Lilith has been mentioned in many mythological stories, but there is no proof that it is the same person, Though all speak the same tongue confirming she is a demon.
Demon, quite controversial isn't it,
Who do you call a demon?
The one who is evil or whom you are afraid of?
Afraid of what?
Her wrath or afraid of realising the power she has over you?
Lilith's first appearance was around 3000BCE, in Mesopotamian scriptures," Lilitu" a class of storm spirits who are accused of prey on pregnant women and children. Four of these storm spirits deserve special mention "Lilu" ( a male demon), Lilitu or Lilith ( female demon), Ardat Lili ( Lilith's handmaiden) and Irdu Lili ( male counterpart of Ardat Lili).
Ardat Lili is said to torment men in their sleep and father them with demonic children, while Irdu Lili is said to impregnate women with their class of demonic children. Lilith on other hand is accused of killing children and harming women, Lilu is often referred to as the father of Sumerian king Gilmerish, who according to the scriptures has a reputation of being cruel until he meets his friend Enkidu and becomes the hero of Uruk.
If the so-called "demonic children" were replaced by the word "illegitimate children", I think it will give a clearer view of the ancient beliefs. Throughout the years' Illegitimate children have been scorned upon by society ( even if almost all demigods were illegitimate) and addressing them as demon child won't be too much of a problem for them.
In some other scriptures, Lilith is often referred to as Innana's handmaiden( Inanna is another name of Ishtar). Who sent her to the world to lead men astray with her beauty, more like to test their faithfulness to their beloved. Since Ishtar was the goddess of love, her test to judge the loyalty of men should be hard.
Now the next appearance Lilith makes is in ancient Hebrew text where her role is similar to Lilitu in Mesopotamian scriptures. Amulets are found with the names of three archangels Senoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof inside a circle and the name of Lilin or Lilith outside. The amulet was generally worn by newborns, it was supposed to protect them against the child-killing demon Lilin. Lilin was blamed to be associated with newborn deaths and miscarriages.
But the unasked question is why would she harm innocent newborn babies?
Well, the answer is found in the most unexpected place, the bible.
We all know about Adam and Eve right!
According to the bible, they were the first human beings created by God, who lived happily in the garden of Eden until they tasted the forbidden fruit and as a punishment was sent to live on Earth.
But what if I tell you Eve was not the first woman created by God?
According to the book of Isaiah, the first woman was created from the same dust like Adam.
But wait! didn't we hear that Eve was created from Adam's bone?
Confused!
Well, it seems after a lot of translations bible kind of erased a tiny information
Adam had a wife before Eve.
And her name was Lilith.
So what went wrong that the first woman ever created turned into a demon?
The answer is Adam.
Adam wanted dominance over Lilith, He wanted to prove that he is superior to her, but according to Lilith, they were equal. They were created by the god in the same way from the same dust, both of them held the same power and she would not bow down in front of him.
Their arguments went to such an extent that Lilith left the garden of Eden after screaming god's real name. She sought refuge in a cave near a sea where Egyptians are supposed to drown.
Adam then complains to god that "Lilith left him", God pitied Adam and commanded his angels to bring back Lilith and if She refuses hundred of her children will die every day. So god is ready to kill a hundred children every day just because one woman didn't want to kneel in front of her male counterpart. ( how very great)
When the three angels Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof, found Lilith and told her about god's wrath, she refused to return. According to the book of genesis, this is the reason why hundreds of demons die each day but isn't it unfair that you just categorized Lilith's children as demon's without them doing anything.
But she just traded her children lives for her independence doesn't that make her a bad person?
Does it? maybe it does? think once if she bore a girl child and saw her being treated the same way Adam treated her, would that be a nice view for Lilith to watch, her daughter being dominated by her brothers. I don't think so!
Lilith's character is widely acclaimed now because she stood up against injustice, The injustice that still is a red flag in our society.
So did Lilith went on a killing rampage for revenge?
Maybe maybe not, if someone killed your children just to prove a point then any mother can become a psychopath and go on a killing rampage but there were also a lot of children who survived without amulet and some who died even with an amulet that proves that it was just a superstition.
There are two versions of that story.
One claims that when the angels came to get her, she said that God only made her bring diseases among newborns, if the newborn is male, she has dominion over him for the first eight days but if female it is twenty days. When angels refused her out of fear of the kids she gave an oath that she will not hurt them if they wear amulets with the name of three Angels. Now the controversy arises, if that they went to get Lilith back, so Eve wasn't made then right?!. If there was no Eve then there shouldn't be their progeny, so from where did the newborns come?
Another story claims that Lilith after quite some time wanted to return to Eden, upon coming to the gates of Eden, she saw that God had already replaced her with another woman, was infuriated and so she sought to harm the newborns. It is also said that she stole Adam's seeds to raise a progeny of demons.
Even if Adam and Lilith's relationship went into ruins that don't mean Lilith wasn't pursued later. In some folk stories of the middle ages, Lilith has been crowned as the Queen of Demons after her Reunion with Asphodeus, the king of Demons.
In some other stories, she has often been associated with the infamous Lucifer.
Given her sense of self-respect, Lilith wouldn't submit before them which means they respected her and gave her position of their equal. Isn't it interesting that demons could understand her but God couldn't?
Some middle-aged texts claims, Lilith to be a seductress, who lure the man to their death. The texts warn that if any man falls prey to her charms they will never be free from it and never come back to light.
In Greek mythology, there is a mention of a child-stealing monster called Lamia, Who is said to have a half-human and half serpentine body, she also has a vampiric nature of drinking male blood and killing them in their sleep. Many believe that Lamia and Lilith are synonymous.
However, in neo-paganism Lilith is viewed as a goddess, Gerald Gardener affirms that Lilith has been worshipped earlier in the historic period. According to Doreen Valiente, Lilith is, " a personification of erotic dreams, the suppressed desire for delights". She is said to be connected with Ishtar, Inanna, Asherah, Anath and Isis.
In the world of literature, Lilith was always painted as a seductress luring men into her trap, witches, someone who leads men to their destruction but the victorian Poet Robert Browning saw Lilith in a different light. He saw the emotional aspects of Lilith and painted her in a different light, where Lilith always loved Adam but Eve didn't.
Interestingly, Lilith's symbols are lion, owl, eagles, vultures and snake. Though the first three symbols don't justify her demonic character, Lion has always being a symbol of strength and magnificence, Owl of wisdom and Eagle of sharpness. These three symbols bring about a character of power, strength dominance and righteousness, although the last two degrade hr character, together all of them make her the strongest woman ever created. A deadly combination of beauty, body and brain, a true figure of women empowerment.
Though there is a lot of controversy regarding the character of Lilith one cannot deny that with her Aura and Power over everyone Lilith was and will always be The Untamed Queen.
blue rose belles
(Archie)
