Kabbalah Library

938) “And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground.” It is dust, and not clay, as it is written, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” After he sinned, it is written about the serpent, “And dust you will eat all the days of your life.” Dust is the man, of whom it is written, “For you are dust.” This is why it writes “dust,” and does not write “earth” or “clay.” And it is written, “And the serpent’s bread is dust.”

939) Until the Creator awakens and uproots the spirit of Tuma’a from the world, as it is written, “He will swallow up death forever.” Then that dust will be revived and will awaken him to rejoice in the world, as it is written, “Awake and sing, O dwellers of the dust.”

940) But the side that rode the serpent gave him the power to rule, to seduce, and to incite. The one who rides him is the male of the serpent, since the male governs the female and gives power within her. The sun and the moon, ZON, work as one and do not separate. Similarly, darkness and murkiness work as one. The serpent’s male is darkness, and she, the female, is murkiness, as it is written, “And there was darkness and murkiness,” darkness and mist. It is so because there is a male darkness, and there is a female darkness.