As the masculine is the aggressive nature, representing the conquering power, the element of force in the universe; so the man preceded the woman. In the translation it is said: that God took a rib from the side of Adam, and this He made into the woman. This may be interpreted in its primal meaning in ten or twelve different ways. The interpretation we would give it would mean that it was the inner or vital portion of Adam's life, the part nearest the heart, which means the innermost essence or the life that was expressed after Adam, and this innermost expression took the form of Eva, and this form was, not only Eve, (life,) but Evi, (desire,) temptation, because while nature might not tempt man, while the physical surroundings might not be sufficient temptation, there was embodied in Eve that which was nearest and dearest. Therefore the whole moral proposition of the world, as related to man and woman, is revealed in this great secret of the dual existence in the primal state of physical expression, as here portrayed.

There is no interchange of sexes in the expressions of the Soul. Embodiment in man is the expression of the Impulsion from the Soul in its masculine, and woman from the Soul in its feminine state. Here let as distinctly state that it is not according to our teaching that there is ever an; transference of the sexes, the masculine principle of the Soul is always expressed in masculine form, and the feminine principle always appears in the feminine form. The masculine principle is the aggressive, the conquering element, the feminine is the inner, the center, the conserving element. In all instances of the first expressions in matter the masculine is first and the feminine afterward, thus the typical Adam and Eve illustrated the usual order of the expressions of Embodiments in earthly life.

There are always the two expressions in human form representing one Soul (the masculine and the feminine embodiments) upon the earth at the same time, each expressing a corresponding degree of un-foldment. Beginning equally in the first embodiment, this equality (of unfoldment) continues through all subsequent embodiments.

You must bear in mind that we do not teach that there are more expressions from the same Soul than the one man and woman upon the earth at the same time.

The first expession of the Soul in matter is in the form of man and woman.

No lower type of existence could express that which humanity reveals; no other type than humanity could express the Soul and that which is intended to be expressed or represented. But, as in all kinds of existence there must be the lowest expression, you must begin at the commencement.

The first state of human life is the state into which the Soul descends, having taken upon itself the involution toward expression. That is the beginning bo far as humanity is concerned, no human life so low upon the earth that that life does not represent the beginnings of all Souls in their expressions here, and none so high that they do not typify the attainment of all Souls ere expression is finished here. Every Soul thus voluntarily taking upon itself expression in matter must begin at the beginning. As one learns a language by beginning with the alphabet and grammar; as one learns arithmetic by beginning with the numerals and their combinations, and higher mathematics must follow arithmetic, so in the expressions in matter Souls commence with the state that is lowest upon the planet that is approached.

Not having experienced the existence of earth, when a Soul approaches this planet it must take upon itself the beginnings of human expression. So the primal step is of the earth, earth;; and the Adamic state is the typical earthly race of mankind, illustrative of all who take up this mortal life. This first stage of existence, the infancy of the race, is partially revealed by science; but the spiritual and primal solution of existence is unknown, and the material one is sought for. In the spiritual explanation is found the only true solution of life: that when the birth on earth begins, the expression of Souls must take the farthest point from the celestial state. Souls, in expression, do not begin by conquest over the earth, that is attained. If you do not begin at the lowest stage to build, you can have no foundation for the edifice; and the archway would never be built if a strong foundation were not laid beneath the soil; so this physical existence, in its primitive stages of expression, is simply of different degrees of con-BciousnesB, which may be called man, and these stages in their primal degrees constitute the beginning of every expression on earth.

As when a very good man may engage in some material work which requires all his thought and attention; the work itself may be much inferior to him, but he must devote all his energy to it; or if one is building a house, although it is built for the body and not for the spirit, yet the thought is intent upon the building; so in the lowest or first expression of material life existence is what is expressed. The race is typified in the individual; the babe only gives expression to physical life at first, all else is hidden, has being, but is unexpressed. The same is true in all beginnings; even when pretty well advanced in general human expression, if one begins a new work it is executed clumsily and awkwardly at first. One who had never drawn a picture could not very well portray even the simplest forms at first; there must be many strange lines and blemishes before anything deserving the name of art can be reached. The first steps in material life are, therefore, as said before, steps of existence.

The embodiments are in succession, and embrace these general divisions of human life. The first is the Adamic stage, of Physical life. The second is the Hermetic stage, of Intellectual life. The third is the Messianic stage, of Spiritual lifer The expressions of physical life are, at first, seemingly without intellectual or moral purpose, yet in reality the intellectual and moral purposes are there ready to come forth when the successive steps of victory over matter shall have made it possible. In each of these general stages there are many degrees (or culminations) and in each degree many successive lines of embodiment.

The successive lines of the expression of one Soul in any one planet are really typified in the single life of man and woman. Childhood is the state of physical, growth; there is the feebleness and limitation to conquer, and the physical surroundings seem to overcome whatever else may be enfolded there. When the childhood of the race is here there seems little, through its various degrees of physical growth, to indicate that which at last attains success over its physical surroundings when the mental and moral natures begin to unfold. These first feeble lines of expression are what occur in the many successive embodiments of the first stage of expression. It would possibly not be very gratifying to you to know what is the first expression, nor would it flatter you, perhaps, but evolution does not flatter either. You can not find the lowest human expressions upon the earth at the present time. But take the lowest human states as illustrative of this typical beginning, though not in reality the beginning, then consider all grades until you reach the highest expression, this would be typical of the conclusion, the final state upon the earth. With the exception of the first stages there are manifested to your vision nearly all the different stages upon the earth to-day, of what the Soul experiences in the many aeons of its expression upon this planet.

The three stages or degrees of expression are primarily stamped upon the human race; but it is best to here explain, that while the intellectual and moral possibilities are hinted at in the primal nature of man, the expression of those possibilities seems, in the infancy of human embodiments, to be excluded; as we discover in the states of races and individuals who seem to have no unfolded moral perception. Remember we have not created those states, we are explaining why they exist This lack of mental and moral expression indicates that the first stages of expression do not include the moral problems; they have not yet been reached in the scale of human progress toward perfect expression.

Physical life has first to be entered upon, the victory over it and the environment of the senses must come afterward.

The embodiments follow one after another in more rapid succession in the physical states of expression, since there is little or nothing of the moral and spiritual harvest to gather, so the successive embodiments in the first states come rapidly. The growth is slow, and the perceptible advancement in expression from one embodiment to another would scarcely be noticed until the final result In this first stage of expression man seems inferior to the animal kingdom since he has no instinct to govern his appetites, and his mental and moral nature is still undeveloped in expression. This is because the only law of man's government is the mental and moral (spiritual), and because of this he has no blind instinct to guide him.

The degree of physical expression merely must be repellant to contemplate by itself, as it includes all states that precede intellectual activity or mental attainment; constitutes the existence wherein the sensuous life governs, wherein there may be enjoyment of the senses, wherein there may be some degree of perception, a certain manifestation of intelligence, but no approach to the intellectual or spiritual awakening, which must come when the race or when the individual is dominated by the higher nature.