The Nonsense thread

MOOGLE? · December 20, 2010

Contents

[hide]

* 1 Middle East

o 1.1 Ancient Near East

o 1.2 Hebrew Bible

o 1.3 New Testament

o 1.4 Islam

o 1.5 Judaism

* 2 India

* 3 Japan

o 3.1 Fox Employers

o 3.2 In popular culture

* 4 Central Asia

* 5 References

[edit] Middle East

[edit] Ancient Near East

Further information: Lilitu

The belief in witchcraft and its practice seem to have been widespread in the past. Both in ancient Egypt and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part, as existing records plainly show. It will be sufficient to quote a short section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 BCE). It is there prescribed,

If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him.[1]

[edit] Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible references to witchcraft are frequent, and the strong condemnations of such practices which we read there do not seem to be based so much upon the supposition of fraud as upon the "abomination" of the magic in itself.

Verses such as Deuteronomy 18:11-12 and Exodus 22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" provided scriptural justification for Christian witch-hunters in the early Modern Age (see Christian views on witchcraft). The word "witch" is a translation of the Hebrew kashaph, "sorceress". The Bible provides some evidence that these commandments were enforced under the Hebrew kings:

"And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?"[2] (The Hebrew verb "Hichrit" (הכרית) translated in the King James as "cut off", can also be translated as "kill wholesale" or "exterminate")

[edit] New Testament

See also: Christian views on witchcraft

The New Testament condemns the practice as an abomination, just as the Old Testament had (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6).

There is some debate, however, as to whether the word used in Galatians and Revelation, Pharmakeia, is properly translated as "sorcery", as the word was commonly used to describe malicious use of drugs as in poisons, contraceptives, and abortifacients.

[edit] Islam

Divination and Magic in Islam encompass a wide range of practices, including black magic, warding off the evil eye, the production of amulets and other magical equipment, conjuring, casting lots, astrology and physiognomy.

Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam, do commonly believe in the existence of magic, and explicitly forbid the practice of it (Sihir). Sihir translates as sorcery or black magic from Arabic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is the Sura Al-Falaq (meaning dawn or daybreak), which is a prayer to ward off Black Magic.

Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. (Quran 113:1-5, translation by YusufAli)

Many Muslims believe that the devils taught sorcery to mankind:

And they follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two (angels) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. (al-Qur'an 2:102)

However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers (al-Rusul - those Prophets who came with a new Revealed Text) and Prophets (al-Anbiyaa - those Prophets who came to continue the specific law and Revelation of a previous Messenger); supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa - the spiritually accomplished, through Ma'rifah - and referred to as Karaamaat (extraordinary acts). Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to him that occur by his will and his alone.

Muslim practitioners commonly seek the help of the Jinn in magic (singular—jinni). It is a common belief that jinns can possess a human, thus requiring Exorcism. (It should be noted though, that the belief in jinn in general is part of the Muslim faith. Imam Muslim narrated the Prophet said: "Allah created the angels from light, created the jinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.)") The differentiation between practising light and dark magic does exist. While Sihr is forbidden, the practise of light magic is seen as a somewhat pious act, since light magic uses prayers and verses from the Quran to achieve results "with Gods permission". An example of this is writing verses from the Quran with ink on a porcelain plate, washing the ink off with water and have the "patient" drink the water-ink mixture. The knowledge of which verses of the Quran to use in what way is what is considered "magic knowledge".

Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practises in Islam with pre-Islamic Turkish and East African customs. Most notable of these customs is the Zar Ceremony.[3][4]

Magic is completely forbidden in true Islam. There have been many innovations in Islam in Asia over the centuries but pure/true islam forbids magic completely and anyone who practises magic is not considered to be a Muslim while they continue to practise magic of any sort. Muslims are encouraged to seek help through recitation of selected verses of the Quran and prayer in congregation.

[edit] Judaism

Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. According to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods. Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the Rabbis practiced "magic" themselves. For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (Sanhedrin 65b). In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles (i.e., coming from God rather than pagan gods) than as witchcraft.

[edit] India

The Iron Age Atharvaveda is a collection of charms and spells classically associated with witchcraft, with purposes such as harming an enemy or winning a sweetheart.

Belief in the supernatural is strong in certain parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time.[5] [6]

[edit] Japan

In Japanese folklore the witch can commonly be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes.[7]

[edit] Fox Employers

The fox witch is by far the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the kitsune-tsukai, and the kitsune-mochi.

The first of these, the kitsune-tsukai', gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The kitsune-tsukai then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of 'The Grateful Foxes'[8]. However, once a fox enters the employ of a man it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared.

A fox under the employ of a human can provide him with many services. The fox can turn invisible and be set out to find secrets and it still retains its many powers of illusion which its master will often put to use in order to trick his enemies. The most feared power the kitsune-tsukai possesses is his ability to command his fox to possess other humans.

[edit] In popular culture

Magical girl genre may be the most commonly known to feature witchcraft, but it appears liberally in any works of fiction where such supernatural power can exist, despite the fact that such magic resembles more of western witchcraft than an oriental counterpart. Evil witch protagonists, borne out of the European concept of witch, are popular; however, their powers rarely stem from worshiping devils.

[edit] Central Asia

Witchcraft has been practiced in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan since the 16th century. It is believed that once a human dies their soul is owned by the witch that murdered them.

anybody_wanna_peanut? · December 20, 2010

anybody_wanna_peanut? · December 20, 2010

MOOGLE? · December 20, 2010

Etymology

The semitic root L-Y-L layil in Hebrew, as layl in Arabic, means "night". Talmudic and Yiddish use of Lilith follows Hebrew.

In Akkadian the terms lili and līlītu mean spirits. Some uses of līlītu are listed in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD, 1956, L.190), in Wolfram von Soden's Akkadisches Handwörterbuch (AHw, p. 553), and Reallexikon der Assyriologie (RLA, p. 47).[5] The Sumerian she-demons lili have no etymologic relation to Sumerian lilu, "evening."[6]

Archibald Sayce (1882)[7] considered that Hebrew lilit (or lilith) Hebrew: לילית‎; and Akkadian: līlītu are from proto-Semitic. Charles Fossey (1902)[8] has this literally translating to "female night being/demon", although cuneiform inscriptions where Līlīt and Līlītu refers to disease-bearing wind spirits exist.[citation needed] Another possibility is association not with "night", but with "wind", thus identifying the Akkadian Lil-itu as a loan from the Sumerian lil, "air" — specifically from Ninlil, "lady air", goddess of the south wind (and wife of Enlil) — and itud, "moon".[citation needed]

[edit] Mesopotamian mythology

Although widely repeated in secondary and tertiary sources the possible references to Lilith in Mesopotamian mythology are now disputed:

[edit] The spirit in the tree in the Gilgamesh Epic

Samuel Noah Kramer (1932, published 1938)[9] translated ki-sikil-lil-la-ke as Lilith in "Tablet XII" of the Epic of Gilgamesh dated c.600 BC. "Tablet XII" is not part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, but is a later Akkadian translation of the latter part of the Sumerian poem of Bilgames and the Netherworld.[10] The ki-sikil-lil-la-ke is associated with a serpent and a zu bird,[11] In Bilgames and the Netherworld, a huluppu tree (willow) grows in Inanna's garden in Uruk, whose wood she plans to use to build a new throne. After ten years of growth, she comes to harvest it and finds a serpent living at its base, a Zu bird raising young in its crown, and that a ki-sikil-lil-la-ke made a house in its trunk. Bilgames/Gilgamesh is said to have smitten the snake, and then the zu bird flew away to the mountains with its young, while the ki-sikil-lil-la-ke fearfully destroys its house and runs for the forest.[12][13][14] Kramer's identification is repeated without question or justification by Manfred Hutter in the article on Lilith in Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible (1999)[15]

Suggested translations for the Tablet XII spirit in the tree include ki-sikil as "sacred place", lil as "spirit", and lil-la-ke as "water spirit".[16] but also simply "owl", given that the lil is building a home in the trunk of the tree.[17]

A connection between the Gilgamesh ki-sikil-lil-la-ke and the Jewish Lilith was rejected by Dietrich Opitz (1932)[18] and other scholars, finally being rejected on textual grounds by Sergio Ribichini (1978).[19]

[edit] The bird-foot woman in the Burney Relief

Kramer's translation of the Gilgamesh fragment was used by Henri Frankfort (1937)[20] and Emil Kraeling (1937)[21] to support identification of a woman with bird-feet in the Burney relief as related to Lilith, but this too is rejected by more recent scholarship.[22]

[edit] The Arslan Tash amulets

Main article: Arslan Tash amulets

The Arslan Tash amulets are limestone plaques discovered in 1933 at Arslan Tash, the authenticity of which is disputed. William F. Albright, Theodor H. Gaster,[23] and others, accepted the amulets as a pre-Jewish source which shows that the name Lilith already existed in 7th century BC but Torczyner (1947) identified the amulets as a later Jewish source.[24]

[edit] The vardat lilitu demons

The word lilu means spirit in Akkadian, and the male lili and female lilitu are found in incantation texts from Nippur, Babylonia c600 BC in both singular and plural forms.[25] Among the spirits the vardat lilitu, or maiden spirit bears some comparison with later Talmudic legends of Lilith.[26][27][28][29] A lili is related to witchcraft in the Sumerian incantation Text 313.[30]

[edit] Siegmund Hurwitz

Much of the popular information found in non-academic sources regarding Lilith is taken from reprints of out-of-copyright works which are now outdated,[31] for example Moses Gaster (1880),[32] R. Campbell Thompson (1908),[33] W. O. E. Oesterley (1930),[34] and confuses Jewish and Assyrian sources.

According to Siegmund Hurwitz, the figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm demons or spirits as lilitu, in Sumer, circa 4000 BC.[citation needed] The phonetic name Lilith is traditionally thought[by whom?] to have originated (as lilit) in Ancient Israel, and to have pre-dated at least 700 BC.[35]

Akkad, who were the earliest known Semitic speakers, and Sumer, who were the earliest civilizations inhabiting Mesopotamia, developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis with widespread bilingualism.[36] The bilateral influence of Sumerian and Akkadian is evident in all areas,[36] including syncretism between their gods, where each adopted the other's deities.[37] In Sumerian, Lilith was referred to as Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke, in Akkadian it was Ardat-lili.[38] The Assyrian and Babylonian cultures descended from these early cultures.

[edit] Shedim cults

Main article: shedim

A cult in Mesopotamia is said to be related to Lilith by early Jewish leaders[who?]. According to Siegmund Hurwitz Lilith retained her Shedim characteristics throughout the entire Jewish tradition.[39] Shedim is plural for "spirit" or "demon". Figures that represent shedim are the shedu of Babylonian mythology. These figures were depicted as anthropomorphic, winged bulls, associated with wind. They were thought to guard palaces, cities, houses, and temples. In magical texts of that era, they could be either malevolent or benevolent.[40] The cult originated from Babylon, then spread to Canaan and eventually to Israel.[41] Human sacrifice was part of the practice and a sacrificial altar existed to the shedim next to the Yahweh cult, although this practice was widely denounced by prophets who retained belief in Yahweh.[42]

In Jewish thought and literature Shedim were portrayed as quite malevolent. Some writings contend that they are storm-demons. Their creation is presented in three contradicting Jewish tales. The first is that during Creation, God created the shedim, but did not create their bodies and forgot them on the Shabbat when he rested. The second is that they are descendants of demons in the form of serpents, and the last states that they are simply descendants of Adam and Lilith. Another story asserts that after the Tower of Babel, some people were scattered and became Shedim, Ruchin, and Lilin.[citation needed]

[edit] Lilû, father of Gilgamesh

Another proposed connection to Lilith is on the Sumerian king list, where Gilgamesh's father is named as Lilû.[43][44] Little is known of Lilû, and he was said to interfere with women in their sleep[citation needed] and had functions of an incubus,[citation needed] while Lilitû appeared to men in their erotic dreams.[45][46][47] Such qualities as lalu, or wandering about, and lulu, or lasciviousness, from Akkadian (Semitic) language have been associated as sources for the names Lila and Lilitû,[48] but some sumerologists[who?] say Lilû is purely Sumerian.[43]

[edit] Lilitû demons

The Assyrian lilitû were said to prey upon children and women and were described as associated with lions, storms, desert, and disease.[citation needed] Early portrayals of such demons are known as having Zu bird talons for feet and wings.[49] They were highly sexually predatory towards men but were unable to copulate normally. They were thought to dwell in waste, desolate, and desert places. Like the Sumerian Dimme, a male wind demon named Pazuzu was thought to be effective against them.[50][51]

Lilith's epithet was "the beautiful maiden".[citation needed] She was described as having no milk in her breasts and as unable to bear any children.[46][52]

Other storm and night demons from a similar class are recorded from Akkadian texts[which?] around this period. The Ardat-lili[citation needed] is from Ardatû,[citation needed] which is a young unmarried woman or maiden, also sometimes a title of prostitutes, and lilitû.[53] These "maiden liltû" would come to men in their sleep and beget children from them.[citation needed] Sick men would also be described as being seized by Ardat-lili[45] Their male counterparts, similar to an incubus, were the Irdû-lili[54] These demons were originally storm and wind demons; however, later etymology made them into night demons.[55]

[edit] Lamashtû

Lamashtû or Labartu (in Sumerian Dimme) was a very similar Mesopotamian demon to Lilitû, and Lilith seems to have inherited many of Lamashtû's myths.[56] She was considered a demi-goddess and daughter of Anu, the sky god.[57] Many incantations against her mention her status as a daughter of heaven and her exercising her free will over infants. This makes her different from the rest of the demons in Mesopotamia. Unlike her demonic peers, Lamashtû was not instructed by the gods to do her malevolence; she did it on her own accord. She was said[who?] to seduce men, harm pregnant women, mothers, and neonates, kill foliage, and drink blood and was a cause of disease, sickness, and death. Some incantations[which?] describe her as "seven witches".[58] The space between her legs is as a scorpion, corresponding to the astrological sign of Scorpio. (Scorpio rules the genitals and sex organs.)[citation needed] Her head is that of a lion, she has Anzu bird feet like Lilitû,[citation needed] her breasts are suckled by a pig and a dog, and she rides the back of a donkey.[59] Other texts[which?] mention Lamashtû as the hand of Inanna/Ishtar in place of Lilitû and Ardat-lili[citation needed].

[edit] Gallû and Alû

Two other Mesopotamian demons have a close relation to Lilitû: Gallû and Alû.[60] Alû was originally an asexual demon, who took on female attributes, but later became a male demon.[citation needed] Alû liked to roam the streets like a stray dog at night and creep into people's bedrooms as they slept to terrify them.[citation needed] He was described as being half-human and half-devil. He appears in Jewish lore[where?] as Ailo[citation needed]; here, he is used as one of Lilith's secret names[citation needed]. In other texts,[which?] Ailo is a daughter of Lilith's that has had intercourse with a man . The other demon, Gallû, is of the Utukkû group[citation needed]. Gallû’s name, like Utukkû, was also used as a general term[where?] for multiple demons.[61] Later[when?] Gallû appears as Gello, Gylo, or Gyllou in Greco-Byzantine mythology[which?] as a child-stealing and child-killing demon[citation needed]. This figure was, likewise, adapted by the Jews as Gilû and was also considered a secret name of Lilith's.[62]

[edit] Lilitû, Inanna's hand

Stephen Langdon (1914) claims that Babylonian texts depict Lilitû as the sacred prostitute of the goddess Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna.[63] Hurwitz similarly claims that older Sumerian accounts assert that Lilitû is called the handmaiden of Inanna or "hand of Inanna" . The Sumerian texts[which?] state, "Inanna has sent the beautiful, unmarried, and seductive prostitute Lilitû out into the fields and streets in order to lead men astray." That is why Lilitû is called the "hand of Inanna".[64][65]

[edit] Lilith in the Bible

There is an ongoing scholarly debate as to whether the concept of Lilith occurs in the Bible. The only possible occurrence is in the Book of Isaiah 34:13-15, describing the desolation of Edom, where the Hebrew word lilit (or lilith) appears in a list of eight unclean animals, some of which may have demonic associations. Since the word lilit (or lilith) is a hapax legomenon in the Hebrew Bible and the other seven terms in the list are better documented, the reading of scholars and translators is often guided by a decision about the complete list of eight creatures as a whole:

Isaiah 34:13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. 14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird (lilit or lilith) settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15 There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. (ESV)

[edit] Hebrew text

In the Massoretic Text:

Hebrew: וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא; אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹח

Hebrew (ISO 259): u-pagšu ṣiyyim et-ʾiyyim w-saʿir ʿal-rēʿēhu yiqra; ʾak-šam hirgiʿa lilit u-maṣʾa lah manoaḫ[66]

34:14 "And shall-meet desert creatures (particle) jackals

the goat he-calls his-fellow

lilit (lilith) she-rests and she-finds rest[67]

34:15 there she-shall-nest the great-owl, and she-lays-(eggs), and she-hatches, and she-gathers under her-shadow:

hawks also they-gather, every one with its mate.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, among the 19 fragments of Isaiah found at Qumran, the Great Isaiah Scroll (1Q1Isa) in 34:14 renders the creature as plural liliyyot (or liliyyoth).[68]

Eberhard Schrader (1875)[69] and Moritz Abraham Levy (1885)[70] suggest that Lilith was a goddess of the night, known also by the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Schrader and Levy's view is therefore partly dependent on a later dating of Deutero-Isaiah to the 6th century BC, and the presence of Jews in Babylon which would coincide with the possible references to the Līlītu in Babylonian demonology. However this view is challenged by some modern research such as by Judit M. Blair (2009) who considers that the context indicates unclean animals.[71]

[edit] Greek version

The Septuagint translates the reference into Greek as onokentauros, apparently for lack of a better word, since also the se'irim, "satyrs", earlier in the verse are translated with daimon onokentauros. The "wild beasts of the island and the desert" are omitted altogether, and the "crying to his fellow" is also done by the daimon onokentauros.[72]

[edit] Latin Bible

The early 5th-century Vulgate translated the same word as Lamia.[73][74]

et occurrent daemonia onocentauris et pilosus clamabit alter ad alterum ibi cubavit lamia et invenit sibi requiem

—Isaiah (Isaias Propheta) 34.14, Vulgate

The translation is: "And demons shall meet with monsters, and one hairy one shall cry out to another; there the lamia has lain down and found rest for herself...".

[edit] English versions

Wyclif's Bible (1395) preserves the Latin rendering Lamia:

Isa 34:15 Lamya schal ligge there, and foond rest there to hir silf.

The Bishops' Bible of Matthew Parker (1568) from the Latin:

Isa 34:14 there shall the Lamia lye and haue her lodgyng.

Douay-Rheims Bible (1582/1610) also preserves the Latin rendering Lamia:

Isa 34:14 "And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself."

The Geneva Bible of William Whittington (1587) from the Hebrew:

Isa 34:14 and the shricheowle shall rest there, and shall finde for her selfe a quiet dwelling.

Then the King James Version of the Bible (1611):

Isa 34:14 "The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest."

The "screech owl" translation of the KJV is, together with the "owl" (yanšup, probably a water bird) in 34:11 and the "great owl" (qippoz, properly a snake) of 34:15, an attempt to render the passage by choosing suitable animals for difficult-to-translate Hebrew words.

Later translations include:

* night-owl (Young, 1898)

* night-spectre (Rotherham, Emphasized Bible, 1902)

* night monster (ASV, 1901; JPS 1917, NASB, 1995)

* vampires (Moffatt Translation, 1922)

* night hag (RSV, 1947)

* Lilith (Jerusalem Bible, 1966)

* lilith (New American Bible, 1970)

* Lilith (NRSV, 1989)

* Lilith (The Message (Bible), Peterson, 1993)

* night creature (NIV, 1978; NKJV, 1982; NLT, 1996, TNIV)

* nightjar (New World Translation, 1984)

* night bird (English Standard Version, 2001)

[edit] Jewish tradition

Major sources in Jewish tradition regarding Lilith in chronological order include:

* c.40-10BCE Dead Sea Scrolls - Songs for a Sage (4Q510-511)

* c.200 Mishnah - not mentioned

* c.500 Gemara of the Talmud

* c.800 The Alphabet of Ben-Sira

* c.900 Midrash Abkir

* c.1260 Treatise on the Left Emanation, Spain

* c.1280 Zohar, Spain.

[edit] Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls contains one indisputable reference to Lilith in Songs of the Sage (4Q510-511)[75] fragment 1:

And I, the Instructor, proclaim His glorious splendour so as to frighten and to te[rrify] all the spirits of the destroying angels, spirits of the bastards, demons, Lilith, howlers, and [desert dwellers…] and those which fall upon men without warning to lead them astray from a spirit of understanding and to make their heart and their […] desolate during the present dominion of wickedness and predetermined time of humiliations for the sons of lig[ht], by the guilt of the ages of [those] smitten by iniquity – not for eternal destruction, [bu]t for an era of humiliation for transgression.

Translation[76]

As with the Massoretic Text of Isaiah 34:14, and therefore unlike the plural liliyyot (or liliyyoth) in the Isaiah scroll 34:14, lilit in 4Q510 is singular, this liturgical text both cautions against the presence of supernatural malevolence and assumes familiarity with Lilith; distinct from the biblical text, however, this passage does not function under any socio-political agenda, but instead serves in the same capacity as An Exorcism (4Q560) and Songs to Disperse Demons (11Q11).[citation needed] The text is thus, to a community "deeply involved in the realm of demonology",[77] an exorcism hymn.

Joseph M. Baumgarten (1991) identified the unnamed woman of The Seductress (4Q184) as related to female demon.[78] However John J. Collins [79] regards this identification as "intriguing" but that it is "safe to say" that (4Q184) is based on the strange woman of Proverbs 2, 5, 7, 9:

Her house sinks down to death,

And her course leads to the shades.

All who go to her cannot return

And find again the paths of life.

— Proverbs 2:18-19

Her gates are gates of death, and from the entrance of the house

She sets out towards Sheol.

None of those who enter there will ever return,

And all who possess her will descend to the Pit.

— 4Q184

[edit] Talmud

Lilith does not occur in the Mishnah. There are three references to Lilith in the Babylonian Talmud in Gemara on three separate Tractates of the Mishnah:

* "Rab Judah citing Samuel ruled: If an abortion had the likeness of Lilith its mother is unclean by reason of the birth, for it is a child but it has wings." (Babylonian Talmud on Tractate Nidda 24b)[80]

* "[Expounding upon the curses of womanhood] In a Baraitha it was taught: She grows long hair like Lilith, sits when making water like a beast, and serves as a bolster for her husband.” (Babylonian Talmud on Tractate Eruvin 100b)

* "R. Hanina said: One may not sleep in a house alone [in a lonely house], and whoever sleeps in a house alone is seized by Lilith.” (Babylonian Talmud on Tractate Shabbath 151b)

The above statement by Hanina may be related to the belief that nocturnal emissions engendered the birth of demons: "R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar further stated: In all those years [130 years after his expulsion from the Garden of Eden] during which Adam was under the ban he begot ghosts and male demons and female demons [or night demons], for it is said in Scripture: And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years and begot a son in own likeness, after his own image, from which it follows that until that time he did not beget after his own image… When he saw that through him death was ordained as punishment he spent a hundred and thirty years in fasting, severed connection with his wife for a hundred and thirty years, and wore clothes of fig on his body for a hundred and thirty years. – That statement [of R. Jeremiah] was made in reference to the semen which he emitted accidentally.” (Babylonian Talmud on Tractate Eruvin 18b)

[edit] Alphabet of Ben Sira

Main article: Alphabet of Ben Sira

The pseudepigraphic[81] 8th-10th Century Alphabet of Ben Sira is considered to be the oldest form of the story of Lilith as Adam's first wife. Whether this particular tradition is older is not known. Scholars tend to date the Alphabet between the 8th and 10th centuries AD.

In the text an amulet is inscribed with the names of three angels (Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof) and placed around the neck of newborn boys in order to protect them from the lilin until their circumcision.[82] The amulets used against Lilith that were thought to derive from this tradition are in fact, dated as being much older.[83] The concept of Eve having a predecessor is not exclusive to the Alphabet, and is not a new concept, as it can be found in Genesis Rabbah. However, the idea that Lilith was the predecessor is exclusive to the Alphabet.

The idea in the text that Adam had a wife prior to Eve may have developed from an interpretation of the Book of Genesis and its dual creation accounts; while Genesis 2:22 describes God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib, an earlier passage, 1:27, already indicates that a woman had been made: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." The Alphabet text places Lilith's creation after God's words in Genesis 2:18 that "it is not good for man to be alone"; in this text God forms Lilith out of the clay from which he made Adam but she and Adam bicker. Lilith claims that since she and Adam were created in the same way they were equal and she refuses to submit to him:[84] The background and purpose of The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is unclear. It is a collection of stories about heroes of the Bible and Talmud, it may have been a collection of folk-tales, a refutation of Christian, Karaite, or other separatist movements; its content seems so offensive to contemporary Jews that it was even suggested that it could be an anti-Jewish satire,[85] although, in any case, the text was accepted by the Jewish mystics of medieval Germany.

The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is the earliest surviving source of the story, and the conception that Lilith was Adam's first wife became only widely known with the 17th century ‘‘Lexicon Talmudicum of Johannes Buxtorf.

In this folk tradition that arose in the early Middle Ages Lilith, a dominant female demon, became identified with Asmodeus, King of Demons, as his queen.[86] Asmodeus was already well known by this time because of the legends about him in the Talmud. Thus, the merging of Lilith and Asmodeus was inevitable.[87] The second myth of Lilith grew to include legends about another world and by some accounts this other world existed side by side with this one, Yenne Velt is Yiddish for this described "Other World". In this case Asmodeus and Lilith were believed to procreate demonic offspring endlessly and spread chaos at every turn.[88] Many disasters were blamed on both of them, causing wine to turn into vinegar, men to be impotent, women unable to give birth, and it was Lilith who was blamed for the loss of infant life. The presence of Lilith and her cohorts were considered very real at this time.[citation needed]

Two primary characteristics are seen in these legends about Lilith: Lilith as the incarnation of lust, causing men to be led astray, and Lilith as a child-killing witch, who strangles helpless neonates. Although these two aspects of the Lilith legend seemed to have evolved separately, there is hardly a tale where she encompasses both roles.[88] But the aspect of the witch-like role that Lilith plays broadens her archetype of the destructive side of witchcraft. Such stories are commonly found among Jewish folklore.[88]

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Kabbalistic mysticism attempted to establish a more exact relationship between Lilith and the Deity. With her major characteristics having been well-developed by the end of the Talmudic period, after six centuries had elapsed between the Aramaic incantation texts that mention Lilith and the early Spanish Kabbalistic writings in the 13th century, she reappears, and her life history becomes known in greater mythological detail.[89]

Her creation is described in many alternative versions. One mentions her creation as being before Adam's, on the fifth day, because the "living creatures" with whose swarms God filled the waters included none other than Lilith. A similar version, related to the earlier Talmudic passages, recounts how Lilith was fashioned with the same substance as Adam was, shortly before. A third alternative version states that God originally created Adam and Lilith in a manner that the female creature was contained in the male. Lilith's soul was lodged in the depths of the Great Abyss. When God called her, she joined Adam. After Adam's body was created a thousand souls from the Left (evil) side attempted to attach themselves to him. However, God drove them off. Adam was left lying as a body without a soul. Then a cloud descended and God commanded the earth to produce a living soul. This God breathed into Adam, who began to spring to life and his female was attached to his side. God separated the female from Adam's side. The female side was Lilith, whereupon she flew to the Cities of the Sea and attacks humankind. Yet another version claims that Lilith was not created by God, but emerged as a divine entity that was born spontaneously, either out of the Great Supernal Abyss or out of the power of an aspect of God (the Gevurah of Din). This aspect of God, one of his ten attributes (Sefirot), at its lowest manifestation has an affinity with the realm of evil and it is out of this that Lilith merged with Samael.[90] According to The Alphabet of Ben-Sira Lilith was Adam's first wife.

An alternative story links Lilith with the creation of luminaries. The "first light," which is the light of Mercy (one of the Sefirot), appeared on the first day of creation when God said "Let there be light." This light became hidden and the Holiness became surrounded by a husk of evil. ”A husk (klippa) was created around the brain" and this husk spread and brought out another husk, which was Lilith.[91]

[edit] Midrash ABKIR

The first medieval source to depict Adam and Lilith in full was the Midrash A.B.K.I.R. (ca. 10th century), which was followed by the Zohar and Kabbalistic writings. Adam is said to be perfect until he recognizes either his sin or Cain's fratricide that is the cause of bringing death into the world. He then separates from holy Eve, sleeps alone, and fasts for 130 years. During this time Lilith, also known as Pizna , desired his beauty and came to him against his will.

[edit] Treatise on the Left Emanation

Main article: Treatise on the Left Emanation

The mystical writing of two brothers Jacob and Isaac Hacohen, which predates the Zohar by a few decades, states that Samael and Lilith are in the shape of an androgynous being, double-faced, born out of the emanation of the Throne of Glory and corresponding in the spiritual realm to Adam and Eve, who were likewise born as a hermaphrodite. The two twin androgynous couples resembled each other and both "were like the image of Above"; that is, that they are reproduced in a visible form of an androgynous deity.[92]

"19. In answer to your question concerning Lilith, I shall explain to you the essence of the matter. Concerning this point there is a received tradition from the ancient Sages who made use of the Secret Knowledge of the Lesser Palaces, which is the manipulation of demons and a ladder by which one ascends to the prophetic levels. In this tradition it is made clear that Samael and Lilith were born as one, similar to the form of Adam and Eve who were also born as one, reflecting what is above. This is the account of Lilith which was received by the Sages in the Secret Knowledge of the Palaces."

Another version[clarification needed] that was also current among Kabbalistic circles in the Middle Ages establishes Lilith as the first of Samael's four wives: Lilith, Naamah, Igrath, and Mahalath. Each of them are mothers of demons and have their own hosts and unclean spirits in no number.[93] The marriage of archangel Samael and Lilith was arranged by "Blind Dragon", who is the counterpart of "the dragon that is in the sea". Blind Dragon acts as an intermediary between Lilith and Samael:

Blind Dragon rides Lilith the Sinful -- may she be extirpated quickly in our days, Amen! -- And this Blind Dragon brings about the union between Samael and Lilith. And just as the Dragon that is in the sea (Isa. 27:1) has no eyes, likewise Blind Dragon that is above, in the likeness of a spiritual form, is without eyes, that is to say, without colors.... (Patai81:458) Samael is called the Slant Serpent, and Lilith is called the Tortuous Serpent.[94]

The marriage of Samael and Lilith is known as the "Angel Satan" or the "Other God," but it was not allowed to last. To prevent Lilith and Samael's demonic children Lilin from filling the world, God castrated Samael. In many 17th century Kabbalistic books, this mythologem is based on the identification of "Leviathan the Slant Serpent and Leviathan the Torturous Serpent" and a reinterpretation of an old Talmudic myth where God castrated the male Leviathan and slew the female Leviathan in order to prevent them from mating and thereby destroying the earth.[95] After Samael became castrated and Lilith was unable to fornicate with him, she left him to couple with men who experience nocturnal emissions. A 15th or 16th century Kabbalah text states that God has "cooled" the female Leviathan, meaning that he has made Lilith infertile and she is a mere fornication.

The Treatise on the Left Emanation says that there are two Liliths, the lesser being married to the great demon Asmodeus.[96][97]

Another passage charges Lilith as being a tempting serpent of Eve:[98]

[edit] Zohar

References to Lilith in the Zohar include the following:

“She wanders about at night, vexing the sons of men and causing them to defile themselves (19b),”

This passage may be related to the mention of Lilith in Talmud Shabbath 151b (see above), and also to Talmud Eruvin 18b where nocturnal emissions are connected with the begettal of demons.

Raphael Patai states that older sources state clearly that after Lilith's Red Sea sojourn (mentioned also in Louis Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews), she returned to Adam and begat children from him. In the Zohar, however, Lilith is said to have succeeded in begetting offspring from Adam during their short-lived sexual experience. Lilith leaves Adam in Eden, as she is not a suitable helpmate for him. She returns, later, to force herself upon him. However, before doing so she attaches herself to Cain and bears him numerous spirits and demons.[99]

According to Gershom Scholem, the author of the Zohar, Rabbi Moses de Leon, was aware of the folk tradition of Lilith. He was also aware of another story, possibly older, that may be conflicting.[100] According to the Zohar, two female spirits, Lilith and Naamah — found Adam, desired his beauty which was like that of the sun disk, and lay with him. The issue of these unions were demons and spirits called "the plagues of humankind".[99] The added explanation was that it was through Adam's own sin that Lilith overcame him against his will.

[edit] 17thC Hebrew magical amulets

A copy of Jean de Pauly's translation of the Zohar in the Ritman Library contains an inserted late 17th Century printed Hebrew sheet for use in magical amulets where the prophet Elijah confronts Lilith.[101] In this encounter, she had come to feast on the flesh of the mother, with a host of demons, and take the newborn from her. She eventually reveals her secret names to Elijah in the conclusion. These names are said to cause Lilith to lose her power: lilith, abitu, abizu, hakash, avers hikpodu, ayalu, matrota…[102] In others, probably informed by The Alphabet of Ben-Sira, she is Adam's first wife. (Yalqut Reubeni, Zohar 1:34b, 3:19[103])

[edit] Tree of Life (Kabbalah)

Lilith is listed as one of the Qliphoth, corresponding to the Sephirah Malkuth in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The demon Lilith, the evil woman, is described as a beautiful woman, who transforms into a blue, butterfly-like demon, and it is associated with the power of seduction.[citation needed]

The Qliphah is the unbalanced power of a Sephirah. Malkuth is the lowest Sephirah, the realm of the earth, into which all the divine energy flows, and in which the divine plan is worked out. However, its unbalanced form is as Lilith, the seductress. The material world, and all of its pleasures, is the ultimate seductress, and can lead to materialism unbalanced by the spirituality of the higher spheres. This ultimately leads to a descent into animal consciousness. The balance must therefore be found between Malkuth and Kether, to find order and harmony.[citation needed]

[edit] Greco-Roman mythology

Main article: lamia (mythology)

In the Latin Vulgate Book of Isaiah 34:14, Lilith is translated lamia.

According to Siegmund Hurwitz the Talmudic Lilith is connected with the Greek Lamia, who, according to Hurwitz, likewise governed a class of child stealing lamia-demons. Lamia bore the title "child killer" and was feared for her malevolence, like Lilith.[104] She has different conflicting origins and is described as having a human upper body from the waist up and a serpentine body from the waist down.[105](Some depictions of Lamia picture her as having wings and feet of a bird, rather than being half serpent, similar to the earlier reliefs of Greek Sirens and the Lilitu.) One source states simply that she is a daughter of the goddess Hecate. Another, that Lamia was subsequently cursed by the goddess Hera to have stillborn children because of her association with Zeus; alternately, Hera slew all of Lamia's children (except Scylla) in anger that Lamia slept with her husband, Zeus. The grief caused Lamia to turn into a monster that took revenge on mothers by stealing their children and devouring them.[106] Lamia had a vicious sexual appetite that matched her cannibalistic appetite for children. She was notorious for being a vampiric spirit and loved sucking men’s blood.[107] Her gift was the "mark of a Sibyl," a gift of second sight. Zeus was said to have given her the gift of sight. However, she was "cursed" to never be able to shut her eyes so that she would forever obsess over her dead children. Taking pity on Lamia, Zeus gave her the ability to remove and replace her eyes from their sockets.[106]

The Empusae were a class of supernatural demons that Lamia was said to have birthed. Hecate would often send them against travelers. They consumed or scared to death any of the people where they inhabited. They bear many similarities to lilim. It has been suggested that later medieval lore, succubi, or lilim is derived from this myth.[citation needed] According to vampirologist Montague Summers (1928), the lamia particular species of owl is associated with the vampiric Strix of Roman legend.[108]

[edit] Arabic mythology

Lilith (Arabic: ليليث‎) is not found in the Quran or Haddith. The Sufi occult writer Ahmad al-Buni (d.1225) in his Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra (Sun of the Great Knowledge, Arabic: شمس المعارف الكبرى) mentions a demon called the mother of children a term also used "in one place"[109] in the 13th Century Jewish Zohar and is therefore probably derived from Jewish mythology. Another Islamic legend recounts an encounter between King Solomon and a giant female demon, Karina.[110]

[edit] Lilith in Western literature

[edit] In German literature

Lilith's earliest appearance in the literature of the Romantic period (1789–1832) was in Goethe's 1808 work Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy.[111]

[edit] Lilith in English literature

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which developed around 1848,[112] were greatly influenced by Goethe's work on the theme of Lilith. In 1863, Dante Gabriel Rossetti of the Brotherhood began painting what would later be his first rendition of "Lady Lilith", a painting he expected to be his "best picture hitherto"[112] Symbols appearing in the painting allude to the "femme fatale" reputation of the Romantic Lilith: poppies (death and cold) and white roses (sterile passion). Accompanying his Lady Lilith painting from 1866, Rossetti wrote a sonnet entitled Lilith, which was first published in Swinburne's pamphlet-review (1868), Notes on the Royal Academy Exhibition.[113] The poem and the picture appeared together alongside Rossetti's painting Sibylla Palmifera and the sonnet Soul's Beauty. In 1881, the Lilith sonnet was renamed "Body's Beauty" in order to contrast it and Soul's Beauty. The two were placed sequentially in The House of Life collection (sonnets number 77 and 78).[112]

Rossetti wrote in 1870:

Lady [Lilith]...represents a Modern Lilith combing out her abundant golden hair and gazing on herself in the glass with that self-absorption by whose strange fascination such natures draw others within their own circle."

—Rossetti, W. M. ii.850, D.G. Rossetti's emphasis[112]

This is in accordance with Jewish folk tradition, which associates Lilith both with long hair (a symbol of dangerous feminine seductive power in both Jewish and Islamic cultures), and with possessing women by entering them through mirrors.[114]

The Victorian poet Robert Browning re-envisioned Lilith in his poem "Adam, Lilith, and Eve". First published in 1883, the poem uses the traditional myths surrounding the triad of Adam, Eve, and Lilith. Browning depicts Lilith and Eve as being friendly and complicitous with each other, as they sit together on either side of Adam. Under the threat of death, Eve admits that she never loved Adam, while Lilith confesses that she always loved him:[115]

Browning focused on Lilith's emotional attributes, rather than that of her ancient demon predecessors.[116]

Scottish author George MacDonald also wrote a fantasy novel entitled Lilith, first published in 1895. MacDonald employed the character of Lilith in service to a spiritual allegory about sin and redemption[citation needed]. Many of the traditional characteristics of Lilith mythology are present in the author's depiction: Long dark hair, pale skin, a hatred and fear of children and babies, and an obsession with gazing at herself in a mirror. MacDonald's Lilith also has vampiric qualities: She bites people and sucks their blood for sustenance.

[edit] Lilith in Western Art

Lady Lilith painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1866-68 (altered 1872-73)

The first appearance of Lilith in Western art is Lady Lilith by Rossetti, though the picture was only painted as a "lady combing her hair" in April 1866 and named "Lady Lilith" in sale to Leyland in the autumn. When painted it was not specifically connected with the Talmudic tradition.[117]

[edit] In modern occultism

The depiction of Lilith in Romanticism continues to be popular among Wiccans, feminists and in other modern occultism.[112]

[edit] Ceremonial magic

Few magical orders dedicated to the undercurrent of Lilith, featuring initiations specifically related to the arcana of the "first mother" exist. Two organizations that use initiations and magic associated with Lilith are the Ordo Antichristianus Illuminati and the Order of Phosphorus. Lilith appears as a succuba in Aleister Crowley's De Arte Magica. Lilith was also one of the middle names of Crowley’s first child, Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith Crowley (b. 1904, d.1906), and Lilith is sometimes identified with Babalon in Thelemic writings. A Chaos Magical rite, based on an earlier German rite,[118] offers a ceremonial Invocation of Lilith:[119]

Dark is she, but brilliant! Black are her wings, black on black! Her lips are red as rose, kissing all of the Universe! She is Lilith, who leadeth forth the hordes of the Abyss, and leadeth man to liberation! She is the irresistible fulfiller of all lust, seer of desire. First of all women was she - Lilith, not Eve was the first! Her hand brings forth the revolution of the Will and true freedom of the mind! She is KI-SI-KIL-LIL-LA-KE, Queen of the Magic! Look on her in lust and despair!"

—Lilith Ritus, from the German by Joseph Max

A 2006 "creative occultist" work by ceremonial magickian Donald Tyson, titled Liber Lilith, details the "secret" cosmology for the 'Mother of Harlots' and spawn of all nightbreed monsters, Lilith.[120] The book claims to have been saved from the ashes of Dr John Dee's library at Mortlake in the 1580s, but no evidence that this book existed before the 21st century can be found.[121] Tyson himself states that while the grimoire itself is esoterically sound, the historical details surrounding it are a "fictional wrapper"[120] created in order to make the book more interesting.

[edit] Modern Luciferianism

In modern Luciferianism, Lilith is considered a consort of Lucifer and is identified with the figure of Babalon. She is said to come from the mud and dust, and is known as the Queen of the Succubi. When she and Lucifer mate, they form an androgynous being called "Baphomet" or the "Goat of Mendes," also known in Luciferianism as the "God of Witches."[122][not in citation given]

Writings by Michael W. Ford, including The Foundations of the Luciferian Path, contend that Lilith forms a part of the "Luciferian Trinity" consisting of herself, Samael and Cain. Likewise, Lilith is said to have been Cain's actual mother, as opposed to Eve. Lilith here is seen as a goddess of witches, the dark feminine principle, and is also known as the goddess Hecate.[123]

[edit] Wicca

Many early writers that contributed to modern day Wicca expressed special reverence for Lilith. Charles Leland associated Aradia with Lilith: Aradia, says Leland, is Herodias, who was regarded in stregheria folklore as being associated with Diana as chief of the witches. Leland further notes that Herodias is a name that comes from West Asia, where it denoted an early form of Lilith.[124][125]

Gerald Gardner asserted that there was continuous historical worship of Lilith to present day, and that her name is sometimes given to the goddess being personified in the coven, by the priestess. This idea was further attested by Doreen Valiente, who cited her as a presiding goddess of the Craft: “the personification of erotic dreams, the suppressed desire for delights”.[126]

In some contemporary concepts, Lilith is viewed as the embodiment of the Goddess, a designation that is thought to be shared with what these faiths believe to be her counterparts: Inanna, Ishtar, Asherah, Anath and Isis.[127] According to one view, Lilith was originally a Sumerian, Babylonian, or Hebrew mother goddess of childbirth, children, women, and sexuality[128][129][130] who later became demonized due to the rise of patriarchy.[131] Other modern views hold that Lilith is a dark moon goddess on par with the Hindu Kali.[132]

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