Therefore the whirlwinds tell me lies in many voices, which rise up within me, saying, 'Who are you? and what are you doing? and what are these battles you are fighting? You are indeed unhappy, for you do not know whether your work is good or bad. Where will you go? and who wills save you? and what are these errors that are driving you to madness? Are you doing what delight you? Are you escaping what distresses you? Oh, what will you do when you know this are ignorant of that? For what delights you is not lawful for you, and what distresses you God's precept compels you to do. And how do you know whether these things are so? It would be better for you if you did not exist!' And after these whirlwinds have risen up thus within me, I begin to tread another path that is hard for my flesh to bear, for I begin to practice righteousness. But then I doubt as to whether or not the Holy Spirit has given this to me, and I say, 'This is useless.' And I wish to fly above the clouds. How? I wish to fly above the faculties and start things I cannot finish. But when I try to do these things, I only stir up great sadness in myself, so that I do no works, either on the heights of sanctity or on the plains of good will; but I bear within me the disquietude of doubt, desperation, sadness, and oppression in all things. And when the Devil's persuasion disturbs me, then, oh, how great a calamity overtakes me! For I am overcome in my unhappiness by all the evils that are or can be in blame, malediction, mortification of the body and soul and shameful words against the purity, healing and loftiness that are in God. And then wickedness suggests to me that all the felicity and all the good which is in Man as well as God will be to me harmful and oppressive, offering me death rather than life. Ach! How unhappy is this struggle, which forces me from labor to labor, from sorrow to sorrow, from discord to discord, depriving me of all happiness(Book 1, Vision 4, Scivias; Source)
Vision 2: 9: "And, accordingly, the devil knew that other creatures had not yet been filled with the wickedness that the devil had inside. But the devil was angry seeing Adam and Eve in their innocence in the garden of delights, so with great amazingness the devil changed into a serpent in order to deceive them. Why did the devil change appearance? Because the devil knew it would be more wondrous to change into a serpent than into some other animal. Concealed as a serpent, the devil took great pains to accomplish the deceitfulness which the devil could not complete openly in the devil's usual form. When the devil saw Adam and Eve turn away both in body and in soul from the tree which had been forbidden to them, the devil knew that they had received a divine command regarding that place, but the devil also knew that they might easily be hurled down in the very first work which they had begun."Vision 2: 10: "Why did the devil approach Eve? Because the devil knew the tenderness of a woman was more easily conquered than the strength of a man. The devil also saw that Adam's love for Eve was burning so strongly that if the devil was able to conquer Eve, whatever she might say to Adam, Adam would do the same. And the cloud threw the form of a man out of itself: this signifies that the same ancient seducer, expelling Eve and Adam from the seat of blessedness by treachery, sent them into the darkness of destruction. How did the devil do this? Clearly the devil seduced Eve first, so that she rather than Adam was able to lead the other creatures to disobedience, because she had been made from his rib. Because of this, a woman hurls a man down more quickly, when he easily takes her to himself, not shrinking back from her words."
Vision 2: 27: "Because humanity stood out rebellious to God in that place of sweet things, that woman who had been subjected to that man in his service now opposed herself to him."
Vision 2: 31: "And so humanity, having been freed, shines in God and God in humanity, humanity having a partnership in God, having - of course - the very great brightness which humanity had previously in heaven. This might not have come about if the same Word of God had not put on flesh, because if humanity had remained in paradise, the Word of God might not have died on the cross. But when humanity was deceived through the cunning serpent, God was touched with true compassion, so that God caused the Only-Begotten to become flesh in the purest Virgin. And so after the fall of humanity, more virtues were lifted up - shining in heaven - just as humility is lifted up as the queen of virtues. "
Vision 2: 32: "In the beginning of creation, the same devil was lifted up with the haughtiness of pride and thereby cast down in death, causing humanity to be expelled from the glory of paradise. At the time, God did not resist the devil with divine power, but God eventually conquered the devil with the humility of the Word. Because Lucifer had mocked the justice of God, Lucifer was not able to know about the incarnation of the Only-Begotten Word of God in accordance with the just judgment of God. And through this agreement which god and the Word made without Lucifer's knowledge, the lost sheep was carried back to life. O rebellious people, why are you so harsh? God did not forsake people, but God instead sent the Word for their salvation, thereby crushing the head of pride in the serpent. As humanity was released from death, Satan opened the evil barricade, shouting: "Alsa, alas, who will help me." All the devils cried aloud with a great roar, astonished by anyone having such power that they could not resist it even with their leader, even as God's Word carried the faithful souls back to Heaven. As a result, humanity was lifted up above the heavens, because God appeared in the form of a person and person appeared in the form of God through the Word of God. . . . For God had created humanity, but humanity fell into death through the persuasion of the devil. The Word of God snatched humanity from the devil through the shedding of blood, and the Word lead humanity back to heavenly glory."