Christianity and Judaism refer to the serpent in many different ways.
The mystery of the serpent is always associated with the woman, as Moses states in the beginning of his book Genesis, and as quoted in different chapters of the New Testament.
In Hebrew, there are many words related with earth, ground, dust. Shaddai שדי is another Hebrew word that points to the same topic, and this word in English is “field,” which is similar to ground, earth, and dust of the earth.
In Hebrew, these words are:
- Earth: Ha’aretz ארץ
- Ground: Adamah אדמה
- Dust: Epher עפר
- Field: Shadah שדה or Shaddai שדי
Whether pronounced Sade, Sada, Shadah, or Shaddai, this word has different meanings. To begin with, it is written with the Hebrew letters Shin ש, Daleth ד, Hei ה, or alternatively with Shin ש, Daleth ד, Iod י, as in Shaddai שדי; it has different modifications.
Shaddai שדי, as in the name of God in the Sephirah Yesod, which is spelled, Shin ש, Daleth ד, Iod י, Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי, the sacred name of God as which—according to Moses—God manifested himself unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
And when Abram אברם was ninety years old and nine [99 = 18 = 9], Iod-Havah appeared to Abram אברם [in Yesod], and said unto him, I am El Shaddai; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me [El Shaddai] and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram אברם fell on his face: and Elohim talked with him, saying, as for me [El Shaddai], behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. And thy name shall not any more be called Abram אברם, but thy name shall be: Abraham אברהם, for:
אב המונ גוים
Abba Hamun Goyim
“a father of the host of the Goyim [Gentiles, Aryans]” have I made thee. —Genesis 17:1-5
Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי sometimes is contracted as El Shaddai אל שדי. Shaddai שדי could also be Shadde, Shad, or “the Shedd,” the genie of Solomon, the king.
Shedd, Shadah שדה or Shaddai שדי can mean: “breast, tit, demon, devil, fiend, goblin, gremlin, sprite, bogey, phantom, genie, ghost, ghoul, gnome, hobgoblin, incubus, kobold, mephistopheles, phantom, poltergeist, puck, shade, spirit, bogy, daredevil, field, lea, sphere.”
However, the most common interpretation of Shaddai is “almighty,” since in Kabbalah we state that Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי means “the Almighty Living God,” the name of God given in Atziluth to the Sephirah Yesod, the ninth Sephirah of the Tree of Life (otz chaim).
By inquiring about Otz Chaim עץ חיים, we discover that the plural word Chaim חיים is written as a singular word Chai חי in Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי. Chai חי means “life,” which is written with two Hebrew letters, Chet ח and Iod י.
The Chai חי in Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי, the Almighty Living God (which is the name of God in Yesod), is the first sacred name in Genesis with which God manifests unto Abraham, since according to Exodus the name Iod-Havah יהוה is the name with which God manifested himself to Moses.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel יהוה the Elohi of your fathers, the Elohi of Abraham, the Elohi of Isaac, and the Elohi of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. – Exodus 3: 15
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי, but by my name Iod-Havah was I not known to them. – Exodus 6: 3
All of these Hebrew words have different meanings. We need to understand them in order to comprehend the mystery of the woman and the serpent, a mystery that we find in the field, in Shadah שדה, in the breast; a mystery that relates to many things.
El אל in Hebrew means God, so El Shaddai אל שדי is “the God of the Fields,” and is sometimes translated as “the God who nourishes,” since Shaddai שדי derives from the Hebrew word Shad שד, which means a women’s breast. As you see, these words Shadah שדה or Shaddai שדי indicate a sexual topic. Remember, Shaddai שדי is part of the name of God in Yesod, and in the human organism Yesod is the Sephirah related with the sexual organs.
The serpent appears in the beginning of chapter three of the book of Genesis as follows:
And the serpent was more subtle than any beast [Chaiah חיה] of the field [שדה]. —Genesis 3:1
Here, the Hebrew word Shadah שדה from Shaddai is translated as “field.” This verse indicates that the serpent is the most subtle Chaiah חיה (animal) in Yesod, since in Yesod we find the origin of all of those Genii, all of life, because Yesod is Shaddai El Chai שדי אל חי and Chai חי is life.
The Tree of Life is Otz Chaim עץ חיים. Chaim חיים is not Chai חי (life), but the plural, Chaim חיים which means “lives”; thus, the true translation should be “the Tree of Lives,” because indeed every Sephirah above Yesod is an independent life, an independent land with lives that manifest in different dimensions.
A tree has many branches and fruits. Each branch, each fruit of Otz Chaim is a separate life that emanates from Yesod, so it is called Otz Chaim. In Hebrew, words ending in “-im” are plural. The roots of the Tree of Life or Lives are in Yesod, which is a field of sexual energy.
Yesod manifests the creative energy of the Sephirah Binah. Binah is the third Sephirah of the first triangle of Otz Chaim. Binah is the Holy Spirit. Binah’s sacred name in Atziluth is Jah-Havah Elohim/Jah-Chavah Elohim—who appears in this verse:
And the [creative power, the] serpent was more subtle than any beast [Chaioth] of the field [Shadah], which Jah-Havah Elohim [Binah] had made [in Yesod, the Lower Eden]. —Genesis 3:1
The union, the connection, is the letter Vav ו. “Jah-Havah Elohim made” means, “the Holy Spirit (Binah) made.” This is done through Vav ו (the serpent) in the center column of the Tree of Life.
The first triangle (Kether, Chokmah and Binah) is governed by Kether. The second triangle (Chesed, Geburah Tiphereth) is governed by Chokmah. The third triangle (Netzach, Hod and Yesod) is governed by Binah. In other words, from the top to the bottom of the letter Vav ו, the three primary forces (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Kether, Chokmah, and Binah) control the Tree of Life in the center column.
The letter Vav ו interconnects all of the twenty-two Arcana within the Sephirah Tiphereth, the human consciousness, since all of them have to be developed within the spinal column. This is why the incarnated Word within the Resurrected Man says “Eheieh Asher Eheieh אהיה אשר אהיה,” and in book of Revelation:
I am the Alpha and the Omega [Aleph and Tav, the beginning and the end of the twenty two letters] the Beginning [“Kether”] and the End [“Binah”], the one who was, is and shall be the Lord Almighty [El Shaddai].
In the book of Genesis, Elohim controls the Tree of Life from the midst (Batuk בתוך). Behold how the word Batuk בתוך always appears in Genesis: Batuk (midst, inside) relates to the central column of the Tree of Life, the spine, the letter Vav ו.
And Elohim said, Let there be a firmament in the בתוך [batuk, midst] of the waters [of the brain and spinal column, meaning, the cerebrospinal fluid], and let it [Tiphereth] divide the waters [the cerebrospinal fluid] from the waters [semen of Yesod, sex]. —Genesis 1:6
The Tree of Life [the spinal column, the Vav ו] also in the בתוך [batuk, midst] of the garden [the physicality], and the tree of knowledge of good and evil [genitalia]. —Genesis 2:9
But of the fruit of the tree [the genitalia] which is in the ךותב [batuk, midst] of the garden [the physicality], God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. —Genesis 3:3
And they [through the Vav ו, the spinal column] heard the voice of Jah-Havah Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jah-Havah Elohim in the בתוך [batuk, midst: the Vav ו, the spinal column] of the trees [Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge] of the garden. —Genesis 3:8
So, to review: Jah-Havah Elohim in the midst of the trees of the Garden, relates to the Sephirah Daath which is in the central column (the Vav ו) of the Tree of Life. In the central column of the Tree of Life are Kether, Daath, Tiphereth, and Yesod; at the very bottom is Malkuth, the inferior aspect of Yesod.
Kether governs above: the brain, the top of the letter Vav ו. Chokmah governs in Tiphereth, the heart, the middle of the letter Vav ו. Binah in Yesod governs the sexual glands, the bottom of the letter Vav ו, and extends into Malkuth.
This is why the book of Genesis states:
And the [creative power, the] serpent [the Vav ו] was more subtle than any חית [beast, chaioth] of the שדה [field, shadah], which Jah-Havah Elohim [Binah] had made. —Genesis 3:1
This field (Shadah שדה) is in Yesod, the lower Eden. Thus every time that you find the word field (Shadah שדה or Shaddai) in the Bible, it relates to Yesod. Shadah שדה or Shaddai is translated in different ways, yet commonly it is “field,” the battlefield which is the field of Yesod, within which we also read that Cain killed Abel:
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in שדה [Shaddai] the field [of Yesod], that Cain [passionately] rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. – Genesis 4:8
Thus, the field where Cain kills Abel is Yesod; this is how we understand it from an alchemical perspective.
In Genesis 3:1, there is another word which derives from Chai חי (life), like Chaim חיים (lives); this is the word Chaioth חית. Just by adding the letter Tav ת (“th” in English) at the end of the word Chai חי we form Chaioth חית, which means “animals,” and sometimes is translated as “beasts.”
There is a phrase that we pronounce in alchemically conjurations, which is Chaioth ha Kadosh; these words are translated as “the sacred creatures” or “the holy living souls,” or in other words, animals (from Latin anima). These Chaioth are mention by the prophet Ezekiel:
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst [the Vav ו] thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst [the Vav ו] of the fire.
And out of the midst [the Vav ו] thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of Adam [Kadmon]…
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of Adam [in Yesod], and the face of a lion, on the right side [in Chesed]: and they four had the face of an ox on the left [in Geburah] side; they four also had the face of an eagle [in Tiphereth]. – Ezekiel 1: 4, 5, 10
These four living creatures of Ezekiel are Chaioth ha Kadosh.
From Chai חי (life) emerges Chaim חיים, which is life (the Sephiroth) above Yesod; yet Chaioth חית in Genesis 3:1 are the beasts below Yesod.
It is written that when Jah-Havah Elohim made Adam in Yesod, he made him with the animals.
And [below the Vav ו] Elohim said, Let the earth [Malkuth] bring forth the נפש חיה [nephesh chaiah: living soul] after his kind [sex], cattle, and creeping thing, and beasts [chaioth] of the earth after his kind [sex]: and it was so.
And Elohim made the חית [beasts, chaioth] of the earth after his kind [sex], and cattle after their kind [sex], and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind [sex]: and Elohim saw that it was good.
And [from the bottom to the top of the Vav ו] Elohim said, Let us make Adam in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. —Genesis 1: 24-26
So Chaioth חית, the animals, emerge from Chai חי, from the life of Yesod, which is the sexual energy of Shaddai El Chai.
Nevertheless, we read the verse:
And the [creative power of Nachash, the] serpent [the Vav ו] was more subtle than any חית [beasts, chaioth] of the שדה [field, shadah], which Jah-Havah Elohim [Binah] had made. —Genesis 3:1
We clearly read here that Jah-Havah Elohim (Binah) made all the beasts (Chaioth) that we find in nature. How did Jah-Havah Elohim (Binah) make the beasts (chaioth)? Through the sexual energy, since that is how animals multiply.
Chaioth, the animals, belong to the kingdom below the human kingdom. Even though we call ourselves human, we are still Chaioth. We are “intellectual Chaioth”: animals with intellect.
In Malkuth, the earth (Ha’aretz), we find all the Chaioth, whether they are irrational or rational, and all of them are made in the field of Yesod; all of them are made by Shaddai El Chai, who is the almighty living God, or the power of Jehovah Elohim in the sexual organs.
When we as souls are in the circle of evolution, we progress from the mineral kingdom to the plant kingdom, and from the plant kingdom into the animal kingdom. Thus, from the animal kingdom the soul starts developing the desire-body that is guided by the Archangels. In the fourth and higher dimensions of nature are the angels, archangels, etc., who are the ministers of Jehovah Elohim, who help in the organization of nature. They organize the souls in different groups. Archangels are experts in the molding and manipulation of the desire-molecular-matter of irrational Chaioth, since molecular matter was the densest matter of the Solar Round. This is why Archangels are competent in the education and guidance of intellectual Chaioth for the molding and transformation of their desire-body (astral lunar body). Through the desire-body Archangels organize the animals. Animals multiply through fornication that is rooted in desire.
As the Bible states in Genesis 3:1, “The serpent was the most subtle Chaiah חיה among the Chaioth of the field of Yesod,” because it is that desire-force related with the sexual potency; a desire life force that is very active in animals. The serpent—as a symbol of Shaddai El Chai—is the most subtle energy produced by the human organism.
At fourteen years of age, the emotional brain starts its development based on our individual desire-body, which through the liver manifests its influence in the sexual organs of our cellular body. We have in our physical body the inheritance of many animal forces that we brought from the animal kingdom. The most subtle of all of them is the serpent, the sexual potency, the sexual force, which in the animal manifests as instinctual sexual desire, Satan (Hebrew: Shatan1 שטן); thus, our instinctual sexual centers manifest this life force of nature.
Therefore, when we as souls enter into the intellectual animal kingdom, the threshold of the kingdom of Adam, we receive the following commandment:
And Jah-Havah Elohim [Binah] commanded Adam, saying, “Of every tree of the garden [physical body] thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [Daath, the sexual force], thou shalt not eat of it [as irrational beast]: for in the day that thou eatest thereof [as chaioth] thou shalt surely die [the second death].” —Genesis 2:16, 17
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Daath) is the sexual organs, where the serpent, the sexual potency, manifests its life power. Thus, when we talk about the sexual force, we are talking about the serpent. In order to perform the sexual act we need the serpent; we need the most subtle life-force among the life-forces of our physical-chemical garden.
