On the subject of Adam and Eve

[novapsyche]

I was poking through a Gnosticism archive and came across the following. (I'd almost expect this to have been written by a radical feminist, but most radical feminists are not male.)

--

The Gnostic Christians who authored the Nag Hammadi scriptures did not read Genesis as history with a moral, but as a myth with a meaning. To them, Adam and Eve were not actual historical figures, but representatives of two intrapsychic principles within every human being. Adam was the dramatic embodiment of psyche, or soul, while Eve stood for the pneuma, or spirit. Soul, to the Gnostics, meant the embodiment of the emotional and thinking functions of the personality, while spirit represented the human capacity for spiritual consciousness. The former was the lesser self (the ego of depth psychology), the latter the transcendental function, or the "higher self," as it is sometimes known. Obviously, Eve, then, is by nature superior to Adam, rather than his inferior as implied by orthodoxy.

Nowhere is Eve's superiority and numinous power more evident than in her role as Adam's awakener. Adam is in a deep sleep, from which Eve's liberating call arouses him. While the orthodox version has Eve physically emerge from Adam's body, the Gnostic rendering has the spiritual principle known as Eve emerging from the unconscious depths of the somnolent Adam. Before she thus emerges into liberating consciousness, Eve calls forth to the sleeping Adam in the following manner, as stated by the Gnostic Apocryphon of John:

I entered into the midst of the dungeon which is the prison of the body. And I spoke thus: "He who hears, let him arise from the deep sleep." And then he (Adam) wept and shed tears. After he wiped away his bitter tears he spoke, asking: "Who is it that calls my name, and whence has this hope come unto me, while I am in the chains of this prison?" And I spoke thus: "I am the Pronoia of the pure light; I am the thought of the undefiled spirit. . . . Arise and remember . . . and follow your root, which is I . . . and beware of the deep sleep."

http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/genesis.html

Comments

[vaxjedi]

I'm not a radical feminist, but this does reflect some of my core beliefs, in the sense that they are at the core of my subconscious. The idea of women as spiritual and men as mundane resonates deeply in me and I think is a good portion of my gender dysphoria - men are mundane, but *I* don't feel mundane. Women just seem stronger and deeper than men, in my eyes. I guess that's why, if given the chance, that I always choose to follow a goddess instead of a god when given the choice. Women seem more divinely inspired.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I'm not a radical feminist, but this does reflect some of my core beliefs, in the sense that they are at the core of my subconscious.

Well, you're in good company. Apparently Jung thought the same thing.

The idea of women as spiritual and men as mundane resonates deeply in me.... Women seem more divinely inspired.

Can you go into this more? I don't quite get how women can seem more divinely inspired. I mean, traditionally/stereotypically women seem more emotional, and thus might serve in more instrumental roles in religions that incorporate appeals to the emotions. But I have the feeling you mean something more than this.

[rubel.livejournal.com]

This imagery is actually found in most (if not all) mystic traditions. Indeed, I was just reading about it today in a beginning Tantra book (Lama Yeshe). It is generally symbolic of two different things. In tantra, the point is to unite the male and female aspects within yourself since everyone has them. Generally, people identify with one or the other, and feel a sot of loss of the other. So they seek that in the external world, always looking for the man or woman of their dreams instead of finding that fulfillment in themselves. I had kind of hit upon this reality earlier in my own exploration into myself, and referred to the phenomenon as "Phantom Love Syndrome." As with Phantom Limb Syndrome, when part of you is sort of dissociated or repressed from (or simply as yet undiscovered by) consciousness--when it is amputated from consciousness, you could say--this causes a certain itch. Most people aren't aware of the cause being internal, so they look for the cure externally. They then scratch away instead of making the itch go away, and they forget the difference between these two things.

Another phenomenon that is generally portrayed in mysticism this way, is the interplay of wisdom and compassion, evolution and involution. Wisdom is generally associated with evolution towards the divine, compassion is generally associated with involution or involvement in the worldly. One thing that Ken Wilber has noticed (along with much of the world) is that men seem more concerned with wisdom and independence, and women seem more concerned with compassion and interdependence. In his terms, men are more prone to agency, women to communion. Both are equally vital to spirituality (or anything else, really). The traditional religions organized by men tend to emphasize wisdom, isolation, suppression of worldly desires or involvement, etc. In cases of hyper-agency, this often results in very enlightened monks who don't really do much in the world. With the recent emergence of feminism and the backlash against traditional religions (whether transformative/mystical or translative/symbolic), we are seeing a strong emphasis on compassion, involvement, expression or worldly desires and community. In cases of hyper-communion, this often results in very unenlightened people who do a whole lot for the world.

Hence the tantric call for both.
Wisdom is seeing the many as the one.
Compassion is seeing the one as the many.
Nondual enlightenment is the direct transmental experience of this union.
This is why so many Buddhist sculptures are of the sexual coupling of Shiva and Shakti. It's supposed to be symbolic of this.
Involution (the fall away from Oneness) is supposed to be synonymous with Creation--what created spirit from All, soul from spirit, mind from soul, body/prana from mind, and matter from body. Evolution is the climb back up. Involution is generally thought of in mystic circles as a sort of crystalization or precipitation of the lower from the higher, and evolution occurs from the consciousness inherent to everything organizing the lower to make it possible for the higher to emerge.