The Discovery of Genesis (38 page)

Is it possible that the serpent, which allowed itself to be the medium for Lucifer, actually had wings at this time, and was able to stand upright? Such could be inferred from the Genesis story, for when God afterward cursed the creature for its part in the temptation of Eve, He said, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals;
upon your belly you shall go
, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:4). This statement suggests that its punishment was a new crawling posture. Might it formerly have been able to fly? The Chinese primitive for
reptile
certainly supports this. One could hardly guess from the pictograph that this upright figure represents today’s concept of a crawling snake!

In analyzing the word picture for
reptile
, one sees a standing snakelike body
. Attached to the left side are three strokes
which can indicate either
hair or feathers.
Neither are ordinarily considered a natural part of snake anatomy, however feathers are certainly an integral part of wings. But the word for
wings
is
, and one wing on the snake body could conceivably be written
. Some ancient forms of this radical actually suggest a pair of wings:
or
. The reptile also appears to have two eyes
in its head. And so the Chinese depict a rather wise-looking and versatile creature!

There can be no doubt that the ancient Chinese had an accurate knowledge of the temptation of Eve by the devil, or Lucifer, in the agent of the serpent. The word
devil
, clearly describes her encounter with him. First of all, one recognizes that this key represents something alive or moving when seeing the “p’ieh”
at the top of the radical. The
garden
is noted, as well as a
man
. A new primitive
indicates
privately or secretly.
Putting the story together, one sees the complete representation of the devil’s seduction of the woman. He
moved
into the
Garden
in the disguise of a serpent to speak
privately
with the voice of a
man
to Eve.