Lilith
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watermouse
Aug 3, 2010, 2:59:32 AM8/3/10
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ORIGNIAL FROM; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith
Lilith (Hebrew: לילית Līlīt; Arabic: ليليث Līlīṯ) is believed to
have originated as a female Mesopotamian storm demon associated with
wind and was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death.
The figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm
demons or spirits as Lilitu, in Sumer, circa 4000 BC. The phonetic
name Lilith is traditionally thought to have originated in Ancient
Israel, and to have pre-dated at least 700 BC. [1]
In Jewish folklore, Lilith is the name of Adam's first wife, who was
created at the same time and from the same earth as Adam. She left
Adam after she refused to become subservient to Adam and then would
not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael.
[2] Her story was greatly developed, during the Middle Ages, in the
tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism.[3] The
resulting Lilith legend is still commonly used as source material in
modern culture, literature, occultism, fantasy and horror.
Etymology
Hebrew: לילית; Arabic: ليليث; Akkadian: Līlītu are female or male
nisba adjectives from the proto-Semitic root L-Y-L meaning "night",
literally translating to "female night being/demon", although
cuneiform inscriptions where Līlīt and Līlītu refers to disease-
bearing wind spirits exist.[4][5]
Another possibility is association not with "night", but with "wind",
thus identifying the Akkadian Lil-itu as a loan from the Sumerian lil,
"air"[4]—specifically from NIN.LIL, "lady air", goddess of the south
wind (and wife of Enlil)—and itud, "moon".
[edit]Mesopotamian mythology
Sumerian Terracotta relief, Lilith, 1950 BCE.[6]
Akkad, who were the earliest known Semitic speakers, and Sumer, who
were the earliest civilizations inhabiting Mesopotamia, developed a
very intimate cultural symbiosis with widespread bilingualism.[7] The
bilateral influence of Sumerian and Akkadian is evident in all areas,
[7] including syncretism between their gods, where each adopted the
other's deities.[8] In Sumerarian, Lilith was referred to as Ki-sikil-
lil-la-ke, and, in Akkadian, it was Ardat-lili.[9] The Assyrian and
Babylonian cultures descended from these early cultures.
[edit]Gilgamesh Epic
The earliest mention of lilitû is associated with a serpent and an
Anzu bird,[10] in the 27th century BCE Epic of Gilgamesh. In the epic,
a huluppa tree grows in Inanna's garden in Uruk, whose wood she plans
to use to build a new throne. After ten years of growth, she comes to
harvest it and finds a serpent living at its base, a Zu bird raising
young in its crown, and that Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke made a house in its
trunk. Gilgamesh is said to have smitten the snake, and then the Anzu
flew away to the mountains with its young, while Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke
fearfully destroys her house and runs for the forest.[11][12][13]
[edit]Lilitû demons
Another early reference to a demon similar to Lilith and companion of
Lillake/Lilith is on the Sumerian king list, where Gilgamesh's father
is named as Lilû.[14][15] Little is known of Lilû, and he was said to
interfere with women in their sleep and had functions of an incubus,
while Lilitû appeared to men in their erotic dreams.[16][17][18] Such
qualities as lalu, or wandering about, and lulu, or lasciviousness,
from Akkadian (Semitic) language have been associated as sources for
the names Lila and Lilitû[19], but some Sumerologists say Lilû is
purely Sumerian.[14]
The Assyrian lilitû were said to prey upon children and women and were
described as associated with lions, storms, desert, and disease. Early
portrayals of such demons are known as having Zu bird talons for feet
and wings.[20] They were highly sexually predatory towards men but
were unable to copulate normally. They were thought to dwell in waste,
desolate, and desert places. Like the Sumerian Dimme, a male wind
demon named Pazuzu was thought to be effective against them.[21][22]
Lilith's epithet was "the beautiful maiden". She was described as
having no milk in her breasts and as unable to bear any children.[17]
[23]
Other storm and night demons from a similar class are recorded from
Akkadian texts around this period. The Ardat-lili is from Ardatû,
which is a young unmarried woman or maiden, also sometimes a title of
prostitutes, and lilitû.[24] These "maiden liltû" would come to men in
their sleep and beget children from them. Sick men would also be
described as being seized by Ardat-lili[16] Their male counterparts,
similar to an incubus, were the Irdû-lili[25] These demons were
originally storm and wind demons; however, later etymology made them
into night demons.[26]
Lamashtû (Sumer Dimme) was a very similar Mesopotamian demon to
Lilitû, and Lilith seems to have inherited many of Lamashtû's myths.
[27] She was considered a demi-goddess and daughter of Anu, the sky
god. [28] Many incantations against her mention her status as a
daughter of heaven and her exercising her free will over infants. This
makes her different from the rest of the demons in Mesopotamia. Unlike
her demonic peers, Lamashtû was not instructed by the gods to do her
malevolence; she did it on her own accord. She was said to seduce men,
harm pregnant women, mothers, and neonates, kill foliage, and drink
blood and was a cause of disease, sickness, and death. Some
incantations describe her as "seven witches".[29] The space between
her legs is as a scorpion, corresponding to the astrological sign of
Scorpio. (Scorpio rules the genitals and sex organs.) Her head is that
of a lion, she has Anzu bird feet like Lilitû, her breasts are suckled
by a pig and a dog, and she rides the back of a donkey.[30] Other
texts mention Lamashtû as the hand of Inanna/Ishtar in place of Lilitû
and Ardat-lili.
Two other Mesopotamian demons have a close relation to Lilitû: Gallû
and Alû.[31] Alû was originally an asexual demon, who took on female
attributes, but later became a male demon. Alû liked to roam the
streets like a stray dog at night and creep into people's bedrooms as
they slept to terrify them. He was described as being half-human and
half-devil. He appears in Jewish lore as Ailo; here, he is used as one
of Lilith's secret names. In other texts, Ailo is a daughter of Lilith
that has had intercourse with a man. The other demon, Gallû, is of the
Utukkû group. Gallû’s name, like Utukkû, was also used as a general
term for multiple demons.[32] Later, Gallû appears as Gello, Gylo, or
Gyllou in Greco-Byzantine mythology as a child-stealing and child-
killing demon. This figure was, likewise, adapted by the Jews as Gilû
and was also considered a secret name of Lilith's.[33]
[edit]Inanna's hand
Babylonian texts depict Lilith as the sacred prostitute of the goddess
Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian
Inanna. Similarly, older Sumerian accounts assert that Lilitû is
called the handmaiden of Inanna or "hand of Inanna". The Sumerian
texts state, "Inanna has sent the beautiful, unmarried, and seductive
prostitute Lilitû out into the fields and streets in order to lead men
astray." That is why Lilitû is called the "hand of Inanna".[34][35]
[edit]Lilith in the Bible
There is an ongoing scholarly debate as to whether the concept of
Lilith occurs in the Bible. The only possible occurrence is in the
Book of Isaiah 34:13-15, describing the desolation of Edom, where the
Hebrew word liyliyth appears in a list of eight unclean animals, some
of which may have demonic associations. Since the word liyliyth is a
hapax legomenon in the Hebrew Bible and the other seven terms in the
list are better documented, the reading of scholars and translators is
often guided by a decision about the complete list of eight creatures
as a whole:
Isaiah 34:13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and
thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode
for ostriches. 14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild
goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird (liylith)
settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15 There the owl nests
and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed,
there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. (ESV)
[edit]Hebrew text
Hebrew: וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא;
אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹח
Hebrew (ISO 259): pagšu ṣiyyim et-ʾiyyim w-saʿir ʿal-rēʿhu yiqra; ʾak-
šam hirgiʿah lilit u-maṣʾah lah manoḫ
morpho-syntactic analysis: "yelpers/desert-beasts meet-[perfect;
3pluralis] howlers/jackals; a he-goat/hairy-one/satyr calls out to/
cries to-[imperfect; 3sing.masc] his mate/fellow. liyliyth rests/
reposes-[perfect; 3sing.fem] and finds/acquires-[perfect; 3sing.fem] a
resting-place."
The word for "resting place" is מנוח manowach, used for birds (Noah's
dove) and also humans (Ruth).
Schrader (Jahrbuch für Protestantische Theologie, 1. 128) and Levy
(ZDMG 9. 470, 484) suggest that Lilith was a goddess of the night,
known also by the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Deutero-Isaiah dates to
the 6th century BC, and the presence of Jews in Babylon would coincide
with the attested references to the Līlītu in Babylonian demonology.
This view is challenged by Judit M. Blair.[36]
[edit]Greek version
The Septuagint translates the reference into Greek as onokentauros,
apparently for lack of a better word, since also the se'irim,
"satyrs", earlier in the verse are translated with daimon
onokentauros. The "wild beasts of the island and the desert" are
omitted altogether, and the "crying to his fellow" is also done by the
daimon onokentauros. It may be debated whether the verse is actually
referring to liylith or a literal screech owl.
In Horace (De Arte Poetica liber, 340), Hieronymus of Cardia
translated Lilith as Lamia, a witch who steals children, similar to
the Breton Korrigan, in Greek mythology described as a Libyan queen
who mated with Zeus. After Zeus abandoned Lamia, Hera stole Lamia's
children, and Lamia took revenge by stealing other women's children.
[edit]Latin Bible
The early 5th-century Vulgate translated the same word as Lamia.[37]
[38]
et occurrent daemonia onocentauris et pilosus clamabit alter ad
alterum ibi cubavit lamia et invenit sibi requiem
—Isaiah (Isaias Propheta) 34.14, Vulgate
According to vampirologist Montague Summers (1928), this particular
species of owl is associated with the vampiric Strix of Roman legend.
[39]
[edit]English versions
Wyclif's Bible (1395) preserves the Latin rendering Lamia:
Isa 34:15 Lamya schal ligge there, and foond rest there to hir silf.
The Bishops' Bible of Matthew Parker (1568) from the Latin:
Isa 34:14 there shall the Lamia lye and haue her lodgyng.
The Geneva Bible of William Whittington (1587) from the Hebrew:
Isa 34:14 and the shricheowle shall rest there, and shall finde for
her selfe a quiet dwelling.
Then the King James Version of the Bible (1611):
Isa 34:14 "The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild
beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the
screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of
rest."
The "screech owl" translation of the KJV is, together with the
"owl" (yanšup, probably a water bird) in 34:11 and the "great
owl" (qippoz, properly a snake) of 34:15, an attempt to render the
passage by choosing suitable animals for difficult-to-translate Hebrew
words.
Later translations include:
night-owl (Young, 1898)
night-spectre (Rotherham, Emphasized Bible, 1902)
night monster (ASV, 1901; JPS 1917, NASB, 1995)
vampires (Moffatt Translation, 1922)
night hag (RSV, 1947)
Lilith (Jerusalem Bible, 1966)
lilith (New American Bible, 1970)
Lilith (NRSV, 1989)
Lilith (The Message (Bible), Peterson, 1993)
night creature (NIV, 1978; NKJV, 1982; NLT, 1996, TNIV)
nightjar (New World Translation, 1984)
night bird (English Standard Version, 2001)
Scholars and translators also give consideration to the verbs used
with the eight animal names in the list, "hatches" etc., and to the
following verses:
Isa 34:16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these
shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the
Lord has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.
If this refers to all eight creatures listed, then each of the eight
is required to have a mate—possible for a bird, not so straightforward
for a she-demon.
[edit]Jewish tradition
A Hebrew tradition exists in which an amulet is inscribed with the
names of three angels (Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof) and placed
around the neck of newborn boys in order to protect them from the
lilin until their circumcision.[40]
[edit]Dead Sea Scrolls
The appearance of Lilith in the Dead Sea Scrolls is somewhat more
contentious, with one indisputable reference in the Song for a Sage
(4Q510-511) and a promising additional allusion found by A. Baumgarten
in The Seductress (4Q184). The first and irrefutable Lilith reference
in the Song occurs in 4Q510, fragment 1:
And I, the Instructor, proclaim His glorious splendour so as to
frighten and to te[rrify] all the spirits of the destroying angels,
spirits of the bastards, demons, Lilith, howlers, and [desert
dwellers…] and those which fall upon men without warning to lead them
astray from a spirit of understanding and to make their heart and
their […] desolate during the present dominion of wickedness and
predetermined time of humiliations for the sons of lig[ht], by the
guilt of the ages of [those] smitten by iniquity – not for eternal
destruction, [bu]t for an era of humiliation for transgression.
Akin to Isaiah 34:14, this liturgical text both cautions against the
presence of supernatural malevolence and assumes familiarity with
Lilith; distinct from the biblical text, however, this passage does
not function under any socio-political agenda, but instead serves in
the same capacity as An Exorcism (4Q560) and Songs to Disperse Demons
(11Q11) insomuch that it comprises incantations—comparable to the
Arslan Tash relief examined above—used to "help protect the faithful
against the power of these spirits." The text is thus, to a community
"deeply involved in the realm of demonology", an exorcism hymn.
[citation needed]
Another text discovered at Qumran, conventionally associated with the
Book of Proverbs, credibly also could appropriate the Lilith tradition
in its description of a precarious, winsome woman—The Seductress
(4Q184). The ancient poem—dated to the first century BC but plausibly
much older—describes a dangerous woman and consequently warns against
encounters with her. Customarily, the woman depicted in this text is
equated to the "strange woman" of Proverbs 2 and 5, and for good
reason; the parallels are instantly recognizable:
Her house sinks down to death,
And her course leads to the shades.
All who go to her cannot return
And find again the paths of life.
— Proverbs 2:18-19
Her gates are gates of death, and from the entrance of the house
She sets out towards Sheol.
None of those who enter there will ever return,
And all who possess her will descend to the Pit.
— 4Q184
However, what this association does not take into account are
additional descriptions of the "Seductress" from Qumran that cannot be
found attributed to the "strange woman" of Proverbs; namely, her horns
and her wings: "a multitude of sins is in her wings." The word
"seductress" here does not refer literally to "prostitute" or at the
very least, the representation of one, but one who tempts men into
sin. The sort of individual with whom that text's community would have
been familiar. The "Seductress" of the Qumran text, conversely, could
not possibly have represented an existent social threat given the
constraints of this particular ascetic community. Instead, the Qumran
text uses the imagery of Proverbs to explicate a much broader,
supernatural threat – the threat of the demoness Lilith.[citation
needed]
[edit]Talmud
Although references to Lilith in the Talmud are sparse, these passages
provide the most comprehensive insight into the demoness yet seen in
Judaic literature, which some speculate to echo Lilith's purported
Mesopotamian origins and prefigure her future as the perceived
exegetical enigma of the Genesis account. Recalling the Lilith we have
seen, Talmudic allusions to Lilith illustrate her essential wings and
long hair, dating back to her earliest extant mention in Gilgamesh:
"Rab Judah citing Samuel ruled: If an abortion had the likeness of
Lilith its mother is unclean by reason of the birth, for it is a child
but it has wings." (Niddah 24b)
"[Expounding upon the curses of womanhood] In a Baraitha it was
taught: She grows long hair like Lilith, sits when making water like a
beast, and serves as a bolster for her husband.” ('Erubin 100b)
Unique to the Talmud with regard to Lilith is her insalubrious
carnality, alluded to in The Seductress but expanded upon here sans
unspecific metaphors as the demoness assuming the form of a woman in
order to sexually take men by force while they sleep:
"R. Hanina said: One may not sleep in a house alone [in a lonely
house], and whoever sleeps in a house alone is seized by
Lilith.” (Shabbath 151b)
Yet the most innovative perception of Lilith offered by the Talmud
appears earlier in 'Erubin, and is more than likely inadvertently
responsible for the fate of the Lilith myth for centuries to come:
"R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar further stated: In all those years [130 years
after his expulsion from the Garden of Eden] during which Adam was
under the ban he begot ghosts and male demons and female demons [or
night demons], for it is said in Scripture: And Adam lived a hundred
and thirty years and begot a son in own likeness, after his own image,
from which it follows that until that time he did not beget after his
own image… When he saw that through him death was ordained as
punishment he spent a hundred and thirty years in fasting, severed
connection with his wife for a hundred and thirty years, and wore
clothes of fig on his body for a hundred and thirty years. – That
statement [of R. Jeremiah] was made in reference to the semen which he
emitted accidentally.” (‘Erubin 18b)
Comparing 'Erubin 18b and Shabbath 151b with the later passage from
the Zohar: “She wanders about at night, vexing the sons of men and
causing them to defile themselves (19b),” it appears clear that this
Talmudic passage indicates such an adverse union between Adam and
Lilith.
[edit]Shedim cults
A cult in Mesopotamia is said to be related to Lilith by early Jewish
leaders. According to the hypotheses proposed by William F. Albright,
Theodor H. Gaster, and others, the name Lilith already existed in 7th
century BC. and Lilith retained her Shedim characteristics throughout
the entire Jewish tradition.[41] Shedim is plural for "spirit" or
"demon". Figures that represent shedim are the shedu of Babylonian
mythology. These figures were depicted as anthropomorphic, winged
bulls, associated with wind. They were thought to guard palaces,
cities, houses, and temples. In magical texts of that era, they could
be either malevolent or benevolent.[42] The cult originated from
Babylon, then spread to Canaan and eventually to Israel.[43] Human
sacrifice was part of the practice and a sacrificial altar existed to
the Shedim next to the Yahweh cult, although this practice was widely
denounced by prophets who retained belief in Yahweh.[44]
Shedim in Jewish thought and literature were portrayed as quite
malevolent. Some writings contend that they are storm-demons. Their
creation is presented in three contradicting Jewish tales. The first
is that during Creation, God created the shedim, but did not create
their bodies and forgot them on the Shabbat when he rested. The second
is that they are descendants of demons in the form of serpents, and
the last states that they are simply descendants of Adam & Lilith.
Another story asserts that after the tower of Babel, some people were
scattered and became Shedim, Ruchin, and Lilin.[citation needed]
[edit]Folk tradition
The Alphabet of Ben Sira is considered to be the oldest form of the
story of Lilith as Adam's first wife. Whether this particular
tradition is older is not known. Scholars tend to date the Alphabet
between the 8th and 10th centuries AD. (The attribution to the sage
Ben Sira is considered false, with the true author unknown.) The
amulets used against Lilith that were thought to derive from this
tradition are in fact, dated as being much older.[45] The concept of
Eve having a predecessor is not exclusive to the Alphabet, and is not
a new concept, as it can be found in Genesis Rabbah. However, the idea
that Lilith was the predecessor is exclusive to the Alphabet.
According to Gershom Scholem, the author of the Zohar, R. Moses de
Leon, was aware of the folk tradition of Lilith. He was also aware of
another story, possibly older, that may be conflicting.[46]
The idea that Adam had a wife prior to Eve may have developed from an
interpretation of the Book of Genesis and its dual creation accounts;
while Genesis 2:22 describes God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib, an
earlier passage, 1:27, already indicates that a woman had been made:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them." The Alphabet text places
Lilith's creation after God's words in Genesis 2:18 that "it is not
good for man to be alone"; in this text God forms Lilith out of the
clay from which he made Adam but she and Adam bicker. Lilith claims
that since she and Adam were created in the same way they were equal
and she refuses to submit to him:
After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for
man to be alone.' He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as
He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith
immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he
said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit
only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.'
Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both
created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another.
When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away
into the air.
Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!'
he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One,
blessed be He, sent these three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and
Semangelof, to bring her back.
Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, what is made
is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die
every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook
in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians
were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish
to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.’
'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to
infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight
days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.’
When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But
she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever
I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no
power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her
children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons
perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels' names on the
amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers
her oath, and the child recovers.
The background and purpose of The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is unclear. It
is a collection of stories about heroes of the Bible and Talmud, it
may have been a collection of folk-tales, a refutation of Christian,
Karaite, or other separatist movements; its content seems so offensive
to contemporary Jews that it was even suggested that it could be an
anti-Jewish satire,[47] although, in any case, the text was accepted
by the Jewish mystics of medieval Germany.
The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is the earliest surviving source of the
story, and the conception that Lilith was Adam's first wife became
only widely known with the 17th century ‘‘Lexicon Talmudicum of
Johannes Buxtorf.
In the folk tradition that arose in the early Middle Ages Lilith, a
dominant female demon, became identified with Asmodeus, King of
Demons, as his queen.[48] Asmodeus was already well known by this time
because of the legends about him in the Talmud. Thus, the merging of
Lilith and Asmodeus was inevitable.[49] The second myth of Lilith grew
to include legends about another world and by some accounts this other
world existed side by side with this one, Yenne Velt is Yiddish for
this described "Other World". In this case Asmodeus and Lilith were
believed to procreate demonic offspring endlessly and spread chaos at
every turn.[50] Many disasters were blamed on both of them, causing
wine to turn into vinegar, men to be impotent, women unable to give
birth, and it was Lilith who was blamed for the loss of infant life.
The presence of Lilith and her cohorts were considered very real at
this time.[citation needed]
Two primary characteristics are seen in these legends about Lilith:
Lilith as the incarnation of lust, causing men to be led astray, and
Lilith as a child-killing witch, who strangles helpless neonates.
Although these two aspects of the Lilith legend seemed to have evolved
separately, there is hardly a tale where she encompasses both roles.
[50] But the aspect of the witch-like role that Lilith plays broadens
her archetype of the destructive side of witchcraft. Such stories are
commonly found among Jewish folklore.[50]
[edit]Kabbalah
Kabbalistic mysticism attempted to establish a more exact relationship
between Lilith and the Deity. With her major characteristics having
been well-developed by the end of the Talmudic period, after six
centuries had elapsed between the Aramaic incantation texts that
mention Lilith and the early Spanish Kabbalistic writings in the 13th
century, she reappears, and her life history becomes known in greater
mythological detail.[51]
Her creation is described in many alternative versions. One mentions
her creation as being before Adam's, on the fifth day, because the
"living creatures" with whose swarms God filled the waters included
none other than Lilith. A similar version, related to the earlier
Talmudic passages, recounts how Lilith was fashioned with the same
substance as Adam was, shortly before. A third alternative version
states that God originally created Adam and Lilith in a manner that
the female creature was contained in the male. Lilith's soul was
lodged in the depths of the Great Abyss. When God called her, she
joined Adam. After Adam's body was created a thousand souls from the
Left (evil) side attempted to attach themselves to him. However, God
drove them off. Adam was left lying as a body without a soul. Then a
cloud descended and God commanded the earth to produce a living soul.
This God breathed into Adam, who began to spring to life and his
female was attached to his side. God separated the female from Adam's
side. The female side was Lilith, whereupon she flew to the Cities of
the Sea and attacks humankind. Yet another version claims that Lilith
was not created by God, but emerged as a divine entity that was born
spontaneously, either out of the Great Supernal Abyss or out of the
power of an aspect of God (the Gevurah of Din). This aspect of God,
one of his ten attributes (Sefirot), at its lowest manifestation has
an affinity with the realm of evil and it is out of this that Lilith
merged with Samael.[52] According to The Alphabet of Ben-Sira Lilith
was Adam's first wife.
An alternative story links Lilith with the creation of luminaries. The
"first light," which is the light of Mercy (one of the Sefirot),
appeared on the first day of creation when God said "Let there be
light." This light became hidden and the Holiness became surrounded by
a husk of evil. ”A husk (klippa) was created around the brain" and
this husk spread and brought out another husk, which was Lilith.[53]
[edit]Adam and Lilith
Adam holding on to a child while Lilith appears on a tree.
The first medieval source to depict Adam and Lilith in full was the
Midrash Abkir (ca. 10th century), which was followed by the Zohar and
Kabbalistic writings. Adam is said to be perfect until he recognizes
either his sin or Cain's fratricide that is the cause of bringing
death into the world. He then separates from holy Eve, sleeps alone,
and fasts for 130 years. During this time Lilith, also known as Pizna
or Naamah, desired his beauty and came to him against his will. She
bore him many demons and spirits called "the plagues of humankind".
[54] The added explanation was that it was through Adam's own sin that
Lilith overcame him against his will.
"Lilith" from Michelangelo's "The Temptation of Adam and Eve". A
common iconographic depiction of the serpent of Eden in late Medieval
and Renaissance art.
Older sources state clearly that after Lilith's Red Sea sojourn, she
returned to Adam and begat children from him. In the Zohar, however,
Lilith is said to have succeeded in begetting offspring from Adam
during their short-lived sexual experience. Lilith leaves Adam in
Eden, as she is not a suitable helpmate for him. She returns, later,
to force herself upon him. However, before doing so she attaches
herself to Cain and bears him numerous spirits and demons.[54]
[edit]Samael and Lilith
The mystical writing of two brothers Jacob and Isaac Hacohen, which
predates the Zohar by a few decades, states that Samael and Lilith are
in the shape of an androgynous being, double-faced, born out of the
emanation of the Throne of Glory and corresponding in the spiritual
realm to Adam and Eve, who were likewise born as a hermaphrodite. The
two twin androgynous couples resembled each other and both "were like
the image of Above"; that is, that they are reproduced in a visible
form of an androgynous deity.[55]
Another version that was also current among Kabbalistic circles in the
Middle Ages establishes Lilith as the first of Samael's four wives:
Lilith, Naamah, Igrath, and Mahalath. Each of them are mothers of
demons and have their own hosts and unclean spirits in no number.[56]
The marriage of archangel Samael and Lilith was arranged by "Blind
Dragon", who is the counterpart of "the dragon that is in the sea".
Blind Dragon acts as an intermediary between Lilith and Samael:
Blind Dragon rides Lilith the Sinful -- may she be extirpated quickly
in our days, Amen! -- And this Blind Dragon brings about the union
between Samael and Lilith. And just as the Dragon that is in the sea
(Isa. 27:1) has no eyes, likewise Blind Dragon that is above, in the
likeness of a spiritual form, is without eyes, that is to say, without
colors.... (Patai81:458) Samael is called the Slant Serpent, and
Lilith is called the Tortuous Serpent.[57]
The marriage of Samael and Lilith is known as the "Angel Satan" or the
"Other God," but it was not allowed to last. To prevent Lilith and
Samael's demonic children Lilin from filling the world, God castrated
Samael. In many 17th century Kabbalistic books, this mythologem is
based on the identification of "Leviathan the Slant Serpent and
Leviathan the Torturous Serpent" and a reinterpretation of an old
Talmudic myth where God castrated the male Leviathan and slew the
female Leviathan in order to prevent them from mating and thereby
destroying the earth.[58] After Samael became castrated and Lilith was
unable to fornicate with him, she left him to couple with men who
experience nocturnal emissions. A 15th or 16th century Kabbalah text
states that God has "cooled" the female Leviathan, meaning that he has
made Lilith infertile and she is a mere fornication.
[edit]The Two Liliths
A passage in the 13th century document called the Treatise on the Left
Emanation says that there are two Liliths, the lesser being married to
the great demon Asmodeus.
In answer to your question concerning Lilith, I shall explain to you
the essence of the matter. Concerning this point there is a received
tradition from the ancient Sages who made use of the Secret Knowledge
of the Lesser Palaces, which is the manipulation of demons and a
ladder by which one ascends to the prophetic levels. In this
tradition, it is made clear that Samael and Lilith were born as one,
similar to the form of Adam and Eve who were also born as one,
reflecting what is above. This is the account of Lilith which was
received by the Sages in the Secret Knowledge of the Palaces. The
Matron Lilith is the mate of Samael. Both of them were born at the
same hour in the image of Adam and Eve, intertwined in each other.
Asmodeus the great king of the demons has as a mate the Lesser
(younger) Lilith, daughter of the king whose name is Qafsefoni. The
name of his mate is Mehetabel daughter of Matred, and their daughter
is Lilith.[59]
Lilith tempting Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. 15th Century.
Another passage charges Lilith as being a tempting serpent of Eve's:
And the Serpent, the Woman of Harlotry, incited and seduced Eve
through the husks of Light which in itself is holiness. And the
Serpent seduced Holy Eve, and enough said for him who understands. And
all this ruination came about because Adam the first man coupled with
Eve while she was in her menstrual impurity – this is the filth and
the impure seed of the Serpent who mounted Eve before Adam mounted
her. Behold, here it is before you: because of the sins of Adam the
first man all the things mentioned came into being. For Evil Lilith,
when she saw the greatness of his corruption, became strong in her
husks, and came to Adam against his will, and became hot from him and
bore him many demons and spirits and Lilin. (Patai81:455f)
This may relate to various late medieval iconography of a female
serpent figure, believed to be Lilith, tempting Adam and Eve.[60]
The prophet Elijah is said to have confronted Lilith in one text. In
this encounter, she had come to feast on the flesh of the mother, with
a host of demons, and take the newborn from her. She eventually
reveals her secret names to Elijah in the conclusion. These names are
said to cause Lilith to lose her power: lilith, abitu, abizu, hakash,
avers hikpodu, ayalu, matrota…[61] In others, probably informed by The
Alphabet of Ben-Sira, she is Adam's first wife. (Yalqut Reubeni, Zohar
1:34b, 3:19[62])
[edit]Lilith as Qliphah
Adam, Lilith, and Eve, c. AD 1210, base of trumeau, left portal, West
Façade, Notre Dame, Paris.
Lilith is listed as one of the Qliphoth, corresponding to the Sephirah
Malkuth in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The demon Lilith, the evil
woman, is described as a beautiful woman, who transforms into a blue,
butterfly-like demon, and it is associated with the power of seduction.
[citation needed]
The Qliphah is the unbalanced power of a Sephirah. Malkuth is the
lowest Sephirah, the realm of the earth, into which all the divine
energy flows, and in which the divine plan is worked out. However, its
unbalanced form is as Lilith, the seductress. The material world, and
all of its pleasures, is the ultimate seductress, and can lead to
materialism unbalanced by the spirituality of the higher spheres. This
ultimately leads to a descent into animal consciousness. The balance
must therefore be found between Malkuth and Kether, to find order and
harmony.[citation needed]
[edit]Greco-Roman mythology
Another similar monster was the Greek Lamia, who likewise governed a
class of child stealing lamia-demons. Lamia bore the title "child
killer" and was feared for her malevolence, like Lilith.[63] She has
different conflicting origins and is described as having a human upper
body from the waist up and a serpentine body from the waist down.[64]
(Some depictions of Lamia picture her as having wings and feet of a
bird, rather than being half serpent, similar to the earlier reliefs
of Greek Sirens and the Lilitu.) One source states simply that she is
a daughter of the goddess Hecate. Another, that Lamia was subsequently
cursed by the goddess Hera to have stillborn children because of her
association with Zeus; alternately, Hera slew all of Lamia's children
(except Scylla) in anger that Lamia slept with her husband, Zeus. The
grief caused Lamia to turn into a monster that took revenge on mothers
by stealing their children and devouring them.[65]
Lamia had a vicious sexual appetite that matched her cannibalistic
appetite for children. She was notorious for being a vampiric spirit
and loved sucking men’s blood.[66] Her gift was the "mark of a Sibyl,"
a gift of second sight. Zeus was said to have given her the gift of
sight. However, she was "cursed" to never be able to shut her eyes so
that she would forever obsess over her dead children. Taking pity on
Lamia, Zeus gave her the ability to remove and replace her eyes from
their sockets.[65]
The Empusae were a class of supernatural demons that Lamia was said to
have birthed. Hecate would often send them against travelers. They
consumed or scared to death any of the people where they inhabited.
They bear many similarities to lilim. It has been suggested that later
medieval lore, succubi, or lilim is derived from this myth.[citation
needed]
[edit]Arabic mythology
Karina of Arabic lore is considered Lilith’s equivalent.[67] She is
mentioned as a child-stealing and child-killing witch. In this
context, Karina plays the role of a "shadow" of a woman and a
corresponding male demon, Karin, is the "shadow" of a man. Should a
woman marry, her Karina marries the man’s Karin. When the woman
becomes pregnant is when Karina will cause her chaos.[68] She will try
to drive the woman out and take her place, cause a miscarriage by
striking the woman and if the woman succeeds in having children then
her Karina will have the same number of children she does. The Karina
will continuously try to create discord between the woman and her
husband. Here, Karina plays the role of disrupter of marital
relations, akin to one of Lilith's roles in Jewish tradition.[69]
[edit]Lilith in the Classical German period
Lilith's earliest appearance in the literature of the Romantic period
(1789–1832) was in Goethe's 1808 work Faust Part I, nearly 600 years
after appearing in the Kabbalistic Zohar:
Faust:
Who's that there?
Mephistopheles:
Take a good look.
Lilith.
Faust:
Lilith? Who is that?
Mephistopheles:
Adam's wife, his first. Beware of her.
Her beauty's one boast is her dangerous hair.
When Lilith winds it tight around young men
She doesn't soon let go of them again.
(1992 Greenberg translation, lines 4206–4211)
After Mephistopheles offers this warning to Faust, he then, quite
ironically, encourages Faust to dance with "the Pretty Witch". Lilith
and Faust engage in a short dialogue, where Lilith recounts the days
spent in Eden.
Faust: [dancing with the young witch]
A lovely dream I dreamt one day
I saw a green-leaved apple tree,
Two apples swayed upon a stem,
So tempting! I climbed up for them.
The Pretty Witch:
Ever since the days of Eden
Apples have been man's desire.
How overjoyed I am to think, sir,
Apples grow, too, in my garden.
(1992 Greenberg translation, lines 4216 – 4223)
[edit]Lilith in the Victorian period
Lady Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which developed around 1848,[70] were
greatly influenced by Goethe's work on the theme of Lilith. In 1863,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti of the Brotherhood began painting what would be
his first rendition of "Lady Lilith", a painting he expected to be his
"best picture hitherto"[70] Symbols appearing in the painting allude
to the "femme fatale" reputation of the Romantic Lilith: poppies
(death and cold) and white roses (sterile passion). Accompanying his
Lady Lilith painting from 1863, Rossetti wrote a sonnet entitled
Lilith, which was first published in Swinburne's pamphlet-review
(1868), Notes on the Royal Academy Exhibition:
Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
The rose and poppy are her flower; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! As that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
(Collected Works, 216)
The poem and the picture appeared together alongside Rossetti's
painting Sibylla Palmifera and the sonnet Soul's Beauty. In 1881, the
Lilith sonnet was renamed "Body's Beauty" in order to contrast it and
Soul's Beauty. The two were placed sequentially in The House of Life
collection (sonnets number 77 and 78).[70]
Rossetti wrote in 1870:
Lady [Lilith]...represents a Modern Lilith combing out her abundant
golden hair and gazing on herself in the glass with that self-
absorption by whose strange fascination such natures draw others
within their own circle."
—Rossetti, W. M. ii.850, D.G. Rossetti's emphasis[70]
This is in accordance with Jewish folk tradition, which associates
Lilith both with long hair (a symbol of dangerous feminine seductive
power in both Jewish and Islamic cultures), and with possessing women
by entering them through mirrors.[71]
The Victorian poet Robert Browning re-envisioned Lilith in his poem
"Adam, Lilith, and Eve". First published in 1883, the poem uses the
traditional myths surrounding the triad of Adam, Eve, and Lilith.
Browning depicts Lilith and Eve as being friendly and complicitous
with each other, as they sit together on either side of Adam. Under
the threat of death, Eve admits that she never loved Adam, while
Lilith confesses that she always loved him:
As the worst of the venom left my lips,
I thought, 'If, despite this lie, he strips
The mask from my soul with a kiss — I crawl
His slave, — soul, body, and all!
—Browning 1098
Browning focused on Lilith's emotional attributes, rather than that of
her ancient demon predecessors.[72]
Scottish author George MacDonald also wrote a fantasy novel entitled
Lilith, first published in 1895. MacDonald employed the character of
Lilith in service to a spiritual allegory about sin and
redemption[citation needed]. Many of the traditional characteristics
of Lilith mythology are present in the author's depiction: Long dark
hair, pale skin, a hatred and fear of children and babies, and an
obsession with gazing at herself in a mirror. MacDonald's Lilith also
has vampiric qualities: She bites people and sucks their blood for
sustenance.
[edit]In modern occultism
The depiction of Lilith in Romanticism continues to be popular among
Wiccans, feminists and in other modern occultism.[70]
[edit]Ceremonial magic
Few magical orders dedicated to the undercurrent of Lilith, featuring
initiations specifically related to the arcana of the "first mother"
exist. Two organizations that use initiations and magic associated
with Lilith are the Ordo Antichristianus Illuminati and the Order of
Phosphorus. Lilith appears as a succuba in Aleister Crowley's De Arte
Magica. Lilith was also one of the middle names of Crowley’s first
child, Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith Crowley (b. 1904, d.
1906), and Lilith is sometimes identified with Babalon in Thelemic
writings. A Chaos Magical rite, based on an earlier German rite,[73]
offers a ceremonial Invocation of Lilith:[74]
Dark is she, but brilliant! Black are her wings, black on black! Her
lips are red as rose, kissing all of the Universe! She is Lilith, who
leadeth forth the hordes of the Abyss, and leadeth man to liberation!
She is the irresistible fulfiller of all lust, seer of desire. First
of all women was she - Lilith, not Eve was the first! Her hand brings
forth the revolution of the Will and true freedom of the mind! She is
KI-SI-KIL-LIL-LA-KE, Queen of the Magic! Look on her in lust and
despair!"
—Lilith Ritus, from the German by Joseph Max
A 2006 "creative occultist" work by ceremonial magickian Donald Tyson,
titled Liber Lilith, details the "secret" cosmology for the 'Mother of
Harlots' and spawn of all nightbreed monsters, Lilith.[75] The book
claims to have been saved from the ashes of Dr John Dee's library at
Mortlake in the 1580s, but no evidence that this book existed before
the 21st century can be found.[76] Tyson himself states that while the
grimoire itself is esoterically sound, the historical details
surrounding it are a "fictional wrapper"[75] created in order to make
the book more interesting.
[edit]Modern Luciferianism
In modern Luciferianism, Lilith is considered a consort of Lucifer and
is identified with the figure of Babalon. She is said to come from the
mud and dust, and is known as the Queen of the Succubi. When she and
Lucifer mate, they form an androgynous being called "Baphomet" or the
"Goat of Mendes," also known in Luciferianism as the "God of
Witches."[77][not in citation given]
Writings by Michael W. Ford, including The Foundations of the
Luciferian Path, contend that Lilith forms a part of the "Luciferian
Trinity" consisting of herself, Samael and Cain. Likewise, Lilith is
said to have been Cain's actual mother, as opposed to Eve. Lilith here
is seen as a goddess of witches, the dark feminine principle, and is
also known as the goddess Hecate.[78]
[edit]Wicca
Many early writers that contributed to modern day Wicca expressed
special reverence for Lilith. Charles Leland associated Aradia with
Lilith: Aradia, says Leland, is Herodias, who was regarded in
stregheria folklore as being associated with Diana as chief of the
witches. Leland further notes that Herodias is a name that comes from
West Asia, where it denoted an early form of Lilith.[79][80]
Gerald Gardner asserted that there was continuous historical worship
of Lilith to present day, and that her name is sometimes given to the
goddess being personified in the coven, by the priestess. This idea
was further attested by Doreen Valiente, who cited her as a presiding
goddess of the Craft: “the personification of erotic dreams, the
suppressed desire for delights”.[81]
In some contemporary concepts, Lilith is viewed as the embodiment of
the Goddess, a designation that is thought to be shared with what
these faiths believe to be her counterparts: Inanna, Ishtar, Asherah,
Anath and Isis.[82] According to one view, Lilith was originally a
Sumerian, Babylonian, or Hebrew mother goddess of childbirth,
children, women, and sexuality[83][84][85] who later became demonized
due to the rise of patriarchy.[86] Other modern views hold that Lilith
is a dark moon goddess on par with the Hindu Kali.[87]
[edit]Astrology
See also: Lilith (hypothetical moon)
In modern Western astrology, "Dark Moon" Lilith, is not an actual
phase of the moon, but is the empty focus of the ellipse described by
the moon's orbit (the other focus occupied by the Earth). Dark Moon
Lilith is often employed in astrological chart readings. "The Dark
Moon describes our relationship to the absolute, to sacrifice as such,
and shows how we let go.”[88]
The moon's hypothetical apogee point (the point at which it is
furthest in its orbit from the Earth), is known as "Black Moon"
Lilith. It is said to signify instinctive and emotional intelligence
in astrological charts.[89]
The asteroid 1181 Lilith is also sometimes used in astrology.[90]
[edit]Western mystery tradition
The western mystery tradition associates Lilith with the Klipoth of
kabbalah. Samael Aun Weor in The Pistis Sophia Unveiled writes that
homosexuals are the "henchmen of Lilith." Likewise, women who undergo
willful abortion, and those who support this practice are "seen in the
sphere of Lilith."[91] Dion Fortune writes, "The Virgin Mary is
reflected in Lilith," [92] and that Lilith is the source of "lustful
dreams."[92] Indeed, if one meditates on negative (or inverted) Binah,
one readily finds Lilith; to worship Lilith is to use the power of the
Holy Spirit for negative purposes.[93]
[edit]Feminist Theology
In a paper on the subject of feminist theology, Deborah J. Grenn, of
the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, has argued that Lilith was a
mother goddess whose demonization was designed to keep women alienated
from their own 'original sources' of power and spiritual authority.
The case is argued for "a reinterpretation of the divine as embodied
by the Semitic goddess Lilith, she who has been represented and
misrepresented in a variety of sacred texts".[94]
[edit]Popular culture
See also: Lilith (disambiguation)
Lilith is the second angel in the anime series Neon Genesis
Evangelion.
Lilith is referred to as "Lillywhite Lilith"; as a character from the
double concept album by Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
In the anime series, Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito, Lilith is one
of the main female leads and is called the third Yami and the creator
of all the worlds and Eve. While Lilith appears bisexual in this
incarnation she seems to have extreme love and regard for Adam, her
creator, whom she calls "Papa" in the anime.[95]
In another anime series, Trinity Blood, Lilith is a Crusnik, a vampire
that feeds off other vampires.
Lilith is the name of two fictional American comic book characters
owned by Marvel Comics. Both characters exist in the Marvel Universe.
The first is a superheroine, daughter of Dracula and, like him, a
vampire, although her powers and weaknesses differ from most other
vampires. The second is an evil demon sorceress.
In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Lilith is a demon whom players have
to defeat in order to gain access to Tristram. Known as the "Mother of
All Demons", she gives birth to demons called the Lilin which have
lives of their own, but always remain obedient to their mother. Also
she is the Mother of the Nephalim, which are the "Humans" of
Sanctuary.
Lilith Clay is a young superheroine who occasionally appears in DC
Comic's Teen Titans titles.
In the show Supernatural (TV Series) she is the first demon that
Lucifer created after his outcast from heaven to mock the humans. She
holds the deals of humans and then breaks seals through out the fourth
season. She is killed at the end of the fourth season to break the
final seal that sets Lucifer free.
In April 2010, British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth announced
their new concept album, All Hallows Eve, to be "based on Adam's first
wife, the lascivious Demoness Lilith".[96]
Lilith is the ranking demon of Satan in the Incarnations of
Immortality series by Piers Anthony, though she goes by many similar
names. She is used to help try to corrupt many of the Incarnations,
until she falls in love with the Incarnation of War and deserts Satan
for him.
Lilith Sternin, M.D., Ph.D., Ed.D., A.P.A. is a supporting character
played by Bebe Neuwirth on the American sitcom Cheers, and the spin-
off Frasier, as the wife then ex-wife of Frasier Crane.
In The Chronicles of Narnia, Jadis (the White Witch) is a descendant
of Lilith.
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series, Lilith de Tempescire (French
version of Lily Weatherwax) is the name of Granny (Esme) Weatherwax's
evil older sister, a practicioner of dangerously soul-draining mirror
magic, and a cold, vain, cruel, cynical, sterile character. She
appears as the main villain in the novel "Witches Abroad".
Lilith (Hebrew: לילית Līlīt; Arabic: ليليث Līlīṯ) is believed to
have originated as a female Mesopotamian storm demon associated with
wind and was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death.
The figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm
demons or spirits as Lilitu, in Sumer, circa 4000 BC. The phonetic
name Lilith is traditionally thought to have originated in Ancient
Israel, and to have pre-dated at least 700 BC. [1]
In Jewish folklore, Lilith is the name of Adam's first wife, who was
created at the same time and from the same earth as Adam. She left
Adam after she refused to become subservient to Adam and then would
not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael.
[2] Her story was greatly developed, during the Middle Ages, in the
tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism.[3] The
resulting Lilith legend is still commonly used as source material in
modern culture, literature, occultism, fantasy and horror.
Etymology
Hebrew: לילית; Arabic: ليليث; Akkadian: Līlītu are female or male
nisba adjectives from the proto-Semitic root L-Y-L meaning "night",
literally translating to "female night being/demon", although
cuneiform inscriptions where Līlīt and Līlītu refers to disease-
bearing wind spirits exist.[4][5]
Another possibility is association not with "night", but with "wind",
thus identifying the Akkadian Lil-itu as a loan from the Sumerian lil,
"air"[4]—specifically from NIN.LIL, "lady air", goddess of the south
wind (and wife of Enlil)—and itud, "moon".
[edit]Mesopotamian mythology
Sumerian Terracotta relief, Lilith, 1950 BCE.[6]
Akkad, who were the earliest known Semitic speakers, and Sumer, who
were the earliest civilizations inhabiting Mesopotamia, developed a
very intimate cultural symbiosis with widespread bilingualism.[7] The
bilateral influence of Sumerian and Akkadian is evident in all areas,
[7] including syncretism between their gods, where each adopted the
other's deities.[8] In Sumerarian, Lilith was referred to as Ki-sikil-
lil-la-ke, and, in Akkadian, it was Ardat-lili.[9] The Assyrian and
Babylonian cultures descended from these early cultures.
[edit]Gilgamesh Epic
The earliest mention of lilitû is associated with a serpent and an
Anzu bird,[10] in the 27th century BCE Epic of Gilgamesh. In the epic,
a huluppa tree grows in Inanna's garden in Uruk, whose wood she plans
to use to build a new throne. After ten years of growth, she comes to
harvest it and finds a serpent living at its base, a Zu bird raising
young in its crown, and that Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke made a house in its
trunk. Gilgamesh is said to have smitten the snake, and then the Anzu
flew away to the mountains with its young, while Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke
fearfully destroys her house and runs for the forest.[11][12][13]
[edit]Lilitû demons
Another early reference to a demon similar to Lilith and companion of
Lillake/Lilith is on the Sumerian king list, where Gilgamesh's father
is named as Lilû.[14][15] Little is known of Lilû, and he was said to
interfere with women in their sleep and had functions of an incubus,
while Lilitû appeared to men in their erotic dreams.[16][17][18] Such
qualities as lalu, or wandering about, and lulu, or lasciviousness,
from Akkadian (Semitic) language have been associated as sources for
the names Lila and Lilitû[19], but some Sumerologists say Lilû is
purely Sumerian.[14]
The Assyrian lilitû were said to prey upon children and women and were
described as associated with lions, storms, desert, and disease. Early
portrayals of such demons are known as having Zu bird talons for feet
and wings.[20] They were highly sexually predatory towards men but
were unable to copulate normally. They were thought to dwell in waste,
desolate, and desert places. Like the Sumerian Dimme, a male wind
demon named Pazuzu was thought to be effective against them.[21][22]
Lilith's epithet was "the beautiful maiden". She was described as
having no milk in her breasts and as unable to bear any children.[17]
[23]
Other storm and night demons from a similar class are recorded from
Akkadian texts around this period. The Ardat-lili is from Ardatû,
which is a young unmarried woman or maiden, also sometimes a title of
prostitutes, and lilitû.[24] These "maiden liltû" would come to men in
their sleep and beget children from them. Sick men would also be
described as being seized by Ardat-lili[16] Their male counterparts,
similar to an incubus, were the Irdû-lili[25] These demons were
originally storm and wind demons; however, later etymology made them
into night demons.[26]
Lamashtû (Sumer Dimme) was a very similar Mesopotamian demon to
Lilitû, and Lilith seems to have inherited many of Lamashtû's myths.
[27] She was considered a demi-goddess and daughter of Anu, the sky
god. [28] Many incantations against her mention her status as a
daughter of heaven and her exercising her free will over infants. This
makes her different from the rest of the demons in Mesopotamia. Unlike
her demonic peers, Lamashtû was not instructed by the gods to do her
malevolence; she did it on her own accord. She was said to seduce men,
harm pregnant women, mothers, and neonates, kill foliage, and drink
blood and was a cause of disease, sickness, and death. Some
incantations describe her as "seven witches".[29] The space between
her legs is as a scorpion, corresponding to the astrological sign of
Scorpio. (Scorpio rules the genitals and sex organs.) Her head is that
of a lion, she has Anzu bird feet like Lilitû, her breasts are suckled
by a pig and a dog, and she rides the back of a donkey.[30] Other
texts mention Lamashtû as the hand of Inanna/Ishtar in place of Lilitû
and Ardat-lili.
Two other Mesopotamian demons have a close relation to Lilitû: Gallû
and Alû.[31] Alû was originally an asexual demon, who took on female
attributes, but later became a male demon. Alû liked to roam the
streets like a stray dog at night and creep into people's bedrooms as
they slept to terrify them. He was described as being half-human and
half-devil. He appears in Jewish lore as Ailo; here, he is used as one
of Lilith's secret names. In other texts, Ailo is a daughter of Lilith
that has had intercourse with a man. The other demon, Gallû, is of the
Utukkû group. Gallû’s name, like Utukkû, was also used as a general
term for multiple demons.[32] Later, Gallû appears as Gello, Gylo, or
Gyllou in Greco-Byzantine mythology as a child-stealing and child-
killing demon. This figure was, likewise, adapted by the Jews as Gilû
and was also considered a secret name of Lilith's.[33]
[edit]Inanna's hand
Babylonian texts depict Lilith as the sacred prostitute of the goddess
Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian
Inanna. Similarly, older Sumerian accounts assert that Lilitû is
called the handmaiden of Inanna or "hand of Inanna". The Sumerian
texts state, "Inanna has sent the beautiful, unmarried, and seductive
prostitute Lilitû out into the fields and streets in order to lead men
astray." That is why Lilitû is called the "hand of Inanna".[34][35]
[edit]Lilith in the Bible
There is an ongoing scholarly debate as to whether the concept of
Lilith occurs in the Bible. The only possible occurrence is in the
Book of Isaiah 34:13-15, describing the desolation of Edom, where the
Hebrew word liyliyth appears in a list of eight unclean animals, some
of which may have demonic associations. Since the word liyliyth is a
hapax legomenon in the Hebrew Bible and the other seven terms in the
list are better documented, the reading of scholars and translators is
often guided by a decision about the complete list of eight creatures
as a whole:
Isaiah 34:13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and
thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode
for ostriches. 14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild
goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird (liylith)
settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15 There the owl nests
and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed,
there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. (ESV)
[edit]Hebrew text
Hebrew: וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא;
אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹח
Hebrew (ISO 259): pagšu ṣiyyim et-ʾiyyim w-saʿir ʿal-rēʿhu yiqra; ʾak-
šam hirgiʿah lilit u-maṣʾah lah manoḫ
morpho-syntactic analysis: "yelpers/desert-beasts meet-[perfect;
3pluralis] howlers/jackals; a he-goat/hairy-one/satyr calls out to/
cries to-[imperfect; 3sing.masc] his mate/fellow. liyliyth rests/
reposes-[perfect; 3sing.fem] and finds/acquires-[perfect; 3sing.fem] a
resting-place."
The word for "resting place" is מנוח manowach, used for birds (Noah's
dove) and also humans (Ruth).
Schrader (Jahrbuch für Protestantische Theologie, 1. 128) and Levy
(ZDMG 9. 470, 484) suggest that Lilith was a goddess of the night,
known also by the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Deutero-Isaiah dates to
the 6th century BC, and the presence of Jews in Babylon would coincide
with the attested references to the Līlītu in Babylonian demonology.
This view is challenged by Judit M. Blair.[36]
[edit]Greek version
The Septuagint translates the reference into Greek as onokentauros,
apparently for lack of a better word, since also the se'irim,
"satyrs", earlier in the verse are translated with daimon
onokentauros. The "wild beasts of the island and the desert" are
omitted altogether, and the "crying to his fellow" is also done by the
daimon onokentauros. It may be debated whether the verse is actually
referring to liylith or a literal screech owl.
In Horace (De Arte Poetica liber, 340), Hieronymus of Cardia
translated Lilith as Lamia, a witch who steals children, similar to
the Breton Korrigan, in Greek mythology described as a Libyan queen
who mated with Zeus. After Zeus abandoned Lamia, Hera stole Lamia's
children, and Lamia took revenge by stealing other women's children.
[edit]Latin Bible
The early 5th-century Vulgate translated the same word as Lamia.[37]
[38]
et occurrent daemonia onocentauris et pilosus clamabit alter ad
alterum ibi cubavit lamia et invenit sibi requiem
—Isaiah (Isaias Propheta) 34.14, Vulgate
According to vampirologist Montague Summers (1928), this particular
species of owl is associated with the vampiric Strix of Roman legend.
[39]
[edit]English versions
Wyclif's Bible (1395) preserves the Latin rendering Lamia:
Isa 34:15 Lamya schal ligge there, and foond rest there to hir silf.
The Bishops' Bible of Matthew Parker (1568) from the Latin:
Isa 34:14 there shall the Lamia lye and haue her lodgyng.
The Geneva Bible of William Whittington (1587) from the Hebrew:
Isa 34:14 and the shricheowle shall rest there, and shall finde for
her selfe a quiet dwelling.
Then the King James Version of the Bible (1611):
Isa 34:14 "The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild
beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the
screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of
rest."
The "screech owl" translation of the KJV is, together with the
"owl" (yanšup, probably a water bird) in 34:11 and the "great
owl" (qippoz, properly a snake) of 34:15, an attempt to render the
passage by choosing suitable animals for difficult-to-translate Hebrew
words.
Later translations include:
night-owl (Young, 1898)
night-spectre (Rotherham, Emphasized Bible, 1902)
night monster (ASV, 1901; JPS 1917, NASB, 1995)
vampires (Moffatt Translation, 1922)
night hag (RSV, 1947)
Lilith (Jerusalem Bible, 1966)
lilith (New American Bible, 1970)
Lilith (NRSV, 1989)
Lilith (The Message (Bible), Peterson, 1993)
night creature (NIV, 1978; NKJV, 1982; NLT, 1996, TNIV)
nightjar (New World Translation, 1984)
night bird (English Standard Version, 2001)
Scholars and translators also give consideration to the verbs used
with the eight animal names in the list, "hatches" etc., and to the
following verses:
Isa 34:16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these
shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the
Lord has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.
If this refers to all eight creatures listed, then each of the eight
is required to have a mate—possible for a bird, not so straightforward
for a she-demon.
[edit]Jewish tradition
A Hebrew tradition exists in which an amulet is inscribed with the
names of three angels (Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof) and placed
around the neck of newborn boys in order to protect them from the
lilin until their circumcision.[40]
[edit]Dead Sea Scrolls
The appearance of Lilith in the Dead Sea Scrolls is somewhat more
contentious, with one indisputable reference in the Song for a Sage
(4Q510-511) and a promising additional allusion found by A. Baumgarten
in The Seductress (4Q184). The first and irrefutable Lilith reference
in the Song occurs in 4Q510, fragment 1:
And I, the Instructor, proclaim His glorious splendour so as to
frighten and to te[rrify] all the spirits of the destroying angels,
spirits of the bastards, demons, Lilith, howlers, and [desert
dwellers…] and those which fall upon men without warning to lead them
astray from a spirit of understanding and to make their heart and
their […] desolate during the present dominion of wickedness and
predetermined time of humiliations for the sons of lig[ht], by the
guilt of the ages of [those] smitten by iniquity – not for eternal
destruction, [bu]t for an era of humiliation for transgression.
Akin to Isaiah 34:14, this liturgical text both cautions against the
presence of supernatural malevolence and assumes familiarity with
Lilith; distinct from the biblical text, however, this passage does
not function under any socio-political agenda, but instead serves in
the same capacity as An Exorcism (4Q560) and Songs to Disperse Demons
(11Q11) insomuch that it comprises incantations—comparable to the
Arslan Tash relief examined above—used to "help protect the faithful
against the power of these spirits." The text is thus, to a community
"deeply involved in the realm of demonology", an exorcism hymn.
[citation needed]
Another text discovered at Qumran, conventionally associated with the
Book of Proverbs, credibly also could appropriate the Lilith tradition
in its description of a precarious, winsome woman—The Seductress
(4Q184). The ancient poem—dated to the first century BC but plausibly
much older—describes a dangerous woman and consequently warns against
encounters with her. Customarily, the woman depicted in this text is
equated to the "strange woman" of Proverbs 2 and 5, and for good
reason; the parallels are instantly recognizable:
Her house sinks down to death,
And her course leads to the shades.
All who go to her cannot return
And find again the paths of life.
— Proverbs 2:18-19
Her gates are gates of death, and from the entrance of the house
She sets out towards Sheol.
None of those who enter there will ever return,
And all who possess her will descend to the Pit.
— 4Q184
However, what this association does not take into account are
additional descriptions of the "Seductress" from Qumran that cannot be
found attributed to the "strange woman" of Proverbs; namely, her horns
and her wings: "a multitude of sins is in her wings." The word
"seductress" here does not refer literally to "prostitute" or at the
very least, the representation of one, but one who tempts men into
sin. The sort of individual with whom that text's community would have
been familiar. The "Seductress" of the Qumran text, conversely, could
not possibly have represented an existent social threat given the
constraints of this particular ascetic community. Instead, the Qumran
text uses the imagery of Proverbs to explicate a much broader,
supernatural threat – the threat of the demoness Lilith.[citation
needed]
[edit]Talmud
Although references to Lilith in the Talmud are sparse, these passages
provide the most comprehensive insight into the demoness yet seen in
Judaic literature, which some speculate to echo Lilith's purported
Mesopotamian origins and prefigure her future as the perceived
exegetical enigma of the Genesis account. Recalling the Lilith we have
seen, Talmudic allusions to Lilith illustrate her essential wings and
long hair, dating back to her earliest extant mention in Gilgamesh:
"Rab Judah citing Samuel ruled: If an abortion had the likeness of
Lilith its mother is unclean by reason of the birth, for it is a child
but it has wings." (Niddah 24b)
"[Expounding upon the curses of womanhood] In a Baraitha it was
taught: She grows long hair like Lilith, sits when making water like a
beast, and serves as a bolster for her husband.” ('Erubin 100b)
Unique to the Talmud with regard to Lilith is her insalubrious
carnality, alluded to in The Seductress but expanded upon here sans
unspecific metaphors as the demoness assuming the form of a woman in
order to sexually take men by force while they sleep:
"R. Hanina said: One may not sleep in a house alone [in a lonely
house], and whoever sleeps in a house alone is seized by
Lilith.” (Shabbath 151b)
Yet the most innovative perception of Lilith offered by the Talmud
appears earlier in 'Erubin, and is more than likely inadvertently
responsible for the fate of the Lilith myth for centuries to come:
"R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar further stated: In all those years [130 years
after his expulsion from the Garden of Eden] during which Adam was
under the ban he begot ghosts and male demons and female demons [or
night demons], for it is said in Scripture: And Adam lived a hundred
and thirty years and begot a son in own likeness, after his own image,
from which it follows that until that time he did not beget after his
own image… When he saw that through him death was ordained as
punishment he spent a hundred and thirty years in fasting, severed
connection with his wife for a hundred and thirty years, and wore
clothes of fig on his body for a hundred and thirty years. – That
statement [of R. Jeremiah] was made in reference to the semen which he
emitted accidentally.” (‘Erubin 18b)
Comparing 'Erubin 18b and Shabbath 151b with the later passage from
the Zohar: “She wanders about at night, vexing the sons of men and
causing them to defile themselves (19b),” it appears clear that this
Talmudic passage indicates such an adverse union between Adam and
Lilith.
[edit]Shedim cults
A cult in Mesopotamia is said to be related to Lilith by early Jewish
leaders. According to the hypotheses proposed by William F. Albright,
Theodor H. Gaster, and others, the name Lilith already existed in 7th
century BC. and Lilith retained her Shedim characteristics throughout
the entire Jewish tradition.[41] Shedim is plural for "spirit" or
"demon". Figures that represent shedim are the shedu of Babylonian
mythology. These figures were depicted as anthropomorphic, winged
bulls, associated with wind. They were thought to guard palaces,
cities, houses, and temples. In magical texts of that era, they could
be either malevolent or benevolent.[42] The cult originated from
Babylon, then spread to Canaan and eventually to Israel.[43] Human
sacrifice was part of the practice and a sacrificial altar existed to
the Shedim next to the Yahweh cult, although this practice was widely
denounced by prophets who retained belief in Yahweh.[44]
Shedim in Jewish thought and literature were portrayed as quite
malevolent. Some writings contend that they are storm-demons. Their
creation is presented in three contradicting Jewish tales. The first
is that during Creation, God created the shedim, but did not create
their bodies and forgot them on the Shabbat when he rested. The second
is that they are descendants of demons in the form of serpents, and
the last states that they are simply descendants of Adam & Lilith.
Another story asserts that after the tower of Babel, some people were
scattered and became Shedim, Ruchin, and Lilin.[citation needed]
[edit]Folk tradition
The Alphabet of Ben Sira is considered to be the oldest form of the
story of Lilith as Adam's first wife. Whether this particular
tradition is older is not known. Scholars tend to date the Alphabet
between the 8th and 10th centuries AD. (The attribution to the sage
Ben Sira is considered false, with the true author unknown.) The
amulets used against Lilith that were thought to derive from this
tradition are in fact, dated as being much older.[45] The concept of
Eve having a predecessor is not exclusive to the Alphabet, and is not
a new concept, as it can be found in Genesis Rabbah. However, the idea
that Lilith was the predecessor is exclusive to the Alphabet.
According to Gershom Scholem, the author of the Zohar, R. Moses de
Leon, was aware of the folk tradition of Lilith. He was also aware of
another story, possibly older, that may be conflicting.[46]
The idea that Adam had a wife prior to Eve may have developed from an
interpretation of the Book of Genesis and its dual creation accounts;
while Genesis 2:22 describes God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib, an
earlier passage, 1:27, already indicates that a woman had been made:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them." The Alphabet text places
Lilith's creation after God's words in Genesis 2:18 that "it is not
good for man to be alone"; in this text God forms Lilith out of the
clay from which he made Adam but she and Adam bicker. Lilith claims
that since she and Adam were created in the same way they were equal
and she refuses to submit to him:
After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for
man to be alone.' He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as
He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith
immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he
said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit
only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.'
Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both
created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another.
When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away
into the air.
Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!'
he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One,
blessed be He, sent these three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and
Semangelof, to bring her back.
Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, what is made
is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die
every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook
in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians
were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish
to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.’
'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to
infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight
days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.’
When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But
she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever
I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no
power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her
children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons
perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels' names on the
amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers
her oath, and the child recovers.
The background and purpose of The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is unclear. It
is a collection of stories about heroes of the Bible and Talmud, it
may have been a collection of folk-tales, a refutation of Christian,
Karaite, or other separatist movements; its content seems so offensive
to contemporary Jews that it was even suggested that it could be an
anti-Jewish satire,[47] although, in any case, the text was accepted
by the Jewish mystics of medieval Germany.
The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is the earliest surviving source of the
story, and the conception that Lilith was Adam's first wife became
only widely known with the 17th century ‘‘Lexicon Talmudicum of
Johannes Buxtorf.
In the folk tradition that arose in the early Middle Ages Lilith, a
dominant female demon, became identified with Asmodeus, King of
Demons, as his queen.[48] Asmodeus was already well known by this time
because of the legends about him in the Talmud. Thus, the merging of
Lilith and Asmodeus was inevitable.[49] The second myth of Lilith grew
to include legends about another world and by some accounts this other
world existed side by side with this one, Yenne Velt is Yiddish for
this described "Other World". In this case Asmodeus and Lilith were
believed to procreate demonic offspring endlessly and spread chaos at
every turn.[50] Many disasters were blamed on both of them, causing
wine to turn into vinegar, men to be impotent, women unable to give
birth, and it was Lilith who was blamed for the loss of infant life.
The presence of Lilith and her cohorts were considered very real at
this time.[citation needed]
Two primary characteristics are seen in these legends about Lilith:
Lilith as the incarnation of lust, causing men to be led astray, and
Lilith as a child-killing witch, who strangles helpless neonates.
Although these two aspects of the Lilith legend seemed to have evolved
separately, there is hardly a tale where she encompasses both roles.
[50] But the aspect of the witch-like role that Lilith plays broadens
her archetype of the destructive side of witchcraft. Such stories are
commonly found among Jewish folklore.[50]
[edit]Kabbalah
Kabbalistic mysticism attempted to establish a more exact relationship
between Lilith and the Deity. With her major characteristics having
been well-developed by the end of the Talmudic period, after six
centuries had elapsed between the Aramaic incantation texts that
mention Lilith and the early Spanish Kabbalistic writings in the 13th
century, she reappears, and her life history becomes known in greater
mythological detail.[51]
Her creation is described in many alternative versions. One mentions
her creation as being before Adam's, on the fifth day, because the
"living creatures" with whose swarms God filled the waters included
none other than Lilith. A similar version, related to the earlier
Talmudic passages, recounts how Lilith was fashioned with the same
substance as Adam was, shortly before. A third alternative version
states that God originally created Adam and Lilith in a manner that
the female creature was contained in the male. Lilith's soul was
lodged in the depths of the Great Abyss. When God called her, she
joined Adam. After Adam's body was created a thousand souls from the
Left (evil) side attempted to attach themselves to him. However, God
drove them off. Adam was left lying as a body without a soul. Then a
cloud descended and God commanded the earth to produce a living soul.
This God breathed into Adam, who began to spring to life and his
female was attached to his side. God separated the female from Adam's
side. The female side was Lilith, whereupon she flew to the Cities of
the Sea and attacks humankind. Yet another version claims that Lilith
was not created by God, but emerged as a divine entity that was born
spontaneously, either out of the Great Supernal Abyss or out of the
power of an aspect of God (the Gevurah of Din). This aspect of God,
one of his ten attributes (Sefirot), at its lowest manifestation has
an affinity with the realm of evil and it is out of this that Lilith
merged with Samael.[52] According to The Alphabet of Ben-Sira Lilith
was Adam's first wife.
An alternative story links Lilith with the creation of luminaries. The
"first light," which is the light of Mercy (one of the Sefirot),
appeared on the first day of creation when God said "Let there be
light." This light became hidden and the Holiness became surrounded by
a husk of evil. ”A husk (klippa) was created around the brain" and
this husk spread and brought out another husk, which was Lilith.[53]
[edit]Adam and Lilith
Adam holding on to a child while Lilith appears on a tree.
The first medieval source to depict Adam and Lilith in full was the
Midrash Abkir (ca. 10th century), which was followed by the Zohar and
Kabbalistic writings. Adam is said to be perfect until he recognizes
either his sin or Cain's fratricide that is the cause of bringing
death into the world. He then separates from holy Eve, sleeps alone,
and fasts for 130 years. During this time Lilith, also known as Pizna
or Naamah, desired his beauty and came to him against his will. She
bore him many demons and spirits called "the plagues of humankind".
[54] The added explanation was that it was through Adam's own sin that
Lilith overcame him against his will.
"Lilith" from Michelangelo's "The Temptation of Adam and Eve". A
common iconographic depiction of the serpent of Eden in late Medieval
and Renaissance art.
Older sources state clearly that after Lilith's Red Sea sojourn, she
returned to Adam and begat children from him. In the Zohar, however,
Lilith is said to have succeeded in begetting offspring from Adam
during their short-lived sexual experience. Lilith leaves Adam in
Eden, as she is not a suitable helpmate for him. She returns, later,
to force herself upon him. However, before doing so she attaches
herself to Cain and bears him numerous spirits and demons.[54]
[edit]Samael and Lilith
The mystical writing of two brothers Jacob and Isaac Hacohen, which
predates the Zohar by a few decades, states that Samael and Lilith are
in the shape of an androgynous being, double-faced, born out of the
emanation of the Throne of Glory and corresponding in the spiritual
realm to Adam and Eve, who were likewise born as a hermaphrodite. The
two twin androgynous couples resembled each other and both "were like
the image of Above"; that is, that they are reproduced in a visible
form of an androgynous deity.[55]
Another version that was also current among Kabbalistic circles in the
Middle Ages establishes Lilith as the first of Samael's four wives:
Lilith, Naamah, Igrath, and Mahalath. Each of them are mothers of
demons and have their own hosts and unclean spirits in no number.[56]
The marriage of archangel Samael and Lilith was arranged by "Blind
Dragon", who is the counterpart of "the dragon that is in the sea".
Blind Dragon acts as an intermediary between Lilith and Samael:
Blind Dragon rides Lilith the Sinful -- may she be extirpated quickly
in our days, Amen! -- And this Blind Dragon brings about the union
between Samael and Lilith. And just as the Dragon that is in the sea
(Isa. 27:1) has no eyes, likewise Blind Dragon that is above, in the
likeness of a spiritual form, is without eyes, that is to say, without
colors.... (Patai81:458) Samael is called the Slant Serpent, and
Lilith is called the Tortuous Serpent.[57]
The marriage of Samael and Lilith is known as the "Angel Satan" or the
"Other God," but it was not allowed to last. To prevent Lilith and
Samael's demonic children Lilin from filling the world, God castrated
Samael. In many 17th century Kabbalistic books, this mythologem is
based on the identification of "Leviathan the Slant Serpent and
Leviathan the Torturous Serpent" and a reinterpretation of an old
Talmudic myth where God castrated the male Leviathan and slew the
female Leviathan in order to prevent them from mating and thereby
destroying the earth.[58] After Samael became castrated and Lilith was
unable to fornicate with him, she left him to couple with men who
experience nocturnal emissions. A 15th or 16th century Kabbalah text
states that God has "cooled" the female Leviathan, meaning that he has
made Lilith infertile and she is a mere fornication.
[edit]The Two Liliths
A passage in the 13th century document called the Treatise on the Left
Emanation says that there are two Liliths, the lesser being married to
the great demon Asmodeus.
In answer to your question concerning Lilith, I shall explain to you
the essence of the matter. Concerning this point there is a received
tradition from the ancient Sages who made use of the Secret Knowledge
of the Lesser Palaces, which is the manipulation of demons and a
ladder by which one ascends to the prophetic levels. In this
tradition, it is made clear that Samael and Lilith were born as one,
similar to the form of Adam and Eve who were also born as one,
reflecting what is above. This is the account of Lilith which was
received by the Sages in the Secret Knowledge of the Palaces. The
Matron Lilith is the mate of Samael. Both of them were born at the
same hour in the image of Adam and Eve, intertwined in each other.
Asmodeus the great king of the demons has as a mate the Lesser
(younger) Lilith, daughter of the king whose name is Qafsefoni. The
name of his mate is Mehetabel daughter of Matred, and their daughter
is Lilith.[59]
Lilith tempting Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. 15th Century.
Another passage charges Lilith as being a tempting serpent of Eve's:
And the Serpent, the Woman of Harlotry, incited and seduced Eve
through the husks of Light which in itself is holiness. And the
Serpent seduced Holy Eve, and enough said for him who understands. And
all this ruination came about because Adam the first man coupled with
Eve while she was in her menstrual impurity – this is the filth and
the impure seed of the Serpent who mounted Eve before Adam mounted
her. Behold, here it is before you: because of the sins of Adam the
first man all the things mentioned came into being. For Evil Lilith,
when she saw the greatness of his corruption, became strong in her
husks, and came to Adam against his will, and became hot from him and
bore him many demons and spirits and Lilin. (Patai81:455f)
This may relate to various late medieval iconography of a female
serpent figure, believed to be Lilith, tempting Adam and Eve.[60]
The prophet Elijah is said to have confronted Lilith in one text. In
this encounter, she had come to feast on the flesh of the mother, with
a host of demons, and take the newborn from her. She eventually
reveals her secret names to Elijah in the conclusion. These names are
said to cause Lilith to lose her power: lilith, abitu, abizu, hakash,
avers hikpodu, ayalu, matrota…[61] In others, probably informed by The
Alphabet of Ben-Sira, she is Adam's first wife. (Yalqut Reubeni, Zohar
1:34b, 3:19[62])
[edit]Lilith as Qliphah
Adam, Lilith, and Eve, c. AD 1210, base of trumeau, left portal, West
Façade, Notre Dame, Paris.
Lilith is listed as one of the Qliphoth, corresponding to the Sephirah
Malkuth in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The demon Lilith, the evil
woman, is described as a beautiful woman, who transforms into a blue,
butterfly-like demon, and it is associated with the power of seduction.
[citation needed]
The Qliphah is the unbalanced power of a Sephirah. Malkuth is the
lowest Sephirah, the realm of the earth, into which all the divine
energy flows, and in which the divine plan is worked out. However, its
unbalanced form is as Lilith, the seductress. The material world, and
all of its pleasures, is the ultimate seductress, and can lead to
materialism unbalanced by the spirituality of the higher spheres. This
ultimately leads to a descent into animal consciousness. The balance
must therefore be found between Malkuth and Kether, to find order and
harmony.[citation needed]
[edit]Greco-Roman mythology
Another similar monster was the Greek Lamia, who likewise governed a
class of child stealing lamia-demons. Lamia bore the title "child
killer" and was feared for her malevolence, like Lilith.[63] She has
different conflicting origins and is described as having a human upper
body from the waist up and a serpentine body from the waist down.[64]
(Some depictions of Lamia picture her as having wings and feet of a
bird, rather than being half serpent, similar to the earlier reliefs
of Greek Sirens and the Lilitu.) One source states simply that she is
a daughter of the goddess Hecate. Another, that Lamia was subsequently
cursed by the goddess Hera to have stillborn children because of her
association with Zeus; alternately, Hera slew all of Lamia's children
(except Scylla) in anger that Lamia slept with her husband, Zeus. The
grief caused Lamia to turn into a monster that took revenge on mothers
by stealing their children and devouring them.[65]
Lamia had a vicious sexual appetite that matched her cannibalistic
appetite for children. She was notorious for being a vampiric spirit
and loved sucking men’s blood.[66] Her gift was the "mark of a Sibyl,"
a gift of second sight. Zeus was said to have given her the gift of
sight. However, she was "cursed" to never be able to shut her eyes so
that she would forever obsess over her dead children. Taking pity on
Lamia, Zeus gave her the ability to remove and replace her eyes from
their sockets.[65]
The Empusae were a class of supernatural demons that Lamia was said to
have birthed. Hecate would often send them against travelers. They
consumed or scared to death any of the people where they inhabited.
They bear many similarities to lilim. It has been suggested that later
medieval lore, succubi, or lilim is derived from this myth.[citation
needed]
[edit]Arabic mythology
Karina of Arabic lore is considered Lilith’s equivalent.[67] She is
mentioned as a child-stealing and child-killing witch. In this
context, Karina plays the role of a "shadow" of a woman and a
corresponding male demon, Karin, is the "shadow" of a man. Should a
woman marry, her Karina marries the man’s Karin. When the woman
becomes pregnant is when Karina will cause her chaos.[68] She will try
to drive the woman out and take her place, cause a miscarriage by
striking the woman and if the woman succeeds in having children then
her Karina will have the same number of children she does. The Karina
will continuously try to create discord between the woman and her
husband. Here, Karina plays the role of disrupter of marital
relations, akin to one of Lilith's roles in Jewish tradition.[69]
[edit]Lilith in the Classical German period
Lilith's earliest appearance in the literature of the Romantic period
(1789–1832) was in Goethe's 1808 work Faust Part I, nearly 600 years
after appearing in the Kabbalistic Zohar:
Faust:
Who's that there?
Mephistopheles:
Take a good look.
Lilith.
Faust:
Lilith? Who is that?
Mephistopheles:
Adam's wife, his first. Beware of her.
Her beauty's one boast is her dangerous hair.
When Lilith winds it tight around young men
She doesn't soon let go of them again.
(1992 Greenberg translation, lines 4206–4211)
After Mephistopheles offers this warning to Faust, he then, quite
ironically, encourages Faust to dance with "the Pretty Witch". Lilith
and Faust engage in a short dialogue, where Lilith recounts the days
spent in Eden.
Faust: [dancing with the young witch]
A lovely dream I dreamt one day
I saw a green-leaved apple tree,
Two apples swayed upon a stem,
So tempting! I climbed up for them.
The Pretty Witch:
Ever since the days of Eden
Apples have been man's desire.
How overjoyed I am to think, sir,
Apples grow, too, in my garden.
(1992 Greenberg translation, lines 4216 – 4223)
[edit]Lilith in the Victorian period
Lady Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which developed around 1848,[70] were
greatly influenced by Goethe's work on the theme of Lilith. In 1863,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti of the Brotherhood began painting what would be
his first rendition of "Lady Lilith", a painting he expected to be his
"best picture hitherto"[70] Symbols appearing in the painting allude
to the "femme fatale" reputation of the Romantic Lilith: poppies
(death and cold) and white roses (sterile passion). Accompanying his
Lady Lilith painting from 1863, Rossetti wrote a sonnet entitled
Lilith, which was first published in Swinburne's pamphlet-review
(1868), Notes on the Royal Academy Exhibition:
Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
The rose and poppy are her flower; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! As that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
(Collected Works, 216)
The poem and the picture appeared together alongside Rossetti's
painting Sibylla Palmifera and the sonnet Soul's Beauty. In 1881, the
Lilith sonnet was renamed "Body's Beauty" in order to contrast it and
Soul's Beauty. The two were placed sequentially in The House of Life
collection (sonnets number 77 and 78).[70]
Rossetti wrote in 1870:
Lady [Lilith]...represents a Modern Lilith combing out her abundant
golden hair and gazing on herself in the glass with that self-
absorption by whose strange fascination such natures draw others
within their own circle."
—Rossetti, W. M. ii.850, D.G. Rossetti's emphasis[70]
This is in accordance with Jewish folk tradition, which associates
Lilith both with long hair (a symbol of dangerous feminine seductive
power in both Jewish and Islamic cultures), and with possessing women
by entering them through mirrors.[71]
The Victorian poet Robert Browning re-envisioned Lilith in his poem
"Adam, Lilith, and Eve". First published in 1883, the poem uses the
traditional myths surrounding the triad of Adam, Eve, and Lilith.
Browning depicts Lilith and Eve as being friendly and complicitous
with each other, as they sit together on either side of Adam. Under
the threat of death, Eve admits that she never loved Adam, while
Lilith confesses that she always loved him:
As the worst of the venom left my lips,
I thought, 'If, despite this lie, he strips
The mask from my soul with a kiss — I crawl
His slave, — soul, body, and all!
—Browning 1098
Browning focused on Lilith's emotional attributes, rather than that of
her ancient demon predecessors.[72]
Scottish author George MacDonald also wrote a fantasy novel entitled
Lilith, first published in 1895. MacDonald employed the character of
Lilith in service to a spiritual allegory about sin and
redemption[citation needed]. Many of the traditional characteristics
of Lilith mythology are present in the author's depiction: Long dark
hair, pale skin, a hatred and fear of children and babies, and an
obsession with gazing at herself in a mirror. MacDonald's Lilith also
has vampiric qualities: She bites people and sucks their blood for
sustenance.
[edit]In modern occultism
The depiction of Lilith in Romanticism continues to be popular among
Wiccans, feminists and in other modern occultism.[70]
[edit]Ceremonial magic
Few magical orders dedicated to the undercurrent of Lilith, featuring
initiations specifically related to the arcana of the "first mother"
exist. Two organizations that use initiations and magic associated
with Lilith are the Ordo Antichristianus Illuminati and the Order of
Phosphorus. Lilith appears as a succuba in Aleister Crowley's De Arte
Magica. Lilith was also one of the middle names of Crowley’s first
child, Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith Crowley (b. 1904, d.
1906), and Lilith is sometimes identified with Babalon in Thelemic
writings. A Chaos Magical rite, based on an earlier German rite,[73]
offers a ceremonial Invocation of Lilith:[74]
Dark is she, but brilliant! Black are her wings, black on black! Her
lips are red as rose, kissing all of the Universe! She is Lilith, who
leadeth forth the hordes of the Abyss, and leadeth man to liberation!
She is the irresistible fulfiller of all lust, seer of desire. First
of all women was she - Lilith, not Eve was the first! Her hand brings
forth the revolution of the Will and true freedom of the mind! She is
KI-SI-KIL-LIL-LA-KE, Queen of the Magic! Look on her in lust and
despair!"
—Lilith Ritus, from the German by Joseph Max
A 2006 "creative occultist" work by ceremonial magickian Donald Tyson,
titled Liber Lilith, details the "secret" cosmology for the 'Mother of
Harlots' and spawn of all nightbreed monsters, Lilith.[75] The book
claims to have been saved from the ashes of Dr John Dee's library at
Mortlake in the 1580s, but no evidence that this book existed before
the 21st century can be found.[76] Tyson himself states that while the
grimoire itself is esoterically sound, the historical details
surrounding it are a "fictional wrapper"[75] created in order to make
the book more interesting.
[edit]Modern Luciferianism
In modern Luciferianism, Lilith is considered a consort of Lucifer and
is identified with the figure of Babalon. She is said to come from the
mud and dust, and is known as the Queen of the Succubi. When she and
Lucifer mate, they form an androgynous being called "Baphomet" or the
"Goat of Mendes," also known in Luciferianism as the "God of
Witches."[77][not in citation given]
Writings by Michael W. Ford, including The Foundations of the
Luciferian Path, contend that Lilith forms a part of the "Luciferian
Trinity" consisting of herself, Samael and Cain. Likewise, Lilith is
said to have been Cain's actual mother, as opposed to Eve. Lilith here
is seen as a goddess of witches, the dark feminine principle, and is
also known as the goddess Hecate.[78]
[edit]Wicca
Many early writers that contributed to modern day Wicca expressed
special reverence for Lilith. Charles Leland associated Aradia with
Lilith: Aradia, says Leland, is Herodias, who was regarded in
stregheria folklore as being associated with Diana as chief of the
witches. Leland further notes that Herodias is a name that comes from
West Asia, where it denoted an early form of Lilith.[79][80]
Gerald Gardner asserted that there was continuous historical worship
of Lilith to present day, and that her name is sometimes given to the
goddess being personified in the coven, by the priestess. This idea
was further attested by Doreen Valiente, who cited her as a presiding
goddess of the Craft: “the personification of erotic dreams, the
suppressed desire for delights”.[81]
In some contemporary concepts, Lilith is viewed as the embodiment of
the Goddess, a designation that is thought to be shared with what
these faiths believe to be her counterparts: Inanna, Ishtar, Asherah,
Anath and Isis.[82] According to one view, Lilith was originally a
Sumerian, Babylonian, or Hebrew mother goddess of childbirth,
children, women, and sexuality[83][84][85] who later became demonized
due to the rise of patriarchy.[86] Other modern views hold that Lilith
is a dark moon goddess on par with the Hindu Kali.[87]
[edit]Astrology
See also: Lilith (hypothetical moon)
In modern Western astrology, "Dark Moon" Lilith, is not an actual
phase of the moon, but is the empty focus of the ellipse described by
the moon's orbit (the other focus occupied by the Earth). Dark Moon
Lilith is often employed in astrological chart readings. "The Dark
Moon describes our relationship to the absolute, to sacrifice as such,
and shows how we let go.”[88]
The moon's hypothetical apogee point (the point at which it is
furthest in its orbit from the Earth), is known as "Black Moon"
Lilith. It is said to signify instinctive and emotional intelligence
in astrological charts.[89]
The asteroid 1181 Lilith is also sometimes used in astrology.[90]
[edit]Western mystery tradition
The western mystery tradition associates Lilith with the Klipoth of
kabbalah. Samael Aun Weor in The Pistis Sophia Unveiled writes that
homosexuals are the "henchmen of Lilith." Likewise, women who undergo
willful abortion, and those who support this practice are "seen in the
sphere of Lilith."[91] Dion Fortune writes, "The Virgin Mary is
reflected in Lilith," [92] and that Lilith is the source of "lustful
dreams."[92] Indeed, if one meditates on negative (or inverted) Binah,
one readily finds Lilith; to worship Lilith is to use the power of the
Holy Spirit for negative purposes.[93]
[edit]Feminist Theology
In a paper on the subject of feminist theology, Deborah J. Grenn, of
the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, has argued that Lilith was a
mother goddess whose demonization was designed to keep women alienated
from their own 'original sources' of power and spiritual authority.
The case is argued for "a reinterpretation of the divine as embodied
by the Semitic goddess Lilith, she who has been represented and
misrepresented in a variety of sacred texts".[94]
[edit]Popular culture
See also: Lilith (disambiguation)
Lilith is the second angel in the anime series Neon Genesis
Evangelion.
Lilith is referred to as "Lillywhite Lilith"; as a character from the
double concept album by Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
In the anime series, Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito, Lilith is one
of the main female leads and is called the third Yami and the creator
of all the worlds and Eve. While Lilith appears bisexual in this
incarnation she seems to have extreme love and regard for Adam, her
creator, whom she calls "Papa" in the anime.[95]
In another anime series, Trinity Blood, Lilith is a Crusnik, a vampire
that feeds off other vampires.
Lilith is the name of two fictional American comic book characters
owned by Marvel Comics. Both characters exist in the Marvel Universe.
The first is a superheroine, daughter of Dracula and, like him, a
vampire, although her powers and weaknesses differ from most other
vampires. The second is an evil demon sorceress.
In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Lilith is a demon whom players have
to defeat in order to gain access to Tristram. Known as the "Mother of
All Demons", she gives birth to demons called the Lilin which have
lives of their own, but always remain obedient to their mother. Also
she is the Mother of the Nephalim, which are the "Humans" of
Sanctuary.
Lilith Clay is a young superheroine who occasionally appears in DC
Comic's Teen Titans titles.
In the show Supernatural (TV Series) she is the first demon that
Lucifer created after his outcast from heaven to mock the humans. She
holds the deals of humans and then breaks seals through out the fourth
season. She is killed at the end of the fourth season to break the
final seal that sets Lucifer free.
In April 2010, British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth announced
their new concept album, All Hallows Eve, to be "based on Adam's first
wife, the lascivious Demoness Lilith".[96]
Lilith is the ranking demon of Satan in the Incarnations of
Immortality series by Piers Anthony, though she goes by many similar
names. She is used to help try to corrupt many of the Incarnations,
until she falls in love with the Incarnation of War and deserts Satan
for him.
Lilith Sternin, M.D., Ph.D., Ed.D., A.P.A. is a supporting character
played by Bebe Neuwirth on the American sitcom Cheers, and the spin-
off Frasier, as the wife then ex-wife of Frasier Crane.
In The Chronicles of Narnia, Jadis (the White Witch) is a descendant
of Lilith.
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series, Lilith de Tempescire (French
version of Lily Weatherwax) is the name of Granny (Esme) Weatherwax's
evil older sister, a practicioner of dangerously soul-draining mirror
magic, and a cold, vain, cruel, cynical, sterile character. She
appears as the main villain in the novel "Witches Abroad".
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