The Lilith I know

There’s a lot of different ideas of what it means to work with Lilith. I find that mine is perhaps one of the least commonly talked about, and the most strongly reacted to.

The current prevailing wind, which is understandable in light of the fact that most proponents are former Christians who are uncomfortable with challenging representations of the feminine, is the neopagan tendency to want to transform Lilith in a benign fertility goddess, espousing a sort of pliable, commercially acceptable pseudo-feminism. Generally, this rests solely on the first half of the Ben Sira story (in which Lilith leaves Adam for his misogyny), and proclaims the the second half (in which Lilith goes on to propagate demons) and the entirety of her remaining 5-thousand-year mythology is simply slander, or just pretends it doesn’t even exist.

I tend to argue against this whenever I see it — that there is no mythological or anthropological evidence for this interpretation of Lilith, and that in trying to white-wash her into this narrative, we rob ourselves of the chance to really challenge ourselves philosophically or spiritually. It is, in itself, a type of misogyny, despite that this camp feigns feminism as its basis — refusing to reckon with the feminine in any form but that which makes us most comfortable.

But when I say this, I am inevitable asked this question: “So she’s just an evil demon to you, then?”

Let’s unpack that.

I think it is first important to note that I simply don’t adhere to Abrahamic mythology. I am fairly educated about Lilith’s Abrahamic mythology, having studied her as long as I have, but it’s not integral to my personal perception of her.

I don’t see her as the first woman because I don’t see Yahweh as the creator of humans/all-god, and indeed, Lilith predates Yahweh by millenia, so this doesn’t make much sense to me.

I also don’t see her as falling into the larger narrative of Satanism because, well, if I don’t give much importance to Yahweh, then why would I give much importance to Satan? After all, Satan is his servant.

For me, Lilith remains in her pagan, Sumerian context. She is well-traveled and has an illustrious mythological career, all of which I find fascinating and think has some value, but it is not the basis of how I see her, or how I work with her.

To me, Lilith is the surviving heir of Lamashtu.

Lamashtu is a goddess who is often described as simultaneously a demon, and she has a number of unique traits.

She is, for a start, the only deity in the Sumerian pantheon outside the control of any form of hierarchy, either divine or human.

Other deities had temples, and this was quite important in Sumer. Temples were said to be the gods’ homes, in which they relied on humans to provision them appropriately, and in return, agreed to grant favors.

Lamashtu had no temple and signed no such contract.

Other deities were generally beholden to a higher-up deities, particularly if they wanted to do anything “harmful” to humans.

Lamashtu asked no permission and respected no such order.

It is for this reason she was considered particularly dangerous. But it is also for this reason that she symbolized the inevitable truth of void.

In the Atra-Hasis, it describes Sumer’s version of the flood story, in which the civilization is wiped out to stop overpopulated humans from destroying the land with their carelessness.

And in the aftermath, Lamashtu (here called Pasittu, one of her several names) takes up the mantle of enforcer to prevent such a thing from happening again. She is the death-drive preventing humans from reaching such levels of destruction. And naturally, this force would be feminine, since the feminine is the ultimate arbiter of birth. To achieve this, she thwarts human reproduction, and spreads disease when human quarters get too crowded.

Of course, this made her exceptionally unpopular, and her moniker as not just a goddess, but also a demon, is well-earned.

But does this make her “evil”?

I suppose if your only concern is your immediate material wants, perhaps.

But if you have broader concerns, this moral designation suddenly becomes more questionable.

What is inherently “good” about humans pillaging the earth as suits them? What is “evil” about the universe attempting to keep us in some sort of harmony, when we refuse to respect it ourselves?

Humans are short-sighted. The hatred of Lamashtu lives on in the denial of climate change.

And one of Lamashtu’s aspects, Ardat Lili, then Lilitu, and now Lilith, survives with many of her same traits, same inevitable march towards void, and her same indomitable rejection of exchange or hierarchy, but a bit closer to humanity. The bridge between a cosmic void, and our daily experiences.

So yes, Lilith is a demon in my eyes, given that “demon” generally means nothing other than “things that scare people” or “things that the dominant religious current dislikes.” Yes, certainly Lilith is a demon. Certainly she is death-oriented, destructive, and incorrigible.

Lilith is also a force of great importance and meaning — regardless of whether she acquiesces to human comfort and short-sighted desires. And by facing that discomfort honestly, I grow far more as a person than I ever would have staying comfortably within the limits of the unthreatening, controlled version of the divine feminine.

That is what it means to me to work with Lilith. Especially in times like these.