(57) Thus now Adam with his Wife went (in great Lust and Joy) into the Garden of Eden, where Adam told her of the Commandment concerning the Tree: But Eve (being a Woman of this World) regarded it but little, and turned her from Adam to the Tree, and looked upon it with Lust; and the Lust instantly took hold of her; and the lying Devil (when she was talking with him, whom she knew not, neither had heard of any Devil) persuaded her, and she laid hold on the Tree, and broke off [an Apple,] and did eat of the Fruit of the four Elements and Stars, and gave to Adam; and when Adam saw that Eve died not, then he eat also.

(3) Now when poor fallen Man (viz. Adam and Eve) stood thus in great Fear, Horror, and Trembling, being fast bound with the Bands of the Devil, and of Hell, in great Scorn and Shame before the Heaven and Paradise, then God the Father appeared to them with his angry Mind of the Abyss, into which they were fallen; and his most loving Heart went forth through the Word of the Father in Adam and Eve, and placed itself before the Wrath, highly in the Gate of Man's Life, and enlightened the poor Soul again; yet they could not comprehend it in the Essences of the Soul; but received the Rays of the Almighty Power, whereby Adam and Eve became tglad again; and yet they stood trembling, by Reason of the Wrath [or fierce Horror or Grimness] that was in them, and heard the Sentence which God pronounced; for God said, Because thou hast eaten of the Tree whereof I told thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed be the Ground for thy Sake; with Care thou shalt maintain thy Life thereon all thy Life long; Thorns and Thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the Herb of the Field, till thou become Earth again, from whence thou wast taken; for thou art now Earth, and to Earth thou shall return again.

The human being Adam was revealed through the bright shadow within. And Adam’s ability to think was greater than that of all the creators. When they looked up, they saw that Adam’s ability to think was greater, and they devised a plan with the whole throng of rulers and angels. They took fire, earth, and water, and combined them with the four fiery winds. They wrought them together and made a great commotion. The rulers brought Adam into the shadow of death so that they might produce a figure again, from earth, water, fire, and the spirit that comes from matter, that is, from the ignorance of darkness, and desire, and their own false spirit. This is the cave for remodeling the body that these criminals put on the human, the fetter of forgetfulness. Adam became a mortal being, the first to descend and the first to become estranged. The enlightened afterthought within Adam, however, would rejuvenate Adam’s mind. They put their tree of life in the middle of paradise. I shall teach you the secret of their life, the plan they devised together, the nature of their spirit: The root of their tree is bitter, its branches are death, its shadow is hatred, a trap is in its leaves, its blossom is bad ointment, its fruit is death, desire is its seed, it blossoms in darkness. The dwelling place of those who taste of it is the underworld, and darkness is their resting place. But the rulers lingered in front of what they call the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is the enlightened afterthought, so that Adam might not behold its fullness and recognize his shameful nakedness. But I was the one who induced them to eat. I said to the savior, Master, was it not the snake that instructed Adam to eat? The savior laughed and said, The snake instructed them to eat of the wickedness of sexual desire and destruction so that Adam might be of use to the snake. This is the one who knew Adam was disobedient because of the enlightened afterthought within Adam, which made Adam stronger of mind than the first ruler. The first ruler wanted to recover the power that he himself had passed on to Adam. So he brought deep sleep upon Adam. I said to the savior, What is this deep sleep? The savior said, It is not as Moses wrote and you heard. He said in his first book, He put Adam to sleep. Rather, this deep sleep was a loss of sense. Thus the first ruler said through the prophet, I shall make their minds sluggish, that they may neither understand nor discern.

Next, let me continue. When the rulers saw him and the woman who was with him erring in ignorance like beasts, they rejoiced greatly. When they learned that an immortal human was not going to pass them by, but that they would even have to fear the woman who had turned into a tree, they were troubled and said, “Is this, perhaps, the true human, who blinded us and taught us about this defiled woman who is like him, that we might be conquered?” Then the seven took counsel. They came to Adam and Eve timidly, and they said to him, “The fruit of every tree created for you in paradise may be eaten, but beware, don’t eat from the tree of knowledge. If you do eat, you will die.” After they gave them a great fright, they withdrew up to their authorities. Then came the one who is wiser than all creatures, who was called the beast. When he saw the likeness of their mother, Eve, he said to her, “What is it that god said to you? ‘Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge’?” She said, “He said not only ‘Don’t eat from it’ but also ‘Don’t touch it, lest you die.’” He said to her, “Don’t be afraid! You certainly shall not die. For he knows that when you eat from it your mind will be sobered and you will become like gods, knowing the difference between evil and good people. For he said this to you because he is jealous, so that you would not eat from it.” Now, Eve believed the words of the instructor. She looked at the tree and saw that it was beautiful and appealing, and she desired it. She took some of its fruit and ate, and she gave to her husband also, and he ate too. Then their minds opened. For when they ate, the light of knowledge shone for them. When they put on shame, they knew that they were naked with regard to knowledge. When they sobered up, they saw that they were naked, and they became enamored of one another. When they saw that their makers had beastly forms, they loathed them. They understood a great deal.

Then justice created the beautiful paradise. It is outside the circuit of the moon and the circuit of the sun in the luxuriant earth, which is in the east in the midst of stones. And desire is in the midst of trees, since they are beautiful and appealing. And the tree of immortal life, as it was revealed by the will of god, is in the north of paradise to give life to the immortal saints, who will come out of the fashioned bodies of poverty in the consummation of the age. Now, the color of the tree of life is like the sun, and its branches are beautiful. Its leaves are like those of the cypress, and its fruit is like clusters of white grapes. Its height rises up to heaven. And next to it is the tree of knowledge, possessing the power of god. Its glory is like the moon shining forth brilliantly, and its branches are beautiful. Its leaves are like fig leaves, and its fruit is like good, delicious dates. And this tree is in the north of paradise to raise up the souls from the stupor of the demons, so they might come to the tree of life and eat its fruit and condemn the authorities and their angels. The effect of this tree is described in the Holy Book as follows: You are the tree of knowledge, which is in paradise, from which the first man ate and which opened his mind, so that he loved his female partner, and condemned other alien likenesses, and loathed them. Now, after this there sprouted up the olive tree, which was to purify kings and chief priests of justice, who will appear in the last days. The olive tree appeared in the light of the first Adam for the sake of the anointing that they will receive.

[God planted] a garden, and humans [lived in the] garden. There are some [who dwell] with…God…. This garden [is where] it will be said to me, “…[eat] this and do not eat that, [as you] wish.” This is where I shall eat everything, where the tree of knowledge is. That tree killed Adam, but here the tree of knowledge has brought people back to life. That tree was the law. It can give knowledge of good and evil, but it neither freed Adam from evil nor made him good, and it brought death to those who ate of it. For when it was said, “Eat this and do not eat that,” death began.

(32) And as the fierce [wrathful] Essence of the Anger of God pressed into Adam, whereby he entered into Death, of which God spoke, saying, If thou eatest of the Tree, thou shalt die the Death, understand the Death in the Flesh, even while they were in the earthly Life, so the sharp Nails must pierce through the Hands and Feet of Christ, and so he must enter into Death; and as there is in the human Essences (before the Light of God) a Cross-Birth, so when the Light of God shines therein, all is turned into a pleasant flourishing Blossom, wherein the sharp Essences are not found or perceived.

Philip the apostle said, “Joseph the carpenter planted a garden, for he needed wood for his trade. He is the one who made the cross from the trees he planted, and his own offspring hung on what he planted. His offspring was Jesus and what he planted was the cross.” The tree of life, however, is in the middle of the garden. It is an olive tree, and from it comes chrism, and from chrism comes resurrection.

(39) And when God had thus provided Adam and Eve a bestial Garment to cover their Shame, and to defend them against the Cold, then he let them out of the Garden, and set the Cherubim with a naked a two-edged Sword before it, to keep the Way to the Tree of Life, and he [Man] must now till the Ground. But the Understanding of us poor Children of Adam and Eve is sunk so much, that at our last old Age we scarce reach [the Understanding of] any Thing concerning the lamentable Fall of Adam and Eve, seeing we must seek very deep for it in the Center of the Light of Life; for it is very wonderful which Moses says, God set the Cherubim before the Garden, to keep and guard the Way to the Tree of Life. Who could understand it? If God did not open our Eyes, we should speak simply of a Keeper with a Sword; and Reason sees nothing else.

(8) And he called his sons, and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he divided the earth into the lots, which his three sons were to take in possession, and they reached forth their hands, and took the writing out of the bosom of Noah, their father.

(10) And Noah slept ( with his fathers, and was buried on Mount Lubar in the land of Ararat.

(39) 1 have told you before, out of what Power the Tree is grown; viz. that it grew out of the Earth, and has wholly had Might. the Nature of the Earth in it, as at this Day all earthly Trees are [so,] (and no otherwise, neither better nor worse,) wherein Corruptibility stands, as the Earth is corruptible, and shall pass away in the End, when all shall go into its Ether, and nothing else shall remain of it besides the Figure. Now this was the Tree which stood in the Midst of the Garden in Eden, whereby Adam must be tempted in all Essences; for this Spirit should rule powerfully over all Essences, as the holy Angels, and God himself does.

(14) And he looked toward heaven, and beheld the stars. And He said unto him : " So shall thy seed be."

(3) And He was wroth with the woman, be- cause she hearkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her : " I shall greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains : in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee." 25. And to Adam also He said, " Because thou hastheark- ened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake : thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken ; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return/'

(6) Moses says: God suffered to spring up out of the Earth all Sorts of Trees pleasant to look upon, and good for Food. But here is the Vail in Moses, and yet in the Word it is bright, clear, and manifest, that the Fruits were pleasant to behold, and good to eat, wherein there was no Death, Wrath, or Corruptibility, but [it was] paradisical Fruit, of which Adam could live in Clarity [or Brightness,] in the Will of God, and in his Love in Perfection in Eternity; only the Death stuck in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that only was able to bring Man into another Image.

(80) Now when Adam and his Wife had eaten of the earthly Fruit, then they were ashamed one of another, for they perceived the bestial Members for Propagation; and they broke off God went into the Garden, highly into their Minds, and they hid themselves behind the Trees in the Garden.

(3) Then he [i.e. Yajnavalkya] questioned them with these verses: — As a tree of the forest, Just so, surely, is man. His hairs are leaves. His skin the outer bark. From his skin blood, Sap from the bark flows forth. From him when pierced there comes forth A stream, as from the tree when struck. His pieces of flesh are under-layers of wood. The fibre is muscle-like, strong. The bones are the wood within. The marrow is made resembling pith. A tree, when it is felled, grows up From the root, more new again; A mortal, when cut down by death — From what root does he grow up? Say not 'from semen/ For that is produced from the living, As the tree, forsooth, springing from seed, Clearly arises without having died. If with its roots they should pull up The tree, it would not come into being again. A mortal, when cut down by death — From what root does he grow up? When born, indeed, he is not born [again]. Who would again beget him? Brahma is knowledge, is bliss, The final goal of the giver of offerings, Of him, too, who stands still and knows It. J For a similar comparison in Hebrew literature see Job 14, 7-10.

(5) But this is the Ground; every Quality [or Source,] would be creaturely, and the fiery [Property] elevated itself too mightily, into which Lucifer had brought his Will; and so it went with Adam as to the tempting Tree, as it is written; and God suffered all Sorts of Trees to spring up in the Garden of Eden; and in the Midst of the Garden the Tree of Life, and of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

(91) So now when Adam and his Eve (after the Biting of the Apple) beheld themselves, then they perceived the monstrous Image and bestial Form, and they felt in themselves the Wrath of God, and the Fierceness of the Stars and Elements; for they took Notice of the Stomach and Guts, into which they had stuffed their earthly Fruit, which begun to a take Effect, and they saw their bestial Shame; and then they lift up their Minds towards Paradise, but they found it not; they ran trembling with Fear, and crept behind the Trees; for the Wrath had stirred their Essences in the Spirit with the earthly Fruit, and then came the Voice of God in the Center of the Gates of the Deep, and called Adam, and said; Adam, Where art thou? And he said, Here I am: And I am afraid, for I am naked. And the Lord said; Who hath told thee that thou art naked. Hast thou eaten of the Tree, whereof I said unto thee, that thou shouldst not eat thereof? And he said, The Woman gave to me, and I did eat. And he said unto the Woman, Why hast thou done so? And she said, The Serpent beguiled me, so that I did eat.

(5) We must conceive, that there was then a very pleasant Habitation upon the Earth; for all the Fruits did grow [spring and bud] out of the hidden Element, through the Fierceness of the four Elements; and although the four Elements had also their Fruits, yet Man should not (but the Beasts of the Field should) have eaten thereof. But now when the Lord cursed the Earth, then the Element withdrew from the Root of the Fruit, for God's Cursing is nothing else, but this Flying from a Thing; and thus God's Holiness is flown from the Root of the Fruit, and so the Root [of the Fruits] remains in the four Elements, in the Out-Birth; and Adam and Eve were also fallen thereinto. And thus now like came to like; his Body also was become earthly, and must turn to Earth again.