S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 3 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 1 7 1 1 Thomas Crowther 1 Introduction: Genesis before the Dawn “Creation” is the watchword of life, conjuring images of light triumphantly breaking forth out of darkness. But though the power to draw the non-existent into reality lies at the heart of all things, it is the human mind’s capacity to comprehend this power that doubtless makes it one of the most brilliant things our universe can boast of. As a product of that universe however – imprisoned to the body, to time, and to all the limitations of mortality – the mind is also inclined to take a restrictive view on creation. Drawing upon the promethean tale of Eve, this article explores this relationship between human perception and creation, arguing that two distinguishable truths (or “designs”) potentially underlie it: the Universal and the Asperian. Both seek absolute states: the former, “perfection”; the latter, “liberty”. Both seek a complete understanding of the universe. And both vie for the redundancy of the other. But before exploring these two “designs”, we need to first enquire into their source. In other words, we need to begin by asking a fundamental question: what (if anything) is the precondition of creation? The familiar creation tale of the Old Testament provides us with an answer in its very first verse –“In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth” (Genesis 1: 1). Of course, one then inevitably asks, what is the precondition of God? As a child, I asked the same, and querying upon a potential back-story, I envisioned a solitary, male figure alone in a great expanse of nothingness. I thus assumed God had created his universe as a kind of leisurely distraction, as a bored child might. But aside from the obvious paradox behind a creator’s origins, I found the nature of God’s initial universe fearful indeed. For as is stated in the Bible, the earth which was first formed was “without form and void; [with] darkness [being] upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1: 2; see also Job 26: 10; 38: 9; Campbell 1973, 297; Chupungco 1977, 82; May 1939; Niditch 1985, 72). This is an inherently unsettling image, presenting us with a nightmarish vision of pre-existence, depicting a dark, formless and somewhat anarchic primordiality preceding the appearance of the illuminated, ordered and organised cosmos. But what I find interesting is that the story uses both water and darkness as the metaphorical precondition of creation; a common theme in creation myths around the globe (see Cameron 1992; Helms 2004; Knipe 1989; Van Over 1980; Wakeman 1973, 86). This is hardly surprising, because preceding and sustaining all life on the planet, water acts as the universal in-between – between that which is solid and vapourous – within which we are suspended, as in the womb, where we await our emergence into the world. But perhaps more important still is the disturbing image of the deep darkness which also precedes the emergence of the lighted cosmos. The darkness before the dawn can often seem disquieting, as it is within the dark that we can slip into the “Other”; the unconscious; the “unsure”, where the laws of the lighted world are equally suspended (Heijnen 2005; Morris 2011). About the author Thomas Crowther (1986) holds a PhD from Durham University, UK. An archaeologist by profession, he also writes in philosophy, anthropology and spirituality and has previously had work published with the American Humanist Association. His email contact is tgw.crowther@gmail.com.
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