The Fall of Man Report and the Mystery of the Serpent

By Anne on 28 October 2021

The Fall of Man Report and the Mystery of the Serpent

The Fall of Man account describes the cunning of the serpent that brought the woman down. Who or what is this mythological figure?

[As a basis, see 12 Trees in Paradise: the Inner Family and The Two Trees in the Middle.
Go directly to: The Curse and the Expulsion from Paradise].

Starting point of the Fall of Man Report: the Second Creation Report

The construction of the "Männin

The Fall of Man account of the Bible directly follows the second creation account, in which the woman was "built" from a "rib" of the man to the "male". It is a strange occurrence, after it was said before that man - after the image of God - was created as man and as woman (male and female) (Genesis 1:27). How are we to understand this? Perhaps in such a way that her specifically feminine gentle nature ("virgin") is replaced by masculine attributes (such as physicality, power, performance and success orientation)? This fits to the way of the woman (from white to red) and also to the negative couple dynamic. But again from the beginning ...

God creates - but man builds!

The Bible says that God creates new things through his mere word (in the power of his spirit) and thus created the whole world. But man can only create new reality by manipulating matter (again through matter, especially in the power of his body). Thus he builds houses, roads ...
Well - the woman "(re)built" into a man? How is that to be understood?

The Fall of Man account can be understood as an explanation of how the woman became a "man" and what it is all about.

Interlaced narration of the traditions

For this is the procedure of the ancient traditions: First they describe the physical-material reality, then they explain the soul-spiritual connections with pictures. It is the principle of "box in boxes", the interlaced narrative style as it is used in the Sumerian tradition and also in the Gilgamesh epic, see The Gilgamesh Epic, Introduction).

For example, the talking snake is a simple image for a soul-spiritual context. It represents "cunning", an interpretation that is supplied in the account of the Fall.

The dialogue between the serpent and the woman before the Fall of Man

The serpent involves the woman in a dialogue. In doing so, it uses cunning, namely the strategy of bringing the woman down through lies and mistrust.

Literally from the Bible (Genesis 3:1-7, Elberfelder translation):

The Cunning Serpent (Confusion)

And the serpent was more crafty than all the beasts of the field which the LORD God had made; and he said unto the woman, Did God indeed say, Of all the trees of the garden ye shall not eat?

Then said the woman unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we eat: 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.

Lies and mistrust

Then the serpent said to the woman, "By no means will you die! But God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

The Fall of Man

And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to give insight [knowledge];
and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

So there are three main actors in the drama: The serpent, the woman and the man. The woman falls for the serpent's cunning and the man for the woman's seduction, and so they both break the commandment.

Man and woman are easy to classify, but what is it about the snake?

Who or what is the snake?

Basically: ego, drive and cunning strategy

The snake is first of all the symbol of drive and life instinct. In man, who (in contrast to the "beasts of the field") has a consciousness, it symbolizes the ego as the identity of power (see Life and the Serpent: Ascension and Descent and The Dragon, the Ancient Serpent and its Overcoming). As a female archetype, it also stands for power in the realm of the soul and spirit (see The Negative Anima as Serpent or Harlot). In addition this quotation from C.G. Jung:

With the archetype of the anima, we enter the realm of the gods or the territory that metaphysics has reserved for itself. Everything that touches the anima becomes numinos, that is, unconditional, dangerously taboo, magical. She is the serpent in the paradise of the harmless human being full of good intentions and intentions.[1]

In detail:

The Ego

Man in the grip of his ego is phobic and full of mistrust. The Ego The ego can abuse human consciousness to its own advantage. In other words, it acts strategically or "cunningly" and misuses knowledge for the purposes of power.

The serpent and the beasts of the field - ordinary and deep unconsciousness

Simple and deep unconsciousness

The snake is a female symbol and as a reptile belongs to the aquatic animals. Water is a symbol of the collective unconscious. In the account of the Fall of Man, the serpent is contrasted with the "beasts of the field". These are also "unconscious" because they act out of mere instinct and are thus "innocent". The serpent, on the other hand, casts a spell on its victim and waits for a favourable moment to strike - an image of cunning.

The snake in the head, the reptilian brain

The human being in the grip of his drives can also - with the help of the consciousness - behave extremely "cunningly", namely strategically to his advantage. Thus he acts "consciously unconsciously" so to speak, by using his consciousness in the interest of his drives and his ego (see. The snake in the head - the reptilian brain). This is called deep unconsciousness (s. The human consciousness).

The snake as a symbol for the negative anima: devious, "cunning" strategy

The anima, the female spirit: Motivation out of Love or Power?

The Anima as the female spirit basically stands for motivation and drive in the realm of the soul. The highest positive motivating force comes from love. In its negative form, however, the anima works by activating the drives, namely the power drive or the sex drive. It then appears in the form of the archetype of the SNAKE or WHORE, either by deluding or seducing (s. The negative anima as snake or whore).

Both man and woman can exercise power under your influence, but in different ways:

A man can be seductively manipulative or use cunning strategy to bring down his counterpart (anima as SNAKE).
A woman can exercise power over men by identifying with their inner image of women (Anima as a WHORE.) and appealing to their drive (the animal in them).

The secret of the snake: the negative anima of the man(!)

The anima as inner woman and relationship aspect of the man

The negative anima of the man symbolizes his inner woman and his soul, which is not yet integrated. In other words, she is still in the shadow and thus denied, afflicted with negativity and not yet matured to love (the father) (see The Integration of the Anima and The Way of the Man). Fitting to immature and stormy (macho) masculinity, it is instead oriented towards power.

This means concretely and in the context of the Fall:

The serpent who engages the woman in a confusing dialogue in the account of the Fall represents the young man's drive. He uses cunning strategy to get what he desires from the woman.

This idea will now be elaborated and examined in more detail below.

The Secret as a Collective Taboo and Paul

But first a remark on the fact that this hidden aspect of the serpent (as the negative anima of man) worked as a destructive collective secret over two millennia until today.

The woman as culprit and scapegoat

The oppression and demonisation of women as seductresses was legitimised by wrongly placing the sole blame for man's misery on her.
This very much played into the hand of the power of the church (as the collective anima). Thus, couple relationships were dismissed as "base and libidinous" and an army of men as "sinners" were instead involved through rituals.

Biblical basis: Paul and the commandment of women's subordination

The statement of the apostle Paul, with which he justified the commandment of the subordination of women, had to serve as biblical legitimation for this:

In Paul's first letter to his disciple Timothy(1 Tim 2: 12-13! ):

But I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to rule over a man, but I will that she keep herself in silence, [verse 13 (!):] for Adam was formed first, and after him Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed the commandment.

Trick! Adam was not seduced because it was he who seduced!

Oh dear! Here we are already in the middle of the gender mess. Certainly, the female-emotional drive can move the woman to dominate the man mentally and spiritually. But equally, the physical drive moves the man to subjugate the woman (see The Drive and The Human Equation in Partnership).
And so it came to pass that this statement of Paul's fuelled another 2000 years of oppression of women. (Illustration: Fountain in Burgeis, see I Miserable Man!-Paul and the Law).

First of all, the question: What is the Fall actually about?

Insight - the word for insight and intercourse

What is cognition?
And why does the idea persist that the Fall was about sexuality?

1. cognition for sexual intercourse - in accordance with higher orders

The phrase: "He recognised her" is used in the Bible for sexual intercourse in the context of a "lawful" union that is in accordance with higher orders. In addition to the woman's consent, this also includes the man's willingness to commit and the approval of the family. (In the case of sexual intercourse with prostitutes, on the other hand, the expression "He entered into it with her" is used. See e.g.: Genesis 4:17, in contrast to Genesis 38:18).

2. insight for insight - misused as a means of power

Knowledge is a gift of love. Love makes it possible to grasp the other person and to see what he or she needs (thus the person becomes "like God"). Physical closeness also leads to emotional closeness and thus to "knowledge" of the other person. But knowledge can also be misused for the purposes of power, by sounding out and exploiting the weak point of the other person. This is what happened at the Fall. This led to a "dying of love" - or at least to a dying of the "virgin" (as a symbol of pure love).

[S. The Two Trees in Paradise and the Forbidden Fruit and Knowledge.]

The dialogue that led to the Fall

Adam and Eve and the Expulsion from Paradise

The cunning of the snake ...

The ruse was to separate the woman from love and trust in order to bring her down. It could also be expressed in a much more profane way, such as in the following conversation:

... as a dialogue between man and woman:

(He presses her after his desire has awakened.)
- She: We are not allowed ... It is forbidden ... Not yet ...
- He: What is forbidden and who says so???

Confusion: "Did God really say ...?"

Doubt instead of trust

First, the serpent questioned man's perception and thus the commandment and denied the threatened consequences (dying ...).

- You: No ... Don't! Please! Let's wait ... I want to be absolutely sure it's the right thing ...
- Him: Come on ... There's nothing to it! Let's have some fun!

First lie: You will not die - the first "bit" of the fruit

A partial truth

This, like many clever lies, was a partial truth. It is not simply about "a bit of fun", but about the highest good of man, love. The first "bit" is followed by the consumption of the whole "fruit", which symbolises physical love (s. The two trees in paradise and the forbidden fruit.). Consumed love is no longer there and therefore "died" (see The Ten Plagues of Egypt, The Locusts, 8th Plague).

The death of love is a great risk with fatal consequences and must be prevented if possible. Man himself does not "die" immediately, but he loses access to the great whole, to the spirit and to eternal life.

- She: I don't know ... I'm not sure ...
- Him: What's your problem?! We are responsible for ourselves and can do what we like!

Second lie: "You will be like God ..." = "You are not like God!".

Consciousness and kingship (of God) in life

Man was already "like God", thus created after his image. That is, he is equipped with a consciousness (with which he can create his own reality, see The human consciousness). But he still has to learn to use it for good and to overcome his instinct. If, on the other hand, he puts his consciousness at the service of his instincts, they will rule over him. This leads to the tragic circumstance that he will lose his divinity in the sense of self-efficacy loses.

- She: Yes, but...
- He: No one can forbid us to do that. We are adults now.
(She remains silent, perplexed. But he is now scowling and dismissive and puts pressure on her).
- Him: Don't you love me?!
- She: Yes, I do, but ...
- He: If you loved me, you would give me what I crave!

Distrust: "God knows ..." = "One wants / you want to keep something from us!" (realisation)

Trust in higher orders or mistrust?

The commandment is given for the protection of man as long as his consciousness is not yet mature. Man must develop it and learn to use it for good. The prerequisite for this is that he must Shoots and his Ego overcoming. That is his Hero's Path.
But the lack of trust sees only the prohibition and is repelled by it. In this case, it is expressed as (though perhaps only feigned) mistrust of the woman (as the source of the longed-for love), from a position of power to deny what is longed for.

Finally, she gives in to his insistence.

Appropriate to the topic, there is also an illustration in Wolkenstein-Kramer, which is called a "seven-headed monster"(Mesopotamia around 2200 BC, 3.2 x 2.2 cm [2]) .
The picture is not difficult to recognize as an erection (with the stick from level 4, which indicates the rhythmic beat; quite in the sense of Ian Dury's song: "Hit me with your Rhythm Stick" [3]). (The picture can be found in the contribution Inanna and the ENKUM to the Sumerian mythology).

Summary: The work of the serpent and the drive

Unkindness and projection of the shadow

To accuse the woman of unkindness and a lust for power is an evil temptation and a dull projection of one's own shadow (the man). It is a pity that she falls for it. But she is still (too feminine) unconscious in the sense that she has not yet integrated her masculine parts. As a virgin, still completely sheltered in pure love, she is "innocent" - naïve and therefore does not see through his strategy (cf. Mary Magdalene and the woman as heroine and The Integration of the Animus).

Reversal of the burden of proof and the woman's body of pain

Thus the man in the serpent's grip has turned the tables in his favour by trickery. Actually, he should prove himself worthy of her love by putting his life on the line for the relationship. But instead he keeps a low profile (passive-feminine and "cunning") and brings doubt, pressure and mistrust into play. Through rejection, he identifies with her negative animus as a body of pain, thus forcing her to actively court his favour and prove her love to him by giving him what he wants.

The activated drive and negative couple dynamics as a curse

Thus, the serpent has completed its evil work and awakened the drive in both. In the man it has activated the desire instinct and in the woman the pain instinct (see The Negative Anima of the Man and The Negative Animus of the Woman). Now she will also enter into the dynamics of power and thus the curse in the form of negative couple dynamics now comes into effect.

The Curse 1 (Hilma af Klint, Evolution No. 12)

Illustration: Hilma af Klint, Evolution No. 12, 1908: She is actively begging for his attention (in yellow, the colour of the male soul). He has taken her role, strategically-passively keeping himself covered (bonnet) in blue (the colour of the female soul) and demonstrating strict restraint. (S. Hilma af Klint - from 12 to 13).

Addendum: An everyday story about something sacred

Sexuality as something sacred

The images of the Fall address important spiritual themes such as love, trust, humility and patience in dialogue with lust, desire and power, confusion and lies.

Sexuality is "sacred" because it leads to union of male and female and thus to wholeness, salvation (cf. God, wholeness, 3-in-1, male and female).

In her are devotion and fullness, fiery passion, pain and redemption.

Man and woman and the mystery of life

With its profound statements and images, the Jewish tradition does justice to the fact that the interaction between man and woman is about the most precious goods of all, love and life.

Life and love hidden in the womb of the woman

These goods, love and life, were given into the woman. She has the unique ability to grow life in her womb. But here the man also finds new spiritual strength.
This pure, intact love of the woman works miracles in earthly reality (see. The virgin - miracle working love and potential) and must therefore be protected. This is the deeper meaning of the commandment.

The Fall of Man in the Traditions

This is the theme of the great traditions from the beginning (see The Expulsion from Paradise in the Traditions). But it is still relevant today (see Original Sin as a Collective Human Problem). In the past, it was the task of norms in religion and tradition to protect the couple and lead them into a fruitful relationship. Those who think they do not need rules, on the other hand, must have a high level of consciousness (see Human Consciousness).

Evidence:

[1] C.G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 9/I, "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious", p. 37, § 59

[2] Figure 7-headed "monster": Cylinder seal, Tell Asmar, Mesopotamia, Akkadian period, ca. 2350-2150 BC, gray stone, 3.2 x 2.2 cm, Iraq Museum, from WOLKSTEIN, DIANE / KRAMER SAMUEL NOAH. Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer. New York 1983, pp. 21 and 182.

[3] Song lyrics:
Ian Dury 1979, Hit me with your Rhythm Stick. (s. YouTube)
KIZ (2006): Giant Link (s. YouTube)

The Fall of Man Report and the Mystery of the Serpent

The Fall of Man Report and the Mystery of the Serpent

Starting point of the Fall of Man Report: the Second Creation Report

The construction of the "Männin

God creates - but man builds!

Interlaced narration of the traditions

The dialogue between the serpent and the woman before the Fall of Man

Literally from the Bible (Genesis 3:1-7, Elberfelder translation):

The Cunning Serpent (Confusion)

Lies and mistrust

The Fall of Man

Who or what is the snake?

Basically: ego, drive and cunning strategy

The Ego

The serpent and the beasts of the field - ordinary and deep unconsciousness

Simple and deep unconsciousness

The snake in the head, the reptilian brain

The snake as a symbol for the negative anima: devious, "cunning" strategy

The anima, the female spirit: Motivation out of Love or Power?

The secret of the snake: the negative anima of the man(!)

The anima as inner woman and relationship aspect of the man

The Secret as a Collective Taboo and Paul

The woman as culprit and scapegoat

Biblical basis: Paul and the commandment of women's subordination

In Paul's first letter to his disciple Timothy(1 Tim 2: 12-13! ):

First of all, the question: What is the Fall actually about?

Insight - the word for insight and intercourse

1. cognition for sexual intercourse - in accordance with higher orders

2. insight for insight - misused as a means of power

The dialogue that led to the Fall

The cunning of the snake ...

... as a dialogue between man and woman:

Confusion: "Did God really say ...?"

Doubt instead of trust

First lie: You will not die - the first "bit" of the fruit

A partial truth

Second lie: "You will be like God ..." = "You are not like God!".

Consciousness and kingship (of God) in life

Distrust: "God knows ..." = "One wants / you want to keep something from us!" (realisation)

Trust in higher orders or mistrust?

Summary: The work of the serpent and the drive

Unkindness and projection of the shadow

Reversal of the burden of proof and the woman's body of pain

The activated drive and negative couple dynamics as a curse

Addendum: An everyday story about something sacred

Sexuality as something sacred

Man and woman and the mystery of life

Life and love hidden in the womb of the woman

The Fall of Man in the Traditions

We continue with:

To the art:

Traditions:

Contributions to Paradise and Curse:

Contributions to the archetypes serpent, woman and man:

Further contributions:

Evidence:

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