WESTALL - FAUST &  LILITH

Richard Westall -  Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1831

- Oil on canvas.
- Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (1480–1540), an alchemist and practitioner of necromancy, a form of 'black magic.'
- The theme of the painting is about Faust preparing to dance with the young witch at the festival of the Wizards and Witches in the Harz Mountains.

Wisdom traditions

- In order to understand any wisdom tradition it must be approached in its own context, setting aside our attachments and aversions, our preconceptions, preconditions and expectations.
- This is the method of study in comparative religion.

Goethe in the Harz Mountains

Faust

- Faust was written by on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), a German polymath, who is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language.
- Goethe famously had an interest in the occult, and visited the Brocken peak, hiking a path that is still memorialized as the Goethe Way.
- Inspired by the mysterious atmosphere of the Harz region, Goethe set portions of his most famous play there.
- This included the surreal Walpurgis night scene where the devil Mephistopheles leads Faust around the Brocken, observing witches and even a gorgon.

 

The legend of a man selling his soul to the devil ‘seems to have particular resonance at times of moral crisis. (Benjamin Ramm)

Harz Mountains

- The mountain location had a big impact on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
- In late 1777, the young poet made a trip to the Harz, as a kind of retreat that culminated in the poem Winter Journey in the Harz.
- The project dominated his intellectual life: the first part of his dramatic poem, Faust, appeared in 1808; the second part was completed in 1831, the year before his death.

Goethe was one of the early major writers to popularize Lilith. Since the 19th Century, Lilith has become popular across the Western world. She is portrayed in books, movies, television shows, video games, Japanese animes, comics, and music. (Rabbi Menachem Levine)

 

Charles the Great

- When Charles the Great ruthlessly converted the pagans and disbelievers to Christianity, one of the last unspoiled places of refuge was sought in the Upper Harz Mountains.
- The distorted representation of the pagan ritual activities and faith had probably arisen during the late Middle Ages.
- The most well-known of these, was the famous 'witches meeting' in Europe.

The famous legend of Princess Brunhilde the king's daughter, who dared to escape from the giant Bodo, by jumping across a mighty ravine that opened up in front of her, leaving a visible hoofmark embedded in the rock on the Ross Trappe. (en.harzinfo.de)

Walpurgis Night

- Walpurgis Night is a pagan-rooted spring holiday held at the night of April 30 to May 1.
- The exuberant celebrations around the 'Brocken' on Walpurgis Night, the first night of spring and the memory of a time when Germanic tribes would celebrate the wedding of the powerful god Odin to Freya, the goddess of love and fertility.
- Nowadays, it is held every year and people disguised as witches and devilish creatures have a parade and travel to the mountain on the narrow-gauge railway.

 

In his main work Faust, the scene of the Witches’ Sabbath, the Walpurgis Night is the area around Schierke and Elend near Brocken, where Faust and Mephistopheles take part in the diabolical revelry. (en.mandadb.hu)

Faust & Lilith

Succubus

- The highly educated Faust is very successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.
- Lilith is a figure in both Jewish and Mesopotamian mythology, and appears in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1808 play Faust, where the succubus was introduced as Adam's first wife, a woman of great beauty, a danger against whom Faust is warned.

Every notable historical era will have its own Faust. Our challenge today is that, to some extent, we are all in a Faustian bind. We are plagued by politicians offering easy answers to complex problems – especially when those easy answers are empty promises. The legend warns us to be wary of the cult of the ego, the seductions of fame and the celebration of power. These are hollow triumphs, and short-lived; indeed, “what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? (Kierkegaard)

Witches' dance

- The mysterious landscapes of the Harz Mountains have inspired many tales and horror stories, including the stories of the Grimm brothers and the Walpurgis Night set in Goethe’s Faust.
- The mountains are known for their dark forests, eerie rock formations, black magic and legends of witches and the devil.

On the last night of April, witches from all over Germany are said to meet in the Harz Mountains for a witches' dance. The festival is celebrated with revels in villages around the Brocken, and visitors can see witch dolls hanging from trees and lanterns. (niedersachsen-tourism.com)

 

Lilith was a female demon

- In Jewish mythology, Lilith was Adam's first wife, who was cast out of the Garden of Eden for not submitting to Adam.
- Lilith is often depicted as the incarnation of lust, leading men astray, or as a child-killing witch.
- In Faust, Lilith appears as a temptress who frightens Mephistopheles, who warns Faust to beware of her hair.

While the details of Mephisto's true origin have been lost to time, he is an ancient extradimensional demon who rules over a part of the netherworld called Hell. Throughout eternity, Mephisto has gone by many names and has drawn on human belief systems to present himself as the embodiment of absolute evil. (Wikipedia)

German Mid-Mountains wall

- A long-long time ago, God and the Devil agreed to divide their territories, and the Devil would get the rich Harz Mountains, but only if he could build a wall around it, in just one night, before the rooster’s first crow.
- The Harz is the northernmost part of the German Mid-Mountains on the border of the highland and the North German Plain.
- The devil built a mighty stone wall, with tall, jagged black edges.

A huge cult of witches has developed in the towns of the area; the fairytale characters appear as decoration in the windows of houses, in the shop windows of souvenir shops, in thematic restaurants. (en.mandadb.hu)

Devil's wall

- As the wall rose, the Devil rejoiced so much at the thought of winning the bet with God, he did a merry little victory jig before laying the last stone.
- A few rocks rolled down on the road below, where a local peasant woman was carrying poultry to the town market.
- She tripped, disturbed the chicken, and the rooster let off a loud crow!
- The Devil, up on the wall, heard the rooster, thought the night has ended and that he lost the bet, and, in a bout of anger, kicked the wall and destroyed it.

 

This drives me near to desperate distress! Such elemental power unharnessed, purposeless!  (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Mephisto

- Faust: Who's that there?
- Mephisto: Take a good look. Lilith.
- Faust: Lilith? Who is that?
- Mephisto: Adam's wife, his first. Beware of her. Her beauty's one boast is her dangerous hair.

Tis Lilith. Who? Adam's first wife is she. Beware the lure within her lovely tresses, The splendid sole adornment of her hair; When she succeeds therewith a youth to snare, Not soon again she frees him from her jesses” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

 

Magic of her locks

- Beware of her fair hair, for she excels All women in the magic of her locks.
- And when she winds them around a young man's neck, She will not ever set him free again.

Dances and sings

- The disturbing apparition of Margaret appears to Faust in the background.
- Faust Dances and sings with a girl, and Mephistopheles with an old woman.
- The musical back drop is the scene of unbridled lovemaking taking place.

Faust: There sit a girl and an old woman -- they Seem to be tired with pleasure and with play. Mephistopheles: There is no rest to-night for any one; When one dance ends another is begun; Come, let us to it. We shall have rare fun. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

 

Apple tree

- Faust: A lovely dream I dreamt one day I saw a green-leaved apple tree, Two apples swayed upon a stem, So tempting!
- I climbed up for them.

In 1831 Westall exhibited at the Royal Academy two large paintings derived from the text of Goethe's Faust. The first was described as "Margaret at Church, tormented by the Evil One," and the second as "Faust preparing to dance with the young Witch at the Festival of Wizards and Witches in the Harz Mountains." Unfortunately the first subject has disappeared, but the present work attests to both Westall's originality and knowledge of contemporary cultural trends. (kilgoregallery.com)

Eden Apples

- The Pretty Witch: Ever since the days of Eden Apples have been man's desire.
- How overjoyed I am to think, sir, Apples grow, too, in my garden.

If ever I to the moment shall say: Beautiful moment, do not pass away. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Lilith appearance

- So, what do we make of this first appearance?
- She is called 'pretty witch,' with keeps in line with the ancient tradition of her being beautiful woman but deadly.
- The focus here seems to be on her ability to seduce and the fact that it makes her a demonic character.

Their stubbornness, their opposition Ruins my finest acquisition.  (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Faustus appetite

- Faustus states that the only God he serves is his 'own appetite,' and Goethe’s Mephistopheles offers him the opportunity to 'sample every possible delight… grasp at what you want!'



 

Moral of the story! - The Faust legend has thrived in a culture of instant gratification.

Lilith in Middle Eastern literature

Wind spirit

- In Mesopotamian mythology, Lilith was a female demon who haunted people, especially pregnant women and babies.
- The characterization of Lilith as a seducer or slayer of children has a long history in ancient Babylonian religion.
- The name Lilith comes from a Sumerian word for female demons or wind spirits.

Why does this 500-year-old folk legend resonate in times of crisis, and why does it continue to haunt the Western imagination? With the exception of Frankenstein, it is difficult to think of a more enduring modern legend. (Benjamin Ramm)

Demonization of female

- Lilith is the quintessential example of the demonization of female agency, divinity, and sexuality under patriarchal religions, institutions, and societies.

Best known as Adam’s defiant first wife, Lilith has been vilified through Jewish folklore and rabbinic interpretation, a comparison with Eve and original sin, and Victorian sexualization. Over a tens of thousands of years, she has taken many forms: A nocturnal goddess, a vampiric demoness, a notorious succubus, both the mother and queen of demons, a witch, the snake that tempted Eve, and the first woman- to name a few. (ac.nau.edu)

Desert

- The Bible mentions the Lilith only once, as a dweller in waste places, but the characterization of the Lilith or the lili (in the singular or plural) as a seducer or slayer of children has a long pre-history in ancient Babylonian religion.
- The only actual scriptural reference to Lilith is in Isaiah 34:14 which refers to Lilith as being among the beasts of prey and spirits that will lay waste to the land on the day of vengeance.
- It makes no reference to Adam.

And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. (Isaiah 34:14)

Ruins of Rome

- That is why the Bible verses from Isaiah declares that when Messiah comes, Lilith (lower ego) will finally be expelled forever.
- The idea of Lilith inhabiting the ruins of Rome signifies not just physical destruction but also a spiritual devastation, representing the ultimate downfall of wickedness.

When the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring about the destruction of the wicked Rome, and turn it into a ruin for all eternity, He will send Lilith there, and let her dwell in that ruin, for she is the ruination of the world. And to this refers the verse, and there shall lie down Lilith and find her a place of rest. (Zohar interpretation of Isaiah 34:14)

Winged Lamashtu

- Another, related demoness was Lamashtu, who threatened new-born babies and 'had a disagreeable taste for human flesh and blood.'
- In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu was a female malevolent goddess or demigoddess who menaced women during childbirth.
- The figures of Lamashtu and the lilû and lilitu demons eventually converged to form one type of evil figure that seduced men and women and attacked children.

 

The lilû-demons and their female counterparts the lilitu or ardat lilî-demons were hungry for victims because they had once been human; they were the spirits of young men and women who had themselves died young.” These demons slipped through windows into people’s houses looking for victims to take the place of husbands and wives whom they themselves never had. (J. A. Scurlock)

Incantation bowl

- The few references to Lilith in rabbinic literature point to a figure very much like the female Lilith of the incantation bowls that were set out to protect children.
- The Aramaic incantation bowls came from Sassanian and early Islamic Iraq and Iran (roughly 400–800 CE).
- A description of her physical appearance notes that she has wings and long hair.

Incantation bowls are a form of protective magic found in what is now Iraq and Iran. Produced in the Middle East during late antiquity from the sixth to eighth centuries, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria, the bowls were usually inscribed in a spiral, beginning from the rim and moving toward the center. Most are inscribed in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. (Wikipedia)

Incantation Lilith

- Drawings of the liliths or demons on the incantation bowls bear out these details of physical appearance.
- There was a sexual danger that men were warned about: “It is forbidden to sleep in a house alone, and whoever sleeps in a house alone, a lilith seizes him.”

One text describes the liliths “who appear to human beings, to men in the likeness of women and to women in the likeness of men, and they lie with all human beings at night and during the day. (Montgomery)

Screech owl

- Lilith is mentioned at least four times in the Babylonian Talmud and in none of these cases is she referred to as Adam’s wife.
- The Talmudic passages discuss Lilith in terms of warning that 'a man should not sleep alone in a house lest Lilith fall upon him in his sleep.'

In Hebrew, the term lilith or lilit is first used in Isaiah 34, and is translated as "night creatures", "night monster", "night hag", or "screech owl". However, this reference to Lilith does not appear in most common Bible translations, such as the KJV and NIV.

Spirits of the night in tree

- In the Hebrew Tanakh (Bible), the term 'Lilith' refers to night-things in general.
- It comes from the ancient Mesopotamian mythology of the lilu or lilitu, screeching or nosophoric (disease-bearing) spirits of the night.
- One of the oldest references to such a figure is in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, where a lil spirit has made its home within the trunk of a tree in the gardens of the goddess Ishtar, and the hero drives it out.
- In Greek mythology, Athena, goddess of wisdom, is associated with the owl.

The spirit’s name, transliterated as ki-sikil-lil-la-ke, can be translated as “sacred place ‘water spirit’ or ‘owl’”. The lilu is here already identified as dwelling within a tree (albeit the role of the tree is different), and both owl and serpent are archetypal symbols of wisdom, here placed in the garden of Ishtar, the Babylonian love-goddess. (Dimitris Almyrantis)

 

Serpent

- Lilith as the first-created wife of Adam, made from the earth like him, and cast out for refusing to ‘lie under him,’was first recorded in the Alphabet of Ben Sira of the early middle ages.
- However, this is not the origin of the Lilith (L-Y-L, layil or 'night') figure, nor is this her primary role.
- Her type in the Bible is not that of the wife of Adam, but the Serpent.

In medieval demonology, Lilith was associated with night-time visits by tempting demons at bed (or a crossroads/forest) whose appearance leads to ejaculation (through masturbation or dreams) in men. This is described as siring ‘half-demon children’, the lilin, who await the father on the other side. (Dimitris Almyrantis)

Sin of Onan

- The idea behind this is the 'generative force' much like a Chthonic deity.
- It is the same concept that appears in the 'sin of Onan,' made manifest through the dissemination of sperm into the world.
- Much the same way, in the story of Lilith after she was cast out, she goes into the wild places of the world and reproduces with its demons, producing her own legion of children.

And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. (Genesis 38 :8-9)

Lilith in Rabbinic text

Clay foot

- In Torah Genesis 1, God (Most High) created male and female as separate individuals in his own image at the same time from clay.
- Male and female God created them.
- And Eve was created as a free woman, in amcient mythology she is called Lilith.
 

God created mankind in God’s own image, in the image of God (B’tzelem Elohim) God created them; male and female God created them. (Torah, Genesis 1:27)

Ribs

- In the very next chapter, Torah Genesis 2, there is a totally different account.
- It describes man as created first, alone, and then a women named Eve is created out of his rib to be his helper.
- Since Eve was created out of the rib of Adam, her life was owed to him because she was part of him, so she was indebted to him.
- And the second Eve was created by YHWH as a slave woman and she was ruled by his 10 commandments (Mosaic law) which is the Old Covenant in the Old Testament.

 

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Genesis 5:1-2)

YHWH cooking up Eve

- For thousands of years, Jews have tried to reconcile this discrepancy.
- Many Jews believe that God did create a man and women at the same time in Genesis, chapter 1 but then something happened to that first women, Lilith, leaving man without a partner.
- This was the reason for the creation of Eve in Genesis, chapter 2.

The Eternal God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” …So the Eternal God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, God took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Eternal God made a woman from the rib taken out of the man, and God brought her to the man. (Torah, Genesis 2:18-22)

 

Butcher

- Genesis 2: 21 So Jehovah God (YHWH) caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place.
- And Jehovah God built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman, and he brought her to the man.
- Then the man said: "This is at last bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh.
- This one will be called Woman, Because from man she was taken.”
- That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he will stick to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

Quarrel

- In Jewish folklore, Adam’s first wife, who was created at the same time and from the same clay as Adam, was named Lilith.
- Some ancient Jewish myth also claims that YHWH added filthy clay to Eve.
- The story tells about how immediately after they were created, Adam and Lilith began to quarrel.
- When Adam insisted she play a subservient role, Lilith grew wings and flew away from Eden.

Although first written about in the early rabbinic period, the legend developed extensively during the Middle Ages. (rodephshalom.org)

Lilith fled

- The Zohar is clear that this being that preceded Eve was not a person but rather a spirit, a harmful spirit that was impure and inside Adam's psyche.
- Based on the verses in Genesis, Adam was created as male and female joined at the side (rib), the female side to be known as Eve.
- Lilith was a spirit that was with Adam before he and Eve were separated.
- Once the two halves of Adam and Eve were separate and subsequently married, Lilith fled.
- It is clear that Lilith is a negative spirit and not an actual physical person.

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:16)

Adam's lust

- Therefore, the 'harmful spirit' of lust was removed when Adam was married and able to direct his sexuality in a holy and proper manner through connection to his wife.
- Lilith, represented lust and sexual desire that is directed negatively, and 'fled' when Adam was joined in physical marriage to his bride, Eve.
- Lilith is cited as having been 'banished' from the Garden of Eden for not complying with and obeying Adam.

Lilith continues to serve as source material in today's popular culture, Western culture, literature, occultism, fantasy, and horror. (Wikipedia)

 

Lilith spiritual seduction

- In the Zohar Lilith’s demonic sexuality comes to the forefront.
- She attempts to seduce men and use their seed to create bodies for her demonic children.
- Lilith is the seductive harlot who leads men astray, but when they turn to her, she transforms into the angel of death and kills them.
- The Zohar recommends the performance of a special ritual before sexual intercourse between husband and wife, in which the husband turned his mind to God and repeated a magic spell.

 

Veiled in velvet, are you here? Loosened, loosened (be your spell)! Go not in and go not out! Let there be none of you and nothing of your part! (Scholem 1965)

Lilith in the Alphabet of Ben Sira

Fleeing

- The most quoted book in contemporary sources about Lilith is considered the least reliable.
- This is a medieval book written in the 8th-century called The Alphabet of Ben Sira which claims that God created Adam and Lilith at the same time from the dust of the earth.

This tale sets out to explain the already widespread custom of writing amulets against Lilith. (Scholem 1974)

 

Contemporary sources

- Lilith refused to subordinate herself to Adam in their intimate relationship, and she ran away from him using the Ineffable Name.
- Angels tried to force her to return, and she fought back and refused to go to Adam.
- She then mated with Samael, a fallen archangel sometimes identified with Satan, and became a mother of monsters which plague humanity.

The Ineffable Name is the name of God in the Bible that is considered too sacred to be spoken. It is also known as the Tetragrammaton, which comes from the Greek words tetra (four) and gramma (letter). The name is written in Hebrew as YHWH, but it is pronounced as Yahweh in English-speaking countries. (Wikipedia)

Tussle

- Adam said: “You lie beneath me.”
- And Lilith said: “You lie beneath me! We are both equal, for both of us are from the earth.”
- But they would not listen to one another.
- Adam then approached God about this ‘uppity’ women who was to be his wife, requesting that maybe God could do something about her.

As soon as Lilith heard this, she uttered the Divine name and flew up into the air and fled to the Red Sea. According to tradition, Lilith then became a demon, praying on men in their sleep and killing babies in their first week of life before they are brought into the covenant. (rodephshalom.org)

Eve

- The story continues that God then made Adam a second wife, Eve, who was content to stay with Adam.
- The story of Lilith is tragic but sadly not surprising because Adam, the first man, felt threatened.
- Lilith was an affront to his power, his entitlement, his masculinity, and so he sought to make her subservient.

The Alphabet of Ben Sira (not to be confused with the 2nd century BCE apocryphal book The Wisdom of Ben Sira. On the contrary, it is a work filled with demeaning and lewd variations on Biblical accounts and satirical portrayals of Biblical characters. The book is not and never was part of mainstream Jewish literature. (Rabbi Menachem Levine)

Where is the woman of the house?

- When Lilith didn’t work out, Adam just went and got a new wife who would apparently stay in her 'place.'
- So he replaced her.
- Adam acquired Eve, someone who he could blame all his problems on such as that eating the forbidden fruit.

This is the story where Lilith is Adam’s first wife, but she is disobedient and sees herself as equal to Adam. This story comes quite late the Jewish tradition of wisdom texts likely written somewhere around 900 AD. The work is rather controversial, it’s not known who the author was, and it covers a number of highly unusual and provocative subjects. Some have even interpreted the whole book as a work of satire. So it’s really unclear how we should treat this version of Lilith..

Rabbi of old

- The rabbis of old were so uncomfortable with a woman who was equal to a man, a woman who had her own thoughts and opinions, a woman who showed her anger or any sign of strength or authority.
- They literally demonized her by promoting a worldview that a woman who gets angry at inequality is a monster that tempts men and kills babies.

And Adam was afraid of the day Eve and Lilith returned to the garden, bursting with possibilities, ready to rebuild it together. (Judith Plaskow, The Coming of Lilith)

Banishing

- In fact, Adam can get as angry as he wants and he still has his place in the Garden of Eden.
- Lilith, on the other hand, the moment she exerts her equality with even the slightest bit of anger, gets banished.

This is about equality. For our entire history, from our mythical primordial beginnings on the 6th day of creation when human beings first came into being, male power and privilege have not been challenged enough in our society as a whole, and now, it is happening. And it is a good thing. (rodephshalom.org)

 

Bloodied

- Abrahamic patriarchal religion states that women are under men and for that reason, when Lilith rebelled, they demonized her.
- There is also an Islamic tale about how evil Lilith is, and the Hebrew and Judaic religions did likewise.
- They all considered Lilith as beneath Adam, and because she wanted to be treated as an equal, she is now depicted as disobedient and evil.
- Lilith has even been deemed responsible for evil cross breed entities between woman and demons.

Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way. (Proverbs 19:2)

 

Lilith in Medieval Kabbalah

Great Demon

- Lilith became a figure of cosmic evil in medieval Kabbalah.
- In the 13th-century Treatise on the Left Emanation, she became the female consort of Samael who was the 'Great Demon' of the Alphabet of Ben Sira.
- It is also the first to treat Samael and Lilith as a couple, likely inspiring later mythological characteristics depicted in the Zohar.
- Samael and Lilith emanated together from beneath the Throne of Glory as a result of the sin of the first humans in the Garden of Eden.

According to one version of the tale, she told them that she could not return to her first husband because she had already slept with the “Great Demon.” She told the angels that she was created only to sicken newborn babies and that she had dominion over males until the eighth day (when the boy is circumcised) and over females until the twelfth day after birth. The angels then told her that they would not force her to go back to Adam as long as she agreed to leave the child alone when she saw an amulet inscribed with the angels’ names and forms. Many amulets have been made against Lilith that refer to this tale. (Rebecca Lesses)

Amulet

- The amulet warns in Hebrew 'Bind Lilith in chains!'
- Lilith appears in the middle of the amulet used to protect an infant from the demoness, with small circles that outline her body representing a chain.
- The divine name is written in code called 'atbash' down her chest with the letters YHWH apearing instead as MZPZ.
- Followed by a prayer to 'Protect this boy who is a newborn from all all harm and evil. Amen.'
- Very few could read in ancient times however, keeping the divine name from common people's tongues was/is a spiritual crime.
- For instance, Lord and LORD represent two different things.

They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. (Mark 7:7-8)

 

Realm of evil

- In the realm of evil, the Sitra Ahra (Other Side), Samael and Lilith correspond to the holy divine female and male.
- Just as on the side of holiness so on the other side there are male and female, included one with the other.
- Lilith attempted intercourse with Adam before the creation of Eve, and after the creation of Eve she fled and ever after has plotted to kill newborn children.
- She dwells in the 'cities of the sea' and at the end of days God will make her dwell in the ruins of Rome.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

Serpent

- According to earlier midrashim, Samael seduced the serpent to commit evil in the Garden of Eden.
- He was long identified as the angel of death and the guardian angel of Rome.

 

In the 13th-century writings of Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she had coupled with the archangel Samael. (Wikipedia)

Dreaming

- There are also many references to Lilith is in the Zohar which is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature and is a group of books about the mystical aspects of the Torah.
- The Zohar teaches that we should interpret all dreams as completely positive, even those that seem to us like something of an ill-omen; the same applies to this dream-like reality we call 'life.'

Midrashic narratives

Second Eve

- In the midrashic narratives from the middle ages a different figure appears as the 'First Eve,' a prior wife of Adam (formerly called Lilith).
- H. Schwartz’s Tree of Souls, was an anthology of midrashic and oral narratives.
- Schwartz tells a story about Eve formed in the flesh in front of Adam and his disgust which caused him to flee, and he awoke later to find the 'Second Eve' had been created from his rib.

Midrashic refers to a Jewish method of interpreting the Bible, or the body of writings that result from this practice. The word "midrash" comes from the Hebrew verb darash, which means "to seek" or "to inquire." (Wikipedia)

Mermaid-like

- The traditional 'First Eve' was a clever woman and stronger than Adam so he asked for a replacement so God was going to throw her into the sea.
- Then she asked to talk to baby boys when they were 5 days old and warn them about their future before they were placed under the Old Covenant (the law).
- One hundred years later, God put Adam to sleep and created a new woman out of his rib who was modest and quiet, and subservient.

The great Kabbalist, the Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 1534-1572) writes that Samael is in charge of all the “male” demons, called Mazikim, while his “wife” Lilith is in charge of all the “female” demons, called Shedim (Sha’ar HaPesukim on Psalms). He further associates Lilith with the sword of the Angel of Death. The Arizal understood Lilith as a spirit of lust, that is still around and dangerous. (Rabbi Menachem Levine)

Returned to dust

- There have been other variations of the Eve story throughout the centuries.
- For example, Genesis Rabbah 22:7, states that Cain and Abel fought over the first Eve, however, the rabbi who proposed this was quickly contradicted by another, who insisted that the first Eve had already returned to dust.

The Hebrew legends speak of Lilith giving birth to demonic children when she says the secret name of God and leaves Eden. She has seperated herself from God. Later stories have her married to various demonic beings including Samael (the poison of God). These myths point to the idea that she is the aspect of Sophia (the Shekinah) that brings These dark forces are the secret operation of the Holy Spirit and spur on our spiritual evolution.about the dark forces in the world. (Science of Mind)

All the world's a stage, for kings

- The fear of YHWH is integral to the love of YHWH because despite all the bad things we see him doing in the lower ego, we still need to tame him and get along.
- However, we also must keep in mind that the 'Yahweh' in the polytheistic early Hebrew teachings divorced his wife Asherah, when the Jews converted to a monotheistic solo god.
- And the fact that they still don't believe that Christ is the true Messiah.
- His role in the Old Testament is the lower national god of Israel, one of the 72 placed over the nations, certainly not the Most High.

In the Zohar, of course, the north is associated with Severity or Judgment - Gevurah. One of the well known titles of Lilith is "Queen of the North," as the consort of Samael who corresponds with Gevurah, and in Gematria her name equals "daughter of wisdom," Hokmah, which is Yahweh. (sophian.org)

 

Lilith as Generative Force

Mixes with the world

- Lilith herself can be seen as a generative force, turned downwards towards the elements of the earth, analogous to the Platonic concept of the Anima Mundi or Psyche Cosmos (World Soul).
- This is the force of fertility and imagination in the world of 'becoming' as opposed to the ideal world of 'being.'
- Just like the human soul it 'falls' and mixes its members with the world.

Lilith labors for our liberation - hence the dark face of Elohim manifest as Malkut, or Kali Kallah. Now, at times when Malkut is manifest as Kali Kallah we might view what is transpiring in our lives as ill-fortune or inauspicious, but in truth what's transpiring is a burning off of sin or negative karma, and it is the opportunity to dispel something that binds the soul from greater progress. (sophian.org)

Buddhist tradition

- In the Buddhist tradition, many spiritual practices, such as Kali, are not for the beginner so the visual symbols are frightening to warn off someone who isn't ready.
- There is a clear message in all sacred texts that when ordinary beings encounter the profoundly sacred, they can be terrified, even driven to madness.
- This is the same thing that many who take hallucinogens have experienced.
- So it makes sense that the iconography of advanced practices would have a bit of a skull and cross-bones appearance.
- However, in mainstream Christianity the significance of dealing with our dark side, is covered up with sweet-faced angels in stained glass windows.

The story of the snails on Buddha's head is a myth that symbolizes the compassion and interconnectedness of all beings. The story goes that while Siddhartha Gautama was meditating, 108 snails sacrificed themselves to create a distraction-free environment for him to attain enlightenment. After he became the Buddha, the snails remained on his head as a symbol of their sacrifice. (originalbuddhas.com)

Kali

- Essentially, Lilith is the Shekinah Emanation of Gevurah (Judgment), much like the wrathful dakinis of Vajrayana or goddesses like Kali in Hinduism
- The word for 'black' in Hebrew, which is Kali, is the same as in Sanskrit, so we too speak of Kali Imma and Kali Kallah, the Black Mother and Black Bride.
- She is the fierce or wrathful emanation of the upper and lower Shekinah, the Divine Presence and Power in heaven and in creation, respectively.

Shekhinah is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God in a place. This concept is found in Judaism and the Torah, as mentioned in Exodus 25:8. (Wikipedia)

Material garden

- Consider the myth of Lilith as the first woman in light (enlightened).
- By refusing to 'lie under' Adam, or subordinate herself to gross matter in the garden, Lilith/Psyche falls into 'becoming' and reproduces with the demonic or material world.
- In turn, the psyche, which now contains the 'image and likeness' of the world by herself, a microcosm, stirs the emotional (Eve) element of the human being.
- This in turn moves the earthly Adam out of the garden and into the rudiments of understanding.

When you put together the myth, the gematria, the meaning of her name in Hebrew, you see the play that the Kabbalsts were getting at. She really is the mother of demons and at the same time an aspect of the Mother (Sophia/Shekinah/Holy Spirit) on the pillar of severity that is driving our spiritual evolution. (Science of Mind)

Gnostic Sophia

Achamoth

- Much the same, the Gnostic Valentinian system describes a Lower Sophia (Sophia Achamoth, or 'Lower Wisdom') and a higher Sophia (Pistis Sophia) who remains in the Pleroma.
- In Gnosticism, Sophia is a feminine figure, analogous to the human soul but also simultaneously one of the feminine aspects of God.
- The Demiurge (Yaldabaoth) represents Satan who reigns on Earth in the lower ego and also refers to YHWH.
- When the lower Sophia fell from the Pleroma, they also call her Sophia Achamoth and she remained in the material World without the knowledge of the father Bythos, where she became who we know today as Lilith.

Pleroma (Koinē Greek: literally "fullness") generally refers to the totality of divine powers. It is used in Christian theological contexts, as well as in Gnosticism. The term also appears in the Epistle to the Colossians, which is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. The word is used 17 times in the New Testament. (Wikipedia)

 

Inner demons

- Now we know that there are, indeed, external and dark forces, but they are not so much our concern as are our own inner demons.
- These are negative karmic patterns that form obstructions to our self-realization in Christ, husks of impurity and darkness that must be dispelled if we are to know the Most High and experience conscious union with him.

This poet child of the Wisdom Goddess cries out with abandon; "The Queen of the Universe resides within the flower of my secret heart. (Ramprasad)

Watery

- The Gnostics knew that the demiurge represented things such as oppressive government, power and control; and that the demiurge knew nothing about the spiritual side of things.
- Plus, that we need to come out of the lower ego, material world in order to ascend.
- We need to throw away our shame, guilt and fear and take off our masks (the character we played on Earth).

What happens when we do not address and integrate the darker side of our psyche or our shadow in our spirituality? Given the direction things are going in the world, we are about to get a very severe and painful lesson as to what happens. It might be worth noticing that patriarchal religions that do not address the integration of the shadow and that do not honor the fullness Divine Feminine are significant players in the violence that is transpiring in our world and in what is about to transpire – so perhaps there is wisdom to be gained from the Dark Mother and Bride. (Science of Mind)

 

Divine Illumination

- This nature of mind is the most subtle and sublime meaning of 'Christos,' called Logos-Sophia in many Gnostic teachings.
- This is the state of Christ Consciousness, and the realization of this is the enlightenment and liberation of the mind or soul-stream, 'salvation' through what Gnostics called the Divine Gnosis or Divine Illumination.
- It is all the play of a science of mind, an art of consciousness.

Dark night of the soul

- In the Western world, we often hear this called 'Dark night of the soul' or the 'shadow side.'
- Suppose one finds themself overtaken by extreme negativity but when we try to recognize the emptiness of those thoughts and emotions, but that does not work.
- Plus, when one tries to cut off the negativity, that also does not work.
- The only answer, then, is to embrace the negativity and integrate it into one’s practice, thus transforming it and drawing out the divine spark that is in it.
- When you know yourself well enough to know your weakness, such as anger, it's much easier to control because you're looking out for it.

The establishment (including the fundamentalist religions that don't recognize they may be as far removed from the Truth as the so-called politically correct triad they demonize) has so fully influenced even the female mind that it is difficult to see past this cosmic ignorance. (Science of Mind)

Celestial Lilith

Solar deity and mirror

- Eve and Lilith are one woman, and she is a Supernal Emanation.
- Western astrology has struggled with the concept of Lilith as a function in the human being, the referents who rewrote sidereal astrology are confused.
- They deleted Ophiuchus, the 13th astrological sign who is Jesus.
- Medusa is also said to be Ophiuchus who is blaming the Romans for eradicating female leadership (she turned them all to stone).
- When you understand the 7 spheres, you know that the 1st sphere, the mineral world, is the lowest form of existence on Earth.

Black Moon Lilith

- There is an asteroid named Lilith, a hidden satellite of Earth called Dark Moon Lilith, and also the Black Moon Lilith, the empty second focus of the Moon's elliptical orbit although not identified.
- The latter is characterized by 'wild', extreme variations in position, due to the extremely complex nature of the Earth-Moon gravitational interplay.
- This is a symbol not only of the 'volatility, irrationality and unpredictability' of the darker passions within us, but also of the Gnosis or Wisdom.

May we embrace the Holy Mother and Bride in full, bright and dark, and so embrace Reality as It Is, the beauty and danger alike - so may we be counted among the living ones; amen. (sophian.org)

Witch

- 13 is a number associated with women, as 'witches' who are regarded as sinister and evil.
- 13 is only unlucky to men; it's the number of the female goddess.
- 13 is part of a lunar matriarchal society that presaged the Roman empire, and was ruled by the Moon.
- The Romans replaced the 13-month lunar calendar of 28 days with one day left over, with their Solar 12-month calendar, with odd numbered days and 1/4 of a day left.
- Like history books, the calendars are written by the victors.

Astrology

- The Romans, and their church, destroyed the female power base by fire and steel.
- Philosopher Ptolemy likewise enslaved her astrology in service of Roman aggression and its bloody atrocities.
- Sidereal astrology is based on the stars, while modern Western Tropical is based on the material realm, the seasons.
- Lilith's assassination was a forgone conclusion, no mercy was to be shown to the woman who demanded equality with men.
- A woman who would resist his fire and steel with the greater power of mother nature and her irresistible and irrefutable importance in the human existence.

Modern Tropical astrology is the spawn of the apologists and propagandists of male tyranny, and its use is actually a genuflection to an ideology that represents the worst of human nature. One glance from her could turn a man to stone. (siderealist.com)

Dark Magic Controls Earth

Missing sources

- Many scholars throughout the years have cobbled together various skant resources about Lilith that are now disputed.
- Two sources previously used to connect the Jewish lilith to an Akkadian lilītu, both the Gilgamesh appendix and the Arslan Tash amulets are now contested.
- The power of words, and especially the misuse of them, does control the world and is black magic, crimes against humanity.
- You can relate that to the truth and value of our 'news' sources today which are pitiful.

Despite its theological underpinning, the Faust legend has thrived in secular consumer societies, particularly in a culture of instant gratification. From credit cards to fast food, we opt for immediate pleasure even in the knowledge that it brings long-term pain. Faustus states that the only God he serves is his “own appetite”, and Goethe’s Mephistopheles offers him the opportunity to “sample every possible delight… grasp at what you want!” (Benjamin Ramm)

 

Key to everything is knowledge

- Additionally, the archons who run this world have deleted everything they don't want us to know about, and that includes more recently, the Internet as a valid source.
- Our English language has been so mangled, some words have a multitude of spellings and meanings, and parts of speech.
- And then there's the contrived false Hebrew language mostly constructed since the 1920s to deceive all of us.
- It's not only an ancient language, it was considered a dead language for thousands of years and nobody on Earth knows what it sounded like or if it truly existed.
- There are ancient Hebrew writings (in Greek) that described the philosophy before YHWH changed it to a monotheistic religion and they viewed the female quite differently.

For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14)

Adam clay

- Lilith is written about clearly in the Dead Sea Scrolls and was the first woman created by the Abrahamic God.
- She was 'created' while Adam was made out of clay and she had the breath of life breathed into her.
- YHWH  banished her from the Garden of Eden about the same time Adam and Eve were banished.

Earlier stories of the Abrahamic religions and writings not included in the Bible, never mentioned that God made anyone out of the dust of the earth and this is considered a purposeful mistranslation and wrongful interpolation. (Owen Lee)

Magician using words

- It's just amazing how Lilith was something that was spiritual, Adam's lust, and now is used to demonize the divine femininity.
- She was originally one of the 7 deadly sins, and in this case, Adam was a male so she was his sin.
- All the words used against her were black magic so there's no doubt who the real demons are.

The name Lilith is Lamed Yod Lamed Yod Tav in Hebrew. The letter Lamed can mean push, prod, or encite (motivating force). Yod can mean humilty, reaching toward God, inclination, religion. Tav can mean cross and also covenant or enlightenment (salvation and eternal life). This makes me think of Lilith as the motivating force toward God that helps us reach enlightenment. (Science of Mind)

Turned into a vampire

- In summary, there is no evidence at all that the idea of  'Lilith, the first wife of Adam' existed in any form at all prior to being introduced within a work of satire over 1,000 years after the Book of Genesis was written.
- Lilith was never was part of the Bible and does not belong in Jewish or Christian tradition.

YHWH beating the drum

- Lilith belongs in Mesopotamian myths but she did not belong in any Hebrew or Greek texts.
- There is a reference to her in the Bible, but it’s talking about a demonic being, not a human wife of the first man, and that is an interpretation because it never mentions her name.
- Lilith is not the first spurned wife of Adam in most Hebrew history or legend and he does not have any wife other than Eve in Hebrew and Early Christian texts.

Greek God Pan in the wild

- Understanding that Eastern wisdom traditions such as those found in Buddhism (Tibetan Buddhism) and Hinduism are much more in alignment with their light and dark, masculine and feminine natures.
- While those left behind in the patriarchal orthodoxy and fundamentalism that has come to dominate Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are most often, ignorant about many philosophical concepts.
- Christ spent 18 years learning these practices in India and Tibet and how to differentiate between the lower self and the higher self in spiritual practice, something that seems to be hidden in orthodox forms of Judaism and Christianity.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. (Hosea 4:6)

Higher self crowned

- What we have at the bottom of this long list of different stories about Lilith and Eve, are all representations of the lower ego and the higher self.
- In Christianity, the Old Testament (Old Covenant) represents the lower ego, while the New Testament (New Covenant) is the higher self.
- Jesus Christ came to Earth to do away with the Mosaic law (lower ego) and help us to raise our vibration (frequency) into a higher realm.
- He wanted to replace the Old Covenant (slave woman) with the New Covenant (free woman) which you see, actually came first so it isn't really new, it was just replaced when humanity fell under YHWH.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. (Psalm 14:1)

Turned evil

- But the problem is, traditional Western religion (2/3s of the world population) turned the story about Lilith into an evil, demonic woman, just like they did to Eve, Mary Magdalene, Sophia, Ashamoth, Isis, and countless others.
- When it is really just a story about the spirit of the lower ego that should be defeated in order to ascend to the higher self.
- The birth and resurrection of each of our souls.
- It's about learning how to reconcile your dark side with your light side, because we all have both of them.

In Sophian Gnosticism what Lilith symbolizes or represents is quite different than what she symbolizes or represents to orthodox Christianity (or to “Satanist” for that matter) – to understand the Sophian view one must look into Sophia teachings about Sophia Nigrans, as well as look into the “Dark Goddess” or “Black Goddess” archetype as it occurs in various wisdom traditions around the world – Lilith is simply our tradition’s personification of this archetype. As a tradition the honors all aspects of the Divine and Sacred Feminine, that is part of the story, although our reason for practices with Lilith runs a bit deeper still. (Science of Mind)

Cup empty

- Unfortunately, modern Western Abrahamic practioners have lied (or misconstrued) many things.
- The switch to monotheistic (one god aka YHWH) from polytheistic (many gods) that occurred with later Hebrew traditions and then transfered to Christianity, has done a lot of damage.

No longer divine

- This is because the churches turned the Divine Feminine spiritual side into a raging, demonic demon that men are supposed to fear.
- It created a lot of deep seated anger and hate in men directed towards women, and a lot of misconceptions.
- And to make matters worse, the churches don't teach anyone how to conquer and merge both sides of their nature, light and dark.
- In true reality, it's the females who have been hurt the most from this because they were simply removed, leaving a broken half-sided male monster of reality we live in today.
- Which is run by the lower ego, the law; eye for an eye.

Wrath given the boot

- That is where we learn about Lilith and the reason for her wrath and how purposeful it is.
- The methods of transformation are based upon the awareness of a thought-emotion, whether they manifest in a negative or positive form, as essentially one and the same energy.
- An energy that becomes polarized is caused by our dualism in consciousness that occurs on account of ignorance.

 

Anger, which can swiftly become hatred, the cause of some of the greatest evil on the face of the earth. If we look into anger it is an emotion based upon self-grasping, which produces the subject and object relationship – “that person” did this “to me,” and “I’m angry.” If we look a bit deeper into anger, though, it actually becomes interesting, for anger is a great power of concentration – when we are angry we can focus the mind with a virtual one-pointed concentration on the apparent cause of our anger, and repeatedly visualize the entire episode in perfect detail. (sophian.org)

Full cup

- Thus, through the presence of awareness and skillful means a negative thought-emotion can be transformed into something positive and beneficial and it can be 'uplifted.'
- But first you must know yourself, and understand what 7 deadly sins you are breaking (anger, jealousy, etc.) and this is where dropping the ego and being truthful with yourself are required. 

 

Practices with Lilith are one of the ways some Sophian initiates learn to work with fears and aversions, or various forms of negativity that may arise, by taking it and using it in spiritual practice – instead of avoiding the darkness that arises in them, they transform it and bring it into the Divine Light. (Science of Mind)

Wrath and anger explode

- Suppose we could neutralize the concepts of the subject of anger (ourselves as a person who was 'hurt') and the object of anger (the person who 'hurt us') and the cause of the anger ('how they hurt us')?
- What we would have would no longer be 'anger,' but a very powerful force of concentration which could be used in prayer and meditation.
- Therefore, wrathful practice or bad habit can be a way through which we can take negativity and transform it into a spiritual practice that benefits us.

Enlightenment entails the ability to gaze with undimmed vision on all dark things. (Kazantzakis)

 

Female wrath and anger

- The female, both sacred and historical, has just cause to be angry and Lilith represents that anger, symbolizing the degradation and subjugation women have experienced for eons, it appears since the beginning of time.
- In order for all of us to both redeem ourselves and evolve ourselves toward a mass consciousness of Christ and Sophia it will be necessary for us to recognize that we have indeed disenfranchised Lilith which is womanhood in all of its various aspects.

Raging Lilith or is it raging man

- By recognizing this we will be able to reverse this path and ultimately, unite the Holy Mother and the Dark Bride so that the raging Lilith will at last find peace.
- And so much for the theory of not eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
- Obviously there is much value in Lilith as a negative spiritual force that helps us wake up, however, not as most Abrahamic churches have rolled her out, as a demonized, vindictive and villianized woman (and the idea that all women are this).
- Ironically, the 'lust' that started all this was male lust for Eve, not the other way around.

 

New raging Lilith

- The contemporary feminist movement found an inspiration in this image of Lilith and decisively changed her mythology from demon to powerful woman.
- Interest in the Lilith myth was taken up by women in the early 1970s as a social cause to raise the status of the feminine once again.
- A feminist magazine, Lilith, took her name in 1976 because the editors were inspired by Lilith’s fight for equality with Adam.

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Moral of the myth! - Ancient Jewish text pre-monotheism had the idea that Lilith was a spiritual force and one of the 7 Deadly Sins, Lust, and that it departed from Adam when he married Eve. - After the Jews converted to monotheism and YHWH divorced Asherah, Lilith, now portrayed as a demon, seemed to have morphed into ALL females in both the physical and spiritual realms. - Which is so wrong and created so many problems in the world that is now run by the masculine lower ego, since monotheism killed the Divine Feminine.

Richard Westall