Lilith - The Least Understood Woman, Ever.

I mentioned Lilith in my last blog post, and a dear friend of mine became very enthusiastic about my sharing a bit about the most misconstrued and demonized woman in human recollection.

The story goes that, Lilith was created in the Garden of Eden, of the same clay as Adam.  Created alongside him.

Independent of him, yet equal to him.  The same building blocks.

And yet, Adam thought that she was lesser.  Things fell apart for the couple when Adam tried to make her subvert to him, and she refused - I can't blame the woman; I hate missionary sex, too. 

Imagine that - the first butthurt male ego in creationism.  Very fragility.

From that point on, Lilith was transformed by men's words into a demon.  A night hag.  A monster who steals babies and seduces men's souls in their sleep.  A serpent.

Geez, patriarchy.  That's quite the punitive action taken for a woman who set a boundary and said, "no".

Geez, patriarchy.  It sickens me to see nothing has changed in 6000 years.

But back to the story of our beloved mother.

I'm not going to regurgitate the story that is told through Rabbinical texts and teachings.  These are comprehensive tellings of who Lilith was, but they are also told through a very narrow and specific scope.  The long and short of it being that, after Lilith refused to return to Eden, she became a demon who endangered babies' first days (8 for a boy, 12 for a girl), unless the infant bore an amulet with names of angels on it.  

Uh, okay.

Lilith is first mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh - an epic poem from Mesopotamia.  Within that context, Lilith presents in a magical story; as the branches of a tree.  It is not clear if she is considered a dark goddess or a demon, but she is associated with witchcraft.

The Talmudic texts suggest that Lilith is a dangerously sexual dark spirit, who procreates with men in their sleep to conceive demons.  In this way, Lilith has mothered hundreds of demons.

She has been demonstrated in various traditions and portrayals - always a menacing, dark entity; vengeful, chaotic, vampiric.  The primordial succubus.

Damn.  That's one helluva reputation.  One can hardly blame her for being pissed off, even if none of these descriptions are accurate.

So, if the patriarchy has turned Lilith into a man destroying, baby eating demon; what does the feminine have to say about her?

Oh, and her animal is the wise, protective Owl.

Lilith should be considered a strong embodiment of the divine feminine.  She is definitauely a forced to be reckoned with.  Strong, independent, determined.  Take no shit.

What if I posit here, that Lilith is, in fact, a powerful maternal spirit?  A protector of children, a figurehead for women, a source of wisdom for mothers?  

That demonizing Lilith is just another way to take power from women...to place men in a position of power in order to hold the magic of the dark succubus at bay?

Lilith is a part of every single female-identified individual.  For all of us who have been abused, misused, mistreated, misunderstood, left aside, left behind, dismissed, regarded as "less than"...our inner Lilith comes to rise in the anger we feel.  She is a powerful opportunity and channel for strength; and it is up to us to use that anger in a way that benefits us...that works for us.  Lilith empowers us.  Imagine a world where all female-identifying folk rise up in the fire of Lilith - annihilating the patriarchal barriers put in place to hold us "under-thumb".  Imagine the forces of systemic change...

It's a beautiful thing, indeed.

I am mother to a 10 year old boy (identifies as such).  A boy who has been raised with and in the light of Lilith.  A boy who recognizes that all people have power, despite gender, sex, colour, culture, belief...

A boy who respects the feminine power and respects it.  He recognizes that he was born through a body, charged with Lilith.  He is confused by the patriarchy. 

Indeed, Lilith doesn't want to harm our babies; she wants to educate and empower them.

As for men...I sleep next to one every night; and the only succubus disturbing his dreams, is me.  Am I a life sucking demon?  Only when it comes to my press on nails.  Otherwise, I'm no more hazardous to his health and well being than the 1975 square body GMC he drives.

I also don't hear any complaints...in his sleep, or otherwise.  So how about we work towards wiring the patriarchy's mouth shut?

So, let's welcome Lilith into our spheres.  Allow her to offer her teachings and guidance.  Her graces and wisdom.  By all means, start with carrying her sigil with you:

After all, "I want to be strange and powerful".  

Doesn't it sound simply divine?

Hail yourselves, my darlings.

S