Disclaimer: The following document fragment is presented from an in-character perspective, it should not be taken as the truth of the setting.
Context: Two weeks ago, we touched on the links between ancient India and actual truths concerning the universe. Apart from India, though, there is one more culture who’s religion is contaminated with similar occult facts – Judaism, or specifically the Kabbalistic mysticism within it. The two text we’ll look at this week are related to just that. In this text, we speculate about Adam, but it might not be the kind of Adam you are used to.
As we examine Western texts we begin to encounter a rather peculiar amount of references to the entity or concept known as Adam.
Colloquially we recognise this as the name of the first man of Judaeo-Christian mythology[5][6][7]. This is no accident, though it is not clear if the name was adopted from the myth or if the myth is derived from the concept of Adam[4][8][9]. The name will sometimes be extended to Adam Kadmon[1][2][10][11][12][13] or Adam ‘Ilaya[1][2][13][14][15]. Both names originate from Kabbalistic tradition and mean much the same – Adam is the “first man”. That means very little without context[16].
Within the Western tradition there seem to be six main interpretations of what the nature of Adam is. As with all examinations of Secreta writings, we must keep in mind the hermetic traditions of the West[16], which have not changed much for the last thousand years. This highly hermetic and esoteric nature makes it hard to make accurate statements regarding this topic as an outsider. For any given text is, in a way, a riddle[3][17][18] – not meant to be taken at face value but rather a complex series of word plays based on interconnected self-references, so-called “common knowledge” and the verbally transmitted beliefs of a given sub-tradition.
1) Adam as a myth
The first interpretation of Adam is quite simple. It implies that the whole concept is nothing but a myth – a pollution of the eldritch truth with mundane stories about the world. Alternatively, it may also be a myth created by the mages themselves. An expression of anthropocentric thinking we find in all cultures around the world.
Among the core proponents of this position[19][20][21] the most often cited reasoning is the lack of a coherent definition of what Adam is and a lack of surviving texts on which the various conflicting interpretations are based on[2][11][22].
Due to various unfortunate circumstances and possibly deliberate obfuscation, only one genuine occult text on the topic of Adam predates the XI-th century. And that single text only survives in translated form, where the translation itself is dubious.
Additionally, the discussion of this topic is often based on conjecture that relies too heavily on unreliable sources in the form of mundane Kabbalistic traditions that are detached from the arcane Kabbalah[5][6][23][24].
All of this means that it is likely no modern sources on the topic can be trusted as accurate. Even if in the past Adam referred to a specific arcane principle (or entity) that knowledge is lost and mythologised.
2) Adam as a symbol
Does it really matter if we understand the origin of Adam? The power of the symbol, especially the subjective symbol, is known to all mages. In this context, the multiple contradicting visions of Adam are but different ways in which the symbol is held in the minds of different mages.
Thus Adam can be used as a symbol for a variety of different concepts[7]:
– the human condition[25][26],
– the origin humanity and magecraft, the first mage, not the first man[27][28][29][30],
– the collective consciousness and unconsciousness[31],
– the human archetype within the conceptual world[32][33],
– the humanity predating the splintering of the Napiri[34],
And of course many other more specific and more personal views. Each of which can give the term Adam a concrete meaning, especially when established within the context of its usage. Unfortunately, as typical to Western writing most authors simply assume the reader to understand the context without explanation. Rarely is it even clear if Adam is used as a symbol, an entity or both at the same time[1][2].
3) Prime Adam
An alternate view is that Adam was the first human mage and, in some variants, the most potent will-worker to ever live[27][28][29]. Some authors go as far as claiming Adam is the only human to ever perform theogeny and survive, possibly creating the shadow of the Moon in the process[28][29]. Other authors try to present the figure of Adam as a teacher who spread the usage of the arcane arts through the Middle East region[30].
The first hypothesis seems spurious and not well supported. Especially since we have a well-grounded conviction that modern mages are significantly more powerful than mages of the past[34]. The figure of such a first mage, one more powerful than any that came after, bears the rather distinct markings of mythology. The mechanics by which a human would be randomly born that was capable of theogeny are never properly explained. A more mundane explanation might make Adam an innate Nidric Dreamer instead, such a possibility at least seems to have a good theoretical basis.
The Adamites[35], who are most closely linked to this hypothesis, present Adam as a being born without human limitations. A possessor of a unique gene that allows a human to fully realise their potential as a mage and function on the level of a member of the Great Races. This, however, has no scientific basis as the Adamite sect has failed to present any working model that would allow this to happen. Despite this, they continue their “great work” (the Magnum Opus is typical to Western traditions[36][37]) of engineering the Second Adam.
The second hypothesis appears more plausible, but even if that is the case there is no concrete evidence of the historical figure. Once more – it is a hypothesis based on conjecture.
4) Promethean Adam
Another popular approach to the topic is the Adam Prometheus hypothesis[38][39]. It presents Adam as an entity or group of entities that have brought the arcane arts to humanity and were punished for it by a higher force (most often a force from the Moon). Once more this is a case where Adam is a symbol of the first mage, but unlike the previous position, the arcane arts come to humanity from outside, not from inside. Some proponents of this hypothesis present this Adam as being a human, possibly a Napiri[38], while others make Adam an Other[39] distinctly breaking the theme of Adam the human.
As the name itself suggests the hypothesis is an example of a Promethean myth. As other origin myths for magic, it seems to skirt the issue of the concurrent emergence of alternate magical practices around the world.
The main issue with this stance is the dubious need for humanity to receive knowledge of magic from outside, as seen in cases of mages that develop their skills on their own. The so-called “wild mages” who were never tutored to obtain their powers. Such mages stand as a strong counterpoint to there being a need for magic to originate from anywhere.
5) Apotheotic Adam
A completely different approach to the issue of Adam is placing its existence not within the past but within the future. An ultimate cumulation of humanity’s progress as a race. This hypothesis postulates that the idea of the “first man” as an origin of humanity is not accurate. The proper understanding of it would then be “the first among men”, that is to say, a superhuman entity[40][41].
Thus Adam is presented as an ideal, a goal to be achieved or a path towards a form of enlightenment. After the death of Archmage Faustino Quintius, this idea once more gained a lot of popularity.
The concept of Apotheotic Adam is the most coherent image of Adam among the Western traditions. Though the interpretations of many historical texts on the topic seen from this perspective are ad hoc[42][43][44][45][46].
6) Great Adam
While we have previously touched upon the idea of Adam being a human that became equal to members of the Great Races, there are also some interpretations of the text that outright present Adam as a Great One[47][48].
In this interpretation, humanity is the descendant of this entity, though considerably weakened by some event in the past. Thus, it is humanity’s goal to once more reclaim its place among the Great Races. This stance is in a way a combination of the Prime Adam and Apotheotic Adam. It presents Adam as both an entity from humanity’s path, the progenitor of our race (though the exact way this plays into issues like evolution and pre-human Earth is unclear) and the destination for humanity’s development.
It plays into the obsession of the Western traditions with the so-called “broken man” – the idea of humanity being deprived of something due to an event in our far past. Though the details of what this missing element vary. This is once more a hypothesis aimed at explaining the shadow of the Moon and several quirks of the human psyche[49][50][51].
Esoteric Musings... 