Genesis 1:11 and the Seed Within: Neville Goddard on the Imagination as Creative Power

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."

— Genesis 1:11

This verse in Genesis might seem like a simple agricultural moment in the creation story. But when interpreted through the teachings of Neville Goddard, it reveals a fundamental metaphysical truth: everything reproduces after its kind because the seed is in itself—a direct metaphor for how imagination creates reality.

The Seed Within Itself: A Core Principle of Manifestation

Neville often stressed that your imagination contains the power to create your world. What you assume to be true in imagination plants a seed. And just as in Genesis 1:11, that seed contains everything needed to reproduce itself—after its kind.

This means if you imagine from a state of joy, you will reap joy. If you imagine from fear, you will produce fear. The seed of experience comes from your internal state, not external conditions.

There is no need to look outside yourself. The seed—the cause of your future—is already within you. It is self-contained, just as the Bible says. This, Neville taught, is the divine principle behind all creation.

A Nod to 111: The Significance of Oneness

It’s not coincidental that this powerful verse is marked Genesis 1:11. The number 111 symbolises oneness, alignment, and the primacy of thought. In many metaphysical teachings, 111 appears when you're being reminded that your thoughts are creating your reality.

In a way, Genesis 1:11 is the Bible’s 111 moment—quietly but boldly announcing that everything comes from within, that form follows consciousness, and that life emerges not from effort but from inner alignment.

Neville often said that imagining creates reality and that the imagination is the Christ within. When we observe the world as something “out there,” we remain trapped in the illusion. But when we realise the seed is in us, we return to the core truth: I am the creative power.

Made in His Image: The Echo of Divine Imagination

Later in Genesis, we read:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him."
— Genesis 1:27

Neville taught that being made in God's image does not mean we look like a physical being in the sky. It means we share God's nature: we imagine, we create, and we bring forth life through consciousness.

God imagined the world into being. And now, as an individualised expression of God, you do the same.

To be made in God’s image is to be the imaginer. Your awareness, your assumptions, your mental conversations—these are the spiritual seeds. And Genesis 1:11 reminds us: these seeds carry within them all that is necessary for manifestation.

The Principle of Self-Containment

This is perhaps the most radical and freeing idea Neville conveyed: You need nothing outside yourself to manifest your life.

The seed—your imaginative act—is complete within itself. You don’t need to chase, strive, beg, or wait. You only need to plant and persist in the state of the wish fulfilled.

And just like in Genesis 1:11, it was so.

Final Thoughts: You Are the Sower

Genesis 1:11, when viewed through Neville Goddard’s understanding, isn’t about plants or trees. It’s about you. You are the sower, and the world is your field. Every thought, feeling, and inner assumption is a seed within itself, and it will produce after its kind.

You don’t need permission, a sign, or the right conditions. You’ve already been given the image, the seed, and the soil. All that remains is to imagine deliberately—and let it be so.