adam & eve the solar temptation chapter 5 the adam
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Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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CHAPTER 5: THE ADAM
That sees the apparition of the animals of the dry-land, which are
“made” (not created), while the ‘Adam, who was announced as to
be “made”, is created… The reader is invited to ponder on the
shadow and the image, the resemblance to ‘Elohim, and the food-
energy when “all” is food.
Creation of the ‘Adam: the Sixth Day
Gen. 1:24-25
And ‘Elohim said: “The dry-land will spurt out a living breath
towards its kind: growling [Ha-BeHeMaH1] and crawling
[ReMeSh] and livings of the dry-land towards their kind.” And it
was so.
And ‘Elohim made the living of the Dry-Land towards their kind,
and the growling towards their kind, and all crawling of the
Ha’AdamaH towards their kind. And ‘Elohim saw, as [it was]
accomplished.
At the beginning of the fifth day, we have seen the Waters MaYiM
abounding with NePheSh HaYaH: the breathing of life. It is now the turn
of the dry-land. And as before the fish and the birds were created, now
we see the animals living on the earth (Ha-BeHeMaH) or crawling on it
(ReMeSh), except that the crawling positions itself on the Ha’AdamaH:
1 The verb HeMaH means “to growl”, and is built as the “what” (MaH meaning: matter)
framed by two He signs, representing the breathing of life. Be-HeMaH can then be read
“in the growling”, and the substantive Ha-BeHeMaH is traditionally translated as “the
livestock”.
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the fertile soil. The BeHeMaH (where the word Behemoth comes from)
represents the universality of all the terrestrial animals that Job is
confronted with, before the Leviathan where we recognize our big fish
TaNiYN. The singular form BeHeMaH represents the animals that do
not swim, nor fly, nor crawl. It may be read Be-HeMaH: in the growling, in
the roaring, and it could be linked to what we see today as the “growling
sound of the origins of matter, space and time”: the 3-Kelvin-degree
radiation of the birth of the Universe. This growling and roaring of the
original life energies are what the “male” is tasked with remembering
when he performs his inseminating function2. The central Mem letter
framed by the two “breaths” He-letters show the breathing of the world,
the background noise of the universe, the cosmic music sung by the
Hindus in the Aum or Om (ॐ): God’s radiance. This sound has four
components – as the “livestock” has four legs:
The A sound, symbolizing the waking state of all beings;
The U sound, symbolizing the sleeping state with dreams. The two
vowels are pronounced immediately one
after the other to form a sound that is
close to “O”, in order to represent the
quasi-similitude of these two states of
“weak reality”;
The M sound symbolizing the deep
sleeping state, without dreams, as a state
of intuitive knowledge, or wisdom,
which is a state of “strong reality”;
The silence, still full with the resonance
of the M consonant, silence that is
illustrated by the dot in an open crescent
2 The “male” ZaKaR is the same word as the verb “to remember”.
Figure 1: The Aum Hindu
sign
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opened towards the future. This fourth state escapes any definition, it
represents “the felicity that is procured by an absolute consciousness of
the being”.
The verb HeMaH may also mean “to be agitated” or “to coo”. In the 4th
century, Basil of Caesarea states in a famous homely (I, 19):
It is an immense crowd of wild beasts that you carry within yourself…
Anger is a little wildcat when it barks in your heart. The ruse that
hides in a perfidious soul, isn’t it wilder than the Cave Bear? Hypocrisy
isn’t it a wild beast? The man with biting invectives isn’t he a scorpion?
The one who, in the dark, throws himself into revenge isn’t he more
dangerous than a viper? And the ambitious isn’t he a ravishing wolf?
What kind of beast would not be in ourselves? The one who has the
passion for women isn’t he a furious horse?
The verse 25 “And ‘Elohim makes the living of the dry-land towards their
kind…” uses the verb “to make” ‘aSaH, and for which I had said that it
was opposed to creating because the verb “to make” implies an
accomplishment in time, and what is made, or done, or formed, can be
un-made, un-done, trans-formed and re-made, unlike the creation, which
is not subjected to any dynamics of transformation. To the contrary to
the created fish and birds, the living of the dry is made towards its kind, as
they will form the “bricks” of the making of the ‘Adam (by himself),
once he is thrown into time and space3. It means that these life-breathing
animals are to be considered as pieces of information and building-block
materials that the ‘Adam will later identify (he will later give them a name)
and master (he will grow them) in order to use them in his progression to
knowledge (fill the Waters); and these pieces of information and building-
block material, as “breathing life” elements, will be subject to change, to
3 The “Garden” is a domain of eternity, it is built “in ‘Eden” where ‘Eden represents temporality. I shall show later that when the ‘Adam is sent forth out of the Garden, he falls into the ‘Eden-temporality realm.
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evolution and to amendments, thanks to the feminine productive
function of Eve (Mother of living emergences – or: Mother of the Emergents). The
fish and the birds do represent the functions to moving down (fish) and
up (birds) in order to evolve from one level of consciousness to the next:
a transmutation of the Self.
There is a shift in the text between the dry-land ‘aReTs and the
Ha’AdamaH, which receives the “creeping” animals. What is this
Ha’AdamaH, which announces by homophony the ‘Adam to come? I did
evoke the Ha’AdamaH at the beginning of this essay, as the “fertile soil”.
Chouraqui translates it by “glebe”, as he translates the word ‘Adam by
the “glebeous”; we could use the terms “humus” for the Ha’AdamaH, and
then “Homo” for ‘Adam. This fertile soil is written as ‘Adam framed by
two He letters, the sign of the breathing life (the Ha word is the
demonstrative article “the”, giving life to the things it relates to, by
opposition to the undifferentiated article “a”, which does not exist in
Hebrew). To reflect the construction of this word, I write it
“Ha’AdamaH” instead of the ‘aDaMaH. As the fertile soil, it is rich of
‘Adam’s unaccomplished growth potential (the “fruits”), and ‘Adam will
realize this potential through the “breath of life” He that frames his
name. It is the matrix of spirituality, the mother-compost wherefrom the
‘Adam springs out, and should not be confused with the “dry-land”
(‘aReTs) that is a mere territory. In other terms, the dry-land is the stage,
while Ha’AdamaH is an actor, in the manner of L’Arlésienne, the Bizet
opera: she is not to be seen, she does not show up on stage, we don’t
hear her, but the whole opera is focused on her. As a mother-compost,
she (the Ha’AdamaH) is to be married and fecundated by the ‘Adam in
order to activate her breath-of-life.
So the creeping / crawling has evolved between verse 24 and 25, and
occupies now the level of the Ha’AdamaH. This is important, as further
down the story, one of the main actors of this play will be the Serpent, as
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the guardian to the Ha’AdamaH – and a guardian to be defeated4, as
illustrated by St Georges fighting the dragon or by Pharaoh fighting the
crocodile in the marshes of the Nile Delta.
We shall make ‘Adam in our shadow (Gen. 1:26)
Gen. 1:26-27
And ‘Elohim said: “We shall make ‘Adam in our shadow, as our
resemblance; and let them dominate in the fish of the sea, and in the
fowl of the heavens, and in the growling, and in the whole dry-land, and
in any reptile crawling on top of the dry-land.
And ‘Elohim created the ‘Adam in his shadow: in ‘Elohim’s shadow
he creates him, male and female; he creates them.
Traditionally, the English bibles translate “We shall make ‘Adam in our
image, after our likeness…” (King James Version), but the word TsaLeM
that is used in the text has more to do with the shade than with the
image. One could keep the word image if image was understood as the
projected image of the ‘Adam on the ground. Today in our modern
world where images are everywhere, they do not have the aspect of
projection that this word TsaLeM suggests. Today’s images with TV,
films, magazines and posters are so much like the physical reality (even
with 3D now), that the confusion between the image and the reality is
immediate, through the aspect of “immersion” that the video games
thrive on. Perhaps one could think of cartoons and shadow-theatre
plays, where true “images” are shown. The image is by nature not too
resembling: it can be inverted, shifted over, deformed and transformed,
it can be a metaphor, a silhouette. It shows nothing of the depth, the
relief, the texture. The verb TsaLaM means “to hide, to shade, to
4 We shall see that by attacking the head of the Serpent, ‘Adam will “mute” it: NaHaSh
(Serpent) becomes HaSha(H) = to mute, to silence.
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darken”, and it is built on the substantive root Tse’eL (Tsade-Aleph-Lamed)
“shade”. The term is used to designate the side of the wall that is in the
shade, and where one can sit – and this idea of “side” will be there for
‘iShaH when she is taken from ‘Adam’s side: the same root will be used,
TseLa’, with a terminal ‘Ayin rather than a Mem here.
The word ‘aDaM (‘Aleph-Dalet-Mem) may be read as the “universal
infinite force and potential” (‘Aleph letter) of the “blood” DaM, which is
related to the assimilation, the identity, the homogeneity: every part that
cannot be distinguished any more, everything that ceases to be different
and that identifies itself with the whole – everything that gets calm,
appeased, and sleeps. We can say this because the ‘Adam is appearing in
the text together with this other word built on the same root: the
“resemblance” or “likeness” DeMaH, which according to our symbolic
reading grid would translate as the “sign-of-life” (He) of the DaM
“blood” (for assimilation). The DaM is formed with Dalet representing
the “division”, the “part” (also the threshold), and the Matrix Mem that is
used as the sign of the undifferentiated commonality: the plural – as
‘Adam is plural. This link between blood and assimilation is also built on
the assimilation by the foetus of the mother’s blood during her
pregnancy, as this blood is not “lost” anymore, as it is “lost” when the
mother is not pregnant. So essentially, the foetus is assimilating all the
energies that his mother presents to him or her - undifferentiated.
‘Adam is the undifferentiated human being: there is no “according to its kind”
here, he is precisely Mankind without species nor gender, he is “them”
male and female together – and will never cease being so. The other
nouns used to designate “Man” will appear later in the text: ‘YSh first for
the “spouse”, ‘eNOSh next for the “mortal”, and GiBoR for the final
stage “hero”. ‘Adam is the whole human gender, identical and
homogenous in its principle, with the gift of assimilating the energies in
his world. The singular noun ‘Adam is built with a verb in a plural form:
the ‘Adam, they will dominate in the fish, in the birds… To render this
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more properly in the text, I deliberately choose to use plural pronouns in
my text, when referring to the plural ‘Adam.
And the text in Genesis insists in the following verse (27): “in ‘Elohim’s
shadow, He created him male and female, He created them”.
So the ‘Adam are the double human being, male and female. He is unique
as a being, they are sexually dual, and remains so, as nowhere in the text it
is said that the ‘Adam would, from a two-sex-stage, would become unisex
or male only – yes, I shall put that Eve (or ‘iShaH) does not represent the
female gender, nor the woman by opposition to the male-only ‘Adam. If Eve
were the woman, then she would be mentioned in the text for the
throwing-out of the Garden of Eden – but the text at this moment
makes it very clear that only the ‘Adam are concerned with this throwing-
out.
And – a dramatic turn of events – the verb “to make” has disappeared,
and ‘Elohim is back to creating!
In verse 26, the action that is announced is “to make” (or “do”) indeed!
And in the next verse (27), the realisation is concerned with “creating”.
Let’s repeat that the making allows an un-making and a re-making, while
the creation does not: a creation may be destroyed, but not “re-
engineered”, that would just be making (building, engineering, forming).
Here is the secret of what is traditionally considered as the “two stories
in one” for the creation of Man, when one opposes this verse to the 7th
verse of the 2nd chapter:
YHVH-Adonai ‘Elohim forms [=chisels] the ‘Adam – ‘Adam, dirt
of the Ha’AdamaH. He breathes in his nose a breath of life, and there
it is: the ‘Adam, towards a life-breathing being.
The Lamed preposition “towards” in the Hebrew text is never translated in
our vernacular bibles; it is however of a capital importance, as the ‘Adam
are not yet an accomplished life-breathing being, but only on their way to
becoming so.
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The word ‘Adam, a singular word, commands a verb in a plural form: it
is the opposite as what we have seen for the word ‘Elohim, a plural word
commanding a verb in a singular form – except here, in this verse (Gen.
1:26): “And ‘Elohim says: We shall make ‘Adam…”
We shall make: Na’aSeH third person of the plural, using an
unaccomplished mode called Qal volitive Jussive, which could be translated
also as “Let us make…”
Here is what Chouraqui says about it:
The bible exegetes, in order to escape what could be a polytheist reading
of the Bible, state that before giving its master to the Creation, Man,
‘Elohim did consult with all the ones He had already created, including
the angels. Thus the use of the plural form, immediately corrected in the
next verses with a singular form. This implosion of the plural is efficient
to underline the unique importance of Man in the hierarchies of the
universe: the totality of the real does preside to its creation.
This comment, if it sounds desperately puerile to me, has the merit of
underlining the duality between a reality and its representation – and also
goes along a characteristic of this text, which is to launch shams, “fake
beards” and pretences to the reader, for his attention and focus to be
taken away from the important details. Indeed, while exegetes go astray
on pondering this plural form and call the angels to the rescue (after all,
‘Elohim is a plural word, and the incongruity is that it normally
commands a verb in a singular form!), the same exegetes do not make
any comment on the making versus the creating, and do not see that the
creating is the work of ‘Elohim alone, while the making is the work of
YHVH-Adonai ‘Elohim5. I did start this essay with the analysis of
5 Okay, with one “making” of the growling and crawling “animals” on Day 5: I shall explain this at the end of this chapter.
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‘Elohim (God) and YHVH-Adonai6 (YHVH-Lord) precisely to be able
to focus on this point now. This plural “we” associated to the verb “to
make” clearly refers to the dual entity YHVH-Adonai ‘Elohim, a double
divine presence, made of a God-Creator aspect and a God-Maker aspect
together in the same expression – the same way as the Christians refer to
the Son and the Father, who are one, sure, but they are also two... I have
shown that this Maker YHVH-Adonai is “TOLeDOT” (the “sign of a
child”) of ‘El (see Gen. 2:4 and Chapter 2) in a time / temporality domain
and in an Earth-towards-Heavens direction, while ‘Elohim is in the
eternity/no-time domain and acts in a Heavens-towards-Earth direction.
In this essay, I consider YHVH-Adonai as the projection in time and
space, and in a human realm that can be grasped by everybody down the
street, of a ‘Elohim entity, who belongs to the no-time and remains
independent from the human forms – until the reversed passage from
YHVH-Adonai to ‘Elohim is found, which will be the object of the
Garden and the four rivers that “inundate” it, showing the roadmap and
allowing the “Son” to re-join the “Father”. But this is for later.
Why did I say that this passage has to
do with a reality and its
representation? Because, if YHVH-
Adonai is the projection of ‘Elohim in the
human realm, framed by time and
space, it is similar to the picture that
represents the real thing framed and
projected as pictured. Magritte did
capture this notion in his famous
painting representing a pipe that is
not a pipe.
6 See Chapter 2: God or Lord?
Figure 2 : The reality and its
representation, Magritte
1948.
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I retain that:
‘Elohim and YHVH-Adonai are not the same entities: one
(‘Elohim) is the God-Unity-Principle and causal principle
transcending all forms of human thoughts, inaccessible because
infinite, transcending time, and the other (YHVH-Adonai) is the
projection, or the manifestation in time and space, and in the
human thoughts, of the first. This reflects that the human brain
works on dualities. YHVH-Adonai’s apparition in Genesis is
concomitant of ‘Adam’s apparition; and:
‘Elohim as the quality to create in a principle, that means to
extract from the nothingness, and the results of the Creation
cannot be de-created; while YHVH-Adonai’s mandate is to make,
to do, to chisel, to build, to form, to shape products that can be
re-made, un-done, re-built, trans-formed and re-shaped in a
time-and-space-dynamics, in the same way as the human
thoughts indeed do build, un-do, re-shape and de-construct the
human world and mind.
Let’s add that the Egyptians were considering that a person would not
exist without his or her shadow (Sheut, in Egyptian), and that the shadow
would not exist without the person. They were considering that the
shadow had something from that person. For this reason, the statues of
the persons or of the gods were sometimes called their “shadows”, and
were personified by a little human figure, a figure of the death, or one of
Anubis’ servants.
What then about the resemblance?
There is another detail that is not often discussed: the resemblance has
disappeared…
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‘Elohim’s project was to “make ‘Adam in our shadow, as our resemblance”
(DeMaH); and when this project becomes act, it becomes (Gen.1:27):
And ‘Elohim created the ‘Adam in his shadow: in ‘Elohim’s shadow
he created him, male and female; he created them.
Where has the resemblance gone?!
The resemblance is not there anymore: DeMaH has disappeared. And
‘Adam have become “the ‘Adam”, with the differentiated article “the”
(Ha in Hebrew), reflecting the fact that now, even though ‘Adam were
only created, they are gifted with the “breath-of-life” that their Ha
procures – and they are then ready for the dynamics of their “making of”
in time and space – but this comes a bit later, as I did explain above.
The disappearance of DeMaH could be interpreted in several ways (as
usual…):
DeMaH read Dalet as the “sign of the growth through division” +
MaH, the root referring to the “what”, the matter of the
undifferentiated matrix, mother of all matters, starting with the
MaYiM “Waters” that were created together with the ‘aReTs
“dry-land”. In English, “water” derives from the “what”, as in
German Wasser from Was (what), as in Latin aqua (water) from
quis quae quod (what): the link between water and matter principia is
a prime one. So here “the ‘Adam” gifted with their newly grown
breath-of-life are definitely separated from matter principia;
Another reading would be the “blood” DaM expressing the
principle of assimilation with the addition of the He-sign, the breath-
of-life: the capability to grow and become an “Emergent” through
assimilating the energies of the universe, all the “animal energies”
that have been made by ‘Elohim, and use them in his “making of”.
Which one would you prefer? Perhaps they are both true. Perhaps it is a
third one that I have not seen… The point though is that there is a
commonality of roots, and thus an intent, in the use of words DeMaH,
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Ha’AdamaH for the fertile soil, and the ‘Adam. Perhaps one way to
render this intent would have been to translate these words as homogeneity,
humus and Homo, respectively.
Perhaps the disappearance of the DeMaH resemblance means that this
resemblance will have to be acquired somewhere else. In other words,
what if the resemblance was part of the “making” and thus absent from
the “creating”? The acquisition process of this resemblance would be
part of the making process. This is the interpretation that I shall choose
to follow: the making of the ‘Adam, through the identification, the
mastery and the use of the animal-energies that they have at their
disposal point towards the main goal of acquiring the promised but
missing DeMaH: the total assimilation with the matter principia: fill the
Waters completely, until becoming Water themselves… and why not –
the text leaves this interpretation open – become ‘Elohim himself, which is
what the Serpent will suggest, although with a twist, later on.
Let’s notice also that there is no conjunction of coordination between
the two terms “shadow” and “resemblance”. The verse is built with the
two terms in apposition: they follow each other. ‘aDaM may only reach
DeMah if they go through the shadow path first… And in order to have
a shadow, there is a need for a presence. If ‘Elohim does not cover the
‘Adam with His shadow, then the “door” (Dalet letter of DeMaH) is open
to all sorts of abuses. This is what will happen during the episode of the
Tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden: the ‘Adam will not benefit
from ‘Elohim’s shadow (the divinity has gone for a walk… as in the Isis
and Ra Egyptian myth), and will be incapable of accessing His
resemblance.
For the moment, if the project was to make ‘Adam as ‘Elohim’s resemblance,
it has not been fulfilled. Not only is the resemblance not there, but
‘Adam have not been made, they have been created: they are “creature” –
not an Emergent, yet. Let’s remember for the rest of this analysis that the
expression “as our resemblance” seems to call for the notion of the
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assimilation of the animal-energies and perhaps even of ‘Elohim’s
infinite potential – and this capability is desperately absent.
Male and Female
The ‘Adam are created “male and female”, as opposed to “man and
woman”: why is the text using this expression when “man and woman”
would have been expected? I believe that the first reason is that we are
now at the level of the Creation that places the ‘Adam-human-being and
undifferentiated Mankind at the same rank or level as any other creature.
In the Bible, these terms apply to animals as much as humans. The terms
‘YSh and ‘iShaH traditionally translated as “man” and “woman”,
respectively7, only appear under the aegis of YHVH-Adonai: they are
definitely part of the making process: they are attached to culture8. The
name ‘iShaH expresses the “fire” ‘eSh (Aleph-Shin) in its principle, that is
to say the fire burning without any substance attached to it, with no
particular goal of cooking this or that, of burning this or that or
transforming this or that in order to make it edible. ‘iShaH’s fire burns by
itself and transforms nothing. It is a feminine fire because it represents
the function of transforming (“cooking”), so a productive function, and
all productive functions are feminine in essence. It is attached to a final
He-sign that calls for the breath-of-life – in the same manner as in
French, for instance, most of the feminine nouns end-up with an “e”
7 I translate these two terms by “male-spouse” and “female-spouse” in order to keep the accent on the functions rather than the individuals. Also, the term ‘iShaH comes first. There is a good reason for this – but for later.
8 In this essay, I shall call “culture” the notion that the human will, or to say it as Fabre d’Olivet: the “volitive faculty” of the human being, has an impact on nature, and transforms nature. I am not using this word (“culture”) in a Levy-Strauss type of sense. To me, all the transformations of nature that come from the human organization and efforts are qualified as “cultural”.
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letter, which comes from a transformation of the Hebrew He letter in the
Roman alphabet.
The word ZaKaR “male” is the same as the verb “to remember”. The
same word is used for instance in the enumeration of the “male and
female” animals that penetrate into Noah’s Ark. It is also used when
‘Elohim demands that all the males be circumcised (Gen. 17) “in
remembrance of the alliance between ‘Elohim and ‘Abraham”. So, the ‘Adam is
“male” when he remembers what he is, that is when he remembers all
the animal-energies that he is made of, in order to identify them and use
them in his making process.
A man or a woman does his or her “Male Opus” when he or she
remembers the potential in becoming of his or her being alive. It is not
remembering one’s historical past, but remembering the energies that are
deep inside, most of the time unknown or hidden, in order to call upon
them and grow. The ‘Adam do their Male Opus when “grasping in their
hand” (as the meaning of the central Kaf letter of ZaKaR) the potential of
light that they are in this other part of themselves that constitutes the
word “female”. To be male triggers the process of accomplishment: it
corresponds to the insemination of the “germ” (insemination
represented by the Zain letter , symbolizing the penetration and
insemination function of the male), before the gestation of the fruit. This
insemination proceeds from the accomplished, while the gestation female
part proceeds from the unaccomplished… until the new birth of the new
self, which is the “accomplishment of the unaccomplished”.
Female is NeQeBaH, derived from NaQoB , which itself comes from
a root meaning “to pierce” (make a hole), and also “to designate, to
name”. This word NaQoB designates essentially a container that is found
again in the root QoB, a 2-litre measure of volume. The first Nun letter
being the symbol of the mutating and evolving individuality, the term
NeQeBaH designates this mutating and evolving individuality that is
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receiving a “container” in which to mutate and evolve… In the centre of
the female NeQeBaH word is the Qoph letter, symbolizing the umbilical
cord (otherwise the “needle”, and more specifically the hole of the
needle9) that connects to the womb of the Creation, wherefrom the
“son” BeN will come forth (after his “turning over” / Shabbat) – the NaB
root being the one of the elevation, the instruction, the intelligence, the
prophet (NaBiY). As this word refers to the female as much as to
“name”, the ‘Adam will only discover his or her Name10 if they penetrate
that womb, in marrying their own feminine side, and in naming the
energies that constitute it – and they will be taught to do it soon.
These two terms are built on the notions of “leading to” (the Qoph
female cord) in order to grasp with the hand (the Kaf letter):
ZaKaR = to take with the hand in order to grasp the dimension
of (Kaf central letter)… ZaR: the “scattering”, the “dispersion”
but also the verb “to winnow”, to sieve the grains in a
winnowing shovel or a riddle to sort them out or clean them11:
this corresponds to the “energy-identification” component of
the growth process, it goes in a top-down direction;
NaQoB = the central Qoph leading-cord to the NaB “elevation”
and “intelligence”. This corresponds to the “gestation of the
new Self” component of the growth process, it goes in a
bottom-up direction.
9 This “cord” with a hole corresponds in the human body to the pharynx / larynx
complex, where the food (actual food or spiritual food) is ingested. The Qoph (I also
write it Qof) carries the value of 100, which is akin to “perfection”.
10 The expression HaSheM means “the name” and is one of the ways to refer to YHVH-Adonai. So, in discovering his “name” through his feminine side, the ‘Adam is also discovering HaSheM: YHVH-Adonai.
11 This “cleaning” aspect will be developed when the ‘Adam’s first son, Cain, kills his avatar Abel. See Chapter 17.
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If the ‘Adam do not “remember” their energetic potential created by
‘Elohim, if his male part does not become “scattered” as the dirt or the
dust of the Ha’AdamaH that constitutes him, then he will inseminate the
external world of external women, without any internal gestation
process. He will shag like a rabbit with an overflowing energy, everything
that carries a female sex around. If the ‘Adam only listen to their female
potential without doing their own internal male opus, then she is an
empty and hollow womb, and has nothing to engender. The ‘Adam
becomes “a crocodile”, as my Arab friends say, eating anything that is
alive and looks appetizing in the vicinity. No germ, no future sons. This
is referred to in the 6th chapter of Genesis, at the time of Noah, when
“the ‘Adam were multiplying on the Earth and were bearing girls only…”
As we forget that the divine order that the ‘Adam will receive at the next
verse is to “grow, multiply, and fill”! We multiply alright… Do we
grow…? We thrive to grow… economically. And we don’t understand
the filling anyhow. The humanity of Noah’s time was multiplying in its
animal qualities: it was “female” only. However, in order to multiply, as
Annick de Souzenelle notices it, they obviously had as many men as
women, more or less…! These men and those women were all “female”,
not fecundated, not gravid with the germ.
Son of the Male or Son of the Female?
The New Testament follows-up on the story, when Christ names himself
“the Son of Man12” and he names John-the-Baptist “the Son of the Woman”
(both expressions are to be understood as “son of male” and “son of
female” in this context); this is in Matthew 11:11. John’s father, Zakary,
carries the name of the “male” (ZaKaR). However he remains “dumb
and unable to speak” because “he would not believe” that his very old
12 The Greek expression is ὁ υἱὸς τοὺ ἀνθρώπου: literally “the man’s son”.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
17
wife Elisabeth could bear him a son (Luke 1) as the Gabriel angel was
telling him. So Zakary’s “male” function is silenced here, it is muted by
the absence of faith, and does not express itself. In this respect, John
remains the son of the female function, as he is not a product (a son, a
progeny, a fruit) of the faith inseminating and fecundating male function
– represented here by Christ.
I shall develop this story further when discussing the Serpent, as
Gabriel’s speech to Zachary with respect to John’s conception, and
Gabriel’s speech to Mary with respect to Jesus’ conception do present a
particularly clever twist, related to the Serpent, in order to align the two
characters on the lunisolar calendar – the sun representing the male
radiant principle and the moon the female generative principle.
For now, let’s remember that the creation of the ‘Adam on the sixth day
brings them both male and female functions, that he / she has the
capability to penetrate and inseminate while “scattering” himself or
herself in so many particles that will break his or her unity as a creature
and that he or she will be winnowed (that is the male Black Opus), and
then will re-construct himself or herself in a gestation and production
dynamics towards a new level through intellect (that is the female White
Opus) before reuniting the dualities (the Red Opus). The remaining part
of the text tells us about the roadmap that the ‘Adam will have to run in
order to achieve a properly human level, “alive”, that is to say a carrier of
consciousness, spirituality, and eventually capable of transcending the
dualities of the sensible world.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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The Benediction and the Domination (Gen. 1:28)
Gen. 1:28
And ‘Elohim blesses them, and said to them: Fructify, multiply and fill
the Dry-Land, subdue it and have dominion [descend] in the fish of the
sea and in the bird of the Heavens and in all crawling living above the
Dry-Land.
‘Elohim blesses them: the verb is
BaRaK, which is the same term
as the “knee” (BeReK), and one
has to figure that the blessing
goes along kneeling, so does the
dubbing of the knight. The
word may be decomposed as
Be-RaK: “in” (Beit, root of the
internalizing paternal action)
the “tenderness” or “fragility”
(RaK), the term is also used to
designate the tender meat that
lets itself be cut easily, and that
is also used to talk about the
heart that is moved with
emotion13. BaRaK takes the
sense of “making sensitive,
making fragile”, render the self “porous” in order that it is impregnated
with the energies of the ground it lays upon – the energies of the fertile
and humid Ha’AdamaH that will inundate the one who knees on it (or
on her…)14.
13 For instance, see 2Kings 22:19: “your heart was moved”.
14 I say “humid” because later, a dew will come up from the Ha’AdamaH.
Figure 3: Dubbing of a knight.
Document BNF (Paris)
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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In English, German, Greek and in French, the knee, Knie, gonato
(γόνατο) and genou actually carry the root letters of the “knowledge”
(Gnosis in Greek and Latin
languages), representing the
“envelope” of the little
“wheel” – the knee-cap
producing the walking and
the marching, in the same
way as the Greek GuNe
(woman) is the life-producing
feminine envelope. The knee
as a sign of acquiring
knowledge, intelligence,
wisdom and a higher
consciousness is illustrated
by wise men and scholars
uncovering their knees, as a
sign of illumination.
During the dubbing ceremony, the knight receives the sword and the
large shoulder belt, which is the equivalent of a shield he wears on
himself. He has to sworn to protect the widow (the female-spouse
without a male-spouse) and the orphan, the young son or daughter
growing on his or her own, without guidance. The ceremony is
traditionally taking place at Easter or at Pentecost – feasts of the new
light cycle. During that ceremony, the knight receives a slap in the face,
which is a blow from the hand (YaD in Hebrew, for Yod YHVH-Adonai
as a guide to knowledge) on the head (Ro’Sh in Hebrew, for Resh the
“principle” and mental intelligence or rationality), symbolizing the fact
that the head has to “swivel round”, in the same way as the dove swivels
round its head on Mary’s heart (see photo in Chapter 1). This slap in the
Figure 4: Wise men uncovering their
knees: Santillana del Mar, Spain, 14th and
15th centuries. Photo PE.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
20
face is still present today in the Christian communion ceremonies, where
the local priest properly slaps the child facing him15.
The blessing with the sword penetrating matter together with the slap
bending the rationality form a very powerful duet. In legends, the stone-
matter, the rock, is often found near a pond, a lake, a Lady-in-the-Lake, a
fountain – anything representing the feminine Waters-from-Below, and near
a large oak representing the mutation of the germ into a fruit, symbol of
the king in the dubbing ceremony, and it materialises the location of the
fight. The Excalibur sword is stuck into this stone, and can only be taken
out by the “young son”, orphan if possible, who later becomes a king
himself. So is Durandal, Roland’s sword fighting the infidels, which is at
first Charlemagne’s sword given to his spiritual son Roland (who “rolls”).
Roland dies in the Pyrenees in Roncevaux (“Valley of the thorns16”), and in
order to not submit his sword to the infidels, he tries to break it on a
rock – but the sword would not break, and Roland throws it away in
Heavens, and it flies through the mountain by slicing it in two parts, and
after a leap of 200 km or so, ends-up stuck in a cliff in Rocamadour…
15 Now, the intensity of this slap is a matter of personal appreciation… Some priests actually just lay their hand on the child’s face and push it in order to turn it around, as for the child to look behind his or her shoulder.
16 Durandal would also be related to these “thorns” through Dorn-Thal “thorn-valley” in German (Charlemagne was speaking a German dialect). I shall discuss these thorns later, as they also show-up in the Creation Myth of Genesis and on Christ’s head at the time of his martyr.
Figure 5: Roland’s breach in the Gavarnie Circus, Pyrenees, France.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
21
In this passage of Genesis, let’s take note of the order of the worlds that
the ‘Adam will master: the fish of the sea first, representing a descent into
the feminine watery Abyss, then the bird in the Heavens, presenting the
growth upwards in spirituality, which should allow the mastering of the
next “crawling on the Dry-Land”: the next Serpent or dragon to fight in
order to repeat the cycle and grow deeper and higher.
The fragility and the sensitivity brought by the blessing are then a
preamble to the “dominion” or mastering of the animal energies, and
here is why: the verb “dominate” is RaDaH, formed from the root R-D,
the proper movement united to the sign of the growth by division and
elementary abundance, which expresses an expansion in an undefined
movement coming back on itself, as the one of a wheel17. This verb
RaDaH is conjugated here at the plural form, unaccomplished tense We-
YiRD-Wu . It presents the form YRD meaning “to go down, to
descend”, framed by the two verticalizing Wav letters. This dominion
on the animal energies is a descent in the self in a vertical movement.
Here is the wheel, the rotule (knee-cap) of the ‘Adam going down in him-
and herself, on his way to knowledge.
Annick de Souzenelle stresses it quite well:
Only who has gone down within… shall be able to dominate upon…
This is also rendered in the name of the Jordan River: YaRDeN in
Hebrew: descent within the Nun: the mutating individuality. Actually, many
rivers carry this notion of being the frontier (the “door”, the “threshold”
Dalet) to the humid descent into the self: Jordan, but also Don, Danube,
Dnieper, Dniester18.
17 The English wheel expresses the way, the path (wgh root of weg), while the Latin languages have kept the RD root in rouet, roda, rota, rotatif, rond, etc.
18 Linguists do differ as to where these names come from. Some do relate them to the Danu goddess of Hinduism, mother of Danavas, having to do with the “primeval Waters”. I would tend to see them as Celtic, together with other scholars, because the
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
22
The “dominion” over the animals then has nothing to do with a brutal
domination of projecting on a divine order our physical strength, for
slavery, for submission, for labour or meat production purposes. Rather,
it represents the key to the ontological relationship that Man can enjoy
with his interior cosmos, itself becoming the key to the relationship that
he and she will enjoy with his or her exterior cosmos and world. It has to
do with the assimilation of the energies (fish, birds, growling and roaring
livestock – and crawling serpents) that will have been identified (named),
penetrated and married, in order for these energies to become
constitutive of their own selves.
Since the flourishing of the Earth Observation satellites, we acknowledge
that Mankind may have to fundamentally change its relationship to the
planet – which is our ‘aReTs, our framed and limited-in-space-and-time dry-
land “territory” in which our domination is materialized, however with
such a wrong reading on this divine order that it is our ‘aReTs itself,
which has become fragile and to the point of break-down… The
identification of our own destructive energies on our fertile and internal
Ha’AdamaH has been transformed into the salting of our external ‘aReTs.
In the process of acquiring consciousness and mastering energies, the
identification is a most important process – just because an improper
identification means that no mastery is ever possible. The corresponding
energy, the one that has to be mastered and married, needs to be
“brought forward into the vision”: unveiled, as a new bride. Without the
light enlightening this vision, it will remain in the darkness, in the
confusion, in the Tenebrae – and this process will be the subject of the
second chapter of Genesis. It is equally the passage from
oriental Celts in Anatolia, Scythe and Phrygia were used as mercenaries in the Egyptian armies, and did bring with them a number of Middle-Eastern notions when invading the Western part of Europe. I can’t see, for instance, the names of Gaul, Galicia, Wales or Portugal not coming from the GaL originally Hebrew root for the meeting of the dry-land with the waters…
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
23
unaccomplished (no mastery) to the accomplished (mastery), which will
be learnt by the ‘Adam in their own world, as it is the main principal
engine of the Creation by ‘Elohim in the setting-up of the stage on
which the large play of the unfolding world takes place:
And ‘Elohim sees, indeed [it was] accomplished.
One knows the popular image of the saints, or the wise men, or the
hermits, who live in a peaceful relationship with wild beasts: they have
“descended” into these wild beasts that were roaring in themselves, have
mastered their energies and have “revolved” them, turned them around
from the Tenebrae into the light – that very light with which the
Creation starts, and that has nothing to do with the light of the sun. If, in
the arena, the lions go and lick the martyrs’ feet, or are indifferent to the
victim as in Daniel’s story in the lions’ den19, it means that these martyrs
have turned around their internal lions as “king of the animals” into a
force of love and peace. This is the path of the ontological law that
applies to all elements of the Creation.
However, for the moment, the ‘Adam are a mere creature among others,
and YHVH-Adonai has not shown-up yet. It was however necessary to
introduce Him at the beginning of this essay, in order to make sense of
this “We shall make…” that was not made at all, and that closes the first
chapter of Genesis. Now come the tools that will be brought forward by
‘Elohim, in order for the ‘Adam to be later in a position to make themselves.
These tools are named “food” in the text.
19 Daniel 6
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
24
ALL is Food (Gen. 1:29)
Gen. 1:29
And ‘Elohim said: “Behold, I have given to you [plural form] all the
greenery seeding a seed, which [is] on the face of the whole dry-land, and
all the tree [= the vegetative substance], which [has] in itself a fruit,
substance seeding a seed; to you [plural form] it shall be for food.
And to all the living emergences of the dry-land and to all the fowl of
heavens, and to all crawling upon the dry-land, in whom life is
breathing; [I have given] all green greenery for food”. And so it was.
And ‘Elohim saw all, which He had made, and behold: much
accomplished. And [there is] an evening, and [there is] a morning: the
sixth day.
What is striking in this passage is the insistence with which the totality of
the energies of the world is brought forward to Man: all the green grass,
all the living, all the fowl, all the crawling… all, in effect, is given for
food.
All is food.
Let’s spend a moment on this “all”: KoL, Kaf-Lamed.
And then the word “food”: a’KoLaH: Aleph-Kaf-Lamed-He, which is
related to the verb “to feed”: ‘aKoL: Aleph-Kaf-Lamed: we see “all” in the
middle, right there.
The Kaf letter carries a value of 20, and it is a power of the Beit letter
(value 2), also with a form of a container. The Kaf derives from the
hieroglyph of the open palm of the hand, grasping something, and it
represents the notion of taking in one’s hand the dimension of… In the text, it
is translated as the preposition “as”, or “like”: it essentially corresponds
to the sign of the analogy, which is the path to “making sense of…”,
building a relationship, a connection – which is intellect, as opposed to
rational intelligence.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
25
The Lamed letter derives from the hieroglyph of the human arm, and
expresses the notion of something extending in the direction of some
remote place, that deploys itself, that elevates itself. Lamed carries the
value 30, and is then a power of the value of the Gimel : 3. The sense of
the Lamed is fully expressed in the word LaYLaH the “night”. “The
night”, with the article, is written HaLaYLaH and takes the Yod, central
divine spark of the faintest light of consciousness, to elevate it as
remotely as possible with two framing Lamed letters, in the breath-of-life
of the two He letters. The full potentialities of the Lamed letter is in its
root Aleph-Lamed : that which elevates in the infinitely remote direction of ‘eL,
‘Elohim20. As a preposition, the word ‘eL is translated as “towards”,
sometimes “for”, “in order to”.
I had introduced the Gimel letter as the “Guide in the Dry” within the
Waters-from-Above and towards the Waters-from-Below. The Gamal word in
Hebrew (and Arabic) is the “camel” (the English derives directly from
it), who carries his water with him. My Arabic friends tell me that, in a
caravan crossing the desert, not only Man is transported, but he is
actually guided by the camel, who finds the way to the next oasis by
himself. It is not at all as a rider on a horse, as the rider guides the horse.
But Gimel is the guide through the dry towards the water.
In the same manner, Lamed is the guide in the humid, in the Waters-from-
Below towards the Waters-from-Above, and through the dark side of the
feminine watery abyss – where the gestation takes place.
Together, the Gimel-Lamed root form the word GaL: the wave. The
corresponding verb GaLL (Gimel-Lamed-Lamed) means “to roll”. The
20 The reversed root Lamed-Aleph is the opposite of the full deployment of the infinite
potentialities of ‘eL: it means “no” when attached to a verb. For instance, when the Serpent tells ‘iShaH “No, you will not die…” literally he says “Lo’ MOT” (= “no-dying”). English as well as French (and other Latin languages) do present this commonality between the infinitely remote in the dark and the negation, as in night, no, nil, null, naught.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
26
wave GaL carries the value 3+30=33 and represents the full cycle of the
dry and the humid together in a rolling cyclic motion. And I see the
traditional duration of Christ’s teaching on Earth (3 years) together with
his alleged age on the Cross (33 years old) as a direct reference to this
symbolic value of completing the cycle, where the dry and the humid
meet and reunify with each-other. As Christ, he has become the guide
throughout the dry and the guide throughout the humid, he has
accomplished and fully become wave “cycle” himself: the hero’s journey
by excellence.
That root Gimel-Lamed is also the root of the word “exile”: GeLaH,
which is inferred to Abraham by YHVH-Adonai: Abraham’s
descendants will be “strangers in a land that is not theirs” (Gen. 15:13), and
Abraham’s first son is Ismael, whom he got from Sarah’s servant HaGaR,
and HaGaR means “the stranger, the foreigner”.
The passage from Gimel to Lamed and reversely from Lamed to Gimel is
Gimel-Wav-Lamed, GWL: the verb “to rejoice”.
KoL “all” corresponds then to the “taking in the hand the dimension of” (Kaf
letter) the Lamed, the guide guiding through the dark feminine abyss of
the Waters-from-Below.
I can illustrate this notion with a somewhat damaged huge wall mosaic
image in the Bardo Museum in Tunis (Figure 6). The whole scene is in
the Waters. A woman is there riding a dolphin “fish” (the dolphin is the
male fish, inseminating the Waters-from-Below with his air-breath from the
Waters-from-Above21); she has a rope in her hands, which she extends
between two “doors”. One of these doors, the right one, corresponds to
the cosmic insemination of the feminine watery night.
21 In Greece, Delphi is the “Omphalos of the World” (umbilicus) because of a play on
words with Delfi, the dolphin. It is in French, the “dauphin”, the king’s heir, on
his way to kinghood.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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Figure 6: The feminine watery world of the Waters-from-Below. 1st
century AD, Bardo Museum, Tunis. Photo PE.
The right door is dark (at least when compared to the other one, on the
left, which has light in it), and next to it is a powerful deer, who
represents the autumn equinox, when the sun penetrates into the
feminine lunar realm and transfers his cosmic force to the moon. The
deer loses his staghorn every year over the winter, and they grow again
starting at the spring equinox, in such a way that the deer represents the
entering into the dark winter.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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The foot of the woman is attacked by an animal that would be the
equivalent of the Genesis Serpent attacking ‘iShaH on her heel later on.
Another very large pavement mosaic in the same museum and of the
same epoch also represents the autumn male deer in one of its
medallions, which energy is this time explicitly mastered by the feminine
‘iShaH function:
Figure 7: Feminine medallion, Bardo Museum, Tunis. Photo PE.
This KoL “all” corresponds to the grabbing of the dimension of the Lamed as
the link in the woman’s hands, the line, the lead (all words using the
Lamed L letter) that unites the energies from the male Waters-from-Above
to the feminine Waters-from-Below. This link is, as food, the identification
of the force that connects the ‘Adam with their own telluric energies in a
dynamic of deployment, of relative assimilation, of totalling-up, of
achievement, of perfection – of accomplishment. This dynamic takes the
full power and the infinite potentialities of the ‘Aleph when it becomes
“food” ‘aKoL: ‘Aleph-Kol-Lamed.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
29
And I propose to look back now at these animal-energies of the Dry-
Land that the male ‘Adam is surrounded with, with another mosaic from
Carthage in the Bardo Museum of Tunis, dating from the same time:
Figure 8: The male 'Adam with the animal energies of the dry-land.
Bardo Museum, Tunis, Photo PE.
We can see on this mosaic bulls (“livestock”) attacked by wild boars and
bears22 – and a lizard-like reptile heading for ‘Adam’s foot (his right foot,
on the centre-left) occupying the role of the Serpent, and then a leopard
on his left foot, as the future “hero” that he or she will become. He
holds a long stalk of grain symbolizing the accomplishment, the ripening
of the grain, and the Tree of Lives stands on his left with grape fruits.
Left is the feminine side, because corresponding to the North when the
‘Adam is oriented to the Orient. The Tree of Knowledge would be
symbolized by the dark grapes pointing down and floating around, an
image of the “scattering” that this Tree of Knowledge implies. The bulls
22 Boars and bears carry the same energies as the deer: the boar is an animal of the deep dark forest, and the bear hibernates over the winter. They are both animals of the “hidden” (feminine) side. As for the bulls, the link to the virility and fertility is still present today in the expression “being horny”.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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being symbols of male virility, the scattering of the bulls mean that the
‘Adam is about to lose his virility to enter into his feminine world –
similar to the deer losing his staghorn in winter, while at the same time
multiplying his production capacity or fertility (production of fruits). The
male ‘Adam is wearing a bright-red tunic, probably a chlamydia woven as a
one-piece garment, as Christ will wear as well (no stitching, so
representing the unity), the red colour being representative of the
“blood” aka assimilation with all this food.
Figure 9: 'iShaH mastering the animal energies (Bardo Museum) Photos PE.
Also, we should notice that all the bull-livestock animals have a sort of
stole on their backs, most probably representing the notion that they are
mastered, as the ‘iShaH in the Waters-from-Below does master tigers,
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
31
stallions and other wild bulls with a leash, a line, a lead (Figure 9). The
lizard-Serpent and the Hero-leopard23 do not have stoles, but there
seems to be a leash to the lizard. The leopard does not require a leash:
the male ‘Adam will just become a leopard when reuniting himself with
his feminine side. Then, these bulls have spots on them, unlike the bears
or other boars attacking them. I suggest that these spots are the germs of
the assimilation principle between the two Waters: light and darkness,
above and below, day and night, masculine and feminine as a path to
knowledge, accomplishment and unity of the self. They also and at the
same time may be representations of “eyes”, ‘Ayin, which are the
“source” of knowledge – think of the third eye in the middle of the
forehead in Hinduism. The ‘Ayin letter symbolizes the total materiality
and the total temporality, which is also the “source” (same word: ‘aYiN
fully spelled), in which the knowledge is rooted. The “principle” of this
source of knowledge is Resh (symbol of the proper movement, the
“principle”) + ‘Ayin (“source”) = Ra’, meaning “unaccomplished”, and
from which all the rest evolves. So these spots on these bulls may also
represent “eyes” as so many sources of knowledge in the
accomplishment process, when such animal-energies are “assimilated”.
The Green Green Grass
The first of the foodstuff that is presented to the ‘Adam is “all grass seeding
a seed, and all tree which [has] in it fruit-of-the-tree seeding a seed”.
23 The leopard is the hero animal. Leopard in Hebrew is NeMeR, and the first
hero in the Bible is NeMRoD. The leopard, with his gold colour and black spots,
represents the reunification of the masculine day and the feminine night in a
unique Light-of-the-World. In Africa, the great sorcerer wears a leopard skin on his
shoulders.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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But does Man really eat “grass”?! Like the cows and other livestock?! And
does Man really eat trees – even with fruits on them?!
The noun “grass” ‘eSeB means also “pasture” (‘Ayin-Sin-Beit pronounced
“esev” as the B is a soft one) and presents a double play on words,
depending on how it is read:
‘eSeB may be formed as the reunion of the letter ‘Ayin as the symbol of
the total materiality and temporality (as seen above), together with the
root Shin-Beit, which is the “turning around”, the revolving dynamics,
the “Shabbat” built on this same root. In this sense, the “grass” as
“food” is a call to swivel and turn around all aspects of materiality
and temporality, and grow towards spirituality and eternity.
The second play on words would be to read the grass ‘eSeB as formed
from the root ‘eS (‘Ayin-Sin) together with the added letter Beit B, sign
of the interior dynamics. This ‘eS root is the same as the one forming
the verb “to make” ‘aSaH. This root expresses the idea of conformation
through the aggregation of parts, through the action of assembling things
according to an intelligent movement, a combination, or a plan
formed ahead of time from the will (volitive faculty). In this sense, the
“grass” presents the idea of conformation: to make with… to make
ensembles, to make links, to establish relationships, to make
connections and combinations – all of this in an interior direction,
towards a “centre”, the Beit actually the sign of the heart24. This would
be the first step of “making”, an analogous process that will bear
fruits.
So, the ‘Adam eat pasture grass – and not “grain”, “wheat” or “cereals”,
DaGaN or BaR or HiTaH (which are all pretty common nouns in the
Old Testament).
24 The word “heart” in Hebrew is Lamed-Beit, LeB (pronounced Lev like “love”), which may be read “towards the [radiant] centre”.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
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The Fruit Seeding Semen
The other word on which the text insists is the “seed”, the “germ” or the
“semen”: ZaRa’ Zain Resh ‘Ayin, which is also the verb “to seed” used in
the same sentence: ZoRea’. The Zain letter at the beginning is the sign
of the male sex “weapon” (the word ZaYiN means “weapon”), the one
penetrating and inseminating the feminine Waters25 – so my reference to
“semen26”, as valid as “seed” or “germ”. The idea is the one of
penetration, of breaking through in a dynamics of production. When
discussing the male ZaKaR, I was pointing out that this term could be
read as the “capacity to take the dimension of” (Kaf central letter) the ZaR
root: the “scattering”, the “dismemberment”, the explosion of the self
into dust… We have here, in the word Za-Ra’ as “seed”, the same
penetrating male weapon that penetrates and inseminates Ra’ (Resh-
‘Ayin): the “unaccomplished”, the yet-to-be-accomplished…
This “seeding germ” ZeRa’ may be at the origin of our “zero”
inseminating the universe27… The traditional etymology connecting it to
the Arabic Zifr is not very convincing… as this Zifr giving the words
“chiffre” (French) and “cipher” (English) does not carry the sense of
seed, germ, or semen that the zero carries.
This Zain letter will also structure how the ‘Adam will later name their
feminine side ‘iShaH at first: Zo’T “this”. As the neutral demonstrative
article, it renders the abstract notion of the link which points to,
designates and unites things.
25 To “fornicate” is ZaNaH.
26 The actual male semen is ZeReM from the same root. To be noted that the word “semen” in English (or French: seminal) comes from the Hebrew SheMeN for “oil” (and olive oil at first, as “olive” is ZeYT).
27 Origin proposed by Annick de Souzenelle.
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The Tree and the Fruit
The last foodstuff given to the ‘Adam is the “tree, which has in himself a fruit,
substance seeding a seed”: not only the ‘Adam eat pasture grass, but they also
eat trees. The interesting thing is that the tree quite explicitly referred to
here is a process of growth, centred on the fruit as a substance seeding a
seed. The spelling of the word “tree” actually renders this notion quite
well, as I have already shown in Chapter 1: ‘Ayin-Tsade “’eTs”. The
letter ‘Ayin is there again, as if this passage in Genesis was emphasizing
very much the reference to the most basic level of things: the “source”,
materiality and temporality, the degree-zero of the path from which all
further steps would have to rise later on.
The word “tree” refers to this rise from the lowest possible level, from
the “source” (‘Ayin letter) representing the lowest possible level of matter,
which is transformed and mutated towards a finality (Tsade letter). The
Tsade letter is one that may not come from a hieroglyph, although some
scholars want to see it related to the “hook” hieroglyph. It is more likely
that it is related to the Ti Sumerian cuneiform sign, which represents the
passage through a surface (and as such: vomiting), a change of state, a
mutation, a transformation from a “side” towards another “side” and
always with a particular goal or term (and as such, this letter is found in
words referring to laws, ordnances, orders, status, leadership). It carries
the value of 90, and as such is a “life-giving” sign as terminating a
production cycle (all the 9 figures are related to pregnancy and end-of-
cycle and birth notions).
The verb for “flower” or “blossom” is TsOuTs (Tsade-Wav-Tsade). The
root Tsade-Resh TsoR is the “oppression”, the “cutting”, the “slicing”, and
the “scissor”. The verb YaTsaR that is used when YHVH-Adonai
“makes” the ‘Adam means properly “to chisel”, “to sculpt”.
Associated to the ‘Ayin, the Tsade in a final position (the “tree”: ‘eTs)
renders the idea of a “mutating substance” with a finality, towards a
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
35
particular goal, and as such, represents the evolving vegetative flourishing
matter. It has been translated in our vernacular bibles as “wood” as much
as “tree”.
The fruit, I have already discussed it. It is the word PeRiY Pe-Resh-Yod,
and may be read as the opening (Pe letter) of the root Resh-Yod standing
for a fluid emanation, the ether, the spirit, an exhaling odour.
It is to be noted that ‘Elohim, when giving food to the animals, does not
give them the “tree”, but only the “grass”. There are no “fruits” for the
animals either (thus no seed either), the fruit being constitutive of the tree.
The reason will be detailed later – but it is already possible to guess that
the animals, remaining at their level of animal creatures, will make no use
of the fruits…
It should also be noted that there is no animal food in the diet given to the
‘Adam: this diet is resolutely vegetarian – and even no milk and no eggs!
Could anyone believe this?!
Then, the other interesting aspect is that the products of the sea are off-
limits: no mention of any steamed, grilled or barbecued fish! The domain
of the feminine Waters are not to be touched – and this will be
emphasized at the end of chapter 3 of Genesis, when the ‘Adam are sent
forth out of the Garden, for fear that they could raise their hand and eat
the Tree of Lives – and, as a consequence, live forever in perpetuity
without reaching the level of eternal life.
The Colours of the Ark of the Covenant
At the end of the Creation, it is interesting to notice that the elements
created by ‘Elohim prefigure already the Ark of Alliance, which will be
established between Noah and the dry-land (Gen. 9:13): “I place my ark in
the heavens, and it shall become as a sign of alliance between me and between the dry-
land (‘aReTs).” I comment rapidly on these correlations.
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
36
The colours of the rainbow are violet or purple (a mixture of red and
blue), blue, green, yellow, orange (mixture of yellow and red), and red. In
the antique symbolic system, white, as all the colours together, is the 7th
colour.
On the first day, the “violet” as a mixture of red and blue is represented
by the two elements created together, the red Earth and the blue Heavens.
The second day “blue” is placed under the sign of the Waters MaYiM.
The third day sees the “green” with the apparition of the green grass.
The fourth day sees the “yellow” with the apparition of the Great
Luminary (the yellow sun).
By construction, the fifth day should see the “orange” being between the
yellow and the red – however there is no orange on that day. The fifth
day deals with the fish, the birds and the “livestock”, and none of these
seem to be related to any sort of orange.
The sixth day sees the “red” with the ‘AdamaH (“red” as a derivative
sense of the red “blood” DaM).
And the “white” could come on the seventh day, however this would
require the orange, which is absent. So instead, it seems that the Shabbat
would correspond to a rather “black day”, with ‘Elohim “retreating”.
So where has the orange gone?!
Well, I propose something:
Actually, “orange” in Hebrew is called “apple” – right, we have to get
here an orange apple: TaPOuHeY, a word relatively common in Joshua, in
the Song of Songs, where the apples are associated to the “perfume of the
breath28” of the beloved, to the “support for the disease of love”, to the “apple-
tree, where you mother did bring you forth, [she] bare you”, and again Proverbs
28 The apple TaPOuHeY is related to the perfume breath because the verb POuaH means “to blow, to breathe”, and the perfume of the fruit causes the exhalation of the Garden.
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25:11 mentions: “Golden apples in silver figures: spoken epiphany words”. These
golden apples make me think of the Fruits of the Garden of the Hesperides29,
and the apples in this context take the sense of the generic “fruit” or
“product” – and specifically the child.
So the orange apple being half-way between the yellow and the red, it
may be considered, perhaps, as the “fruit” of the yellow in the direction
of the red – that is, if we associate a solar symbolic value to ‘Elohim, that
“fruit” in between ‘Elohim and the red ‘Adam would be YHVH-Adonai
himself! (See Chapter 2 for YHVH-Adonai considered as ‘Elohim’s
“child”) This association is reinforced by the association between the
apples and the gold (Golden apples and silver figures…), gold being a solar
symbol of eternity, while the silver figures would refer to the waning and
changing lunar temporality – getting black over time, as silver does.
Then, on the fifth day of the Creation Myth, the living animals are made
as opposed to being created, and I have shown above that this was an
exception in ‘Elohim’s actions, as ‘Elohim normally creates things –
except here. YHVH-Adonai is responsible for the making of the ‘Adam –
thus the connection between YHVH-Adonai, this fifth day where
animals are made, and the missing “fruit” being the orange apple on this
particular day… Finally, the Song of Songs reference to the apple-tree
goes as follows (Song 8:5):
Who [is] this that cometh up from the desert, leaning upon her
beloved? I raised thee up under the apple-tree, there you mother did
brought thee forth, there [she] brought thee forth, [she] bare you…”
The feminine moon leans upon her beloved (the sun) at the autumn
equinox and gets penetrated, inseminated and fertilized; and at this time
29 These golden apples are the gift of Zeus to his spouse Hera (or else, from Gaia to Hera for her wedding day). To pick them constitutes the 11th of Hercules’ works. In order to succeed, he will have to kill the serpent Ladon, guardian of the Garden. The word Hesperides designates the three daughters of Atlas and Hesperia, meaning the sun-set, the occident.
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38
the moon has gone through the “dry” of the summer months, the
“desert”, and YHVH-Adonai is “brought forth” in the sun-set, the
‘evening’, the orange waning sun in the Occident, the time of the apple-tree,
which in Genesis is referred to as the Tree of Knowledge, the inseminating
Tree of the scattering of the self.
So the orange indeed is absent from the Creation, because the orange is
the YHVH-Adonai “apple”, not yet there at the 6th day – but with a nod
in His direction from His mighty Father-to-become, with the making of the
animals. Indeed, there is no possibility yet to have the full spectrum of
the white colour: the state of “purity”, of “totality” is short by the
orange-fruit-apple, which is to come at the beginning of the 2nd chapter
of Genesis with the appearance of YHVH-Adonai.
To isolate these two chapters under the pretext that one talks about
‘Elohim, so is “‘Elohist”, while the other would be “Yahvistic”, leading
to two independent accounts of the creation of Man that would have
been concatenated with no respect for the reader, this does not seem
right to me. Even if these texts are rooted in independent stories
belonging to different people and times, the way they are presented to us
is understandable – provided that the correct reading grid is used.
The Creation ends here
The Creation ends here, after covering six archetypal steps leading to the
creature ‘Adam: a dual animal creature, male and female, who will stay
male and female together for the duration of the myth. The stage of the
world is in place, the tools are in place, the setting is complete and the
‘Adam will soon start to operate the engine of their own making –
although in a somewhat clumsy manner – perhaps because, like a baby-
born, they will spend most of their time sleeping.
The manifestation of the ‘Adam’s consciousness in the world of time and
space is YHVH-Adonai, director of the symphony to be played soon
Adam & Eve: the solar temptation
39
with fish-cellos, bird-clarinets and bull-drums. The dynamic of the mutations
of this consciousness is expressed by the Nun, and the cosmic energies
that ‘Elohim has put in place will manifest themselves throughout the
‘Adam’s body: the mouth for the aperture Pe, the extending arms Lamed,
the breathing lung He, the efforts in growing through the diaphragm
Heit, the mutating vision through the eye ‘Ayin, the intelligence and
rationality through the head Resh, the swallowing and ingestion towards
either the air or the stomach through the throat Qof and Tsade, the
penetration with the male sex-weapon Zain, the heart-protection shield
with Tet on the sternum, the capacity to comprehend and grasp the
dimension of all these energies with the palm of the hand Kaf. The whole
body of the ‘Adam reflects, as in a mirror, the cosmic energies that are all
here for food – ready to be identified, harvested and assimilated in a
dynamic of growth, towards the acquisition of knowledge on a
wandering path of trials and errors.
In this dynamics, the discovery of their own feminine side will be the key
process.
The next chapter will discuss what happens on the 7th day, where
‘Elohim withdraws from His opus to let his orange-fruit son of YHVH-
Adonai perform the tasks He is good at: transform the ‘Adam into a life-
breathing being.
But first, YHVH-Adonai needs to appear.
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