"To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will be your master."
(Genesis 3:16)
This verse, often taken literally, can be understood in a much deeper way when interpreted through the spiritual symbolism revealed in Neville Goddard’s teachings. It serves as a profound metaphor for the mental and emotional suffering that arises when we give birth to negative assumptions and beliefs.
The Fall in the Garden of Eden: The Assumption of Powerlessness
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived in a state of inner harmony — aligned with divine imagination, their every need supplied by the awareness of oneness with God. The moment they assumed they were separate — symbolised by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil — they fell into a belief in duality, and with it came the assumption of powerlessness.
This is the true Fall: the loss of inner authority and the beginning of identification with the outer world. As Neville taught, this fall is not about sin in the traditional sense, but about forgetting that "I Am" is the creative power.
The phrase “your desire will be for your husband, and he will be your master” speaks symbolically. The woman represents the subconscious, and the husband — now her master — represents the dominating outer assumption.
This is mirrored in the broader biblical narrative by the word Baal, which means master or owner. The people of Israel frequently turn to the Baals — symbolic of being owned by outer appearances, by false gods of circumstance. This line, then, reveals that when imagination is no longer seen as the creative source, we become ruled by external conditions, by the Baals of the world. We look outward for truth, identity, and provision, rather than inward to the creative power of I Am.
The Pain of Negative Assumptions
"Pain in childbirth" can therefore be understood as the inner anguish caused by giving birth to limiting beliefs. Once the subconscious is dominated by outer appearances, we begin to generate thoughts of fear, lack, and shame. These thoughts do not come from God, but from the assumption that we are powerless.
Neville reminds us that these assumptions produce after their kind — just as a seed contains its own kind within it, a belief in lack will continue to give birth to thoughts of limitation. The pain is not punishment, but the natural result of giving creative authority to the wrong source.
The Story of Legion: A Mind in Torment
The story of Legion in Mark 5:1–20 paints a vivid picture of what happens when the mind is filled with conflicting, fearful thoughts — the result of a subconscious dominated by the outer world.
"And, night and day, in the mountains and in the tombs, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones."
(Mark 5:5, BBE)
Here we see a man overwhelmed by many voices — a Legion of beliefs, fears, and traumas. He is surrounded by tombs (dead states of being) and cuts himself with stones — the very thoughts he clings to become the source of his torment. This is what it looks like to be ruled by the Baals, to live under the dominion of assumptions that deny one's divine power.
The moment he meets Jesus — the awareness of I Am — the demons are cast out. This reflects the transformation that takes place when the truth of imagination reclaims its rightful place as master of the subconscious.
Breaking the Cycle: The Return to Inner Authority
The good news in Neville’s message is that we can shift at any moment. We are not condemned to live under the rule of the Baals — of fear, lack, shame, or external circumstance. By returning to the truth that I Am is God, we regain dominion over the subconscious and begin to birth new thoughts, aligned with joy, peace, and abundance.
Conclusion
Genesis 3:16 and the story of Legion, viewed symbolically, reveal a powerful spiritual truth: the pain we experience in life often comes not from punishment, but from the thoughts we birth through limiting assumptions. When we assume we are powerless, we hand the reins of our subconscious to external conditions, becoming subject to the Baals — masters that were never meant to rule us.
But through awareness of imagination as the creative force — through Jesus, the awakened “I Am” — we can cast out these false masters and reclaim the subconscious as our faithful servant. No longer ruled by the outside, we are restored to the inner garden where all things are possible.
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