially  **  within," 
each  human  being.  ^ 

The  '*  garden  "  is  the  field  of  activity  of  the  Divine 
Will.  It  represents  the  Cube  of  Substance,  the  atomic 
side  of  things,  round  which  the  Sphere  of  Infinite 
Consciousness  plays.  The  Ultimate  Will  does  not 
operate  directly  on  form,  but  on  root-substance, 
spiritual  plasm,  pictured  here  as  the  garden.  This 
living  root-matter,  embossed  or  imprinted  with  the 
magical  mark  of  the  eternal  Nature  '^  and  Purpose, 
becomes  woven  into  the  living  texture  of  the  Soul- 
substance  of  humanity. 


Gen.  ii.  9  :    (a)  ''  And  Jahveh  'Eldhtm  made  to  spring 

1  "  The  whole  universe  is  implied  by  us.  Anything  new  which  we 
may  know,  is  new  only  in  relation  to  explicit  consciousness  :  im- 
plicitly we  already  knev/  it.  Observation,  reasoning,  are  simply 
means,  by  which  some  part  of  what  is  implicit  becomes  explicit." 
Again,  "  While  I  am  not  separable  from  the  universe  the  universe 
also  (as  known  to  me)  is  not  separable  from  me  :  we  are  co-essential 
to  each  other.  .  .  Although  it  is  true  that  in  a  certain  sense  I  am 
one  with  the  universe,  even  materially  considered,  it  is  more  exact 
to  conceive  the  relation  between  the  universe  and  myself  as  that  be- 
tween matter  and  form  (primitive,  essential,  or  fundamental  form)." — 
Know  Thyself,  by  Bernardino  Varisco,  London,  1915,  pp.  97,  37,  and 

38. 

"  In  your  own  Bosom  you  bear  your  Heaven  and  Earth, 
And  all  you  behold,  tho'  it  appear  Without,  it  is  Within." 

(William  Blake,  Jerusalem,  p.  71,  lines  17,  18.) 
-  Philo  (i.  6)  speaks  of  the  garden  planted  eastward  in  Eden  as  "  a 
garden  filled  with  heavenly  virtues  which  the  Gardener  caused  to 
spring  from  out  of  His  own  unquenchable  Light." 


INDIVIDUALISED    HUMAN    SOULS  135 

out  of  the  earth  {of  the  garden)  every  kind  of  tree  {that  is) 
pleasant  to  the  sight  and  good  for  food ;  (b)  the  tree  of 
life  (lit.,  of  lives)  also  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  and  the 
tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil." 

(a)  The  collective  soul  of  humanity  is  put  in  relation 
to  a  definite  sphere  of  activity  on  a  stage  pictured  as  a 
garden.  Out  of  the  ground  of  the  garden  trees  of  all 
kinds,  *'  pleasant  to  the  sight  and  good  for  food,"  are 
caused  to  spring.  They  signify  the  varied  individualised 
human  souls  which  are  the  constituent  units  of  the 
perfect  collective  Soul  of  humanity,  the  living  letters 
which  will  utter  and  make  manifest  the  Word  of  God 
on  earth. 

They  are  of  every  kind  that  is  **  pleasant  to  the  sight." 
The  individualised  souls  represented  by  the  various 
kinds  of  trees  are  pleasant  to  the  **  sight  "  of  the  Creator, 
so  are  themselves  objects  of  beauty  to  one  another. 
This,  indeed,  is  an  echo  of  the  words  six  times  recorded 
in  the  first  creation  story  :  "  And  'Elohim  saw  that  it 
was  good." 

The  trees  are  also  **  good  for  food."  They  are 
symbols  in  the  ideal  soul-realm  of  that  which  in- 
dividual souls  will  become  in  the  world  of  actuality, 
after  having  digested  experience  (*'  food  "),  transmut- 
ing this  into  higher  expressions  of  life.^  They  bring 
forth  ripe  fruit,  **  good  for  food,"  and  surrender  these 
choicest  expressions  of  the  little  or  personal  self  in 
the  service  of  the  Spiritual  Self,  the  great  Cosmic 
Person,  the  Solar  Logos,  that  His  Will  and  Purpose 
may  be  expressed  and  fulfilled  on  earth  through  them 
as  His  agents.^ 

^  There  are  more  subtleties  in  the  conversion  of  food  (and  drink) 
to  biological  uses  than  pertain  to  the  normal  philosophy  of  the  chemist 
and  the  physiologist. 

^  In  the  Upanishads,  the  Supreme  says  :  "I  am  Food,  and  the 
Eater  of  Food."  In  the  esoteric  mystery-rite  found  in  the  Acts  of 
John,  known  as  the  "  Dance,  or  Hymn  of  Jesus,"  the  Candidate 


136     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  process  represented  as  of  digestion  is  of  cosmic 
importance,  because  the  transmuting  of  determinate 
objects  into  the  becoming  of  Spiritual  Entities  brings 
about  the  changing  of  chaotic  material  into  a  cosmos 
or  ordered  whole. 

Each  human  soul's  physical  nature  is  based  on  the 
material  order,  and  has  its  centre  of  gravity  within  our 
planet,  its  **  earth."  Its  subjective  nature  is  ultimately 
based  on  the  **  heaven  "  order  of  the  soul's  conscious- 
ness, whose  centre  of  focus  is  at  the  heart  of  the  solar 
system,  the  Sun.  These  separated  powers  have  to  be 
associated  in  harmonious  union  by  each  soul,  the 
centres  of  the  solar  cosmos  and  planet  being,  as  it  were, 
consciously  united  **  in  one  body."  ^  This  can  only 
be  effected  through  the  grace  of  the  All-embracing 
Logos,  which  ever  draws  Its  Soul-substance  to  Its 
own  Spiritual  Focus,  with  cords,  with  bands,  of  love.^ 

Gen.  ii.  9  :  (b)  "  The  tree  of  life  (lit.,  of  lives)  also  in 
the  midst  of  the  garden,  and  the  tree  of  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil." 

The  doctrine  of  good  and  evil,  of  two  opposites  in 
continual  conflict,  was  introduced  into  ancient  Persia 
by  Zarathustra,  generally  known  as  Zoroaster,  in  the 
symbolism  of  two  rival  deities,  twin  brothers,  Ahura 
Mazda  and  Ahrimdn.  The  idea  travelled  and  pro- 
foundly influenced  other  systems  of  thought,  including 
the  Jewish  religion  through  Babylon.     But  the  Magian 

says  "  I  would  eat,"  and  the  response  of  the  Hierophant  is  "  And 
I  would  be  eaten."  Cp.  the  following: — Augustine  of  Hippo  {Con- 
fessions, Book  X.  6)  records  that  he  heard  God's  voice  saying  to  him  : 
"  I  am  the  food  of  adults;  grow,  and  thou  shalt  eat  Me;  nor  shalt 
thou  change  Me  into  thyself  as  thou  changest  carnal  food,  but  thou 
shalt  be  changed  into  Me." 

^  Cp.  Eph.  ii.  14,  15,  16.  "  He  .  .  .  is  our  peace,  who  hath  made 
both  one  .  .  .  having  abolished  in  His  flesh  the  enmity ;  .  .  .  that 
He  might  create  of  the  twain  one  new  man  .  .  .  and  might  reconcile 
them  both  in  one  body." 

2  Cp.  Hos.  xi.  4. 


V 


THE    TWO    TREES    IN    THE    MIDST         137 

ideas  were  not  based  on  crude  dualism,  for  we  learn 
from  Eudemus  of  Rhodes,  a  disciple  of  Aristotle,  who 
wrote  about  the  third  century  B.C.,  that  the  Zoroastrians 
posited  behind  their  good  and  evil  a  Unitary  Source, 
whom  they  called  Zervdn  Akdrdna,  Boundless  (Source 
of)  time  and  space.  This  is  analogous  to  the  tree  of 
life. 

The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  had  a  *^  sacred  tree," 
usually  represented  on  sculptured  slabs  as  a  vine,  with 
fruit  (grapes)  of  a  dark  colour.^  In  other  instances, 
spoken  of  as  temptation  pictures,  the  sacred  tree  takes 
the  form  of  a  palm-tree. ^  These  correspond  to  the  two 
trees  of  life  and  of  knowledge  in  the  Genesis  storj?-  of 
creation. 

In  the  Zohar,  we  read  :  "  Whensoever  the  colours 
are  mingled  together  then  is  the  whole  body  formed 
into  a  tree  (the  tree  of  life),  great  and  strong  and  fair 
and  beautiful.  Dan.  iv.  11  :  The  beasts  of  the  field 
had  shadow  under  it,  and  the  fowls  of  heaven  dwelt  in 
the  boughs  thereof,  and  all  flesh  was  fed  of  it."  On 
this  the  translator  remarks  :  **  The  tree  of  life  is  the 
united  body,  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  is 
the  separated  body."  ^  Elsewhere  he  says  :  **  The 
holy  tree  is  the  tree  of  life,  composed  of  the  ten  Sephiroth 
and  the  seventy- two  Schem  hamphorasch."  *  (The 
latter  are  the  living  powers  of  the  former.) 

In  the  midst  of  the  garden  of  the  soul  of  humanity, 
as  of  each  human  soul,  are  two  trees,  answering  to  the 
two  modes  of  consciousness.  When  the  soul  is  under 
manifestation,  it  necessarily  appears  in  the  temporal 
mode  of  the  dualistic  tree,  the  tree  of  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil,  which  views  life  in  relation  to  number- 

^  This  may  have  been  one  of  the  causes  leading  to  the  post-exilic 
revival  by  the  Jews  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  feast  of  the  harvest- 
ing of  the  vine. 

2  Dr.  Pinches,  op.  cit.,  p.  75. 

5J  The  Kabbalah  Unveiled,  p.  336.  *  Ibid.,  p.  197. 


138     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

less  **  polar  opposites."  Under  the  soul's  experience 
in  the  world- order,  each  pair  of  opposites  reacts  on 
itself,  correcting  and  stimulating,  until  the  pair  can 
ultimately  be  subsumed  within  the  higher  synthesis 
of  its  own  distinct  Idea  :  this  being  connected  with  the 
other  tree,  the  tree  of  life  in  the  *  timeless  '  order, 
the  Unitary  Consciousness  at  the  heart  of  the  soul. 

The  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  is  the 
principle  implanted  in  the  heart  of  the  collective  soul 
of  humanity,  as  of  each  human  soul,  which  impels  it  to 
self-expression  in  time  and  space  along  the  lines  of 
human  reason  and  activity  under  process  and  evolution, 
that  is,  in  relation  to  many  sets  of  two  opposing 
principles,  as  of  good  and  evil.^  The  other  tree,  which 
also  is  in  the  centre  of  the  garden  of  the  soul,  the  tree 
of  life,  represents  the  Higher  Reason  or  Intuition 
which  is  ever  at  the  service  of  man,  and  which  is  able 
to  unite  him  with  the  Cosmic  Person,  the  Solar  Logos. 
This  Great  Person  directs  the  process  after  the  eternal 
Plan,  aiding  the  human  soul,  by  the  Im-mediate  Power 
of  Essential  Life,  to  break  free  from  the  limitations  of 
personal  evolution,  and  working  to  establish  and  crown 
the  process. 2 

There  can  be  no  "  evil,"  as  such,  in  God,  because 
God  is  the  Absolute  Unity  and  Completion  of  all,  and 
evil  means  abstraction  from  the  whole,  whether  in 
state  or  process.  All  sin,  all  error  of  mind,  comes 
from  failure  to  reflect  the  Totality  of  the  Universal 
Consciousness.  On  the  other  hand,  the  phenomenal 
order  being  related  to  process  and  evolution,  exists 
under  the  interplay  of  contrary  forces,  such  as  good 

1  Aristotle  {Eth.  vi.  13;  vii,  5)  pointed  out  that  good  and  evil  are 
not  co-ordinate  powers,  in  other  words,  there  is  no  principle  of  evil. 
There  is  a  moral  order,  and  evil  is  disorder. 

*  Edward  Caird,  Master  of  Balliol,  has  shown  that  Kant  did  not 
regard  dualism  as  the  final  word  of  philosophy;  to  his  mind  all 
separation  was  the  prelude  to  a  reunion. 


THE    EXISTENCE    OF    EVIL  139 

and  evil.  Good  and  evil,  or,  if  we  will,  Providence  and 
the  Devil,  are  co-partners  in  evolution.  If  there  were 
no  such  thing  as  evil  in  the  regions  of  duality  there 
could  be  no  such  thing  as  good.^  The  symbol  of  the 
sphere  or  circle  has  been  used  to  signify  the  eternal  or 
*  timeless  '  order  which  is  integrated  and  complete, 
and  of  the  egg  or  ellipse — represented  by  the  path  of 
the  earth  round  the  sun,  with  its  two  necessary  foci — 
to  signify  the  evolving  time-order  which  is  based  on 
duality  and  differentiation.  To  deny  the  necessity  for 
evil  during  manifestation  is  to  deprive  the  process 
order  of  one  of  the  two  foci  round  which  it  appears  to 
revolve,  and  the  Creator  of  His  method  of  externalising 
Himself  in  the  world  of  manifestation. ^ 

The  condition  of  good-and-evil  wherein  the  in- 
dividualised soul  finds  itself,  is  due  to  its  being  plunged 
in  the  state  of  existence  and  becoming,  which  is  based 
on  duality,  hence  on  relativity.  Such  experience 
must  anticipate  practical  ends.  Chief  of  these  appears 
to  be  the  establishment  of  the  temporal  personality. 
Yet  when  this  goal  is  attained  after  an  agelong  process, 
that  which  hitherto  was  for  the  soul  **  good,"  becomes 
relatively  ^*^  evil  "  in  contrast  with  the  far  higher  goal 
which  more  and  more  clearly  comes  into  its  view. 
When  the  full  idea  of  the  true  Ego  or  Self,  the  essential 
Monad,  bursts  upon  the  empirical  self,  the  soul  recog- 
nises that  its  temporal  will  must  harmonise  with  the 
eternal  Will  of  the  Great  Person.  This  can  only  be 
accomplished  by  the   normal  personality  being,  as  it 

1  **  Every  one  has  in  him  evil,  because  he  has  good  :  Satan  is  not 
a  creature  extraneous  to  God,  nor  the  minister  of  God,  called  Satan, 
but  God  Himself.  If  God  had  not  Satan  in  Himself,  He  would  be 
...  an  abstract  ideal,  a  simple  ought  to  be  which  is  not,  and  therefore 
impotent  and  useless." — Logic,  by  Croce,  tr.  1917,  p.  98. 

2  See  Isai.  xlv.  7  :  "  I  (Jahveh)  form  the  light  and  create  darkness ; 
I  make  good  and  create  evil."  Also  Luke  xxii.  31  :  "  Satan  (the 
Tester)  hath  obtained  permission  to  have  all  of  you  to  sift  as  wheat 
is  sifted." 


140     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

were,  given  up,  "  sacrificed,"  through  its  ultimate  aims 
being  no  longer  directed  for  the  sake  of  the  temporal 
self,  but  of  all  else  that  exists.  Hence  the  necessity  for 
the  **  death  "  of  this  formal  self  on  the  cross  of  matter 
and  becoming,  representing  the  dedication  to  the  utter- 
most of  all  the  acquired  powers  of  the  particular  self 
to  the  service  of  the  Self  of  the  universal  order. 

When  the  individualised  soul  realises  the  nature  of 
the  goal  before  it,  it  defines  its  new  view  of  **  evil  " 
as  egoism  directed  to  self-interest,  the  interest  of  the 
particular,  to  the  neglect  of  the  interests  of  others. 
On  the  other  hand,  *'  good  "  is  regarded  as  egoism 
which,  having  overcome  the  stage  of  self-love,  is  directed 
to  the  interest  of  all  that  lives,  even  to  the  neglect  of  the 
interests  of  the  personal  self.  The  co-ordination  of 
these  contrasting  principles  is  brought  about  by  the 
universal  Spirit  which  at  every  moment  creates  cosmos 
from  chaos,  being  manifested  through  the  power  of 
the  Divine  **  Light  "  incarnate  in  the  fashioned  human 
soul  as  "  the  Christ  "  :  who  wins  His  crowning  glory 
by  a  synthesis  of  spiritual  activity,  with  sympathy  and 
immediate  understanding  reconciling  the  warring 
discords  of  good  and  evil  within  the  soul,  harmonising 
them  into  a  vital  Unity  so  that  they  no  longer  retain 
their  exclusive  characters. 

The  formal  mind  is  free  to  choose  between  good  and 
evil,^  and  to  act  according  to  the  desires  or  will  of  the 
limited  self,  even  against  the  Ultimate  Will  of  the 
Great  Person.  Were  the  Higher  Will  to  act  directly 
on  the  formal  mind,  this  would  have  no  freedom  of 
action,  and  it  is  necessary  for  a  definite  free-will  to  be 
developed  by  the  human  soul,  for  this  world  is  to  be 

^  The  Gnostics  maintained  that  this  choice  was  given  to  man  from 
the  very  beginning.  Philo  finds  the  distinctive  nature  of  man,  and 
the  most  direct  consequence  of  his  likeness  to  God,  in  the  faculty  of 
self-determination. 


FREE-WILL 


141 


comprised  of  free  agents.  Hence  has  the  Higher  Will 
set  limits  to  Itself,  so  as  to  give  the  formal  mind  mastery 
over  the  little  world  of  its  own.  The  formal  mind  has 
to  exert  its  own  free-will  and  make  its  experiments 
in  the  world  of  events,  reaping  in  terms  of  its  sowing, 
being  nourished  and  built  up  by  experience.^ 

When  a  human  soul  realises  that  "  good  "  is 
essentially  of  a  positive,  creative  value,  **  evil  "  being 
relatively  negative  and  self-destructive,  that  all  men 
are  essentially  of  the  Divine  order,  and  that  to  live 
for  oneself  alone  is  to  sin  against  the  Source  of  All- 
Life,  such  a  soul  is  on  the  way  to  bring  his  own  will, 
thoughts,  and  acts  into  line  with  what  he  conceives 
to  be  the  Will  and  Purpose  of  the  Great  Person  of  the 
Cosmos. 

When  the  will  is  bent  on  the  quest  of  essential  Truth, 
**  error  "  subserves  and  stimulates  the  search,  chang- 
ing in  its  character  from  stage  to  stage.  Each  step 
gained  as  '*  truth,"  is  actually,  in  these  regions  of 
duality,  in  the  condition  of  truth-error.  Such  truth- 
error  needs,  under  fuller  knowledge  and  experience, 
to  be  transcended,  the  soul  attaining  higher  and  higher 
conditions  of  **  truth."  Essential  Truth  is,  indeed, 
at  the  summit  of  a  sloping  stairway  as  between  *'  earth  " 
and  "  heaven,"  whose  successive  upward  stages  of 
truth-error  must  be  wisely  traversed  and  surmounted 
under  the  circumstances  of  actual  every-day  life,  by 
the  fullest  exercise  of  intelligence,  action,  and  poise.  ^ 

When  the  Divine  Will  is  born  in  the  heart  of  a  human 
soul,  true  free-will  begins,  for  will  is  only  free  when 
in  accord  with  the  Great  Will.  Knowledge  follows, 
and    life    becomes    full    of    meaning    and    purposeful 

1  Cp.  Heh.  V.  14  :  **  .  .  .  full-grown  men,  even  those  who  by  reason 
of  use  have  their  senses  exercised  to  discern  good  and  evil." 

2  See  Croce's  Logic,  tr.  Douglas  Ainslie,  1917,  pp.  467-9-  Plato 
held  that  the  search  for  Truth  was  a  "  dialectical  "  process,  a  sort  of 
dialogue  of  the  soul  within  itself,  based  on  intuition  and  experience. 


142     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

activity.'  The  drama  of  the  formal  life  (the  tree  of 
knowledge)  develops  in  terms  of  the  Higher  Will  (the 
tree  of  life),  so  that  daily  happenings  appear  to  lift  the 
veil  from  universal  truths,  illumining  the  life.  When 
the  tree  of  knowledge  and  the  tree  of  life,  reason 
and  intuition,  the  personal  and  the  universal,  are 
harmoniously  united  in  the  individualised  soul,  the 
daily  life  becomes  the  moving  image  and  expression 
of  the  living  Soul  of  the  universe. 

We  may  think  of  the  tree  of  life  as  the  arteries  of 
the  Great  Cosmic  Body.  Through  these  arteries,  as 
along  channels,  cosmic  Life  pulses  forth  with  every 
heart-beat  of  the  Great  Person.  This  is  a  very  deep 
mystery.  Until  this  Life  is  caught  up  by  each  in- 
dividualised soul  and  returns  through  himself  to  the 
Great  Cosmic  Person,  flowing  back  along  the  veins  of 
the  Great  Body,  there  is  no  possibility  of  the  power 
within  the  separated  soul  affecting  the  Great  Person. 
Moreover,  unless  a  counter-current  is  set  up,  the  Life 
flows  past  the  soul,  and  this  does  not  truly  Live.  The 
individualised  soul  requires  to  fashion  capillaries 
throughout  his  nature  and  keep  them  in  use,  to  allow 
of  the  return  flow  through  them  into  the  cosmic 
veins.  That  this  shall  be  established  he  must,  greatly 
daring,  yet  with  awe  and  humility,  seek  to  know  the 
nature  of  God  and  of  man  and  the  relation  between 
them.  When  he  is  able  to  see  himself  as  he  actually 
is,  he  realises  with  a  sense  of  abasement  the  imper- 
fections and  impurities  of  his  complex  personality, 
and  the  immediate  necessity  to  turn  from  death  unto 
Life.  This  does  not  imply  a  purely  temporary  re- 
pentance,   but   a   Great   Act   of   turning   back,    which 

1  "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His  Will,  he  shall  know.  .  .  .  " 
{John  vii.  17).  In  his  Philosophy  of  the  Practical,  1913,  p.  293, 
Croce  writes  :  "  The  will  is  the  necessary  precedent  of  knowledge." 
Elsewhere  he  maintains  that  knowing  is  relative  to  doing,  action  being 
dependent  on,  and  conditioned  by,  knowledge. 


THE    PERSONAL-UNIVERSAL   TREE        143 

cleanses  the  entire  life  of  the  soul  and  establishes 
organic  relations  with  the  Cosmic  Person,  making  it 
possible  for  the  **  Christ  "  consciousness  to  be  born 
**  from  Above  "  within  the  soul. 

The  tree  of  knowledge  is  then  seen  as  the  veins  of 
the  Great  Body  along  which  flow  back  the  counter- 
currents  carrying  the  fruitage  of  the  time-order,  and 
thus  the  tree  of  life,  with  its  arteries  along  which 
cosmic  life  is  *  timelessly  '  propelled  from  the  Great 
Heart,  is  complemented.  The  two  trees  "  in  the  midst 
of  the  garden  "  become  united  within  the  Cosmic  Heart 
and  Body,  the  **  Eden,"  of  the  Great  Person,  and  the 
**  Christ  "  consciousness  is  complete. 

The  tree  of  life  may  also  be  thought  of  as  the  tree  of 
universal  life  growing  round  and  encompassing  the 
individual  soul.  When  that  tree  is  truly  one  with  the 
tree  of  the  phenomenal  self,  the  tree  of  knowledge,  then 
the  abstract  and  the  concrete,  the  ideal  and  the  actual 
are  one,  and  their  fruits  are  living  powers.  From  this 
universal-personal  tree  spring  all  the  virtues,  and  on  it 
they  blossom  and  ripen.  They  are  the  fruits  of 
temporal  experience,  containing  the  seeds  of  eternal 
Life,  and,  as  such,  correspond  to  the  disciples  of  one's 
own  ^*  Christ  within  "  at  the  final  Consummation. 

In  the  Apocryphal  literature,  Michael,  Archangel  of 
the  Sun,  is  set  over  the  tree  which,  at  the  time  of  the 
great  judgment,^  is  given  over  to  the  righteous,  who 
obtain  Life  from  its  fruit.  This  is  the  tree  of  universal 
life,  now  one  with  the  personal  tree  in  the  regions  of 
material  existence. 

1  The  "  Day  of  Judgment  "  was  applied  by  William  Blake  to  the 
dark  and  difficult  period  of  stress  and  strain  which  comes  upon  the 
soul  after  what  has  been  spoken  of  here  as  the  descent  upon  it  of  the 
Third  Spark,  and  until — in  the  soul's  history — this  Third  Spark  is 
sanctified  and  glorified  by  the  encompassing  Third  Breath  of  the 
Supreme  Mother.  Other  symbolic  names  have  been  given  by  mystics 
to  this  highly  complex  and  difficult  period,  such  as  the  dark  night  of 
the  soul,  and  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death. 


CHAPTER   XIV 
Gen.  ii.,  verses  10-14. 

Gen.  ii.  10  :  (a)  ''  Afid  a  river  went  out  of  Eden  to 
water  the  garden;  (b)  and  thence  it  was  divided  and 
became  four  heads.'' 

(a)  A  River  flows  from  Eden  to  the  garden  in  which 
"  man  "  has  been  placed.  This  is  the  River  of  All- 
Life,  Life  eternal  and  everlasting.  It  proceeds  from 
the  heart  of  the  solar  cosmos,  as  of  the  universe, 
to  the  garden,  this  planet  Earth,  there  manifesting 
Itself  as  four  energies  or  powers,  organisers  of  life-in- 
form. 

The  Unitary  "  River  "  is  the  Primordial  Element  or 
Akasha  of  Ancient  India  :  this  Sanskrit  word,  meaning 
*'  brightly  shining,"  suggests  the  idea  as  of  a  shaft 
of  Living  Light  down  which  eternal  glories  flash.  It 
is  the  No  Thing  of  Buddhism,  the  Quintessence  or 
Fifth  Element  of  the  Gnostics,  the  Ain  Soph  of  the 
Kabala,  the  telos  or  goal  of  all  the  Mystery  Religions. 

It  is  the  Ever-flowing  River  of  Heraclitus.  It  is  the 
Celestial  Nile  of  ancient  Egypt,  the  Heavenly  Ganges 
of  ancient  India,  the  Jordan  Above  in  which  the 
Mandaeans,  Syrian  Gnostics,  held  that  Jesus  was 
baptised.  It  is  the  **  Living  Water  "  spoken  of  to  the 
woman  of  Samaria,^  the  **  River  of  Water  of  Life, 
bright  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God 
and  of  the  Lamb  "  of  the  Apocalyptic  vision. ^ 

It  is  the  Aither  of  Hermes  Trismegistus,  the  Higher 

^  John  iv.  10.  ^  Rev.  xxii.  i. 

144 


THE    RIVER    OF    EVER-FLOWING    LIFE    145 

Air  or  Pure  Oceanic  Substance,  Divine  Breath.  The 
characteristic  mark  of  this  One  Element  is  that  whereby 
the  Divine  Voice  is  expressed,  namely.  Root-tone  or 
Sound  :  but  it  is  the  great  ocean  of  Pure  Sound, 
conveying  Pure  Idea,  which  encompasses  everything 
on  earth,  yet  is  inaudible  to  the  normal  sense  organs, 
being  undifferentiated  and  of  the  *  timeless  '  order. 
This  Fundamental  Element  is  the  Vehicle  of  the 
Unitary  Consciousness  that  is  set  as  a  goal  to  be  won 
by  *'  man,"  whereby  he  will  understand  the  Language 
of  the  Divinity. 

The  symbol  of  a  River  between  Eden  and  the  garden 
emphasises  the  characteristic  of  ever-flowingness.  It 
is  another  aspect  of  the  Divine  Breath  which  eternally 
(that  is,  in  the  out-of-time  mode)  is  in  contact  with  the 
Centre,  but  which  everlastingly  (that  is,  in  the  time 
mode)  goes  forth.  ^  It  is  this  that  awakens  **  man  " 
to  the  external  universe,  being  the  first  link  between  the 
self  and  the  not-self,  the  first  cosmic  Life-wave.  It 
is  the  ever-flowing  Life  springing  up  in  the  heart,  the 
magical  Mother  of  All  things,  which  when  it  flows  down 
gives  birth  to  men,  and  when  it  flows  up  gives  birth 
to  the  gods. 

Gen.  ii.  10  :  (b)  "And  from  thence  it  was  divided 
and  became  four  heads/' 

Gen.  ii.  11  :  *'  The  name  of  the  one  is  Pishon:  it  is 
that  which  compasseth  the  whole  land  of  Havilah,  where 
is  gold.  (12)  :  And  the  gold  of  that  land  is  good: 
there  is  bdellium  and  the  onyx  stone." 

Gen.  ii.  13  :  "And  the  name  of  the  second  river  is 
Gihon :  that  is  it  which  compasseth  the  whole  land  of 
Gush.'' 

Gen.  ii.  14  :    "And  the  name  of  the  third  river  is 

^  Cp.  the  lines  taken  from  the  Latin  : — 

"  The  heavenly  Word  proceeding  forth, 
Yet  leaving  not  the  Father's  side." 

10 


146     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

Hiddekel;  that  is  it  which  floweth  in  front  of  Assyria. 

And  the  fourth  river  is  Euphrates." 

Gen.  ii.  lo  (b). — The  One  River  divides  and  becomes 

four  streams  which  appear  to  encompass  the  earth  and 

water  it.^ 

Physical  manifestation  in  time  and  space  conditions 

proceeds  from  the  One  Source  in  a  fourfold  manner. 

Thus  there  are  four  seasons  of  the  year,  four  phases 

or  quarters  of  the  lunar  month,  and  four  epochs  of  the 

day  ^ ;    space  is  also  divisible  into  the  four  cardinal 

points  of  the  heavens,  east  and  west,  zenith  and  nadir. 

In  the  far  past  it  was  held  that  the  material  universe  is 

expressed    through    the    creative    activities    of    four 

^*  elements,"  symbolically  represented  as  fire,  air,  water, 

earth,  indeed,  that  the  universal  soul  itself,  and  hence 

the  human  soul,  manifests  itself  in  the  temporal  order 

through  the  powers  of  these  four  principles  or  energies  : 

symbols,  respectively,  of  inspirational  energy,  rational 

mind,   emotional  power,   and  stability   or  body.     The 

Gnostics    divided    manifestation    into    four    orders,    as 

bodies  pneumatic,  psychic,  hylic,  and  choic.     Irenaeus 

argued  that  there  is  a  fourfold  pattern  in  the  heavens, 

hence  that  this  number  determines  the  only  possible 

number  of  the  gospels  with  their  distinct  characteristics. ^ 

The  four  castes  in  India  were  an  attempt  to  classify 

mankind  in  four  natural  divisions,  as  men  of  learning 

and  religion,  of  war  and  enterprise,  of  commerce,  and 

of  labour. 

Ezekiel's  vision  of  **  four  living  creatures  "  proceeding 

from   an   Originating    Centre,^  represents   Four   great 

^  See  also  comment  in  chs.  v.  and  ix.  on  the  One  and  the  Four, 
2  We  are  furthest  from  the  sun  at  midnight,  then  come  nearer  it 
till  noon,  after  which  we  recede  from  it  till  midnight ;  midnight  and 
noon  are  thus  two  epochs  in  the  day.  Sunrise  and  sunset  are  two 
other  epochs.  (What  we  call  time  is  primarily  dependent  on  the 
relation  between  the  sun  and  the  earth,  hence,  ultimately,  on  spatial 
conditions.) 

^    Adv.  Heer.,  iii.  ii,  8.  *  Ch.  i.  4,  5,  10. 


THE   ''  FOUR    LIVING    CREATURES  "       147 

Powers  as  the  immediate  Manifestors-in-form  of  the 
physical  universe.  The  symbolism  employed  was 
received  from  Chaldaeo-Babylonian  sources,  and  is 
repeated  in  Rev.  iv.  6-8 ;  ^  it  was  limned  upon  bas- 
relief  tablets  in  Mesopotamia  about  650  B.C.  and  earlier, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum  and  elsewhere, 
four  living  creatures,  such  as  those  in  the  vision,  making 
up  the  parts  of  a  mythological  entity.  The  four  are 
the  bull,  the  eagle,  the  lion,  and  the  man.  These  are 
the  well-known  symbols  of  the  four  "  fixed  "  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  which  form  a  great  right-angled  cross  in 
the  universe  :  taurus,  with  its  "  opposite "  sign 
Scorpio,  at  one  time  called  the  eagle ;  leo  with  its 
**  opposite  "  sign  aquarius,  or  the  man  with  a  watering- 
pot  in  his  hand.  These  four  signs  also  represent, 
respectively,  under  this  system  of  symbolism,  the  earth 
and  water,  fire  and  air  principles  or  powers,  through 
whose  organising  energies  creation  was  held  to  be 
manifested  in  form,  as  also  the  human  soul.  The  Four 
are  manifestors  of  the  One  :  who  is  seen  in  symbol  in 
Ezekiel's  vision  as  **  Fire "  which  has  **  infolded 
itself."  This  represents  the  central  Heart,  the  hyper- 
cosmic  Father.  In  relation  to  the  phenomenal  order 
the  One  is  described  in  the  present  verse  as  the  **  River  " 
between  Eden  and  the  garden,  signifying  the  hyper- 
cosmic  Mother. 

Of  the  four  *'  fixed  "  signs  described  in  the  vision, 
taurus,  the  **  earth  "  sign,  comes  first  in  the  order  of  the 
signs,  and  stands  for  the  mineral  kingdom ;  its  opposite 
is  Scorpio,  or  the  eagle,  the  "  fixed  "  water  sign,  the 
basis  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. ^     In  relation  to  the 

^  Cp.  Enoch  xl.  2  :  **  On  the  four  sides  of  the  Lord  of  Spirits  I 
saw  four  presences."  Chrysostom,  Calvin,  and  others  maintained 
that  the  "  four  living  creatures  "  of  Ezekiel  and  the  Revelation  were 
an  insoluble  mystery.     Yet  the  zodiacal  key  is  given  in  both. 

2  See  near  close  of  ch.  xi.  The  four  *  kingdoms  '  are  now  being 
considered  in  their  relation  to  the  four  fixed  signs  of  the  zodiac. 


148     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

four,  these  two  signs  are  feminine  and  are  as  the 
horizontal  limb  of  a  cross.  The  *'  animal  "  kingdom 
is  represented  by  the  sign  leo,  **  fixed  fire,"  the  heart 
sign  related  to  blood,  and  the  **  human  "  kingdom  by 
the  sign  aquarius,  **  fixed  air,"  the  **  man."  These  two 
signs  are  positive  (*'  heaven  ")  in  regard  to  the  other 
two  (**  earth  "),  and  are  as  the  vertical  limb  of  a  cross, 
aquarius  occupying  the  upper  half.  The  **  pitcher  of 
water  "  held  in  the  hand  of  the  man  ^  in  the  sign 
aquarius  is  his  link  with  the  One  River,  the  High  and 
Holy  Water  that  is  outside  time  and  space,  symbol 
of  the  Supernal  Mother  who  expresses  the  Unmanifest 
Father  in  the  fourfold  regions  of  manifestation. 
Aquarius  symbolises  man  regenerate,  who  holds  in  his 
hand  a  *'  substantial  "  chalice — symbol  of  his  perfectly 
fashioned  soul-substance — in  which  he  receives  the 
waters  of  Life  in  their  *  timeless  '  and  universal  aspect, 
then  pours  them  forth  in  blessing  in  the  world-order 
under  time  and  space  conditions. 

In  the  Judgment  scene  in  the  Book  of  the  Dead  of 
ancient  Egypt,  in  the  Papyrus  of  Hu-nefer,  the  Powers 
who  have  actually  brought  about  physical  manifesta- 
tion, and  sustain  and  develop  the  life  thus  limited  in 
form,  are  represented  as  the  Four  sons  of  Horus,  the 
Divine  son  of  Osiris  and  Isis.  These  **  four  glorious 
gods  "  guard  *'  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  heavens," 
and  drive  away  from  the  human  soul  ''  the  four 
crocodiles,"  powers  of  ignorance  and  prejudice,  thus 
purifying  its  nature.  In  another  scene  the  same  four, 
now  symbolised  as  **  four  apes  who  sit  in  the  bows  of 
the  boat  of  Ra,"  say  to  the  soul  :  **  Come,  then,  for  we 
have  done  away  with  thy  wickedness,  and  we  have  put 

(As  the  earth  revolves  these  four  signs  appear  to  gyrate,  forming  the 
revolving  cross  of  manifestation,  known  in  ancient  India  as  the 
Svastika.) 

^  Cp.  Luke  xxii.  lo. 


FOUR  BUILDERS  OF  LIFE-IN-FORM        149 

away  thy  sin,  and  we  have  destroyed  all  the  evil  which 
belonged  to  thee."  When  the  soul  makes  **  peace  " 
with  these  four  builders  and  manifestors  of  the  material 
order — representatives  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac 
— which  have  trained  it  through  experience  in  the 
world  of  form,  it  is  cleansed  and  then  established  as 
mad  kheru,  that  is,  its  **  word  "  is  right  and  true,  its 
root-substance  having  become  pure.^ 

In  chapter  cxli.  the  god  Thoth,  the  Moon-god — 
controller,  as  Wisdom,  of  the  temporal  order — opens 
the  door  of  the  Four  winds  :  these  may  well  be  the 
Four  life-breaths  of  the  Zoa,  or  "  beasts  "  of  Rev.  vi.  i, 
who  are  the  same  as  the  "  Four  living  creatures  " 
of  Ezekiel's  vision. 

In  like  manner,  the  *^  four  rivers  "  of  Genesis  proceed 
from  the  One  River,  the  Manifesting  Mother  of  All-Life. 
They  exert  their  fourfold  creative  energies  on  the  root- 
substance  of  the  garden,  as  on  the  soul-substance  of 
the  **  man  "  therein. ^  The  garden  is  first  the  training- 
ground  of  the  evolving  soul  in  the  form-regions,  and 
becomes  the  *^  new  "  stage  or  platform  on  which  the 
fashioned  human  soul,  possessing  the  same  fourfold 
energies,  will  manifest  in  the  world  of  form  the  Will  of 
the  Divinity. 

Gen.  ii.  11-14. — The  four  rivers  appear  to  surround 
the  *'  garden  "  and  then  enter  it.  It  would  seem  that 
the  first  and  second,  the  two  outer  rivers,  are  relatively 
of  the  **  heaven  "  order,  and  the  third  and  fourth,  the 
two  inner,  of  the  **  earth  "  order  :  comparing  re- 
spectively, as  **  fire  "  surrounded  with  **  air,"  and 
"  earth  "  surrounded  with  **  water."  ^ 

^  See  Book  of  the  Dead,  chaps,  xcvii.,  cxxvi.  (from  the  Papyrus  of 
Nu),  etc. 

^  See  Dr.  Anna  Kingsford's  Clothed  with  the  Sun,  1889,  p.  24  (now 
re-published  by  J.  M.  Watkins,  London). 

^  So  that  the  four  rivers,  outer  to  inner,  would  be  symbols,  re- 


150     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  first  river,  Pishon,  "  compasseth  the  whole  land 
of  Havilah."  The  word  **  Havilah  "  is  probably 
connected  with  the  root  from  which  comes  the  word 
Havvah,  or  Chavvah  (Eve),  of  which  the  fundamental 
idea  is  :  breathing  the  higher  air,  or  Living.^  This 
word  is  also  related  to  the  **  man  "  of  Gen.  ii.  7,  who  is 
nephesh  chayyah,  **  a  living  soul,"  the  roots  of  these  two 
Hebrew  words  meaning  to  breathe,  to  live.  The  river 
Pishon,  the  first  and  outermost  of  the  four  rivers 
surrounding  the  garden  or  substance  of  the  soul, 
appears  to  signify — when  applied  to  the  human  soul — 
the  all-embracing  wholeness,  the  living  unity,  to 
which  man's  evolving  nature  is  ultimately  directed, 
the  three  minerals  in  the  **  land  "  thus  encompassed 
representing  the  three  kingdoms — animal,  vegetable, 
mineral — whose  qualities  were  imbedded  within  the 
root-substance  of  the  soul  immediately  prior  to  the 
creation  of  man.^  These  powers  become  the  *'  kings 
of  the  east,"  traditionally  three  in  number,  who  find 
their  goal  in  the  coming  into  manifestation  in  the 
world-order  of  their  unifying  Spiritual  Principle,  then 
dedicate  to  it  '*  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh,"  types 
of  their  perfectly  fashioned  natures. 

The  second  and  third  rivers,  Gihon  and  Hiddekel, 
signify  the  mental  and  psychic  powers  of  man's  inner 
nature,  as  also  those  in  the  manifesting  world-order. 
It  was  **  by  the  side  of  the  great  river,  which  is 
Hiddekel,"  that  is,  the  Tigris,  that  Daniel  saw  a  vision 
which  had  a  remarkable  effect  upon  him ;  ^  being  on 
the  bank  of  the  Tigris,  the  third  of  the  four  rivers, 

spectively,  of  the  elements :  air,  fire,  water,  and  earth,  corresponding 
to  the  four  kingdoms,  human,  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral. 

1  With  this  is  connected  hayah,  to  make  to  be,  to  create,  manifest, 
the  old  Hebrew  form  being  hawah;  also  the  Arabic  hawa,  to  blow, 
to  breathe.  It  is  also  linked  with  the  sacred  name  JaHVeH,  the 
Four-lettered  name. 

2  See  comment  on  Gen.  ii.  7  (b),  pp.  124,  125.  ^  Dan.  x. 


THE    RIVER   EUPHRATES  151 

appears  to  imply  that  he  was  in  the  state  of  conscious- 
ness immediately  interior  to  that  of  normal  awareness. 
The  fourth  river,  the  river  Euphrates,  corresponds  to 
the  **  earth,"  or  root-substance,  of  man's  nature, 
as  also  that  in  physical  manifestation  generally ;  here 
is  the  battle-ground  between  the  formal  mind  and  the 
Higher  Mind,  the  personal  will  and  the  Divine  Will, 
where — during  normal  waking  consciousness  in  the 
world  of  concrete  actuality — the  soul's  Armageddon 
must  be  fought  and  its  true  destiny  established.  The 
flow  of  '*  the  great  river,  the  river  Euphrates,"  ^  is  at 
first  directed  away  from  the  Originating  Source,  for 
the  soul  has  to  learn  to  be  independent  in  the  form- 
regions,  thus  building  up  the  personality.  But  this 
great  personal  force  has  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of 
all  others.  Hence  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  soul 
when  it  has  established  the  formal,  personal  self,  to 
turn  round,  as  it  were,  upon  itself,  losing  itself,  dying 
as  to  this  earlier,  self-regarding  self,  that  it  may  gain 
the  universal  from  the  particular,  and  so  magically 
find  its  true  Self.  In  other  words,  the  outward  course 
of  the  great  river  has  to  be  turned  back  by  the  decision 
of  the  soul  during  the  supreme  contest  of  its  manhood 
stage,  and  the  old  channel  closed,  that  the  Way  may  be 
made  ready  for  the  three  kings  that  come  from  the 
sunrising,  the  conquering  Powers  of  the  Regenerate 
order,  the  **  heaven "  or  Mind  order.  They  pass 
dryshod  along  the  prepared  Way  on  the  terra  firma 
of  the  soul's  *  timeless  '  consciousness,  and  take  up 
their  abode  in,  and  exercise  their  sway  from,  the 
heart  of  the  soul.  The  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  and 
again  of  the  river  Jordan,  refer  to  earlier  conquests 
by  the  soul  over  the  wayward,  earth-bound  elements 
of  its  vast  nature.  When  the  final  victory  is  achieved, 
then  are  the  "  four  angels,"  seen  in  vision  as  prisoners 

1   Rev.  xvi.  12. 


152     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

near  the  great  river  Euphrates,^  set  at  liberty,  signifying 
that  the  soul  is  now  free  from  the  bondage  of  personal 
fate,  having  been  born  into  Great  Fate. 

These  comments  have  introduced  references  to  two 
of  the  four  rivers,  by  Biblical  writers  who  have  applied 
the  symbolism  to  their  own  day  and  to  the  goal  of 
creation.  The  Genesis  story  also  applies  to  the  early 
condition  of  the  garden  of  the  earth,  when  existing 
as  primordial  substance,  the  ultimate  or  limit  of  the 
radiant  energy  of  creation.  To  this  storehouse  of 
primal  matter,  this  root-substance  of  humanity's  soul 
as  well,  the  One  River — the  Supernal  Mother, 

"  the  four  rivers'  Fountain  "  ^ — 

from  the  beginning  and  everlastingly  communicates 
the  characteristic  essences,  the  energising  principles, 
of  the  four  rivers  of  manifestation  :  the  *  formless  ' 
matter  in  the  garden,  as  also  the  basic-substance  of  the 
"  man,"  the  soul  of  humanity,  taking  on  appropriate 
shape,  form,  and  expression  corresponding  to  the  four 
"  kingdoms." 

As  '*  garden,"  this  soul-region  is  peculiarly  related 
to  the  vegetable  kingdom,  to  flowers  and  wooded  fields, 
where  the  not-self  becomes  the  self  through  the 
processes  of  eating  and  digestion.  It  also  represents 
the  region,  this  planet,  where  human  experience  will 
become  fused  into  personal  quality,  reacting  as  tempera- 
ment and  character.  In  this  fashioned  garden  with 
its  induced  fourfold  manifesting  powers,  individualised 
human  souls,  themselves  perfectly  fashioned  as  to  their 
own  fourfold  and  other  energies  and  powers,  will 
manifest  and  explain  the  Divine  Purpose  of  the  Creation 
of  the  cosmos  of  Eden  within  the  bosom  of  the  Universal. 

The  story  may  also  be  regarded  as  a  representation 

^   Rev.  ix.  14.  ^  Francis  Thompson,  Maria  Assumpta. 


TIME-CONSCIOUSNESS 


153 


of  the  world-egg,  or  personal  egg — with  its  potencies 
in  the  fourfold  order  of  materiality — coming  into 
existence  within  the  time-consciousness  of  the  great 
World-Mother,  She  Herself  also  dwelling  in  the  realm 
of  universal  consciousness.  This  is  the  beginning  of 
time-consciousness,  or  maya. 


i 


CHAPTER   XV 
Gen.  ii.,  verses  15-20 

Gen.  ii.  15  :  '*  And  Jahveh  ' Elohtm  took  the  man, 
and  placed  him  in  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it,  and 
to  keep  it.'' 

The  man  has  been  Divinely  created  and  placed  in  the 
garden,  and  now  is  established  in  it  for  the  practical 
purpose  of  dressing  and  keeping  it.  The  garden,  the 
soul-sphere  of  this  world,  stamped  throughout  its 
living  substance,  its  **  earth,"  with  the  impress  of  the 
creative  Purpose,  is  linked  with  the  Eden  of  the  eternal 
order  by  the  four  rivers,  the  four  active  principles  and 
powers  by  means  of  which  life  is  expressed  on  earth 
through  changing,  evolving  forms.  At  the  same  time, 
the  soul  of  humanity  becomes  endowed  with  the  same 
fourfold  energies,  and  these  are  raised  in  him  to  a 
Unity  by  reason  of  the  Divine  gift  of  the  Breath  within, 
which  also  surrounds  and  enfolds,  making  him  **  man  ": 
**  a  living  soul."  The  supreme  Powers  of  the  Breath 
are  as  yet  only  implicit  in  him,  but  even  so,  he  is  able 
to  realise  and  express  the  plans  on  which  substance  is 
built,  for  he  sees  that  the  objective  world  is  the  hand- 
writing of  the  Divinity,  and  learns  to  understand  the 
meaning  that  is  veiled,  and  yet  revealed,  behind 
phenomena.  He  is,  therefore,  adapted  to  tend  the 
"  garden,"  and  foster  the  harmonious  expression  of 
its  elements.  Moreover,  man  requires  to  work  with 
a  high  purpose,  by  his  labour  and  experience  becoming 
prepared  for  the  Re-creative  act  of  God. 

154 


MAN'S    PRESENCE    IN    THE    GARDEN       155 

It  would  appear  that  the  nature  and  measure  of  each 
man's  active  care  of  the  garden  of  this  world  reacts 
on  the  condition  of  his  own  soul.  As  his  attention  to 
the  garden,  with  its  varied  life-in-form,  increases, 
the  more  will  he  manifest  and  realise  his  inmost  Self 
in  terms  of  the  quality  and  content  of  his  evolving  soul- 
substance.  Man  has  been  created  perfect  in  the  ideal 
soul-realm  as  to  his  essential  nature,  and  by  virtue  of 
this  innate  possession  will  become  fashioned  in  the  world 
of  form  into  a  perfect  instrument,  a  necessary  organism, 
to  render  the  Divine  Will  explicit  and  concrete  in  terms 
of  universal  Beauty  and  Truth  and  Goodness,  as  the 
living  garden  of  this  world  is  fashioned  by  his  whole- 
souled  agency. 

It  is  probable  that  ideas  of  this  kind  are  behind  the 
words  in  chapter  Ivi.  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead  in  ancient 
Egypt,  found  in  the  Papyrus  of  Nu  :  "  (3)  I  keep  watch 
over  the  Egg  of  Kenken-ur  (that  is.  Great  Cackler) ; 
I  germinate  as  it  germinateth ;  (4)  I  live  as  it  liveth ; 
and  (my)  breath  is  (its)  breath."  ^ 

Such  ideas  may  give  new  meaning  to  the  following 
passage  from  a  modern  work  :  **  We  are  bound  to  the 
world  with  a  deeper  and  truer  bond  than  that  of  necessity. 
Our  soul  is  drawn  to  it;  our  love  of  life  is  really  our 
wish  to  continue  our  relation  with  this  great  world. 
The  relation  is  one  of  love ;  we  are  attached  to  it  with 
numberless  threads,  which  extend  from  this  earth  to  the 
stars.  .  .  .  This  world  is  our  compeer,  nay,  we  are 
one  with  it."  ^ 

The  force  that  binds  man  to  the  garden,  linking 
him  with  his  world,  is  a  power  akin  to  that  of  gravity. 
It  attaches  him  to  the  Body  of  the  Master  of  the  world, 
the  great  Cosmic  Person,  and,  through  that  Body,  with 
His  Mind. 

The   power   which    keeps   man    on   the    earth    is    a 

1  Tr.  Dr.  Budge.  ^  Sddhand,  1913,  pp.  112,  113. 


156     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

beneficent  power  suitable  to  his  need,  else  would  he 
tend  to  fly  straight  to  the  centre  of  the  system  and  be 
burnt  up  as  a  moth  in  a  candle.  It  holds  him  back 
from  too  much  life. 

Gen.  ii.  i6  :  "And  Jahveh  '  Eldhtm  commanded 
the  man,  saying :  Of  every  tree  in  the  garden  thou  mayst 
freely  eat, 

Gen.  ii.  17  :  ''But  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it:  for  on  the  day 
of  thy  eating  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die." 

The  first  instruction  given  to  **  the  man  "  when  he  is 
within  the  **  garden  "  is  as  to  eating.  His  conscious- 
ness, still  on  the  borderland  of  the  temporal  order,  is 
not  yet  concerned  with  the  mind,  and  is  chiefly  related, 
as  these  verses  show,  to  eating. 

Eating  is  a  necessary  function  of  continuancy, 
sustaining  the  life  of  the  soul  in  the  phenomenal 
regions.  Its  activity  is  exercised  through  the  sense  of 
taste,  and  this  acts  not  through  the  mind  but  the 
breath.  By  this  sense  of  taste  we  become  one  with 
things  outside  us,  comprehending,  not  their  form,  but 
their  substance  and  nature.  We  taste  to  understand. 
This  mode  of  investigation  is  the  basis  of  all  religious 
feasts,  such  as  the  Eucharist,  and  is  the  key  to  one  set 
of  the  Ancient  Mysteries. 

We  have  to  eat  and  transmute.  So,  too,  have  we  to 
unite  ourselves  with  our  circumstances,  draw  our  Fate 
into  our  consciousness,  see  it,  reflect  on  it  so  as  to 
understand  it,  and  turn  it  into  Life.  It  does  not  matter 
whether  the  circumstances  are  **  good  "  or  **  bad." 
The  bitter  is  as  necessary  to  life  as  the  sweet. 

Only  they  can  exist  who  have  the  power  of  digesting, 
of  drawing  out  life  from  objectivity.  Only  they  can 
live  mentally  who  have  the  power  to  extract  living 
Ideas  from  formal  thought.  Only  they  can  live  spiritu- 
ally who  have  the  power  to  act  wisely,  and  at  the  same 


THE   TREE   THAT    IS    NOT   TO    BE    EATEN     157 

time  spontaneously,  in  the  varied  circumstances  of 
daily  life.  And  even  as  food  is  changed  by  digestion 
into  nourishment  and  vitality,  so  by  the  interplay  of 
the  man  on  his  circumstances  ^  is  there  built  up  a  living 
body  of  consciousness,  which  ultimately  rises  above  the 
experiences  of  personal  Fate  to  an  understanding  of 
the  world-order,  the  personal  life  more  and  more  fully 
expressing  in  actuality  the  realities  of  the  living  universe. 
But  while  (a)  all  the  trees  of  the  garden  may  be  eaten, 
(b)  the  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  brings  death. 

(a)  The  **  trees  in  the  garden,"  corresponding  to  the 
individualised  souls  which,  as  a  whole,  comprise  the 
collective  human  soul,  were  described  in  relation  to 
Eden  and  cosmic  life  and  consciousness  as  **  good  for 
food."  ^  In  their  relation  to  the  soul  of  humanity, 
it  is  now  emphatically  declared  that  these  trees  may  be 
**  eaten."  In  other  words,  they  are  to  serve  each  other 
and  thereby  the  collective  human  soul,  under  the  basic 
spiritual  law  of  self-sacrifice ;  they  are  to  be  ready, 
each  and  all,  to  sacrifice  even  the  personal  life,  that 
thereby  Life  may  be  imparted  more  abundantly  to 
the  **  trees,"  the  souls,  around,  and  so  to  humanity  as 
a  whole. 3 

(b)  The  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  in  the 
centre  of  the  garden  represents  manifestation  in  the 
form-regions  in  the  modes  of  time,  space,  and  materi- 
ality. When  Life  is  thus  manifested,  it  is  necessarily 
expressed  in  terms  of  duality,  of  relativity,  Life  appear- 
ing to  be  broken  up  into  life  and  not-life.  The  tree  of 
manifestation  is  thus  connected  with  death. 

What  then  is  the  precise  meaning  of  Jahveh  'Elohim 
commanding  the  **  man  "  not  to  **  eat  "  of  this  tree  ? 

^  "  What  is  the  price  of  experience  ?  ...  It  is  bought  with  the 
price  of  all  that  a  man  hath."     (William  Blake.) 

2  See  comment  on  Gen.  ii.  9  (a)  in  chap,  xiii.,  p.  135. 

2  "  That  they  may  be  called  trees  of  righteousness,  the  planting  of 
the  Lord."     ( Isai.  Ixi.  3.) 


158     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  with 
its  process  and  evolution  and  human  reason,  is  an 
incomplete  key  to  the  problem  of  existence.  It 
recognises  that  the  phenomenal  order  and  earth-life 
are  under  the  sway  of  two  opposing  principles,  but  if 
the  soul  relies  on  this  "  tree  "  alone,  seeing  naught 
beyond,  it  will  regard  the  polar  opposites  as  irrecon- 
cilable, co-equal  powers.  This  is  the  tree  whose  fruit 
is  not  to  be  **  eaten."  It  breaks  up  Life  which  is  essenti- 
ally one  and  indivisible,  into  life  and  not-life,  and  rests 
in  these  opposites,  thus  destroying  instead  of  building 
up  the  consciousness,  and  leading  to  the  soul's  not-life, 
which  is  death. 

Gen.  ii.  i8;  '*  And  Jahveh  ' EldMm  said,  It  is  not 
good  that  the  man  should  he  alone :  I  will  make  him  an 
help  meet  for  him  "  (lit.,  an  help  meet  answering  to  him, 
or  corresponding  to  him). 

The  "  man  "  of  Gen.  ii.  7  is  of  the  nature  of  the  uni- 
versal soul,  and  from  verse  15  onward  his  activity  is 
focused  on,  and  to  that  extent  limited  by,  the  garden, 
the  soul-sphere  of  this  world.  But  though  his  soul 
possesses  the  powers  of  the  two  modes  of  consciousness, 
they  are  not  both  in  evidence,  the  consciousness  of 
the  man  being  as  yet  of  the  integral  or  complete  mode 
alone,  that  of  Spirituality  the  Unchanging.  This  is 
**  not  good,"  for  he  is  without  explicit  means  of 
realising  himself  by  the  use  of  his  other  power  as  well, 
the  power  of  analysis.  Hence  is  the  **  help  meet  " 
necessary,  to  be  as  Moon  to  his  Sun  :  to  act  the  part 
of  the  differentiated,  phenomenal  universe  to  his 
essential  *  timelessness  '  and  immediacy  :  to  mirror 
him  within  the  world-order  of  Form  the  Changing, 
thus  enabling  him  to  understand  and  organise  himself, 
and  become  Self-conscious. 

To  manifest  consciously  Spirituality  the  Unchanging, 


NAMING   THE    ANIMALS    AND    BIRDS      159 

old  and  new  activities  and  points  of  view  require  to 
be  constantly  investigated  and  considered.  We  should 
welcome  the  circumstances  of  life  which  compel  us  to 
recognise  a  new  significance  in  any  system  of  thought 
or  belief  or  action. 

The  creation  of  the  *'  help  meet  "  for  "  the  man," 
of  which  we  shall  read  later,  is  the  bringing  forth, 
the  making  explicit,  the  other  mode  of  consciousness, 
the  rational  mode,  from  within  the  depths  of  his  own 
nature,  the  Moon-power  which  is  implicit  in  his  Sun- 
power,  the  temporal  order  which  is  wrapped  up  in  the 
*  timeless  '  order. 

Gen.  ii.  19  :  **  And  out  of  the  ground  Jahveh  '  Eldhtm 
formed  every  beast  of  the  field,  and  every  fowl  of  the  air  ; 
and  brought  them  unto  the  man  to  see  what  he  would  call 
them :  and  whatsoever  the  man  called  the  living  creature, 
that  was  the  name  thereof." 

Gen.  ii.  20  :  *'  And  the  man  gave  names  to  all  cattle, 
and  to  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of  the  field  ; 
but  for  man  there  was  not  found  an  help  meet  for 
him.'* 

The  cattle,  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the  fowls  of 
the  air  are  formed  out  of  the  same  "  ground  "  from 
which  **  the  man  "  was  made.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  story  is  dealing  with  the  ideal  or  *  formless  ' 
soul  realm,  not  the  physical.  These  are  typal  animals 
and  birds,  created  after  the  living  patterns  of  the  types 
in  the  zodiacal  universe,^  and  introduced  as  substantives 
in  the  language  of  the  Divinity  to  represent,  primarily, 
the  various  *  animal  *  and  *  mental  '  qualities  of  the 
**  man's  "  **  earth  "  nature.  Jahveh  'Elohim  brings 
them  before  the  *  timeless '  view  of  the  'dddm,  the  soul 
of  collective  humanity,  that  he  may  "  call  "  them  by 
their  true  names,  their  essential  characteristics.  He 
does  so  by  the  power  of  his  Unchanging  Spirituality 
^  On  the  evening  of  the  sixth  day  of  the  first  creation  story,  see  p.  84. 


i6o     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

while  he  is  still  **  alone,"  before  he,  a  Monad,  is  linked 
with  the  dyadic  world  of  relativity  and  experience. 

When  the  Second  Spark  of  the  Divine  Fire  which  has 
been  bestowed  upon  the  '  animal  '  nature  of  a  future 
man,  has  matured  its  vehicle  sufficiently  for  this  to 
receive  in  the  cosmic  order  the  Second  Outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  a  new  Power  is  born,^  whose  essential 
nature  is  recorded  in  the  '  hidden  '  name  of  this  newly 
individualised  human  soul,  each  soul's  Name  being 
different.  The  force  of  this  personal  Name  is  stamped 
on  every  atom  of  the  soul's  *  formless  '  substance. 

This  Name  is  related  to  Sound,  and  Speech,  and 
Expression.  It  is  the  Root-sound  before  this  has  gone 
outwards  by  means  of  breath  dividing  itself  into  varying 
personalities  or  vibrations  or  forms.  It  is  the  true 
Word,  of  which  the  varying  personalities  will  supply 
the  letters.  It  is  the  fundamental  Power,  outside  the 
screen  of  Fate,  at  the  root  of  all  the  personalities  or 
forms  the  Name  may  take  upon  itself,  whether  many 
or  few.  This  great  Name  is  for  each  human  soul  its 
unique  key  to  the  Ineffable  Name. 

To  Name  is  to  give  '  formless '  root-substance  its  first 
imprint  of  form.  The  Name  plays  as  Breath  upon  the 
substance,  stamping  its  own  character  upon  it.^  The 
living  soul  in  the  form  regions  has  to  exert  his  powers 
and  bring  the  ideas  behind  the  Name  into  his  mental 
atmosphere,  and  so  into  formal  manifestation.  Thus 
pure  Idea  becomes  intelligible  Form.  The  Name  be- 
comes a  link  between  the  '  formless  '  realm  and  the 
form  regions.  Continually  to  re-call  the  Name  creates 
ideas  and  brings  about  intellectual  understanding. 
The  key  to  the  link  is  Sound. 

The  '*  man  "  uses  the  Higher  Will  which  belongs  to 

^  See  p.  121. 

2  The  word  xapa«T^p,  imprint,  appears  in  Heh.  i.  3,  and  is  there 
translated  "  express  image  "  ;   the  word  "  character  "  comes  from  it. 


THE    HELP    MEET  i6i 

his  Unchanging  Spirituality  and  calls  every  living  typal 
constituent  of  his  *  animal '  and  *  mental '  nature  that  is 
brought  before  him  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  by  its  true  name. 
Being  **  called "  by  name,  each  type  is  rendered  ob- 
jective to  him,  receiving  the  power  to  sink  from  the 
*  formless  '  into  the  form  regions  and  manifest  itself 
there.  By  himself  naming  the  inherent  qualities 
of  his  being,  the  man,  as  monad,  takes  possession  of 
them  and  makes  sure  that  they  shall  ultimately  manifest 
him  in  the  world  of  form.  Even  so,  his  help  meet 
is  not  yet  in  evidence. 

After  the  substantial  nature  of  the  *'  man,"  the  soul 
of  humanity,  is  stamped  throughout  with  its  true  form, 
according  to  these  names,  he  has  to  express  these 
qualities  and  powers  in  the  form  regions,  bringing  them, 
moreover,  into  harmony  with  the  cosmic  Body,  so 
that  they  shall  play  their  true  part  in  It.  He  does  this 
by  the  aid  of  the  many  individualised  human  souls 
who,  separately  and  as  a  whole,  represent  his  **  help 
meet,"  forming  the  mirror  by  which  he  sees  into  and 
analyses  his  own  vast  nature.  The  help  meet,  his 
truly  manifested  Moon-principle,  is  related  to  space  and 
time  and  process,  and  is  essentially  of  equal  importance 
with  the  *  timelessness  '  and  spontaneity  of  his  Sun- 
principle  which,  at  this  stage  of  the  story,  is  ^*  alone  " 
in  its  activity.  But  it  is  not  until  late  in  the  evolution 
of  these  individualisations  of  the  soul  of  humanity 
that  the  Power  of  each  human  soul's  own  great  Name 
begins  to  act  in  full  force,  not  until  after  the  Third  or 
**  Christ  "  Spark  is  born  within  the  soul  **  from  Above," ^ 
to  organise  and  reign  over  the  kingdom  projected 
therein  under  the  activities  of  its  Sun-Moon  principles. 
This  Birth  is  a  Spiritual  Happening  during  earth-life, 

1  This  gift  to  the  soul  of  the  Third  Spark  is  alluded  to  by  some 
Gnostic  writers  as  the  passage  of  the  soul  through  the  Third  Gate  of 
the  City. 

II 


i62     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

an  im-mediate  gift  of  God  to  man,  which  is  not  wholly 
dependent  on  the  conditions  of  the  temporal  order. 

After  this  great  Happening,  all  the  thoughts,  words, 
and  deeds  since  time  began  for  the  individualised 
**  man  "  have  to  be  dug  out  from  within  and  drawn  into 
his  consciousness,  he  has  to  analyse  them,  understand 
them,  and  turn  them  into  ordered,  organic  "  Life." 
The  scattered  parts  have  to  be  brought  together  into  a 
perfect  Unity  by  his  Moon-principle,  as  were  the 
Typhon-slain  and  scattered  parts  of  Osiris  collected, 
and  united,  out  of  the  regenerative  waters  of  the  sym- 
bolic Nile,  by  Isis  his  help  meet;  only  then  does  he 
become  Master  of  the  Whole,  so  that  his  nature  begins 
to  move  as  a  whole,  and  his  own  great  Name — at  the 
heart  of  his  being — to  play  its  very  important  part  in 
the  activity  of  the  great  body  of  humanity,  and  this 
within  the  Great  Body  of  the  Lord  of  the  Cosmos. 

It  is  then  that  the  personce  which  surround  the  outer 
shell  or  surface  of  the  nature  become  indrawn  towards 
the  Name,  forming  as  it  were  a  living  crystal  sphere 
around  it,  so  that  Cones  of  Pure  Light,  of  Pure  Idea, 
from  the  Pleroma  are  able  to  reach  the  true  Name 
and  shine  upon  it  and  glorify  it. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

Gen.  ii.,  verses  21-25 

Gen,  ii.  21  :  (a)  ''And  Jahveh  ' Elohtm  caused  sleep 
to  fall  upon  the  man  [the  'dddm)  and  he  slept ;  (b)  and  he 
took  one  of  the  ribs  and  closed  up  the  flesh  instead 
thereof." 

Gen.  ii.  22  :  (c)  *'  And  the  rib  which  fahveh  'Elohtm 
had  taken  from  the  man  [the  'dddm),  builded  he  into  a 
woman  ['ish-shdh),  and  brought  her  unto  the  man  " 
[the  'dddm). 

Many  important  ideas  are  put  before  us  in  these 
symbolic  pictures.  We  are  at  a  new  beginning,  and 
it  will  be  well  at  this  point  to  dwell  further  on  the  nature 
of  the  consciousness  of  the  'dddm  since  his  creation. 
Though  of  the  universal  soul  order,  the  *'  man  "  has 
been  limited  in  his  sphere  of  activity  to  the  "  garden,'* 
that  is,  to  our  own  planet,  where  he  represents  the  soul 
of  collective  humanity.  His  consciousness  possesses 
an  active  and  also  a  passive  aspect,  of  the  sun-moon, 
masculine-feminine  order,  as  is  the  consciousness  of 
the  Creator.  But  these  dual  principles  are  as  yet 
"  alone,"  that  is,  they  are  at-one  with  each  other  in  a 
consciousness  which  is  cosmic  and  independent  of  time. 
In  other  words,  the  "  man  "  is  conscious  in  the  im- 
mediate, cosmic  mode  only,  his  awareness  in  the  time 
mode  being  as  yet  latent  and  inactive. 

The  cosmic  mode  of  consciousness  is  usually  mis- 
understood, for  it  is  assumed  that  its  activity  is  based 

on  memory  as  normally  comprehended,  whereas  this, 

X63 


i64     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

with  reason  and  awareness,  is  dependent  on  the 
psychical  mode  of  activity.  True  con-sciousness,  as 
denoted  by  the  root-meanings  of  the  word,  does  not  link 
one  experience  or  circumstance  with  another,  as  memory 
does,  but  is  a  spontaneous  seeing,  knowing,  feeling,  and 
experiencing,  in  completeness  and  wholeness,  of  a 
happening  *  Here  '  in  the  *  timeless  '  *  Now.'  It  is 
fresh  and  complete  at  every  momentary  birth,  ex- 
pressing itself  as  an  immediate  going  forth  from  the 
state  of  latency  into  an  active  condition,  one  giving 
expression,  making  manifest.  Being  independent  of 
time,  it  does  not  evolve  or  expand  or  persist. 

The  active-passive  modes  of  consciousness  of  the 
' dddm  have  been  represented,  from  verse  7  onward,  as 
comprising  a  unit,  a  completeness  :  the  two  modes 
being  at-one  in  his  immediate  consciousness.  But 
this  active-passive  state  is  about  to  be  put  aside.  This 
is  similar  to  the  epoch  in  the  first  creation  story,  "  in 
the  beginning,"  before  'Elohim  created  the  heaven 
and  the  earth,  the  poised  state  changing  into  the  active 
state  as  the  Creator  wills  to  cast  Himself  forth  from 
Himself.  By  this  act  He  becomes  within  Himself, 
the  Mother  or  Manifesting  state  now  appearing  in  the 
modes  of  space  and  time,  taking  on  form  externally  and 
bringing  into  actuality  the  manifold  results  of  the 
creative  Will.  The  same  phases  are  now  about  to  be 
repeated  in  the  present  story. 

(a)  The  action  of  Jahveh  'Elohim  in  causing  **  sleep 
to  fall  upon  the  man,"  expresses  the  effect  of  the  Divine 
Will  operating  on  the  active-passive  condition  of  the 
consciousness.  It  causes  the  man's  outer,  active 
consciousness  to  become  inner  and  passive,  as 
night,  darkness,  sleep,  that  which  hitherto  was 
inner  and  passive  becoming  outer  and  active.  The 
cosmic  consciousness  of  the  "heaven"  order  becomes 
relatively    latent,    the    power    of     awareness    in    the 


A    RIB    OF   THE    MAN    IS    REMOVED       165 

**  earth"  order,  the  regions  of  form  and  the  polar 
opposites,  becoming  relatively  active. 

When  Jacob  was  also  on  the  way  to  seek  a  wife,  he 
"  lay  down  to  sleep  "  ;  ^  it  was  then  that  by  interior 
vision  he  saw  that  which  was  hidden  from  his  normal 
sight.  He  saw  the  Way,  the  living  Way  of  descent 
and  ascent,  as  by  angel-messengers,  between  the  heaven 
and  the  earth,  the  consciousness  and  the  substance,  of 
his  own  vast  nature.  In  other  words,  he  became  aware 
that  the  true  activities  of  the  human  soul  are  concerned 
equally  with  the  "  earth  "  as  with  the  **  heaven  "  of 
its  nature,  its  temporal  as  its  *  timeless  '  powers,  the 
former  being  dependent  on  the  latter. 

When  the  human  soul  is  able,  under  time  and  space 
conditions,  to  analyse,  reason,  and  act  in  accord  with 
its  essential,  universal  nature,  such  power  proves  to 
be  the  true  help  meet  of  its  *  timeless,'  synthetic 
consciousness.  By  it  the  soul  can  proceed  forth  into 
the  depths  and  breadths  and  heights  within  the  root- 
substance  of  its  nature,  and  bring  the  whole  of  its 
evolving  content  under  the  purifying  and  vitalising 
influence  of  the  Light  of  the  Spirit,  then  dedicating  it 
to  Its  service. 

(b)  A  rib  of  the  sleeping  **  man,"  the  'dddm,  is 
removed  by  Jahveh  'Elohim,  and  its  place  closed  up 
with  flesh. 

When  sleep  is  "  caused  to  fall  upon  the  'dddm,"  the 
soul  of  humanity,  his  *  timeless  '  or  *'  heaven  "  con- 
sciousness, hitherto  active,  becomes  latent,  allowing 
the  many  temporal  'I's  of  the  "  earth  "  order  to  be 
drawn  from  the  state  of  latency  into  activity.  Each 
personal  nucleus  or  self,  the  seeming  centre  of  experi- 
ence, proceeds  forth  into  manifestation  in  time,  space, 
and  materiality,  and  the  symbol  adopted  to  express 
the  nature  of  its  earlier  activities  under  limitation  in 

1   Gen.  xxviii.  2,  11,  12. 


i66     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

form,  during  the  establishment  of  the  personal,  temporal 
self,  is  the  "  rib."  A  rib  is  part  of  the  rigid  structure, 
as  of  the  mineral  kingdom,  surrounding  the  heart  and 
lungs,  the  two  representative  vital  organs  of  the 
personal  human  soul  during  its  earth-life,  and  is  thus 
a  natural  symbol  of  the  earlier,  self-regarding  phase  of 
soul-life  in  the  **  earth  "  order. 

But  under  the  Divine  process,  this  primitive  outlook 
on  human  life  becomes  entirely  transformed,  being,  in- 
deed, turned  inside  out ;  from  being  con-centred  inward 
upon  itself,  the  attention  of  the  personality  is  directed 
outward  to  the  interests  of  the  rest.  For  the  particular 
attains  to  Unity  only  through  the  universal,  egoism 
finding  Life  only  through  the  all-inclusive  principle  of 
altruism.  The  symbol  adopted  to  express  the  later 
condition  of  the  human  soul  on  earth,  used  in  anti- 
thesis to  "  rib,"  is  "  flesh,"  this  being  based  on,  and 
proceeding  outward  from,  the  bony  structure. 

The  place  where  the  rib  was  removed  from  the  'dddm 
of  the  "  heaven  "  or  universal  order,  is  closed  up  by 
Jahveh  'Elohim  with  *'  flesh,"  signifying  the  Divine 
Will  and  Purpose  that  each  perfected  soul  on  earth 
shall  act  his  part  from  the  standpoint,  not  of  the  self 
of  the  **  earth  "  order  but  of  the  Self  of  the  "  new 
heaven "  order,  in  the  interests  of  humanity  as  a 
whole. 

(c)  The  rib  is  builded  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  "  into  a 
woman  "  ('ish-shdh)  who,  as  appears  from  verse  23 
which  follows,  is  the  living  counterpart  in  the  **  new 
earth  "  order  of  the  'dddm  of  the  '*  new  heaven  "  order. 
In  that  order,  the  temporal  *  I  '  of  the  'ish-shdh  is  in 
unison  with  the  *  timeless  '  *  I  '  of  the  'dddm,  so  that  the 
'ish-shdh  ^*  answers  to  "  him,^  and  is  truly  his  "  help 
meet,"  being  qualified  to  utter  in  the  phenomenal 
regions  the  fullness  of  the  nature  of  the  essential  Self 

1   Gen.  ii.  i8. 


THE   TWO    POWERS    OF    EVERY    SOUL     167 

in  terms  of  the  personal  qualities  of  her  own  experienced 
and  virginal  nature. 

The  scene,  of  course,  moves  all  the  while  in  the  ideal 
or  *  formless  '  soul  regions,  and  has  yet  to  be  expressed 
in  the  regions  of  material  actuality.  Each  in- 
dividualised soul  may  be  said  to  possess  potentially 
these  ideally  perfect  principles  and  powers  of  'dddm 
and  'ish-shdh,  "  heaven "  and  **  earth,"  male  and 
female,  sun  and  moon,  symbolised  here  as  **  man  " 
and  **  woman." 

These  characteristic  modes  of  consciousness  and 
awareness  possessed  by  each  and  every  human  soul 
may  also  be  described  as,  on  the  one  hand,  its  power  of 
"  insight  "  and  immediate,  intuitional  knowledge  by 
which  particular  truths  are  spontaneously  realised  from 
known  universal  truths,  and,  on  the  other,  its  power 
of  **  inner  hearing  "  which,  through  reason  and  step- 
by-step  induction,  rises  from  known  particular  truths 
to  a  general  truth.  The  former,  the  soul's  sun  power, 
appears  to  have  been  the  peculiar  faculty  of  "the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved,"  the  latter,  the  soul's  moon  power,  of 
Peter.  This  is  graphically  portrayed  in  the  scene  where 
they  run  together  to  the  tomb,  each  pressing  forward 
to  his  goal  his  own  characteristic  way  and  making  up 
for  the  deficiencies  of  the  other.  ^  In  a  later  scene  the 
former  disciple  is  the  first  to  see  the  Master,  and  Peter 
**  hears  "  of  this  from  him.^  These  two  powers  of 
each  human  soul,  symbolised  as  its  "  two  keys,"  **  of 
heaven "  and  "  of  earth,"  are  to  be  perfected  and 
harmonised,  so  that  the  use  of  the  one  shall  be  in  accord 
with  the  use  of  the  other. ^  There  are,  indeed,  many 
references  throughout  the  Scriptures  to  these  dual 
powers  of  the  human  soul.  They  are,  for  example,  as 
the  two  cherubim  of  gold  at  the  two  ends  of  the  mercy- 
seat   in   the   tabernacle,    through    which   the    Creator 

^   John  XX.  3—9.  2   John  xxi.  7.  ^  Matt.  xvi.  13-20. 


i68     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

communes  with  man;  ^  the  two  faithful  spies,  Joshua 
and  Caleb ;  ^  the  two  pillars,  Jachin  and  Boaz  at  the 
porch-way  entrance  to  Solomon's  temple ;  ^  the  two 
sisters,  Mary  and  Martha  of  Bethany ;  the  two  disciples 
John  and  Peter,  who  are  sent  before  the  Master  to 
prepare  His  triumphant  entry  into  His  Holy  City ;  * 
also  the  **  two  witnesses  "  of  the  Revelation.^ 

In  the  Pistis  Sophia  they  are  represented  as  John 
the  Virgin  and  Mary  Magdalene.^  In  ancient  Egypt, 
as  the  two  sisters  Isis  and  Nephthys  who  are  **  the  two 
eyes  of  Ra,"  or  "  the  two  exceeding  great  Ursei  which 
are  upon  his  head."  ^  In  ancient  India,  they  are  as 
the  two  Kundalini  powers.  In  Greece,  as  the  twin 
serpents  of  the  caduceus  of  Hermes.  In  our  own  day, 
Bernardino  Varisco  (of  Rome)  finds  these  dual  elements, 
described  by  him  as  spontaneity  and  logic  (or  deter- 
minism), in  **  facts,"  in  **  knowledge,"  in  **  Being." 
In  regard  to  the  last,  he  writes  :  **  Centres  of  spon- 
taneity exist  because  Being,  through  the  necessity 
which  is  intrinsic  in  it,  requires  determinations.  .  .  . 
In  fact,  if  there  were  no  centres  with  their  spontaneity 
or  capacity  for  accidental  variation,  there  would  be 
no  concrete  objects,  and  happening  would  not  take 
place.  .  .  .  The  centres  are  created  by  Being  inside 
itself  and  not  outside,  for  they  are  determinations  of 
it.    .    .    .    Outside  Being  there  is  nothing."  ^ 

In  the  two  creation  stories  these  dual  elements  are 
represented,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  spontaneity  of  the 

^    Ex.  XXV.   l8,  22. 

2  Num.  xiv.  6,  30,  38,  Joshua  representing  the  unitary  power, 
Caleb  the  dualistic. 

3  I  Kings  vii.  21.  The  word  Jachin  is  linked  with  Yekka,  one, 
Boaz  with  Awdz,  sound,  this  being  related  to  the  dual  order. 

^   Luke  xxii.  7,  8  ;   Mark  xiv.  13. 

^  xi.  3,  4.     See  also  Gen.  xxviii.  12  ;    Zech.  iv.  3-14  ;   Ezra  iii.  2. 
^  ii.  231. 

■^   Book  of  the  Dead  :    "  Hymn  to  Ra  when  he  riseth,"  from  the 
Papyrus  of  Qenna,  iii,  33-36  (Dr.  Budge).     See  also  p.  36  n. 
8   The  Great  Problems,  1914,  pp.  218,  219,  235-7. 


THE    'iSH  169 

**  heaven  "  order  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  determinism 
of  the  "  earth  "  order  on  the  other.  They  are  the 
*  timeless  '  and  time  consciousness,  the  two  character- 
istic sun-moon  possessions  of  the  soul  of  humanity, 
as  also  of  each  and  every  individualised  soul,  for  each 
human  being  is  made  after  the  essential  image  of  the 
Creator. 

Gen.  ii.  23  :  "  And  the  man  {hd  'dddm)  saidy  This 
now  is  hone  of  my  hone,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh  ;  she  shall 
he  called  woman  ('ish-shdh)  hecause  from  man  {'tsh) 
this  was  taken. 

Verse  22  spoke  of  the  Creator  building  the  rib,  trans- 
forming it  into  the  'ish-shdh,  and  bringing  the  'ish-shdh 
to  the  'dddm;  so  that  the  'ish-shdh  first  comes  under 
the  law  of  duality,  the  process  of  becoming,  and  then, 
when  perfected,  is  brought  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  face 
to  face  with  the  'dddm.  It  is  of  this  perfect,  typal 
'ish-shdh  of  the  *'  earth  "  order,  who  has  transcended 
the  limitations  of  the  dual  order  and  is  now  '*  whole," 
that  the  'dddm  speaks  in  the  present  verse  and  the 
next. 

The  word  'tsh  occurs  for  the  first  time,  though  this  is 
not  evident  from  our  versions,  which  translate  this 
word  '*  man,"  as  'dddm  is  translated  even  in  the  same 
sentence.  The  symbolism  in  the  two  verses  we  have 
just  been  considering  was  concerned  with  the  'dddm 
and  the  'ish-shdh,  but  now  becomes  more  complex  and 
therefore  richer  in  meaning,  for  v\^e  read  of  the  'tsh  as 
well.  What  is  to  be  understood  by  the  three  terms — 
'dddm,  'ish-shdh,  'tsh — which  are  thus  brought  to- 
gether ? 

Till  the  'dddm  was  cast  into  the  state  of  *^  sleep," 
his  unitary,  **  heaven  "  consciousness  was  active  as 
from  the  periphery  of  his  cosmic,  spherical  Self,  the 
dualistic,  temporal  power  of  the  ''  earth  "  order  being 


170     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

latent  within.  But  in  the  "  sleep  "  state,  these  con- 
ditions are  reversed,  the  "  heaven "  consciousness 
becoming  inner,  as  if  at  the  centre  of  focus,  while  the 
periphery  is  given  over  to  the  duality  of  the  **  earth  " 
or  temporal  order.  In  this  order  the  'dddm  is  repre- 
sented at  first  by  two  powers,  namely,  the  evolving 
'Tsh — whose  original  appearance  in  the  form  regions 
was  symbolised  in  verse  22  as  the  **  rib  "  of  the  dddm — 
and  the  evolving  'ish-shdh.  During  manifestation, 
therefore,  the  soul  is,  as  it  were,  turned  inside  out,  and 
in  the  earlier  of  the  two  stages  is  represented  by  three 
elements  which  are  essential  parts  of  its  unity,  namely  : 
(i)  The  'dddm,  or  the  unitary,  monadic,  **  heaven  " 
consciousness,  independent  of  time,  and  implicit  at  the 
soul-centre  as  its  "  conscience  "  ;  ^ 

(2)  The  evolving  'tsh,  the  phenomenal  *  I,*  the 
temporal  subject  of  experience ; 

(3)  The  evolving  'ish-shdh,  the  content  and  character 
of  this  *  I,'  gained  through  experience  under  law  and 
fate  in  the  regions  of  form  the  changing.  These  dual 
"  earth  "  elements,  (2)  and  (3),  act  as  from  the  soul's 
periphery  which,  however,  has  deviated  from  the 
spherical  shape,  taking  on  the  two-centred  outline  of 
an  egg  or  ellipse. 

Applying  what  has  been  gleaned  from  verses  22  and 
23  to  the  story  of  the  soul  during  actual  earth-life  in 
the  form  regions,  it  would  appear  that  when  the  'tsh 
element  of  the  individualised  soul,  its  phenomenal, 
empirical  self,  learns  through  the  prevailing  influence 
of  the  typal  'ish-shdh,  the  ideally  perfect  element  of 
the  self-same  soul  in  the  *'  earth  "  order,  to  detach 
itself  from  bondage  to  the  world-order,  recognising 
the  'dddm,  the  "  heaven  "  Self,  as  the  true  focus  and 

^  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you."  The  relationship 
between  consciousness  and  conscience  is  such  that  in  French  the 
same  word,  conscience,  is  used  for  both. 


THE    IDEALLY   PERFECT    'ISH-SHAH       171 

Self  of  the  soul,^  it  is  then  that  the  soul's  **  earth  " 
element,  now  as  a  harmonious  two-in-one  power, 
**  re-collects  "  itself,  and  "  turns  "  to  the  inner  light 
for  guidance  and  direction.  It  learns  to  overcome 
the  **  fundamental  evil  "  in  itself  due  to  its  existence 
in  the  form-regions  of  duality,  and  being  shaped  under 
the  Divine  hand  in  the  actual  world-process,  becomes, 
in  the  later  of  its  two  stages,  perfect  as  its  prototype  in 
the  ideal  realm  of  the  soul-order  :  ^  the  two-in-one 
'ish-shdh  who  was  brought  by  the  Creator  face  to  face 
with  the  'dddm,  its  true  Subjective  Self  of  the  '  timeless  ' 
order.  Personal  fate  now  becomes  merged  in  Great 
or  Cosmic  Fate,  for  the  destiny  of  the  "  earth  "  element 
of  the  soul  is  not  isolation,  nor  even  renunciation,  but 
to  express  the  boundless  possibilities  of  the  '*  heaven  " 
order  in  the  form  regions  of  the  *^  earth  "  order. 

In  the  story  before  us,  which  takes  place  throughout 
in  the  ideal  or  *  formless  '  realm  of  the  soul  order,  prior 
to  the  actual  "  fall  "  or  "  descent  "  of  the  soul  into  the 
dense  regions  of  that  order,  the  'dddm  recognises  that 
the  perfected  'ish-shdh,  now  as  the  two-in-one  "  earth  " 
element  of  the  human  soul,  is  able  explicitly  to  reveal, 
in  the  world-order  of  relativity,  the  life  and  inspiration 
he  ever  receives  in  the  unitary  order  from  the  eternal 
Spirit.  He  declares,  therefore,  that  she  is  the  corres- 
ponding expression,  and  hence  the  revealer,  in  the 
planetary  or  "  earth  "  mode,  of  the  very  same  word 
that  is  uttered  by  the  Spirit  through  himself  in  the  cosmic 
or  solar  or  "  heaven  "  mode. 

The  symbolism  used  by  the  'dddm  in  the  idiomatic 
Hebrew  phrases,  "  This  now  is  bone  of  my  bones,  and 

1  "The  private  self  is  not  a  resting-place  which  logic  can  justify." 
(F.  H.  Bradley.) 

2  Regarding  this  ideal  region  of  the  soul-order,  see  Plotinus, 
Ennead  v.  i,  10  :  "  The  higher  part  of  the  Soul  is  ever  absorbed  in 
the  Divine  Mind." 


■t"*g' 


172     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

flesh  of  my  flesh,"  indicates  this  with  realistic  force. 
The  two  words  translated  **  This "  **  now "  mean, 
literally  :  **  This  "  **  stroke  or  beat  of  the  foot,  in 
keeping  time,"  ^  the  rhythmic  beat  of  time  being 
introduced  as  a  symbol  of  the  counterpart  of  the 
'dddm.  Her  mode  of  activity  is  that  of  process, 
rhythmic  measure,  and  sequence,  in  contradistinction 
to  his  own  spontaneity  and  immediacy.  Yet  he  at 
once  affirms,  in  effect  :  '*  This  is  my  very  self."  ^ 
The  phrases  **  bone  of  my  bones,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh  " 
not  only  declare  this  with  double  emphasis,  but  recall 
the  mineral  kingdom  (the  rib)  and  the  vegetable  kingdom 
(the  flesh),  which  are  as  the  "  earth  "  foundations  ^ 
of  the  complex  "  heaven  "-**  earth  "  constitution  of 
the  'dddm,  the  soul  of  humanity. 

When  the  individualised  soul  goes  forth  to  gain 
personal  experience  and  wisdom  under  the  evolutionary 
discipline  of  the  world-order,  it  is  at  first  swayed  by  the 
senses.  Disregarding  or  contesting  the  moral  im- 
perative of  the  **  conscience,"  communicated  by  the 
'dddm's  inner  voice,  the  'tsh — the  evolving  subject  of 
temporal  experience,  the  empirical  self — clings  to  those 
interests  which  satisfy  the  self-centred  desires,  neglectful 
of  the  qualities  and  character  of  its  own  evolving  nature, 
its  'ish-shdh.  But  the  soul  learns  through  the  discipline 
of  Fate,  and  in  due  course  the  essential  'ish-shdh  of  the 
*  formless  '  order  is  able  to  exert  its  purifying  and 
regenerative  influence  on  the  evolving  soul,  causing  it 
to  search  out  the  purposes  of  humanity's  earth-life 
and  apply  the  acquired  powers  of  the  personal  self  to 
these  great  ends.  When  the  individualised  soul's 
creation,  as  an  autonomous  and  trustworthy  human 


^  Bishop  Ellicott's  Old  Testament  Commentary,  1882,  vol.  i.  p.  22. 
2  In  Gen.  vii.  13  the  Hebrew  is,  literally,  In  the  bone  of  the  day, 
and  is  correctly  translated  "  In  the  self -same  day." 
^  See  comment  on  Gen.  ii.  5,  6,  pp.  113-117. 


THE    'ADAM   and   the    'ISH  173 

being  in  the  actual  world-order,  is  "  finished  "  according 
to  the  Divine  Plan,  it  is  symbolised  as  **  woman,"  the 
fashioned  'ish-shdh,  elsewhere  as  **  the  Bride."  ^  The 
Bridegroom  is  the  eternal  Spirit,  the  Creator  :  "  For 
thy  Maker  is  thy  Husband."  ^ 

The  **  man,"  the  'dddm,  "  names  "  the  woman, 
thereby  conferring  on  the  'ish-shdh,  the  typal,  indi- 
vidualised soul  which  has  been  perfected  under  process 
by  the  Creator  in  the  *  formless  '  realm  of  the  soul- 
order,  the  power  of  manifesting  this  perfection  in 
the  actual  world  of  form. 

In  the  next  verse  the  'dddm,  the  soul  in  the  "  heaven  " 
or  *  timeless  '  order,  proceeds  to  instruct  the  'tsh  con- 
cerning his  true  attitude  and  relation  to  the  'ish-shdh 
when  appearing  in  the  **  earth  "  regions  of  the  soul- 
order. 

Gen.  ii.  24  :    ^'  Therefore  shall  a  man  {'tsh)  leave  his 
father  and  his  mother,  and  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife 
(^ish-shdh) :  ^  and  they  shall  he  one  flesh." 

By  his  power  of  im-mediate  consciousness,  the 
'dddm  sees,  in  the  wholeness  of  an  ever-present  *  Now,' 
the  agelong  life  of  the  dualistic  soul  in  the  coming 
time-order,  in  two  successive  aspects,  the  earlier  of 
which  may  be  described  as  the  evolving  'ish  stage,  and 
the  later,  the  goal  of  that  evolution,  the  state  of  the 
perfect  'ish-shdh,  the  completely  fashioned  individualised 
soul  in  the  regions  of  actuality.  In  the  earlier  stage, 
the  temporal  self,  the  centre  of  formal  awareness,  is 
built  up  within  the  fate-spheres  under  the  process  and 
discipline  of  sun  and  moon  which,  in  the  phenomenal 
order,  are  as  father  and  mother  of  the  soul.*  But 
while  the  soul's  personal  self  is  thus  being  established, 

^  Rev.  xxi.  2.  ^    Isai.  liv.  5. 

3  The  same  Hebrew  word  which  is  translated  "wife"  in  this  verse 
and  the  next,  and  again  in  verses  8,  17,  21  of  chap,  iii.,  is  translated 
"  woman  "  in  all  other  instances  in  the  second  creation  story. 

*  In    Gen.  xxxvii.   9,   10  Jacob  interprets  the  sun  and  moon   as 


I 


174     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

the  power  of  the  ideal  'ish-shdh  is  restricted,  and  the 
soul,  therefore,  is  in  danger  of  becoming  tied  to  the 
"  wheel "  of  births-and-deaths.^  Hence  the  'dddm 
proceeds  to  direct  the  'tsh,  the  essentially  positive,  active 
element  of  the  soul's  **  earth  "  mode,  to  free  itself  from 
its  limitations  and  the  state  of  bondage  to  the  fate- 
spheres,  by  cleaving  to  the  ideally  perfect  'ish-shdh 
principle  of  the  self-same  soul,  its  altruistic,  regenerative 
component. 

When  this  ideal  woman  element  of  the  individualised 
soul,  with  its  pervading  spirit  of  love,  succeeds  in  turning 
the  soul's  energies  outward,  which  hitherto  were 
directed  inward  for  the  gain  of  the  temporal  *  I  ' 
during  the  establishment  of  the  temporal  personality, 
it  is  then  that  the  dual  "  earth  "  components  of  the 
soul  become  co-ordinated  as  "  one  flesh,"  one  perfectly 
fashioned  soul-substance.  In  this  state  of  harmonious 
wedlock,  the  soul's  "  earth  "  element  is  able,  with 
**  power "  and  ^*  glory,"  to  manifest  its  'dddm  or 
**  heaven  "  element,  and,  ultimately,  to  utter  the  eternal 
Will  and  Purpose  of  the  Originating  Spirit  in  the 
actuality  of  the  world-order,  in  terms  of  its  own 
unique  characteristics. 

If  we  consider,  on  the  one  hand,  the  speaker  of  this 
verse  who  is  ever  in  the  "  heaven  "or  *  timeless  ' 
order,  and,  on  the  other,  the  fashioned  'ish-shdh,  his 
perfected  two-in-one  representative  in  the  "  earth  " 
or  temporal  order,  we  realise  that  the  'dddm,  the 
"  alone  "  man  of  verse  i8,  is  not  complete,  and  needs 
his  true  complement.  It  is  necessary  for  the  Dweller 
in  the  inmost  heart,  or  "  heaven,"  of  each  human  soul 
to  call  forth  his  true  spouse  or  vehicle  in  the  "  earth  " 

correspondences  of  father  and  mother.  See  also  the  Pistis  Sophia, 
para.  431,  which  explains  who  are  the  parents  we  are  to  abandon, 
in  order  that  the  soul  may  be  brought  "  into  the  kingdom  of  the  true 
Father." 

^  As  Ixion  was  tied  to  the  wheel. 


THE    'ADAM    AND    THE    'ISH-SHAH        175 

order,  by  whose  means  living  ideas  may  be  manifested 
in  the  form  regions.^  The  true  bride  has  to  be  brought 
forth  here  and  now  from  one's  own  completely  cleansed 
and  transformed  nature.  In  all  Scripture,  as  also  in 
the  legends  of  the  gods  and  their  spouses,  the  "  wife  " 
does  not  stand  for  some  other  individual,  but  for  the 
inherent  power  of  the  soul  to  bring  forth  from  within 
itself  its  authentic  Wisdom-principle  into  the  actual 
world  of  phenomena  and  form,  and  there  create  and 
express  in  terms  of  it  after  the  pattern  of  the  essential 
Self. 

The  "  man,"  the  'dddm,  in  us  may  be  regarded  as 
Idea,  the  **  woman  "  in  us  as  the  process  of  spinning, 
weaving,  and  clothing  this  idea  through  one's  own 
temperamental  powers.  And  even  as  ideas  become 
clearer  and  more  definite  by  thinking  for  or  against 
them,  by  their  being  shattered  and  re-constructed,  so 
does  the  life  within  this  process  grow  by  being  ever 
brought  to  birth  and  *  slain.' 

The  perfectly  fashioned  soul  in  the  form  regions 
may  also  be  thought  of  as  surrounding  the  'dddm 
condition  of  the  soul,  in  which  is  mirrored  the  universe  : 
the  spontaneous,  *  timeless  '  consciousness,  the  char- 
acteristic of  this  subjective  'dddm,  being  expressed  in 
the  time-space  order  in  terms  of  the  content  or  character 
of  the  regenerate  individualised  soul,  which  is  neces- 
sarily unique. 

Since  each  human  soul  in  the  world  of  form  makes 
with  the  universe  a  complete  whole, ^  the  Divine 
spontaneity  within  each  soul  requires  to  be  forth-told 

^  Cp.  I  Sam.  ii.  5,  part  of  the  song  of  Hannah  : 
"  Yea,  the  barren  hath  borne  seven ; 
And  she  that  hath  many  children  languisheth." 
Also   Isai.  liv.  i  :    **  More  are  the  children  of  the  desolate  than  the 
children   of   the   married   wife,   saith   the   Lord."      These  passages 
suggest  offspring  of  a  psychical  order,  which  are  contrasted  with 
physical  births. 
2  See  p.  134. 


1 


176     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

in  terms  of  the  phenomenal  life  without,  the  life  of  the 
entire  living  universe.  This  cannot  be  truly  expressed 
under  necessary  or  personal  fate,  for  this  is  limited,  but 
only  under  Great  or  Cosmic  Fate. 

The  verse  we  have  been  considering  is  quoted  by 
Paul  the  Apostle  as  concerning  the  unity  of  man  and 
wife.  He  proceeds  :  **  This  fivarrjpiov  "  ^ — this  sym- 
bolism, this  inner  truth  concealed  from  ordinary 
human  wisdom — **  is  important;  I  declare  it  with 
reference  to  Christ  and  the  Church.  It  is  to  be 
followed  by  you  also."  '^  The  **  Christ  "  is  here  **  the 
Second  Adam,"  **  the  Church,"  regenerate  humanity, 
the  Bride  of  Rev.  xxi.  2. 

Gen.  ii.  25  :  ''And  they  were  both  naked,  the  man 
[hd  'dddm)  and  his  wife  {'ish-shdh),  and  were  not 
ashamed." 

Before  the  creation  of  woman,  the  'dddm  has  for 
garment,  or  surround,  the  universal  consciousness  in 
a  state  of  activity,  being  **  clothed  "  with  Light  of  the 
celestial  order,  soul-substance  being  relatively  latent 
at  the  centre  of  focus  within.  But  at  the  creation 
of  woman,  the  conditions  are  completely  inverted, 
being,  indeed,  turned  inside  out.  Sleep  having  fallen 
upon  the  'dddm,  the  subjective  consciousness,  as 
garment  of  Light,  becomes  enfolded  within  at  the  centre ; 
while  without,  in  the  externalised  regions  of  form, 
appear  the  objective  representatives  of  the  'dddm, 
who  are  ultimately  represented  by  the  fashioned  'ish- 
shdh,  the  goal  of  the  earlier  phase.  At  the  present 
stage,  therefore,  the  universal  Light  no  longer  clothes 

^  The  word  fiva-r^^piov,  used  eighteen  times  by  Paul  and  by  no 
other  New  Testament  writer,  is  one  of  the  many  words  he  continually 
makes  use  of  which  belong  to  the  nomenclature  of  the  Mysteries. 
His  vocabulary  is,  indeed,  that  of  the  pre-Christian  Hermetic  tractates ; 
they  mutually  interpret  and  complete  one  another.  See  The  Gospel 
of  Rightness,  by  Miss  C.  E.  Woods,  Williams  and  Norgate,  1909, 
p.  18. 

2  Eph.  V.  31-33. 


THE   GOLDEN    OR    SUN   AGE  177 

the  'ddam  as  with  a  garment,  for  it  is  within;  the 
'ish-shdh,  moreover,  the  **  earth  "  mode  of  the  soul  in 
the  *  formless  '  realm,  is  not  yet  clothed  with  the  matter 
of  the  terrestrial  regions.  So  the  'Mam  and  the  'ish- 
shdh  are  "  naked." 

By  the  inner  Light  now  at  the  centre,  the  two 
representatives  of  the  soul  of  humanity  are  translucent 
to  one  another.  They  have  been  created  perfect  in  the 
two  modes,  and  know  that  they  are  perfect.  So  they 
are  **  unashamed." 

The  perfect  *'  man,"  the  'dddm,  the  soul  of  humanity, 
who  has  the  cosmic  *  passion  '  playing  in  him  in  a  state 
of  perfect  poise,  who  has  the  Com-passion  or  All- 
passion  of  the  Creator,  has  been  expressed  in  the 
*  formless  '  realm  of  the  dualistic  soul-order  in  two 
modes,  as  'tsh  and  'ish-shdh,  subject  and  predicate, 
male  and  female  :  these  are  in  their  golden,  or  sun, 
age  and  have  not  yet  fallen  to  the  sublunary  spheres 
where  *  passion  '  takes  on  positive  and  negative  poles 
and  sets  up  a  state  of  tension. 

The  condition  pictured  belongs  to  the  unclouded 
innocence  of  childhood,  so  that  their  nakedness  is  also 
related  to  their  inexperience,  and  their  excellence  is  not 
as  yet  glory.  The  soul  has  to  attain  perfection  through 
the  Way  of  experience  in  the  phenomenal  order,  the 
goal  and  the  Way  which  are  signified  by  the  two  trees 
in  the  centre  of  the  garden. 


END   OF  PART  II. 


12 


THE    SECOND    CREATION    STORY    (ii.) 
Gen.  iii.  1-24 

CHAPTER   XVn 

Gen,  iii.,  verses  1-6 

Gen.  iii.  i :  "  Now  (literally,  And)  the  serpent  was 
more  subtil  than  any  beast  of  the  field  which  Jahveh 
'  Elohtm  had  made."  ^ 

THE  Hebrew  word  for  Serpent  is  ndchash,  literally, 
the  shining  one.  The  key  to  the  interpretation  of  this 
passage  is  the  qualifying  word  'drUm,  translated  subtil.^ 
This  word  is  emphasised  in  the  original  by  a  play  upon 
it  and  that  used  in  the  preceding  verse,  this  word-play 
being,  of  course,  incommunicable  in  a  translation. 
Though  the  'dddm  and  the  'ish-shdh,  translated  **  man  '* 
and  **  woman,"  are  perfect  in  the  *  formless  *  realm 
of  the  soul-order,  they  are  'arumim  (plural  of  *arom), 
**  naked,"  inexperienced  as  regards  the  form  regions 
of  that  order,  contrasting  with  the  Serpent,  who  is 
'drUm,  **  subtil,"  experienced,  wise.  This  wisdom  of 
the  Serpent,  moreover,  excels  the  characteristic  qualities 
of  the  *^  beasts  of  the  field  "  created  by  Jahveh  'Elohim 
"out  of   the  ground" — the  ground  from  which  man 

^  "  Few  chapters  of  the  Bible  have  affected  religious  speculation 
more  than  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis,  which  records  the  temptation 
and  the  weakness  of  primeval  man  [sic].  To  discuss  all  the  topics 
which  arise  out  of  this  chapter  would  be  to  write  a  treatise  on  Christian 
theology."     (Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  i.  840.) 

2  It  implies  quickness  of  sight,  swiftness  of  motion,  activity, 
Calvin  thought  the  word  was  one  of  praise.  The  LXX.  translates 
it  "  prudent,"  using  theTword,  apparently,  in  its  older  meaning  of 
**  wisdom  that  is  the  result  of  experience." 

178 


.si 


THE    SERPENT   OF    DIVINE   WISDOM      179 

was  formed — and  then  "  named  "  by  the  'dddm,^ 
who  thereby,  through  the  power  of  his  creative  will, 
imprinted  these  *  animal '  qualities  on  his  soul- 
substance,  giving  this  the  power  to  manifest  them 
in  the  regions  of  form.  The  Serpent,  **  the  shining 
one,"  is  in  a  different  category,  being,  indeed,  of  the 
Divine  Wisdom  order,  and  representing  a  function,  a 
mode,  of  the  Creator's  Triune  Power. 

After  the  root-substance  of  man's  nature  was  formed, 
as  if  under  process,  in  the  *  formless  '  region  of  the 
soul-order,  Jahveh  'Elohim  completes  the  creation 
by  imparting  the  true  complement  of  the  time  process, 
something  which  is  not  **  created  "  and  does  not  evolve, 
namely,  the  Divine  Breath  of  the  eternal  and  universal 
order,  and  the  man  becomes  *'  a  living  soul."  ^  And 
now,  in  the  present  stage  of  the  story,  when  the  'dddm, 
the  soul  of  humanity,  is  to  be  expressed  in  the 
phenomenal  order  through  many  individualised  souls, 
each  under  two  complementary  principles,  'tsh  and 
'ish-shdh,  as  yet  unevolved,  this  eternal  Power  which 
was  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of  the  man,  the 
Divine  creative  Breath,  is  about  to  lead  each  dualistic 
individualised  soul,  hence  also  the  soul  of  collective 
humanity,  into  experience  in  the  material  regions 
of  the  soul-order,  and  the  symbol  now  employed  for 
the  Divine  Breath  is  :  the  Serpent.^ 

^  Gen.  ii.  19,  20.  ^  Gen.  ii.  7. 

'  **  The  serpent-symbol  played  a  great  part  in  the  Mysteries  of 
the  ancients,  especially  in  Greece,  Egypt,  and  Phoenicia;  hence  we 
can  trace  it  back  to  Syria,  Babylonia,  and  further  East  to  India, 
where  it  still  survives  and  receives  due  explanation. "j|  {Fragments  of 
a  Faith  Forgotten,  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead,  London,  1900,  p;  183.)  In  these 
Mystery  systems,  the  Serpent  symbolises  the  great  Breath,  the  manifest- 
ing Power,  which  was  regarded  as  a  serpentine,  spiral  force.  The 
worshippers  sometimes  called  themselves  "  serpents."  In  China  the 
Creative  Breath  is  symbolised  f^as  the^Great  Dragon.  There  are 
sometimes  two  serpents,  as,  for  example,  in  the  caduceus  of  Hermes, 
just  as  we  read  of  two  trees  in  Gen.  ii.  9.  Non- Semitic  Sumerian 
texts  speak  of  "  the  wicked  serpent,"  "  the  serpent  of  darkness."     In 


i8o     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  uncreated,  eternal  Breath  which  was  breathed 
into  the  "  man  "  whereby  he  became  **  a  living  soul," 
appears  under  two  aspects  as  it  leads  humanity  forth 
into  the  dense  regions  of  manifestation  :  one  the  time 
(horizontal),  the  other  the  '  timeless  '  (vertical),  and 
in  both  cases  the  serpent  symbol  is  used.  It  was  to 
free  all  who  are  still  **  wandering  "  in  the  *'  wilderness  " 
stage  of  earth-life,  from  the  risk  of  thraldom  to  the 
ever-becoming  or  time  aspect  of  such  life,  represented 
as  the  being  slain  by  serpents,  that  Moses  lifted  high 
above  the  earth  his  *  timeless  '  Serpent  symbol  as  a 
call  to  the  life  regenerate.^  The  same  story  and  the 
same  symbolism  are  referred  to  with  a  wide  and  general 
application  when  Jesus  declares  that  **  the  Son  "  of 
**  (the)  Man  " — that  is,  of  the  universal  Man  of  the 
first  creation  story,  of  the  *  noumenal  '  or  spiritual 
order — must  under  the  spiritual  law  ^  be  "  lifted  up  " 
above  the  normal  **  earth  "  order,  the  region  of  duality 
and  the  ever-becoming  of  life-and-death,  and  so  attain 
seonian  life.^ 

The  Divine  Breath  signifies  the  Power  of  the  Supreme 
Mother,  the  Giver  of  All-Life,  the  Holy  Ghost  :  Mani- 
festor  of  the  Eternal  Will  and  Purpose  in  time  and 
space  conditions.  It  is  as  the  **  River  "  between 
"  Eden  "  and  the  **  garden  "  ;  or  as  the  Breath  of  the 
Solar  Logos,  the  Solar  Breath,  upon  the  earth ;  or  as 
the  Fifth  or  iEtheric  Element  in  relation  to  the  four 

the  injunction  "Be  ye  wise  as  serpents  "  {Matt.  x.  i6),  we  meet  the 
Serpent  of  Wisdom,  the  Serpent  in  its  Divine  aspect.  Cp.  Irenaeus 
[HcBY.  i.-xxx.  15)  :  "  Some  (Gnostics)  say  that  Sophia  herself 
became  a  Serpent,  and  had  .  .  .  given  the  Gnosis  to  Man,  and  for 
that  reason  the  serpent  was  called  the  wisest  of  all  creatures." 
^    Numb.  xxi.  5-9. 

2  5er. 

3  John  iii.  14,  in  the  original.  Each  human  soul  is  essentially 
and  potentially  a  Son  of  the  heavenly  "  Man  "  of  the  first  creation 
story,  and  has  to  be  established  as  such  during  the  actual  world-order. 
In  each  case  a  new  "  Son,"  by  being  uplifted  into  the  "  heaven  " 
state  while  on  earth,  spontaneously  draws  others  to  the  higher  life. 


lA^ 


THE  FALL  FROM  BEING  INTO  EXISTENCE     i8i 

manifesting  elements.  Being  of  the  eternal  and 
universal  order,  this  Breath  never  loses  touch  with 
its  Source.  But  within  the  regions  of  manifestation 
it  has  a  dual  aspect  of  activity,  a  breathing  forth  and 
back,  an  alternation  as  of  outbreathing  and  inbreathing. 
The  Breath  puts  forth  into  manifestation,  then  draws 
creation  back  to  its  Source.  First  is  the  Outbreathing, 
or  the  Descent  or  **  Fall  "  into  manifestation  of  the 
negative  or  Substance  mode  of  the  One  Reality,  and 
then  the  Inbreathing,  when  this  differentiated  Substance, 
being  vitalised  by  the  positive  or  Spirit  mode  of  the 
One  Reality,  *'  returns  "  as  Living  Substance  which  is 
able  consciously  to  partake  of  the  Divine  activities.^ 

The  'dddm,  the  soul  of  collective  humanity  in  the 
*  timeless  '  order,  is  to  be  represented  in  the  modes  of 
time,  space,  and  materiality  through  many  individuals, 
each  under  two  principles,  'ish  and  'ish-shdh,  corres- 
ponding, in  one  aspect,  to  the  two  modes  of  Tension 
under  which  manifestation  appears,  namely,  in-tension 
and  ex-tension,  time  and  space.  Breath,  as  Holy 
Ghost  or  Manifesting  Counterpart  of  the  Unmanifest, 
here  symbolised  as  Serpent,  obtains  in  this  dualistic 
expression  of  the  soul  a  specialised  vehicle  in  which  to 
**  fall,"  and  thereby  brings  about  a  vital  connection 
between  the  universal  and  the  particular,  consciousness 
and  substance;  till,  ultimately,  the  human  soul  in 
the  regions  of  form,  is  qualified,  individually  and 
collectively,  to  *'  ascend  "  to  the  next  stage  in  be- 
coming that  is  set  before  it,  the  state  of  the  soul 
Regenerate. 

From  another  point  of  view,  the  two  modes  of  the 
individualised  soul,  its  subjective  centre  of  awareness 
or  the  personality,  and  its  objective  content  or  character, 
act  straight  on  to  the  Serpent  of  Manifestation,  bringing 

1  Cp.  2  Pet.  i.  4  :  "  That  ye  may  become  partakers  of  the  divine 
nature." 


i82     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

down  ^  Cosmic  Breath  into  form  and  meaning,  Divine 
Ideas  becoming  expressed  through  living  forms  on 
earth. 

Or  we  may  look  at|this  in  still  another  way,  and  say 
that  the  Serpent  is  the  power  which,  in  the  first  stage 
ofjits  twofold  process,  corresponding  to  the  Outbreathing 
of  the  Divine  Breath,  leads  the  soul  of  humanity  out- 
ward to  manifestation  and  multiplicity.  This  tends 
to  make  substance  more  subtile  and  transfuse  it  with 
light  rays,  by  tearing  up,  as  it  were,  the  world-soul's 
substance  into  atoms  and  surrounding  every  atom 
with  bubbles  of  light.  This  Forthgoing  is  represented 
by  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  the  tree 
of  experience  under  time,  space,  and  materiality.  The 
second  stage  of  the  process,  corresponding  to  the 
Indrawing  of  the  Divine  Breath,  is  the  bringing  back 
of  these  bubbles  of  light,  so  that  they  may  consciously 
take  part  in  the  Divine  Activities,  and  not  be  as  mere 
puppets  that  are  acted  upon.  The  consciousness  is 
drawn  inward  for  the  intensification  of  Being.  The 
goal  of  this  Inbreathing  is  represented  by  the  tree  of  life. 

Gen.  iii.  i  (continued)  :  ^^  And  he  (the  Serpent)  said 
unto  the  woman.'' 

The  Will  of  the  Spirit  is  :  to  manifest  Itself  through 
the  soul  of  humanity.  Its  prepared  dualistic  vehicle, 
and  *■*■  fall  "  with  it  from  the  *  formless  '  into  the  form 
regions  of  the  soul-order.  The  'dddm,  the  soul  of 
collective  humanity  in  the  *  formless  *  realm,  has  already 
declared  ^  that  the  woman,  the  'ish-shdh,  is  his  counter- 
part in  the  time  mode.  So  she  naturally  becomes  the 
protagonist  in  the  scene  which  immediately  follows. 
The  Serpent  addresses  the  woman  as  representative  of 
the  human  soul  in  the  regions  of  form. 

^  These  '  spatial  '  terms,  *  fall,'  '  ascend,'  '  leading  forth,'  '  bringing 
down,'  imply  activity,  not  in  space,  but  as  to  state  or  condition. 
2  Gen.  ii.  23,  see  pp.  169,  171,  172. 


THE    SERPENT    AND    THE    WOMAN        183 

Gen.  iii.  i  (continued)  :  "And  he  (the  Serpent) 
said  unto  the  woman,  Yea,  hath  '  Eldhtm  said,  Ye 
shall  not  eat  of  all  the  trees  of  the  garden  P  " 

Gen.  iii.  2  :   **  And  the  woman  said  unto  the  Serpent, 

Of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden  we  may  eat.     (3) 

But  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the 

garden,  '  Eldhtm  hath  said.  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither 

shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die.'* 

Gen.  iii.  4  :   "And  the  Serpent  said  unto  the  woman. 

Ye  shall  not   surely  die    (literally,   dying,   thou  shalt 

not   Die).     (5)    For  'Eldhtm  knoweth  that  in  the  day 

ye  eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  he  opened,  and  ye 

shall  he  as  'Eldhtm,  knowing  good  and  evil." 

Replying  to  the  Serpent's  question  (verse  i),  the 
woman  repeats  the  original  injunction  not  to  "  eat  " 
of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  adding  the  words 
**  Neither  shall  ye  touch  it."  This  additional  statement 
shows  that  the  woman  recognises  the  importance  of 
the  "  heaven  "  power  of  self-control  and  poise. 

It  was  Jahveh  'Elohim  who  instructed  the  **  man  " 
concerning  the  tree  of  knowledge.^  Yet  when  the 
Serpent  speaks  or  is  spoken  to  in  these  five  dramatic 
verses,  the  author  of  the  prohibition  is  stated  to  be 
'Elohim.  'Elohim  is  the  Manifesting  Power  behind 
the  earlier  or  *  noumenal '  creation.  So  that  the 
woman  is  placed  by  the  Serpent,  her  Initiator,  in  vital 
relation  to  the  Supreme  Power  or  Principle  or  Ground 
of  all  Manifestation.  Having  been  brought  under  this 
Influence,  the  next  verse  proceeds  : — 

Gen.  iii.  6  :  "And  when  the  woman  saw  that  the 
tree  was  (a)  good  for  food^  and  that  it  was  (b)  a  delight 
to  the  eyes,  and  that  the  tree  was  (c)  to  he  desired  to  make 
one  wise,  (d)  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat ; 
(e)  and  she  gave  also  unto  her  hushand  with  her,  and  he 
did  eat." 

1   Gen.  ii.  16,  17. 


184     '^HE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  woman  is  enabled  to  see,  as  with  the  prophetic 
eye  of  the  soul,  with  soul-knowledge,  that  the  tree  of 
knowledge  is  *'  good  for  food,"  **  a  delight  to  the  eyes," 
and  **  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise." 

(a)  The  tree  is  **  good  for  food."  Eating  food  is 
one  of  the  root  functions,  the  sacred  acts,  of  earth-life 
whereby,  through  the  process  of  transmuting  the 
not-self  into  the  self,  continuity  of  consciousness  is 
maintained  and  experience  gained.^  That  the  tree  of 
the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil — symbol  of  manifesta- 
tion in  the  order  of  the  polar  opposites,  the  relative 
order — is  **  good  for  food,"  implies  that  the  phenomenal 
order  is  of  value  for  the  experience  and  understanding 
it  is  able  to  bring  to  the  soul. 

(b)  The  tree  is  '*  a  delight  to  the  eyes."  The  dualistic 
order,  being  a  manifestation  of  the  Divinity,  is 
essentially  beautiful,  to  the  external  eye  as  well  as 
to  the  eye  of  the  inner  understanding.  To  take  a 
delight  in  a  thing  is  to  evoke  power. 

(c)  The  tree  is  **  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise." 
Wisdom  is  found  not  only  in  the  *  timeless  '  mode 
which  is  concerned  with  wholeness ;  to  be  able  to 
choose  correctly  and  act  wisely  in  all  circumstances 
the  soul  must  also  know  itself  in  detail,  to  this  end 
understanding  the  purpose  and  meaning  of  the  world 
of  materiality  in  time  and  space. 

From  the  *  formless  '  realm  of  the  soul-order,  the 
woman  sees  as  in  vision  the  realm  of  appearances, 
of  duality,  and,  therefore,  the  two  aspects  of  the  tree 
of  knowledge  *'  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden." 
The  eating  of  its  fruit  is  realised  to  be  dangerous  to 
the  inexperienced  soul,  and  the  warning  is  seen  to  be 
justified.  On  the  other  hand,  her  insight  into  the  vast 
scheme  of  world-unfoldment  shows  her  that  this  tree, 

^  The  primary  purpose  of  fasting  appears  to  be  to  remind  us  that 
we  belong  not  only  to  the  temporal  but  also  to  the  '  timeless  '  order. 


THE   TWO    TREES  185 

with  its  life-and-death,  is  the  divinely  appointed, 
the  necessary  Way  to  the  tree  of  life,  the  other  tree 
which  also  is  **  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,"  for  "  dying, 
thou  shalt  not  Die,"  ^  the  two  trees  being,  indeed,  two 
aspects  of  what  is  essentially  one  and  the  same  tree, 
the  Tree  of  Life. 

From  her  inspired  view  of  the  meanings  of  the  two 
trees,  the  woman  realises  the  necessity  for  humanity 
to  appear  in  the  worlds  of  form,  that  it  may  acquire 
the  power  of  right  choice,  and  gain  knowledge  and 
practical  wisdom  through  experience  and  action  in  the 
difficult  regions  of  duality.  She  also  accepts  the 
concluding  words  of  the  Serpent  of  Wisdom,  **  Your 
eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  'Elohim,  knowing 
good  and  evil,"  as  declaring  part  of  the  Purpose  and 
Will  of  the  Divine  scheme  of  Self-unfoldment.  The 
**  help  meet  "  of  the  ^dddm  decides,  therefore,  that  it  is 
necessary  for  the  soul  of  humanity,  individually  and 
as  a  whole,  to  proceed  into  the  regions  of  the  phen- 
omenal order,  so  as  to  know  and  understand  and  express 
itself  in  that  order. 

The  woman  is  guided  to  her  decision  by  her  divinely 
directed  insight  into  the  Dual  aspect  of  Manifestation  : 
this  should  also  be  looked  at  as  stages  in  the  so-called 
Coming  Down  of  Being  into  Existence.  We  should 
have  clear  and  definite  ideas,  for  example,  concerning 
Spirituality  the  Unchanging  (the  tree  of  life,  **  heaven  ") 
and  Form  the  Changing  (the  tree  of  knowledge, 
*'  earth."). 

We  have  to  seek  not  only  the  spiritual  life,  but 
evolution  of  form  also,  for  there  are  two  sides  to  our 
vast  nature."^     Both  are  essential  for  the  harmonious 


1  Cp.  the  Apostle  Paul's  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  "    (i  Cor. 

XV.  55.) 

2  Hence  do  we  read  {Luke  ii.  40)  that  the  child  Jesus  "  grew  in 
Wisdom  and  stature." 


i86     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

manifestation  of  the  two  states  of  consciousness. 
Ever  evolving  Form  has  to  be  united  to  Spirituality, 
and  the  whole  expressed  in  a  Great  Activity,  the  self 
appearing  as  Onlooker. 

Gen.  iii.  6:  (d)  "  She  took  the  fruit  thereof  and  did 
eat.*'  Convinced  of  the  necessity  for  the  human  soul 
to  proceed  into  existence  in  the  regions  of  form  so  as 
to  enrich  consciousness  and  bring  about  Self-con- 
sciousness, the  woman,  the  representative  of  the 
human  soul  in  the  **  earth  "  mode,  decides  to  take  the 
step.  This  decision  is  solemnised  by  the  symbolic 
rite  in  which  she  takes  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  know- 
ledge which  was  planted  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  in  the 
centre  of  the  **  garden,"  at  the  heart  of  the  substance- 
nature  of  the  soul,  and  **  eats  "  it.  Power  to  take  or 
refuse  this  step  was  granted  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  at 
the  same  time  that  the  warning  was  given,  ^  and  at  the 
appearance  of  the  woman,  the  help  meet,  her  authority 
in  regard  to  the  time-order  was  acknowledged  by  the 
**  man,"  the  'dddm. 

(e)  ^^  And  she  gave  also  to  her  husband  {'tsh)  with 
her,  and  he  did  eat."  The  woman  then  takes  the  next 
step  in  the  rite,  and  gives  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  to  the 
man  ('tsh)  who  is  **  with  her,"  and  he  takes  it  from 
her  hand  and  eats  it.  This  is  the  third  mention  of  the 
'tsh  in  the  story.  It  is  not  the  'dddm,  as  might  be 
supposed  from  our  versions,  to  whom  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  is  handed,  but  the  'tsh,  the  temporal  *  I,' 
the  representative  of  the  consciousness  of  the  'dddm 
in  the  world  of  form  during  soul  life  in  the  phenomenal 
order,  whose  part  there  is  to  be  completed  and  fulfilled 
through  the  regenerative  power  of  the  soul's  ideally 
perfect  'ish-shdh,  the  'dddm's  counterpart  in  the 
*  formless  '  soul-order.  The  'tsh  takes  the  fruit  as  if 
^  Gen.  ii.  17,  see  pp.  156,  157. 


THE    TWO    GARDENS  187 

from  the  hand  of  his  initiator,  and  eats  it  in  acceptance 
of  the  authority  of  the  'ish-shdh  to  decide  in  the  matter, 
as  also  in  token  of  his  own  recognition  of  the  necessity 
for  the  soul  of  man  to  **  fall  "  into  manifestation. 
And  so  the  soul  becomes  **  involved  "  throughout 
both  in  its  'dddm  or  "  heaven  "  nature  ^  and  in  its 
dualistic  **  earth  "  nature,  by  the  decision  come  to  by 
the  woman,  the  soul's  manifestor  in  the  form  regions. 

These  rites  relate  to  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  and  the  Forthgoing  of  the  soul  into 
manifestation.  At  the  close  of  this  agelong  process 
we  read  of  the  Seed  of  the  Woman  appearing  in  the 
phenomenal  order  as  the  Second  Adam,  "  the  Son  of 
(the)  Man,"  and  He  takes,  and  eats,  and  hands  over 
to  be  eaten.  These  are  rites  which  relate  to  the  tree  of 
life,  and  the  Incoming  or  Return  of  the  soul,  enriched 
with  the  harvest  of  time. 

The  two  rites,  in  Genesis  and  in  the  Gospels,  are 
complementary  to  each  other  and  necessarily  connected 
with  a  "  garden,"  or  soul-substance  in  creative  activity. 
The  story  of  the  garden  in  Eden  pictures  the  evolu- 
tionary work  of  self-perfection  in  the  world  of  form, 
which  is  set  before  the  personal  self  for  the  sake  of 
the  true  Self  of  the  soul.  The  garden  of  Gethsemane 
(lit.,  Olive  press)  ^  pictures  this  work  when  all  but 
accomplished  and  awaiting  the  complete  surrender  of 
the  personal  will  to  the  Supreme  Will.  The  life  has 
become  one  of  continuous  acts  of  renunciation  of  the 
lower  will  for  the  higher,  but  the  temporal  self  has  to 
conquer  even  to  the  end.  The  vase  filled  with  precious 
ointment — the  formal  ego,  with  its  soul-substance^ 
its  temperament  and  character,  now  perfectly  fashioned 


^  This  is  acknowledged  by  the  'dddm  in  verse  12. 

^  This  "  garden  "  is  spoken  of  only  by  the  writer  of  the  mystic 
fourth  gospel,  a  work  apparently  of  the  earlier  half  of  the  second 
century. 


iB8     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

in  the  world-order — has,  indeed,  to  be  "  broken," 
that  the  aroma  may  fill  the  house,  the  cosmos;  and 
this  *'  sacrifice  "  of  the  *  lower  '  self  has  to  be  enacted 
voluntarily  in  the  time-order  by  the  soul,  whose  Joy 
henceforth  will  be  to  manifest  in  actuality  not  its  own 
life  but  the  Life  of  the  true  Self.^  So  at  length  we 
read  the  final  cry  of  self-dedication  from  the  garden 
of  the  fashioned  soul-substance  :  "  Not  my  will  but 
Thine  be  done." 

The  **  garden "  in  Eden  is  thus  linked  with  the 
definite  goal  set  before  every  human  being,  namely, 
to  utter  in  the  time-order  the  Supreme  Will  of  the 
eternal  order.  It  symbolises,  moreover,  his  own 
means  thereto,  his  substance,  his  body,  the  destiny  of 
which  is  to  become  a  living  **  temple  "  of  God,^  a 
sanctuary  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  So  Paul  speaks  of  those 
who  are  perfected  in  the  world-order,  as  **  God's  tilled 
land  "  or  "  field,"  ^  Ezekiel  declaring  that  they  are 
**  become  like  the  garden  of  Eden,"  ^  Eden  being 
defined  as  the  **  garden  of  God."  ^ 

In  the  apocryphal  book  of  Sirach  we  read  :  **  From 
a  woman  was  the  beginning  of  sin,  and  because  of  her 
we  all  die."  ^  Philo  says  that  by  teaching  man  to 
exchange  *'  the  celestial  for  the  terrestrial  life  " — in 
other  words,  the  *  timeless  '  for  the  time  consciousness 
— woman  was  **  the  cause  of  the  first  sin."  ^     Paul, 

1  Cp.  John  xii.  27  :  "  Now  is  my  Psuche,  my  temporal  self,  troubled. 
And  shall  I  say  :  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour  ?  But  for  this  very 
purpose  {i.e.,  for  the  fruit  of  this  hour)  came  I  unto  this  hour.  (Hence 
do  I  say),  Father,  glorify  Thy  Name." 

2  I  Cor.  iii.  16.  ^  i  Cor.  iii.  9. 

*  Ezek.  xxxvi.  33-35.  ^  Ezek.  xxxi.  9. 

;;^  XXV.  24.  Elsewhere  in  the  same  book  (xv.  11  ff.)  we  read  :  "  Say 
not  thou  it  is  through  the  Lord  that  I  fell  away ;  for  thou  shalt  not 
do  the  things  that  He  hateth.  Say  not  thou,  It  is  He  that  caused  me 
to  err ;  for  He  hath  no  need  of  a  sinful  man." 

■»  De  Mund.  Opif.,  55  ff. 


THE    COMING   FORTH    OF   THE    SOUL     189 

too,  remarks  that  it  was  not  the  man  but  the  woman 
who  became  **  involved  in  transgression."  ^  But  he 
also  speaks  of  *^  one  man,"  in  other  words,  the  soul  as 
a  whole,  as  **  the  transgressor."  ^  Now,  to  **  trans- 
gress," in  its  root-meaning,  is  to  take  a  step  beyond; 
this  spatial  word  is  used,  similar  to  **  fall  "  or  **  descent," 
though  the  story  does  not  actually  relate  to  a  movement 
in  space  but  to  a  change  in  soul-condition.  A  decision 
was  taken  by  the  soul  to  transgress  the  *  timeless  ' 
order,  and  pass  into  materiality  in  the  conditions 
(or  modes)  of  time  and  space.  It  was  a  matter  of  free 
choice,  for  the  goal  and  the  dangers  of  "  the  Way  " 
were  laid  bare  by  the  Highest  Powers,  and  were  under- 
stood. The  decision  was  primarily  taken  by  the  woman 
element  or  the  "  earth  "  mode  of  the  soul,  this  mode 
being  specially  connected  with  manifestation  in  the  form 
regions.  In  this  decision  the  soul  in  both  its  modes, 
also  as  a  whole,  concurs  and  becomes  *'  involved." 

The  eating  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  is  an 
initiatory  rite  in  celebration  of  the  Coming  Forth  of 
the  soul  of  humanity,  with  its  dualistic  powers  of 
"  heaven  "  and  of  **  earth,"  *  timelessness  '  and  time, 
into  manifested  life  in  matter  during  the  Night  of  the 
soul,  until,  after  ripe  experience  in  the  exercise  of 
choice,  it  is  able  to  live  in  the  full  light  of  Day,  under- 
standing itself  and  the  purposes  of  the  world-order. 
It  becomes  truly  Self-conscious  in  all  its  activities, 
and,  of  its  own  free-will,  acts  in  accord  with  the 
Divine  Will  spontaneously  and  joyously. 

When  the  dawn  of  this  Day  approaches,  we  read  in 

^  I  Tim.  ii.  14. 

2  Rom.  V.  12;  I  Cor.  xv.  21-22.  In  Rom.,  chap,  v,  Paul  argues 
that  if  "  through  one  man  "  (v.  12)  came  sin  and  death,  by  the  grace 
of  God  through  **  the  one  man  "  (v.  15) — elsewhere  described  by  him 
as  the  Second  Adam,  and  again  as  the  Christ  in  us — comes  also  the 
free  gift  of  abundance  of  grace.  So  in  the  next  chapter  he  proceeds 
to  insist  that  the  responsibility  for  each  man's  acts  rests  upon  himself. 


190     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

the  Book  of  the  Dead,  in  the  chapter  called  the  "  Coming 
Forth  by  Day,"  one  of  the  most  ancient  chapters  of  this 
ancient  work,  that  the  soul  says  :  "I  have  entered  in 
as  a  man  of  no  understanding,  and  I  shall  come  forth 
in  the  form  of  a  strong  spirit.  .  .  .  O  Lion  (god). 
Babe,  .  .  .  Thou  art  in  me,  and  I  am  in  Thee,  and 
Thy  Attributes  are  my  attributes.  I  have  the  power 
to  be  born  a  second  time."  ^ 

As  the  individual  soul  **  falls  "  into  the  regions  of 
relativity,  becoming  enmeshed  in  the  net  of  matter 
and  captivated  by  its  glamour,  it  tends  to  regard 
material  life  as  an  end-in-itself.  It  is  then  that  the 
Serpent  of  Wisdom,  the  Life-Breath,  assumes  its  lower 
aspect,  the  aspect  of  life-and-death,  and  hence  the 
**  serpents  "  which  slew  the  Israelites  "  in  the  wilder- 
ness." But  when  the  soul  "  Remembers,"  the  Serpent 
is  "  lifted  up  "  above  the  region  of  the  opposites  and 
makes  for  Life.  It  is  then  the  harmonised,  or  married, 
serpentine  force  of  Regeneration  in  man,  which  is  as 
the  magical  rod  of  Aaron, ^  or  the  caduceus  of  Hermes, 
or,  most  ancient  of  symbols,  the  cross. 

This  "  Remembering "  is  the  dm/xvryo-ts  of  Plato, 
when  in  a  ^  timeless '  Moment  the  soul  recovers 
reminiscence  of  its  Divine  nature,  overcoming  the 
oblivion  to  *  light  *  in  which  the  *  dark  '  waters  sur- 
rounding materiality  are  normally  plunged.  This 
im-mediate  Insight  of  recollection  results  from  the 
soul's  true  ek-stdsis  and  iheoria,  induced  by  its  "  con- 
templation "  '  of  Divine  principles.     Plato  speaks  of 

^  Chap.  Ixiv.  Quoted  from  the  original  "  Short  Version  "  of  this 
chapter,  the  last  three  verses  and  the  first  verse,  from  the  Papyrus  of 
Nu  in  the  British  Museum,  translated  by  Dr.  Budge.  It  was  found 
in  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  about  3400  B.C.,  by  the  son  of  Cheops,  the 
builder  of  the  Great  Pyramid  at  Gizeh,  and  it  was  then  believed  that 
this  chapter  might  be  even  as  ancient  as  the  time  of  the  First  Dynasty. 

*  See  Exod.  vii.  9-12. 

*  From  com  and  templum=tempulum,  dim.  of  tempus,  lit.,  a  part 
cut  off,  a  section,  hence  a  division  of  time. 


THE   SOUL   RETURNS    OF    ITS    FREE   WILL     191 

it  as  **  the  Recollection  of  those  things  which  our  soul 
once  saw  while  following  God,"  and  declares  that : 
he  "  who  employs  aright  these  Memories  is  ever 
being  initiated  into  the  perfect  mysteries,  and  alone 
becomes  truly  perfect."  ^ 

The  awakening  of  this  higher  mode  of  Memory, 
this  *  timeless '  Con-sciousness,  whole  and  complete, 
which  is  ever  within  us,  is  spoken  of  in  the  Gnostic 
Hymn  of  the  Soul,  in  the  letter  or  message  sent  from 
the  celestial  realms  to  the  soul  when  in  bondage  to  the 
*'  Egypt"  of  the  body:  "Arise  from  thy  sleep.  Re- 
member— that  thou  art  a  King's  son."  So,  too,  at  a 
later  epoch  in  the  soul's  history,  we  read  :  "  Do  this, 
in  Remembrance  " — the  same  word,  di/a/uviyo-t?,  is  used 
— "  of  Me."  2 

In  the  Chaldean  Fragments,  the  cause  of  the  "  Fall  " 
is  the  thirst  for  knowledge.  In  Persia,  Meschia  and 
Meschiane  are  happy  and  pure  in  a  garden  where  is 
a  tree  whose  fruit  confers  immortality,  but  the  god 
AhrimSn  gives  them  a  fruit  by  which  they  fall  under 
his  power,  and  he  clothes  them  with  skins.  In  another 
form  of  the  same  legend,  Ahriman  is  actually  a  serpent. 
In  the  Hindu  mythology  the  king  of  the  serpents  is 
Ndga,  which  is  the  same  word  as  the  Hebrew  ndchash. 
In  one  of  his  ten  incarnations  of  Vishnu,  Krishna 
tramples  on  the  head  of  the  great  serpent  Kdlt  Ndga. 

In  these  and  other  myths  and  traditions  is  wrapped 
up  the  story  of  the  outward  pilgrimage  of  the  soul, 
and  of  its  sorrows  and  trials,  through  ignorance,  until 
experience  teaches  it  wisdom,  when,  of  its  own  free- 
will, it  seeks  and  takes  **  the  Way  "  of  **  return,"  and 
the  soul  comes  back  enriched  with  "  the  spoils  "  of  its 
earth  lives,  the  **  jewels  "  taken  from  **  Egypt." 

The  story  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  is  concerned  with 

^  PhcBdrus,  249.  *  ]LM^^^xxii._^i9. 


192     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

the  evolutionary  theory  of  good  and  evil.  That  which 
meets  with  no  obstacle,  goes  forward  without  returning 
upon  itself,  hence  does  not  manifest  itself.  Conflict 
between  two  opposing  forces,  the  policy  of  *  resistance,' 
this  is  the  real  driving  force  forming  the  human  soul 
and  revealing  it  to  itself,  during  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  **  lesser  mysteries,"  when  Jordan  flows  **  down- 
wards." In  the  later  stages,  and  on  the  return  flow, 
the  driving  force  is  symbolised  as  the  tree  of  life,  and 
this  acts  not  through  the  principle  of  opposition,  but 
at  first  by  a  process  of  **  raising  "  the  lower  (or  finite) 
elements  of  the  many  contraries  of  the  soul's  nature, 
to  the  higher  (or  universal),  the  lower  becoming  more 
and  more  understood  by  the  soul  as  being  fundamentally 
the  very  existence  and  support  of  the  higher,  for  without 
limitation  the  higher  would  be  dissipated  in  the  seeming 
void  of  transcendence.  The  ever-evolving  dualities 
thereby  approach  a  condition  in  which  they  are,  at 
length,  reconciled  and  harmonised  by  the  power  of 
the  All- Soul,  followed  by  the  magical  indwelling  of  the 
Unitary  Spirit.  The  Way  to  this  great  happening  is, 
therefore,  through  the  continual  revaluation  by  each 
human  soul  of  all  its  values,  error  being  faced  and 
successively  replaced  by  its  truer  correlative,  till, 
ultimately,  even  the  temporal  self  is  itself  lost,  and  yet 
is  found,  in  the  true  or  abiding  Self.  These  are  the 
complex  driving  forces  of  the  **  Greater  Mysteries," 
when  Jordan  flows  *'  upwards." 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

Gen.  iii.,  verses  7-13 

Gen.  iii.  7  *  "And  the  eyes  of  both  were  opened  and 
they  knew  that  they  were  naked:  and  they  sewed  fig- 
leaves  together,  and  made  themselves  girdles." 

As  this  passage  immediately  follows  verse  6  (e),  it  is 
clear  that  the  word  *'  both  "  refers  to  the  'ish  and  the 
'ish-shdh,  the  dualistic  soul  in  the  form-regions. 
The  eating  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  has  an 
immediate  consequence  :  **  the  eyes  of  both  "  are 
**  opened  "  to  the  regions  of  manifestation,  of  relativity, 
and  they  know  that  they  are  "  naked,"  inexperienced 
in  the  world  of  becoming.  Of  this  they  were  not 
conscious  hitherto,  their  *'  eyes  "  having  been  closed 
to  the  regions  of  form. 

The  soul  is  written  upon  both  *'  within  and  without," 
as  was  Ezekiel's  "  roll."  ^  We  have  to  be  conscious 
both  in  the  inner  or  *  timeless  '  realm  where  the  eternal 
light  ever  shines  directly,^  as  in  the  outer  or  time 
regions  where  this  light  is  everlastingly  reflected. 

The  man  and  the  woman  become  aware  of  their 
nakedness,  that  is,  of  their  inexperience  and  incom- 
pleteness in  the  regions  of  duality  and  form.  The 
sense  of  deficiency  causes  a  craving  for  expression  in 
the  time  mode,  with  the  power  to  plunge  deeper  and 
deeper  into  phenomenal  existence.     This  is  seen  from 

^  Ezek.  ii.  9,  10. 

2  John  i.  9  :  "  The  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world." 

193  13 


194     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

the  symbolic  scenes  which  follow  :  the  'tsh  and  the 
'ish-shdh  pluck  leaves  from  the  fig  tree,  fasten  the 
leaves  together,  and  making  them  into  girdles  wrap 
these  around  themselves.^ 

The  fig-tree  is  remarkable  in  many  ways.  In  the 
Indian  species  (Ficus  indica),  the  wide-spreading 
branches  send  down  stems  which  take  root  and  form 
supports  for  the  longer  branches,  enabling  the  tree  to 
spread  to  an  incredible  extent.  In  one  of  these  trees 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nerbudda  over  300  main  trunks 
and  over  3000  smaller  ones  have  been  counted,  and 
7000  people  have  sheltered  under  it.  It  is  said  that 
some  fig-trees  exist  in  India  which  are  over  2000 
years  old.  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  tree  is  regarded 
in  the  East  as  a  symbol  of  creative  manifestation. 

It  has  other  peculiarities  as  well  :  the  flower,  being 
contained  in  the  centre  of  the  fruit,  is  only  visible  when 
the  fruit  is  cut  open.  The  seeds  of  the  fruit,  instead  of 
being  attached  to  a  central  spine,  are  grouped  on  the 
inside  of  an  oval  shaped  "  skin,"  or  boundary,  or  limit, 
and  so  are  associated  with  the  externalising,  differentiat- 
ing principle.  As  symbol,  the  fig-tree  signifies  life  and 
growth  in  the  phenomenal  order. 

The  leaf  of  a  tree  contains  a  multitude  of  what,  in 
effect,  are  minute  lenses  which  focus  and  collect  light, 
some  of  this  light  becoming  the  means  whereby  the 
tree  breathes.  A  leaf  is  as  the  organ  of  breath  for  a 
tree  :  it  becomes  the  nourisher  and  feeder  of  the  tree 
by  means  of  breath.  Fig-leaves  are  thus  in  a  double 
sense  symbols  of  the  great  Cosmic  Mother,  the  Mother 
Breath,  which  is  about  to  vivify  the  soul  of  humanity 
in  a  new  mode.^ 


1  In  the  LXX.  the  word  for  girdles  is  irepi((i/jiaTa,  implying  some- 
thing that  is  wrapped  around  oneself. 

2  There  is  a  Jewish  legend  that  at  the  moment  of  the  "  Fall  "  the 
leaves  of  all  trees  dropped  off  except  from  the  fig-tree. 


THE    SOUL    IS    ENVEILED    IN    MATTER    195 

The  leaves  are  not  "  sewn  "  together,  as  our  trans- 
lation has  it  ;  but  knotted  or  netted  together  by  their 
stems.  These  intertwined  fig-leaves  are  a  symbol  of 
matter.^  The  two  representatives  of  the  human  soul 
then  gird  or  enwrap  themselves  with  the  leaves  thus 
fastened  together,  and  this  signifies  the  soul  with  its 
dualistic  powers  becoming  enmeshed  or  enveiled  in 
matter  under  time  and  space  conditions. 2 

These  symbolic  actions  proclaim  that  the  power  of 
the  creative  Fire  has  changed  to  that  of  the  creative 
Breath,  the  *  timeless  '  mode  to  the  time,  immediacy 
to  process. 

In  ancient  symbolism  gods  are  pictured  with  fig- 
leaves  to  imply  the  "  coming  down  "  of  the  Divine 
principle  from  the  cosmic  or  integrated  mode  of  con- 
sciousness, into  genesis  and  self-expression  in  materi- 
ality in  the  differentiated  or  analytic  mode  of  awareness. 

The  triumphal  entry  of  Jesus  into  His  own  Holy 
City,  the  Jerusalem  Above,  took  place  on  the  first  day 
of  "  Holy  "  Week,  Palm  Sunday,  dedicated  to  the  Sun : 
symbol  of  the  unitary  or  *  timeless  '  order.  The  follow- 
ing day,  dedicated  to  the  Moon,  symbol  of  the  dual  or 
phenomenal  order,  was  the  day  on  which  a  certain 
fig-tree,  covered  with  leaves  but  barren  of  fruit,  was 
**  cursed."  This  is  the  emphatic  declaration  that 
when  the  opportunities  of  repeated  earth-lives  have 
been  granted  to  an  individualised  soul,  and  yet  it  will 
not  of  its  free-will  *'  turn  "  from  self-centredness  and 

^  The  word  '  matter,'  connected  with  the  word  '  mat,'  is  derived 
from  an  Anglo-Saxon  root  implying  something  that  is  interwoven, 
as  is  a  net. 

2  The  girdle  of  fig-leaves  wrapped  round  the  waist  at  the  Coming 
Forth  of  the  soul  into  the  world  of  form,  may  be  contrasted  with  the 
\€VTiov,  the  woven  linen  cloth  or  "  napkin  "  which  was  tied  round 
the  waist  by  Jesus  while  the  Last  Supper  was  proceeding  (see  the 
original),  prior  to  washing  the  disciples'  feet,  signifying  that  the  Out- 
going, whereby  the  self  was  established,  has  been  succeeded  by  the 
Incoming,  the  Return,  when  the  Self  spontaneously  uses  its  powers 
in  service  for  others  {John  xiii.  4,  3). 


196     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

establish  its  true  nature  so  that  the  essential  Self  can 
be  expressed  on  earth  through  it,  crowning  it  with  fruit, 
it  commits  the  **  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,"  the 
Author  and  Giver  of  Life,  and  comes  under  the  great 
condemnation,  bringing  about  its  own  self-destruction 
for  the  remainder  of  the  present  seon,  or  dispensation, 
of  the  world-order. 

Nathanael  of  Cana  in  Galilee  is  one  of  the  seven 
disciples  in  the  remarkable  scene  in  the  last  chapter 
of  the  mystic  fourth  gospel.^  When  he  first  appears 
as  disciple,  having  been  brought  by  Philip,  Jesus  says 
to  him  :  **  Before  Philip  *  called  *  thee,  when  thou  wast 
under  the  fig-tree,  I  saw  thee."  ^  One  interpretation 
of  this  appears  to  be  that  while  Nathanael  was  still 
under  the  wheel  of  becoming,  the  process  of  the  lesser 
mysteries — **  under  the  fig-tree  " — he  was  **  seen  "  and 
chosen  by  Divine  Power.  Nicodemus  is  twice  spoken 
of  in  the  mystic  fourth  gospel  as  **  he  who  came  to 
Jesus  by  night."  ^  From  the  same  aspect  as  before, 
this  may  declare  that  Nicodemus,  while  perfecting  his 
substance-nature,*  of  his  own  free-will  sought  the 
Light.  The  story  of  Gautama  the  Buddha  dwelling 
under  the  bo-tree  (Ficus  religiosa) ,  a  species  of  fig-tree, 
until  the  day  of  Enlightenment,  may  be  interpreted 
from  the  same  point  of  view. 

But  in  a  higher  aspect,  these  stories  connected  with 
the  fig-tree  and  the  bo-tree  appear  to  be  symbolic  of 
the  idea  of  spontaneous  and  complete  Illumination 
happening  during,  what  Plato  calls  :  ©ecopta,^  or  the 
inward  gazing  by  the  soul  in  rapt  meditation  on  Divine 
principles.  India,  too,  speaks  of  the  mystic  state  of 
Yoga,  or  conscious  Oneness  with  the  Spirit  :  when 
time  and   *  timelessness,'  process  and  immediacy,  the 

^    John  xxi.  2.  ^   John  i.  48. 

3   John  iii.  i ;   xix.  39.  *  See  comment  on  p.  32. 

^  This  word  is  used  in  Luke  xxiii.  48. 


THE    SOUL    HEARS  197 

Particular  and  the  Universal,  kiss  one  another.  These 
three  references  may  also  be  interpreted  from  this 
standpoint. 

Gen.  iii.  8  :  {a)  "And  they  heard  the  sound  of  Jahveh 
'  Elohim  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  wind  of  the  day : 
(b)  and  the  man  (hd  'dddm)  and  his  wife  {'ish-shdh)  hid 
themselves  from  the  presence  of  Jahveh  'Elohim  amongst 
the  trees  of  the  garden. 

After  eating  the  fruit,  the  man  and  the  woman  became 
aware  of  their  nakedness,  that  is,  of  their  inexperience 
and  imperfection  in  the  time-mode.  This  awakens 
that  of  which  Boehme  speaks  as  the  agelong  desire 
or  hunger  of  the  soul  for  *  substantial '  nature  as  its 
food  and  investiture.  So  they  proceed  out  of  the 
condition  of  poise  in  the  garden  of  the  soul,  towards 
the  borderland  of  physical  manifestation,  remaining, 
however,  in  the  *  formless '  soul  state.  And  then,  they 
''  hear." 

(a)  They  hear  the  **  Sound  "  of  Jahveh  'Elohim, 
who  is  represented  as  *'  walking  for  pleasure  "  (Ellicott), 
or  **  wandering  or  walking  about  in  a  circle  "  (Mac- 
donald),  within  the  garden.  The  garden  represents 
the  substance-nature  of  the  soul  of  humanity.  What 
is  the  Sound  heard  in  it  which  is  described  as  of  Jahveh 
'Elohim  walking  about,  apparently  in  circles  ? 

An  Aramaic  paraphrase  of  this  verse,  known  as  the 
Targum  of  Onkelos,  says  :  **  They  heard  the  Voice  of 
the  Memra  of  Jahveh  walking  in  the  garden,"  and  the 
**  Memra  "  is  explained  as  **  The  Word  of  Jahveh."  ^ 

^  The  old  Hebrew  language  received  its  death-blow  when  the  final 
Captivity  into  Babjdon  began  in  586  B.C.,  but  did  not  die  out  until 
more  than  300  years  after  the  return.  The  Jews  learned  in  Babylon 
to  speak  Chaldean  or  Aramaic,  and  in  Palestine  at  the  time  of  the 
Christian  era  spoke  in  Aramaic  and  Greek.  The  text  of  their  Hebrew 
Scriptures  was  explained  in  the  synagogues  by  means  of  Targums,  or 
Aramaic  paraphrases  of  the  Old  Testament :  these  are  three  in  number, 
the  principal  being  the  Babylonian  Targum,  commonly  spoken  of  as 
the  Targum  of  Onkelos. 


198     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

What  they  hear  as  Sound  is  the  Primordial  Breath 
acting  on  the  root-substance  of  the  soul,  this  Breath 
being  the  Manifesting  mode  of  Divinity  to  which  they 
have  formally  dedicated  themselves.  The  Sound  is 
Root-sound,  undifferentiated  Sound  :  the  One  Note 
sounded  forth  by  Breath,  the  Note,  moreover,  which 
draws  all  differentiated  sounds  together  into  Itself. 
It  is  the  great  ocean-tide  of  Sound,  the  great  Voice, 
unheard  by  man  in  his  normal  state,  which  builds  the 
material  universe,  giving  to  each  object  form  and  quality. 

Man,  having  received  the  Supreme  Breath  of  the 
Divinity,  has  been  given  a  means  of  contact  with  Root- 
sound.  He  can  refract  it,  and  thus  bring  himself  into 
touch  with  the  realm  of  Idea  in  a  way  which  is  im- 
possible to  the  lower  creation. 

The  man  and  the  woman  hear  the  Sound  "  in  the 
wind  of  the  day."  The  Hebrew  of  this  passage  has 
puzzled  translators,  Calvin  rendering  it  :  **  in  the 
morning  breeze  "  ;  the  R.V.,  **  in  the  cool  of  the  day  "  ; 
and  another,  more  recent,  **  in  the  evening  when  a 
breeze  springs  up."  ^  The  Hebrew  word  translated 
"  wind  "  is  ruach,  the  word  used  in  Gen.  i.  2,  one  of  the 
key-passages,  where  it  is  translated  **  the  Spirit," 
that  is,  of  'Elohim  :  this  Spirit  is  the  Manifesting 
aspect  of  'Elohim,  which  **  brooded"  over  the  waters. ^ 
It  would  appear  that  the  man  and  the  woman,  who 
are  still  in  the  *  formless  '  realm  of  the  soul-order, 
hear  the  Sound  of  Jahveh  'Elohim  in  this  Breath  or 
Divine    Wind,    the    manifestation    of    **  the    Spirit,"  ^ 

1  A  Critical  Commentary  on  Gen.  ii.  4-iii.  25,  by  H.  H.  B.  Ayles, 
D.D.,  Clay  and  Sons,  1904;  and  elsewhere. 

2  In  the  Kabbalah  Unveiled,  p.  22,  MacGregor  Mathers  writes  : 
The  word  Riiach  is  feminine,  as  appears  from  the  following  passage 
in  the  Sepher  Yetzirah  :  "  Achath  "  (fem.,  not  A  chad,  masc.)  "  Ruach 
^Elohim  Chi'im  "  :   "  One  is  She,  the  Spirit  of  the  'Elohim  of  Life." 

'  Cp.  ^c^s  ii.  I,  2  :  "  When  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  come  .  .  . 
suddenly  there  came  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the  rushing  of  a 
mighty  Wind."     The  root  of  the  word  Spirit  is  spiritus,  breath. 


THE   SOUL    HIDES    FROM    THE    PRESENCE     199 

the  Feminine  mode  of  the  Triune  Creator  'Elohim, 
the  Third  Person  of  the  Divinity. 

The  ground  of  the  garden  has  been  equated  with  the 
root-substance  of  the  soul.  Jahveh  'Elohim  becomes 
active  in  this,  or  rather,  through  their  newly  awakened 
mode  of  consciousness  the  representatives  of  the  human 
soul  become  aware  of  the  activities  of  the  Divine 
Breath  within  the  soul's  root-substance. 

Just  as  the  child  draws  in  air  at  birth,  and  becomes 
stamped  with  the  world-condition  of  the  time,  so  the 
soul  of  humanity,  when  about  to  proceed  into  manifesta- 
tion, draws  in  the  Great  Air,  the  Great  Breath  of  the 
Supreme  Mother,  into  its  root-substance.  Soul-sub- 
stance becoming  stirred  throughout  by  this  Breath, 
resounds  with  the  fundamental  vibration  which  is  the 
creator  of  all  the  minor  differentiated  elements.  It 
gives  forth  the  abiding  Root-sound  in  accord  with 
which  the  substance-particles  of  the  collective  human 
soul  will  be  re-arranged  in  the  temporal  order  and  woven 
into  formal  bodies. 

Gen.  iii.  8  :  (b)  After  hearing  the  Sound  of  Jahveh 
'Elohim,  *'  the  man "  (hd  'dddm)  and  his  **  wife,'* 
(lit.,  'ish-shdh),'^  hide  themselves  from  the  presence  of 
Jahveh  'Elohim  amongst  the  **  trees  of  the  garden." 

The  soul  of  humanity  as  a  unitary  whole  is  definitely 
referred  to,  both  its  **  heaven  "or  *  timeless  '  aspect 
('dddm)  and  its  **  earth  "  or  time  aspect  ('ish-shdh) 
being  named. 

The  word  translated  **  amongst "  is  b'thoch.  In 
Gen.  ii.  9  this  word  is  translated  *'  in  the  midst  of  "  in 
the  important  passage  which  states  that  the  tree  of  life 
is  "  in  the  midst  of  {b'thoch)  the  garden."  **  The  man 
and  his  wife  "   hide  **  in  the  midst  of  "   each  of  the 

^  See  footnote  to  Gen.  ii.  24,  p.  173.  This  is  the  first  time  the  word 
*dddm  occurs  in  Gen.  iii. 


200     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

trees  of  the  garden.  It  has  already  been  suggested 
that  these  trees,  which  spring  from  the  substance  of 
the  garden,  signify  individualised  souls  which,  as  a 
whole,  represent  the  soul  of  humanity.  These  *'  souls  " 
have  been  created  "  perfect "  in  the  soul  regions, 
but  are  not  as  yet  fashioned  in  the  time-mode  within 
formal  bodies,  and  so,  like  their  prototypes,  are 
"  naked,"  inexperienced. 

After  the  decision  to  proceed  into  the  regions  of 
form,  the  soul  of  humanity  becomes  transfused  through- 
out its  dual  natures  by  the  inbreathed  Spirit  of  the 
Great  Manifesting  Mother ;  it  then  proceeds  forth 
away  from  the  presence  of  the  One  and  hides  itself  in 
the  Many.  It  remains  hidden,  and  in  a  sense  in- 
carnated, **  in  the  midst  of  "  each  of  the  many  '*  trees  " 
— primitive  individualisations  of  consciousness-and- 
substance — which  spring  from  the  garden  of  its  own 
soul-substance. 

The  **  trees  "  become  impressed  in  their  several 
natures  by  the  presence,  in  the  midst  of  each,  of  the 
soul  of  all  humanity  with  its  powers  of  "  heaven  "  and 
"  earth,"  *  timelessness  '  and  time,  sun  and  moon. 
Every  **  tree  "  becomes  involved  in  the  momentous 
decision  to  enter  the  form  regions,  and  at  the  same  time 
receives  throughout  its  own  substance  the  fundamental 
vibration,  or  Root-sound,  which  was  produced  in  the 
collective  human  soul's  substance  by  the  Breath  or 
Spirit  of  the  Cosmic  Mother.^ 

Gen.  iii.  9  :    "And  Jahveh  '  Eldhtm  called  unto  the 
man  (hd  'dddm),  and  said  unto  him,  Where  art  thou  ?  " 

Jahveh  'Elohim  '*  calls  "  ^*  the  man,"  the  *  timeless' 

representative  of  the  human  soul,  addressing  him  by 

1  Cp.  the  "  Saying  of  Jesus  "  in  the  papyrus  found  at  Oxyrhynchus 
(Behnesa),  some  130  miles  south  of  Cairo,  in  1897  :  "  Cleave  the  wood, 
and  there  am  I."  Also  Luke  xvii.  21  :  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
*iVThs  u/j.wy,"  that  is,  "  within  you,"  or,  as  in  the  margin  of  the  R.V., 

"  in  the  midst  of  you." 


THE    CALLING    BACK  201 

his  Great  Name  as  the  enduring,  Impersonal  Self  of 
the  many  individualised  selves.  The  question,  Where 
art  thou  ?  arrests  the  man :  ^  it  is  the  Calling  Back  of 
the  soul  from  the  forthgoing  into  manifestation.- 
The  scene  is  enacted,  as  before,  in  the  *  formless  * 
soul  realm,  and  declares  the  necessary  Coming  Back 
of  the  soul  during  the  phenomenal  order,  which  is  to 
follow  the  going  forth.  It  proclaims  Regeneration 
following  generation,  the  form  yielding  itself  to  life 
succeeding  life  coming  into  form.  These  two  acts 
in  the  drama  are  in  due  course  to  be  played  out  on  the 
world  stage  of  materiality  by  the  many  individualised 
human  souls. 

Not  only  does  the  collective  soul  of  humanity  implant 
its  own  impulsion  towards  manifestation  in  every 
individualised  soul,  but  by  this  Calling  Back  each 
soul  in  the  temporal  order  is  kept  in  touch  with  the 
eternal  order  of  wholeness,  the  permanencies  of  the 
spiritual  realms. 

In  the  later  phases  of  evolution,  the  Calling  Back 
conveys  a  new  and  magical  meaning.  The  individual- 
ised soul,  with  its  phenomenal  self  just  as  it  is,  hears 
the  Inner  Voice  and  realises  that  the  all-embracing 
power  of  the  Divine  enfolds  and  overrules  its  activities. 
The  Great  Fish  must  swallow  us,  as  it  did  Jonah,  and 
**  on  the  third  day  "  cast  us  forth  on  the  dry  land  of 
the  other  shore,  the  shore  of  Regeneration.  The  Great 
Bird  must  carry  us  off  into  the  higher  order,  above  the 
conflict  of  the  polar  opposites,  as  Jove's  eagle  carried  off 
Ganymede. 

Gen.  iii.  10  :   *'  And  the  man  said,  I  heard  thy  sound 

^  This,  the  first  question  in  the  Old  Testament,  may  be  compared 
with  the  first  in  the  New  {Matt.  ii.  2)  ;  "  Where  is  He  that  is 
born  ?  " 

2  Cp.  Hosea  xi.  i  :  "  When  Israel  was  a  child  ...  I  loved  him, 
and  called  my  son  out  of  Egypt,"  "  Egypt  "  representing  the  earlier, 
forthgoing  stage  of  soul-life  on  earth. 


202     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  !N  GENESIS 

in  the  garden,  and  I  was  afraid,  because  I  was  naked : 
and  I  hid  myself.'' 

The  man  in  reply  states  the  facts,  that  he  heard  the 
**  Sound  "  of  Jahveh  'Elohim,  and  was  afraid  to  remain 
in  the  Presence,  being  **  naked,"  that  is,  having 
neither  his  heavenly  robe  of  Light  nor  as  yet  his  bodily 
garments  of  form.  So  he  hid  himself  in  the  midst  of 
each  of  the  many  trees  of  the  garden,  to  be  clothed 
by  them  and  express  himself  through  them. 

Gen.  iii.  ii  :  "  And  fahveh  'Elohim  said,  Who  told 
thee  thai  thou  wast  naked  ?  Hast  thou  eaten  of  the  tree 
whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldst  not  eat  ?  " 

Gen.  iii.  12  :  ''  And  the  man  said,  The  woman  thou 
gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I 
did  eat." 

The  man  is  asked  how  he  knew  of  his  nakedness 
and  inexperience ;  this  knowledge  must  have  come 
from  eating  the  fruit  of  the  tree  against  which  he  was 
warned.  He  replies  that  the  woman  who  was  given 
by  Jahveh  'Elohim  to  be  with  him  as  his  help  meet 
towards  self-expression  and  self-consciousness,  gave 
him  of  the  fruit  and  he  did  eat  of  it. 

Gen.  iii.  13:  '*  And  fahveh  'Elohim  said  unto  the 
woman.  What  is  this  that  thou  hast  done  ?  And  the 
woman  said,  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat." 

The  woman  being  asked  concerning  this  tremendous 
deed  that  she  has  done,  replies  :  The  Serpent  influenced 
me,  and  I  did  eat.  The  Hebrew  word  translated 
"  beguiled  "  does  not  necessarily  carry  with  it  an  evil 
intention.^ 

^  Similarly  the  verb  irapa-SlSufn,  in  John  xviii.  5,  Luke  xxii.  4-6, 
and  elsewhere,  applied  to  Judas  throughout,  does  not  necessarily 
mean  to  betray  :  it  means  to  hand  over,  and  was  a  technical  word  in 
the  Mysteries.     The  usual  verb  meaning  to  betray  is  7rpo-5i5w/it. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

Gen.  iii.,  verses  14,  15 

Gen.  iii.  14:  (a)  "And  Jahveh  ' Elohim  said  unto 
the  serpent,  Because  thou  hast  done  this,  cursed  he  thou 
(b)  from  among  all  cattle,  and  from  among  every  beast 
of  the  field :  (c)  upon  thy  belly  shall  thou  go,  (d)  and 
dust  shall  thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy  life." 

(a)  The  responsibility  for  the  soul's  decision  to  pass 
out  from  the  unitary  or  *  timeless  '  order,  and  enter 
the  dualistic  or  time  order  on  the  agelong  pilgrimage  of 
material  experience,  is  laid  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  primarily 
on  the  Serpent  who,  without  being  questioned,  is 
forthwith  **  cursed." 

What,  in  the  first  place,  is  the  meaning  of  a  curse 
[herem)  uttered  by  Divine  Power  ? 

It  is  a  declaration  that  Fate  is  to  operate. 

Why  then  is  the  curse  declared  upon  the  Serpent  ? 

The  Serpent  represents  the  *  timeless  '  Breath  of  the 
Divinity,  which  was  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of  the 
**  man  "  at  his  creation.  When  the  soul  **  falls  " 
into  matter,  this  Breath  of  Life  eternal  proceeds  with 
it  into  the  regions  of  duality,  there  coming  under  the 
law,  the  tutelage,  the  **  curse  "  of  Fate.  The  "  man  " 
and  the  "  woman  "  are  thereby  involved  in  the  curse, 
the  very  breath  of  their  earth-lives  coming  under  the 
bondage  of  the  Fate-spheres. 

The  serpent  of  "  the  Fall,"  representing  the  Divine 

Life  which  has  left  the  *  timeless  '  order  to  enter  the 

phenomenal  order,  appears  no  longer,  except  implicitly, 

203 


204     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

as  the  Serpent  of  Wisdom.  It  now  manifests  itself  as 
life  under  limitation  and  the  law  of  necessity.  In  this 
aspect,  the  serpent  of  the  Curse — who  corresponds  to 
Satan  (Saturn,  Chronos),  one  of  **  the  Sons  of  God"  ^ 
— appears  to  be  the  very  time-order  and  Fate-sphere 
in  which  each  individualised  soul  is  involved,  until, 
at  length,  the  soul  is  enabled,  during  earth-life,  to 
leap  forth  from  the  evolutionary  process  and  attain  its 
birthright  of  Wisdom  and  Freedom  under  Great  Fate. 

What  then  is  Fate  ?  It  is  of  two  kinds.  The  one  is 
Fate  under  limitation  in  time  and  space,  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  life  of  humanity  when  under  the  yoke 
of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  The 
eating  of  this  dyadic  tree  brings  with  it  the  **  curse  " 
of  Fate  :  spoken  of  in  ancient  India  as  requiring  to 
be  worked  out  by  each  and  every  human  soul  through 
personal  or  national  karma.-  The  other,  its  successor 
and  supplanter,  concerns  the  life  of  regenerate  humanity, 
when,  enriched  through  experience  and  the  power  of 
right  choice,  the  soul  is  Divinely  uplifted,  while  on 
earth,  into  the  enduring  freedom  of  the  tree  of  life. 

Personal  Fate  is  necessary  for  man  while  he  is  in  the 
preliminary  or  forthgoing  stage  of  soul-existence 
within  the  form-regions,  and  until  he  overcomes  the 
**  fundamental  evil "  v/ithin  his  soul  due  to  ''  the  Fall  " 
of  Being  into  existence,^  then  receiving  the  gift  of  the 
Third  Spark  from  the  Divine  Fire,*  and  becoming  a 
"  son  of  Light."  ^  Man  first  comes  under  the  Curse, 
or  experience  under  **  the  Law,"  the  Fate-spheres  or 

1  Job  i.  6. 

2  Cp.  Gal.  vi.  7:  "Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked:  fojr 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

3  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  "  {Matt.  iv.  10)  indicates  the  '  word 
of  power  '  which  each  human  soul  must  be  able  to  use,  and  so  pass  out 
from  under  the  control  of  the  Fate-sphere. 

*  Described  by  the  Gnostics  as  the  entry  into  the  Third  Gate  of  the 
City. 

^   John  xii.  36  (R.V.). 


THE    SERPENT    IS    CURSED  205 

disciplinary  limitations  which  bind  him  to  the  spindle 
of  the  three  daughters  of  Necessity.  ^  This  is  at  length 
succeeded  by  the  Blessing,  when  full-grown  Divine  man, 
comprehending  the  real  values  in  the  world-order,  is 
unloosed  from  the  bondage  of  personal  Fate, 2  and 
ultimately  emerges  during  earth-life  into  the  freedom 
of  true  or  Cosmic  Fate. 

(b)  "Cursed  be  thou  from  among  all  cattle,  and  from 
among  every  beast  of  the  fields  The  **  cattle  "  and 
**  every  beast  of  the  field  "  relate  to  the  various  animal 
and  lower-mind  powers  of  the  soul's  nature.  These  will 
come  under  the  restrictions  of  the  soul's  Fate.  But 
it  is  the  serpent  in  "  man,"  his  creative  life-breath, 
which  is  peculiarly  and  particularly  under  the  ban. 
One  of  the  aspects  of  this  creative  breath  is  the  power 
of  generation,^  and  this  is  brought  under  the  curse,  the 
bondage,  of  Fate,  even  as  by  Regeneration  man  is 
Divinely  blessed  and  rises  into  the  freedom  of  Cosmic 
Fate. 

(c)  "  Upon  thy  belly  shall  thou  go.''  The  Divine  Breath 
is  cast  down  to  the  very  groimd,  the  root-substance, 
the  personal  basis,  of  man's  nature,  which  becomes 
permeated  by  the  Divine  Life.  Though  this  acts  as  a 
limitation  for  the  Breath,  it  operates  as  an  uplifting 
force  for  man.* 

(d)  ^^And  dust  shall  thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy  life." 
The  Divine  Breath,  thus  cast  down  to  the  ground,  will 
influence  the  soul's  root-substance  during  the  agelong 

^  "  The  Spirit  is  freedom,  and  in  order  to  be  so  not  in  the  abstract, 
but  in  the  concrete,  it  must  also  be  necessity."  (Benedetto  Croce's 
Philosophy  of  the  Practical,  1913,  p.  182.) 

2  As  the  colt  was  loosed  which  had  been  tied  {Mark  xi.  2,  7),  also 
Lazarus  who  had  been  bound  hand  and  foot  ( John  xi.  44). 

2  This  is,  primarily,  the  power  im.pelling  the  individualised  soul  to 
come  periodically  into  earth-life,  until  the  soul  enters  the  regenerate 
condition,  and  comes  under  a  higher  law. 

*  Cp.  this  with  the  story  of  Abel's  "  blood,"  the  life  as  of  Cain's 
Higher  Self,  calling  "  from  the  ground,"  the  substance,  of  Cain's 
nature. 


2o6     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 


period  of  soul  evolution.  The  serpent  remains  under 
the  curse  throughout  the  life  of  normal  humanity, 
*'  eating  dust,"  returning  to  disciplinary  earth-life 
during  the  **  necessary  "  incarnations  of  each  in- 
dividualised soul,  until  this  attains  the  next  great 
stage  in  Becoming  that  is  set  before  it  in  the  present 
seon  or  dispensation,  the  state  linked  with  the  Second 
Adam,  becoming  in  the  actuality  of  the  world-order 
that  which  it  is  essentially,  a  Son  of  God.  This  is  the 
state  alluded  to  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  Revelation, 
which  declares  :  **  And  there  shall  be  no  curse  any 
more."  ^ 

The  story  is  being  told  of  the  Coming  Forth  of  *'  the 
man,"  the  'dddm,  the  soul  of  humanity,  whose  con- 
sciousness is  primarily  of  the  *  timeless  '  and  universal 
order,  into  manifestation  in  its  other  order,  based  on 
limitation  and  process.  Under  the  guidance  of  the 
Supreme  Mother,  the  soul  decides  to  manifest  itself  in 
the  material,  time-space  order,  and  is  necessarily 
brought  under  the  fundamental  principle  of  Law,  of 
Fate. 

Fate  is  not  a  fixed,  unalterable  power  against  which  it 
is  vain  for  man  to  struggle.  It  is  not  a  game  played 
against  a  human  soul  by  cosmic  powers  whose  purpose 
is  to  beat  him.  It  is  dependent,  we  may  say,  on  the 
living,  self-imprinted  records  on  each  soul  of  its  inclina- 
tions and  tendencies,  accentuated  or  altered,  as  may  be, 
by  its  later  activities  in  the  world  of  actuality.  For  we 
ourselves  beget  our  Fate.  True  happening  in  the  world- 
order  is  projected  by  the  Universal  Power  in  Whom  we 
have  our  being.     But  this  general  ordering  of  events 

^  xxii.  3.  From  the  story  of  the  cursing  of  the  barren  fig-tree 
it  would  appear  that  such  human  souls  as  do  not  bring  forth  the  fruit 
of  aeonian  life  during  the  opportunities  offered  in  the  present  dispensa- 
tion, will  remain  in  the  "  outer  darkness  "  until  a  later  aeon  or  world- 
period.  This  is  suggested  in  the  Pistis  Sophia  and  some  other 
Gnostic  works. 


REMOVING   THE    CURSE   OF   FATE        207 

has  been  travestied  by  mankind  whose  character  has 
become  distorted  through  self-love.  And  since  char- 
acter goes  hand  in  hand  with  Fate,  this  suffers,  and 
humanity  groans  under  the  '*  curse  "  of  Fate.  But 
at  every  moment  of  a  human  being's  earth-life,  until 
his  sun  goes  down,  it  is  possible  for  him  to  revise  and 
re-shape  his  Fate. 

It  is  not  what  happens  to  us  in  life  that  really  matters. 
What  is  of  vital  consequence  is  the  nature  of  the 
reaction  in  ourselves  towards  the  happenings.  It  is 
character  that  matters.  By  the  nature  of  a  man's 
conduct  in  the  varied  circumstances  of  life,  ever  bringing 
into  concrete  actuality  the  magical  spontaneity  of 
his  essential  nature  which  is  one  with  the  nature  of  the 
Whole,  the  All,  or  else  acting  otherwise,  he  moulds  his 
own  character  and  at  the  same  time  forms  afresh  and 
re-moulds  Fate.  Through  his  living  activities  man  is 
always  re-casting  his  destiny.  He  and  his  Fate  are 
one.  As  Heraclitus  has  put  it :  **  Man's  character  is 
his  Fate."  ^ 

It  is  well  to  have  the  strength  to  love,  and  love  fully, 
our  Fate,  with  its  joys  and  sorrows,  its  rises  and  falls, 
its  problems  and  perplexities.  By  growing  with  and 
into  our  surroundings,  seeking  to  comprehend  the 
inner  meanings  of  our  experiences,  we  strike  deeper 
root  in  our  own  consciousness  and  bring  forth  choicer 
and  more  abundant  fruit. 

Just  as  two  trees  are  pictured  in  the  midst  of  the 
garden,  the  substance-nature  of  the  soul,  so  has  man 
two  Fates,  the  personal  and  the  cosmic.  Whatever 
the  personal  Fate  may  be,  it  always  offers  a  means  to 
discriminate  and  choose  between  the  true  and  the  false. 
If  we  do  not  act  in  accord  with  our  true  Fate,  we  tend 
to  grow  apart  from  it ;  persistently  uniting  with  the 
false,  it  is  possible  to  bring  about  the  destruction  of  the 
^  And  Voltaire  :   "Temperament  is  Fate." 


2o8     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

soul  by  dissolving  its  unity.  Repeated  right  action, 
adventurously  performed,  by  changing  our  relation  to 
the  cosmos,  re-arranges  our  Fate  in  such  a  way  that 
opportunity  for  real,  self-conscious  activity  is  ever 
brought  to  birth. ^  Till,  at  length,  we  are  released  from 
the  Curse  and  re-born  into  Cosmic  Fate,  with  power 
over  the  two  worlds  of  the  nature. 

Gen.  iii.  15  :  (a)  ''And  I  will  put  enmity  between 
thee  and  the  woman,  (b)  and  [as)  between  thy  seed  and 
her  seed :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shall  bruise 
his  heel.'' 

(a)  The  first  statement  in  this  verse  pictures  a  struggle 
between  two  opposed  powers,  namely,  the  serpent  of 
**  the  Fall,"  which  we  are  considering,  the  serpent  of 
*  necessary  '  Fate,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other, 
the  woman  of  **  the  Fall."  The  latter  represents  the 
evolving  soul  during  its  earlier  stages  in  the  regions  of 
duality  and  form,  when  experience  and  enlightenment 
are  gained  under  constant  encounter  with  Fate  which 
seems  at  first  to  stand  over  against  the  soul  as  an 
enemy  who  must  be  conquered,  lest  he  conquer  and 
destroy.  The  soul's  'ish,  its  positive,  personal  element 
in  the  form  regions,  struggles  with  Fate,  taking  on 
self-centred,  independent  characteristics  which  appear 
to  drive  it  in  all  respects  far  from  its  Origin.  This 
is  the  Forthgoing  period  of  the  soul's  manifestation. 
It  may  be  called,  relatively,  the  Eve  state  of  the  soul. 

But  **  in  the  latter  days  "  of  the  forthgoing  period 
of  the  soul's  history,  the  condition  arises  when  the  soul 
knows  from  experience  that  the  highest  good  cannot 

1  **  The  real  activity  of  the  subject  ...  is  conscious,  self-conscious 
activity — a  doing-thinking,  let  us  say  :  a  doing  which  is  a  thinking, 
a  thinking  which  is  a  doing."  And  again,  "  The  unity  of  the  subject 
is  preserved  only  in  so  far  as  the  acts  which  tend  to  disintegrate  it 
are  in  some  way  abolished,  dropped,  surpassed." — Know  Thyself, 
pp.  Ill,  112,  113. 


THE  VIRGIN   MARY   STATE   OF  THE   SOUL     209 

be  attained  by  continual  enmity  and  strife  between  the 
polar  opposites  of  good  and  evil.  It  recognises  that 
evil  does  not  endure,  for  it  contains  the  positive  germ 
of  good,  which  gradually  overcomes  the  negative  force 
of  evil ;  that  evil  is,  in  fact,  a  stepping-stone  to  good. 
So  it  learns  unweariedly  to  amend  evil,  raising,  step 
by  step,  in  actual  life,  the  two  contrasting  powers 
towards  a  higher  Unity,  of  Goodness,  which  comprises 
both,  and  which  has  no  living  opposite,  though  it  may 
itself  be  expressed  by  two  opposites.  The  soul  is  thus 
led  to  look  from  the  good  and  evil  sides  of  its  ex- 
periences to  the  God  within  and  without.  It  realises 
that  the  extremes  of  internal  distinctions  are  elements 
in  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit  which  is  in  all,  and  con- 
stitutes all,  and  transcends  all,  and  which  holds  the 
opposing  ideas  in  a  concrete  identity,  in  a  state  of 
vital  Poise,  as  the  Root-power  of  the  Divine  Personality. 

The  soul  no  longer  desires  to  flow  forth,  as  hitherto, 
to  multiplicity,  but  seeks  to  '*  return  "  to  Unity, 
transferring  its  devotion  from  the  personal  self  to  the 
Self  of  the  Great  Person  of  the  Cosmos,  and  this  new 
goal  of  its  Becoming  is  linked  with  its  true  Fate-sphere. 
The  fruitage  period  of  the  soul's  Incoming  may  be 
called,  relatively,  the  Virgin  Mary  state  of  the  soul.^ 

(b)  "And  (as)  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed:  it  shall 
bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shall  bruise  his  heel."  This 
further  declaration  appears  to  emphasise  and  prolong 
the  struggle,  even  between  the  seed  of  the  serpent  and 
the  seed  of  the  woman.  Unfortunately  the  verb  used 
is  obscure. 

The  translation  given  in  both  the  A.V.  and  the  R.V. 
of  the  closing  part  of  the  verse  is  :    **  It,"  that  is,  the 

^  The  Forthgoing  period  is  mainly  concerned  with  time  and  the 
world  of  Becoming,  and  is  psychical ;  the  Incoming  period  is  con- 
cerned, in  addition,  with  the  '  timeless  *  or  spiritual  order,  and  the 
world  of  Being.  In  the  New  Testament  the  former  is  described  as 
the  present  aeon,  the  latter  as  the  coming  aeon  of  heaven  upon  earth. 

14 


210     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

seed  of  the  woman,  **  shall  bruise  thy  head,"  that  is,  the 
head  of  the  seed  of  the  serpent;  **  and  thou,"  that  is, 
thy  seed,  "  shall  bruise  his  heel,"  the  heel  of  the  seed 
of  the  woman.  The  difficulty  is  connected  with  the 
verb  twice  translated  '*  bruise."  This  word  is  rare, 
being  found  in  only  two  other  places  in  the  O.T.^ 
With  regard  to  the  present  passage,  Knobel,  Ewald, 
and  Dillmann,  among  others,  reject  the  translation 
"  bruise,"  and  hold  that  the  meaning  is  :  to  pant  after, 
long  for,  eagerly  desire.  The  translation  they  suggest 
is  :  He  (that  is,  the  seed  of  the  woman)  shall  long  for 
thy  head,  and  thou  (that  is,  the  seed  of  the  serpent) 
shalt  long  for  his  heel  ;  and  they  think  the  words  are 
used  to  express  hostility  between  them. 

And  yet,  whatever  the  exact  rendering  of  the  verb 
may  be,  it  is  in  keeping  with  the  counsel  of  perfection, 
**  Love  your  enemies,"  that  the  later  phases  in  the 
interpretation  of  this  verse  should  relate  to  the 
activities  not  of  hate  but  of  Love.  "It  is  the  high 
function  of  Love  to  welcome  all  limitations  and  to 
transcend  them." 

In  this  view,  the  "  seed  of  the  woman  "  becomes 
associated  with  the  outcome  of  the  earlier  period  of 
the  soul's  history,  when,  at  length,  the  soul,  hitherto 
"  lost,"  finds  itself  and  **  returns  "  to  its  Origin.  Such 
a  soul  may  then  at  any  time  come  into  vital  harmony 
with  itself  and  the  All,  becoming  wholly  Virgin,  and 
to  it  is  born,  **  from  Above,"  the  Seed  of  the  Woman, 
the  Third  or  **  Christ  "  Spark. 

This  Divine  Birth  within  the  fashioned  human  soul, 
this  Incarnation  of  **  the  Son,"  follows  a  continuous 
alteration  of  the  standards  of  the  earlier  order,  ending 
with   their   entire   reversal.     The   soul   learns   that   it 

^  In  Job  ix.  17  and  Ps.  cxxxix.  11.  In  both  these  cases  it  seems 
to  mean  :  to  surround,  cover,  veil,  rather  than  :  to  break  or  overwhelm, 
as  translated. 


GREAT    OR    COSMIC    FATE  211 

must  change  from  the  law  of  possession  to  the  law  of 
renunciation,  that  it  must  give  up  many  things  which 
before  were  most  to  be  desired  and  yet  preserve  its 
balance,  losing  itself  ere  it  can  find  itself.  And  thus 
it  gains  the  key  to  free-will.  It  is  no  longer  related 
to  any  form  of  personal  desire  for  this  or  that,  a 
picking  and  choosing,  or  snatching,  from  the  enemy 
Fate,  it  is  rather  a  definite  and  a  conscious  flowing 
forth  to  embrace  joyfully  whatsoever  lot  may  be 
assigned  to  the  soul  by  Fate,  transforming  it  by  the 
adventurous  dynamic  of  an  activity  which  understands 
and  has  practical  ends. 

The  human  soul  with  the  Third  Spark  about  to  be 
born  in  him  will  '*  pant  after,  long  for,  eagerly  desire  " 
**  the  Seed  of  the  Serpent  "  :  the  Fate  that  will  be 
offered ;  he  will  be  as  the  pulsing,  vitalising  Heart  of 
the  Fate-sphere  that  encompasses  him.  He  will  not 
drift  hither  and  thither  as  the  tool  of  Fate,  it  will  be 
marriage  on  an  equality.  It  is  by  wedding  and  loving 
Fate  that  we  bring  the  hidden  Divinity  within  us  to 
birth. 

When  this  takes  place,  the  serpent  no  longer  stands 
over  against  the  soul  as  its  necessary,  personal  Fate; 
for  the  Seed  of  the  Woman,  the  indwelling  Spirit  in 
man  which  now  is  consciously  realised  in  the  world 
of  actuality,  links  the  individualised  soul,  at  length 
Regenerate,  with  the  Seed  of  the  Serpent,  who,  un- 
veiled, is  found  to  represent  Great  or  Cosmic  Fate,  the 
high,  impersonal  Fate  which  concerns  itself  with  the 
welfare  of  the  whole  creation. 

A  human  being  is  the  expression,  under  the  soul's 
limitations,  of  the  Eternal  and  Universal.  At  the 
Great  Happening,  the  individualised  soul,  this  focus- 
point  of  the  Universal  Spirit,  is  re-born  of  the  Spirit, 
and  enters  a  "  new  "  order  upon  earth  through  the 
unique    personality.     Such    a   human   being   is    then, 


212     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

indeed,  *  actual '  as  well  as  *  real,'  for — as  lord  over 
the  two  worlds  of  his  vast  nature,  its  **  earth  "  and  its 
^*  heaven  " — he  makes  the  universal  truly  explicit  by 
his  individual  existence,  expressing  his  concrete  living 
activities  in  terms  of  service  for  others,  recognising 
equally  in  them  as  in  himself  the  Divine  **  Serpent  "  of 
Wisdom,  the  Originating  Source  of  All-Life  :  the 
Manifestor,  in  the  material  order  and  in  the  modes  of 
time  and  space,  of  the  Triune  Divinity. 


CHAPTER   XX 
Gen.  iii.,  verses  16-20 

Gen.  iii.  16  :  (a)  "  Unto  (lit.,  And  to)  the  woman 
('ish-shdh)  ^  he  [Jahveh  'Eldhim)  said,  I  will  greatly 
multiply  thy  sorrow  and  thy  conception;  in  sorrow 
shall  thoii  bring  forth  children;  (b)  and  thy  desire  shall 
be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall  rule  over  thee.'' 

(a)  The  **  curse "  pronounced  on  the  serpent  in 
verse  14,  devolves  on  the  soul  of  humanity  and  the 
individualised  souls  comprised  therein.  The  **  woman  " 
thus  comes  under  the  curse,  and  is  addressed  as  the 
woman  of  **  the  Fall."  In  the  forthgoing  period  of 
the  soul's  long  history,  each  individualised  soul  is 
**  wandering  "  in  **  the  wilderness,"  and  undergoes  the 
training  of  personal  Fate  during  its  necessary,  re- 
current earth-lives.  These  successive  earth-lives  are 
the  soul's  "  children,"  and  they  are  brought  forth 
under  "  sorrow,"  the  soul  being  under  "  the  law," 
the  law  of  ground  and  consequence,  and  the  necessary 
discipline  and  rigour  of  the  Fate-spheres.  The  sorrow 
is  in  antithesis  to  the  Joy  that  will  follow  when  the 
agelong  night-time  of  the  soul  gives  place  to  the  dawn 
of  the  Day  when  the  soul,  while  a  denizen  of  earth,  is 
**  born  "  into  its  heritage  of  the  cosmos,  being  enriched 
by  the  gift  "  from  Above  "  of  the  Third  Spark. 

(b)  ''And  thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband  {'tsh), 
and  he  shall  rule  over  thee.''  This  passage  is  first 
applicable  to  the  soul  during  its  forthgoing  or  unre- 

^  See  footnote  on  p.  173. 
213 


214     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

generate  stage  in  the  regions  of  form,  when  its  attention 
is  focused  on  its  subjective  element  in  the  **  earth  " 
order,  the  'tsh.  It  is  self-centred,  hence  takes  its 
own  course  in  a  direction  separating  it  more  and  more 
from  the  true  Will.  Its  "  desire,"  ^  or  will,  is  thus  not 
"  free,"  indeed  is  actually  in  the  state  of  bondage,  the 
state  which  may  drag  the  soul  to  outer  darkness  and 
destruction.  Until  the  arrestation  of  self-will,  and 
until  the  soul  bends  towards  the  way  of  its  Return,  the 
state  in  which  the  Third  Spark  will  be  able  to  descend 
upon  it,  the  soul's  'ish-shdh  element,  namely,  the 
evolving  content,  or  character,  of  the  temporal  self, 
is  involuntarily  and  automatically  under  the  subjection 
and  domination  of  its  'tsh  element,  this  determinate  or 
limited  self,  originally  symbolised  as  the  **  rib,"  and 
not  on  terms  based  on  universality  and  true  freedom  as 
was  the  Purpose  of  Jahveh  'Elohim  at  the  creation  of 
the  typal  'ish-shdh  of  the  *  formless  '  realm. 

While  the  soul  is  under  the  "  lesser  mysteries  "  and 
lives  for  its  little  or  personal  self,  the  'tsh  element  of 
the  soul  tends  to  control  the  evolving  'ish-shdh  element 
and  compel  it  to  its  service.  Only  as  the  soul's  positive 
"  earth  "  element,  the  formal  temporal  *  I,'  evolves, 
and — rightly  interpreting  the  complex  nature  and 
powers  of  the  soul — frees  his  inseparable  partner  from 
subjection  to  himself,  will  the  *  formless  '  'ish-shdh 
element  of  his  soul,  in  its  state  of  ideal  perfection,  be 
able  to  exercise  her  true  function  as  the  agent  of 
regeneration  of  the  phenomenal  self. 

The  empirical  self  of  everyday  life  is  not  the  real 
Self,  though  for  an  agelong  period  it  appears  as  its 
counterfeit  presentment  in  the  time  order.  The  real 
Self  is  the  transcendental  Subject,  the  higher,  spiritual 

1  The  Hebrew  word  translated  "  desire  "  in  this  verse  is  rare, 
occurring  only  three  times  in  the  O.T.  :  its  precise  meaning  does  not 
appear  to  be  known. 


''THE    END    OF   THE   WORLD"  215 

Self,  the  organising,  *'  heaven  "  principle  of  the  soul 
in  the  "  earth  "  order,  which  it  animates  and  in  due 
course  uses.^  In  the  meanwhile,  it  awaits  what  has 
been  loosely  translated  **  the  end  of  the  world," 
meaning  the  end  of  the  earlier  stage  or  aeon  of  the  soul, 
the  stage  of  the  personal  self  and  the  lesser  mysteries 
of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  This 
seon  begins  to  pass  away  when  the  soul's  "  earth " 
nature  faces  the  **  heaven  "  light,  and  the  soul  receives 
**  from  Above  "  the  gift  of  the  Third  Spark.  After 
further  happenings  and  tests  have  proved  this  *  en- 
lightened '  human  soul  to  be  ripe  in  wisdom  and  ex- 
perience and  fashioned  pure  in  the  world-order,  it 
receives  the  Third  Spiritual  Breath,  and  enters,  **  highly 
favoured,"  the  **  new  "  aeon  or  world-age,  the  aeon  of 
the  Greater  Mysteries  of  the  tree  of  life. 

During  the  soul's  pilgrimage  through  time,  space, 
and  materiality,  it  should  eagerly  desire  to  express  in 
actuality  its  Spiritual  Complement,  its  great  over- 
shadowing Reality,  the  transcendental  Ego,  whose 
native  home  is  in  the  **  heaven  "  regions  of  the  eternal 
or  unconditioned  order.  The  secondary  mode  of 
consciousness,  the  mode  of  process  in  space  and  time, 
has  to  come  into  vital  union  with,  and  be  governed  by, 
its  primary  mode  which  is  independent  of  time,  even 
as  substance  or  matter  is  to  become  immediately 
responsive  to  the  promptings  of  the  Spirit. 

When  the  individual  soul  begins  to  '*  Return,"  it 
becomes  conscious  of  the  true  Will,  and  its  *'  desire  " 
belongs  to  the  Divine  and  universal  order.  The  words 
of  this  passage  :  **  Thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  Husband, 
and  He  shall  rule  over  thee,"  then  acquire  a  new  and 
exalted  significance.     The   Higher  Will   is  recognised 

^  See  F.  H.  Bradley's  Appearance  and  Reality,  pp.  320,  321  : 
"  Most  assuredly,  the  self  is  determinate.  It  is  always  qualified  by  a 
content.     The  Ego  is  .   .   .   Ideal." 


2i6     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

as  of  the  soul's  true  Husband,  its  own  complementary, 
Positive  nature,  of  the  universal  and  *  timeless  '  order, 
and  the  cry  of  the  **  earth  "  mode  of  the  soul,  through 
its  perfected  **  woman  "  element  is  :  **  My  desire,  the 
intense  longing  of  my  being,  is  to  Thee,  and  Thou  shalt 
rule  over  me."  It  is  after  this  manner  that  the 
Immaculate  Conception  and  the  Virgin  Birth  occur  in 
the  evolution  of  each  soul.^ 

The  symbolism  of  the  Spiritual  Self,  the  Self  of  all 
selves,  being  the  **  Husband  "  of  the  soul,  is  employed 
by  Hosea,  the  latest  of  the  Northern  prophets,  in  a 
remarkable  passage,  the  original  of  which  is  generally 
held  to  have  been  written  between  738  and  735  B.C. 
In  these  dramatic  verses  Hosea  introduces  himself  as 
the  phenomenal  self,  the  temporal  *  I,'  of  the  present 
life ;  he  pictures  his  own  evolving  soul — not  a  mortal 
woman,  though  represented  as  his  wife — as  still  un- 
regenerate  and  grievously  astray,  and  Jahveh  as  his 
soul's  Supreme  Self  and  true  Husband,  though  as  yet 
imperfectly  recognised  as  such  by  the  soul.  The 
thread  running  through  the  passage  appears  to  be  as 
follows  : — "  And  Jahveh  said  .  .  .  Plead  with  (her), 
plead,  for  (now)  she  is  not  My  wife,  and  I  am  not  her 
Husband.  .  .  .  Behold,  I  will  hedge  up  thy  way  " 
[Hosea's]  **  with  thorns  .  .  .  that  she  "  [Hosea's 
**  wife,"  the  evolving  'ish-shdh  element  of  his  soul] 
**  shall  not  find  her  paths.  .  .  .  Then  shall  she  say, 
I  will  arise  and  return  to  my  first  Husband. ^    .    .    . 

^  The  doctrine  of  the  Virgin-Mother,  and  of  the  Christ,  her  Divine 
Son,  being  eternally  true,  has  been  expressed  in  many  forms  in  the 
agelong  history  of  mankind. 

2  Cp.  this  with  the  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father  "  of  Luke 
XV.  18,  also  with  the  statement  in  John  iv.  17,  18  :  "  Thou  hast  had 
five  husbands,  and  he  whom  thou  now  hast  is  not  thy  husband." 
(It  would  seem  that  the  "  woman  of  Samaria  "  signifies  the  human 
soul  which  has  passed  beyond  the  stage  of  devotion  to  the  five  senses, 
and  now  relies  on  the  normal  intellect ;  but  this  is  not  the  soul's  true 
"  husband  ").    See  also  Isai.  liv.  5  :  "  For  thy  Maker  is  thy  Husband." 


''  CURSED    IS    THE    GROUND  "  217 

Therefore  behold,  I  will  allure  her,  and  cause  her  to 
go  into  the  wilderness,^  and  will  speak  to  her  heart. 
.  .  .  And  I  will  give  her  the  valley  of  Tribulation  for 
a  door  of  Hope  ^  :  and  she  shall  sing  there  as  in  the 
days  of  her  youth. ^  .  .  .  And  it  shall  be  at  that  day, 
saith  Jahveh,  that  thou  shalt  call  Me  my  Husband, 
and  shalt  call  Me  no  more  my  Master.  .  .  .  And  I  will 
betroth  thee  unto  Me  for  ever,  .  .  .  and  thou  shalt 
truly  know  (LXX.,  iTnyv^a-rii)  Jahveh.  .  .  .  And  in 
that  day,  saith  Jahveh,  I  will  answer  the  heavens,  and 
they  shall  answer  the  earth,  and  I  will  sow  her  unto  Me 
in  the  earth."  * 

Gen.  iii.  17 :  (a)  "  And  unto  the  man  (the  'dddm)  he 
said  :  (b)  "Because  thou  hast  harkened  unto  the  voice 
of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of  the  tree  of  which  I  com- 
manded thee,  saying,  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it,  cursed 
is  the  ground  for  thy  sake ;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of 
it  all  the  days  of  thy  life.'' 

(a)  Jahveh  'Elohim  addresses  *'  the  man  "  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  soul  of  humanity,  as  'dddm;  not  as 
'ish,  the  personal  centre  of  each  individualised  soul's 
temporal  experience,  but  as  **  man  "  in  his  Great  Name, 
the  Impersonal  Ego,  the  soul's  subjective  consciousness 
which  is  active  in  the  **  heaven  "  order, 

(b)  To  this  **  man  "  it  is  said:    Because  thou  hast 

1  Alluding  to  the  discipline  of  personal  Fate :  see  comment  on 
part  {a)  of  the  present  verse. 

2  Cp.  Rev.  vii.  14  :  "  These  are  they  which  come  out  of  the  great 
tribulation,"  that  is,  the  age  or  seon  of  the  lesser  mysteries.  The 
"  door  of  Hope  "  will  lead  to  the  aeon  of  the  Greater  Mysteries,  the 
state  or  condition  of  Regeneration,  in  which  the  soul  is  united  with 
her  true  "  Husband." 

3  Alluding  to  the  "  golden  age  "  of  the  soul,  and  its  perfection  as 
the  'ish-shdh  of  the  ideal  realm. 

*  That  is,  in  the  "  new  "  or  transformed  earth  with  its  "  new  "  or 
transmuted  heaven,  when  the  old  order,  the  aeon  of  the  lesser  mysteries 
with  its  two  modes  in  disharmony  with  each  other,  will  have  passed 
av/ay  from  the  individualised  soul.  The  above  passage  is  from 
Hosea  ii.,  verses  2,  6,  7,  14,  15,  16,  19,  23. 


2i8     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

obeyed  the  "  voice  "  of  the  manifesting  principle,  and 
art  proceeding  into  the  regions  of  duality  concerning 
which  I  warned  thee,  '*  cursed  is  the  ground  "  on 
account  of  this  thy  decision ;  "  in  sorrow  shalt  thou 
eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life." 

The  **  curse  "  upon  the  Serpent  in  verse  14  involves 
the  woman  and  the  man  for  reasons  already  given, 
and  hence,  though  it  is  not  stated  that  a  curse  is  uttered 
upon  them,  a  declaration  of  Fate  is  made  on  each 
in  turn,  corresponding  to  the  "  curse."  In  the  case 
of  the  **  woman,"  it  is  the  soul's  outgoing  period,  the 
aeon  of  its  "  lesser  mysteries,"  which  comes  under  the 
bondage  of  Fate.  In  the  case  of  *'  the  man,"  during 
the  same  period  of  the  soul's  history,  the  **  earth  " 
itself — the  'addmdh  or  the  material  substance  in  which 
man  functions  and  of  which  his  body  is  made — comes 
under  the  bondage  of  Fate,  so  that  the  ground  of  the 
soul's  nature  will  yield  its  treasures  of  experience  and 
of  knowledge,  only  under  **  sorrow." 

Gen,  iii.  18  :  "Thorns  also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring 
forth  unto  thee,  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field  \  " 

Gen.  iii.  19  :  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat 
bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground  ;  for  out  of  it  wast 
thou  taken:  for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou 
return.'' 

The  spontaneous  expressions  of  the  ground  of  the 
nature  will,  moreover,  appear  as  **  thorns  and  thistles." 
These  represent  false  growths  in  human  nature,  due 
to  the  limitations  in  man  setting  themselves  over  and 
against  the  '  wholeness  '  in  him,  and  the  possibility 
of  such  growths  must  be  removed.  So  the  man,  the 
Impersonal  Ego — not  the  phenomenal  ego  of  a  par- 
ticular life — has  to  "  return  unto  the  ground  "  and 
plough  over  the  whole  substance  of  his  nature,  turning 
over  and  breaking  the  clods  of  prejudice  and  self 
even  to  atoms — "  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return  " — until 


''  UNTO   DUST   SHALT   THOU   RETURN  "     219 

it  can  be  made  to  yield  true  results.  He  has  to  be 
the  tiller  of  the  soil  of  his  own  vast  soul-substance, 
its  husbandman,  its  yrytopyo?  or  '*  earth- worker "  : 
his  obligation  to  fulfil  this  duty  is  at  the  heart  of  the 
story  of  the  life-and-death  struggle  between  the 
"St.  George"  (yryw/oyos)  of  the  higher  nature  and  the 
**  dragon  "  of  his  own  wayward  substance-nature. 

The  interpretation  of  the  "  return  to  dust  "  would 
seem  to  be  that  as  the  'dddm  has  chosen  to  enter  the 
revolving  spheres  of  Fate,  he  will  necessarily  return 
again  and  again  to  earth  life.^  During  this  process 
his  personal  toil  will  cause  "  herbs,"  the  results  of  his 
activities,  to  spring  up  from  the  soil  of  his  root-sub- 
stance. The  herbs,  both  bitter  and  sweet,  will  be 
**  eaten  "  by  him,  that  is,  they  will  be  taken  into,  and 
become  the  foundation  of,  his  inner  experiences.  At 
length  he  will  come  to  make  and  eat  "  bread,"  here 
symbolised  as  the  sustenance  of  true  life. 

**  Thou  shalt  eat  bread,"  verse  19,  introduces  the 
mystic  symbol  "  bread  "  for  the  first  time.  The 
Hebrew  word  is  lechem,  and  it  is  rooted  into  the  name 
Beth-lechem,  "  the  house  of  bread,"  signifying  the 
high  qualities  of  the  soul's  "  earth  "  or  substance- 
nature  when  organically  purified  and  rendered  virgin, 
in  which  condition  alone  can  the  Third  or  **  Christ  " 
Spark  be  born  in  the  soul.  This  transubstantiation  of 
the  substance  of  the  soul  is,  indeed,  the  true  object  of 
the  prayer  :  **  Give  us  this  day  our  super-substantial 
bread." 

Using  the  dual  powers  of  his  soul, intuition  and  reason, 
''  the  man  "  has  to  break  up  the  hard  crust  of  self-love 
in  which  he  has  encased  himself,  and  go  down  into  the 
depths,  "  the  ground,"  of  his  own  nature,  laying  it 
bare  before  the  vitalising  activities  of  the  Spirit. 
Reacting  to  the  stimulus  of  events  and  the  lessons  of 

1  See  comment  on  verse  14  (d),  pp.  205,  206  ;  also  Appendix  II. 


220     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

life's  experience,  and  ceaselessly  interpreting  himself 
to  himself  by  a  conscious  interior  converse,  he  trans- 
forms himself  by  casting  off  old,  worn-out  limits, 
shattering  his  idols  whether  in  form  or  *  formless.' 
He  thereby  atomises  the  hard  substance  of  his  nature, 
reducing  it  to  dust,  to  root-substance.  But  he  is 
renewed  and  refreshed,  being  in  conscious  possession 
of  the  true  ground  of  his  experienced  nature,  for  the 
residue  is  of  fundamental  value  and  endures.  This 
comes  under  the  vitalising  power  of  the  Water  of 
regenerate  life,  and  is  '*  raised"  by  its  eternal  rhythm, 
as  also  by  the  many  powers  of  the  Breath,  so  that  it 
receives  more  and  fuller  life ;  the  Fiery  Breath  then 
plays  upon  it,  baking  it  into  the  true  "  bread."  This 
bread  is  now  available  in  the  world-order  for  the  Vital 
sustenance  of  others. 

The  real  **  bread  "  is  made  from  perfectly  fashioned 
soul-substance,  and  prepared  only  under  the  living 
activities  in  the  world-order  of  the  lesser,  lower  self 
(**  earth  ") ;  it  represents  the  service  which  the  limited 
self  is  freely  offering  on  behalf  of  the  greater  or  cosmic 
Self  (*'  heaven  ").  This  voluntary  self-giving  (or 
betrothal)  of  the  **  earth  "  mode  of  the  soul,  this  self- 
**  sacrifice  " — literally,  making  the  soul,  or  self,  holy — 
brings  down  '*  from  Above,"  in  response,  the  gift  of  the 
Third  Spark  from  the  Heavenly  Flame.  This  is  the 
Seed  of  ''  the  Woman,"  the  Son  of  ''  (the)  Man,"  the 
"  inner "  Light  which,  descending  **  from  Above," 
through  the  *^  heaven  "  order,  is  born  within  the  soul.^ 
It  illumines  the  whole  nature,  imparting  to  it  inward 
wisdom  with  power  of  outward  expression.  This,  in- 
deed, is  the  '*  wine  "  of  the  spiritual  consciousness, 
bestowed  on  the  Soul  by  the  Triune  Divinity  through 
the   higher,    *'  heaven "    Self,   in   recompense   for   the 

^  Cp.  John  iii.  13  (in  the  original)  :  "No  man  hath  ascended  into 
heaven,  but  he  that  descended  out  of  heaven,  the  Son  of  (the)  Man.'* 


<<THE    SECOND    COMING'*  221 

continuous  forthgiving  to  others  of  the  **  bread  "  of  the 
hiffher  *'  earth  "-life. 

But  the  higher  and  lower  selves,  *^  heaven  "  and 
**  earth,"  or  the  wine  and  the  bread,  are  two  things 
which  are  One  in  their  root,  for  we  know  nothing  of 
life  and  consciousness  apart  from  substance,  or  sub- 
stance apart  from  life.  These  symbols,  though  separate, 
represent  one  thing,  Living  Substance,  Consciousness 
active  and  harmonious  in  its  two  modes.  The  wine  and 
the  bread  are  symbols  of  the  Marriage  of  Spirit  and  of 
Soul. 

A  period  of  intensive  trial  intervenes  between  the 
Betrothal  of  the  Soul  to  the  Spirit  and  the  Marriage. 
The  interval  may  extend  over  many  earth-lives,  for  the 
heart  has  to  be  pure  and  holy  (sanctus)  before  it  can 
become  an  abiding-place,  a  Sanctuary,  for  the  Spirit. 
This  is  the  period  described  in  detail  in  the  drama  of 
the  Book  of  Job.  It  is  known  by  many  names  :  as 
the  way  of  purgation,  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
the  dark  night  of  the  soul.  The  Marriage,  too,  is 
known  by  many  names  :  as  the  Baptism  of  Fire,  or 
of  the  Holy  Ghost;  the  Second  Advent,  or  Parousia, 
or  the  Return  with  Power  and  Glory  of  the  eternal, 
indwelling  '*  Christ."  It  was  of  this  Spiritual  Return, 
or  ^*  Second  Coming,"  that  was  uttered  the  constant 
prayer  by  members  of  the  early  Church  :  *'  Come 
Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly."  At  the  Return  **  with 
glory,"  the  Third  Spark  is  fanned  into  flame  by  the 
Breath  of  the  Paraclete,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  flame 
filling  the  cosmos,  the  exalted  Spiritual  Consciousness 
being  as  the  **  good  wine  "  which  appears  at  the  last, 
at  the  Soul's  Marriage  Feast.  At  this  supreme  happen- 
ing, the  "  old  "  earth  and  the  *'  old  "  heaven  pass  away 
and  there  is  found  no  place  for  them.^  Personal  fate 
is  swallowed  up  in  Great  Fate,  for  the  personal  and  the 
^   Rev.  XX.  II ;   xxi.  i,  2. 


222     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

universal  are  consciously  realised  as  constituting  one  in- 
dissoluble organism.  At  the  same  time,  the  personality 
is  valued  for  its  true  power,  in  that  it  can  be  used  as  a 
unique  living  instrument  in  the  service  of  the  Divinity. 
There  follows  a  condition  of  understanding  in  both  the 
eternal  and  the  time  orders,  an  understanding  which 
has  true  vision,  seeing  and  knowing  beyond  normal 
reason.  The  whole  life  becomes  an  expression  of  this 
inner  sight  and  knowledge,  an  affirmation  of  Reality. 

The  soul  has  first  to  do  its  part  in  bringing  about 
this  great  happening,  becoming  as  ^*  bread,"  able  to 
foster  true  Life  in  others.  The  "  curse  "  of  verse  14 
then  proves  to  be  the  stepping-stone  to  the  blessing 
of  verse  15,  the  blessing  which  is  also  foreshadowed 
in  verse  19. 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  normal  man's  soul- 
substance  :  Substance  or  matter,  the  negative  mode  of 
Divine  Breath  in  which  the  human  being  is  functioning, 
is  as  a  net,  and  within  this  net  man  by  his  personal 
desires  has  for  an  agelong  period  been  knotting  himself, 
so  to  speak,  till  he  is  without  true  free-will.  These 
knots  of  matter  are  the  false  growths  of  the  personal 
nature,  the  "  thorns  and  thistles  "  of  verse  18  :  they 
become  the  sources  of  the  sufferings  of  the  soul  during 
its  unperfected  bodily  life.  This  is  pointed  out  by  Paul 
the  Apostle,  who  describes  his  own  **  thorn  in  the 
flesh,"  that  is,  in  the  temporal  content  of  his  nature, 
as  (literally)  **  Satan's  angel  dealing  blow  after  blow."  ^ 
These  are  blows  of  testing  and  trial,  the  suffering  being 
designed  to  recall  to  the  inner  Memory  of  the  soul  its 
high  origin  and  destiny.  For  the  man  has  to  learn 
to  triumph  over  his  "  thorns."  When  the  will  of  the 
personal  self  is  in  unison  with  the  Will  of  the  Self  of  the 

^  See  2  Cor.  xii.  7.  Also  i  Tim.  i.  20,  where  Hymenaeus  and  Alex- 
ander are  "  handed  over  to  Satan  "  (Saturn,  lord  of  the  time  order  and 
the  Fate-spheres),  that  they  may  be  taught  further  in  the  training 
school  of  the  world-order. 


THE    'ISH-SHAH    is    RE-NAMED  223 

eternal  order,  the  "  thorns "  become  transformed, 
being  resolved  into  pure  root-substance,  with  attributes 
common  to  both  the  negative  and  the  positive  prin- 
ciples of  the  soul's  dualistic  nature.  Then  as  the  Divine 
Breath  contacts  the  soul,  which  is  thereby  ^'  hallowed  " 
and  "  healed,'*  its  root-matter  becomes  **  raised  "  as  a 
living  **  whole  "  and  transubstantiated  into  a  "  new  " 
condition,  forming  the  true  ground  and  foundation 
of  the  fashioned  nature,  sensitive  equally  to  human  and 
cosmic  life-currents.^  The  soul  will  manifest  the 
Divine  Breath  in  both  modes,  one  moment  forth  to 
Multiplicity,  the  next  inward  to  Unity.  It  is  now  as  a 
sphere  of  pulsing  life,  with  the  root  of  personality 
within,  and  this  the  personality  Regenerate. 

Gen.  iii.  20  :  *'  And  the  man  called  his  wife's  name 
Havvah  {or  Chavvah),  that  is,  Eve,  Living;  because 
she  was  the  mother  of  all  living." 

The  man,  the  soul  in  the  heaven  order,  "  names  " 
the  'ish-shdh  as  the  mother  of  the  All-living.  He 
does  so  because  he  learns  from  what  Jahveh  'Elghim 
has  said  that  the  typal  'ish-shdh  is  the  agent  of 
Regeneration  in  the  soul,  who  will  call  into  manifesta- 
tion, during  earth-life  in  the  form-regions,  the  coming 
race  of  the  All-living,  the  Divine-born,  the  Twice-born. 
As  has  been  seen,  the  soul's  manifestation  in  time 
commences  with  the  Outgoing  stage,  the  period  of  the 
tree  of  knowledge,  and  this  is  not  a  straight  line  activity 
but  cyclic.  The  words  of  Jahveh  'Elohim  in  verse  15b 
transform  the  curse  into  a  blessing,  proclaiming  that 
the  earlier  period  of  duality  will  turn  round  upon  itself 
and  be  swallowed  up  in  the  glory  that  will  follow. 
The  process  will  be  fulfilled  and  completed  "  in  the 

^  As  symbol  of  his  triumph  over  his  lower  nature,  the  man  regenerate 
may  be  said  to  wear  his  thorns  plaited  into  a  crown  of  glory  encircling 
the  head. 


224     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

latter  days  "  of  the  soul's  experience  in  the  form- 
regions,  when  its  "  earth,"  its  substance,  has  become 
pure  and  perfectly  fashioned  after  the  pattern  of  the 
ideally  perfect  'ish-shdh,  by  the  **  coming  down  " 
**  from  Above  "  into  incarnation  within  the  **  earth  " 
element  of  the  soul,  of  the  **  Seed  of  the  Woman," 
the  Son  of  (the)  '*  Man,"  the  Word,  or  Self-revelation 
of  God.i 

The  view  of  the  'dddm  is  thus  directed  beyond  the 
earlier  mode  of  life-and-death  to  the  stage  when  the 
soul's  pilgrimage  will  be  set  on  the  Way,  the  Path,  of 
true  Life.  He  is  himself  in  the  *  formless  '  soul-realm 
where  what  he  **  sees  "  he  interprets  and  **  names," 
by  so  doing  enabling  the  essential  idea  within  the  name 
ultimately  to  manifest  itself  in  the  regions  of  form.^ 
He  therefore  names  the  woman,  the  manifestor,  in 
terms  of  what  he  **  sees  "  to  be  the  consummation  of 
the  earlier  stage  of  the  time-process,  that  is,  that  she 
will  lead  to  the  coming  into  manifestation,  in  the 
"  earth  "  region  of  the  soul,  of  **  the  first  begotten  of 
the  dead,"  ^  the  **  firstborn  of  every  creature  "  *  :  the 
"  Seed  of  the  Woman."  She  is  named  chavvah,  Life, 
Livingness,  the  root-word  meaning  to  live,  to  breathe, 
for  she  is  not  only  the  link  in  manifestation  with  the 

1  The  definite  title  "  Son  of  Man,"  literally,  of  "  the  "  Man,  that  is. 
Son  of  the  heavenly  Man — is  not  actually  employed  in  Gen.  iii.  19. 
It  is  found  for  the  first  time  in  Jewish  literature  in  the  Book  of  Enoch 
during  the  first  century  B.C.,  and  takes  a  prominent  place  from  chapters 
37  to  70  of  that  work,  chapters — known  as  the  similitudes — which  are 
held  to  have  been  written  between  94  and  64  B.C. ;  this  is  historically 
the  source  of  the  New  Testament  designation.  All  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  were  familiar  with  the  Book  of  Enoch,  and  were  more 
or  less  influenced  by  it  in  thought  and  diction.  ( The  Book  of  Enoch, 
by  Canon  R.  H.  Charles,  D.D.,  Oxford,  1893,  pp.  51,  106  ff.  and  i.) 

2  See  comment  on  Gen.  ii.  19,  pp.  159,  160. 

*  Rev.  i.  5.  The  soul  is  said  to  be  "  dead  "  while  it  is  in  the  aeon 
of  the  lesser  mysteries  of  the  world-order,  and  has  not  yet  been 
"  raised  "  to  the  essential  Life  which  enables  it  to  attain  to  the  order 
or  aeon  of  the  "  new  "  earth  and  the  "  new  "  heaven. 

*  Col.  i.  15, 


RESTITUTION  WITH  ADDED  GLORY       225 

Breath,  the  Life,  of  the  Cosmic  Mother,  but  when 
perfected  in  the  world-order  is  herself  to  be  the  mother, 
the  Virgin  Mother,  through  whom  will  be  obtained  for 
humanity  Life  in  its  wholeness  and  immediacy,  which 
will  be  manifested  in  perfection  and  truth  in  the  form- 
regions  of  time  and  space. 

In  the  Phcedrus  allegory  Plato  pictures  the  winged 
soul  descending  into  matter,  breaking  both  wings  and 
trailing  them  in  the  mire  of  this  world.  Yet,  he  adds, 
it  will  regain  the  power  of  its  wings  by  knowledge, 
self-discipline  and  aspiration.  The  winged  disc  of  the 
sun  in  ancient  Egypt  was  probably  a  representation  of 
the  active  sun-moon  powers  of  the  soul  in  their  glorified 
state.  It  would  seem  that  the  cry  of  the  Hebrew 
Psalmist :  **  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,"  ^ 
expresses  the  yearning  of  the  soul  to  recover  its  pristine 
powers.  We  find  the  same  symbolism,  and  the  idea 
of  a  restitution  with  added  glory,  in  the  words : 
**  Though  ye  have  lien  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye 
have  the  wings  of  a  dove,  covered  with  silver  "  (the 
glories  of  the  Moon  or  time-mode  of  consciousness) 
**  and  her  feathers  of  gold  "  (the  glories  of  the  Sun  or 
*  timeless  '  mode).^ 

Certain  logia,  or  great  Sayings,  ascribed  to  Jesus,  have 
been  preserved  to  us  by  Clement  of  Rome,  the  Gospel  of 
the  Egyptians  and  the  Oxyrhynchus  papyrus.  We  read 
that  when  Jesus  was  asked  when  His  Kingdom  would 
come,  and  when  He  would  manifest  Himself  to  His 
disciples,  the  answer  was  :  **  When  the  two  shall  be 
one,  the  outside  as  the  inside,  the  male  with  the  female 
neither  male  nor  female;  when  ye  trample  upon  the 
garment  of  shame;  when  ye  shall  be  stripped  and  not 
ashamed."  The  reference  is  to  the  goal  of  the  present 
aeon  of  the  world-process,  when — the  ** lesser  mysteries" 
having  been  transcended,  and  the  two  modes  of  con- 

^  Ps,  Iv.  6,  R.V.  2  Ps^  Ixviii.  13,  Prayer  Book  Version. 

15 


226     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

sciousness  of  each  individualised  soul,  *  timeless  '  and 
time,  harmonised  through  the  mystery  of  Regeneration 
— "  the  Kingdom  "  will  be  manifested  on  earth  through 
perfectly  fashioned  human  souls. 

Each  fashioned  human  soul  on  earth  is  represented, 
in  the  creation  story,  by  the  re-named  *' woman  "  of 
the  present  verse.  The  **man"  now  calls  the  woman's 
name  "  Living,"  because,  as  representative  of  the  tem- 
poral mode  of  the  soul's  consciousness,  she  is  to  be 
*^  the  mother  "  whose  ''  Offspring,"  incarnate  of  the 
Spirit,  will  possess  *^  in  one  body  "  the  powers  of  both 
worlds,  heaven  and  earth,  hence,  will  be  All-living. 
By  thus  **  naming"  the  woman,  the  'dddm  gives  into 
her  charge  the  Promise  declared  in  the  *  formless ' 
realm  by  Jahveh  'Elohim,  with  the  power  to  fulfil  her 
part  in  it  when  in  the  form-regions. 


I 


CHAPTER   XXI 
Gen.  iii.,  verses  21,  22 

Gen.  iii.  21  ;  "And  Jahveh  '  Eldhtm  made  for  man 
{'dddm)  and  his  wife  ('ish-shdh)  coats  of  skins  and  clothed 
them." 

It  is  again  not  the  'tsh  that  is  spoken  of  but  the  'dddm, 
**  Man  "  in  his  Great  Name,  *'  and  his  wife  "  :  the 
soul  of  humanity  in  the  **  heaven  "  mode,  as  well  as 
its  power  of  self-manifestation  in  the  ''  earth  "  regions; 
or,  if  we  apply  this  to  our  individualised  selves  :  the 
true  Word  of  which  our  successive  personalities  will 
supply  the  letters,  together  with  the  power  of  rightly 
putting  forth  these  letters  :  the  enduring,  impersonal, 
monadic  Ego,  as  also  its  means  of  expression  in  human 
form,  that  is,  through  the  processional  ego  or  centre  of 
experience  with  its  evolving  characteristics. 

The  'dddm  and  the  'ish-shdh  are  still  in  the  formless 
regions  of  the  soul  realms.  How  is  the  soul  to  be 
manifested  in  the  regions  of  form  ?  Over  the  chasm 
a  bridge  is  provided,  the  dualistic  soul  being  *^  clothed  '* 
by  Jahveh  'Elohim  with  "  coats  of  skins." 

The  Hebrew  word  for  *'  coats  "  is  cathnoth  (kotndth) 
from  kathan  {kotan)  to  cover. ^  The  word  for  ^'  skin  " 
is  'or,  from  'Ur,  to  be  naked ;  it  is  used  in  this  verse  in 
antithesis  to  the  word  or,  light,  just  as  in  Gen.  iii.  i 
'arum  is  used  in  antithesis  to  the  word  'arom.  The 
soul  is  being  provided  with  means  for  self-manifesta- 

1  Hence  xtT(Jji/,  a  tunic  ;  Sanskrit,  katam  ;  English,  cotton. 

227 


228     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

tion  in  the  world-order,^  by  being  covered  with  *'  skins  " 
or  veils  :  these  are  of  the  textures  of  the  spheres  within 
which  the  soul  is  to  manifest  itself.  And  as  there  are 
many  stages  between  what  may  be  termed  the  formless 
soul-regions  and  those  of  dense  matter  as  we  know  it, 
the  soul  is  covered  over  with  many  **  skins  "  or  veils 
or  coverings,  each  denser  than  the  last. 

In  Dr.  Ginsburg's  Introduction  to  the  Massoretico- 
critical  Edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  he  points  out  that 
one  of  the  MSS.  does  not  give  the  reading  *'  coats  of 
skins  "  but  **  luminous  coats."  Its  writer  was  prob- 
ably aware  that  the  gradual  descent  of  the  Divine  Spark 
through  successive  veils  was  implied. 

In  the  Pistis  Sophia  the  Word,  becoming  fiesh, 
**  descends,"  in  so  doing,  withdrawing  from  each 
intermediate  region  passed  through  the  light  it  has 
imprisoned  and  weaving  this  into  an  external  garment 
for  use  in  that  region.  In  this  way  the  Light,  the  mode 
of  consciousness  of  the  **  highest "  region,  becomes  the 
most  deeply  enfolded  and  hidden,  while  ultimately  the 
matter  of  the  physical  region  is  the  most  externalised. 

Similarly,  in  the  present  story,  it  would  appear  that 
the  soul  receives  from  Jahveh  'Elohim  the  power  to 
give  off,  or  shed,  **  coats  "  consisting  of  the  textures 
of  the  successive  soul-regions  which  it  must  cross 
in  its  passage  from  the  *  formless  '  realm  to  the  formal. 
The  innermost  **  coat  "  is  of  the  finest  texture,  the  outer- 
most '*  coat,"  the  physical  body,  of  the  densest,  being 
akin  to  the  texture  of  the  physical  regions. 

Yet  all  these  regions  are  one  great  Sphere,  just  as  all 
men's  bodies  are  one  great  Body.^ 

1  It  is  a  Kabalistic  maxim  that  "  No  spiritual  being  descending  here 
below  can  operate  without  a  garment  "  (No.  35  of  the  Conclusiones 
KabalisticcB,  drawn  by  Picus  de  Mirandula  from  Zoharic  books). 

-  Paul's  insistence  on  the  latter  of  these  two  statements  is  clear  and 
emphatic  :  "  The  human  body  is  one,  and  yet  hath  many  members, 
and  all  its  members,  many  as  they  are,  constitute  but  one  body." 


DESCENT  :    RADIANT  GARMENT  REMOVED     229 

It  is  said  that  the  living  human  being  represents  the 
earliest  unity,  or  monad  of  consciousness,  on  this 
created  world,  which  is  capable  of  reflecting  cosmic 
consciousness.  This  is  so  as  regards  the  human  being 
as  a  whole,  and  not  only  of  the  heart  or  brain  or  body  of 
man.  Therefore  is  it  necessary  for  each  element  of 
man's  nature  to  be  capable  of  receiving  and  trans- 
mitting its  due  and  proper  share  of  power. 

Before  the  creation  of  "  woman,"  the  'dddm,  the 
two-in-one  soul  of  humanity,  was  covered  with  a 
garment  of  living  "light"  (Heb.y  or):  this  garment, 
representing  the  power  to  function  in  the  *  timeless  ' 
realm  of  Spirit,  is  connected  with  Sight.  After  the 
creation  of  **  woman,"  the  soul  is  covered  with  garments 
of  **  skins  "  (Heb.,  'or)  :  these  garments,  representing 
the  power  to  function  in  the  form-regions,  are  con- 
nected primarily  with  Sound. 

Joseph's  *'  coat  of  many  colours,"  ^  which  was  given 
to  him  by  his  father,  signifies  the  *  timeless  '  garment 
of  "  Light  "  with  its  seven  powers  or  "  colours  ";  it 
was  removed  from  him  just  before  he  was  cast  into  the 
pit,  that  is,  brought  under  the  process  of  the  world-order. 

In  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  **  a  certain 
man  "  going  "  down  "  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  falls 
among  thieves  who  *'  strip  him  of  his  raiment." 
Jerusalem  is  about  3300  feet  above  Jericho,  which  is 
fifteen  miles  away.  Going  to  Jerusalem  was  always 
going  **  up."  From  the  Tell-al-Amarna  tablets  it  is 
known  that  in  1450  B.C.  the  name  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
language  of  Canaan  [Kinakhkhi)  was  Uru-salim, 
from  Uru,  originally  Sumero-Akkadian,  light,  hence 
also  city,  and  Shalem,  peace.     Jericho  was   Jereho  :  ^ 

Further  :   "  We,  who  are  many,  are  one  loaf,  one  body ;  we,  all  of  us, 
share  in  that  one  loaf  "  (i  Cor.  xii.  12  ;  x.  17,  from  the  original). 

1  The  x*'''''""*  iroLKiKov  of  the  LXX.,  Gen.  xxxvii.  23. 

2  Now  called  by  the  Arabs  Eriha. 


230     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

meaning,  according  to  Professor  Sayce,  City  of  the 
Moon-god,  from  Jdhreah,  the  Moon.  The  parable 
pictures  the  soul  as  *'  a  certain  man  "  who  leaves  his 
eternal  home  of  light  and  peace,  the  city  as  of  the  Sun, 
and  goes  "  down  "  into  the  phenomenal  and  sublunary 
regions,  the  sphere  of  earth-life,  where  the  surroundings 
are  relatively  as  **  a  wilderness."  ^  He  **  falls  "  under 
the  many  Powers  of  the  world-order,  and  they  **  strip  " 
him  of  his  garment  of  the  Unitary  Light  and  con- 
sciousness.^ 

In  the  Gnostic  Hymn  of  the  Soul,^  as  the  human 
soul  goes  **  down  "  to  the  **  Egypt  "  of  this  world, 
or  early  experience  in  bodily  form,  his  robe  of  glory 
and  his  purple  mantle — the  **  Two  Vestures  "  of  the 
Pistis  Sophia — are  removed ;  in  their  place  he  is 
covered  with  the  usual  garments  of  the  people  of  this 
world,  that  is,  **  coats  of  skins." 

These  coats  of  skins  clothing  the  soul  during  its 
descent  within  the  form  regions,  may  be  regarded 
as  of  three  orders. 

There  is  first  an  undermost  garment.  It  is  woven 
without  seam,  is  of  the  finest  texture  throughout,  and 
intimately  connected  with  pure  Sound.  This  is  a 
great  current  of  creative  Life  which  sweeps  round 
every  man:  as  Quintessential  **  Element"  it  contacts 
him  in  a  direct  and  immediate  way,  becoming  his  inner 
Voice.  It  has  to  be  **  heard"  by  his  inmost  senses; 
hence  the  constant  refrain  :  **  He  that  hath  ears  to 
hear  let  him  hear."  It  has  then  to  be  expressed  in 
the  outer  spheres  of  manifestation  through  the  powers 
of  the  two  outer  vestments. 

^  "The  wilderness  that  goeth  up  from  Jericho"  {Josh.  xvi.  i). 
See  also  Dent,  xxxiv.  3,  where  Jericho  is  "  the  city  of  palm  trees  " 
^P- 137)-  It  was  near  Jericho  that  Jesus  was  baptised.  The  initiations 
of  the  soul,  the  steps  in  its  advance,  must,  each  and  all,  be  taken  in 
the  actual  world-order.  ^  Lw^e  x.  30-37 . 

^  Written  probably  by  the  Syriac  Gnostic  Bardaisan  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  A.D. 


ASCENT  :    COATS  OF  SKINS  REMOVED    231 

The  man's  Great  Person,  the  soul's  Impersonal  Ego, 
the  man's  Great  Name,  has  next  over  this  a  garment 
through  which  to  look  forth:  this  is  the  psychic  and 
formal  mind  we  normally  wear,  concerned  with  physical 
manifestation.  And  just  as  the  four  rivers  proceed 
from  the  One  River,  so  this  garment  of  the  *'  four  "- 
order,  responding  to  the  outer  world  of  happening  and 
experience,  is  in  immediate  contact  with  the  undermost 
garment,  the  seamless  vesture,  the  inner,  monadic 
consciousness. 

Finally,  there  is  the  outdoor  garment  which  is 
doubly  lined,  the  physical  body  with  the  five  senses, 
as  also  its  subtler  means  of  sensing,  the  sixth  and 
seventh  senses. 

During  the  soul's  descent,  this  threefold  veil  acts 
as  a  covering  or  screen  around  the  holy  of  holies  of  the 
soul.  But  when  the  ascent  is  at  hand,  the  veil  of  this 
temple  is  rent,  implying  that  these  threefold  powers 
are  given  up  as  separated  powers,  being  possessed  by 
the  soul  in  a  higher  and  co-ordinated  mode. 

So  we  read  of  the  x^twi/,  or  the  tunic  **  without  seam, 
woven  from  the  top  throughout  " — the  innermost 
garment  of  the  three  magical  vestures  or  **  coats  "  of 
manifestation — being  given  up  at  the  cross  on  the 
entry  into  Life,  at  the  crossing  back  from  the  regions 
of  dense  matter  to  the  spiritual  realm.  The  garments 
of  the  formal  mind — concerned  with  experience  in  the 
material  order — are  also  given  up ;  they  are  divided 
into  four  parts, ^  four  being  the  typical  number  of 
manifestation  in  matter.  The  outer  garment,  the 
physical  body  in  which  the  soul  has  functioned  in  the 
four  order,  is  extended  in  four  directions  and  also  given 
up  at  the  **  death  "  on  the  cross.  This  body  has  proved 
itself  to  be  the  ^*  manger  "  in  which  Christhood  has 
lain  at  birth,  the  **  cross  "  it  has  carried  and  on  which 

^  John  xix.  23,  24. 


232     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

it  has  vindicated  itself,  and  will  prove  to  be  the  **  tomb  "  ^ 
from  which  it  will  rise  triumphant  into  the  glorious 
Resurrection-body. 

This  is  the  giving  back  with  honour  of  the  "  coats  of 
skins  "  that  were  made  by  Jahveh  'Elohim  as  means 
for  the  soul's  outgoing  into  matter  and  its  **  return  " 
thence.  They  are  given  up  at  the  return,  being  as 
scaffolding  which  is  no  longer  required  for  its  original 
purpose ;  for  the  soul  obtains  '*  all  power  in  heaven  and 
on  earth  "  ^  through  its  **  new  "  organism,  and  will 
be  able  thereby  truly  to  express  heaven  upon  earth. 

When  the  soul  functions  through  its  garments,  its 
**  coats  of  skins,"  in  the  period  preceding  their  being 
given  up,  spoken  of  as  *'  the  latter  days,"  it  illumines 
them,  conferring  on  them  vital  and  magnetic  powers. 
So  that  the  **  garments  "  ultimately  removed  at  the 
crossing  place  at  the  end  of  the  long  journey  are 
endowed  with  special  power  which  can  be  handed  on 
to  those  who  follow. 

This  occurs  in  the  case  of  every  soul  who  finally 
accomplishes  the  Great  Work.  Hence  were  the 
"  garments  "  of  Aaron  stripped  from  him  before  his 
death,  and  given  to  his  son,^  and  the  **  mantle  "  of 
Elijah  was  left  behind  when  he  no  longer  needed  it, 
for  his  soul's  Third  Spark  was  now  radiant  through 
being  enveloped  in  Spiritual  Air.  We  are  told  that  this 
mantle  was  used  with  great  power  and  effect  by  his 
disciple  who,  by  the  Vital  Energy  communicated 
through  it,  was  able  to  cause  the  down-flowing  waters 
of  the  mystic  river  Jordan  to  turn  back,  allowing  his 
own  passage  across,  dryshod,  to  Regeneration  or 
Re-birth.4 

^  Cp.  Plato's  Kratylos,  p.  400  :  "  Some  say  that  the  body  [soma) 
is  the  tomb  {sema)  of  the  soul,  which  may  be  considered  as  buried  in 
our  present  life." 

2  Matt,  xxviii.  18.  ^  Niimh.  xx.  28. 

*  2  Kings  ii.  13,  14. 


THE  GLORIOUS  RESURRECTION-BODY      233 

So  also  was  '^  the  seamless  coat,"  answering  to  the 
One  Element,  the  Quintessential  Element,  reserved  for 
the  benefit  of  one  whose  selection  was  entrusted  to 
Divine  Providence.  And  the  '*  garments  "  which  had 
been  worn  over  this,  representing  the  means  of  con- 
tacting the  phenomenal  order  with  its  four  elements, 
were  divided  in  four  parts  among  **  four  soldiers  "  so  as 
to  help  them,  the  expression  **  four  soldiers  "  ^  symbolis- 
ing human  souls  who  are  gaining  practical  experience 
in  the  form-regions  of  the  Four-order. 

In  the  Slavonic  Enoch,  a  Jewish  work,  written  during 
the  first  fifty  years  of  our  era,  the  seer  is  carried  up 
through  the  various  heavens,  until,  in  the  seventh, 
he  is  set  "  before  the  face  of  the  Lord."  There  his 
earthly  robe  is  taken  off  by  Michael,  Archangel  of  the 
Sun,  and  he  is  clothed  instead  with  a  body  composed 
of  the  Divine  Glory. ^ 

In  19 10  Dr.  Rendel  Harris  found  and  translated  an 
original  Syriac  copy  of  the  long-lost  Odes  of  Solomon  : 
these  Odes  were  written,  it  is  believed,  at  the  close  of 
the  first  century  A.D.  The  final  **  return "  of  the 
regenerate  or  twice-born  soul  is  alluded  to  in  Ode  25, 
two  of  the  lines  being  translated  as  follows  : — 

"  I  was  clothed  with  the  covering  of  Thy  Spirit, 
And  Thou  didst  remove  from  me  my  raiment  of  skins." 

The  writer  is  speaking  in  the  second  line  of  the  taking 
back  from  the  soul,  at  the  close  of  its  long  pilgrimage, 
of  the  separate  powers,  its  **  coats  of  skins  "  which  were 
granted  to  it  when  coming  forth  into  the  regions  of 
manifestation ;  and  in  the  preceding  line,  of  the  soul 
wearing  a  body  still,  but  now  a  Heavenly  body,  the 
glorious  Resurrection-body,  the  coveringof  the  Universal 
Spirit  of  Light  and  Life  with  powers  over  both  *  time- 
less' and  time  orders.  This  is  the  **best  robe"  bestowed 
^  John  xix.  23,  24.  2  3jxi.  5 ;  xxii.  8. 


234     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

on  the  prodigal  son  after  his  "  return "  from  the 
**  far  country,"  the  washed  **  robes  "  of  Rev.  xxii.  14. 
It  is  the  "  body  of  gold  "  in  the  Pistis  Sophia  which 
Jesus  assumed,  the  **  robe  of  glory "  spoken  of  in 
Bardaisan's  **  Hymn,"  which  the  perfected  soul  "  runs 
to  meet  and  to  receive." 

Origen,  commenting  on  Paul's  **  He  will  change  this 
body  of  our  humiliation  until  it  resembles  His  own 
glorious  body,"  ^  reiterates — according  to  Jerome — 
"  He  will  change  it,"  and  adds  :  **  Here  we  see  with 
eyes,  act  with  hands,  walk  with  feet;  but  in  that 
spiritual  body  we  shall  be  all  sight,  all  hearing,  all 
activity."  ^ 

Proclus  the  Neo-Platonist  (450-485  A.D.)  writes  : 
"  We  (then)  have  no  need  of  these  divided  organs 
which  we  have  when  descending  into  generation;  but 
the  radiant  vehicle  alone  is  sufficient,  for  it  has  all  the 
senses  united  together  in  it."  ^  This  **  radiant  vehicle  " 
is  the  Quintessential  Element :  it  is  8o|a,  into  which 
the  (Twfxa  becomes  changed,  from  a-dp^. 

Origen  held  further  that  "  substantial  identity  is 
consistent  with  indefinite  change ;  that  the  resurrec- 
tion-body is  material,  but  material  endowed  with  new 
and  nobler  qualities;  .  .  .  flesh,  of  a  spiritual,  and 
ethereal  and  incorruptible  nature."  * 

Gen.  iii.  22  :  (a)  "  And  Jahveh  '  Elohhn  said,  Behold 
the  man  [ha  'dddm)  is  become  as  one  of  us,  to  know  good 
and  evil ;  ..." 

The  powers  possessed  by  "  the  man  "  whereby  he 
may  **  know  "  good  and  evil  and  choose  his  course  of 
action  of  his  own  free-will,  are  complete ;  so  that  in  the 

1  Phil.  iii.  21. 

2  Liber  contra  Joannem  J erusolymitanum,  para  26. 
^   Tim.,  p.  164. 

*   The    Resurrection    and    Modern    Thought,    by    W.    J.    Sparrow 
Simpson,  D.D.,  191 1,  pp.  351-354- 


*'THE  MAN  IS  BECOME  AS  ONE  OF  US"    235 

realm  of  Ideas  he  is  become  *'  as  one  of  Us,"  lit.,  as 
one  **  out  of  "  Us,  from  among  **  Us,"  the  'Elohim. 
The  saying  of  the  Serpent  in  verse  5  :  **  Ye  shall  be  as 
'Elohim,  knowing  good  and  evil,"  is  thus  affirmed  by 
Jahveh  'Elohim  in  practically  identical  terms.  The 
human  soul  in  the  *  formless  '  soul  realm  is  of  the 
nature  and  powers  of  'Elohim,  hence  is  essentially  of  the 
Divine  order. 

Many  prominent  expositors  of  the  Church,  from 
Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  downwards,  seem  to  have 
struggled  against  the  statement  definitely  recorded  in 
the  earlier  part  of  this  verse,  Calvin  even  maintaining 
that  Jahveh  'Elohim  is  ironical  at  the  expense  of  man, 
and  is  by  no  means  declaring  that  by  "  eating  "  of  the 
dualistic  tree  "  the  man  "  has  become  of  Divine  know- 
ledge in  his  essential  nature.  Such  argue,  moreover, 
that  the  Serpent  was  not  speaking  the  truth  in  verse  5. 
It  is  the  more  surprising  that  there  has  been  this 
uncertainty  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  early  part  of  this 
verse  among  men  of  light  and  leading  in  religion, 
when  we  remember  that  the  words  in  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6, 
addressed  to  men,  declaring  ;  "Ye  are  'Elohim,"  are 
quoted  by  Jesus  as  recording  a  fact.^ 

Many  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  in  the  ancient 
Scripture  of  Egypt  now  commonly  called  the  Book 
of  the  Dead,  we  read  that  the  individualised  soul,  when 
perfectly  fashioned  in  the  world-order,  is  able  to  say  : 
'*  I  am  Ra  at  his  first  appearing  "  (the  rising  Sun) ; 
**  I  am  the  great  God  who  created  himself;  I  am 
yesterday  "  (Osiris) ;  "  I  know  to-day,  or  Ra  on  the  day 
when  he  shall  establish  as  ruler  his  son  Horus;  I  am 
that  Great  Phoenix  which  is  in  Heliopolis."  ^ 

In  the  Coptic  Gnostic  document  known  as  the 
Pistis  Sophia,  dating  apparently  from  the  end  of  the 

^   John  X.  34. 

^  Book  of  the  Dead,  chap.  xvii.  6,  9,  14-18,  26. 


236     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

second  century  or  beginning  of  the  third,  the  following 
remarkable  passage  occurs  :  **  The  Saviour  .  .  .  said  : 
Do  ye  still  not  know  and  are  ye  ignorant  ?  Know  ye 
not,  and  do  ye  not  understand,  that  ye  are  all  angels, 
all  archangels,  gods  and  lords,  all  rulers,  all  the  great 
invisibles,  all  those  of  the  midst,  those  of  every  region 
of  them  that  are  on  the  right,  all  the  great  ones  of  the 
emanations  of  the  light  with  all  their  glory ;  that  ye  are 
all,  of  yourselves  and  in  yourselves  in  turn,  from  one 
mass  and  one  matter  and  one  substance ;  ye  are  all 
from  the  same  mixture  ?  "  ^ 

''  And  by  the  commandment  of  the  First  Mystery, 
the  mixture  is  constrained  until  all  the  great  light 
emanations  with  all  their  glory  are  purified,  until  they 
are  cleansed  from  the  mixture,  till  they  are  purified, 
not  of  themselves,  but  of  necessity,  according  to  the 
regulation  of  the  One  and  Only  Ineffable."  ' 

It  is  clear  from  the  present  verse  that  **  the  man  " 
is  now  not  man  aiid  God,  but  *'  as  one  of  Us,"  as 
'Elohim;  in  other  words,  the  ideal  '*  man  "  who  is 
manifested  in  the  heaven-earth  mode  is  the  counter- 
part, in  this  mode,  of  'Elohim  who  is  above  the  heavens. 
So  ultimately  we  are  able  to  apprehend  the  Divine 
Father-Mother-Son  here  and  now.  in  and  through 
the  perfectly  fashioned  human  soul,  as  he  manifests 
essential  Being  in  the  world  of  becoming. 

The  real  Ego  at  the  heart  of  humanity  as  a  whole,  as 

1  The  BcEotian  Pindar,  the  IVthagorean,  wrote  :    "  One  is  the  race 

of  Gods  and  men."     So  also  has  it  been  said  :    "  There  is  but  one 
Potter  and  one  Lump." 

*  Pisiis  Sophia  ^tr.  from  the  Latin  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead.  London,  1896, 
p.  247\  About  a  century  later,  Plotinus  wrote  :  "  But  we,  what  are 
we  ?  Before  our  birth  to  the  world  we  were  in  the  Divine,  men  of 
another  rank  than  now,  of  the  order  of  the  Gods.  .  .  .  We  were 
members  of  the  Divine  Mind  not  then  under  limit,  not  cast  out  but 
wholly  of  the  All.  .  .  .  Even  now  we  are  not  cast  out  ;  but  upon  that 
Primal-Man  which  we  were,  another  man  has  been  intruded.  .  .  .  We 
are  become  a  Double  person  .  .  .  and  our  first  and  loftier  nature 
lies  torpid."    \^Er.)uud  VL  4,  14,  tr.  Stephen  MacKenna,  vol.  i.,  p.  152.) 


PERFECT  IDEALLY:    TO  BE  SO  ACTUALLY     237 

of  its  every  monadic  unit,  is  essentially  one  with  the 
Originating  Spirit.  The  presence  of  the  Originating 
Spirit  at  the  heart  of  the  individual  man  is  spoken  of  in 
the  passage  which  introduces  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
prayer  to  '*  Our  Father  "  who  is  in  that  *'  kingdom  of 
heaven  "  which  is  *'  within  us."  ^  In  this  introductory 
passage  we  are  instructed  to  concentrate  ourselves,  and 
"  pray  to  the  Father  "  which  is  **  in  the  secret  place," 
Tw  iv  Tw  Kpi^TTTw,  in  the  very  **  crypt  "  of  our  nature. 
From  that  Centre,  in  touch  with  the  petitioner's  inner- 
most consciousness,  He  will  give  out,  or  give  back,  the 
results  of  this  inmost  communion,  for  the  verb  ^ttoSlSw/jll 
does  not  mean  to  **  reward  "  but  to  give  in  return, 
to  recompense ;  this  brings  about  a  harmony  between 
the  without  and  the  within  of  the  nature,  between  that 
which  is  manifesting  in  the  time  order  and  that 
which  is  ever  in  the  eternal  order.  By  this  Divine 
act  of  grace  and  restitution  the  little  or  objective  self 
is  illumined,  and  the  revelation  consciously  borne  in 
upon  it  that  "  man  "  is  "  as  one  of  Us." 

Gen.  iii.  22  :  (h)  "  And  now,  lest  he  put  forth  his 
hand,  and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life  and  eat,  and  live 
for  ever,    ..." 

The  tree  of  life  "  in  the  midst  of  "  the  garden  of 
humanity  represents  the  Divine  Life  implanted  in  the 
heart  of  each  and  every  human  soul.  In  the  New 
Testament  this  Life  is  that  of  the  **  inward  man,"  - 
the  **  inner  man,"  ^  the  *'  hidden  man  of  the  heart.* 
This  Life  is  not  to  remain  hidden  in  the  ideal  realm  of 
man's  soul,  as  only  a  potential  power  in  him  :  it  has 
to  be  fully  manifested  in  the  regions  of  form. 

The  soul  of  humanity  has  been  created  perfect  in  its 
powers  so  far  as  the  ideal  or  *  formless  '  realm  of  the 
soul-order  is  concerned,  but  has  yet  to  be  fashioned  into 

1  Matt.  vi.  6-8.     See  also  Luke  xvii.  21,  in  the  original. 

2  2  Cor,  iv.  16.  3  EpK  iii.  i6.  *  i  Pet.  iii.  4. 


238     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

an  effective  instrument  for  Divine  use  in  the  regions 
of  materiality.  In  the  storm  and  stress  of  the  actual 
world-order,  in  these  regions  of  duality,  it  has  to  culti- 
vate the  power  of  right  decision  and  action,  so  as  truly 
to  manifest  world-happenings  in  accord  with  the  Divine 
Will.  This,  moreover,  in  the  case  of  each  of  its 
individualised  souls.  The  tree  of  life,  of  life  eternal 
and  everlasting,  may  only  be  **  eaten,"  becoming  an 
actual,  not  only  a  potential,  possession  of  the  soul, 
when,  to  the  Powers  in  the  invisible  worlds,  the  soul 
in  the  material  order  is  "  seen  "  to  be  truly  fashioned 
after  the  Divine  Pattern,  hence  is  ready  to  partake  of 
it  :  this  goal  of  high  attainment  is  at  every  moment  set 
before  the  adventurous  soul.  Human  souls  are,  indeed, 
as  cups  that  are  being  fashioned  within  the  worlds  of 
form,  into  which  the  Spirit  of  God  will  pour  the  wine 
of  eternal  Life  as  each  cup  is  able  to  contain  it  and  im- 
part it  to  others. 

When  the  soul's  **  earth  "  mode  of  consciousness 
undertakes  the  Divine  quest  with  its  two  temporal 
elements,  its  ^tsh  and  its  'ish-shdh,'^  in  mutual  harmony 
and  accord,  the  **  earth  "  mode  becomes  perfected  as 
a  two-in-one  organism,  being  represented  in  the 
individualised  soul  as  the  fashioned  'ish-shdh,  the  soul's 
Virgin  Mother.     This  Virgin  Mother  of  the  *'  earth  " 

1  As  ^tsh,  which  belongs  to  the  temporal  "  earth  "  order,  Joseph  is 
represented  as  the  "  reputed  "  father,  the  true  Father  of  the  soul 
regenerate  being  of  the  "  heaven  "  order.  The  "  new  "  tomb  in 
which  the  body  of  Jesus  is  laid  belongs  also  to  a  Joseph,  the  crucifixion, 
death  and  burial  being  of  the  phenomenal  self,  the  'tsh.  The  site  of 
the  crucifixion  is  Golgotha  :  this  name,  meaning  skull  or  cranium 
{Matt,  xxvii.  33),  also  draws  attention  to  the  outworn  '  I  '  ('fsA)  of 
the  earlier  formal  selves  of  the  soul,  and  beyond,  to  the  true  Subjective 
Consciousness  of  the  eternal  order  with  which  the  soul's  perfected, 
"  sacrificed,"  Self -dedicated  nature  is  now  triumphantly  united. 
From  verses  45-53  of  ibid.,  it  would  further  appear  that  such  of  the 
earlier  formal  selves  of  the  soul  as  have  contributed  through  their 
earth-lives  to  its  fashioned  state  at  the  Great  Happening,  are  the 
soul's  "  saints,"  and  these,  "on  the  third  day,"  that  is,  after  the  soul's 
resurrection,  form  part  of  its  living  **  holy  city." 


A  HOLY  FAMILY  OF  THE  TRIUNE  ORDER    239 

order,  the  Supreme  **  Father  "  of  the  eternal  order, 
and  the  Son,  whose  home  is  in  the  natural  as  in  the 
spiritual  realm,  and  who  is  the  active  Expressor  on 
earth  of  *'  heaven  "  through  the  self-same  soul:  these 
Three  Powers  are  to  be  united  in  the  case  of  each  and 
every  soul,  and  manifested  as  a  Holy  Family  of  the 
Three-in-One  order  under  the  reign  of  the  Son,  the 
Second  Adam,  here  on  earth  in  the  actuality  of  the 
world-order,  within  the  **  temple  "  of  the  universe  : 
''  My  Father's  house." 


CHAPTER   XXII 
Gen.  iii.,  verses  23,  24 

Gen.  iii.  23  ;  ''Therefore  (lit.,  And)  Jahveh  ' Eldhtm 
sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  till  the  ground 
from  whence  he  was  taken.'' 

Gen.  iii.  24  :   ''So  he  drove  out  the  man  "  [ha  'dddm). 

The  soul  of  humanity  is  accordingly  plunged  into 
earth-life  in  the  material  order.  This  is  symbolised 
in  a  later  chapter  of  Genesis  as  the  going  down  into 
Egypt.  For  there  is  "  corn  "  in  Egypt.  It  is  during 
physical  existence  that  each  soul,  led  by  necessary 
Fate,  grows  and  garners  the  corn  of  experience,  with 
its  ripe  powers  of  choice  and  of  initiative,  from  which 
the  bread  of  true  life  is  made.  Through  the  practical 
wisdom  thus  acquired,  the  individualised  soul  is 
jealously  fashioned  into  an  organ  of  the  Divine,  be- 
coming, indeed,  the  perfect  counterpart  of  the  Solar 
Logos,  able  with  its  fellow-souls  to  manifest  *'  heaven  " 
upon  **  earth." 

In  the  Syriac  **  Hymn  of  the  Soul" — also  called 
' '  Hymn  of  the  Pearl, ' '  and  ' '  Hymn  of  the  Robe  of  Glory ' ' 
— to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  this  world- 
order  into  which  the  soul  '*  descends  "  for  the  sake 
of  experience  is  spoken  of  as  **  Egypt."  The  soul  is 
equipped  with  heavenly  powers,  but  on  the  borderland, 
before  assuming  the  bodily  vehicles,  has  to  put  aside 
its  glorious  Mantle,  the  Robe  of  the  Universe,  until  it 
brings  back  from  **  Egypt  "  the  Pearl  of  great  price 

which  is  obtainable  only  there  :    its  own  fashioned  and 

240 


SEEKING  THE  CENTRE  OF  BEING         241 

organised  Soul-substance.  After  securing  the  Pearl 
the  soul  resumes  the  Mantle  :  this  is  more  **  glorious  " 
than  before/  for  the  soul  has  acquired  new  powers  of 
understanding  and  expressing  the  universal  order. 
Of  this  glorious  Mantle  or  Robe,  spoken  of  in  the 
Mithra'ic  Ritual  as  the  **  Body  of  the  Resurrection," 
the  human  body  is  the  symbol,  though  for  an  agelong 
period  it  appears  as  our  prison-house,  the  tomb  of  our 
"  dead  "  selves.^ 

The  '  sending  forth  '  from  the  Garden  of  Eden  repre- 
sents the  *'  fall  "  into  matter  described  by  Orpheus  in 
Greece  as  the  descent  into  the  sublunary  circle.  The 
'  driving  out  '  accentuates  the  fact  that  the  world 
of  Being  appears  to  us  to  be  divided,  as  by  a  gulf,  from 
the  world  of  ex-istence,  the  state  or  mode  of  unity  from 
that  of  duality,  im-mediacy  from  process.  Yet  both 
these  modes  are  ever  in  activity  here,  though  usually 
we  are  unconscious  of  the  fact.  We  have  Here  and 
Now  to  realise  and  prove  that  we  are  not  dyads  only, 
but  monads  as  well,  belonging  not  only  to  the  time 
order  and  the  particular,  but  also  to  the  *  timeless  * 
order  and  the  universal. 

The  force  that  appears  to  separate  the  world  of 
manifestation  from  the  Centre  of  Being  has  to  be  met 
by  our  seeking  to  the  uttermost  to  find  this  Centre, 
striving,  with  Divine  aid,  to  overcome  the  resistance 
which  at  present  seems  to  keep  us  apart.  The  Way  of 
restoration  leading  to  re-constitution  has  been  stated 

^  See  The  Doctrine  of  the  Subtle  Body  in  Western  Tradition, 
chaps,  iii.  iv.,  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead,  London,  J.  M.  Watkins,  1919. 

^  It  was  because  of  its  inner  meanings  that  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
Kings  robed  themselves  in  the  starry  mantle  of  Deity  which  their  god 
Marduk  wore  before  them.  The  same  cosmic  garment  adorned  the 
Iranian  sun-god  Mithras,  and  the  Phrygian-Hittite  moon-god; 
indeed  it  appears  again  and  again  in  the  mythology  of  ancient  people. 
It  was  the  robe  of  state  of  the  Roman  emperors,  and  of  rulers  in  the 
middle  ages.  In  mediaeval  art  the  star-decked  robe  was  transferred 
to  the  Madonna.  See  Dr  Robert  Eisler's  Welienmantel  und  Himmels- 
zelt,  2  vols.,  1910, 

16 


242     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

under  many  forms  since  man  first  appeared  on  the 
earth,  and  is  of  the  nature  of  a  leap.  In  the  creation 
story  before  us  the  Way  is  pointed  out  by  **  the  Seed 
of  the  Woman,"  the  incarnate  **  Light."  ^  This  is 
the  Third  or  "  Christ  "  Spark  which,  descending  "  from 
Above,"  is  to  be  **  born  "  in  each  purified  soul  during 
the  actual  world-order,  where  also,  in  the  soul's  true 
manhood  state,  the  spark  will  be  fanned  into  flame 
by  the  Breath  of  the  Great  Mother. 

To  this  end,  the  individualised  souls  which  are,  as  it 
were,  cells,  or  centres  of  experience,  in  the  soul  of 
humanity,  have  to  exercise  their  powers  of  **  earth  " 
as  also  of  "  heaven  "  in  the  regions  of  duality.  We  have 
to  **  till  "  the  ground,  the  'addmdh,  the  substance,  of 
our  vast  nature  and  break  into  powder  the  clods  that 
have  formed,  removing  prejudice  and  ignorance  and 
shattering  our  idols,  until  the  basic  nature,  freed  from 
impurities,  is  immediately  responsive  to  its  **  heaven  " 
element.  Only  then  can  it  truly  receive,  and  be 
nourished  by,  the  waters  "  from  Above,"  and  bring 
forth  abundantly. 2  The  "  new  "  man,  from  being 
patterned  after  the  Moon-body,  will  be  patterned  after 
the  Solar  body  as  well,  breathing  cosmically  with  the 
whole  creation,  not  as  a  creature  apart  from  the  whole, 
as  we  breathe  now.^ 

When  Jacob  desired  to  marry  Rachel  and  served 
**  seven "   years   to   that   end,   he   found   that   it   was 

^  In  John  xii.  34-36  (R.V.),  the  crowd  are  uncertain  whether  to 
equate  "  the  Christ  "  with  "the  Son  of  (the)  Man,"  and  enquire  who 
is  the  latter.  The  reply  of  Jesus  is  given  wholly  in  terms  of  "  Light  "  : 
they  are  told  that  the  Light  is  "  in  "  {/uLcra  or  'ev)  them,  and  urged 
during  the  present  earth-life  to  become  "  sons  of  Light."     Cp.  John  i.  9. 

^  This  symbolism  is  commonly  used  by  the  Hebrew  prophets,  as, 
for  example,  Hosea  x.  11-12:  "  Judah  shall  plough,  Jacob  shall 
break  his  clods.  .  .  .  Break  up  your  fallow  ground  :  for  it  is  time  to 
seek  the  Lord,  till  he  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you." 

^  Bergson's  Creative  Evolution  aims  at  showing  that  life  is  an 
effort  to  overcome  the  necessity  or  determinism  of  physical  forces, 
and  so  has  for  its  mission  the  grafting  of  indetermination  on  matter. 


TRULY  HUMAN:  THE  BASIS  OF  TRUE  LIFE    243 

necessary  to  marry  Leah,  the  elder  sister,  and  serve 
a  further  period  of  "  seven  "  years  to  gain  Rachel. 
For  Leah  represents  the  new  moon,  or  one's  evolving, 
active,  temporal  nature,  and  this  has  first  to  hold  the 
attention  with  due  honour  and  regard,  before  Rachel 
— who  represents  the  full  moon,  or  the  temporal 
nature  when  this  is  able  to  reflect  completely  the  sun, 
or  cosmic  nature — can  be  possessed  in  marriage.^ 
The  Way  to  spiritual  things  is  by  the  gate  of  the  sensible 
things.  We  have  to  be  truly  human  before  we  can  rise 
to  the  rank  of  the  Divine. 

That  the  transformation  of  the  human  personality  to 
a  Divine  condition,  to  the  state  of  the  Twice-born,  does 
not  come  about  of  itself,  but  has  to  be  preceded  in  each 
case  by  man's  whole-souled  endeavour  to  fit  himself 
for  this  condition,  is  the  substance  of  the  argument  of 
the  Apostle  Paul  in  i  Cor.  xv.  and  elsewhere.  It  is 
the  key  to  statements  such  as  :  **  .  .  .  if  by  any  means 
I  may  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  Not 
that  I  have  already  obtained,  or  am  already  perfectly 
fashioned:  but  I  press  on,  if  so  be  that  I  may  lay 
hold  on  that  for  which  also  I  was  laid  hold  on.  .  .  .  "  ^ 
And  again  :  '*  I  buffet  my  body,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection  [Kal  SovXaywyw),  lest  by  any  means,  after 
having  been  a  herald  to  others  I  myself  should  be 
rejected."  ^  The  zealous  co-operation  of  the  indi- 
vidual with  Deity,  and  the  exercise  of  his  higher  will 
and  understanding,  so  that  **  error "  is  continually 
replaced  by  the  **  truth  "  hitherto  veiled  within  such 
error,  are  fundamental  facts  connected  with  the 
opportunity  and  purpose  of  earth-life,  which  have  to 
be  constantly  realised  by  the  soul. 

^  The  sisters  Leah  and  Rachel,  as  also  the  sisters  Martha  and  Mary 
of  the  gospels,  correspond  in  many  respects  to  the  sisters  Nephthys 
and  Isis  of  ancient  Egypt.  They  answer,  respectively,  to  the  "  even- 
ing "  and  the  "  morning  "  of  the  first  creation  story. 

2  Phil.  iii.  II,  12.  ^  I  Cor.  ix.  27. 


244     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  last  words  of  Gautama  the  Buddha  were  to 
the  same  effect  :  "  Work  out  your  salvation  with 
diligence."  ^  Paul,  too,  uses  the  same  expression, 
laying  emphasis  on  the  final  issue,  and  enriching  the 
saying  by  affirming  that  the  essential  Agent  is  the 
Divinity  in  man  :  **Andso  .  .  .  with  fear  and  trembling 
work  out  your  own  salvation  to  the  end  (awrrjpiav 
KaTepydt^eoOc) ;  for  the  Worker  in  you,  both  as  to 
willing  and  working  for  well-pleasing,  is  Deity."  ^ 

Attuning  his  will  to  the  Divine  Will,  the  individual 
has  to  act  his  part  during  the  opportunities  of  daily  life 
in  perfecting  his  soul-substance  as  a  responsive  and 
effective  instrument  for  the  use  of  the  Spirit,  always 
maintaining  a  just  relationship  between  himself  and 
his  environment;  then  offer  himself  as  "sacrifice" 
at  the  altar  during  earth-life.  This  word  **  sacrifice  " 
must  be  understood  in  its  root-meaning;  the  soul  has 
to  be  **  consecrated,"  its  powers  being  offered  whole- 
heartedly for  purposeful  employment  and  service  in 
the  world-order  under  Great  Fate.  When  this  offering 
is  accepted,  an  actual  Birth  takes  place  in  the  cosmos. 

Gen.  iii.  24  [continued]  :  "  And  he  (Jahveh  'Elohim) 
placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden  the  cherubim 
and  the  flame  of  a  sword  which  turned  every  way,  to 
keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life." 

Jahveh  'Elohim  **  placed,"  lit.,  caused  to  dwell,  at 
the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  the  cherubim  and  the 
flame  of  a  sword  which  turned  every  way.  What  is 
meant  (a)  by  these  two  symbols,  (b)  by  their  being 
established  at  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  (c) 
keeping  **  the  Way  "  to  the  tree  of  life  ? 

(a)  We  read  again  of  the  Cherubim  in  a  notable 
passage  in   Exodus.     When  Moses  was  in  a  state  of 

^  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vol.  xi.,  p.  113. 
2  Phil.  ii.  12,  13. 


THE  CHERUBIM  245 

spiritual  exultation  on  mount  Sinai,  he  was  instructed 
to  build  a  tabernacle,  a  dwelling — symbol  of  the  per- 
fectly fashioned  soul,  the  tabernacle  made  without 
hands, ^ — also  to  prepare  "  furniture  "  for  it,  the  most 
important  being  the  Ark.  This  was  to  occupy  "  the 
most  holy  place  "  in  the  dwelling  and,  moreover,  be 
kept  veiled  from  even  **  the  holy  place  "  of  which  it 
was  to  be  the  base.^  Exactly  covering  the  upper  sur- 
face of  the  veiled  ark  was  to  be  set  the  "  mercy-seat," 
an  oblong  table-top  of  gold,  having  on  its  two  sides  and 
of  a  piece  with  it  **  two  cherubim,"  one  at  each  end, 
with  their  faces  turned  towards  one  another  and  the 
mercy-seat,  their  four  wings  being  spread  out  on  high 
covering  the  mercy-seat.  **  There  (in  this  *holy  place') 
will  I  meet  thee  and  will  commune  with  thee,  from  above 
the  mercy-seat,  from  between  the  two  cherubim  which 
are  upon  the  ark."  ^ 

This  symbolism,  though  differing  in  terms,  is  essenti- 
ally the  same  as  that  employed  in  the  two  creation 
stories  ;  the  Cherubim,  moreover,  are  two  in  number. 
The  ark  in  the  '*  most  holy  "  place  has  the  same 
significance  as  the  unitary  Light  of  the  first  creation 
story,  and,  like  it,  is  kept  veiled  from  the  immediate 
sight  of  the  soul  lest  the  inexperienced  soul  in  the  form 
regions  perish  from  excess  of  light.  In  the  '^  holy  " 
place,  separated  from  the  ark  yet  linked  to  it  by  the 
mercy-seat,  *'  two  cherubim "  appear  from  opposite 
directions,  looking  towards  one  another  and  to  the 
mercy-seat  between  in  which  they  are  unified  :  they 
signify  the  soul  of  the  second  creation  story,  with  its 
harmonised  powers  of  **  heaven "  and  of  "  earth," 
*  timelessness  '  and  time,  as  represented  by  the  'dddm 

1  Cp.  Rev.  xxi.  3  :   "  The  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men." 

2  Exod.  xxvi.  33. 

'  Exod.  XXV.  22  ;  Num.  vii.  89.  We  read  also  of  Jahveh  dwelling  in, 
inhabiting,  the  Cherubim.  See  margins  of  2  Kings  xix.  15;  Ps, 
Ixxx.  I,  xcix.  I ;    Isai.  xxxvii.  16. 


246     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

and  the  Hsh-shdh  when  first  brought  face  to  face  with 
each  other  in  the  Divine  Presence,  hence  on  "  holy  " 
ground.^ 

It  would  appear  that  the  cherubim  of  the  present 
verse  signify  the  dual  powers  of  the  soul  of  humanity 
when  fully  perfected  in  the  phenomenal  order.  Within 
the  mixing-bowl  of  the  surrounding  universe,  each 
individualised  soul  has  to  become  harmoniously 
fashioned  in  both  elements  of  its  "  earth  "  nature, 
positive  and  negative;  these,  moreover,  are  to  be 
unified  with  the  "  heaven  "  nature,  the  soul  being, 
indeed,  **  born  again  "  of  the  Spirit.  The  ^*  new  " 
dual  powers — of  **  heaven  "  and  of  **  earth  " — will 
then  be  as  the  "  two  angels  "  at  the  tomb  of  the  Risen 
Christ,^  **  the  one  at  the  head  "  (*'  heaven,"  unitary) 
and  the  other  "  at  the  feet  "  ("  earth,"  dual),  symbols 
of  the  manifesting  powers  of  the  perfectly  fashioned 
soul  of  the  Three-in-One  order,  which  is  able  faithfully 
to  represent  and  express  the  Universal  Spirit  in  the 
regions  of  duality.  Such  powers  are  to  be  manifested 
in  perfection  by  each  of  the  many  individualised  souls 
who,  in  their  respective  communities,  will  comprise 
the  ordered  collectivity  of  the  soul  of  humanity. 

The  process  by  which  human  souls  are  formed  and 
fashioned — individually,  in  ordered  groupings,  and  as  a 
whole — into  perfect  organic  instruments  for  the  Divine 
use,  is  based  on  the  eternal  Purpose  and  Plan  of  the 
Supreme    Creator.     Such    process    is    under    the    im- 

1  The  "  mercy  seat  '*  corresponds  to  the  "  River  "  between  Eden 
and  the  garden,  the  Divine  Mother.  The  four  outstretched  wings  of 
the  '*  cherubim  of  glory  overshadowing  the  mercy  seat  "  {Heh.  ix.  5) 
correspond  to  the  "  four  rivers  "  which  encompass  the  "  garden," 
"  the  holy  place,"  this  earth.  They  also  compare,  as  has  been  seen, 
with  the  "  four  living  creatures  "  of  Ezekiel's  vision,  who  are  the 
"  four  beasts  "  of  the  Revelation  :  the  four  representative  signs  of  the 
twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac.  Indeed,  these  "  four  living  creatures  " 
are  also  spoken  of  as  cherubim. 

^  John  XX.  12. 


THE  FLAMING  SWORD  247 

mediate  guidance  and  care  of  the  Representative  of 
**  the  Father,"  namely,  the  Great  Person  of  the  solar 
cosmos,  whose  cosmos  is  symbolised  in  this  verse  as 
**  the  garden  of  Eden."  ^  That  eternal  Purpose  is 
signified  by  the  other  of  the  Two  symbols,  the  flaming 
sword. 

^*  The  flame  of  a  sword  (lit.)  turning  itself  every  way," 
pictures  a  self-revolving  sword  with  its  blade  as  a 
flame. ^  The  sword  is  not  brandished  by  the  cherubim, 
but  equally  with  them  keeps  the  Way  to  the  tree  of  life. 
It  signifies  the  ever-Active  Will  and  Purpose  of  the 
Universal  Creator,  and  equally  of  the  Great  Cosmic 
Person  who  is  the  Son,  the  Word  of  God,  the  universal 
^'  Light "  and,  moreover,  the  essential  Reality,  the 
true  Subjective  Consciousness,  the  **  Husband,"  of  the 
soul.  The  Will  expresses  Itself  eternally  in  im- 
mediacy, universality,  and  completeness,  and  will 
manifest  Itself  in  action  through  prepared  human 
souls.  Its  perfected  instruments,  in  the  great  drama  of 
the  world-order. 

The  sword-flame  expresses  the  Will  of  the  One 
Reality  in  the  Primary,  eternal  mode  of  the  Spiritual 
order ;  the  cherubim  express  this  Primary  mode  in  the 
Secondary  mode  of  the  Soul  order,  in  terms,  ultimately, 
of  Great  Fate,  under  process  in  time  and  space  within 
the  surrounding  universe. 

(b)  The  two  symbols  are  placed  **  at  the  east  of  the 
garden  of  Eden."  In  relation  to  the  garden  of  this 
world,  the  ^*  garden  in  Eden,"  they  are  in  the  direction 
of  the  rising  sun  :  which  turns  darkness  into  light, 
**  death  "  or  "  sleep  "  into  life,  the  life  regenerate. 
Their    eastward    location    implies,    therefore,    as    was 

^  The  "garden  in  Eden  "  of  Gen.  ii.  8  is  the  garden  of  the  'dddm, 
and  relates  to  our  earth. 

2  The  flaming  sword  in  the  garden  has  its  counterpart  in  the  sword 
of  Marduk  (Merodach)  "  with  its  fifty  heads,  whose  light  gleams  forth 
as  the  day." 


248     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

deduced  from  an  earlier  passage,  that  they  direct 
the  soul  to  live  its  earth-life  on  the  basis  of  the  Light- 
and-Life  of  the  Spiritual  Sun.^  In  other  words,  the 
symbols  are  eternally  placed  in  the  **  heaven  "  order  of 
the  soul's  consciousness,  to  serve  as  beacon-lights  to  the 
soul  in  the  *'  earth  "  order. 

(c)  They  are  placed  in  the  spiritual  consciousness  of 
each  and  every  soul  *'  to  keep  *  the  Way  '  of  the  tree  of 
life."  They  preserve  in  the  eternal  Remembrance  of  the 
soul  on  earth  the  knowledge  that  these  two  great  powers 
are  inherent  in  its  very  constitution,  and,  in  their 
perfection,  are  its  birthright  :  one  being  the  eternal, 
Positive  force,  charged  with  the  Divine  Purpose,  of 
Spirituality  the  Unchanging,  the  other,  the  evolving, 
Negative  force  of  the  Soul,  Soul-substance,  with  its 
Form  the  Changing,  of  which  the  universe  itself,  in 
which  the  personal  soul  is  functioning,  is  the  outer 
representative. 

Combining  the  ideas  which  lie  behind  the  symbols 
of  the  cherubim  and  the  flaming  sword,  they  may  be 
represented,  respectively,  by  a  Circle  (or  Sphere)  and 
its  Centre,  such  as  in  ancient  times  was  a  symbol  of  the 
Spiritual  Sun  in  manifestation.  In  this  view,  they 
appear  to  correspond  to  the  activities  and  essential 
nature  of  the  Great  Person  of  the  solar  cosmos,  the 
Logos  or  Son  of  God  or  Jahveh,  who  is  Soul  as  well  as 
Spirit,  and  who  expresses  the  ineffable  nature  of  the 
All-Father  in  terms  of  the  encompassing  universe,  of 
which  His  cosmos  forms  a  Spiritual  Centre. 

The  goal  of  the  Creative  Purpose  is  represented  in  the 

1  Gen.  ii.  8  (a).  Cp.  Enoch  Ix.  8  :  "On  the  east  of  the  garden,  where 
the  elect  and  righteous  dwell."  Many  centuries  before  this  was  re- 
corded, megalithic  monuments,  found  all  over  the  globe,  were  erected 
to  the  dead,  with  a  circular  opening,  as  if  representing  the  sun's  disc, 
cut  ii  o  the  central  stone  on  the  east  to  admit  the  morning  sun.  The 
Great  Sphinx  of  Egypt  (fourth  dynasty)  faced  the  rising  sun. 


A  WORLD  OF  *' LIVING"  "SONS  OF  LIGHT"  249 

closing  words  of  the  second  creation  story  as  '*  the  tree 
of  life."  In  the  **  garden  "  this  tree  has  two  aspects, 
*'  earth  "  and  *'  heaven,"  the  temporal  and  the  eternal. 
The  temporal  aspect  is  ultimately  brought  into  co- 
ordination with  the  eternal,  as  is  also  to  be  understood 
from  the  latest  vision  recorded  in  the  Revelation,^ 
where,  when  the  immediate  Purpose  of  the  Creator  is 
fulfilled,  the  tree  of  life  is  seen  to  be  on  both  sides  of 
'*  the  River  "  (**  on  this  side  of  the  River  and  on  that  "), 
the  tree  spoken  of  in  the  second  creation  story  as  the 
tree  of  knowledge  being  transformed  into  a  second  tree 
of  life.  This  twofold  Tree  of  Life  of  the  Revelation, 
whose  origin  and  dwelling  is  by  the  sides  of  the  '*  River 
.  .  .  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb,"  represents  in  the  *  timeless '  and  temporal 
orders  the  Activity  of  the  Great  Person  of  the  solar 
cosmos  in  the  drama  of  Great  Fate,  under  the  process 
of  the  living  suns  of  the  surrounding  universe.  Such 
activity  is  henceforth  no  longer  **  alone,"  but  is  also 
fitly  displayed  on  **  earth,"  in  harmony  with  the 
*'  heaven  "  consciousness,  by  a  vast  multitude  of 
fashioned  human  souls,  souls  that  have  been  purified 
through  suffering  the  *  passion  '  of  the  world-order  and 
necessarily  retain  their  perfected  human  personalities 
and  characteristics. 

True  happening  in  the  world-order  is  projected  by 
the  Divine  **  Light  "  of  the  first  creation  story.  Human 
history  is  first  bent  to  the  creation  and  perfection  of  a 
realm  of  human  souls,  each  monad  of  which,  when 
trained  and  tempered  for  the  Divine  use  and  **  married  " 
to  the  Spirit,  will  truly  reveal  the  nature  of  the  Divinity. 
When  this  goal  is  reached,  they  will  themselves,  as 
"  sons  of  Light,"  be  the  Divine  glory,  but  will  also  be 
the  foreshadowing  of  a  far  greater  glory,  the  unfolding, 
in  terms  of  exalted  human  life,  through  themselves — 

^  xxii.  2. 


250     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

whether  as  individuals,  as  ordered  organic  communities, 
or  as  a  united  whole — of  the  Divine  Heart :  and  in  the 
removal  of  veil  after  veil  from  this  mystery  of  mysteries 
hitherto  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
they  will  consciously  participate.  Possessing  the 
*'  keys  "  of  both  **  heaven  "  and  "  earth,"  and  repre- 
senting the  "  Kingdom  of  God  "  upon  earth,  humanity 
in  a  triune  order  of  completeness,  comprising  Goodness, 
Truth,  and  Beauty  expressed  in  Purposeful  Activity, 
will  give  glory  to  God  in  the  Highest,  the  Originating 
Source  of  Light  and  Life  and  Love,  joyously,  har- 
moniously and  with  full  understanding  forth-telling  in 
the  actual  world-drama  of  Life  the  innermost  realities 
of  the  universe  of  Light. 


END  OF  PART  III. 


APPENDIX    I 

ON  THE  CUBE  AS  SYMBOL  OF  MANIFESTATION,  AS  ALSO  OF 
THE  CREATIVE  WEEK 

The  most  sacred  of  the  shrines  at  Mecca,  the  central 
city  of  the  Mahommedan  faith,  is  named  after  its 
emblem  the  Ka'ba,  the  Cube.  The  Cube  is  the  shape 
of  **  the  holy  city  Jerusalem,"  for  Rev.  xxi.  lo,  i6 
states  that  *'  the  length  and  the  breadth  and  the  height 
thereof  are  equal."  This  cannot  be  a  city  such  as  we 
know,  for  it  is  twelve  thousand  (lo^  X  12)  furlongs  high. 
In  verse  17  the  dimensions  of  this  mystic  city  are  said 
to  be  **  according  to  the  measure  of  a  man,  that  is, 
of  an  angel,"  implying,  apparently,  that  what  is 
recorded  is  to  be  "  measured,"  interpreted  and  applied 
in  terms  of  living  Reality,  which  is  a  synthesis  of 
perfected  substance  (12)  and  a  high  order  of  con- 
sciousness (10^). 

Investigating  the  natural  facts  concerning  a  cube, 
it  will  be  found  that  it  is  connected  with  important 
key  or  basic  numbers,  themselves  symbols  of  methods 
of  manifestation.  Thus  it  has  a  Unity  peculiar  to 
itself  among  regular  solids,  for  its  Three  dimensions, 
length,  breadth,  and  thickness,  being  equal,  it  repre- 
sents a  Three-in-One  power.  Each  of  the  three 
dimensions  is  bounded  by  Two  equal  faces  or  planes  of 
opposite  outlook,  so  that  the  number  of  faces  is  Six, 
corresponding  to  the  six  directions  of  space,  these  in 
their  totality  representing  All- Space,  or  the  Unity  of 
Space.     The  edges  of  each  face  are  Four-square,  and 

251 


252     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

the  number  of  edges  is  Twelve,  the  number  of  the 
**  signs  "  of  the  zodiac;  twelve,  moreover,  is  the  least 
common  multiple  of  the  preceding  numbers  i,  2,  3,  4, 
and  6.  The  meeting-place  of  Three  faces,  three  of 
the  six  directions  of  space,  in  a  point,  node,  or  knot 
forms  a  solid  angle  of  the  cube,  so  that  each  of  these 
angles  symbolises  a  Three-in-One  power,  as  does  the 
cube  itself,  and  there  are  Eight  of  these  angles.  This 
number  eight,  again,  is  the  cube  of  two,  the  number  of 
manifestation. 

Thus  every  cube  is  connected  with  the  numbers  One, 
Two,  Three,  Four,  Six,  Eight,  and  Twelve,  also  Ten, 
the  sum  of  the  first  four:  these  are  all  key  numbers 
which  are  connected  with  manifestation  in  the  material 
order.  A  cube  is,  indeed,  a  symbol  of  Matter.  Being 
also  of  the  Three-in-One  order,  it  is,  moreover,  a 
symbol  of  the  Triune  Creative  Divinity,  the  Originating 
Source  of  all  manifestation.  Hence  its  unique  im- 
portance and  value  among  geometrical  symbols.  It 
is  a  natural  symbol  of  the  perfected  human  soul  on 
earth,  which  is  able,  individually  and  collectively,  to 
use  the  **  earth  "  and  the  **  heaven "  of  its  nature 
in  mutual  harmony. 

If  a  cube  is  so  placed  that  one  of  the  Eight  angle- 
points  holds  the  middle  of  the  field  of  vision.  Six  of  the 
angles — six  is  the  formative  number — will  appear  to 
surround  the  central  angle  symmetrically,  being,  in 
fact,  the  points  of  a  hexagon  inscribed  in  a  circle  of 
which  this  central  angle-point  is  the  centre,  also  the 
angle-points  of  two  intersecting  equilateral  triangles 
inscribed  in  the  same  circle.  Three  of  the  cube's 
angle-points  may  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  its  lower 
plane  (negative),  its  base,  and  three  to  its  upper  plane 
(positive),  its  summit,  as  in  the  upper  of  the  following 
sketches,  and  we  may  number  them  in  order  round  the 
circle  from  i  to  6,  and  the  central  angle  as  7. 


APPENDIX    I 


253 


When  the  angle-points  of  a  cube  are  thus  placed  and 
numbered,  i  is  opposite  to  4,  2  to  5,  and  3  to  6,  each  of 
these  pairs  being  linked  by  its  own  unseen  diagonal 
which  traverses  the  cube.  If  each  pair  is  expressed  in 
terms  of  its  component  faces,  or 
directions  of  space,  the  sum,  in 
each  case,  is  equivalent  to  the 
six  directions  of  space — in  other 
words,  to  the  unity  of  universal 
space.  The  angle-points  num- 
bered I,  2,  3  at  the  base  of  the 
cube,  are  thus  complementary  to 
those  numbered  4,  5,  6  at  the 
summit,  each  to  each,  as  also  are 
their  respective  totals,  their  sum 
representing  a  universal  unity  of 
the  three-in-one  order. 

From  the  first  creation  story 
like  results  were  obtained  after 
the  **  dividing "  of  the  Unitary 
Light    from    darkness,     for    the 

works  of  the  three  **  days  "  i,  2,  and  3  were  found 
to  be  completed  and  fulfilled  by  the  works  of  the 
three  **  days  "  4,  5,  and  6,  respectively,  the  three 
earlier  days  being  connected  with  Substance,  and  the 
three  later  with  Consciousness.  The  two  sets  of  *'  three 
days  "  compare,  indeed,  with  the  three  angle-points 
at  the  base  and  the  three  at  the  summit  of  the  cube, 
each  with  each.  The  three  unseen  diagonals  through 
the  cube,  which  link  together  these  opposite  points, 
hold  in  balance  and  harmony,  in  a  three-in-one 
ordering.  Substance  and  Consciousness,  Negative  and 
Positive,  "  earth  "  and  '*  heaven,"  the  Outgoing  and 
the  Return,  the  temporal  and  the  eternal.  The  out- 
line of  the  first  creation  story  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  is  thus  found  to  be  indicated  by  a  Cube.     That^ 


254     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

moreover,  which  was  ideally  projected  in  the  *  noumenal ' 
realms  of  the  first  creation  story  is  seen  in  the  visions 
of  the  Revelation  as  if  actually  in  being  on  the  earth 
itself,  and  the  nature  of  this  fulfilment  is  described 
in  that  book  under  the  symbolism  of  :   the  Cube. 

The  central  angle  7  may  be  regarded  as  the  original 
point  whence  the  Unitary  Light  of  the  first  day  appears, 
thence  radiating  forth  throughout  the  universal  circle 
until  **  divided  "  from  the  darkness.  It  is  also  as  the 
focusing  point  (now  an  eighth  point),  connected  with 
the  **  rest,"  or  cessation,  from  creation  on  the  seventh 
day,  in  preparation  for  the  Re-birth  of  creation  into  a 
new  expression  in  manifestation.  In  the  figure,  the 
unseen  angle  8  is  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  diagonal, 
behind  the  angle  7,  on  the  line  of  direct  vision  of  the 
observer  when  the  six  angle-points  are  symmetrically 
ranged  round  the  centre.  (The  length  of  each  diagonal 
is  v/3  X  the  length  of  the  edge  of  the  cube.)  If  the 
angle  7,  the  Eighth  Power  referred  to  in  the  comment 
on  the  first  creation  story,  is  held  to  symbolise  the  Son, 
the  Light,  the  Solar  Logos,  it  would  also  signify  the 
inner  Light  which  **  lightens  "  every  human  soul 
entering  into  incarnation.  This  Light  (with  its  powers) 
ever  directs  each  soul  along  the  Fourth  or  Central 
diagonal,  the  "  inner  "  Way  or  Path,  of  Faith,  inward 
assurance.  Divine  Reason  or  Wisdom,  to  the  Ineffable 
Father  :  who  is  symbolised  by  the  unseen  angle-point 
8,  and  who  is  ever  the  Great  Unknown  to  normal  sight 
and  sense. 

This,  indeed,  is  the  general  purport  of  the  remarkable 
verse  John  i.  18,  though  this  cannot  be  gathered  from 
our  versions,  the  latest  (1881)  being  :  '*  No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time  :  the  .  .  .  Son  which  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  declared  him."  In  the 
original,  the  Son  is  described  as  6  wi/,  a  technical  term, 
meaning,  not  **  which  is,"  as  translated,  but  '*  the  Self- 


APPENDIX    I  255 

existing  one."  And  the  statement  in  the  original 
does  not  go  on  to  imply,  as  might  be  inferred,  that  the 
Son  is  '*  in  "  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  having  once 
upon  a  time  **  declared  "  the  Father.  For  the  pre- 
position €ts  implies  direction  towards,  and  the  verb 
k^rjyrjo-aTo — which  is  linked  by  root  with  such  words  as 
hegemony  (leadership),  and  exegete  (a  guide,  coun- 
sellor)— is  primarily  connected  with  the  idea  of  directing 
the  Way,  and  this  is  emphasised  here  by  the  prefix  used. 
This  verb,  moreover,  is  employed  in  the  gnomic  or 
universal  aorist,  a  tense  frequently  used  in  this  particular 
gospel  :  it  puts  the  emphasis  on  the  process  as  well  as 
the  present.  (See  p.  269  of  Mysticism  and  the  Creed , 
1914,  by  W.  F.  Cobb,  D.D.)  So  that  the  passage  in 
question  appears  emphatically  to  declare  that  the  eternal 
Self-existing  Son,  who  is  also  the  inner,  living  Light  in 
every  man  who  is  in  the  world  of  becoming,  has  always 
been  guiding  every  human  monad,  and  is  here  and  now 
leading  and  conducting  each  and  all  to  the  bosom  of  the 
Father. 


APPENDIX    II 

ON   REINCARNATION,    AND   THE    IMMEDIATE   REALISATION 
"  HERE   AND   NOW "    OF   THE   DIVINE-HUMAN    STATUS 

WITH  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  Reincarnation  to  which 

allusion  has  been  made  in  the  comments,   if  this  is 

held  alone,  unaccompanied  by  the  doctrine  of  Immediate 

Realisation  here  and  now  of  the  next  state  which  is 

before  humanity,  it  leads  to  difficulties  as  great  as  in 

the  case  of  Vicarious  Atonement  without  Reincarnation. 

These  two  basic  truths — Reincarnation,  and  Immediate 

Realisation — are  related  to  each  other  as  *'  earth  "  is 

to  **  heaven,"  as  the  time  mode  of  consciousness  to  the 

*  timeless,'  soul  life  partaking  of  both  these  modes  of 

existence. 

Reincarnation  is  an  illustration  of  the  abstract  idea 

of  the  ever  becoming.     As  a  fundamental  fact  it  appears 

in  many  forms  in  nature,  such  as  the  recurring  seasons 

of  the  year,  cycles  of  history  and  thought,  the  birth  and 

re-birth  of  solar  systems.     The  serpent  is  a  symbol  of 

this   doctrine,    for   it   appears   to   renew   its   youth   by 

sloughing  its  outworn  skin,  and  it  is  partly,  no  doubt, 

from  these  magical  transformations  that  it  was  held 

sacred  in  certain  religions.     Similarly  with  the  palm 

tree.     These  have  been  used  as  symbols  to  represent 

Reincarnation    and    also    the    Re-birth    from    Above. 

Another   symbol   of   the   same   order   is   the   mythical 

phoenix,  the  sun-bird,  which  appears  on  the  coinage 

of  the  emperor  Augustus  with  the  legend  :   **  The  happy 

restoration  of  the  ages,"  the  Augustus  at  whose  coming 

256 


APPENDIX    11  257 

Virgil  wrote  :  '*  The  mighty  order  of  the  ages  is  born 
anew." 

In  1689,  in  his  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding, 
Locke  maintained  that  personal  identity  consists  in 
consciousness;  it  **  does  not  depend  on  a  mass  of  the 
same  particles,"  and  is  not  altered  by  **  the  variation  of 
great  parcels  of  matter.  .  .  .  There  can  from  the  nature 
of  things  be  no  absurdity  at  all  to  suppose  that  the  same 
soul  may,  at  different  times,  be  united  to  different 
bodies,  and  with  them  make  up,  for  that  time,  one  soul." 

In  1894  Huxley  wrote  :  *^  Like  the  doctrine  of 
evolution  itself,  that  of  transmigration  has  its  roots  in 
the  world  of  reality ;  and  it  may  claim  such  support  as 
the  great  argument  from  analogy  is  capable  of  supplying. 
.  .  .  None  but  hasty  thinkers  will  reject  it  on  the  ground 
of  absurdity."  (Evolution  and  Ethics ,  1894,  p.  61.  The 
term  *'  transmigration  "  is  not  strictly  accurate,  nor 
is  metempsychosis ;  the  Greek  word  metensomatosis, 
used  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  is  more  precise.) 

In  1902  Mr.  F.  H.  Bradley  remarked  in  Appearance 
and  Reality,  p.  308  :  *'  We,  I  presume,  are  not  sure 
that  one  soul  might  not  have  a  succession  of  bodies." 
And  in  p.  315  :  **  You  cannot  assert  that  the  continuous 
existence  of  the  body  is  essentially  necessary  for  the 
sameness  and  unity  of  the  soul." 

In  the  Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead  we  read  :  "  Hail 
ye  who  crush  hearts  and  who  make  the  heart  of  a  man 
to  go  through  its  transformations  according  to  his 
deeds.  .  .  .  Homage  to  you,  O  ye  lords  of  eternity, 
ye  possessors  of  everlastingness."  (Chap,  xxvii.  accord- 
ing to  the  Papyrus  of  Mes-em-neter,  Naville,  Todten- 
huch,  book  ii.,  p.  92,  Dr.  Budge.) 

The  weighing  of  the  heart  of  Ani,  the  Egyptian  Scribe, 
in  the  Judgment  Hall  after  death — a  facsimile  of  the 
original  illustration  of  which,  dated  1450  B.C.,  is 
exhibited  in  the  British  Museum  and  elsewhere — takes 

17 


258     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

place  before  the  forty-two  (7  x  6)  gods  of  the  Other 
World  in  presence  of  Osiris,  who  represents  the  Sun- 
god,  and  of  Thoth  the  Moon-god.  The  deeds  of  the 
soul  are  recorded  by  Thoth  on  his  palette,  and  so  is 
the  verdict.  If  the  soul  fails  to  pass  the  divine  test, 
its  heart  is  devoured  by  the  hippopotamus-goddess 
Ta-urt,  "  Eater  of  the  dead,"  who  stands  by,  one  of  the 
seven  representatives  in  the  world-order  of  the  goddess 
Hathor,  daughter  of  Ra  Himself. 

The  symbolic  character  of  the  *'  Eater  of  the  dead  " 
appears  from  the  nature  of  the  varying  descriptions. 
In  the  Papyrus  of  Hu-nefer  the  fore-part  is  that  of  a 
crocodile,  the  middle  of  a  lioness,  and  the  hind-part 
of  a  hippopotamus.  In  Chapter  xvii.  of  the  Book  of 
the  Dead  the  face  is  that  of  a  greyhound  with  the  eye- 
brows of  a  man ;  yet  he  is  said  to  be  always  un- 
seen, and  his  name  is  **  Devourer  for  millions  of 
years." 

It  would  seem  that  the  **  Eater  of  the  dead  "  is  the 
symbol  of  the  Law  of  the  world-order,  which  devours 
the  **  dead,"  the  still  unregenerate  and  unfashioned 
soul,  not  only  once,  but  earth-life  after  earth-life,  until 
the  evolving  soul  works  out  its  own  salvation  and 
attains  to  the  Life  Regenerate. 

Ta-urt,  the  hippopotamus  goddess,  was  also  said  to 
render  aid  at  the  **  new  Birth  "  of  the  **  dead,"  when  the 
soul  becomes  Twice-born.  (See  Hastings'  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  Supplementary  Volume,  p.  187.)  This 
would  suggest  that  the  Re-birth,  the  Second  Birth,  is 
necessarily  based  on  the  antecedent  system  of  births- 
and-deaths,  the  Greater  Mysteries  on  the  lesser. 

The  *'  dead  "  are  the}/-  who  are  under  the  law  of 
reincarnation,  and  have  not  yet  attained  to  the  Living- 
ness  that  comes  with  the  **  Birth  "  "  from  Above," 
a  symbolism  which  is  constantly  to  be  found  in  the 
New  Testament  also.     As  for  example,  in  the  story  of 


APPENDIX    II  259 

the  *'  dead  "  Lazarus,  who  is  "  raised  "  from  this 
condition,  and  ''  loosed  "  from  his  bonds. 

When  the  soul,  once  **  dead  "  or  ''  lost,"  finds  itself, 
and  is  at  length  perfectly  fashioned  in  the  world-order 
as  instrument  or  organ  of  the  Divine,  it  **  lives  "  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word ;  it  balances,  in  the  Egyptian 
symbolism,  against  the  Feather  of  Truth,  and  is  no 
longer  devoured  by  the  ruler  of  our  lower  worlds.  It 
is  probable  that  Satan  (Saturn) — lord  of  the  time 
regions,  and,  moreover,  one  of  the  **  sons  of  God  " 
{Job  i.  6) — is  referred  to  in  his  function  of  "  eater  of 
the  dead  "  when  described  in  i  Pet.  v.  8  as  the  "  de- 
vouring lion,"  also  in  the  gospels  as  the  Adversary  with 
whom  we  are  to  agree  whilst  we  are  in  the  Way  with 
him,  that  is,  here  and  now,  during  earth  life.  When 
we  do  *'  agree,"  he  proves  to  be  one  with  "  the  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Juda  "  of  Rev.  v.  5,  who  is  born  as  the 
Christ-in-us.  (Cp.  Edward  Carpenter's  The  Secret  of 
Time  and  Satan.)  Saturn,  too,  known  as  Chronos  in 
the  Greek  myth,  was  the  *'  devourer  "  of  his  children, 
until  Jupiter  {Zeus),  his  son,  escaping  this  fate,  over- 
came him  and  reigned  in  his  stead. 

The  doctrine  of  Reincarnation  was  held  in  some  form 
or  other  for  some  centuries  before  the  Christian  era, 
in  Egypt,  Chaldea,  and  Persia  {Herod,  ii.  123,  etc.); 
in  India,  even  in  the  oldest  of  the  Upanishads ;  also 
among  the  Orphics,  Pythagoreans  and  Stoics.  The 
followers  of  Orpheus  speak  of  the  "  wheel,"  of  Pytha- 
goras of  the  '*  wheel  of  life."  Simplicius  says,  '*  Ixion 
was  bound  by  God  to  the  wheel  of  fate  and  of  genera- 
tion." {De  Cado,  ii.  91c.)  Pherecydes,  Pindar,  and 
Plato  all  taught  reincarnation.  It  is  in  the  Mysteries 
of  many  of  the  Gnostic  systems,  and  in  the  Pistis 
Sophia.  Some  of  the  Neo-Platonic  thinkers  of  Alex- 
andria accepted  the  doctrine,  including  Philo,  Plotinus, 
and  Proclus.     Proclus  speaks  of  the  cycle  of  generation, 


26o     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

kvkXos  rrjs  yci/eVctos.  It  is  in  the  religious  philosophy 
of  the  Talmud  and  the  Kabala.  The  inner  schools  of 
the  cults  taught  that  the  necessity  for  re-embodiment, 
under  the  law  of  personal  fate,  ceases  at  a  definite  stage 
after  the  Second  Birth  or  Regeneration,  the  full-grown 
soul,  freed  from  the  law  of  necessary  births-and-deaths, 
then  entering  a  new  and  higher  order. 

The  book  of  Wisdo7n  was  known  to  most  of  the  New 
Testament  writers;  its  author  believed  in  the  pre- 
existence  of  souls,  if  not  in  reincarnation,  as  is  clear 
from  the  well-known  passage  : — 

*'  Now  I  was  a  child  of  parts 
And  a  good  soul  fell  to  my  lot, 

To  be  precise,  {fxaWov  5e),  being  good,  I  entered  into  a  body 
undefiled  "  (viii.  19,  20). 

The  doctrine  of  reincarnation  does  not  seem  to  have 
found  favour  with  the  Church  Fathers,  though  some  of 
them,  notably  Origen,  held  the  doctrine  of  pre-exist- 
ence.  Nor  indeed  does  it  appear  in  China  to  have  been 
held  by  the  philosophers  of  the  Tao,  or  the  Way  of 
the  Spirit,  such  as  Lao  Tzu  or  Chuang  Tzu,  who  had 
indeed  a  doctrine  of  metamorphosis,  but  apparently 
not  of  reincarnation.  Their  goal  was  to  be  Re-born. 
*•  He  who  is  re-born  is  near  to  Tao."  '*  They  proceed 
to  be  people  of  God."  {Chuang  Tzu,  Mystic,  Moralist, 
and  Social  Reformer,  translated  from  the  Chinese  by 
Herbert  A.  Giles;  Quaritch,  1889,  pp.  230,  309.) 
Their  whole  being  was  centred  on  the  mystery  of 
Immediate  Realisation,  to  be  accomplished  here  and 
now. 

In  Mysticism  and  the  Creed,  p.  239,  Dr.  Cobb  writes  : 
*'  Nor  can  it  be  admitted  that  this  doctrine  of  many 
lives  in  the  body  is  unknown  to  Holy  Scripture,  for  the 
contrary  proposition  may  be  fairly  maintained,  viz., 
that  the  doctrine  of  reincarnation  (or  re-embodiment) 
lies  at  the  ground  of  the  whole  view  of  salvation  as  set 


APPENDIX    II  261 

out  in  the  Bible,  as  the  necessary  truth  which  gives 
coherence  to  the  whole." 

It  seems  probable  that  there  are  references  to  re- 
incarnation in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  which  are  mis- 
translated or  overlooked  through  this  doctrine  not 
having  been  generally  accepted  in  the  West.  Some 
of  the  obscure  passages  may  depend  on  this  very 
principle.  For  example,  Gen.  vi.  3  reads  :  *'  And  the 
Lord  said,  My  spirit  shall  not  strive  with  man  for  ever 
for  that  he  is  flesh."  But  the  Hebrew  may  be  trans- 
lated :  **  And  Jahveh  said.  My  spirit  shall  not  tabernacle 
in  the  man  for  an  age  (or  aeon)  in  that  he  is  flesh," 
and  the  LXX.  supports  this  rendering.  The  Vulgate 
also,  which  reads  :  **  My  Spirit  shall  not  abide  {non 
pefmanehit)  in  man,  etc."  The  meaning  would  appear 
to  be  that  during  the  age  or  seon  of  the  lesser  mysteries, 
when  the  **  flesh,"  the  substance-nature  of  the  soul,  is 
not  yet  fashioned,  the  Spirit  cannot  take  up  its  enduring 
abode  in  the  soul,  being  unable  to  find  there  a  suitable 
resting-place.  Gen.  iv.  16  states  that  when  Cain  **  went 
out  from  the  presence  of  Jahveh  "  he  '*  dwelt  in  the  land 
of  Nod."  Dillmann  in  Genesis,  1897,  P*  196,  writes  : 
**  Nod  is  not,  any  more  than  Eden,  a  geographically 
definite  country.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  significant 
name,  meaning  land  of  unsettled  and  fugitive  life  (of 
misery)."  Nod  means  **  wandering."  Applying  the 
idea  of  reincarnation,  it  is  probable  that  the  story  is 
picturing  a  succession  of  evolving  earth-lives  in  human 
form,  as  being  the  necessary  lot  of  the  soul  while  coming 
under  the  disciplinary  process  of  *'  the  law."  The 
**  sign  "  **  appointed  for  "  Cain,  the  **  mark  "  set  on 
him,  would  then  be  the  physical  body,  the  undying  soul 
appearing  at  intervals  in  successive  human  forms,  or 
**  masks,"  made  up  of  the  matter  of  the  planet,  therein 
to  work  out  its  salvation.  The  **  wandering  "  of  the 
children  of  Israel  "  in  the  wilderness  "  would  have  the 


262     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

same  essential  meaning  as  the  "wandering"  of 
Cain. 

The  setting  up  of  the  **  gilgal,"  or  circle  of  twelve 
memorial  stones,  after  crossing  the  mystic  river  Jordan, 
is  recorded  in  Josh.  iv.  3,  9,  20.  (The  word  **  gilgal  " 
means  rolling,  also  a  circle.)  The  soul  has  left  its 
"  Egypt  "  where  it  first  awoke  to  a  sense  of  its  fetters 
and  its  darkness,  has  crossed  its  Jordan  and  is  within 
the  Promised  Land,  so  has  attained  a  definite  state  or 
condition ;  it  appears  to  be  aware  that  it  is  subject  to 
the  law  of  the  revolving  Fate-spheres,  under  which  it 
has  to  acquire  the  twelvefold  zodiacal  characteristics 
of  the  phenomenal  universe,  thereby  freeing  itself  from 
bondage  to  them;  for  it  is  specially  indicated  that  the 
first  act  after  the  crossing,  even  before  partaking  of  the 
passover,  is  the  setting  up  of  this  **  gilgal  "  of  the 
twelve-order.  It  would  appear,  indeed,  to  be  a  symbol 
of  Tov  Tpoxov  TTJ^  ycreo-ew?  of  Junics  iii.  6,  *'  the  wheel 
of  genesis,"  the  evolving  process  of  reincarnation 
under  the  revolving  spheres  of  Fate.  This  is,  however, 
but  a  means  to  an  end.  The  necessity  for  this  discip- 
linary process  has  to  be  transcended  by  Immediate 
Realisation,  the  soul  attaining  its  Second  Birth,  the 
conscious  birth  into  the  Divine  order,  then  proceeding 
to  live  out  on  earth  this  higher  order  of  soul  life,  ex- 
pressing happenings  with  full  understanding  in  terms 
of  the  realities  of  the  universe. 

The  above  suggestions  would  give  new  meanings  to 
passages  such  as  Rosea  ix.  9,  3  :  **  They  have  deeply 
corrupted  themselves.  .  .  .  They  shall  not  dwell  in 
the  Lord's  land  :   but   .    .    .    shall  return  to  *  Egypt.'  " 

It  seems  probable  that  the  passing  of  the  '*  wheel  " 
of  *  necessary  '  births-and-deaths  is  symbolised  in  the 
rolling  away  referred  to  in  the  passage  ending  with 
Josh.  V.  9 ;  in  the  taking  away  of  the  stone  from  the 
"  cave  "    in   which   the   **  dead  "    Lazarus   lay   bound, 


APPENDIX    II  263 

prior  to  his  Re-birth  [John  xi.  38,  39),  and  in  the 
rolling  away  of  the  great  stone  at  the  resurrection  scene, 
as  recorded  in  Matt,  xxviii.  2,  3,  on  the  early  morning 
of  the  Eighth  day. 

These  ideas  may  also  explain  the  complex  passage 
in  Luke  xx.  34-36,  where  the  original  appears  to  say  : 
**  The  men  of  the  world-order  marry  and  the  women 
are  given  in  marriage.  But  of  these  they  who  shall 
have  become  worthy  to  find  a  place  in  the  order  of 
the  Re-birth,  the  Second  Birth,  such  do  not  marry  and 
are  not  given  in  marriage  and  cannot  die  again  :  for 
they  are  .  .  .  Sons  of  God,  being  sons  of  the  Re-birth." 
Marrying  and  giving  in  marriage  appear  to  be  intro- 
duced here  as  symbolic  of  the  lesser  mysteries,  when  of 
necessity  the  soul  comes  back  again  and  again  under 
the  law  of  personal  Fate.  But  during  this  period  the 
soul  may  at  any  time  during  earth-life  enter  the  higher 
order,  the  order  of  the  Second  Birth,  being  born  **  from 
Above  "  into  the  Greater  Mysteries.  This  is  the 
doctrine  of  Immediate  Realisation  here  and  now  by 
Divine  Grace,  the  necessary  complement  of  the  doctrine 
of  Reincarnation.  The  soul  is  at  once  freed  from  the 
bonds  of  personal  necessity,  and,  while  still  in  the 
phenomenal  order,  comes  under  *'  the  law  "  of  true 
liberty. 

The  passage  from  the  one  state  to  the  other  is  de- 
scribed as  from  death  into  life  (i  John  iii.  14;  John 
v.  24),  from  darkness  to  light  (Acts  xxvi.  18).  The 
whole  creation  itself  is  to  pass  from  bondage  to  liberty 
[Rom.  viii.  21),  servants  of  sin  becoming  servants  of 
righteousness  [Rom.  vi.  17,  18),  and  slaves  becoming 
sons  [Gal.  iv.  5,  7). 

Regeneration  or  the  *'  New  Birth  "  is,  indeed,  the 
key  to  the  New  Testament,  and  is  there  spoken  of 
and  implied  on  many  occasions.  Foremost  of  these 
is  the  remarkable  conversation   [John  iii.   1-15)   with 


264     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

Nicodemus  "  at  night,"  that  is,  before  the  Sunrise  of 
the  soul's  Second  Birth,  when  Jesus  says,  in  effect,  that 
to  attain  the  heaven  state  one  must  first  be  born  from 
heaven,  so  that  the  immediate  goal  before  the  soul  is 
declared  to  be  the  being  born  '*  from  Above  "  {avwOev^ 
verse  3.  This  verse  may  be  compared  with  verse  31, 
where  the  same  word  avutOcv  is  used ;  the  whole  of 
this  conversation  should  be  studied  in  the  original). 
The  word  TraXtyyivea-La,  or  Re-birth,  is  used  in  Matt. 
xix.  28,  and  again  in  Tit.  iii.  5.  And  in  i  Pet.  i.  3,  and 
again  in  verse  23,  we  read  of  God  **  begetting  us  anew," 
the  verb  being  ava-yci/j/aw,  to  beget  **  above,"  that  is, 
into  the  higher  order,  the  birth  taking  place  in,  and 
transforming,  the  individualised  soul,  on  this  earth 
itself  during  the  present  world-order. 

The  Four  Noble  Truths  of  Guatama  the  Buddha 
{cir.  600  B.C.)  were  not  new  to  India.  The  first  three, 
corresponding  to  the  general  teachings  of  the  Old 
Testament,  relate  to  the  entanglement  of  the  soul  in 
matter;  the  fourth,  corresponding  to  the  teachings  of 
the  New  Testament,  tells  of  the  possibility  of  Deliverance 
to  be  achieved  here  and  now,  by  man's  individual 
effort  guided  by  the  Divine  within  him.  What  was 
new  in  this  to  India  was  that  the  Buddha  removed  the 
stress  from  the  ideas  of  Law,  and  Fate,  and  Re-births, 
and  accentuated  the  Fourth  Noble  Truth,  that  of 
Immediate  Deliverance  now,  and  not  in  a  distant 
future,  and  to  all  without  distinction  of  birth  or  race, 
by  the  Eightfold  Path.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that 
herein  lay  the  secret  of  the  success  of  his  teachings. 
(See  Studies  in  the  Religions  of  the  East,  by  A.  S. 
Geden,  D.D.,  London,  1913,  p.  514.) 

In  a  letter  dated  December  1904,  C.  C.  Massey  wrote  : 
*'  Reincarnation  is  only  a  doctrine  of  unregenerate 
Nature,  and  by  no  means  a  doctrine  of  spiritual  im- 
mortality.   .    .    .    Regeneration — new-naturing — alone 


APPENDIX    II  265 

exempts  from  Re-incarnation.  .  .  .  This  idea  is  not 
less  explicit  in  Christianity  than  in  Buddhism." 
( Thoughts  of  a  Modern  Mystic,  pp.  56,  54.) 

In  an  article  in  the  Times  of  13th  May  191 5,  George 
Russell  (A.E.)  writes  :  **  The  world's  great  ages  return 
not  once  but  many  times.  .  .  .  Life  is  a  wheel,  and 
the  revolutions  bring  again  and  again  the  same  circum- 
stances. Humanity  is  the  squirrel  in  the  wheel. 
Our  ambitions  make  it  to  move.  Will  we  ever  get 
tired  or  rest,  meditating  on  the  Way  Out  ?  " 

The  next  step  set  as  a  beacon-light  before  humanity, 
is  for  it  to  attain,  by  Immediate  Realisation  here  and 
now,  during  actual  human  life,  to  the  state  beyond  that 
of  normal  human  beings,  the  consciously  Divine  state. 
The  v/orld  will  then  become  *'  a  garden  "  in  actuality, 
whose  human  history  will  be  based  on  a  true  under- 
standing of  essential  realities,  and  new  possibilities 
will  open  up  in  this  **  new  "  aeon  with  its  **  new  "  earth 
and  '*  new  "  heaven. 


APPENDIX    III 

THE  'ISH-SHAH,  as  VIRGIN  MOTHER  OF  THE  SOUL  RE- 
GENERATE, AND  THE  SACRED  MARRIAGE  OF  SPIRIT 
AND    SOUL 

In  the  second  creation  story,  the  '*  rib  " — a  de- 
rivative in  the  *'  earth  "  or  temporal  order  from  the 
'dddm,  the  Self  of  all  humanity,  who  is  of  the  **  heaven  " 
or  *  timeless  '  order — represents  the  earlier,  self- 
enwrapped  state  of  the  formal  self,  the  'tsh,  of  each 
human  soul's  necessary  earth-lives. 

When  in  actual  earth-life  the  'tsh,  this  empirical  *  I,' 
with  its  evolving  'ish-shdh,  or  character,  attains  the  state 
in  which,  of  its  own  free-will,  it  identifies  its  interests 
with  those  of  the  'dddm,  humanity  as  a  whole,  so  that 
its  activities  in  the  **  earth  "  order  truly  *'  answer  to  " 
the  universal  ideals  of  the  'dddm  of  the  **  heaven  " 
order,  it  is  then  that  the  two-in-one  individualised  soul 
in  the  actual  world  of  form  may  be  said  to  be  of  the 
perfection  of  the  typal  'ish-shdh  of  the  *  formless  '  soul 
realm,  as  described  in  the  last  few  verses  of  Gen.  ii. 

In  the  New  Testament,  the  perfected  soul's  regenerate 

'tsh  is  represented  by  Joseph  the  husband  of  Mary,  the 

Virgin  Mary  representing  in  the  actual  world-order  the 

fashioned  and  pure  'ish-shdh,  as  typically  foreshadowed 

in    the    *  formless  '     realm    of    the    soul-order.     The 

harmonised    state    of    this    dualistic    human    soul    is 

Divinely    acknowledged    by    the    Third     Spark    being 

born  **  from  Above  "   in  the  **  earth  "   regions  of  the 

self-same  soul's  consciousness,  as  her  *'  Son,"  the  Son 

266 


APPENDIX    III  267 

of  **  the  Man,"  of  the  universal,  heavenly  **  Man  *'  of 
the  first  creation  story.  In  due  course  the  Son  will 
manifest  on  earth  His  perfected  Three-in-One  powers, 
expressing  the  '^Second  Adam"  state  of  the  Soul 
Regenerate  when  **  married  "  to  the  Spirit. 

In  Joh7i  ii.  i-ii,  the  Son  is  required  to  take  steps 
to  exhibit  His  mastery  over  both  the  '*  earth  "  and 
the  *'  heaven  "  orders  of  His  vast  nature,  the  Hsh-shdh 
and  'dddm  powers  of  the  soul,  by  dedicating  Himself, 
with  these  powers,  to  the  service  of  the  Divine  Being, 
offering  all  in  spiritual  '*  marriage."  To  this  end, 
Jesus  is  **  called  "  **  on  the  third  day  "  with  His  twelve 
disciples,  his  twelve  acquired  zodiacal  powers  in  the 
world-order,  to  the  first  of  a  series  of  magical  tests, 
or  symbolic  signs  or  rites  (dpxV  ^'^»'  o-7;//.€iW) ,  which 
He  must  carry  out  to  prove  His  harmonious  control 
over  the  **  earth  "  and  also  the  **  heaven  "  elements, 
the  *'  two  worlds,"  of  His  nature. 

In  the  second  creation  story,  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  Great  Mother  of  all  Manifestation,  the  'ish-shdh 
takes  and  eats  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge, 
and  then,  as  communicator  of  the  soul's  temporal  Fate, 
for  character  is  linked  with  Fate,  becomes  the  initiator 
of  the  'tsh,  the  "  personal  "  element  of  the  self-same 
soul.  Hence  she  hands  the  fruit  to  the  'tsh,  and  he 
eats  it.  In  the  scene  in  the  fourth  gospel,  the  ex- 
perienced and  purified  'ish-shdh,  now  as  Virgin  Mother 
of  the  soul,  and  communicator  of  the  impulsion  of  the 
soul's  Great  or  Cosmic  Fate,  inspires  her  **  Son,"  the 
Active,  Heaven-born  Representative  in  the  **  earth  " 
order  of  the  self-same  soul,  to  take  the  definite  step  in 
the  soul's  magic  transubstantiation,  such  as  will  call 
down  the  Heavenly  Breath  of  the  Great  Mother  to  fan 
the  soul's  Third  Spark  into  a  spiritual  flame  filling  the 
universe.  She  points  out  to  Him  the  immediate  need 
for  the  **  new  "   wine  of    the  Spirit.     The    answer,  tI 


268     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

ejnot  Koi  croLy  Cannot  mean,  **  What  have  I  to  do  with 
thee  ?  "  It  may  mean,  What  is  that  to  me  and  to  thee  ? 
or,  more  probably,  That  is  of  concern  to  me  and  to  thee. 
In  any  case,  the  statement  which  follows,  **  Mine  hour 
is  not  yet  come,"  expresses  the  sense  of  deficiency, 
and  the  Son's  recognition  that  Power  to  act  is  required 
**  from  Above."  The  Divine  response  to  this  acknow- 
ledged need  for  help  from  Above,  to  enable  the  soul  to 
enter  upon  its  Greater  Mysteries,  is  awaited  with  faith 
by  the  Virgin  Mother  of  the  self-same  soul,  who  pro- 
ceeds to  prepare  the  Attendants  for  the  supreme  Word 
and  Act  of  whole-hearted  Self-dedication  by  the  soul  to 
**  the  Governor  of  the  Feast."  The  Attendants  (lit., 
deacons)  appear  to  symbolise  the  Seven  **  angels  "  or 
**  shepherds  "  or  **  spirits "  of  the  Solar  Logos,  the 
'*  watchers  "  of  Enoch  xx.  i,  so  called  because  they 
sleep  not.  The  Governor  of  the  Feast  is,  apparently, 
the  Logos  of  the  Solar  Cosmos,  Representative  of  the 
*  Noumenon  '  of  the  first  creation  story,  Jahveh,  the 
eternal  Word  or  Self-revelation  of  God,  who  ever 
expresses  Himself  in  the  world-order  through  seven 
manifesting  powers  of  the  temporal  order.  Voluntary 
self-dedication  of  the  *'  whole  "  nature  for  service  in 
the  **  earth  "  order  is  the  essential  step  the  soul  must 
take  before  the  Great  Happening  can  become  actual. 

By  Power-and-Grace  granted  **  from  Above,"  the 
Son,  as  Agent  of  the  soul,  is  enabled  to  act  upon  the 
prompting,  the  urge,  of  the  Virgin  Mother  element  of 
the  self-same  soul,  unreservedly  to  ''  offer  "  all  its 
powers  in  the  service  of  the  Supreme.  The  *'  six  days  " 
of  the  soul's  creation-process  have  been  merged  in  the 
soul's  seventh-day  harmony  and  *'  rest  "  in  the  Divine; 
the  soul,  moreover,  is  free  from  purely  personal  aims, 
and  conscious  of  being  one  in  Purpose  with  the  Divinity. 
Of  His  own  free-will,  the  Son  requests  the  Attendants 
to  express  this,  first  by  filling  **  six  "  waterpots  with 


APPENDIX    III  269 

water,  and  they  fill  them,  ews  ai/w,  to  then*  uppermost. 
The  water  signifies  the  pure  substance  of  the  experienced 
soul  which  has  been  washed  and  made  clean  in  ''  living 
waters."  The  Son  then  proceeds  to  offer  to  the  utter- 
most this  pure  and  fashioned  soul-substance  for  use 
under  Great  Fate,  as  distinct  from  personal  fate,  by 
the  further  words  which  He  addresses  to  the  Attendants  : 
**  Take  ...  to  the  Governor  of  the  Feast."  In 
response  to  this  *' word  of  power,"  this  act  of  **  sacrifice," 
of  ^*  making  sacred  "  the  purified  substance  of  the  soul 
by  dedicating  its  activities  in  the  world-order  to  the 
service  of  the  Highest,  in  the  very  act  of  pouring  out  the 
contents  of  the  six  waterpots  in  offering  to  the  Governor 
of  the  Feast,  the  water  is  turned,  re-created,  born 
anew,  *'  into  wine."  This  magic  happening  declares 
that  the  ^*  sacrifice  "  is  accepted,  and  the  fashioned 
soul  acknowledged  as  united  with  the  Divinity,  by  the 
mystic  abiding  of  the  Spirit  within  the  soul's  perfected 
substance.  The  state  of  the  soul  is  at  the  same  time 
openly  declared  to  be  '^  good,"  by  the  Breath  and  Voice 
of  the  Great  Person  of  the  Solar  Cosmos  :  who  ever 
transcends  His  creation  even  while  immanent  in  it, 
being  actively  represented  there  by  His  seven  temporal 
powers  until  the  day  of  days,  the  eighth  day,  when  the 
regenerate  Soul  is  **  married  "  to  the  Spirit. 

By  the  Divine  acceptance,  the  Soul  attains  its  S6^a, 
its  "  glory,"  see  verse  11,  in  that  it  truly  expresses  the 
Spirit  which  abides  therein.  The  Soul's  two  *'  recon- 
ciled "  modes  of  consciousness,  of  **  heaven  "  and  of 
**  earth,"  theoretical  and  practical,  vitalised  and 
unified  and  made  ever-young  by  the  Spirit,  will  hence- 
forth be  manifested  on  earth  by  the  Son— the  Son  of 
the  *  Noumenal,'  universal  **  Man,"  the  Representative 
of  the  Second  Person  of  the  Divinity — **  as  one  man  " 
**  in  one  body,"  in  what  is  in  effect  a  '*  new  "  aeon  or 
world-order. 


270     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  distinction  between  **  heaven  "  and  "  earth," 
Spirit  and  Soul,  the  wine  and  the  container,  as  also  their 
essential  unity,  are  clearly  brought  out  by  two  Eastern 
mystics,  among  others.  In  the  Masnavi  i  Manavi 
of  Jalala-'d-Din  Rumi  (1207-1273),  the  Siifi  poet 
interprets  the  Koran  allegorically.  In  the  translation 
by  E.  H.  Whinfield  we  read  {Mahmud  and  Aydz)  : — 

"  The  wine  is  from  that  world,  the  vessels  from  tJiis ; 
The  vessels  are  seen,  but  the  wine  is  hidden — 
Hidden  indeed  from  the  sight  of  the  carnal. 
But  open  and  manifest  to  the  spiritual." 

Sir  Rabindranath  Tagore  in  Gitdnjali,  No.  73,  19 13, 
writes  :  *'  Thou  ever  pourest  for  me  the  fresh  draught 
of  Thy  wine  of  various  colours  and  fragrance,  filling 
this  earthen  vessel  to  the  brim." 


APPENDIX    IV 

THE  LOGOS  ACTS  THROUGH  SEVEN  LIVING  POWERS  ON  THE 
UNFORMED  SUBSTANCE  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL,  ESTAB- 
LISHING VITAL  CENTRES  WITHIN  IT  AND  RENDERING 
IT  A  LIVING  ORGANISM 

In  various  traditions  and  religious  philosophies, 
seven  great  powers,  expressing  severally  and  together 
a  Transcending,  Unitary  Power,  are  represented  as 
acting  on  the  human  soul,  causing  it  to  realise  its 
essential  nature  and  manifest  this  in  the  happenings 
of  the  world-order.  The  Book  of  the  Dead  of  ancient 
Egypt  (see  e.g.,  chapters  xvii.,  Ixxi.,  and  Ixxxii.)  speaks 
of  seven  spirits,  seven  Ursei,  who  are  connected  with 
the  Eye  of  the  Moon-goddess  Hathor  or  Me-hurt, 
lady  of  Amentet,  goddess  of  Night  and  the  temporal 
order ;  in  another  aspect,  she  is  the  Eye  of  the  supreme 
deity,  Ra.  This  Moon-goddess,  Hathor,  receives  the 
Unitary  Light  through  Horus,  and  sheds  it  upon  the 
world  by  seven  methods  or  powers — described  as 
Spirits  or  Uraei.  Hence  the  symbolic  prayer  in  chapter 
liii.  :  **  Let  me  eat  the  seven  loaves  of  bread  under  the 
sycamore  tree  of  my  lady,  the  goddess  Hathor." 
Osiris,  again,  takes  seven  rays  with  him  into  the  solar 
boat.  The  Chinese  Yao  sails  with  seven  others  to 
re-vitalise  and  re-people  the  earth.  In  the  same  way, 
in  India,  Vaivasvata  Manu  and  his  seven  rishis  of  the 
Matsya  or  Fish  allegory,  are  '*  saved  "  in  an  ark  from 
a  deluge  and  bring  new  life  to  the  earth. 

Similar    ideas    are    found    in    other    early    religious 

271 


272     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

systems,  of  Deity  coming  into  relation  with  man 
through  seven  intermediary  powers,  awakening  in  man 
a  like  sevenfold  power.  The  name  for  the  Babylonian 
Pantheon  was  **  the  Seven  Gods,"  and  this  sevenfold 
deity  inhered  in  the  essence  of  the  religion.  Mithra'ism 
had  its  divine  realm  figured  as  a  staircase  with  seven 
portals  or  heavens,  the  abode  of  the  six  great  emanations 
and  of  Mithra;  the  soul  learns  to  ascend  this  stairway, 
attaining  ultimately  to  an  eighth  heaven,  where  it 
rests  in  the  presence  of  Ormuzd.  In  the  Pocmandres, 
one  of  the  Hermetic,  pre-Christian  tractates  of  Alex- 
andria, it  is  stated  :  "  Seven  rulers  enclose  the  mani- 
fested cosmos;  men  call  their  ruling  Fate."  Such 
Fate  is  overcome  when  the  human  soul  possesses, 
through  Gnosis  (or  Regeneration),  the  keys  to  the 
powers  of  **  the  seven,"  the  soul  being  then  exalted 
in  the  Eighth  sphere. 

In  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  the  active  influence  of 
seven  energies,  or  powers,  of  the  Supreme  Power  upon 
the  human  soul,  whose  nature  learns  to  respond,  is 
described  in  various  ways.  Josh.  vi.  1-27  tells  the 
story  of  Rahab  the  harlot — who  symbolises  one's  own 
soul  while  held  in  thrall  to  the  lower  nature — being 
rescued  from  the  fortress  of  Jericho  (lit.,  city  of  the 
Moon-god),  representing  the  **  city  "  of  the  human  soul 
during  earth-life  in  pre-regenerate  days,  v/ith  its  self- 
centred  limitations  and  restrictions.  (In  Ps.  Ixxxix.  10 
Rahab  is  synonymous  with  **  Egypt,"  signifying  the 
soul  in  bondage  to  materiality.)  The  '*  walls  "  of  this 
city  of  the  unregenerate  soul  are  encompassed  by  **  men 
of  war  "  once  daily  for  six  days,  and  seven  times  on 
the  seventh  day.  These  '*  men  of  war,"  in  twelve 
sections  (cp.  Num.  x.  14-28),  signify  the  activities  of 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  upon  the  soul.  The 
six  days  correspond  to  the  six  working  days  of  creation. 
The  story  is  of  the  soul,  whose  subjective  life  is  always 


APPENDIX    IV  273 

continuous,  being  moulded  through  the  experiences  of 
earth-lives  under  the  influences  of  the  twelve  zodiacal 
signs,  and  developed  under  the  fashioning  powers  of 
the  revolving  fate-spheres,  the  seven  temporal  powers 
of  the  Logos.  At  the  dawn  of  the  seventh  day,  the 
soul  is  encompassed  seven  times  by  the  encircling  hosts, 
whereby  its  consciousness  in  both  modes  *'  quickens  " 
into  a  **  new  "  order.  The  hosts  are  followed  by  **  seven 
priests  "  blowing  **  seven  trumpets  of  rams'  horns," 
and  the  priests  by  the  **  ark  of  the  covenant,"  the  ark 
symbolising  the  Supreme  Light,  the  Logos,  the  Arche- 
typal Pattern  in  the  *  noumenal '  realm,  in  whose  Image 
the  soul  is  being  fashioned  in  the  time  order  by  the  seven 
powers.  When  the  soul  has  been  encircled  on  this  day 
for  the  seventh  time,  a  Shout  from  the  surrounding 
hosts  expresses  by  the  magic  of  Breath  and  Voice,  the 
equivalent  of  the  utterance  :  *'  It  is  finished,"  in 
reference  to  the  preliminary  fashioning  of  the  soul  in 
the  time  order,  the  Shout  following  the  command  of 
Joshua,  who  utters  the  Divine  Will.  This  is  the  signal 
for  the  *  timeless  '  descent  of  the  Third  Spark.  The 
walls  of  the  city  now  fall  in  their  place,  the  soul  by 
its  acquirements  having  grown  beyond  the  need  to  gain 
personal  experience  and  wisdom  under  the  discipline  of 
the  seven  fate-spheres. 

An  earlier  phase  of  the  story  records  that  Rahab — 
whose  birth  into  the  Higher  Freedom  is  being  recorded 
in  symbol — had  exhibited  enlightened  powers  by  giving 
refuge  in  her  **  house,"  her  awakened  soul-substance, 
to  the  **  two  "  messengers  or  seers  or  spies,  the  two 
modes,  positive-negative,  of  "  heaven  "-**  earth  "  con- 
sciousness :  they  stand  forth  as  the  **  two  witnesses  " 
of  her  own  fashioned  powers,  her  own  actively  conscious 
and  enlightened  Sun  and  Moon  natures.  She  is  forth- 
with saved  by  them  from  the  city  of  the  old  order,  and, 
as  recorded  in  verse  24,  it  is  purified  as  by  fire.     This  is 

18 


274     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

an  early  result  of  the  descent  of  the  Third  Spark.  (As 
ancient  India  would  have  expressed  it,  the  body  or 
substance  of  the  soul  is  brought  under  the  power  of 
Shiva,  one  of  the  Three  Persons  of  their  Trinity,  the 
**  Lord  of  the  burning-ground,"  the  Regenerator.) 

In  verses  24  and  25,  the  narrative  concerning  Rahab 
is  careful  to  record  that  the  choice  actions  of  the  soul's 
lives,  in  each  of  the  Four  orders  of  manifestation, 
are  preserved  in  everlasting  memory  in  the  treasure- 
house  of  Jahveh.  They  represent  the  jewels  which  in 
due  course  will  adorn  the  soul's  cosmic  Robe  of  Glory. 
[Matt.  i.  5,  6  records  that  Rahab,  great-grandmother  of 
David,  is  an  ancestress  of  Joseph,  the  husband  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.) 

The  fashioned  soul  is  now  of  the  order  of  the  Second 
Birth,  having  been  baptised  with  *'  Fire,"  that  is,  born 
"  from  Above  "  as  a  Son  of  God,  with  ever-increasing 
power  over  the  **  heaven  "  and  the  *'  earth  "  of  its 
nature  :  its  harmonised  powers  of  '  timeless  '  con- 
sciousness and  temporal  awareness,  intuition  and 
reason.  These  dual  powers  of  the  soul  have  to  be 
consecrated  during  the  world  order  to  Great  Fate. 
The  soul  is  ultimately  clothed  with  a  **new"  Body, 
the  Resurrection-Body,  the  Universal  Body. 

Rahab  is  the  prototype  of  Mary  Magdalene,  from 
whom  seven  devils  were  cast  out  (Mark  xvi.  9 ;  Luke 
viii.  2).  She,  too,  is  a  symbol  of  the  soul-history  of 
each  individualised  soul,  and  in  her  turn  is  the  exemplar 
of  the  repentant- Sophia,  or  the  soul  purified  and  turned 
to  the  Light,  as  elaborated  in  the  Pistis  Sophia. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  Jewish  festivals 
was  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  known  also  as  the  Feast 
of  the  Ingathering.  It  was  celebrated  annually  about 
the  autumnal  equinox,  and  was  primarily  connected 
with  the  Moon,  hence  with  the  number  seven.  It  was 
related  to  this  number  in  a  special  and  peculiar  manner. 


APPENDIX    IV  275 

It  took  place  in  the  middie  of  the  seventh  month,  that 
is,  when  (geocentrically)  the  sun  was  in  the  seventh 
sign  of  the  zodiac  ;  it  lasted  seven  days,  and  the  numbers 
of  its  various  characteristic  sacrifices  were  multiples 
of  the  number  seven.  (See  Deut.  xvi.  13-17;  Num. 
xxix.  12;  and  references).  In  addition,  there  was 
attached  to  it,  as  to  no  other  Jewish  festival,  an  Eighth 
day,  not  a  feast  day  but  a  closing  festival,  a  "  solemn 
assembly,"  suggesting  the  One  being  rejoined  with  the 
seven  of  manifestation  and  expressed  in  a  higher  Octave. 
This  seven-day  feast  is  spoken  of  {John  vii.  2)  as  the 
a-KyjvoTr-qyia  (lit.,  the  pitching  of  the  tents),  alluding, 
apparently,  to  the  preliminary  discipline  of  soul-life 
in  the  world  order  under  the  seven  powers  of  the  One, 
and  the  many  **  tents  '^  (or  bodies)  occupied  by  the  soul. 
Then  follows  the  **  solemn  assembly  "  of  the  Eighth 
day,  when  the  powers  of  **  the  seven,"  having  been 
acquired  by  the  soul,  are  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  the  Highest.  In  the  time  of  the  second  temple,  at 
this  closing  festival,  Ps.  29  was  sung  by  **  sons  of  God," 
see  margin  of  verse  i  (R.V.),  for  this  eighth  day  heralds 
the  soul's  conscious  birth  "  from  Above  "  into  the 
Divine  Order. 

Easter  Sunday  follows  what  is  known  as  Holy  Week, 
the  week  which  begins  on  Palm  Sunday,  the  day  of  the 
conquering  soul's  triumphal  entry  into  the  Jerusalem 
that  is  Above.  Easter  Day  is  thus  an  eighth-day 
festival.  Its  date  is  dependent  on  the  positions  of  the 
Sun  and  the  Moon  in  relation  to  our  own  planet  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  on 
the  other,  and  thus  varies  year  by  year.  It  occurs  on 
the  first  Sun-day  that  follows  the  Full  Moon,  after  the 
Sun  has  entered  the  first  of  the  twelve  signs,  the  moon 
at  the  full  having  passed  into  (or  possibly,  just  beyond) 
the  seventh  sign  of  the  zodiac.  '*  One  "  is  the  positive 
number  of  the  sun,  and  **  seven  "  the  negative  number 


276     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

of  the  moon,  these  being  the  same  two  numbers  (1x7) 
that  outline  the  creative  week.  (The  general  result  is 
the  same  if  the  two  luminaries  are  considered  helio- 
centrically.)  The  Creative  Week  represents  the  Coming 
Down  of  Being  into  manifestation,  and  Holy  Week, 
with  its  Eighth  Day,  Easter  Day,  the  spiritualisation 
of  creation,  whereby  Spirit  and  Soul,  Consciousness  and 
Substance,  Sun  and  Moon,  the  One  and  the  Seven, 
having  become  harmonised  possessions  of  the  human 
soul,  can  henceforth  be  fully  expressed  in  the  terms 
of  the  world-order  by  the  soul's  true  Ruler,  its  Eighth 
or  ''  Christ  "  Power. 

Rev.  iv.  5  tells  of  the  *'  seven  lamps  of  fire  "  burning 
before  the  Throne,  representing,  as  is  recorded,  the 
seven  spirits  of  God,  the  seven  angels  who  stand  before 
God.  (Rev.  viii.  2;  see  also  Tohit  xii.  15.)  They  are 
the  **  Watchmen  "  or  **  Shepherds  "  over  the  souls  of 
men  during  their  *  first  '  birth,  or  the  disciplinary  pro- 
cess under  generation,  and  lead  the  individualised  soul, 
when  their  seven  powers  are  fully  fashioned  in  it,  to 
the  '  timeless  '  Second  Birth,  or  Regeneration  in  the 
Logos,  who  is  the  Source  of  the  seven,  their  Key-note 
and  its  Octave,  their  One  and  now  their  Eighth.  In 
Him,  as  Eighth,  is  the  dTroKaTao-rao-ts  of  Acts  iii.  21, 
the  **  restitution  " — or  rather,  the  re-constitution — "  of 
all  things." 

In  another  apocalyptic  vision  the  **  risen  "  and 
**  glorified  "  **  Son  of  Man,"  as  Eighth,  **  holds  seven 
stars  in  His  right  hand,"  and  these  are  the  angels 
of  the  seven  churches  "  (Rev.  i.  13,  20).  In  the 
personal  aspect,  these  **  seven  churches  "  are  connected 
with  seven  powers  which  are  to  be  possessed  in 
their  perfection  by  each  soul.  The  book  of  Revela- 
tion appears  to  speak  of  the  fashioning  of  these  seven 
organic  energies  or  powers  of  the  human  soul,  as  also 
of    the    collective    soul    of    humanity,    in    its    various 


APPENDIX    IV  277 

references  to  **  seven  seals,"  '*  seven  trumpets," 
**  plagues,"  **  vials,"  and  the  rest,  in  the  stages  pre- 
ceding and  accompanying  the  coming  of  **  the  Son  of 
(the)  Man  "  upon  the  **  earth  "-regions  of  the  soul, 
that  is,  upon  the  soul's  perfectly  organised  substance 
with  its  sevenfold  powers.  When  He  appears,  their 
Eighth,  the  true  Self  of  the  soul,  then  is  the  fashioned 
soul — the  book  with  its  seven  seals  now  at  last  un- 
sealed— given  the  power  to  use  the  two  perfected 
modes  of  consciouness,  the  **  two  keys,"  the  *  timeless  ' 
and  the  temporal,  as  of  the  mystic  **  Sun  "  and  the 
mystic  *'  Moon." 

(Not  only  is  '*  seven  "  the  predominating  number  in 
the  Revelation,  the  book  which  describes  in  vision  the 
actual  fulfilment  on  earth  of  the  Divine  Purpose 
declared  in  the  two  creation  stories  in  Genesis,  but  the 
occurrences  of  many  of  its  key-words  are  found  to  be 
multiples  of  seven.  For  example,  there  are  seven 
**  blessings,"  in  i.  3,  xiv.  13,  xvi.  15,  xix.  9,  xx.  6,  xxii.  7, 
14.     See  Number  in  Scripture,  by  E.  W.  Bullinger,  D.D., 

pp.  32-34)- 

In  the  last  chapter  of  the  fourth  gospel,  the  *'  Light " 
of  John  i.  9,  incarnate  in  human  form,  the  One, 
is  now  represented  as  the  Perfection  of  the  Seven 
Powers  of  the  Light,  their  organic  Eighth.  He  is 
about  to  **  ascend"  into  the  ''heaven"  order  as  the 
Risen  Christ,  the  Great  Cosmic  Person,  leaving  these 
seven  disciples  in  the  ''  earth"  order  as  His  represen- 
tative Manifestors.  They  have  been  described  passing 
through  the  ''  waters  "  of  tribulation,  while  facing  and 
striving  to  reach  their  Living  Goal,  and  after  personal 
endeavour  attaining  the  further  shore  of  Regeneration, 
then  partaking  of  the  sacramental  rite  of  self-dedication 
to  Great  or  Cosmic  Fate.  After  searching  enquiry, 
addressed  to  Peter,  they  are  appointed  to  carry  out  on 
earth  the  work  that  has  been  accomplished^in  them- 


278     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

selves,  by  **  feeding  "  such  as  are  on  the  Way  towards 
the  Life  which  they  have  attained. 

(Hence,  too,  it  becomes  clear  why  baptismal  fonts, 
since  they  relate  ultimately  to  the  mystery  of  Regenera- 
tion, which  is  attained  through  the  ministration  of  the 
Seven  Powers  of  the  One  Light,  are  usually  made 
Octagonal). 

The  seven  disciples  in  this  scene  may  be  regarded  as 
the  seven  representative  **  Moon,"  or  temporal,  powers 
of  each  human  soul,  of  which  Peter  among  the  seven 
stands  for  the  type,  as  being  the  active  principle  of 
formation  in  root-substance  as  also  its  power  of 
stability.  This,  moreover,  is  indicated  by  the  name 
Peter,  which  means  a  rock.  (Cp.  Matt.  xvi.  i8, 
which  may  be  paraphrased  :  **  Thou  art  Petros,  rock. 
Upon  a  foundation  as  stable  as  thy  name  implies — 
that  is,  upon  perfectly  fashioned  root-substance,  in 
human  form — will  I  build  My  Church.")  Hence,  too, 
was  the  threefold  testing  in  the  spiritual  order  addressed 
to  Peter  in  particular.  Peter's  other  name,  Simon 
(Shimun)^  links  him  also  with  the  **  Sun  "  principle, 
declaring  it  to  be  possible  for  him  to  attain  the  **  two 
keys  "  of  his  nature,  those  of  **  earth  "  and  **  heaven," 
moon  and  sun,  reason  and  intuition,  Matter  and 
Spirit. 

(So  again,  in  the  Pauline  epistles,  we  read  of  the  Son 
of  Man  (lit.,  of  **  the  "  Man)  under  the  triumphant 
dual  Name  of  Jesus  Christ  or  Christ  Jesus,  the  Name 
appearing  about  sixty  times  in  each  of  these  two  forms. 
It  seems  probable  in  this  case  also,  that  the  two  names 
are  employed  to  represent  the  two  modes  of  the  Divine 
nature,  temporal  and  eternal,  as  fashioned  and  co- 
ordinated for  perfect  expression  **  here  and  now  " 
in  one  soul.  In  such  case,  **  Jesus  "  would  represent 
the  nature  of  the  soul  which  is  human  and  personal,  and 
which,  under  the  sublunary  process,  **  suffering  "  the 


APPENDIX    IV  279 

**  passion  "  of  the  world  order,  has  become  a  perfected 
organic  whole  ;  and  **  Christ,"  its  Divine,  Personal 
nature,  which  is  solar  and  universal.  These  powers 
are  able,  throughout  the  two  worlds  of  the  conscious- 
ness, namely,  its  *'  earth  "  and  its  *^  heaven,"  har- 
moniously to  express  in  the  phenomenal  order  the 
transcendent,  ineffable,  Super-Personal  *'  Father  "  of 
the  Universe.) 

But  to  continue  :  Gnostic  thinkers  spoke  of  seven 
vowels,  seven  strings  of  the  lyre,  seven  notes  in  the 
scale,  seven  spheres,  seven  heavens,  seven  colours, 
seven  days  of  the  week  and  of  creation,  seven  planets 
and  planetary  angels,  seven  virgins  of  light.  They 
called  these  seven  regions  or  conditions  the  Hebdomad, 
or  the  world  of  process  and  formation,  regarding  them 
as  under  the  Moon  or  Mother  power.  Hence,  too, 
was  normal  human  life  on  earth  said  to  be  under  the 
control  of  the  seven  spheres  of  Fate  within  the  womb  of 
the  time-order.  Beyond  these  seven  regions  they 
posited  an  Eighth  region  or  sphere,  a  region  no  longer 
subject  to  the  condition  of  genesis  (or  becoming)  under 
the  law  of  necessity,  being  of  the  universal  order,  hence 
independent  of  control  by  the  temporal  order.  Possess- 
ing the  powers  of  these  seven  conditions  of  the  time  order, 
its  Moon  powers,  its  essential  personal  characteristics, 
the  soul  retains  them,  as  also  their  co-ordinating  Sun 
power,  when  it  is  born  into  the  Eighth  or  cosmic  order 
as  a  Son  of  Light  (John  xii.  36,  R.V.)  This  eighth 
region,  or  **  eighth  day,"  is  spoken  of  by  some  Gnostic 
writers  as  the  Ogdoad,  a  term  probably  taken  from 
Egypt,  for  one  of  the  Magic  Papyri  speaks  of  **  the 
Authentic  Name,  the  Name  Ogdoad." 

That  the  Seven — who  express  in  the  time  order  the 
One,  and  through  the  One  the  universal  and  ineffable 
Father — are  able  to  lead  the  soul  to  higher  and  still 
higher  manifestation,  is  emphasised  in  the  institution 


28o     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

of  the  year  of  **  jubile,"  the  year  which  follows  seven 
raised  to  its  second  power  (that  is,  seven  times  seven), 
this  fiftieth  year  being,  moreover,  **  hallowed  "  (Lev. 
XXV.  8-10  :  **  And  thou  shalt  number  seven  sabbaths  of 
years  unto  thee,  seven  times  seven  years ;  and  these 
shall  be  unto  thee  the  days  of  seven  sabbaths  of  years, 
even  forty-nine  years.  .  .  .  And  ye  shall  hallow  the 
fiftieth  year  :  it  shall  be  a  jubile  unto  you."  The 
raising  of  a  number  to  its  second  or  third  or  higher 
power  is  occasionally  used  to  exalt  the  symbolism  to 
a  higher  level  of  meaning,  this  being  also  a  Pythagorean 
idea.  Seven  symbolising  the  Mother,  the  idea  of  the 
Great  Mother,  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  being  emphasised). 
The  fiftieth  **  year  "  is  also  symbolically  represented  in 
the  **  day  "  of  Pentecost,  the  day  which  follows  seven 
times  seven  days  from  the  Resurrection  {Ads  ii.  1-4), 
the  day  of  the  Advent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  day  when 
(see  Acts  ii.  6-13)  **  devout  men  heard  "  and  under- 
stood the  activities  of  the  Spirit,  for  their  individual 
natures  were  enlightened  and  vivified,  and  in  tune 
with  the  universal  harmony.  Accordingly  **  every 
man  heard  in  his  own  language,"  that  is,  in  terms  of 
the  experiences  of  his  own  soul,  whether  **  Parthians, 
Medes,  Elamites,  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  etc."  The 
whole  passage  is  in  antithesis  to  the  story  of  the  **  con- 
fusion of  tongues  "  in  Gen.  xi.  1-9  :  the  catastrophe 
which  results  when  souls  are  bent  on  the  exclusive 
satisfaction  of  the  personal  self.  The  day  of  Pentecost 
corresponds  to  our  White  Moon  day,  or  Whit-Monday, 
the  day  of  the  year  dedicated  to  the  Moon,  the  day 
which  follows  seven  times  seven  days  from  Easter 
Sunday,  the  day  of  the  year  dedicated  to  the  Sun. 
Whit-Monday  foreshadows  the  ultimate  Assumption, 
or  Exaltation  in  glory,  of  the  regenerate,  virginal 
soul,  at  the  **  Second  Coming  '*  of  the  Divinity,  when 
the  soul's  Third  Spark  is  fanned  into  a  universal  fiame 


APPENDIX    IV  281 

by  the  Third  Breath  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Supreme 
Mother-principle  of  the  Triune  Divinity.  The  soul's 
Personality,  the  fruit  of  countless  cycles  of  human 
history,  then  recognises  itself  as  a  sacred  trust,  to  be 
used  in  co-operation  with  other  souls  in  the  service  of 
the  world,  as  an  Agent  of  the  Divine  Purpose  in  the 
Great  Adventure  of  Life. 

In  verse  11  of  the  last  chapter  of  the  fourth  gospel,  it 
is  recorded  that  **  great  fishes,"  to  the  number  of  **  one 
hundred  and  fifty-three,"  were  netted  and  drawn 
through  the  water  to  **  the  other  shore  "  by  the  Seven 
who  were  approaching  their  One,  now  their  Eighth. 
Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  held  that  this  number 
represents  mystically  the  perfection  of  those  who 
attain  to  the  heavenly  state.  He  points  out  that  it  is 
based  on  three  times  fifty,  where  fifty  symbolises  the 
perfection  of  the  sevenfold  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
brought  to  a  unity,  and  to  this  is  added  three,  the  number 
of  the  Trinity. 

This  number  153  is,  moreover,  the  sum  of  the  first 
seventeen  numbers,  that  is,  of  the  Ten  digits  and  the 
following  Seven  numbers.  Stated  in  this  form,  it 
symbolises  the  eternal  Will  and  Purpose  (10)  of  the 
Supreme  Triune  Creator,  expressed  during  the  world- 
order  by  perfectly  fashioned  and  organised  human 
souls,  who  are  emanations  of  the  Divinity  through  the 
Manifesting  Power  (7)  of  the  Supreme  Mother,  and  who 
comprise  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 


THE  END 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  SOME   OF   THE 
MODERN   BOOKS   CONSULTED 

A   Critical    Commentary  on    Gen.    ii.    4   to    iii.  24,  by 

H.  H.  B.  Ayles,  D.D.  ;   Clay  &  Sons,  London,  1904. 
Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library. 

Clothed  with  the  Sun,  by  Dr.  Anna  Kingsford,  1889. 
Contemplations,    by     W.     L.     Wilmshurst  ;      London, 

John  M.  Watkins,  1912. 
Early    Christianity,    by    Prof.    F.    C.    Burkitt,    D.D.  ; 

Cambridge,  1899. 
Fragments  of  a  Faith  Forgotten,  by  G.  R.   S.  Mead  ; 

London,  1900. 
Genesis     critically     and     exegetically     expounded,    by 

August  Dillmann,  written  1872-1895,  tr.   1897,   2 

vols.  ;   Edinburgh,  T.  &  T.  Clark. 
Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 
Mysticism    and    the    Creed,    by    W.    F.    Cobb,    D.D.  ; 

Macmillan,  1914. 
New  Commentary  of  Genesis,  by  Franz  Delitzsch,  tr. 

1888  ;  Edinburgh,  T.  &  T.  Clark. 
Old  Testament  Commentary,  by  Bishop  Ellicott,  1882. 
Pentateuchal    Criticism,  by   the   Rev.    D.    C.    Simpson, 

M.A.  ;   Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1914. 
Plotinus  :  the  Ethical  Treatises,  tr.  Stephen  MacKenna  ; 

London,  1917,  vol.  i. 
Scientific   Idealism,  by  William   Kingsland  ;     London, 

1909. 
Some  Mystical  Adventures,  by  G.  R.   S.  Mead  ;    John 

M.  Watkins,  London,  1910. 

282 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  283 

Studies  in  Isaiah,  by  W.  O.  E.  Oesterley,  D.D.,  19 16. 
Studies  in  the  Religions  of  the  East,  by  A.  S.  Geden, 

D.D.  ;  London,  1913. 
The  Book  of  Enoch,  by  Canon  R.  H.   Charles,  D.D.  ; 

Oxford,  1893. 
The  Book  of  the  Dead,  tr.  Dr.  Budge,  1901. 
The    Chaldean   Oracles    (**  Echoes   from    the   Gnosis," 

vols.  viii.  and  ix.),  tr.  G.  R.   S.  Mead  ;    London, 

1908. 
The    Christian   Platonists   of   Alexandria,   by   the   late 

Chas.  Bigg,  D.D.,  1913. 
The  Divine  Names  in  Genesis,  by  John  Skinner,  D.D., 

Professor  of  O.T.  Exegesis,  Cambridge,  1914. 
The  Doctrine  of  the   Subtle  Body  in  Western  Tradi- 
tion,   by    G.     R.     S.     Mead  ;     London,    John    M. 

Watkins,  19 19. 
The    Gospel    of    Rightness,    by    Miss    C.    E.    Woods  ; 

Williams  &  Norgate,  London,  1909. 
The  Hibbert  Journal. 
The  Hymn  of  Bardaisan,  known  as  Hymn  of  the  Soul, 

etc.,  G.  R.  S.  Mead's  **  Echoes  from  the  Gnosis," 

vol.  X.,  1908. 
The  Kabbalah,  by  C,  D.  Ginsburg  ;  London,  Longmans, 

1865. 
The  Kabbalah  Unveiled,  tr.  S.  D.  Macgregor  Mathers  ; 

London,  1887. 
The  Old   Testament   in   the   Light   of  the   Records   of 

Assyria  and  Babylonia,  Dr.  T.  G.  Pinches. 
The  Origin  of  the  Prologue  to   St  John's  Gospel,   by 

Dr.   Rendel   Harris  ;   Cambridge  University  Press, 

1917. 
The  Pistis  Sophia,  tr.  from  the  Latin,  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead, 

1896. 
The  Quest  (Quarterly). 
The  Seven  Tablets  of  Creation,  L.  W.  King  ;    London, 

1902. 


284     THE  TWO  CREATION   STORIES  IN  GENESIS 

The  Speaker's  Commentary  (on  Genesis  i.  to  iii.). 

The  Works   of  Thomas  Vaughan  :     (Eugenius  Phila- 

lethes),  edited  and  annotated  by  Arthur  Edward 

Waite  ;  London,  1919. 
Thoughts  of  a  Modern  Mystic,    C.   C.   Massey,  ed.   by 

Sir  William  Barrett,  F.R.S. 
Thrice-Greatest  Hermes,  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead  ;    London, 

1906,  3  vols. 
Vision  and  Vesture  :  a  Study  of  Wm.  Blake,  by  Chas. 

Gardner  ;  London,  Dent,  1916. 
Appearance  and  Reality,  by  F.  H.  Bradley,  1902. 
Creative  Evolution,  by  H.  Bergson  ;  Macmillan,  191 1. 
Know  Thyself,  by  Bernardino  Varisco,  1915. 
Logic,     by     Benedetto     Croce,     tr.     Douglas    Ainslie  ; 

Macmillan,  191 7. 
The  Great  Problems,  by  Bernardino  Varisco,  1914. 
The    Philosophy    of    Benedetto    Croce,    by    H.    Wildon 

Carr,  D.Litt.  ;  Macmillan,  London,  1917. 
The  Philosophy  of  Change,  by  H.  Wildon  Carr,  D.Litt.  ; 

Macmillan,  London,  1914. 
The  Philosophy  of  the  Practical,  by  Benedetto  Croce, 

1913- 
The    World     as     Imagination,     by     Edward     Douglas 

Fawcett  ;  Macmillan,  19 16. 
Time  and  Free  Will,  by  Henri  Bergson,  1910. 
What  is  Living  and  what  is  Dead  in  the  Philosophy  of 

Hegel,  by  Benedetto   Croce,  tr.   Douglas  Ainslie  ; 

London,  1915. 


TABLE  OF  BIBLICAL  REFERENCES 

showing  pag"e  where  each  occurs. 


Gen.  4^,  ^        .   127  n. 

Num.  14^'  ^"'  ^8  168  n. 

Ezra  32 . 

168  n. 

4I®          .  261 

14^*         .     99  n. 

61' 

56  n. 

419.  20     ^      yo 

17'          .     54 

6^        58,  261 

2028            .    232 

Job  16 

204 

,  259 

6"          .     54 

21^-9          .    180 

91^ 

210 

,  210  n. 

7^^          .  lyz  n. 

29I2            .    275 

10^'  « 

119 

,  119  n. 

7I'           .     99  n. 

238,  9 

50  n. 

9I       126,  126  n. 

Deut.  i6i-'5     .     35 

27=^    . 

120  n. 

gl5,   16      3y^    3y   ,^ 

i6i^-i7  .  275 

33'    . 

120  n. 

9''          .     58 

29I        .     99  n. 

37I8  . 

40  n. 

11I-9         .  280 

34^        .  230 

38^2  . 

56 

1820-33          ^        57 

34'''    .     58 

42^    . 

50  n. 

2712          .  168  n. 

282,11,12.      165 

Josh.  4=^'  »'  20 .  262 

Ps.       75 

89 

?379,  10   23  w.,  68, 

5i-»        .  262 

2220 

16  n. 

173  n. 

61  "       .  272 

29I 

275 

161         .  230 

29^ 

40  n. 

Exod.  3^^        .     63 

30I2 

.     89 

7^  .        .79  n. 

Ruth  4I8          .   112  n. 

5i« 

.   129 

7«-i2      .   190 

55*^ 

.  225 

9^"        .   107  n. 

I  Sam.  2^        .175  w. 

57' 

.     89 

12*2        .     35 

801 

.  245  n. 

16'          .     88 

8910 

,  272 

20"        .     44  n. 

I  Kings  721 168,  168M. 

95' 

.     45  n. 

24*          .     56  n. 

18^1     .     56  n. 

991 

.  245  n. 

24I6        .     89 

18^^     .     36 

I02l^ 

89 

241^         .     99  n. 

198       .     99  n. 

1042^ 

.    132  il. 

25I8'  22  ,   150 

I39II 

210 

,  210  n. 

2522        .  245 

2  Kings  iiO'  12     36 

I39I3- 

16    ij 

:g,iign. 

26^^         .  245 

2I1     .     36 

148^ 

.     41  77. 

28i'-2o    .     56 

2I3,   14     232 

2821           .      56  1?. 

5!"-'^     102, 

Prov.  822 

.     16  n. 

3429-^5  ,   89 

102  n. 

822- 

30 

'     15 

191^     .  245  n. 

835 

lOI 

,  loi  n. 

Lev.  258-10      .  280 

2412-14      55 

9^ 

lOI 

,    lOI    71. 

Num.  7*^^        .  245 

2  Chr.  3=*'  «'  8 .     54 

Isai.  271 

.     79  n. 

ioi*-28  .  272 

9I8       .     44  w. 

34^^ 

.     21  n. 

285 


286     THE  TWO   CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 


Isai.  45' 

.   139  n. 

Matt.  6«-8        .  237 

Luke  2231        .  139  w. 

54^ 

.   175  n. 

iqi^         .   180  n. 

23*^  196,  196  n. 

54'    173 

,  216  n. 
.     21 

1234-36      ^6^  y6  ^; 

12*"        64,  64  n. 

John  i^  76  n.,  193  n., 

6o2 

6i^    157 

.     89 

,  157  ^• 

I3"3    127,  127  w. 
1613-20     .  167  n. 

242  n.,  277 
i'«          .  254 
1*8          .   196 
2I  .          .64 
2I-11        .  267 
2^-8         .     44  n. 

64« 

Jer.  5i34 

.  119  n. 
.     79  n. 

16I8 

1928     56 
2315 

.  278 

.     38 

w.,  264 
.     45  n. 

Ezek.  ii'  3 

ji,  4,  5, 

j4,   5,   10 
j5,   10 
I  26 

'     55 
12  46 

146 
.     84 
.     86 

2430,   31 

2733 
2*745-53 

282.   3 

28I8 

.     76 
,  238  n. 

238  n. 

263 

232 

3'.          •   196 
3!^          .  220  n. 
3I*     180,  180  n. 
3I-15       .  263 

330  72,  72  n. 

331  .  264 

J  26-23 

.     84 

Mark  433,  34 

2 

4^"           .   144 

2^,  10 

.  193 

Il2.   7 

205  n. 

4I'.  18     .  216  n. 

10^^ 

.     84 

I4I3 

168 

5''          .     50  w. 

281=^ 

.  132 

14^8 

.     64 

52*          .  263 

3i9    132 

,  188 

162-4 

65 

7' .         .  275 

0533-35 

188 

i6» 

274 

739          .  103  n. 

Luke  111'  19    _ 

70 

io3*          .  235 

Dan.  324.  25 

126 

J  26 

70 

Il38,   39        ^     263 

815/. 

70 

J  35 

50  n. 
,  185  n. 
64 

II**          .  205  n. 

^21/. 

J013-21 

70 
.     71 

2*«      185 
2*6 

122"     j33    j88  ,^ 

J234-36          ^     242    W. 

10    . 

150 

3I6 

71 

I23«  93,  204,  279 

12K 

71 

5"        ■ 
712 

34  w- 
16  n. 

13*'   3             .     195 
152  .             .       60  M. 

HOS.    22-23  216 

,  217 

82 

274 

18^ .         .  202  n. 
1923,  24231,233 
19''          .   196 
2o3-9         .   167  n. 
2012          .  246 

2l2.              .     196 

21'  .          .   167  n. 

62.  3 
III   ^ 

f            1 

64 
262 

242  71. 

201  n. 

8*2 
931 
938 

JO30-37        ^ 

16  n. 
38 

16  «. 
230 

II*. 

136  n. 

11*9 
1320,    21 

15 
127. 

21^.         .   126  n. 

Jonah  ii' 

79  n. 

127  n. 
13'^         .     64 

21I1           .  281 

15I8         .  216  n. 

21    .         .  277 

Zech.  3^    loi 

,  loi  n. 

171           .  200  n. 

Acts  i3  .         .     99  M. 

43-14      . 

168  n. 

17''          .  237 

iii^           .     58 

4I"   lOI 

,  loi  n. 

i8''i          .   103  n. 

2I'  2         .  198  n. 

2034-36         263 

2I-4,   6-13        280 

Matt,  i^ 

274 

22*-*^        .  202  n. 

3^'           .  276 

2- 

201    ?7. 

22''   ^          .    16C 

62  .          .56  n. 

2'-ll         . 

126 

22I"         .   148  n. 

7«  .         .56  «. 

4' 

99  n. 

2219          .   191 

26"  .         .     56  M. 

4^0        . 

204  M. 

22*°         .     56  n. 

261^           .  263 

TABLE  OF  BIBLICAL  REFERENCES 


287 


Rom.  512  189,  189  n. 

Col.  Ji^  . 

.  224 

Rev.  4«'  '        .     84 

515         .  189  n. 

I". 

76,  76  n. 

4'  .          .46  n. 

617'  18    .  263 

2«    . 

.     25 

5'  .         .  259 

6  .         .  189  n. 

75 /•         .     56  n. 

821         ^  263 

I  Tim.  1^0 

.  222  n. 

7"            .  217  M. 

§23,   19     ^        27 

2l3 

119  n. 

32  .         .  276 

920        .  119  n. 

2l« 

.  189 

91^           .  152 

ii3'*        .   168 

1  Cor.  2          .     15 

2  Tim.  1 9 

.     17  n. 

12I  .         .     56  M. 

3»        .  188 

iio 

85,  85  n. 

12'  .         .     71 

3i«       .  188 

1413           .  277 

9"       •  243 

Tit.  1 2    . 

.     17  w. 

1612    126  n.,  151 

loi'       .  229 

z'   . 

.  264 

i6i^           .  277 

II'         .     88 

199  .         .  277 

nil          225 

Heb.  i3 

.   160  n. 

20^  .         .  277 

1212       .  229 

5^* 

.    141  n. 

20I1           .  221 

155         .     56  n. 

J  J  24-26 

36  w. 

21I'  2        .  221 

15^         .     21  n. 

21 2  .         .  173 

152I'  22  .  189 

James  ii 

.     56  n. 

2X3   .            .    245 

15"       .     37 

1 21 

.   129 

2110,12,13,16    ^^ 

15*9'  *^  .     88 

3« 

.  262 

21IO,   16,   17      251 

15^^  185,  185  w. 

2ii2^         .     56  n. 

15          .  243 

I  Pet.  1 3'  2;^ 

.  264 

21I*           .     56  n. 

3^    I 

29,  237 

22I  .          .   144 

2  Cor.  41^       .  237 

320 

.   102 

222  .      56,  249 

12'        .  222 

5« 

.  259 

223   ^            ^    206 
22''  1*          .    277 

Gal.  4^'  '         .263 

2  Pet.  I* 

.   181 

42* .         .2 

2^ 

.   102 

426,   26,   29          yo 

Tobit  1215       .  276 

6'              204  w. 

I  John  3I* 

.  263 

Wisdom  2-3  85,  85  n. 

Eph.  2i*"i^      .   136  n. 

Jude,  verse 

9       70 

724-27    128  n. 

3I6          .  237 

6^    85,  85  n. 

531-33      .   176 

Rev.  1 3  . 

.  277 

Sirach,   verses    iK,  iii 

i^  .   224,  224  n. 

lis 

Phil.   2l2'   13        .     244 

ji3,  20 

.  276 

0 

3II,   12        .     243 

1 20 

.     74  w. 

Enoch  20I       .  268 

321     37,  88,  234 

4^. 

.  276 

402       .   147  n. 

INDEX 


^Addrn    of    the    First    Story,    see 

Man,  Archetypal, 
of  the  Second  Story,  not  used 

as  a  proper  name,  Ii8w. ;  69. 

See  Mankind. 
Alone,   158,   160,   161,   163,   174, 

249. 
And  'Elohim  said,  24,  39,  91-92, 

95- 
Animals,    Divine,    84,   84M.,    92, 

93M. 
Aquinas,  Thomas,  3,  ii«.,  42. 
Archetypal  Beings,  8,  lo-ii,  62, 

68,  74,  79,  86,  103. 
Aristotle,  2,  26m.,io9;z.,iio,  138W. 
Augustine   of    Hippo,   2-3,   iin., 

72W.,  136W.,  235,  281. 

Babylon's  influence,   5,   6«.,   22, 

23,  41,  46,  54^-,  55»  69W., 
99,  118,  123,  136,  137,  i37n., 
147,  I97«. ;  47M.  ;  241W.  ; 
272. 

Becoming  or  Genesis,  the  Wheel 
of,  loi,  174,  174H.,  196,  206, 
209M.,  262. 

Being  *  coming  down  '  into  Exist- 
ence, 9,  II,  20,  168,  185,  236, 
241. 

Bergson,  63,  63M.,  115W.,  242W. 

Blake,    William,     now.,     134W., 

143W.,   157^- 
Blessing,  Bless,  81,  82,  89,  90,  93, 

93M.,   100,    103,    126,    12611., 

222,  205,  20511. 
Boehme,  Jacob,  130,  197. 
Book  of  the  Dead,  3611.,  148,  155, 

235,  257,  258,  271. 
Bradley,  F.  H.,  17111.,  215^7.,  257. 
Breath,     Ruach,     of    the    Great 

Mother,   180,   181  ;   24,    198, 

igSiu  ;  43,  92,  120-124,  127- 

129,  131,  154,  179,  194,  195, 

215,  221,  223,  267. 
Breath,  first,  52,  62,  116,  122. 
Breath,  second,  122,  160. 
Breath,  third,  103M.,  143M.,  215, 

221,  223,  242,  267,  281. 


Calvin,  147^.,  178W.,  198,  235. 
Chaldea's  influence,  5,  23,  37W., 

46,  47M.,  48,  54«.,  99,   147, 

igyn. 
Cherubim,  244,  245,  245«.,  246, 

2/[6n.,  247,  248. 
Clement    of    Alexandria,    2,    56, 

loon.y  257. 
Coats  of  skins,  191,  227,  228,  230, 

232,  233. 
Croce,   Benedetto,    47,   48,    31W., 

3311.,     45«.,     139)1.,     141M., 

I42«. 

Cube,  8n.,  55,  251-4. 
Curse,  203-206,  195,  2o6n.,  207, 
213,  218,  222. 

Darkness,  21,  22  ;  12,  25,  27,  29, 

34,  67,  70,  Jin.,  75,   139W., 

2o6u. 
Day,  Days,  29-31,  33,  72,  99,  189, 

213,  253. 
"  Dead,"    126,   224,   224K.,   241, 

258,  259,  262. 
Destiny,  74,  81,  93,  100,  103,  151. 
Divine  Names  in  Genesis,  105/i. 
Duality,   Dual,   Dualism,  9,  gn., 

18,   20,    29,   31,   67,  87,  96, 

102^.,  133,  137,  13811.,  139, 

157,  181,  184,  185,  192,  241, 

246. 
Dust,  118,  119,  119M.,  131,  206, 

218,  219. 
Dyad,  Dyadic,  24,  27^.,  53,  57, 

66,  160,  241. 

Earth,  the  planet,  29,  30,  31,  35, 
74,  75,  8411.,  125,  132,  133, 
136,  152,  154,  240,  24611. 
as  root-substance,  74,  75,  93, 

151. 
as  compared  with  heaven,  13, 

40,  93,  112,  149,  249,  256. 
East,    Eastward,    33,    36W.,    131, 

132,  133,  244,  247,  248,  248W. 
Eat,  Eating,  156,  152,  157,  158, 

183,  184,  186,  187,  202,  238. 


288 


INDEX 


289 


Eden,  3,  48,  131,  132,  132W.,  133, 
143,  144,  145,  147,  152,  154, 
157,  246W. 

Ego,  as  the  temporal  self,   170, 
i^jm.,  173,  186,  217,  227. 
as  the  communal,  higher  self, 

170,  187,  217,  227. 

as  the  transcendental  Self,  139, 
215,  236-237;  no,  III. 

Egypt,  as  symbol  of  the  soul's 
necessary  experience,  20 iw., 
35,  230;   191,  240,  262,  272. 

Eight,  94,  95,  102,  252,  254. 

Eightfold,  264. 

Eighth  day,  35,  36,  76,  263,  269, 

275. 

power,  103,  254,  277,  281. 

sphere  or  region,  272,  279. 
Elijah,  35,  36,  38,  99^.,  232. 
'Elohim,  Supreme  Creator,  7,  183. 

what  the  Name  probably  im- 
plied, 17-19,  I'jn. 

creates  the  universe  in  germ, 
7,  20. 

creates  '  Noumenal  '  Light,  7, 
24,  25. 

divides  it  from  darkness,  25-27, 

38. 
creates  the  seven  powers  of  the 

Light,  xi.,  xii.,  8  ;  viz.,  40  ; 

45 ;  53 ;  67,  68  ;  78 ;  83-85  ; 

85-86. 
Euphrates,  151. 
Eve,  150,  223,  208. 
Evening,  33-36,  36^.,  38,  62,  75, 

82,  83,  84^.,  94,  243W. 
Evil,  32,  138,  138W.,  139,  139W., 

140,    141,    209.     See   Good- 
ness. 
Evolution,  Evolving,  13,  100,  104, 

122,  131,  138,  139,  158,  206. 
Experience,  i57>2.;  91, 141W.,  177, 

185,  191,  204,  207,  215,  240. 
Eye,  Eyes,  50W.,  loi,  184,185,193. 
Ezekiel,  6,  6w.,  46,  48,  55,  84,  86, 

132,  146,  149, 188, 193,  246??. 

Fall,  the,  into  Existence,  3,  8,  <)n., 
62,  98,  171,  181,  182,  187, 
189,  191,  203,  204,  230,  241. 

Fate,  Personal,  Necessary,  204-5  ; 
13,  58,  8972.,  152,  157,  170, 

171,  172,   203-8,   211,   213, 
217^. ,221,  240,  262,263,  272. 

Fate,  Great,  Cosmic,  76,  81,  89^., 
93,  97,  103,  152,  171,  176, 
204,  205,  208,  211,  221,  244, 
247,  249,  269,  277. 


Fate-spheres,  96,   173,  203,  204, 

204W.,  213,  262,  273. 
Father,  the,  the  All-Father,  102 ; 

24,  50,  son.,  93,   104,   106, 

128,  147,  237,  239,  247,  254, 

255,  279. 
Fig-tree,    194,    194^.,    195,    196, 

2o6n. 
First  Creation  Story,  6,  7,  11,  12, 

13,    15,   62,   73W.,   105,    108, 

109. 
Flaming   Sword,    the,   244,   247, 

247W.,  248. 
Flesh,  70,  163,  165,  166,  169,  172, 

234,  261. 
Form,  7w.,  48,  105,  108,  119,  125, 

134^.,    144,    158,    160,    185, 

185W.,  186,  201,  248. 
*  Formless,'  or  Ideal,  Soul-realm, 

108,  115,  120,  121,  122,  124, 

167,  171W.,  173,  201,  237. 
Forthgoing,  182,  187,  195^.,  204, 

208,  209^. 
Four,  45,  46,  46W.,  48,  53-55,  61, 

91,  93,  146,  148,  231,  274. 
Four  Energies,  builders  of  life-in- 
form, 144,  146,  147,  149. 
Four  '  fixed  '  Signs  of  the  zodiac, 

46,  46W.,  48,  84,  147,  147^., 

148M.,  2/^6n. 
Four  living  Creatures,  46,  84,  87, 

146-147,  I47n.,  149,  246W. 
Four  Rivers,  48,   144,   146,   149, 

149W.,  152,  154. 

Garden,  the,  in  Eden,   132,   188, 

240,  247W. 
of  Eden,   132,    188,  240,   247- 

248. 
Girdles  of  Fig-leaves,  194,  194W., 

195,  195^- 
Goodness,  Good,  16,  25,  32,  44, 

47-48,  140,  155,  208-209. 
Good  and  evil,  32,  136-139,  139W., 

140,  141, 1417^.,  191-192,209. 
Great  Person  of  the  Solar  Cosmos, 

the,  135;  90W.,  loi,  138,  141, 

142,  143,  155,  209,  247,  248, 

249,  269,  277.     See  Jahveh. 
Greater  Light,  the,  66,  68-76. 
Greater  Mysteries,  the,  192,  215, 

2iyn.,  258,  263,  268. 
Guatama  the  Buddha,  6,  196,  244, 

264;  94. 

Hallowed,  98,  98^.,  100,  103,  127. 
Hear,  Hearing,  3,  230 ;  50,  son., 
167,  197,  198,  199,  234- 
19 


290     THE  TWO  CREATION  STORIES  IN  GENESIS 


Heaven  and  Earth,  as  polarities, 
31  ;  9M.,  13,  20,  21,  24,  27-28, 
49,  86,  95,  96,  134,  165. 
in  harmony,  23,  36,  108,  215, 

245,  250,  270. 

Help  meet,  158,  159, 161, 186,  202. 
Here  and  Now,  164,  241,  256,  278. 
Hermes   Trismegistus,    41,    4IW., 

82,  io6n.,  126. 
Hesiod,  2,  loow.,  114W. 
Holy  Ghost,  Holy  Spirit,  the,  I2n., 

16,  19,  50,  128,  180,  181. 
Hosea,  64,  216. 
Hymn  of  the  Soul,  191, 230,  230W., 

240. 

Idea,  Ideas,  of  the  '  timeless  * 
order,  lo-ii,  20,  31,  73,  74, 
109,  128,  138,  145,  156,  160. 

Ideal-Form,  8,  23,  39,  40,  45,  53, 
67,  78,  83,  94. 

" Image,"  16,  85,  87,  88,  88w.,  128. 

Incoming,  62,  187,  2ogn.  See 
Return. 

India,  18,  99,  196,  259,  274. 

Ineffable  Being,  15,  24,  132. 

Instrument,  man  as  Divine,  23, 
34,  34W.,  122,  155,  222,  237- 
238,  246,  247. 

Intuition,  25^.,  138,  141W.,  167. 

Irenaeus,  3,  18,  85,  146,  i8on. 

*Ish,  169-174,  177,  179,  181,  186, 
193,  208,  214,  238,  266,  267. 

'Ish-shdh,  170,  171,  163,  166, 
167,  169-182,  187,  193,  194, 
199,  214,  223,  224,  227,  238, 

246,  266,  267.     See  Woman. 
Isis,  36^.,  148,  162,  2437^. 

Jahveh,  God  as  Great  Person, 
Son  of  the  Supreme  Trinity, 
105,  106,  107,  108,  150W., 
216,  245M.,  248,  274  ;  35, 
36,  40,  57,  88,  loi. 

Jahveh  'Elohim,  Name  of  Creator 
in  Second  story,  105,  107. 
probable  meaning,  107,  108. 

Jerome,  i6«.,  40,  no,  234. 

Jonah,  64,  79^.,  201. 

Joseph,  of  the  Gospels,  238^., 
266,  274. 

Joshua,  loi,  168,  i68n.f  273. 

Kabala,  22m.,  260  ;  I2«. 

Key,  Keys,  6o«.,  62,  79,  158,  167, 

250,  251,  263,  277,  278. 
Kingdom  of  the  Son,  14,  76,  100, 

102,  104,  226,  250. 


Law  of  Necessity,  the,  13,  96,  204, 
205,  205^,,  263,  279. 

Lesser  Light,  the,  66,  68,  69,  70, 
70M.,  71,  72,  75. 

Lesser  Mysteries,  the,  30,  30W., 
192,  214,  215,  217W.,  218, 
224«.,  226,  258,  263. 

Life,  everlasting  Counterpart  of 
Light,  26w.,  27,  32,  37,  57, 
loi,  102,  109,  138,  145,  156, 
162,  203,  222,  224,  233,  247. 

Light,  the  eternal  "  Son  "  of  the 
Triune  Divinity,  7,  8,  24-28, 
37-39,  40,  45-46,  57,  61,  104, 
165,  233,  249,  273,  278.  See 
Son  of  the  Divine  Trinity. 

Light,  the  Inner,  incarnate,  76, 
76M.,  104,  140,  220,  220W., 
242,  242W.,  254,  255. 

Love,  iin.y  21,  207,  210. 

Man,  Archetypal,  Light's  seventh 
power,  the  'dddm  of  the  First 
story,  13,  17-18,  39,  76,  84; 

85-89,  89W.,  90-93,  95,  95^^-  ; 

III. 
Man,  as  individual.    See  Woman. 
Mankind,  the  'dddm  of  the  Second 

story,     13  ;      113,     1 18-126, 

133/.,  154/.,  163/.,  169/.,  187, 

197-201,    217-220,    223/., 

235/.,  240/. 
Mazzaroth,  56.    See  Twelve  Signs 

of  the  zodiac. 
Memory,  temporal,  163,  164. 

'timeless,'  190,  191,  222. 
'  Moon  '  consciousness,  as  of  Soul, 

gn.,    69,    75,    99,    102,    158, 

159,  161,  162,  225. 
Moon-god,  or  goddess,  69W.,  120, 

149,  230,  24in.,  271. 
Moon-principle,    or    power,    gn., 

23,  23%.,  24,  36W.,  37W.,  38, 

42,  70,  71,  73,  76,  96,  125, 

158,  195,  225,  230,  274,  280. 
Morning,  33-34,  35,  36,  36^.,  38^ 

51,  75,  82,  94,  96,  243W. 
Moses,  6,  27M.,  36,  3672.,  38,  5872., 

63,  68w.,  88,  99W.,  244. 
Mother,  the  Supreme.     See  Third 

Phase    of    the    Manifesting 

Trinity. 

Naked,  176,  177,  178,  193,  197, 

200,  202. 
Name,  each  human  soul's  Great, 

III,  124,  160,  161,  162,  201, 

231,  278. 


INDEX 


291 


Naming  the  qualities  and  powers 

of  the  Nature,  160,  161,  162  ; 

173  ;  224,  226. 
Nephesh  Khayyah,  Living  Souls, 

78,  83,  84M.,  123,  150. 
Neshamath  Chi'im,  Breath  of  Life, 

120,  120W.,  121,  124. 
Night,  29,  30,  son.,  33,  35,  189. 

*  Noumenal  '  order  of  creation,  7, 

8,  gn.y  69,  89,  94,  95,  98, 
103,  106,  108,  112,  114,  183. 

*  Now,'  the  eternal,  8,  25%.,  33, 

33^'y  173. 
Numbers,  45^.,  59^.,  6on.,  280. 

One,  as  Symbol  of  Unitary  Being, 
37W.,  47^.,  53,  109,  275-276, 
276,  278. 

Origen,  v,  vi.,  4^.,  no,  234,  260. 

Originating   Source,    11,    12,   53, 

151,  174. 
Osiris,  148,  162,  235,  258. 

Particular  and  Universal,  65,  109, 

112,  181,  197. 
Pattern,  the  Divine,   17,  69,  87, 

95,  103,  238. 
Paul,   the  Apostle,   2,    15,   2in., 

24-25,  30W.,  37,  70,  88,  176, 

176W.,     185W.,     188,     iSgn.y 

222,  2227^.,  228n.,  234.,  243. 
Persia,  5,  54^.,  71,  99,  loin.,  136, 

191,  259. 
Peter,  126,  167,  168,  277,  278. 
Philo  Judaeus,  2,  25W.,  27^.,  68n., 

106,  III,  134^.,  140W.,  188, 

259. 
Pistis  Sophia,  235-236  ;  27,  274 ; 

70,  io6n.,  168,  174W.,  2o6n., 

228,  230,  234,  259. 
Plato,  2,  25M.,  son.,  46^.,  48W., 

73^.,   109,   no,  141W.,   190, 

225,  259. 
Plotinus,   I2n.,  2Sn.,  68n.,  71W., 

1117^.,    I2^n.,    i']in.,   236W., 

259. 
Proclus,  234,  259. 
Pythagoras,   2,   47^.,    6ow.,   259, 

280. 

Regeneration,  Regenerate,  62W., 
272  ;  34,  35,  36,  58,  64, 
70W.,  102,  103,  122,  133, 
148,  151,  190,  201,  205, 
2iyn.,  226,  232,  264,  277, 
278. 


Resurrection-body,  232,  233,  234, 

274. 
Return,   the,   53,    62,   98,    195^., 

210,  214,  215,  234,  253. 
Rib,  the,  163,  165,  166,  169,  170^ 

172,  214,  266. 
River,     the    One,     48 ;      246^. ; 

144-149,  152,  180,  249. 
Root-substance,   22,  40,   54,  75, 

124,  149,  152,  160,  199. 


Second    Adam,    the,    176,    187, 

i8gn.,  206,  239,  267. 
Second  Birth,  the,  258,  260,  263, 

264,  274. 
Second  Phase,  or  Person,  of  the 

Manifesting  Trinity,    lo-ii, 

I2n.,  18,  19,  24,  52,  98,  106, 

107,  112. 
See,   Sight,  3,  25,  50,  son.,  85, 

94,  183-184,  222,  224,  229, 

234,  238. 
Seed  of  the  Serpent,  209,  210,  211. 
Seed  of  the  Woman,    187,  209, 

210,  211,  220,  224,  242. 
Serpent    of    Wisdom,    178,    179, 

179W.,  180,  180W.,  181-183, 

190,  203,  204,  212,  235,  256. 
Serpent  of  the  Curse,   190,  203, 

204,  205,  206,  208. 
Seven,    Sevenfold,   23,   37^.,   99, 

99^.,  loi,  102,  103,  104,  126, 

243,  271-281. 

Six,  33,  44,  95,  100,  135,  251, 
252,  268,  269,  272. 

Sleep,  163-165,  169,  170. 

Son,  the,  of  the  Divine  Trinity, 
S8n.,  50,  son.,  67,  100,  102, 
106,  108,  210,  239,  247, 
248,  254,  255.     See  Light. 

Son,  the,  of  (the)  Man,  2427^.,  64, 
64W.,  76,  93,  180,  180W.,  187, 
220,  220W.,  224,  22471.,  266, 
267,  269,  277,  278. 

Son,  Sons,  of  Light,  242??.,  204, 
2047^.,  249,  279. 

Soul,  Soul-substance,  20,  2in., 
22-31,  37,  38,  74-75,  119- 
123  ;     181,   222,   223,   240- 

244,  276. 

Sound,  pure,  197,  202,  229,  230. 
Spark,  First,  52,  61,  116,  122. 
Second,  117,  122,  160. 
Third,  126,  I02n.,  lo^n.,  1437?., 
161,    i6in.,  204,   210,   213- 
215,  220,  232,  242,  273,  274, 
280. 


292     THE  TWO   CREATION   STORIES   IN   GENESIS 


Spirit,  7-9,  9w.,  1 1  w.,  12, 13,25,34, 
37,  37^.,  62,  70,  71,  75,  109, 
192,  221. 

Stars,  68m.,  69,  73,  73^.,  74,  75. 

*  Sun  '  consciousness,  as  of  Spirit, 
23n.,  s6n.,  syn.,  38,  65, 
68-76,  96,  100,  102,  136, 
158,  159,  161,  177,  225,  248, 
273,  278,  280. 

Targum,  89,  8gn.,  197,  197W. 
Temple,   human  soul  as,  of  the 

Spirit,  54,  64,  71,  73,   127, 

188. 
Temporal  and  *  Timeless  '  orders, 

20,  31,  33,  38,  88,  109,  159, 

203,  225,  249. 
Ten,  39,  47^.,  57,  57W.,  58,  59, 

60,  87,  252. 
Tetrad,  45,  53,  57,  66,  92. 
Theophilus  of  Antioch,  17,  i8n., 

63W.,  85. 
Third  Day,  55,  57,  62,  63,  66,  67, 

83,  267. 
Third  Phase,  or  Person,    of   the 

Manifesting  Trinity,  11,  izn. 

15,  19,  52,  68,  69,  85,  86,  87, 

loi,  107,  112,  114,  127,  128, 

198-199,  212. 
Thorns   and   Thistles,    218,    222, 

223,  223W. 
Three,    as    signature-number    of 

Mind,  53,  54,  54^.,  55,  82, 

84M.,  86,  91. 
Three  Days,   17,  38,  63,  64,  67, 

73^.,  253. 
Time,  25^.,  30,  115-116,  146^., 

200,  245. 
Time  order,  204,  233,  241,  249. 
'  Timeless '  order,  33,  33«.,  38,  88  ; 

184;  131,139,  151,  159,233, 
241,  256. 
Tree,  Trees,  60,   61,   6in.,  62n., 

90,  135,  157,  157^^-.  199, 
200,  202. 

Tree  of  Life,  56,  136,  138,  142, 
143,  177,  182,  185,  192,  204, 
215,  237,  238,  244,  247-249. 

Tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  135-138,  142,  i43, 
157,  158,  177,  182-187,  189, 
191,  204,  215,  235,  249,  267. 

Triad,  Triadic,  40,  45,  53,  57,  66, 
78,  92. 


Truth,  truth-error,  31,  32,  47-48, 

141,  141W.,  155,  243. 
Twelve,    Twelvefold,    27,    55-60, 

56M.,    64,    84,    87,    91,    252, 

267,  272. 
Twelve   Signs  of  the  zodiac,  56, 

59,    84,    84M.,    106,    ii5«., 

iign.,  246W.,  252,  262,  267, 

272,  273,  275. 
Two  Hands  of  'Elohim,  the,  18, 

20,  30. 
Two  modes  of  Consciousness,  the, 

87,    89-90,    104,    137,    273, 

274,  278,  279. 

Unity,  20,  25,  40,  53,  57,  60,  62, 

75,  100,    loi,    114,    125W., 
134,    138,     140,     223,    241, 

251. 
Upanishads,  the,  129,  259. 

Value,  re- valuation,  4,  104,  104W., 

192,  205,  222. 
Varisco,    Bernardino,    43,    52W., 

iiOM.,  I26n.,  129W.,  168. 
Vehicle  of  the  Spirit,  37,  38,  64, 

76,  78,  103,  181,  182. 
Vine,  35W.,  137,  13711. 
Virgil,  55M.,  257. 

Virgin  Mary,  70,  209,  266,  274. 
Virgin  Mother,  225,  238,  268. 
Voice,  24,  43,  92,  145,  201,  230, 

269,  273. 
Vulgate,  i6w.,  261. 

Waters,  above  the  expanse,  40, 
78,81. 
below  the  expanse,  40,  41,  78, 
81. 

Whole,  Wholeness,  gSn.,  103, 
108-9,  127,  162,  184,  223. 

Wisdom,  the  Divine,  Personified, 
15,  16,  18,  i8w.,  19,  20,  27, 
30,  63W.,  loi,  loin.,  113, 
127,  127W.,  128W.,  132W., 
149,  254. 

Woman,  as  symbol  of  the  indi- 
vidualised human  soul,  169/., 
172-173,  182,  184-187,  202, 
203,  208,  209,  211,  213-218, 
223-226.     See  '  Ish-shdh. 

Zohar,  10,  89W.,  107,  124^.,  132, 
137- 


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