The Temptation
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Interpretation:
The serpent represents temptation, and temptations emanate from desire and desire is a beast. Serpents are referred to in scripture as dragons. Serpent is also the name for Satan, the tempter. The devil is the name given to the evil heart. This is why the tempter is often referred to as both Satan and the devil.
The Latin meaning of the word serpent is to creep and so serpents/temptations are creeping things.
To be subtil/subtle is to be so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyse or describe, we would call this crafty; cunning.
As you can see the serpent is a beast of the field, and was made from the subconscious mind by the Self.
It should be noted that it is Eve (the mind of Adam) that is being tempted and so Adam, the Self’s alter ego, is also being tempted.
Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Interpretation:
The woman begins to engage with the serpent in an effort to resist by saying what knowledge she is allowed to take pleasure from, which should only be from righteous knowledge.
Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Interpretation:
The woman explains that she and Adam are commanded not to take pleasure from or learn the forbidden knowledge of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest they die.
The word lest means there is a risk, a possibility.
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Interpretation:
The serpent gets around the Self’s command by saying that dying is not a certainty.
Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Interpretation:
The temptation gets stronger as the woman is promised a reward for eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She is told that her eyes shall be opened, in other words, she will understand that there are other ways to pursue and experience pleasure. She is also told that she and Adam will be as gods, which means having great power.
The word god spelt with a lower case g is a reference to a fully empowered alter ego. The problem with having an alter ego is that the Self can forget its true identity.
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Interpretation:
So the woman acquired knowledge of the tree and saw that its fruit was good for food and looked pleasurable, and that the knowledge was desirable to make one wise, so she took the fruit and did eat it, in other words she had learned that pleasure can be had from both knowledge of good and knowledge of evil.
The woman being the mind of Adam meant that Adam received the fruit (pleasure of the knowledge) also.
It is because of what the blind guides teach that there is a common belief that Eve was entirely to blame for the downfall of man, when in fact all that had to be done to prevent the temptation, was not to put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden in the first place.
It is quite obvious that the temptation was meant to occur and that it was a way for the Self to avoid blame.
Consider also that everything was made and created by the Self, and that Adam and Eve had not been given wisdom and therefore they had no defence against temptation.
Without Eve, man would never attain wisdom.
Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Interpretation:
Now they were aware that there was more than just the pleasure of knowledge that was good, and they couldn’t hide the fact that they had tasted the pleasure of both. But what the Self’s alter ego knew, the Self knew also. The Self was after all pulling its alter egos strings, while distancing itself from its actions.
Fig leaves serve to hide the fig fruit, pretending it is not there. Fig leaves represent pretence, and so Adam and his wife pretended they had done nothing wrong by covering their pleasure with pretence.
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
Interpretation:
The voice that they heard was the voice of the Self’s conscience. It had after all placed temptation in Adam and the woman’s way by placing the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden. It would have been so easy not to have done that. The Self had not tasted the fruit of the knowledge of evil, it had only experienced the pleasure of what is good and right. This is why the Self projected its image as an alter ego, which is referred to as the other I. The Self could then say; it wasn’t me, it was the other I.
Walking in the garden simply means that the Self’s focus of attention was there.
Hiding themselves amongst the trees, means hiding amongst other knowledge trying to stay out of focus.
Genesis 3:9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Interpretation:
The Self called out to its alter ego, trying to find and focus on it amongst all its other knowledge.
Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Interpretation:
Adam was afraid because he felt guilty and he knew it would show.
Genesis 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Interpretation:
And wanting to preserve the Self’s alter ego as a projection of the Self, it asks the man how he knew he was naked, and if he had eaten of the tree he was warned not to. In this way the Self preserves its innocence although the Self is all seeing. That is why alter egos are created.
Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Interpretation:
The Self’s alter ego (the man) of course blames (the woman) its mind and not the tempter, which was the Self’s own desire.
Genesis 3:13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Interpretation:
And the Self says to the woman, What is this that though hast done? And the woman blames the serpent, which was of course, a projection of the Self’s desire.
It is the way of blind guides to beguile their converts with impressive buildings, music, incense, the light from stained glass windows, ornaments of gold and silver, idols, robes and promises of a pleasurable afterlife. All of this is designed to overwhelm the senses.