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AND THEY HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LORD GOD WALKING IN THE GARDEN.
(Note the form mithalech (walking) instead of the usual mehalech.)
Until he sinned, man was gifted with the wisdom of celestial illumination, and he did not for an instant quit the Tree of Life. But when he was seduced by his desire to know what was below, he weakly followed it until he became separated from the Tree of Life, and knew evil and forsook good: hence the Scripture says 'for thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, evil shall not sojourn with thee' (Ps. v. 5). He who is drawn after evil may not abide with the Tree of Life.
Before they sinned, the human pair used to hear a voice from above, and were endowed with the higher wisdom; they stood erect with heavenly radiance, and knew no fear. When they sinned, they were not able to stand up even before an earthly voice. A similar thing happened later with the Israelites. When Israel stood before Mount Sinai, the impurity of the serpent was removed from them, so that carnal passion was suppressed among them, and in consequence they were able to attach themselves to the Tree of Life, and their thoughts were turned to higher things and not to lower. Hence they were vouchsafed heavenly illuminations and knowledge which filled them with joy and gladness. Further, God girt them with cinctures of the letters of the Holy Name, which prevented the serpent from gaining power over them or defiling them as before.
When they sinned by worshiping the calf, they were degraded from their high estate and lost their illumination, they were deprived of the protective girdle of the Holy Name and became exposed to the attacks of the evil serpent as before, and so brought death into the world.
[Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, 52a-52b, v1, pg. 164-165.]
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My notes...
This extract from the Zohar describes very clearly the true meaning of the 'fall of Adam' from the 'garden of Eden'.
Before God created Eve from Adam's 'side' Adam was hermaphroditic--both male and female, perfectly balanced in one entity. His 'male' side was/is symbolised by the sefirah Tifaret/Sun; his female side by the sefirah Yesod/Moon.
God took Adam's female 'side' (i.e. Yesod) and 'covered it with flesh' (i.e. He attached the sefirah Malkut to Yesod).
The 'serpent' that tempted Eve and then Adam is represented by the path of Shin (Fire) that extends between Tifaret and Yesod. This is the 'kundalini' serpent that drew Eve's and Adam's attention towards the matter principle of Malkut (and the activity of the lower chakras that are so closely attached to the material world). This is the esoteric reason why the serpent was subsequently condemned to crawl upon the ground and live within the earth. It is symbolic of the descent of the kundalini force into the deepest levels of matter.
Adam could no longer "abide with the Tree of Life" because his immersion in the physical world of Malkut meant that he was required to clothe himself in a very transient body of flesh, thus requiring him to regularly die and be reborn.
It is the task of Adam to raise the serpent above his head, or in other words, to raise kundalini up the spine, through the seven major chakras to the crown chakra.
The serpent (Shin) is actually an evolutionary force attached to the form principle (i.e. and therefore associated with the divine Mother Binah) that is urging us all to shift our focus away from the 'illusory desires' of the material world. The serpent coils and weaves its way around and through the lower chakras, creating friction and igniting the transforming fire of Shin that ultimately burns away all the impurities of matter.
Eventually, Adam's attention will once again rise to the higher spheres from where he will receive "heavenly illuminations and knowledge" and be filled "with joy and gladness".
Blessings,
Patrick.
Leo-Mars [3/6]
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