THE LEGEND OF LILITH

The story of Lilith has 3 origins :

1- In the babylonian, sumerian cosmology, as the name of a demon, Lilith, etymologically related to the Sumerian _lil_("wind"). The Encyclopaedia of Religion states :”Yet like the Sumerian wind demon and her later Babylonian counterpart, Lilitu, a succuba who seduces men in their sleep, Lilith is active at night, seizing men and forcing them to copulate with her. Lilith also bears greatest resemblance to the Babylonian demon Lamashtu”,

2 - originating in Talmudic speculation about the two creation stories at the beginning of Genesis. In the bible, she is referred to as a Babylonian NightDemon or Night Rider in Isaiah 37 (Yea, Lilith shall repose there" (Isa 34:14, describing the devastation of Edom, maintains that Lilith shall be at rest in the desert, among the wild animals, screech owls, and satyrs) The myth evolved, with God creating woman twice. (The unidentified one becoming Lilith - whereas we all know about Eve.) These two myths evolved then until...

3 -...during the Middle Ages where: 1) Lilith became queen of the underworld along with her husband Samael. – Or Asmodeus, depending on which source you read. 2) She became responsible for crib deaths and SIDS. & 3) She ruled the "Yenne Velt" or other side of the mirror in an early "parralel worlds".

The first apparition of Lilith dates from around 2000 before Jesus Christ, on clay tablets. In the Innana (sumerian goddess) story “The Hallapu Tree”. Lilith is presented here as “the dark maid” who "built her home in the trunk & of Inanna's Hallupu tree”. When Inanna's brother, Gilgamesh drove Lillith out of the tree she "fled to the wild, uninhabited places." The word "lillith" means demon-wind, which could either be a dust devil, or hurricane. She so was a sumerian storm demon, and then adapted to the Hebrew mythology as Adam’s first wife.

In the Bible, Lilith is the first woman, created at the same time as Adam; God created Lilith with air and fire (other legends indicate with sterile soil and night wind), and Adam with earth and divine breath. They together dwelt in the Garden of Paradise. Adam was king of Eden and Lillith wished to be co-ruler with him, but the Lord of Light permitted it not. Lillith was beautiful and wise. She wearied of her brother, Adam, who was less wise than she. Lillith refused to bear children from Adam. The Lord of Light was angered and sended Lillith out of Paradise. It is said that God sent Lilith out into the desert and created Eve, who was a bit more compliant. Samuel, an angel of the Lord of Light and a son of god, fell in love with Lillith. To Samuel, Lillith bore three half-god, half-human children, all called the nephilim. Their wisdom, power and beauty was so great that the children of Darkness were afraid of them and called them monstrous names to defile them. Lillith would not be defiled. From her beloved Samuel she learned the wisdom of the Lord of Light and became the first witch. She lived as a daughter of the night mother, calling the people to dance and be joyous by the light of the moon. Her symbol was the night owl, and those who followed her called her Arionrhod. The children of Darkness trembled and barred their doors at night seeking to protect themselves lest Lillith take them and teach them the ways of the wise ones, the witches of old.

The "first eve" story of lilith first appeared in medieval times, and portrays all of the essential aspects of Lilith is in the controversial work known as the alphabet of ben sirah, of Persian or Arabic origin, in the eleventh century. The legend tells how God created a companion for Adam and named her Lilith. But Lilith and Adam had discords about large and small matters, with Lilith refusing to let Adam dominate her in any way. Then she flew away from the Garden of Eden to the shore of the Red Sea (other say an island), then made her home in a cave, taking for lovers all the demons who lived there, and giving birth to a great multitude : 100 children a day. This explains the proliferation of demons in the world.

There are many versions of this story, also in the midrash’one, Adam insisted that Lilith always "lie below him" that is, always be on the bottom during sex. Lilith complained and got no sympathy from Adam who refused her equality and forced her to lie under him. She got no help from God, and called the forbidden "Holy Name of the Creator" and flew away. She was transformed into a demon of the air, who is responsible for killing infants in their cradles and for provoking erotic dreams and nocturnal emissions in men. When Lilith fled the Garden, God sent three angels to bring her back : Sanvi, Sansanvi, & Semangelaf. She did not want to go back, so the Angels killed 100 of her children per day. This accounts as an explanation for the cradles death : During the first weeks of their birth, children could be killed by Lilith. Only an amulet with the names of the three angels, adam, and eve, combined with a spell, could keep her away. Some museums still present those amulets protecting children and women from Lilith, even some to protect adult males; Depictions of Lilth are written on these amulets, and show an insect headed creature covered with hair or spines, a flipper for a tail, and a pair of tentacles for arms. Some of them were carved crudely onto cheap silver with a heated knife. Lilith also seduced men in their sleep, forcing them into sex. She needed the semen to give birth to more demons. This is how they explained the male wet dream. In later myths, she became the wife of Lucifer.

I really prefer this second version where Lilith who refused to submit to adam's will and left the Garden of Eden and was subsequently cursed by God. It also clarify why Lilith, originally a goddess was demonized for being an independant female, and got this negative aspect in the later Judeo-Christian writings. I prefer the evolution of her “character”, who explains that Lilith represents the part of a woman who would rather be alone than lose her dignity. To mention Schwartz' citations, who relates the tale of Lilith being threatened by angels and her growth into a negative female archetype who is "assertive, seductive, and ultimately destructive".

To precise another side of Lilith, which fit better with the pagan and satanic beliefs, even a reason of her actual worhip, both among some Wiccans, Neopagans, Satanists, Judeopagans, Goddess worshippers, etc. is about her earlier origins.

Although Lilith herself existed before the middle ages, all earlier descriptions of her were demonic. Lilith's true origins are obscure, but both her sumerian and babylonian predecessors were also all demonic. Lilith may be many things today, including but not limited to a goddess, a role model, and a demoness, but originally she was purely a demoness. I could add that she was rather identified as a demon and a very fertile mother of demons. About her physical appearance, Lilith is the Hebrew name for "Owl".

In a famous Sumerian plaque she is shown as winged, taloned and crowned. She stands on her lion throne, holding the staff and circle of power,flanked by two owls. She is an aspect of the original Great Goddess of the Semites. In mythology she represents the succubus, shown as a winged woman with taloned feet. Other few physical characteristic are in the Talmud (post-biblical texts), where she is described as a demoness with long black hair, and wings, like the cherubim. The most interesting fact is found in the Kabbalah, which notes that Lilith was not a woman, but a hermaphrodite.


Tribalchemy - Sept.00