LILITH the Mother of Demons - The origin of Demons (The Disobedient Wife)

The birth of demons have many origins, one of these origins is in the myth of Lilith the Mother of all Demons, she also is the first symbol of female rebellion.

It is the Genesis description of the creation of man, to which we look, their two conflicting accounts. One in which both man and woman seem to be formed, on the same day, in the same manner, from the same material. While in the second account woman is created from the rib of man while he sleeps and is then presented to man, Adam, upon his awakening.

It is this second account with which we are more familiar, for most of us Eve has always been the wife of Adam the mother of all humanity, derived from the Latin Eva, derived from the Hebrew Chavah/Hava – to breathe, and chayah, to live, or give life. The traditional meaning of Eve is living. But if we look at the Hebrew original she is the embodiment of her name as she is the giver of life.

But why these conflicting accounts of the birth of the first man and woman which clearly seem to indicate that man and women where formed together as well as being formed separately. In an attempt to make sense, and reconcile, these conflicting accounts the Midrash was born. These writings reached their peak in the 2^nd century C.E, also influencing late Christian interpretations of the Bible.

Lilith

It was in these writings which the first woman, in the first account, was said to be Adam’s first wife, Lilith, which means; of the night/ storm goddess, the exact opposite of Eve’s light. She was supposed to have been created simultaneously, with Adam from the same substance. Whereas Eve was created from a portion of Adam; thereby making them two very different women.

Essentially what it comes down to, is that Adam was formed from dust or sand or clay (choose your poison) and right beside him also formed from the same material was this first woman, then God breathed life or “soul” into them both.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

              

As opposed to God creating Adam in his image and then thinking since all the other creatures had mates why not give him someone to keep him company.

“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon man and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.” Genesis 2:21-22

This version simply states that Eve was formed from a “rib”, essentially something that was a part of Adam thereby binding her to Adam, she cannot be viewed as a separate entity.

Eve

These verses when read this way do seem to clearly denote the creation of two different women. Of course the argument could be put forward that this would mean that there were two Adams as well and possibly a whole other earth if we consider a  double creation idea. Part of that hypotheses wouldn’t be entirely wrong, there was possibly a First Adam as well but not a second earth (but that is an entirely different blog I’ll be getting into in future), for the story of Lilith we’ll stick to the first idea that there was only one Adam, working on the premises which is presented by the text that indicated that portions were only a repeat and others were a record of a change of how events occurred a second time around. Such as the animals being created in the same way, each separately, Adam is also created the same way, the only part that is different is when the women are created and the way the women are created. It would truly seem to be an almost re-writing of events with a correction of an incorrectly recorded event but then why was the first simply just not deleted if incorrectly recorded. So perhaps the first event was not incorrect and the section that appeared different while everything else is the same would could possibly then prove that it was only that part of the event that had to be re-done or done again.

Something else that is interesting to note is that Adam, is derived from the Hebrew adam meaning “to be red” referring to the ruddy colour of human skin, or from the Akkadian adamu meaning “to make”. There is a play on words adamah “earth”, so Adam seems to mean the colour of the earth or clay from which Adam was created or simply “made from earth”. Yet the names of the two women who were his wives have names with very distinctive meaning, that have assigned them their roles perfectly, Adam does not seem to have this.

Winged Lilith

According to Midrash literature a dispute arose between Adam and Lilith: Adam tried to assert his dominance over her by insisting that she lie beneath him during sex, it could be possible that Adam was taking his cue from watching the animals, noting that the male is always on top, behind the female holding her in a submissive position, but Lilith refused. Feeling that since they were equal because of their creation, therefore she should not have to be beneath him. From the text it would seem that she might have submitted initially and then decided that she didn’t have to and they should take turns being in the dominate position. Adam would not allow it, were by Lilith is said to have loosed her hair, pronounced the Ineffable Name of God, sprouted wings and few off into the air.

The Midrash texts seem to indicate that Adam insisted on his male rights as he saw Lilith as only fit to be below him. When she left he appealed to God to make her return, God then sent three of his angels in search of her. Senoy, Sensonoy & Semangelof to bring her back, saying that if she returned all that was made would be good but if she did not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.

A lot that I’ve read about Lilith over the years has said that the angels found her beside the Red Sea but after researching the original text, The Alphabet of Ben Sira, it turns out that Lilith was found in the midst, the middle, the center, of the Red Sea. Not beside it. The angels threaten to drown her if she does not return, she refuses them, they tell her what her fate and the fate of her children will be. Lilith agrees to the conditions but as retribution for the sentence she vows that her new role will be, to become the killer of women in child-birth, and children; baby boys until up until eight days and girls for 12 days. Her only show of mercy was to agree that should an amulet be engraved with the angel’s names she would then consider the child protected and not harm them.

Amulet of protection

So it became part of Jewish tradition; the angel’s names were inscribed on parchment or carved on the bed post or on a tablet where a baby slept to protect them from Lilith.

The three angles were the angles of medicine, it has been postulated that in their original Hebrew appearance that they were related to angels that we know by other names:

• Senoy/ Snvi – Michael – leader of the heavenly host (archangel).
• Sensenoy/ Snsvi – Gabriel – who always appears as the messenger of God (archangel because only they appeared in God’s presence).
• Semangelof/Smnglof – Uriel – the angel of truth or wisdom (archangel)

Michael and Gabriel are the angels most often mentioned in the bible as doing God’s bidding and traditionally;

• They are guardians of three of the Watchtowers:
• Michael to the South is Fire
• Gabriel in the West is Water
• And Uriel to the North is Earth

And as far as symbols go earth is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge (symbolised by the Torch that Uriel is usually depicted carrying), Water is the representation of psychic ability or foresight (which Gabriel is a representative of, as he always brings news of the future) and finally Fire is a sign of purification being both a creative and destructive power (which Michael represents as being the leader of the heavenly host and is supposed to lead God’s army in Revelations).

So if the assumption is true that these names are related to these three angels then Lilith was very important if they were sent to retrieve her. An angel of knowledge, and angel of foresight and a warrior.

Needless to say that Lilith was a very brave and strong woman because even given these threats she would not return to Adam rather choosing the seemingly horrifying fate, than to submit to her mate.

Lilith takes Samael as her mate

Lilith is supposed to have taken up residence on the banks of the Red Sea in a cave where, it is the general idea, she began to mate with hosts of demons and begot demon children by the thousands a day, when in fact she took Samael as her mate.

But Samael was not a demon, he in fact was an angel. The Zohar defines Samael as meaning “the poison of God”, the Kabbalah defines him as the “Severity of God”, and he is also the consort of Naamah and works as the left hand of God. He is the being who has been strongly identified with Satan. Yet the identity of Satan, the personality does not seem to fit what we have previously learned about this being. But it would appear that was of the original host which departed from God's side.

(Samael the Archangel, the destroyer, the accuser, the hater of man, the Angel of Death.)

So it was when Lilith did not return that God then created Eve from Adam's rib. It has been suggested that this was done in order that Eve would be more compliant to Adam as she was a part of him, of him, one cannot after all go against a part of yourself.

There is the idea that because Man and Woman were created at the same time as an androgynous being with a front-face and back-face and that is how they were made at the same time and equal before God split them. (This is very much like the Greek myth of the creation of man). They were created in this way as the image of God is both masculine and feminine. The word Elohim is a masculine noun but Hebrew fundamentally has both masculine and feminine gender phonetic vowel pronunciation for much of its words, besides the words tense, singularity or plurality that affect each word pronunciation. Eloh etc are used in the overall biblical texts as a generic title not as names. However there is evidence that the Yahwdim people and Gentiles use it as both masculine and feminine gender names by component or a whole person’s name and im is the masculine plural. So in this case Eloh could be the feminine form with im serving as the masculine plural. And if we look at how it is referred to in Genesis 1 with the creation of man and elohim being used as reference to a goddess (Ki 11:5) seeing the title Elohim as both male and female is then not a stretch at all.

The most important information about Lilith we find in the Zohar. The Zohar is essentially a Kabalistic Midrash on the Torah. It consists of twenty-two volumes penned around 1200 C.E in Spain by Moses de Leon. Lilith’s role in the Zohar and thus in Kabbalah is large.  She is mentioned by name in twenty-seven separate passages and by direct reference in a further twenty-nine , for a total of 56 direct references.

Here Lilith is the other half of Samael, she being the body and he the soul. Also here there is reference that Lilith was created first and then Adam (or as one being with two faces with the Lilith countenance being first) and before God could breathe life into Adam a thousand spirits or, what also translated as, a mist rose, tried to enter the body but God rebuked it and they could not enter the image of Adam it then entered into the Lilith image and animated her (this would be the reason for the split between the androgynous being). The mist being the defective light of Samael.

Something else that the Zohar mentioned is that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was actually Lilith; I have touched on the idea according to rabbinical sources that Eve was tricked by the demon Samael in The Fall of Satan, but she was tricked in a sexual way. This idea stemmed from the sexual connotation of the representation of the serpent form, as well as reasoning why Abel seemed to be the image of Adam, the image of God and more favoured as opposed to his brother Cain, whose description differs entirely. Then of course we noted that Samael rode the serpent into the Garden. He did not possess it. Secondly it has already been established that Lilith had knowledge that Adam did not seem to, as she pronounced the secrete name of God which gave her the ability to sprout wings and fly away to escape Adam. So is it possible that she was also able to take other forms due to this knowledge. The reason for the serpents eagerness to aid Samael is never explained but Zohar 1:148-148b (Vayetze: Passage 23) does give us a reason for this, that if Lilith was the serpent, they, Lilith and Samael, are one as Adam and Eve are one, made from the same. Which would support the idea of the life breathed into Lilith and why she was not a match for Adam. Furthermore it would explain God’s anger directly aimed at the serpent. Making the prophetic statement that the seed of the serpent would strike at the heel of Eve’s seed and the seed of Eve would crush the serpent’s offspring under foot.

The symbol of the serpent has always historically been a representation of fertility, a creative life force. As snakes shed their skin through sloughing, they are symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. In fact most older religions believe the image or symbol that is the serpent as positive for the most part and always plays an important role, even in mythology. It has been seen as the protector, the symbol of possessing the secrets of the material world and of royalty, the symbol of the possessing the third eye from which nothing can be hidden; in this world or the next, it has meant strength, the symbol of eternity, the double entwined snakes symbolises the balance of power (yin/yang). It only seems to be with the advent of monotheistic religions that the serpent became something associated with evil, such as, lying (due to the forked tongue), or being sexual, witchcraft, the attainment of forbidden knowledge and of course of Satan.

So the if we look at the symbol of the serpent in relation to old symbolic beliefs, it could have been Lilith as she was immortal, she held knowledge, she held the ability to transform herself not just physically and capable of regeneration/renewal, she was strong willed and cunning. In essences the embodiment of the serpent. She also came too be associated with witchcraft.

What then, rounds out the theory of the existence of Lilith is if we look at the verses in Genesis 1:26-30 as well as Genesis 2 6-9 and 15-25 again.

When man and woman are first created nothing is said about a garden, God simply decides to create man

“...in Our image, according to Our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth”

And proceeds to tell them that they may eat of every plant and from anything that yields seeds. If we look at this, man and woman, have been given dominion over the entire earth so even if we discount the theory of something else giving Lilith life the fact that the same essence that was breathed into Adam would have been breathed into her if they were initially an androgynous being. Which would have made them equals none-the-less as they carried the same consciousness. So was also therefore afforded the same right and power as Adam with no limitations. (This would then of course account for Lilith’s rebellion as she in every aspect was the same as Adam.)

Lilith and Eve

But in Genesis 2 we are then told how God creates a single being, just one, suddenly the female has been removed from the equation, maybe we are now being told in a manner that man was already created in the divine image and animated. This time around nothing is mentioned about God giving dominion over the earth because he has already done that, instead we are informed that God now decided to plant a Garden and in this Garden he places man.

In a protected place, separate from the earth he was supposed to have already created?

We also get a different story about the food source for this man; God caused every plant to grow that was pleasing to the sight and good for food to grow here and put man there to cultivate it and keep it.

Why go to the effort of creating a world and then a separate place and more animals only to populate the separate place with these animals?

And why if the entire earth had already been populated with animals and food would you repeat the process?

The answer would be that, it had been done but Adam could no longer reside on the earth in safety. It is an iteration of man, Adam, being placed in a place of safety (for his own good, to be kept away from bad influences), because this Garden was clearly separated from everything else as it is described in the in-between verses how it was cordoned off, and there is only one tree that Adam is no not allowed to eat from. Once again animals are formed and placed specifically in the garden with Adam, whom he names as they are brought to him to see if he can find a match among them. Eve does not exist at all yet. And it is only after Adam cannot find a match among the animals that Eve is created from his rib. The literal Hebrew verse reads:

“became alone” and not “be alone”

Which would then imply that he was not always alone as opposed to what we believe today.

So the question still remains, why are certain things repeated and other not?

I see it in the following way:

I have already stated why the idea for a first wife is possible even if we disregard the idea of her name or why she fled. Genesis 2 is clearly an iteration of certain happenings in Genesis 1 yet everything is not repeated, some scholars have said that Genesis 1 is an overview of the creation story and Genesis 2 is a details description but this theory fails for me because then everything from Gen 1 should be repeated with additional information and this does not happen. So for me that theory can be scratched, many clergy simply maintain that the devote should not question and just accept and that the bible is God given to man, word for word and that the first is a mistake, it is not important. Yet this is not true for everyone, devote rabbinical sources have sought to explain it, and it does seem possible that one attempt was made and for whatever reason the female version did not work. But she was simply not removed from the earth so the explanation of her turning “evil” would account for why God suddenly planted a Garden, effectively making it a “protected gated community” making sure the one remaining perfect creation was safe.

But safe from what?

Well if Adam had already had sex with Lilith before she refused it would stand to reason that he would want to continue with this, especially since they had been told to be fruitful, in other words: have children, and this was no longer happening, so he would have that urge. In Gen 2 this phrase is never repeated “be fruitful is never repeated”. Why? Well because Adam was already blessed in that way so God wouldn’t need to do it a second time. And as for the creation of more animals in the Eden, well Lilith had been given equal rights of dominion over them as Adam, so it is possible that the animals in Eden might have been free from her influence, as she had been given dominion over the animals of the earth and Adam were separate entities and the Garden was also a separate place. It has been suggested that Adam mated with the animals in Eden, that is how he knew they were not his equals. This would enforce the idea that Adam had carnal desires and required a mate; therefore Eve was created for this purpose. And even if we do not accept this idea the fact remains that he would not have been able to be fruitful without a mate, so Eve had to come into being.

Adam could no longer eat from any tree in the Garden, it was the one command that he received, if he ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which would effectively make him mortal, stripping him of the essence of God that made him immortal. If we look at the words used “in Our image”, “in Our likeness”, these words are interchangeable as they essentially mean the same thing but what if what is being referred to is not only physical aspect but the essence of what made God eternal as well. Meaning Adam would have been physically perfect which is what would have made him immortal as would Lilith. That is why possibly “eating” from the tree would cause the physical aspect to lose that perfection causing it to begin to wither away. That would explain why Lilith would remain immortal and physically perfect because she was never bared from “eating” of the tree only Adam and as a result Eve as she was of Adam in essence. (Also the blessing of to be fruitful in Gen 1 would apply to Lilith as well, which would account for her hordes of offspring.)

Also another verse Gen 2:23 reads:

“And man said, “This time, it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called ishah (woman) because this one was taken from ish (man).

The wording of is very odd, this time and this one could implying Adam.s search through the animals for his mate, but it could also be seen as more than just the animals God created from dust, as well, but then again Lilith would also have been created from dust, where as Eve was taken as part of Adam.

Now to round out the theory of Lilith as the serpent in the Garden, since Adam and Eve where immortal, and she had promised to “take possession” of the children of man how could she do this if they were immortal and protected then it would mean that she would somehow have to reverse the protection. It would be fairly simple if we could just end it there but there is as usual much more to the story. It serves to fully explain the Evil that Lilith was endowed with and would serve to explain why women were seen as powerful entities, even though, they were forced to believe they were not.

Kabbalists expounded on the joining of Lilith and Samael.

That, Lilith, seeing that she was had been replaced wanted to return but has been locked out of the Garden. Thus, out of jealously (and possibly revenge) she joined with Samael in his seduction of Eve and if we go with the revenge theory this idea works even better.

Interpretations often result in misunderstanding caused by translations. In latin malum  as an adjective means “evil”, but as a noun means “apple”. In Europe, interpreters reading the story in Latin and understanding the forbidden fruit as the source of evil naturally concluded that it must have been an apple (that is where we get the idea of an apple from and why it appears in paintings). So what if what was meant is that God viewed certain types of knowledge as evil and that he was warning Adam not to partake of it, as remember the warning was given specifically to Adam not to Eve, who would have been informed by Adam that this was forbidden.

So the story goes that Lilith joined Samael in his seduction of Eve which was a sexual seduction and possibly also provided her with the knowledge that Lilith and Samael were in possession of, thus Eve’s menstrual blood became the actual “filth and the impure seed” of Samael. In turn Eve having gained “knowledge” seduced Adam during her menses; the act of sexual intercourse during a woman menses is forbid in the Bibel, Torah and Qu'ran, the Bible of course simply states that man should not let menstrual blood touch him, but does not say why. Here the Kabbalah provides that reason; Once Adam defiled himself with this act, being that Eve’s menses was unclean, Lilith became strong “in

Lilith as the Night Demon

her husks”, in her form, and was able to come to him against his will to steal his seed to engender many demons, spirits and Lilin. This could allude to a passage in the Zohar that says that Lilith was imprisoned beneath the (Red) Sea, obviously it did not mean her in her full form but part of her power was imprisoned and when Eve seduced him, with what (knowledge/power) she had gained from Lilith, she somehow weakened him enough for Lilith to have power over him.

Here the power of blood is very important to note, the Kabbalists, are describing the power thought to be in blood, here, menstrual blood specifically, and the link between it and Kundalini energy which takes a serpentine form. This, the primal energy which is located at the base of the spine, is described as lying “coiled” at the base of the spine (like a snake), represented as either a goddess or sleeping serpent. This is spiritual enlightenment, “mother energy or intelligence of complete maturation”. It rises through the body, “uncoiling”, like a serpent, through the chakras to reach the Sahasrara Chakra at the top of the head, the image is of a blooming lotus flower (the flower as also been a sign of virginal purity).

This means the revelation of the Divine Splendour and attainment of Supreme Consciousness, or more plainly, Self-Realization (the awareness of Heaven and Earth) is reached. Now we take into account that the serpentine form represented knowing and power, which Self-Realization would give to one.

(Through her interaction with Lilith and Samael, Eve attained enlightenment)

The belief is carried further, because Eve was able to seduce Adam, bend him to her will, it shows the authority Eve was able to exert over Adam, proving the power and belief in her blood, women’s immense potency to compel man to act against his will. Suddenly Eve had also become rebellious and strong. Therefore, it might be said that persuasive gift was given by Lilith to Eve during her seduction and as well through her connection with Samael via the blood.

This ability and awakening of woman was of course called a curse on mankind, and in addition to this Eve would produce an heir for Samael, Cain.

So from then on Lilith was free to wreck havoc on the descendants of Adam and Eve except for those protected by amulets and she and her daughters became the succubus who would visit men in their sleep and through sexual dreams steal their seed.

And the daughters of Eve became cursed by the church as weak and open to evil and seductresses of men. A nature we are told we must be guarded against. Part of that curse was the pain of child birth as well as to endure menstruation once a month, according to the church.

The name for Lilith comes from the Sumarian word “lilitu”, which meant a wind spirit or a female demon. Lilith is mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a famous poem of ancient Mesopotamia dated back to not later than C. 2100 B.C.E. the table was added to the original text much later, c. 600 B.C.E, in its later Assyrian and Akkadian translations.

She appears, as the dark maid (or demon), in the centre of a tree being tended by the goddess Inanna. In the Babylonian Talmud, she appears as a dark spirit with an uncontrollable and dangerous sexuality stealing the seed of sleeping men to produce hordes of demons.

We find Lilith in the Sumero-Babylonian Goddess Belit-ili or Belili, Goddess of the Moon, love, the underworld, trees, wells and springs. To the Canaanites she was Baalat, the “Divine Lady”, on a tabled from Ur, ca. 2000 B.C.E, she was addressed as Lillake,the Goddess of desolation, the embodiment of loneliness, emptiness and the wildness of nature.

It is from the Sumarian lilitu which the name for Lilith was attained, before this there was simply the first Eve and the second Eve.

The view of the seed of two women, at odds with one another, gives the bible a very different flavour which speaks more to the power within the female, it suddenly is no longer, the battle being waged between good and evil, God through Adam and his male line against the devil. It now seems to be, on the surface, the battle between light, Eve, against the darkness, Lilith.

And if we were to examine the Biblical creation story more closely with all these new views from the Kabbalah, the Zohar and from the many Goddesses and spirits that lend their identity to the first Eve, Lilith. We may begin to see something with a deeper meaning, something more than a disobedient woman who was punished for her rebellion, as we seem to have supposed to be seeing. The story was designed to show women that least submission to husband is given one is destined only to fall. Instead Lilith embraced her fate, rising above it, reborn as something more and if we look at her original image in the Goddess form we see her standing alone as an even stronger image. Neither can Eve be viewed in the same light anymore, she is no longer weak and easily lead, Eve makes a choice choosing to know, instead of remaining in ignorant bliss. The story is a way of explain to women that, husband and father know better and if one were to go against that, then one, woman, would bring great shame and trials not only on herself but on her family as well, yet Eve chooses to want more, and in that wanting gains great knowledge.

The ultimate goal in teaching that women where either weak and easily influenced or destined to destroy themselves if not guided by man was to destroy the Goddess religion, the Aspect of the Great Mother who exerts power, the very seat of feminine strength, ability and power.

And they very nearly succeeded, if not for the knowledge and intuition that it seems Lilith passed on to Eve.

Does Lilith deserve the title Mother of Demons, yes she does, she was the first women to choose her own mate, and together they spawned powerful offspring. She was also powerful enough to reach forward in time and through mythology to disrupt the plans of men.