You will find Lilith in Jewish tales, as well as Sumerian, Arabian and also Teutonic legends. The story is as follows: God creates Adam and Lilith at the same time, according to some sources back to back like Siamese twins, and separates them later. Adam then wants his wife to defer to him; he wants her to lie beneath him during intercourse. She, insisting she was created equal, refuses and is banished for that. She then becomes the mother of monsters and demons (the lilitu). Next, a nameless second woman is created from dust, first the bones, the sinews and flesh, then the skin. Adam is repulsed and can't bear her presence, so she is discarded (there's no mention, to my knowledge, what became of her). Eve is the third attempt, and as she is made of a part of Adam and not of dust (as he is) she cannot be considered equal, and is automatically inferior. What is interesting about Lilith is her rebellious, irreverent manner in the face of stiff tradition. she is considered a feminism symbol because she wanted to be equal with Adam, and not subservient. Legends of the early people in history have it that she was a person who was supposed to have gone down to the area of the Red Sea to unite with the Djinns, where she is supposed to have given birth to a lot of demonic children called Lilim. Three angels supposedly were sent by God to reason with her: Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf. Lilith refused to return, and the angels punished her by killing her sons. The reason we don’t hear a lot about Lilith is that she makes God look like a blithering idiot that didn't know how to make a woman for Adam. If he had to make three different women, that means that he just didn't get it right the first time. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! :m: Peace.
According to one essay I read by the former Chair of Archaeology at Oxford, the term can be traced back furthest to a type of Sumerian or Akkadian mist spirit. There was a male variety and a female variety, and the female type was called "lilm" or some such.
Shouldn't this be in another forum? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I'm sure I read something dead interesting about her. Not got a clue what though. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
If you are thinking about the Religion forum, let's hope it stays here. A nice rational discussion is preferable to the emotional claptrap that would almost certainly ensue if it was moved. :m: Peace.
"Lilith. A night monster and VAMPIRE, probably of Babylonian origin, said to haunt wildernesses in stormy weather and to be specifically dangerous to children. The name is from Semitic root meaning 'night', which was the special time of this demon's activities. In rabbinical writings, she is supposed to have been the first wife of ADAM. She is referred to in Isaiah 34:14 as the "screech-owl" in the Authorized Version, as "night-monster" in the Revised Version and as LAMIA in the VULGATE. A superstitious cult of Lilith persisted among certain Jews until the 7th century." Source: Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
