A shadow ought to be black, like the shadow the moon cast upon the Earth during an eclipse. In an instant, day became night, and everything was shrouded in darkness.
But this darkness came quickly and went quickly, unlike during the Ten Plagues of Egypt, when darkness lasted for three whole days and brought immense terror to the people.
In Hebrew, Adam Gadmon meant the first man. He was also called "the most hidden man," or the primordial Adam. The Hebrew Book of Splendor said: God's shadow rose from the waters of the abyss, rising like the Sun. When its eyes appeared, light was created; when its mouth appeared, spirit was created. When its head emerged completely from the water, it was the first day of creation.
When its shoulders, arms, and chest appeared, the seas, land, and mountains were created. As "God's shadow" gradually grew larger, all things began to multiply. "God's shadow," "the first man," breathed breath into his own shadow and uttered "the Word" at the same time. Let mankind be created! And so mankind was created.
"God's shadow" shone with every holy splendor. God was the principle behind all that could not be known, infinite unknowns. Like closed eyes and open eyes—when one closed one's eyes, there was naturally only darkness.
What human eyes could see was all that was known. What one saw with open eyes was "finite existence." Everything possessed its own traits and properties. Those traits came from the "infinite," but they were not the entirety of infinity.
This shadow of the supreme god might have been influenced by Persian Zoroastrianism. Fire was the primary source of light for ancient people in the darkness, unless there was moonlight. Thus, the Sun and Moon were described as the eyes of Zoroastrianism's supreme god, and