”I am Lilith.
I doubt that you’ve heard much about me.
My story didn’t make it into the scripture.
In the very beginning, There was Darkness. It flamed forth in power, asserted itself, and I was created. In the image of the Moon was I brought forth. I reach toward the Depths.
There was Light. It flamed forth in radiance, asserted itself, and the Sun was created. It reached toward the Heights.
Darkness and Light were equal in dignity. Moon and Sun shone equal in splendor. Depth and Height were held equal in respect.
In the beginning, There was a dispute. The Light feared the Darkness and its power. The Sun feared the Moon and its night. The Heights feared the Depths and its unknown.
The Light swallowed the Darkness. The Sun swallowed the Moon. The Heights swallowed the Depths. The old ways were almost forgotten. New stories were written.
According to the rabbis, the Breath of Life and the Dust of Earth formed Adam and me. We were created from the same source so I expected full equality with him. He did not agree with me on that and other matters. He demanded that I serve him and that I lie beneath him when we made love. I was outraged.
With the help of ‘The Name That Is Not to Be Spoken’, I flew away, vanished into thin air, and settled at the Red Sea. Adam complained to God, who sent three angels after me. Their attempts to capture me were fruitless. I preferred living alone to life with the man.
My story is very simple. Remembering my former glory before I was swallowed into the rabbisʼ commentary, I refused to be mistreated by man or god. I did what any self-respecting woman would have done. I said, ʻEnough is enough,ʼ and I left!
I have been called countless names over the centuries. Here are a few:
They call me Spinster because I am perfectly content living alone. I refuse to allow men to hold me in check. This they cannot understand so I am called spinster.
They call me Night Hag, not to be confused with ugly, mind you. Some thought my daughters and me so beautiful and expert at lovemaking that after an experience with us, a man was never again satisfied with mortal women.
They call me Whore, Harlot, and Seducer. Celibate monks tried to keep me away by sleeping with their hands over their genitals, clutching a crucifix. Men say I distract them from their progress toward personal salvation. Eve is the wife, the faithful woman. I am a seducer.
They call me Tormentor of Men. Although my story disappeared from the Bible, my daughters, the Lilim, are said to have haunted men for thousands of years. Well into the Middle Ages, Jewish men manufactured magic charms to keep away the Lilim. We supposedly appear at night and exert magical powers over young men. They said we caused nocturnal emissions. Woven into my reputation are menʼs deepest fears of impotence, weakness, and isolation in the face of my unfettered female sexuality, assertiveness, and independence. All that I represent threatens them, so they call me names.
They call my refusal to be submissive and subordinate . . . rebelliousness. They call my assertiveness in taking care of myself . . . bitchiness. They call my independence of men . . . unfeminine. They call my sexuality, unconnected to a husband… unnatural. I am tired of their names!
Woman, is it any wonder you too have feared me? They have convinced you that all that I represent is unnatural, evil, and unfeminine. Is it any wonder that you have exiled me from within you?”
-Patrica Lynn Reilly, Lilith: The Rebellious First Woman
She Who Is Art
PEER 