The Sixth Day
The Creation of Man and Beast
Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
The earth (subconscious mind) is the place where memories are stored for remembrance. When brought out into the conscious mind their original effect is experienced again.
Interpretation:
And the Self said, Let the subconscious mind bring forth (meaning bring into the lower conscious mind) the living creature after his kind.
Living means that they are moved by desire and are able to give the light of understanding, when brought out of the subconscious mind.
After his kind means of the same variety.
Cattle, creeping thing, and beast of the earth, are all creatures of emotion that have the power to move, in other words they are of desire.
And it was so that the earth brought forth the living creatures.
Gen 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Interpretation:
There are three types of creatures that are brought forth from the earth (subconscious mind), and placed on the earth, meaning they were placed in the lower conscious mind. Let’s take a look at each type and see what they represent.
Beasts
Beasts are the most powerful primal instincts, in other words they are the strongest of the Self’s desire. When in the subconscious they are referred to as ‘inner desires’.
Because everything in the subconscious is good at this point the Self’s inner desires have not been compromised. The Self is able to control and rule over them. In other words, the Self’s will is greater than the will of the beasts.
Cattle
Cattle are domesticated (tamed) beasts, in other words desires that have had their willpower broken, and so they serve to provide for the Self’s needs, they are unlike beasts who have a very strong will.
The strength of will is dependent on the strength of desire.
At this point the beasts belong to the Self which has domination over them, but this will change when domination is given to the man (the Self’s alter ego). It is when the subconscious mind becomes contaminated with knowledge of evil that the beasts become a problem, because when desire arises from the subconscious mind then they seek pleasure from knowledge that is unrighteous. They are then referred to as ‘monsters from the ID (inner desire).
But for now there is only knowledge of good in the subconscious mind, so the beasts are good.
Creeping things
The creeping things began as fowl (emotional thoughts that emanated from the emotional mind). After their time in the conscious mind they were placed into the subconscious mind, where they multiplied until they were moved into the lower conscious mind. They are said to be creeping things because they tend to be slow moving and go unnoticed. Even so their presence has an influence.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Interpretation:
The Self and mind exist together as one spiritual being. They cannot exist independently from each other. Together as one they are referred to as a God.
The definition of God is; the creator and ruler of a universe and all that is within it. In metaphorical terms the space in which the Self and mind exist is their spiritual universe.
The Self’s desire is referred to as the Father, and the Self’s mind is referred to as the Mother, in other words God is androgynous, this is why the words us and our are used.
The image that they make here is made in the conscious mind, and it is an image of themselves as an androgynous, spiritual being. It is through this image that the Self perceives and interacts with its spiritual world. It also makes the Self constantly aware of its own existence and of what it is. The image that is referred to as man is a personified image of the Self, formed in and from the substance of the conscious mind.
Giving dominion to the man is the same as giving dominion to the Self’s desire and mind. Without this first and true image, the Self would not know itself.
It is when the Self refers to its first and true image that it says; ‘I am that I am’.
Imagine being the only one that you are aware of and never seeing your own reflection. That is what it would be like if you had no image of yourself.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Interpretation:
So the Self created man in his own image. The Self is androgynous and so the image of the Self is androgynous also. In this verse male and female are referred to collectively as a man.
Man means personified image of desire and mind.
The man created here from the substance of the conscious mind is also a representation of the Self’s ego.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Interpretation:
The first man that was the original image of Self and mind had been created in Heaven (the conscious mind) and like all things created in the conscious mind, its likeness would be instantly stored in the Earth (subconscious mind) for remembrance, so that when the image fades in the conscious mind, it can always be retrieved from the subconscious mind, and brought back into the conscious mind. It is from this perspective that the Self gives instructions to its true image of desire and mind, which are now represented by the image of the man.
So God is speaking of man’s future.
To be fruitful is to bring much pleasure.
To multiply is to increase in characteristics.
To replenish the earth is to fill it with new knowledge in other words, replace some of the previous knowledge that was in the subconscious mind. The new knowledge is of the Self.
To subdue the earth is to take control of it.
To have dominion over the creatures of the earth is to rule over them as their master.
The fish of the sea are the emotions, the fowl of the air are thoughts emanating from the emotional mind. Notice that it says; upon the earth and not in the earth.
That which is living is animated by desire.
Giving dominion to the Self’s image means that the Self will act through its new image.
It should be remembered that this first man was made in Heaven from the substance of the conscious mind and only one man was made.
Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Interpretation:
Food for man
Here man is told that he has been given every seed that will bear herbs and every tree that produces fruit in which the seeds of new trees are produced. For the man these will be for meat.
Meat is food and represents knowledge.
Notice that the seeds that bear herbs are given to the man, not to eat but to plant and grow. Herbs are grasses of which there are many types including, wheat and barley, which represent knowledge. Wheat always represents truth that is important. Seeds are likened to ideas.
Trees are trees of knowledge, the fruit is the pleasure that the knowledge gives, and the seeds of the fruit lead to the discovery of new knowledge. It is the growing of knowledge that produces the fruit, and it is in the eating of the fruit that the pleasure of desire is experienced.
Notice that the seeds and the trees are upon the face of the earth, in other words, they are in the lower conscious mind and not in the subconscious mind.
Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Interpretation:
Food for creatures
Green herbs is a reference to the plants produced by the herb bearing seed. These grasses are given to the creatures that are upon the earth in the lower conscious mind. It is by eating this meat/food of knowledge that they grow. Knowledge is the flesh of the spiritual body.
Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Interpretation:
And the Self saw in its mind everything that was created and made from those creations, and together it was all very good, i.e. Righteous and pleasing.
And another cycle of the Self’s desire had been fulfilled, on this the sixth day.