What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
– William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet Act II, scene ii
Lilith is the Mother of the Night, Queen of Succubi, Incubi and all other Denizens of the Night. She is wild, passionate and independent. When humanity feared the Night, she was cast in a negative light. Now that we have grown up (or at least reached puberty), we can see that the frightening shadows gather their power from our projected fears.
The Legend of Lilith
Lilith was once the wife of Sammael, who is incorrectly known as Lucifer. This marriage did not last long for She is a wild, passionate and heroic soul, quite incompatible with the cold demeanor of Sammael. After leaving Sammael, She joined with Adam.
Her time with Adam did not go well. Adam would insist and rail upon Her. “I am your lord and master,” claimed Adam. However, Lilith would say, “We are both equal, for we are both issued from the dust, and I will not be your slave.” This went on, Adam claiming he was superior and Lilith stating that they were equal. Eventually, Lilith became tired of Adam’s self-perceived superiority and flew away.
Adam decided that this was too much and beseeched three angels – whose names were Senoi, Sansenoi and Sammengelof, to fetch Lilith back to him. They caught Lilith above what is now known as the Red Sea, and a great battle took place.
During the battle they realized that Lilith’s powers were too great for them to force Her into obedience, and they attempted to drown Her. She fought them off but, during the battle, drops of Her blood fell into the sea, thus giving the Red Sea its name.
When the angels returned to report their failure, Adam went to Yahweh and said, “Oh, Almighty Lord, the creature that was my wife has left me, claiming that since we both came from the dust, we were equal and she refused to be my servant.”
So the Almighty in his wisdom, caused a sleep to fall upon Adam, and in his slumber removed a rib. This He fashioned into a woman. As She had come from man, She was a part of man and, thus, belonged to man.
This is pretty much a literal retelling of the story found in Angelo S. Rappoport’s Ancient Israel - Myths & Legends (3 Volumes in one). I changed the bias to positive and took poetic license with the naming of the Red Sea (though that is where the battle took place).
Originally found in Liber Atri Matris, a book I wrote back when I was set on forming my own Magickal Order. Amazing what one will do when one doesn’t know how much they don’t know.
