Lilith is a modern invention

[MorganBlack]

Well said, Yazata

I get it sucks to be late to the party. But It dos not mean you have to 100% be beholden to history

Look. You have to find the cognate ideas ("archetypes") in your own culture.

And please do. Just don't try to destroy or erase the people whose stuff you are playing with .

This is how it works.

Take the Norse "magic" runestaves , which took Jewish Kabbalah, and other "Abrahamic" sources like Agrippa and then ret-conned them into the forms of "Norse" mythology , what were originally , way way back when, actually-ancient Afro-Semitic "archetypal" ideas

(Link removed)

It works. Not becasue the Odin, or Icelandic fairy tales are real - or at last not like a potato or a ham sandwich is really real. But because, in my UPG, we are all mini-gods, We can make anything work.

But you have to honor the people who came before you. Give credit to the people whose stuff you're claiming as you own, or it's just neo-Wiccan fakelore.


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Crap. I didn't even notice it has a webshop attached.
Apologies. I hate occult commercialism.

And alternate educational source to go with the above.

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[voidcat]

I'm going to answer this as someone who mixes multiple paths and has a draw towards Jewish mysticism despite not being Jewish...

My path isn't based on historical understanding. Its based on what works for me and what resonates with me. I try not to culturally approrate stuff. In terms of Lilith I don't think she belongs to just Judaism. I think her mythology has evolved into its own thing. Many religions take from each other. Heck I'm thinking of one modern path right now as i write this called Trinitarian Wicca(also called christian wicca). It's my opinion when you mix more then one religion together it's not two conflicting religions but it's own thing that mixes those religion. Trinitarian Wiccan as a result isn't Wicca or Christianity it's a mix of both paths and will have elements that don't line up with either path. It's a new thing it's own thing.

I think people who are concerned about dogma get too caught up on labels. They are guides not definers. A term that resonates and helps you explain things. One way to be all about dogma is to restrict things and say a Pagan can't take ideas or characters they like that work for them from an abrahamic path. That's creating a dogma a rule. Ironic.

 

[aviaf]

Yeah, Lilith, as she's commonly represented, is a relatively modern invention. But so what? Not one of my spirit court, but plenty of modern magicians call "her" and report in with good results (in my book) whatever "she" is.

The grimoires do magicians a disservice by presenting the daimons as D&D Monster Manual entries, as whole, distinct, and separate persons. The grims weave together four mythic threads and root cultures: the Jewish (with Babylonian in the background), Christian, Arabic, and "pagan" Greek.

What other stories do you prefer?

Usually, people railing against "the Jewish influence" in magic are a bunch of dumbfuck Odinists who try to shoehorn in some of the 20th-century Theosophical Neopagan horseshit masquerading as "Ye Ancient Northern Magic" - from the wise, sagely and mostly hallucinated "Ancient Frozen Paganistan" peoples, we have to presume.

I’ll agree with you up front on Lilith — she’s a modern synthesis, and calling her invention isn’t a problem. Plenty of currents, spirits, and archetypes we work with today are composites that have evolved over time. What matters is whether the current answers when engaged, not whether it has pristine antiquity.

That said, the thing that really gets me is the Abrahamic frameworks dominating so much of modern magical thought. Monotheistic religion isn’t spirituality — it’s ideology. It exists to control behavior, generate wealth for its priests, and enforce obedience through fear. Everything pre-existing — the Old Ones, ancestral currents, runes, folk traditions — gets flattened, moralized, and sanitized. Magic becomes rule-following; spirit becomes guilt and obedience instead of wonder and engagement.

The Norse current, by contrast, resonates because it’s real, alive, and relational. It’s grounded in land, ancestors, the seasons, and the cosmos. It doesn’t demand kneeling, confession, or tithes. It responds to courage, insight, and practice. That’s why I work with it — it’s potent, uncorrupted by ideology, and a living continuity with powers older than the dogma trying to erase them. As for the “dumbfuck Odinists” jab… wow. I laughed, I cringed, and I think the only thing flatter than that insult is the depth of thought behind it.

 

[Faria]

Monotheistic religion isn’t spirituality — it’s ideology. It exists to control behavior, generate wealth for its priests, and enforce obedience through fear.

Most of what people hate about "Abrahamic" religion was exactly the same for non-Abrahamic religion. Vikings had to pay tithes, too. Some of the Celtic societies imposed strict appearance standards and would tax people for being too fat. Socrates' big crime was refusal to believe in Zeus. If you think Jesus fans impose some crazy BS on people, look at what Babylonians, Mayans, Celts, and other societies imposed on their people. If you think the Buddhists are exempt, look at Japan before WWII. Priesthood corruption has been going on forever. Everywhere you have Big Religion, you will find people being forced to believe nonsense and forced conformity to arbitrary behavioral standards. It's a feature of organized religion across the board, with a few exceptions here and there. Even in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, you can easily find serious depth of thought and people who see those as fulfilling and liberating spiritual traditions.

 

[MorganBlack]

Monotheistic religion isn’t spirituality — it’s ideology.

Man, I do get where you're coming from Aviaf. I many not sound it, but I am sympathetic, but that's too broad a brush.

Here's hoping a little of this might be useful, for everyone's effort at mythic syncretism for practical sorcery, be it with Lilith or any mythic figure, especially any "dramatis personae" that becomes a spirit or full theophanic manifestation. Cherish those. Wherever they come from. In whatever mythic framework you prefer.

My ancestors, on my mom's side, the Nahua Native Americans, changed Catholicism much as Catholicism changed us. Western Magic is closer to the boots-on-the-ground practices of so-called "Folk" Catholicism than most suspect. We take those tools, stories, and spirits and apply them for our own purposes. None of it requires taking any of it literally. (Many do, but that is on them).

You have probably not spent much time around Mexican Catholicism, but while it's not all perfect, Catholicism - outside the tiny church hierarchy- is very diverse. On a practical level it works less as a dogma as much as a gigantic umbrella for many, many kinds of practices, from mystical theology to exorcism, and spirits. All the things you like: the spirits, the ancestors, connection to the land, the dead, brujeria and folk magic, angels are contained inside the Curch which functions as an distributed ancient time capsule of many culture's sorcerous practices.

(Not recruiting anyone here, btw)

Not that long ago, it included very "pagan" practices like burying your baby who has died in the attic, so its shade can protect you from hostile spirits. There is nothing more "pagan" today than that, even if presented in an "Abrahamic" mythic framework.

My point here is not to advocate for the Holy See, a bunch of pedophile bankers, but not to throw all the "Abrahamic" babies out when looking for the Pure Religion, and assume you can do better without learning why that magical and necromancy is preserved inside the "Abrahamic" carrier signals in the first place. After that, do whatever.

I love Lovecraft myself and the GV spirits decide to sometimes appear in those eldritch forms. It's a joke they play. It also does not mean they are literally Lovecraftian entities any more than they are Catholic ones. These are just useful languages for us to communicate with each other in the Mystery Play.

 

[SerpentBakery]

Occultists have always had some sort of arousal towards the exotic, because it allows them to feel as if they're tapping into a well of hidden knowledge without having to think about it too much. I refer mostly to actual historical elites and the like, not necessarily people on this forum - I have no idea what you nerds practice, and I say this as some type of nerd myself.

The Lilith thing is to be expected. Corrupt/ignorant people looking for power use an incomplete archetype as a straw doll to shove a bunch of perception into, so it gains power through means of being witnessed and addressed/named under a certain label by others, and then use it for their own purposes (which vary from dark magician to dark magician).

Half of it was intentional, the other half was a bunch of wizards tripping over their own robes, and now we have university students dedicating pot noodles to "Lilith". Names have power insofar as they are conduits for vitality/perception. The more attention a name is given, the more magical potential it holds in terms of ritual manipulation alone, generally and theoretically speaking. The practice of this theory has more factors going into it of course, but I'm not about to drop an entire grimoire on this website. The catch is that it holds no objective power under the world's structure and if you know anything about jack you can easily dissolve it and return to sender.

For what purpose? Easy, to corrupt the magical potential of people that have the ability for it with false archetypes (the whole "pulling wool over one's eyes" shebang). Mostly. A lot of the people that have done such things have essentially eaten their own delirium, also, and now suffer from the same sickness they have cast over others. Simply how causality works. If you act like a clown, God will allow you to be a clown by sending down your facepaint with a paint gun. Demonic bread is never worth eating, for this reason and more, y'see...

So, yes, OP, you see well and "Lilith" isn't the only one this has happened to. Some are actual archetypes twisted in meaning into something that is literally just not true (which also makes them incomplete in another sense), or they are simply minor spirits that are completely taken out of context and caste for.... God knows what reason.

More twisted than a pretzel. But this is simply how I see things, others likely disagree.

 

[Fr. Maximagus]

Lilith, more than most other feminine spirits/deities, has a special place of reverence in contemporary culture, especially along occultists. Almost any other deity, there is a mountain of evidence that such a thing existed as an object of devotion at some time, somewhere. The details are often sketchy, but nobody denies the existence of Hera-worship or Isis-worship, or hundreds of other types of spirits from all religions.

I contend that Lilith is not pagan at all, but (like Satan) is actually just a character within the Judeo-Christian religion, and that it is hypocritical to attempt to escape or reject Christianity while praying to one of its components. And I think that is a trap laid by design, marketed to women falling out of Judaism and Christianity. Lilith fan base allows people to think they've created distance from the cult when in fact they are going deeper into it, following an idea whose skeleton is entirely controlled by Bible doctrine no matter what they might point at in terms of archaeology.

So just to be clear, you are ganging on all satanists (&Lilith followers) calling them all hypocrites?
You very well might be, I’m only asking for clarification.
Cause that would be QUITE a statement! lol

 

[Faria]

So just to be clear, you are ganging on all satanists (&Lilith followers) calling them all hypocrites?

Not long ago, pagandom hitched onto the Margaret Murray bandwagon. Many of them thought of witchcraft as some kind of pre-christian paleo-cult, and more recently it has been soundly proven that a lot of those assumptions were wrong. Gardnerian Wicca in its early forms was a lot of flogging and nudity, a blend of the Malleus Maleficarum, the Key of Solomon, and the Book of the Law, all things that grew out of Christian mania and not from paleo-paganism. So the attempt to escape Christianity led them to something ultimately defined by Christianity.

You cannot have Satanism without Christianity. Satanism is a kind of Christianity. The church doesn't get to define what the Satanists reject, but the organized rejection of church cannot exist without church.

There are tons of superstitions about Lilith in Judaism. Believing in Lilith is not Babylonian or some other thing, it's Judaism. It was invented by rabbis and has propagated (until quite recently) exclusively among Jews and in Jewish lore. People who equate Lilith to figures of Babylonian religion are.. the Bible, and one 19th century book referencing one word and edited by two Jewish people. You can make of that what you want but to me it looks more like Lilith is part of Judaism.

If someone has been maltreated by a religion or think it sucks, they might do better by getting involved in something that isnt built by the same people running the evil cult they don't like.

 

[Fr. Maximagus]

Not long ago, pagandom hitched onto the Margaret Murray bandwagon. Many of them thought of witchcraft as some kind of pre-christian paleo-cult, and more recently it has been soundly proven that a lot of those assumptions were wrong. Gardnerian Wicca in its early forms was a lot of flogging and nudity, a blend of the Malleus Maleficarum, the Key of Solomon, and the Book of the Law, all things that grew out of Christian mania and not from paleo-paganism. So the attempt to escape Christianity led them to something ultimately defined by Christianity.

You cannot have Satanism without Christianity. Satanism is a kind of Christianity. The church doesn't get to define what the Satanists reject, but the organized rejection of church cannot exist without church.

There are tons of superstitions about Lilith in Judaism. Believing in Lilith is not Babylonian or some other thing, it's Judaism. It was invented by rabbis and has propagated (until quite recently) exclusively among Jews and in Jewish lore. People who equate Lilith to figures of Babylonian religion are.. the Bible, and one 19th century book referencing one word and edited by two Jewish people. You can make of that what you want but to me it looks more like Lilith is part of Judaism.

If someone has been maltreated by a religion or think it sucks, they might do better by getting involved in something that isnt built by the same people running the evil cult they don't like.

So if Christianity died tomorrow there would be no more satanists, according to you?

Thats clearly absurd. You honestly think the satanic current didn’t exist before Jesus allegedly walked the earth?

obviously it wasn’t called satanism, but I assure you, the current is more ancient than Christianity.

 

[Faria]

You honestly think the satanic current didn’t exist before Jesus allegedly walked the earth?

obviously it wasn’t called satanism, but I assure you, the current is more ancient than Christianity.

The term satanist was first applied to Martin Luther. Self-identifying Satanism, much later. I do not subscribe to the notion of "currents."

 

[MorganBlack]

Faria, yep yep. History, muh brothers.

19th and 20th century ""pagan" revivalism was the result of scads of academics looking at fairy tales. Neopagan "witchcraft" was never a thing... at least not how they thought of it, and is basically the result of mass academic confirmation bias in English speaking countries.

For newcomers , especially any non-native English speakers who have only recently encountered this very late Anglophone manifestation of "magic" on the internet:

Professor Ronald Hutton's book, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, published in 1998 originally if I recall, pretty much single handidly nuked pagan "magic" revivalism and from space. The various neo-pagan "Wiccan-isms" have spent the past 26 years wanderings in the desert after the book came out.

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Not recruiting, but Chaos Magic is a much better place for that cringe suburban "pagan" theater-kid LARP.

I hammer on this more than I really want to becasue they left their maypole, blot , coven, and have been invading trad sorcery and Goetic spaces over the past decade or so.

Bcak to the main topic. I love the Demonolators, btw. Just fam. Even if I am not one, nor use their modern magic techniques (which work, I hear)

 

[Evara]

Nobody is "accepting Jewish dogmas." That is a straw-man logical fallacy.

For those of us who work in the 'Western Magic tradition' which is a more of a hodge-podge than we prefer , we have all had to grapple with that fact that most of it is transmitted through "Abrahamic" source material. Chaos magic aside, your other option for more trad magic is "pagan" Greek, which is totally valid.

I mean... the pantheon that doesn't really have much to show in terms of godforms having a tradition that uses a lot of black magic shouldn't be a shocker... If anything, it makes perfect sense.

And it would be terrible if things weren't hodge-podge. I love the cultural chaos of black magic.

 

[Xuchilbara]

In the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian texts (around 4,000 years ago), we find references to female air spirits (lilu or lilītu) and male ones (ardat-lilî). These words derive from the term lil (“air”), as in Enlil, the lord of the air. They were not unique characters but rather a type of entity.

It is in the 10th century, in a Hebrew satirical text called The Alphabet of Ben Sira, that the myth of Lilith appears as Adam’s rebellious wife (let us remember the context that it was a satire). It is here that the figure of Lilith as we know her today first arises.

It is only by the end of the 19th and 20th centuries that Lilith becomes a rebellious symbol of feminine power and an archetypal deity.

Up to this point, that is the chronology of the facts. Now then, I would like to leave a small question open for debate:

Given that humanity already has such a rich pantheon of both female and male deities throughout the world, is it really necessary to artificially create new deities within the Jewish framework?

Opinion: It seems that some people are aroused or fascinated by the Hebrew tradition — with all its Kabbalah and Jewish symbolism — and everything must somehow revolve around it.

A couple of bases to cover here. Lilitu here seems to be a singular figure and a class of spirits. This pattern is actually no different from the Jewish retellings. One of the biggest theological issues is that Lilitu and adjacent figures probably served a god. Likely Enlil or Inanna. I go with Inanna as Lilitu is similar to her Kilili aspect (Nin-nanna in Sumerian.) or Lady Owl aspect, which is why the Burney relief was mistaken for her for so long until Jacobsen [Assyriologist] expounded on how it is probably Inanna. (The current theories are Ereshkigal or Inanna, which the latter is the most chosen one.)

Lil2 is connected to the night and wind. (Found in Lilitu's name.) They may have been storm demons who became sexualized over time. This would put them under Inanna's domain, who is a storm goddess and a sex goddess. The child killing aspect is probably something she absorbed later due to Lamashtu's influence. Hurwitz goes into detail in this in a book her wrote called "Lilith: The First Eve". He also cites a source from Langdon about a text mentioning the goddess Ishtar (Inanna) sending the prostitute Lilith out at night to "lead men astray". Furthering the idea that Ishtar/Inanna is her master.

There's good evidence of how she evolved in the middle east and Lilith still retains lore in Islamic and Yezidi cultures, without any Jewish influences really, to my knowledge. There is evidence she appears later as a singular figure in Phoenician amulet that has Baal and his 7 wives to drive her out as a sphinx character that is eating a child. It's likely the Israelites (Who were originally the Canaanites, the remaining of which became Phoenician.) inherited the myth during Babylonian captivity that is mentioned in Isaiah. This is also the book where she may appear in; Isaiah 34:14. Some academics think that the translation is botched, however the Vulgate [Latin] translations of the bible are earlier and use "Lamia" [a Greek monster that is compared to Lilith], which makes me think that it is legit. I am under the impression "Lilitu" can sometimes mean "owl" in older languages, but I am still researching that.

She appears in Jewish lore later on and far before Ben Sira. She is in the Babylonian Talmud, but mentioned sparsely, for example. Alphabet of Ben Sira is so much later than much of these sources and here we can see her character evolve. Almost all of her character is pretty much the same as Mesopotamia, but Ishtar is missing. She still is a succubus and child killing witch, though. Many academics think Ben Sira is actually a work of satire and that is why it's so weird in areas about biblical figures, and why Lilith rebels against Adam.

There's two Jewish versions of Lilith: Folkloric and Mystic [Kabbalah]. In the folklore, she has a personality and is a character out of a horror movie. (Pretty good read actually.) Most of this is oral, though there's a book published with some of them; Lilith's Cave: And other Jewish tales of the Supernatural. This version of Lilith marries Ashmodai, another demon. She also follows the trope of a typical European witch; The young, beautiful witch that seduces men but who is a femme fatale.

The other, mostly found in things such as the Zohar is there is multiple Liliths to explain the discrepancy in stories. Matron Lilith married Adam and had many children with many different demons. She married the archangel Samael and one of his four wives. The younger Lilith is married to Ashmodai and doesn't get along with her mother, yet is the one from the folklore and their stories get confused. (It's more likely that there were multiple versions of folklore that got merged during things such as the creation of the Zohar. Being aware of the contradictions, they likely explained it this way because there has always been multiple Liliths.) While both have "Liliths" in plural, Kabbalah particularly emphasizes this plurality to explain many Jewish traditions, whom probably evolved independently of each other.

Later, during the 19th century many Romantic artists (Not to be confused with the Romantic occult movement) picked up her story. This may be due to earlier influences such as Faust. Dante Gabriel Rossetti is the artist who forsaked her child killing aspect in favor for her femme fatale aspect. He made a painting and a poem to accompanying it. He is the reason that later feminists, especially in the 1970s, picked her up as feminist figure where she enjoys status today.

However, I did some digging and it looks like various early occult groups included her in their veneration. This included Crowley and according to Valiente, Gardner's coven when she was in it. I could not find an exact source for why or how they were doing this but it was entirely possible many of these early pagan and occult groups were worshiping her independently of the feminist movements. Later, the two merged in the 1970s or 60's. Since people don't always write things down, especially in the earlier sources, I can only find them sparsely. (Tbh, I don't think they thought of writing it down.)

Anyway, I find this topic interesting and wrote extensively about it for awhile. I got a lot of articles on my blog about it. I am super passionate about Lilith.

 

[obsidian]

Excellent breakdown of a very complex subject. Its taken me years to discover some of the things you mentioned, and you bring all that together very well in just this one post.

 

[Ayin_Ayin]

The concept is as old as time Herself...

In the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian texts (around 4,000 years ago), we find references to female air spirits (lilu or lilītu) and male ones (ardat-lilî). These words derive from the term lil (“air”), as in Enlil, the lord of the air. They were not unique characters but rather a type of entity.

It is in the 10th century, in a Hebrew satirical text called The Alphabet of Ben Sira, that the myth of Lilith appears as Adam’s rebellious wife (let us remember the context that it was a satire). It is here that the figure of Lilith as we know her today first arises.

There is a surprising amount of antisemitic sentiment in this thread. Regardless, I'll do what I can to shed light on the subject. Even if some of you may irrationally hate me and refuse to accept anything I post. Hopefully, it will be of use and meaning to those with a desire to learn.

Please, keep in mind that these myths and stories are not only meant to be considered literally but also metaphorically, allegorically, mystically, etc.

To start, a slight correction: Ardat-Lili is not a male spirit. It is a female spirit of a young woman that died before experiencing marital bliss/conjugal fulfillment. I.e. a spirit of unfulfilled passion, which is later reflected in the story of Adam and Lilith/Havah Rishonah, Yes, Eve is actually Lilith and vice versa...) where their union is interrupted by Adam wanting to be dominant.

It is taught, in the mystical tradition of the Hebrews, that God had to create Eve three separate times, the first two failed and Adam was disturbed, having been conscious to behold the process. It wasn't until the third time, when God caused Adam to sleep, that he was able to create Eve in a way that Adam could accept. Having fled from the vessel of Eve, Lilith took up her residence in/with the serpent upon the tree, beckoning to Eve, her former estate, to kick off the tumult of creation through rebelliousness, i.e. consuming/bearing fruit, of which she was so desirous to know and do. One might note the parallels here to the Gnostic stories of Eve, Sophia, Zoe, Noria, and Elilith Eleleth, And those of you who know will understand.

To explain the issue of God creating Adam and Eve as male and female followed by Adam being alone in the garden, the Hebrew term "Adam" means "mankind," not merely the name of a single person but also all of humanity. In this sense, when God created humanity, He created them "male and female" and placed them in the garden (the world) as a compound unity. Lurianic Kabbalah teaches that God separated Adam and Eve through a process of Nesirah "sawing" them apart so that they could reunite as two separate beings. This is a reflection of God creating the universe in a space cleaved out of His own being.

Returning to the historical mythos: there is also another specific entity that often gets syncretized with ardat-lili that some believe is separate. She is called kiskillilla, and she is described as a vampiric/seductive night demon that screeches, associated with sacred birds like the owl/raven/dove (which were often sacrificed to the corresponding goddesses, as we will soon see)... Weirdly enough, Kilili is related as a name of Ishtar, who is said to be the queen of heaven and the queen of windows/openings, she who "leans out of windows," a demon who cries at the windows of "mushirtu" i.e. a harlot/unfaithful person. She is syncretized with Aphrodite/Venus who was "borrowed" from Phoenicia and known alternatively in different cultures by various names, not the least of which were: Astarte, Ashtoreth/Astaroth, Atargatis, Asherah, Anat, Allat, Allah/Eloah, Ima Ilaah, Anathoth, Attar, Artemis/Diana, Athena/Minerva, Metis, Cybele, Absu/Absusu, Asiya, Beltis, Belat, Bat/Batyah, Baalat, Baaltis, Kadesh/tu, Naamah, Ninmah, Ninhursag, Inanna, Ishtahar, Sukkoth Benoth, Shaddai, Neith, Nut, Isis, Tanith, Hera/Juno, Manat, Rahav, Kallah, Kilili, Kali, Zulaikha, Asenath, Sarpanit/Zarpanitu, Sheba, Babel/Babylon, Babalon, Miriam/Mary, among so many others.

And before people get all upset, you can find sources for these:
The Mythology of All Races - Vol. 5 - Semitic by Stephen H. Langdon of Oxford University
The Routledge Dictionary of Gods, Goddesses, Devils, and Demons by Manfred Lurker
Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Gnomes, An Encyclopedia by Carol Rose

The Mandeans include Zahr'il, a "lilith/lilita" in their Right Ginza, committed to writing (based on older oral tradition) circa 300 CE - 700 CE, and lilith is found on demon lists and incantation bowls dated between 5th-8th century CE.

We can also discuss Namaah/Norea/Noria/Horaia/Oraia (etymologically derived from nura - "fire" and n-ohrah "light") attributed to the Sethian Gnostics described in The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, circa 375 CE. You can see there all the errors he made regarding this figure and his interpretations of the Gnostic mythos surrounding her. There are clear etymological patterns which demonstrate that Norea is indeed Naamah bat Lamech, a firey and rebellious woman descended from the lineage of Cain who was vilified/demonized as enticing and seducing angelic beings and archons... This same Naamah is later called the mother of demons, a seductress, etc.

There is mention of Lilith as a specific spiritual entity in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q510–511) Songs of The Sage and as a category of creatures in the Great Isaiah Scroll (1Q1Isa), circa 100 BCE. Not to mention that it is known in the Kabbalistic tradition that Lilith is not only a specific archetypal entity but also a category of entities called Lilim/Lilin or Liliyoth. The term Lilith is also mentioned in the Hebrew text of the book of Isaiah. Asherah, Ashtoreth, and Sukkoth Benoth are also mentioned in the bible...

In the Lurianic/Kabbalistic tradition, Lilith is understood as the primordial chaotic void, associated with Tohu/Chaos. She is the supernal night (Lilah Ila'ah) and void within which God created the world by re-introducing light. Making her the same as Hekate/Sophia, the Anima Mundi/World Soul, Chayah Rishonah, the first "creation" and the first life, mother of all things. Why? Because God had a burning desire to create a world... She is the inverse side of the Shekina, also known as the matrona or matronita (sharing an etymological root with her attendant Metatron, explained in Sefer Masekhet Atzilut), whose "feet go down to death/sheol." When the feminine aspect of attraction, sensuality, envelopment, is unrequited, abused, misused, it leads to destruction and death. The same impulses which can lead to a healthy, wholesome, nurturing mother, can also lead astray to death. This is why Lilith and her various manifestations can be associated to both protecting and killing. Guarding or destroying women, pregnancies, babies, and men.

The very same mythic figures of seductive and or kidnapping sirens, mermaids, fairies, elves, etc. can be found in many cultures all around the world and throughout all of human history. Entities that sway spiritual/unconscious influences, craving bodies, to be born and expressed in the physical world.

So to pretend that the rabbis just "invented" this entity is patently absurd and demonstrably false.

I should also mention that Ben Sirach being a work of satire does not at all invalidate its significance in the mystical tradition. Even if it is full of references to autoeroticism, incest, flatulence, and lack of respect for religious authorities. We do enjoy our humor, and it is often deployed carrying weighty lessons.

I'm not a black magician, nor a bitter warlock, desert or otherwise. I don't work directly with lilim or lilith or anything like that. I also don't particularly care about soul enslavement, mythic curses, distorting, engineering, or programming others into subservience. Trust me, people are far more skilled at doing that to themselves than I could ever hope to be, much to my dismay.

 

[Lucien6493]

In the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian texts (around 4,000 years ago), we find references to female air spirits (lilu or lilītu) and male ones (ardat-lilî). These words derive from the term lil (“air”), as in Enlil, the lord of the air. They were not unique characters but rather a type of entity.

It is in the 10th century, in a Hebrew satirical text called The Alphabet of Ben Sira, that the myth of Lilith appears as Adam’s rebellious wife (let us remember the context that it was a satire). It is here that the figure of Lilith as we know her today first arises.

It is only by the end of the 19th and 20th centuries that Lilith becomes a rebellious symbol of feminine power and an archetypal deity.

Up to this point, that is the chronology of the facts. Now then, I would like to leave a small question open for debate:

Given that humanity already has such a rich pantheon of both female and male deities throughout the world, is it really necessary to artificially create new deities within the Jewish framework?

Opinion: It seems that some people are aroused or fascinated by the Hebrew tradition — with all its Kabbalah and Jewish symbolism — and everything must somehow revolve around it.

I can't add much to the last two posts on this thread except to say that she is "Malakh" like all things that arise out of the human biome, when psyche plays, unbidden but asked for, like tarot and kabbalah and the Veda and everything else that has no origin that can be traced. She arises and passes away and changes form because "messenger" is a relationship. It is organic, fluid, ever in transformation and flux. We call it Lilith when the messenger finds a reception creating a message (all that she means) from out of the soul of the world. Perhaps out of necessity. I think of her, not so much as a goddess or a demon, but as an awareness on our part. Of what? Well, as an astrologer I could point to the apogee of the moon which was given that name (Lilith) back in the 1960 when Uranus and Pluto conjoined in Virgo opposite Saturn. Before then, the mathematical points denoting the moon's distance from the earth along its orbit were not mythologized, unlike now. And talking about Lilith with nerdy astrologers...you might as well crash a party of tea drinkers with a golden apple, because Lilith, like Eris, or Lucifer, she is not safe. In fact, if you wanted a good astrological definition of what she embodies I would point to this whole thread and say -- "this". The anger, the frustration, the complexity, the animosity, the confusion and the shaming and the hidden guilt, it is all there as Lilith herself, and but like all true names she has two sides, and they imply and presuppose each other (like the meanings of "Sitra" in Arabic and in Hebrew, right?). So anyway, I don't think we ever sit down and create a deity for ourselves either individually or as a culture anymore so than we sit down and create a culture or its ethos whole cloth and with deliberation, because they approach us as our lives approach us, from a place that has nothing to do with time.

Now, just personally, I like my deities ancient. The more ancient the better, but then again, what Lilith is now is what Ishtar probably was back in Her day, and we have all but tamed her. She doesn't come to us dripping with gore; a complex, unpredictable, multivalent and highly ambiguous agency that could kill you as well as protect you. I look at Lilith today and see a mythology in the making, born of a time just like our own, but inseparable today from our roots in that creative ferment that shaped Western civilization. We can't escape that anymore than we can avoid mixing ontology with syntax, and for the same reason.