Mother Lilith : Who is Lilith and Why Work with Her?

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Lilith tells us to take back our power. She calls to us to stand in our truth, embracing our darkness and our light equally. She tells us to stop playing small and being afraid of burning too passionately for worry of being misunderstood in the eyes of others. Our fire is not for them, she tells us, it is for us. 

Who is Lilith? 

Lilith, throughout history, is known by many names, Lilitu, Lavita, Lamia, queen of hell, demonic succubi, mother of demons and many many more references. 

Keep in mind, when it comes to mythology and ancient scriptures of stories referring to gods, goddesses, deities, that everything is told by a certain individual’s own perspective. We do not know for certain what is true and what isn’t. Always do your own research about any deity you are interested in working with and take what resonates or makes sense to you. 

Ancient Sumeria

In Sumerian mythology, dating as far back as 3000 BCE, we have the first possible origin of Lilith as a beautiful maiden Goddess named Sud, who ruled over grain and agriculture. The story of Sud is said that she was raped by the God of air and atmosphere, Enlil. Sud became pregnant and Enlil was banished to the underworld as punishment. Sud followed him and encountered him 3 times leaving pregnant each time. There story changed from hatred to love and so the two returned to earth where Enlil who’s name translates to Lord Air, gave Sud the name Ninlil or Lady Air.

Ninlil became known as “lady of the open field” representing the pollination of agriculture by wind. After Ninlil’s death it is said that she was reincarnated as the south wind, which brings us to Lilitu, the entity that scholars widely accept as the earliest form of Lilith. Lilitu is described as the Sumerian wind spirit who is attached to the ideas of uncleanliness, disease, baroness, a dessert waste land that comes sweeping through and leaving a trail of destruction. Lilitu is commonly considered a female night demon, however if it is true that she is a reincarnation of Ninlil then this negates her being something negative.

Taking a look at the etymology of the word Lilitu gives us additional clues as to who she is. Lil translates to “air” or “wind”; however, it was also used to describe “breath” the “spirit of place” a “back country” or “open country” and sometimes even “infection”. Meanwhile itu was a reference to “moon” “month” and “moonlight”. The Sumerians also followed a lunar calendar which is why moon and moth are used to describe the same word. It is from this etymology that Lilitu was known as a “wind spirit of the night” which is why some scholars have used this to conclude that Lilitu was a demonic spirit that Brough chaos and disease. However it is also important to note that Sumerians didn’t necessarily view demons as evil and in many cases were just another form of spirit.

Conversely, also know in Sumerian mythology as Inanna’s handmaiden and sacred sex worker. Inanna, a radiant Goddess widely worshiped in Sumer and seen as the “Queen of Heaven”; also known as Inanni, Ishtar and Astarte, who eventually aligns with Greek Goddess Aphrodite. Inanna was a goddess of beauty, sexuality, astronomy, astrology, prostitution, agriculture, love and war. Because of this, temple prostitution in dedication to Inanna was a customary practice; sexuality was revered as a gift to the Goddess. In an ancient Sumerian tablet there is a text which describes the female personification of lust as under the protection of Innini. The text roughly describes the demon sent by Innini, a beautiful and licentious unmarried harlot, who seduces men in the streets and fields; she is described as the “hand of Innini.” The hand of Inini was called Lilitu by the Semites.

In this capacity, Lilith can be considered the great teacher of sexuality and tantric sex magic as passed down from the highest ruling goddess of the time. However, knowing that Lilitu was a sexual servant of the Goddess, and this region and time period was home to some of the first sexually transmitted infections, we can see the correlation between Lilith as a night spirit and bringer of disease.

Gilgamesh and The Huluppu Tree

Around 2000 BCE we have the poems of Gilgamesh and the Huluppu Tree where Lilith resurfaces in connection to Inanna. The poem is inscribed in a tablet where the story goes, an entity named Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (or simply Lillake) cases the great Mother Goddess grief as she takes up residency in Inanna’s sacred huluppu tree with a snake and a bird. There have been claims that translate Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke to Lilith and there have been others who have rejected this claim. Nevertheless, there are parallels between this story and forthcoming myths of Lilith.

In the poem we see Lilith being linked to the bird and snake for the first time. The bird is symbolic of enlightenment with its abilities to ascend into the sky and heavens above, while the serpents burrows deep within the earth to the underworld; entwined at the base of the tree connects tot eh kundalini essence that resides coiled at the base of our spines. The huluppu tree is believed to be a white willow, a magical tree that is greatly associated with wisdom, water and the moon.

In the translation of the story it is told that Inanna found an uprooted huluppu tree and planted it in her garden. She planned to eventually use the wood for a throne. Over time, Inanna was unable to cut down the tree because a serpent “who knows no charm” was coiled at the base, an Anzu bird had built its nest in the crown and Lilith, the “maid of desolation” took up residency in the middle. Inanna wept until the “great Sumerian hero” Gilgamesh overheard her and came to rescue her. He killed the snake and cause the bird to fly away while Lilith “tore down her house and fled to the desolate places where she was accustomed to haunting.”

It is important to note that this is a translated interpretation of the poem, however it is questionable. Especially if you consider the fact that Inanna is a mighty and powerful goddess of war who would not likely be willing to let a half-man, half-god come “rescue her”.

The Bible

In the Bible, Lilith isn’t mentioned much but there is a slight hint of her origin story in the book of genesis where it is revealed that man and women were created together, Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” but then later Eve was created from Adams rib; indicating that there was someone before Eve came along.

Judaism

In Judaic texts God created Lilith of the same earth as he created Adam. 

She was expressive, she wanted to be treated equal especially when it came to sex but she wasn’t treated fairly by Adam and so she wanted to be free. After arguments with him, she then decided to speak the unspeakable name of God and when she did this she sprouted wings and flew out of the garden. When she did this she flew out into the Red Sea and into a cave. There she met with demons and fornicators and it was basically a party vibe. She was having lots of sex and had lots of babies. 

God sent out three angels to search for her because Adam had asked him to. The angels searched for her and when they found her they told her to return with them but she refused to go back. Because of this God said he would kill 100 of her children for every day that she stayed in the cave. Then she decides, because of this she would kill a bunch of children too, unless they were wearing Gods amulet and that is where another folklore story came about. 

Feminism

Interestingly enough it is because of the Judaic stories that she has also been chosen as a symbol for feminism. This isn’t a very popular topic because of all the negativity around her but she shows the lack of equality in ancient times and shows women that they are in fact equal to men and there for deserve equal treatment. 

Hinduism 

Lilith is connected to Lavita in Hindu mythology. Lavita is an epithet for Shakti who is Shiva’s wife. Here we see a healthy relationship dynamic where they work together through love, equality, balance, support, partnership, respect and honor. Shakti is generally shown as being a very nurturing mother archetype but she also has a destructive aspect to her and those epithets would be Kali and Durga. 

Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece she is known as the goddess Lamia which also translate to mean vampire. The goddess Lamia had an affair with Zeus and when his wife Hera found out she killed all of Lamia’s children. After that Lamia started killing children in retaliation. 

You can see Lilith in so many different cultures. She is portrayed as this archetype of avenging mother and women who has sex for the sake of pleasure and because of which she is ousted from society. She was called a screech owl, mother of vampires, child eater, just to name a few.

Pop-culture

Nowadays Lilith is portrayed on media as a demon, mother of demons or queen of vampires. She is said to be a dark and mysterious deity who is violent, not someone you’d want to work with. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Why would you want to work with Lilith?

Lilith helps us connect to the unconscious realm and connect to our subconscious mind. 

Shadow Work

Lilith can be really helpful when you’re going through some sort of shadow work especially when it comes to sex and shame associated with it as well as reclaiming your divine feminine energy. You can regain the power that you may have previously lost. You can restore proper boundaries and realign yourself with things and people that truly matter in your life. 

Regain your divine feminine energy

When you work with Lilith from a divine feminine energy point, she rises up to meet you where you’re at and shows you the things that most serve you. Lilith can help you become dominant, sensual, and assertive. She helps you find your strength, courage and know your truth. She awakens the wild women in you and sets you free.

There is so much growth and transformation that is possible when we unashamedly and without fear step into exploring the divine darkness within. 

However, when you’re not expressing wild women from a place of love and still releasing repressed rage, or you have bottled up emotions for so long she helps to release that blocked repressed energy. If you haven’t done the inner work you will feel the emotional pain from this.

Lilith has the capacity to get deep into the layers of pain; there is a deep healing. She creates this space and helps us do the shadow work and heal the trauma that we may not even know is there. 

Motherly guidance and protection

This may be surprising to most but Lilith has a really beautiful maternal energy. You might not expect that a deity associated with demons, sexuality and child murder, would have a maternal aspect. However, the biggest reason she is associated with child murder is that she had her own children taken away from her. One of her main aspects is that of mother with protecting and nurturing energy. 

Regain your power through working with Lilith 

As divine feminine energy, Lilith comes in to give us the divine expression of seductress and temptress. She comes to blow apart our judgement around that; the absorbed conditioning that we have around seductress. Seductress, when connected to heart, and not to manipulation, when coming from love and the highest form of self, that becomes high level divine freedom. 

Freedom is the utmost attainable gift to get from working with Lilith. You can honestly gain the sense of freedom by working with any deity and with that being said never feel shame, worry, doubt or fear to work with deities. When you can form a beautiful healthy relationship with a deity you can attain so much. 

If you’d like to know more about working with dark goddesses or how to specifically work with Lilith be sure to check out those posts as well.