1181. But the divine speech to the "serpent" and to "Eve" and "Adam" in the "Garden of Eden" also confirms to the highest degree the cosmic vision of the mystery of life, its eternal and unshakeable principle and thereby the cosmic analyses of life. What then did God say to the "serpent"? Even if posterity interprets the words of God to mankind's first world redeemer as "punishment", were they not in fact sublime wisdom? Were they not a prophecy of "cause" and "effect"? Did the following words not ring in the ears of the "serpent": "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"? The "serpent" was of course the most outstanding, most distinguished and most ingenious being in the principle of "the eating of the tree of knowledge". It had the role of guiding the others forward to the same perfect "eating of the tree of knowledge". Since this "eating", which means, the manifestation of the killing principle, results in the culmination of mental and bodily darkness, murder, war and mutilation for every one of its practitioners, it is of course once again the eternal truth that is presented here for us as "the voice of the Godhead in the Garden of Eden".
      Of course there had to be "enmity" between the "woman" and the "serpent", between the "seed of the woman" and the "seed of the serpent". Of course the ignorant "Adam" and "Eve" at a certain, later stage had to be incensed with the being that had stimulated their need and desire for "eating of the tree of knowledge", when they were groaning as a result of the painful after-effects and torments of this eating. Of course they had to "curse", that is, hate this most outstanding representative of "darkness" and suffering far more than they "curse" or hate "every beast of the field". And the "serpent", this most outstanding co-worker of the Godhead or tool for the beings' absolutely necessary descent into the dark zone of knowledge and experience, this divine benefactor of mankind, has long since been nailed to the black cross of disgrace, hatred and dishonour by this mankind, despite the fact that they still have a colossal need for his teaching and live well on his words to "Eve". Who is there today who praises the Godhead for His controlling and guiding hand, in the form of the "serpent", through certain vital zones of the spiral? And who is there today who thinks of the world redeemers of those zones with understanding, gratitude and friendliness? Have the "devil", "Satan", the "evil one" and similar terms not become mankind's ultimate expressions of abuse? But here the same tradition applies as when the white Christ or the World Redeemer of light was crucified: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do". Would one not do well here to remember the divine words, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall!" It is easier to refrain from crucifying the white Jesus than it is to forgive the representatives of the dark zones. And we also see how this "enmity" between the "seed of the serpent" and the "seed of the woman" reaches a peak in the mental and physical world conflagration, the dance of death, the weeping and gnashing of teeth that were foreshadowed as "hell" and "the day of judgment" now raging over the continents and oceans of the Earth, through the air and under the water. Everywhere a wounded and mutilated mankind is groaning. The "seed of the serpent" is about to bruise its heel. But the "serpent", as will be remembered, was to "eat dust all the days of its life", which means, eat the organisms of other beings separated from their I or originator, which in turn means "corpses" that belong to the "earth" or the "dust" of which all organisms are made and which they again become from the moment they are separated from the I of their originator. The "serpent's" "eating of the dust" was even to be of such proportions that it would make the "serpent" "go upon its belly", which means, live on this interest in animal food "all the days of its life" (the rest of its life in the culmination of the animal kingdom). Through the noisy, mutilating and killing wave-formations of the "day of judgment" the energies of "death" will also dispose of this dominant, animal main interest of the "serpent", as well as all the other killing, revenging and mutilating phenomena in its sphere of desire. Its "head will be bruised".
      But is it not conceivable that it is a very much desired blessing for the "serpent" itself as well as for the terrestrial human being? Are not all people today crying out to have the "serpent's head bruised", the "serpent's head" being the animal consciousness, the animal tendency in themselves that gives rise to all the anguish in the world? Is not everyone calling out for "peace", "humaneness" or "love" and beginning to see the greatest divine blessing in these light phenomena? Why should the "serpent" then not do so too? Like all other living beings it is a "son of God", and is subject to the same laws of life or the spiral cycle. The "serpent" or the world redeemers, as is known, differ from terrestrial human beings only in that they are further forward in the spiral cycle than them, and must, as a consequence of this, also have outgrown to a point of nausea "the eating of the tree of knowledge" at a correspondingly earlier point in time than the terrestrial human beings. This therefore enables them to be world redeemers or guides for terrestrial mankind on its way towards the light and away from the killing principle.
      The divine words to the "serpent" in the "Garden of Eden" were thus the revelation of the eternal, radiant light of "truth", which is "love" and not a threat of "punishment", "persecution" or "revenge". The eternal Godhead, who constitutes universal love, cannot at the same time be a being of hatred or revenge.