Adam Kadmon and Giant Ymir

In the very earliest stages of the evolution of Earth, when the Earth was in an etheric condition and not condensed to physical mineral matter (see Note 1 in the Discussion area below for more details), it would have appeared clairvoyantly as a cloud or fine mist consisting of ether points. These individual ether points are referenced as the primal occult atom of the Earth (CoL or round, see Occult atom), and each consisted of the archetype of the present human form, like the plant seed contains the archetype of the physical plant). In other words: each etheric seed point contained the spirit world archetype of what was to develop on Earth as Man.

Ancient cultures and religions, from ancient clairvoyant wisdom, point to this earlier stage of evolution of the Earth when the human being was the entire Earth, or when the Earth was like a huge human being.

In Asia this being was spoken of as Adam Kadmon, Germanic mythology and legends called it the giant Ymir. Ymir is a figure from Norse mythology that appears oa in the Edda, compiled in the 13th century from old traditional materials. Other names are Aurgelmir or Urgelmer. In China this appears in the legend of Pangu.

In the northern tradition, the giant Ymir is slayed/killed and from his parts, the Earths evolves. From his hairs the forests are made, from his bones the rocks, from his blood the streams and rivers, etc. (1905-GA090B on Germanic mythology)

In later stages of human consciousness, people could no longer understand this and the Old Testament was misunderstood and incorrectly translated, which led to the individual Adam, instead of Adam Kadmon as the entire Earth.

Aspects

correspondence between the Giant Ymir and the Egyptian Osiris myth, stemming from a single source

Illustrations

FMC00.217 is an illustration by Rudolf Steiner titled Adam Kadmon in the early Lemurian epoch

FMC00.057C provides an overview scheme for the study of the evolution of our current Earth planetary stage and CoC, the formation of the current physical solar system with the planets, the emergence of the spectrum of elements and ethers, and nature's kingdoms on Earth. Note the threefold recapitulation at CoL level, at CoF level, and then at epoch level; as well as major events such as the Mars transit, and the separation of Sun and Moon. Compare also with FMC00.302 on Earth's seven epochs.

Lecture coverage and references

The Edda

Excerpt about Ymir from poems in the Edda:

There was in times of old, where Ymir dwelt, nor sand nor sea, nor gelid waves; earth existed not, nor heaven above, 'twas a chaotic chasm, and grass nowhere

Then went all the powers to their judgement-seats, the all-holy gods, and thereon held council, who should of the dwarfs race create, from the sea-giant's blood and livid bone

1905-12-10-GA90B

see: Germanic mythology#1905-12-10-GA90B

1908-09-03-GA106

- see Earth rounds perspective for a frame of reference of what is described below,

and for a longer extract see Evolution Module 2 - Earth#1908-09-03-GA106

[Fine etheric mist cloud consisting of single ether points]
.. If we look far back into the evolution of the Earth, we can say that our Earth has not always appeared as it does today. It did not have the firm mineral base of today; the mineral kingdom was not as it is today; the Earth did not bear the same plants and animals, and men were not in such a fleshly body as they have today; men had no bony system. All that was formed later. The farther we look back, the nearer we come to a condition which, if we could have observed it from cosmic distances, we would have seen as a mist, as a fine etheric cloud. This mist was much larger than our present Earth, for it extended as far as the outermost planets of our solar system and even farther. It included a far-reaching nebular mass, wherein was contained all that went into the formation of the earth, and also of the planets and even of the sun.
If we could have examined this mass of mist closely, if an observer could have approached it, it would have seemed to be composed entirely of fine etheric points. When we see a swarm of gnats from a distance, it looks to us like a single cloud; close-up, however, we see the single insects.
Thus, in the most remote past, the mass of our Earth would have appeared, although then it was not material in our sense but was condensed only to an etheric condition. This earth-formation consisted of single ether-points, but something special was connected with these ether-points.
Had the human eye been able to see these points, it would not have seen what the clairvoyant would have seen or what he actually sees now when he looks back.
[Comparison: clairvoyant view of the spiritual light-form in a seed of a wild rose]
...
If now, as in the previous example, the clairvoyant contemplated such an etheric point in the primeval substance, there would arise for him from the point (as from the seed in the previous example) a light-form, a beautiful form, which in reality is not there but rests slumbering in the point.
What is this form that the seer perceives, looking back at the primal earth atom? What is it that arises?

It is a form that is different from physical man, as different as is the archetype from the physical plant. It is the archetype of the present human form. At that time the human form slumbered spiritually in the etheric point, and the whole earth-evolution was necessary in order that what rested there might develop into present-day man.

1922-09-30-GA347

is called 'Adam Kadmon in Lemuria'

[Synopsis]
The Earth once was like a huge human head. The Earth received nourishment from the cosmos in the past and from the sun now. The head of the human embryo as picture of the Earth. The human being was at one time the whole earth. Why people are so small. We are all descended from one ancestor. Misinterpretations of the Old Testament ..
[Tradition of Adam Kadmon and Giant Ymir]
It is interesting to note that, even though the Old Testament had been misunderstood and misinterpreted for a long time, not only Asian scholars spoke of Adam Kadmon as the human being who was the entire earth, but even the ancestors of modern Central European peoples, such as the Swiss, the Germans, and so forth had legends according to which the earth once was a huge human being, the Giant Ymir. They also believed that the earth was fertilized.
They spoke of the Earth as we would of a human being. This manner of speaking was no longer understood in later times because these correct mythical images were later replaced by the incorrect Latin interpretation of the Old Testament. The old Germanic tribes in Europe thought in pictures that came to them like dreams but were far closer to the truth. Those people drew from an ancient science that revealed knowledge through dreamlike images. Later on people misunderstood the Old Testament and spoke of the small individual Adam instead of Adam Kadmon, the entire Earth.
Thus we can gain great respect for the ancient, imaginative, albeit dreamlike knowledge. At one time, such knowledge existed, but it was then wiped out. This should not surprise us, for this extinction occurred at a certain time. In Asia Minor, in the Near East, in North Africa, southern Europe, Greece and Italy in the first, second, and third centuries, you could come upon strange statues in the fields everywhere. They were the means by which the illiterate people of those times expressed their beliefs about the past of the Earth. In these statues they expressed that the Earth was once a living being.
Later other people became very angry and, in just a short time, they simply destroyed these statues, which could have taught us a great deal. The monuments that survived are the least important ones, for in the first few centuries of our era people knew very well which statues were important and had them destroyed. Nonetheless, humanity at one time had a wonderful knowledge of these things, dreamlike though it was.
It is also extremely interesting that instead of thinking as we do today people then were actually dreaming, though they did more of it at night than during the day. Everything we learn of this ancient human wisdom is permeated with the realization that these people observed a lot during the night; for instance, shepherds in the fields observed much during the night.
The ancient Germanic tribes, and others as well, possessed this wisdom of the Earth as a giant human being, who existed for quite some time. The human being did not become small all at once but only gradually, until he became what he is now.

Discussion

Note 1 - The Earth's etheric condition referenced

The Earth's etheric condition

Rudolf Steiner is not explicit in labelling the description given in1908-09-03-GA106. Two possibilities:

1/ At first view, one could and with reference to Schema FMC00.057C above, one could relate this to previous conditions of form. The upper right of Schema FMC00.057C shows conditions of life and form. Within the fourth condition of life (or 'round') CoL=4, CoF=2 links to the formed or lower spirit world (re Earth rounds perspective), CoF=1 to the unformed or higher spirit world. See also Schema FMC00.141 on Overview Golden Chain, on the left, for an illustration of this rippling through from archetypes down to the physical, which happens through the evolutionary CoF. This view follows from the description of the plan for a CoL in Occult atom

2/ The second view this that the first Polarian epoch is referenced here, when the Earth was in its etheric condition at the start of the densification and creation of the spectrum of elements.

Note 2 - Additional references

Carl Jung also used the term Cosmic Man to denote the archetypal figure that appears in a wide range of creation myths, also pointing to the oneness of humanity and its origin and/or final goal. Different names various legends and cultures, eg Pangu (China), Keyumars or Gayomart (Persia), Purusha (India), al-Insān al-Kāmil (Islamic Sufi), Adam Kadmon (Jewish Kaballah). Note these are not all identical at all, they are just part of the same broad category.