The Goddess Lilith is a hugely misunderstood figure in mythological history. There is not much published about her, but what can be found varies widely. Interestingly, the myths of Lilith can all be seen metaphorically and translated into a real and desperately needed form of priestly work.

Defiance and Disobedience

In Judeo-Christian mythos, Lilith is cast as a somewhat evil figure. She was apparently Adam’s first wife, supposedly created from mud and [other icky stuff], similar to Adam, who was created out of the clay of the earth. She was Adam’s equal and intensely disliked Adam’s insistence that she be subservient to him. Her resistance to his superiority complex was evident in the fact that she refused to lie passively beneath him during intercourse. Finally she fled the Garden and went to live among the people outside the realm of Yahweh and Adam.

Adam complained to Yahweh, who then sent three of his angels to find Lilith. When they did, they told her that Yahweh sent orders that she was to return to the Garden of Eden and to Adam’s side. She refused, whereupon Yahweh cursed her. He then fashioned Adam a new wife, this time made from one of Adam’s own ribs, ensuring this new woman’s compliance, obedience and subservience.

The myth goes on to say that Lilith had sex with the “demons” who lived outside the Garden, and propagated a race of succubi and incubi. Yahweh’s curse on her was that 100 of her babies would die every day.

Staying True to Herself

So here we have a woman who refused to be subservient to a man, someone who feels that since they were created as equals, they should live as equals. She has the balls to defy the authority figure who supports this unjust treatment and decides to make it on her own, even though that means sacrificing the comfort of living in the Garden of Eden.

She is free in her sexuality and continues to remain strong and true to herself, even when the dominator authority figure attempts to bully her and threatens both her and her children.

The Fall

The next part of the story which features Lilith, or at least a representation her, is what is known as the Fall. This is when the serpent appeared to Eve in the Garden and convinced her to try , and to trick Adam into sharing the forbidden fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

This opened their eyes to a great many things that their god had been shielding them from, including a conscious awareness of their own nudity. These fruits which had been hung so temptingly and forbidden to them awakened them to a whole host of knowledge. Yahweh, displeased at their disobedience of his instructions, decided to cast them out of the Garden, and cursed Eve with menstruation and pain in childbirth, since she was responsible for tempting Adam to break the rules.

The Awakening

Lilith, in her serpent form, appears to Eve and awakens the other woman’s dormant Shakti energy, the coiled kundalini serpent that sleeps at the base of our spines. Suddenly Eve is aware that she has been asleep, passively accepting everything her husband and god told her and obeying them without question. She realizes that neither of these beings could be omnipotent or even omniscient, since she didn’t die immediately upon eating of this fruit, as she had been warned. Rather, she now understood things more clearly than ever before.

Wanting to share this newfound knowledge and understanding with her mate, she takes the fruit to Adam, who unfortunately is not ready to be awakened. He enjoys his power and position, and manipulates the situation to blame his failure to control his wife on her, by accusing her of tricking him into eating the forbidden fruit.

Lilith managed to initiate Eve into the next level of awareness, helping her to become a more complete woman, and bestowing on her the gift of menstruation, which isn’t truly a curse from god. Menstruation is responsible for early woman’s awareness of the cycles of life, and from which geometry and other higher math functions grew.

Vampire or Dark Goddess

There are other stories of Lilith which portray her as even more evil than a temptress. In fact, it is said that vampires are descended from her, or at the very least, that the legends of the vampires were inspired by her. This is due to the tale that relates how Lilith was so angry at Yahweh for killing off her babies that she retaliated and began sucking the blood and life force energy out of “human” babies who weren’t warded against her.

Lilith definitely carries some dark energy, similar to the destructive aspects of Kali or Hecate. But dark is not necessarily synonymous with evil. And, as in the case of Kali and Hecate, destruction is sometimes just as necessary in the circle of life, as creation. So, although I don’t believe that Lilith is actually vampiric and evil, I do believe that she has some hard and “dark” lessons to teach about boundaries, about actions returning to you, about energy exchange and about the cyclical nature of birth, life, death and rebirth.

“Hand of Inanna”

In Mesopotamian myths, prior to the introduction of Christianity, Lilith was actually perceived very differently. The reigning Goddess of the area in that time period was Inanna, a goddess of sexuality and loving intimacy. She was celebrated through the sex act and she encouraged the use of intercourse in healing and other rituals.

Lilith’s role was to go out and find the people who needed Inanna’s sexualoving energy. She then guided them to the temples where they could either receive the attention they needed, or pay homage to the Goddess through celebratory rites.

Lilith’s Work

Based on our new understandings of the Lilith myths, we can see how the work of Lilith is primarily that of opening people’s eyes up to new or expanded perceptions of reality, starting them down the path of enlightenment. Showing all the Eves out there that they can have more, if they are willing to risk displeasing their husband and god, and that they won’t die if they do take that step. Showing all the men the way to the temple that is a woman’s body, and helping them to dispel the notions that sex is bad or dirty, that women are to be controlled, or that violence and force are the only acceptable ways of expressing their power.

As priestesses of Lilith, we are educators, initiators and role models. We must be prepared to take a lot of flak from the authorities who would deny our voice and who will attempt to silence us, lest we seduce any of their flock to question them. We are the leading wave, the woman in the street, taking the hand of the bleary-eyed man and guiding him up the temple steps and then releasing him into the care of the priestess who will take care of healing him in the way that is most appropriate for him. We are out and open about who we are, sharing our beliefs with anyone who will listen, organizing social and educational events to promote our ideals.

We are a form of Qadishtu, bringing light and joy into other’s lives, through our exuberant love of life, the strength of our convictions, our voluptuous enjoyment of our bodies, our powerful sense of self.