Part 1 —The Prelude: Awareness Before Light.
Written by William Allard
Author’s Note
What you’re about to read is not a translation and not a theological argument.
It is a contemplative reading — one rooted in the Hebrew words themselves,
yet carried forward by a different kind of listening.
For thousands of years, seekers and mystics have looked at Genesis and sensed that it holds more than a physical creation story. Many have read it as allegory, as psychology, as cosmology. I stand inside that lineage, not outside it. But the shape that emerged for me — the Divine Formula of God Is, I Am, You Are — offered a new way of seeing the text, one that felt both ancient and unexpectedly clear.
The Hebrew language didn’t have a direct technical vocabulary for what we today call “consciousness” or “vibration.”
So it speaks in the imagery available to it — darkness, depth, breath, hovering.
When I look through the lens of the Divine Formula, these images open like symbols of inner movement, subtle thresholds within Awareness itself.
Throughout this work, I’ve tried to honor two truths at once:
Literally, the Hebrew says what it says.
And through the Divine Formula, it reveals a deeper geometry of Being.
Wherever I offer symbolic or contemplative meaning, I name it as such.
My aim is not to convince you, but to invite you — to walk slowly with me through a text that has shaped the world, and to feel how it may also be mapping the awakening of consciousness within each of us.
If this reading resonates with you, wonderful.
If it simply opens a small doorway of curiosity, that is enough.
Genesis is an ancient mirror.
My hope is that, for a moment, you might catch your own reflection within it.
— Will
This is the first movement in an eight-part series exploring Genesis 1 through the lens of Divine Geometry — the unfolding structure of consciousness.
I always assumed Genesis was like many creation stories — that it held something true inside it, some ancient seed of wisdom buried beneath the layers of retelling. I believed there was meaning there… I just didn't know what it was. And to be honest, I hadn't spent much time trying to figure it out. Not as an adult. Not with a contemplative mind. Not with any kind of framework that could help me see what the text was actually doing.
I grew up Catholic, so I was familiar with the Genesis story — God creates the world, the heavens, the Earth, the creatures, humans and rests on the seventh day… but that familiarity also made it feel flat, almost like a children's story I had outgrown. I knew it contained something deeper. I just didn't have the lens or the language or the infrastructure to lay it all out.
So Genesis became one of those stories I accepted as symbolic, possibly meaningful, but too clouded by literalism and tradition to truly approach. The revelation of God is, I Am, you Are arrived in my life and quietly rearranged everything. It gave me a way to understand consciousness in a way I never had before. It gave me the first geometry of understanding the Divine. It gave me a structure — a way to look at the world that wasn't religious or scientific, but conscious. And with that new lens, I opened Genesis again… for the first time in decades.
What happened next surprised me.
Suddenly, the story didn't feel like mythology anymore. It didn't feel like physical cosmology either. It wasn't about planets or timelines or literal days. It felt like a map. A sequence. A geometric unfolding. A revelation of consciousness, moving from pure awareness into self-awareness through form. It was as though every line — every verb, every symbol, every layer — was speaking a language I somehow already knew, but had never heard out loud. I realized then that the “something” I always sensed in Genesis was not a hidden moral or a historical truth or a theological doctrine. It was a cosmology of consciousness waiting for a framework to unlock it. And once that framework arrived — the Divine Formula — Genesis opened like a flower. Line by line. Layer by layer. Word by word. As if the seed of truth I always suspected finally had the soil it needed to grow.
What This Series Is (and Isn’t)
Before we go any further, I want to be clear about what this series is and what it isn’t. I’m not trying to reinterpret Genesis to make it fit a modern worldview. I’m not trying to argue theology or present another literal explanation for how the physical universe came into being. This is not about religion. It’s not about doctrine. It’s not about proving anything historically or scientifically. What I’m sharing here is something different:
This is a metaphysical reading of Genesis as a map of consciousness. Not the creation of the Earth — the creation of awareness, the unfolding of mind, the geometry of Being expressed step by step through ancient language.
Once I looked at the Hebrew text through the lens of the Divine Formula (God Is, I Am, You Are), the entire chapter revealed itself as a cosmology of consciousness — a sequence of movements that match perfectly the way awareness differentiates, expands, and awakens.
So to be very clear:
This is not a literal creation model.
This is not a historical timeline.
This is not “how the Earth was made.”
This is something much deeper: Genesis, read in Hebrew, describes the architecture of consciousness itself.
The “light” is not sunlight.
The “waters” are not the oceans.
The “earth” is not our planet.
The “heavens” are not the sky.
The “stars” are not burning spheres in space.
The “days” are not twenty-four-hour periods.
Each symbol points to a state, a movement, a layer, a geometry within consciousness.
My intention is not to impose a new meaning onto the text, but to simply reveal what was always there beneath the surface
— a richness that English translations can’t capture.
This series exists because once I saw the pattern, I couldn’t unsee it.
And now I want to walk you through it, slowly and gently, so you can see how naturally the pieces fit— not into theology, but into the way consciousness awakens in every being, on every world, in every age.
Genesis 1:1
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
Beresheet bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Before Genesis begins its unfolding, it offers a single, simple line that feels almost like a title page. In ancient Hebrew writing, it was common to start a story with an opening statement that sets the scope — a sentence that says, in essence: “This is the story you are about to read.” Genesis 1:1 can be read this way. Let’s walk through it together — slowly, lightly, noticing what the Hebrew actually allows.
What the Hebrew Says
When we read this line in English, it feels complete and familiar:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
But when we look more closely at the Hebrew, the verse begins to open in quiet and unexpected ways. We’re not interpreting yet — we’re simply noticing what the Hebrew allows us to see.
We begin with the first word.
Beresheet
Often translated “In the beginning,” beresheet can carry a softer shade: “at the beginning of…” or “in the first of…”. It can be heard less as a timestamp and more as a threshold — the opening of a story, a heading that sets the stage for what will follow. In this reading, it introduces the space in which creation will unfold.
Bara
Bara is the verb “to create / shape / bring forth.” In BDB (one of the most trusted Hebrew lexicons), it is characteristically used of divine activity — something new being brought into existence. The verb doesn’t describe mechanism, and it doesn’t require a strict philosophical idea of “creation from nothing.” It simply marks that something new has come into being.
Elohim
English translations render this as “God,” but the Hebrew form is intriguing. Elohim is plural in form yet takes a singular verb here (bara), indicating it functions with singular meaning in this verse. Hebrew often uses this plural form with singular grammar when referring to the one God of Israel. In form it is plural; in grammar it behaves as singular.
Hashamayim and ha’aretz
Hashamayim means “the heavens/sky,” and ha’aretz means “the earth/land/ground.” Together they are widely recognized as a Hebrew merism — a pair naming the extremes (sky above and land below) to indicate the whole: the total ordered domain, the full arena of existence. The text is not defining them yet. It is naming the two poles — the “above” and the “below” — in which everything else will unfold.
What This First Line Is Doing
Taken together, Genesis 1:1 functions like a heading or threshold line in this reading, introducing the realms in which the story will unfold. It is the quiet opening line that establishes the territory: “This is the story of the heavens and the earth.” No movement has started yet. No light has appeared. The unfolding begins in the next verse.
Contemplative Analysis through the Lens of the Divine Formula
With “the heavens and the earth,” I hear polarity being named at the outset — what I call in my Divine Geometry the upper, unseen realms and the lower, formed realms — as though the text is establishing the two poles across which everything will later differentiate. It is an opening gesture of structure: subtle and tangible, above and below, interior and exterior expression held within one field.
And in the Hebrew term Elohim, I hear something else — not a grammatical proof, but a resonance that matters to my framework. The plural form acting through singular movement suggests fullness rather than fragmentation: unity spacious enough to contain relationship within itself. Through the Divine Formula, this echoes what I later call trifold consciousness — God Is, I Am, You Are. I don’t force that meaning here. I simply place it like a seed, because as the narrative unfolds, this resonance begins to show its shape.
Divine Formula Translation (Genesis 1:1)
“At the threshold of creation, tri-fold consciousness names the two poles of its unfolding — the subtle and the formed — the realms within which the story will take shape.”
Genesis 1:2
וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם
Veha’aretz hayetah tohu vavohu, vechoshech al-pnei tehom, veruach Elohim merachefet al-pnei hamayim.
“And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
What the Hebrew Says
In this reading, the second line of Genesis isn’t yet describing creation. Nothing has been shaped, nothing has been separated or distinguished. Verse 2 simply shows us the condition before anything begins — the unformed stage onto which the first moment of creation will arrive. Let’s walk through it together, slowly, noticing how the Hebrew opens.
Veha’aretz
Here, ha’aretz does not mean the planet Earth as we think of it today. In Hebrew, this word can refer to land, ground, region, or territory. At this point in the narrative, nothing has shape yet. This “earth” names the domain where form will later appear.
Hayetah
A simple past-tense verb. It tells us we are still in description, not action. Nothing is happening yet — the text is showing us what is, before telling us what will unfold.
Tohu vavohu
A rare Hebrew phrase conveying:
formlessness
wasteness / desolation
emptiness / void
an unordered, unstructured condition
tohu vavohu describes a formless, empty, unordered state — a world, not yet shaped or filled.
Choshech — “darkness”
The Hebrew word choshech means “darkness.” It can also extend metaphorically to obscurity.
Al-pnei tehom — “over the face of the deep”
The Hebrew phrase al-pnei means “upon/over the face of,” that is, over the surface of something. It is a standard Hebrew idiom for describing something positioned above or in relation to a surface.
This same Hebrew expression appears again in the phrase “over the waters.” English translations sometimes vary the wording for readability, but the term al-pnei remains identical in both places.
Tehom is an ancient, spacious word meaning the deep, the abyss, the depths.
Ruach Elohim — “the Spirit of God”
The Hebrew word ruach can mean “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit” — all legitimate lexical senses.
In Genesis 1:2, the grammar matches: ruach is grammatically feminine here, and it pairs with the feminine participle merachefet (“hovering”).
In this scene, ruach Elohim depicts something divine in motion — not yet speaking or shaping, but gently moving over the surface of the deep.
Merachefet — “hovering”
This participle comes from the root רָחַף (rachaph).
In the Pi’el form, it means “to hover,” and can evoke imagery like:
a bird hovering
a brooding, protective movement
fluttering
trembling
gentle, continuous motion over a surface
Some suggest a nurturing or “brooding” nuance here.
The same root can mean trembling/shaking in another context (Jer 23:9), which supports this intuitive connection — just not as the primary gloss in Genesis 1:2.
Al-pnei hamayim — “over the waters”
Literally, mayim means “waters.”
In Hebrew it is used for seas, rivers, rains — the broad domain of water.
What This Scene Is Showing Us
In this reading, Genesis 1:2 is the quiet picture before creation activity begins:
The realm is unformed.
Nothing is separated.
Nothing is named.
Everything remains unlit.
The depth is present, but undefined.
And at its threshold, there is the first subtle trembling — the first movement.
We are standing in the stillness before the first act. The moment when something begins to stir within an otherwise unexpressed expanse. The unfolding begins in the next verse.
Contemplative Analysis through the Lens of the Divine Formula
In this verse, Genesis is not yet describing creation in motion. It is revealing the first condition of what is — the undivided field itself.
Aretz does not refer to the planet Earth as we understand it today. It names the lower realm in its earliest state — the domain of form before form has emerged. It is the place where manifestation will later arise, but here it remains undefined, unshaped, and unarticulated. The text is showing us what is before telling us what will unfold.
Genesis 1:2 then circles this same undivided Awareness through three images.
What the Hebrew names as the deep speaks of Awareness as vastness — depth without boundary, presence without articulation.
What the text calls darkness is not a physical absence of light. At this stage, there is no formed world and no source of visible illumination. Darkness names Awareness unilluminated — not opposed to light, but prior to inner illumination. Awareness itself is neither light nor dark; those distinctions arise only once recognition appears.
And what the verse names as the waters is not a separate substance or medium. The waters are Awareness itself, described as receptive, unformed, and fluid — presence without fixed shape, experience before distinction. Nothing new has been introduced; the same undivided Awareness is being spoken of again, from another angle.
The phrase “over the face of the deep” places us at a threshold — a surface relationship with vastness. There is depth without differentiation, expanse without structure. The scene is poised, not empty, before anything takes form.
At this threshold, the Spirit of God hovers. This does not read as an external force entering Awareness, but as a subtle movement arising as Awareness itself. The verb “hovering” conveys continuous, delicate motion — a trembling rather than an act, presence beginning to incline toward itself. That hovering names the first internal variation, a subtle frequency of Awareness itself. Not sound, not motion through space, not a cause imposed from elsewhere, but the earliest difference arising without leaving unity. Awareness remains whole, yet no longer entirely still.
Nothing has been separated. Nothing has been named. No form has appeared. Awareness is present, intact, and undivided — now quietly alive with the possibility of recognition.
Seen through the Divine Formula, Genesis 1:2 describes simple Awareness and the first inward inclination of Awareness toward itself — prior to the awakening of “God Is,” yet already trembling with the potential for knowing.
Divine Formula Translation (Genesis 1:2)
“All was simply Awareness, an unexpressed field of potential, until the first subtle frequency arose, awakening the presence of God Is.
Conclusion — The Stillness Before Light
in this reading, Genesis 1:1–2 is not yet creation in ordered motion; it is the world before any distinction.
A realm unshaped.
A depth undefined.
Darkness is the natural unilluminated state of Awareness before illumination arises.
The Hebrew gives us no speech, no command, no separation — only a vast expanse held in stillness, with a single exception:
a gentle trembling, a hovering, the first subtle difference at the threshold of Awerness itself.
Because ancient Hebrew had no direct technical vocabulary for consciousness, frequency, or emergence, it speaks in the language it had available — surface and depth, darkness and waters, breath and hovering. Through the lens of the Divine Formula, these images name one undivided Awerness from different angles: vast, unilluminated, and fluid.
This is the moment before creation begins.
All is unexpressed. Awareness is poised at the edge of becoming. And at that threshold, the first frequency of presence arises.
The unfolding continues in the next verse.
