Man Made from the Dust of the Earth
Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
Interpretation:
The things that follow are the things that were generated from the things that were already created and made in the first seven days.
A day is an unspecified period of time when used loosely. It can be long or short, in other words a cycle of desire can be long or short.
The word Lord is derived from the words bread keeper which spiritually means knowledge keeper. The LORD is a reference to the Self.
Genesis 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Interpretation:
Everything that would bear knowledge was first made in the conscious mind, before it was stored in the subconscious mind.
The field is a reference to the surface of the subconscious mind.
Nothing had yet grown because the Self had not yet caused it to rain and there was not yet a man to till the ground, i.e. plant the seeds.
Without water/emotion and the warmth of desire, knowledge cannot grow.
Genesis 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Interpretation:
Mist forms when warmer air over water suddenly encounters the cooler surface of land.
Likewise when the surface of the Sea of emotions is warmed by desire, it begins to evaporate into the lower conscious mind. When it encounters the dry cooler surface of the subconscious mind it condenses and forms mist, which is the spirit of emotion.
In this verse the earth is a reference to both the Sea and the land as a whole.
Note:
Why man was formed from the dust of the earth.
Before I go further and interpret verse 7 of Chapter 2, there are some things that you must understand and be quite clear about.
The meaning of life
The meaning of life is to pursue and experience pleasure by acquiring knowledge and understanding, while retaining ones sense of righteousness, and domination over all that would challenge the Self’s authority and righteousness.
The Self’s righteousness
The question here is:
How can the Self retain its original righteousness, in the face of being tempted by the prospect of experiencing pleasure through the acquisition of knowledge of both good and evil?
Without knowledge of evil, the worth of knowledge of good cannot be comprehended.
The conscience
The conscience causes feelings of guilt when the Self remembers its original righteousness and compares it to what it has done or is about to do. In the beginning the Self was whole and righteous and its heart was filled with only perfect Love, therefore the Self’s image was pure. There had to be a way for the Self to protect its righteousness while walking the path between good and evil. The Self’s conscience was only a part of this, a part of protecting its original image.
The conscience therefore arises to protect the Self’s original image and its righteousness.
The Alter Ego
The Self’s problem of maintaining its original image and righteousness was solved by projection.
In the beginning the Self had created an image of itself in the conscious mind, and that image had been stored in its subconscious mind. It was the stored image that would become the Self’s alter ego, i.e. the other ‘I’. The Self would now project its feelings through that alter ego, and attribute all of the Self’s thoughts and actions including choices, to be those of its alter ego.
It would be as if the Self was wearing the alter ego like a mask, and behind that mask was the Self’s first and true identity, one of a child setting out on a journey of discovery and learning.
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Interpretation:
And the Self recalled its true image from the surface of the subconscious, and with the wetness of the rain, the Self formed the image as if forming a clay pot, and the Self animated the image with the wind/breath of its desire, and the image became a living image of the Self, in other words; a living soul.
The Self had projected its own thoughts and desires into the image of itself, through which the Self would experience life while retaining the Self’s righteousness.
The Father becomes the son.
Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Interpretation:
Eden is the name given to the surface of the earth (subconscious mind).
The word Eden came from the Akkadian word edin based on the Sumerian word eden, meaning Plain. This was a reference to a large flat area covered in grass.
Only the seeds of the trees of knowledge were planted in the garden. The seed for the herbs would be planted by the man.
Eastwards is reference to where the Sun (desire) begins to rise.
The man (the Self’s image) was created in Heaven (the conscious mind). It was then stored in the subconscious mind (the earth) from where it was retrieved and once more given form. This is the mystery of there being two versions of man. The first is made of the substance of Heaven, and the second is a remembrance made of the substance of the earth.
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Interpretation:
And out the subconscious mind, the Self’s desire made to grow every tree of knowledge that bore the fruit of the light of understanding, and was good for food for the soul; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden (which is the tree of wisdom), and the tree of knowledge of good and evil which revealed knowledge of how to obtain pleasure from doing what was righteous and what was not righteous. Its fruit produces the same pleasure regardless of the branch that it is taken from.