Adam & Eve, a Metaphysical Metaphor
Adam and Eve - A Metaphysical Metaphor
The Bible is a collection of metaphysical books, written by many different authors, but attributed to Divine inspiration. Within the literal writing there is a higher level of truth describing the universal human condition. The term metaphysical is here used to refer to the level of reality where the esoteric and the exoteric co-exist. A metaphor is a linguistic device used to carry meaning from the higher level to the lower level. The authors of metaphysical metaphors cover their esoteric ideas in natural images, in the style of historical narratives, which are extended metaphors, and the spiritual content becomes hidden to the uninitiated, but present in their subconscious.
In the book of Matthew, we read that Jesus on spoke to the crowds in parables:
“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34,35)
Jesus spoke to the crowds only in parables. The Bible likewise presents a collection of metaphysical parables, which on the surface appear as literal histories, but symbolically contain metaphysical/spiritual truths not meant for the unenlightened crowds.
In his short work, The Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) presented a detailed systematic approach to interpreting scripture symbolically. His method is rational, consistent, and comprehensive. Having thoroughly analyzed his method, and contrasted it with other popular interpretation methods, historic and contemporary, in my dissertation titled, The Spiritual Level, I have demonstrated the validity of Swedenborg’s symbolic interpretation method.
The account of the seven days of creation in Genesis chapter 1 is not meant to be taken literally. It is a parable symbolically describing the spiritual evolution of human consciousness, the seven stages of enlightenment. And the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis ch.2, is also not meant to be taken as a literal account of an historical event. This story is also a spiritual/metaphysical parable, which describes a universal human experience which happens when we recognize the existence of the “self” and grapple with our relationship to external realities and our relationship with the Divine.
“So God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
This says that ‘the image of God’ is composite, male/female.
In Genesis 1:27, the terms male and female, are used as esoteric metaphors. It is not talking about men and women. It is talking about the nature of human consciousness, regardless of gender. Adam and Eve are not historical personages, they are symbols pertaining to aspects of human consciousness. Adam is a symbol of the rational mind, and Eve is a symbol of the sense of individuality, the self. In the metaphysical language of the Bible, “male” designates the part of consciousness known as the rational understanding, the personal ability to reason, “female” designates the part of consciousness called the self - the sense of individuality, the independent will, personal identity. Male corresponds to the intellect, with its concepts, perceptions, interpretations and philosophies; female corresponds to the free will, which is the self, defined by what we love, desire and do. Keep in mind, the will is always in partnership with the intellect. The intellect and the will work in partnership as we move through life. Adam and Eve represent the two components of the consciousness of a single individual.
God is the Unity of Love and Wisdom. Infinite Rationality (Wisdom) and Infinite Freedom Itself (Love), and all individual persons, regardless of gender, are (finite) images of God, unique limited embodiments of rationality and freedom, wisdom and love, male and female, intellect and heart. God is composite Male/Female, Wisdom and Love in perfect unity. Likewise, metaphysically each of us is a male/female, intellect/heart composite: each of us is a unique consciousness composed of understanding and will. The understanding is receptive of influx of Divine Wisdom and the will is receptive of the influx of Divine Love. This is our reception of Life from the Divine Source.
As an image of God (the Divine Source), each man and each woman has a will and an intellect. When scripture mentions male and female, man and woman, husband and wife, mother and father, sons and daughters, all these terms are not pointed toward sexuality, rather they always symbolically represent the dual elements of our consciousness. Symbolically, male represents the mind, our understanding, our thoughts and ideas, and female represents the heart, our affections, instinct and intuition, our own life. Each of us has a rationality and a will; each of us has an Adam and an Eve that form the two parts of our consciousness.
Adam and Eve naked in the Garden of Eden is a symbol of individual consciousness in a state of innocence. All of the phenomenal elements of Eden symbolically represent all the aspects of consciousness. Earth and sky, light and darkness, all the plants, animals, birds, fish, everything represents spiritual, essential, realities, consciousness itself; all our thoughts and feelings, perceptions and affections, desires and intentions, concepts and theories, loves and philosophies, all actualities and possibilities are found in the Garden. Metaphysically understood, Eden is not a place found in history, it is the context of our individual (and collective) spiritual existence, where our mind and heart arise and exist; the Garden is a symbol of our total consciousness, including all the surrounding factors and phenomena which impact our awareness.
Within the functional dynamics of our consciousness, it appears as if the intellect precedes the will. It seems as if Adam exists prior to Eve. It seems as if we first understand a situation, and then make a choice, because this is what occurs on the surface. However, it is always our subconscious, inner, affections and desires which reside at the point of origin, the intellectual framework is secondary. Our will leads the intellect, Eve is primary, Adam obeys Eve. In our origins, Adam and Eve are truly united and co-existent, blended together in our lack of self-awareness; at first, we don’t see Eve. We don’t want to acknowledge our motives and desires, because they are embarrassingly narcissistic, (Eve still resides anonymously, subconsciously in Adam.) When we begin our evolutionary journey to the establishment of spiritual being, first our will is divided from our intellect, we can see that our desires and our ideas, though clearly co-dependent, can be considered separately from one another.
“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.’ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21-24)
Eve is taken from Adam, and formed as a separated phenomena. This means that at some point the intellect can start to see the will as something objectively separate from the rationality. This process is symbolized by the sleep which befalls Adam, the removal of a rib, which is a bony substance covering his heart, that is built into the woman, he comes to recognize as his wife. We are granted “freedom”, the complete appearance and experience of autonomy, as self. This self concept is derived from our personal intellectual perspectives, our own love of wisdom, natural individuality, Adam. Eve is the self will externalized, our presence among others, the freedom of choice we are given to become a dynamic, deliberate presence, capable of bearing fruit. Adam is said to be sleeping because the concept of an autonomous self is irrational - our existence is dependent on constant Divine Influx. The appearance is granted, as a sense of self is essential to our finite “existence”. Early on, we experience conflict between heart and mind, separation. Eve wanders the garden alone. These two foundational elements, rationality and freedom, become reunited in us once we are spiritually mature, in our fulfilled humanity. If we love the metaphysical truth we discover through the intellect, we will desire to see it through to fruition. We will leave our inherited, mostly unconscious, intellect and will (father and mother) and join our rationality to the mature, external expression of our being, our wife . Intellect joined to will, derives created offspring - fruition, action in the context of universal society. Will and intellect working together produce results - Depending on the qualities of the intellect and will, and their relative strengths and weaknesses - to what degree the mind contains truth rather than falsity, and to what degree the heart is receptive of love, good or bad results manifest.
The incident with the serpent will now be explained. As with all situations described in scripture, it is not a history, it is a parable describing a recurring metaphysical experience, a universal experience that is timeless; it happens to everyone. Blatantly, a talking snake is a symbol, like the seven-headed dragon found in the Book of Revelation. Metaphysically the serpent represents the level of consciousness known as the senses, our experience of the outermost level of reality. Prior to regeneration, or enlightenment, the senses are deceptive. Prior to awakening, the serpent embodies the aspect of us that desires to rely solely on our own understanding and abilities, separate from the Divine. It signifies the inclination towards self-centeredness, independence, and the belief that we can determine what is good and true by ourselves, rather than acknowledging that these qualities come from the Divine Source. Eve deceived by the serpent (the senses) is our self-centered love, believing that we are autonomous, that we have a life of our own. We decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. This belief is symbolically portrayed by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (attributing life to oneself) and becoming as a god. The will, self-love, Eve brings that belief to the intellect, Adam; he partakes, the state of innocence dies, and subsequently life gets hard for all three, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. The intellect is brutally strained with the task of being a god; the will is pained as it tries to realize its self-centered purposes, and our external experience is extremely degraded (the serpent crawling on its belly, eating dust.) This is not some ancient history, it happens constantly, incessantly, everyday, to everyone prior to enlightenment.
When Adam and Eve choose to believe the serpent they become oriented to the sensory level of reality as the most important. At this point, banished from Eden, this is the fate of those who are sense- minded :
“So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:14,15)
Swedenborg interprets ‘the serpent going on its belly, eating dust’ to mean that the sensory part of our life becomes hellish, not partaking of heavenly things. The regeneration/enlightenment process is difficult, as we face temptations, struggling to overcome selfishness and ignorance. It is important to note that God does not inflict this, the serpent brings it upon itself. ‘The woman’ who is in a state of enmity with the serpent is the regenerating spiritual self, a new will derived of heavenly influx, which is gradually being created in us, and her seed is the voice of the Divine, which has influx into the highest level of our consciousness. ‘The head of the serpent’ means the reign of evil in general and of self love in particular. The conflict between the woman and her seed with the serpent and his seed is symbolic of the spiritual birth process. The woman and her seed must resist the deceptions of sensual level, which lead us into the false idea that we must be self centered in order to have a good life. This is a very brief summary of the parable. A complete detailed exposition is found in Swedenborg’s book, Arcana Celestia, aka. The Secrets of Heaven.
There is an infinite depth of meaning to be found in the internal sense of sacred scripture. The Bible, metaphysically understood, can be a light unto our path.
