When God hears what the gods will offer, he thinks humankind into existence. At first humanity is just a thought — a soul. It is unable to tend and look after the Earth as God wishes, so God gives each human a mortal body within which to house the immortal soul. To do this he first creates Nature. She is like a beautiful woman, and God makes her mistress of the world. She produces the seeds of natural life. Seeing in the human soul an image of God, Nature falls in love and merges with her beloved. This is the blending of body and soul which produces each one of us. Hence all human beings have
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