Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Interpretation:

And the Self took the perfect image of itself, and put it in the garden of Eden to dress it with knowledge and understanding and take care of it, so that through that man the Self could pursue pleasure through new knowledge and understanding, while retaining what the Self had in the beginning.

Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Interpretation:

And the Self commanded the man (its alter ego) saying; Of every tree (of knowledge) planted in the garden you mayest freely eat; (enjoy the pleasure of their fruit).

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Interpretation:

But not the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you do you shall surely die.

To die means to no longer be a perfect image of the Self, and so be deprived of a righteous life. To die is to become ignorant and unrighteous.

Genesis 2:18  And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Interpretation:

The man (the Self’s alter ego) had been formed from the earth (subconscious mind). It was a memory of the Self’s first and true image created in the Self’s conscious mind, and it too was androgynous and so it was alone.

The term help meet simply means a companion that shares the work.

Genesis 2:19   And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

 Interpretation:

And out of the subconscious mind the Self formed every beast of the field, (beasts are natural instincts and the field is the surface of the subconscious mind that is in the lower conscious mind). and every fowl of the air. The fowl is a reference to emotional thoughts and the air is a reference to the lower conscious mind.

And the Self brought them unto Adam (the first man, the Self’s first and perfect alter ego) to see what its alter ego would call them; and whatsoever the Self’s alter ego called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Every creature was living because it was righteous desire that animated them.

This is the first time that the Self referred to the man (its alter ego) as Adam, and we shall also now refer to him as Adam.

Genesis 2:20   And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Interpretation:

Cattle is the name given to domesticated beasts, that is to say; obedient instincts.

There was not found a companion to share the work of Adam, even from all the creatures.

Genesis 2:21   And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

Interpretation:

And the Self refrained from interacting with its world through its alter ego. That would be like taking off a mask and resting it down to make changes to it.

The word rib is a reference to a characteristic, and because the Self’s alter ego was androgynous, two of its characteristics were its male characteristic and its female characteristic.

And so the Self took the female characteristic from its alter ego and sealed up the flesh. It is knowledge that forms the flesh of the spiritual body.

It is the characteristics of something that forms it character.

 Genesis 2:22   And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Interpretation:

And from the female characteristic which the Self had taken from its alter ego, the Self made a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Genesis 2:23   And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Interpretation:

Bone of my bones means characteristic of my character, and flesh of my flesh means image of my image.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Interpretation:

The father is a reference to the Self’s desire, and the mother is a reference to the Self’s Mind, therefore they are the parents of the Self and Mind’s first and true image which was androgynous. It is that image that is the Self’s ego.

They are also the parents of Adam and Eve.

In the beginning when man was formed from the earth (subconscious mind) he was androgynous, i.e. both male and female combined, but then they were separated. So the male part is then referred to as the Son of the Father and the female part therefore is referred to as the daughter of the Mother.

Adam and Eve have the same parents, but it will be the Self that produces children with Eve.

Genesis 2:25   And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Interpretation:

And they were both naked means that they were innocent, without sin, and had no shame or guilt. In other words they had nothing to hide; they were like new born babies.

Next Page: The Temptation