Adam Kadmon
In the human psyche, Adam Kadmon corresponds to the yechidah, the collective essence of the soul.
In explaining the various views concerning Eve's creation, they taught[3] that Adam was created as a man-woman (androgynos), explaining "זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה" (Genesis 1:27) as "male and female" instead of "man and woman," and that the separation of the sexes arose from the subsequent operation upon Adam's body, as related in the Scripture.
This doctrine concerning the Logos, as also that of man made "in the likeness,"[4] although tinged with true Philonic coloring, is also based on the theology of the Pharisees.
The first stage of Adam Kadmon was in the form of ten concentric circles (igulim), which emanated from the ray.
Adam Kadmon preceded the manifestation of the Four Worlds, Atzilut ("emanation"), Beriah ("creation"), Yetzirah ("formation") and Asiyah ("action").
In the system of the sefirot, Adam Kadmon corresponds to Keter ("crown"), the divine will that motivated creation.
The two versions of Kabbalistic theosophy, the "medieval/classic/Zoharic" (systemised by Moshe Cordovero) and the more comprehensive Lurianic, describe the process of descending worlds differently.
For Cordovero, the sefirot, Adam Kadmon and the Four Worlds evolve sequentially from the Ein Sof (divine infinity).
The Primeval Man (Protanthropos, Adam) occupies a prominent place in several Gnostic systems.
[13] According to Valentinus, Adam was created in the name of Anthrôpos and overawes the demons by the fear of the pre-existent man (tou proontos anthropou).
In the Valentinian syzygies and in the Marcosian system, we meet in the fourth (originally the third) place Anthrôpos and Ecclesia.
[13] In the Pistis Sophia, the Aeon Jeu is called the First Man, he is the overseer of the Light, messenger of the First Precept, and constitutes the forces of the Heimarmene.
In the Books of Jeu this "great Man" is the King of the Light-treasure, he is enthroned above all things and is the goal of all souls.
[13] A portion of these Gnostic teachings, when combined with Zoroastrianism, furnished Mani with his particular doctrine of the original man.
[citation needed] But, according to Mani, the original man is fundamentally distinct from the first father of the human race.
The stepping-stone from the Gnostic original man to Manichaeism was probably the older Mandaean conception, which may have exercised great influence.
[21] Outside of an Abrahamic context, the Cosmic Man is also an archetypical figure that appears in creation myths of a wide variety of cultures.
