lilith, mother of women

7/29/2019 Lilith, Mother Of Women

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Lilith, Mother Of Women

Ian R Thorpe

Who is Lilith? Some poets are appalled at the idea of giving readers a few clues as to what we areon about. I find my readers appreciate it, a hundred years ago education included much more

cultural history and culture was not so diverse. When Tennyson wrote about The Lady Of Shalloteverybody had heard the story ofLancelot and Elaine but now education covers a much wider base.Full notes on Lilith are down at the end of our story, sufficient here to say the Bible's she demonmight not be as evil a bitch as she has been portrayed. The poem has two voices; Lilith's reply to herwould be lover is in italics.

Lost in between awake and sleepinglies a vision of a land half - known,

as if some ancient, buried memorytransports me to this timeless zone.

Stark against the shifting deserta tower stands by a pure spring.Where fig trees grow in a cool cresentI wait to hear a soft voice sing.

A walled garden is her lonely prison;she dwells in luxurious solitude.For what sin can she not be forgiven?Whose law condemed her turpitude?

Is she in thrall to jealous lover,does a heartless djinn posess her soul?Will I seduce her to discoverThe garden is truly her sheole?*

I see her sometimes by a window,

she scans the view then turns away,her lovely face is lined with sorrow.This vision ensnares me more each day

Until at last I summon courageto bang my fist upon the door.She greets me, straight away I engagein courtship, she does not demur

But serves me sweetmeats, fragrant candy,ripe figs well drenched in strong, sweet wine,lays us down but declines to tell me

Modern Lilith
http://www.sir-lancelot.co.uk/elaine.htmhttp://www.sir-lancelot.co.uk/elaine.htm


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why she stays in this place alone.

Instead her answer sets a challengeno man can resist nor turn aside."Love has no worth bound with conditionslove given for gain enslaves the bride.

I seek one who will pledge to love mefor myself, not what I have to give;I'll give to him the world and all timeand not a moment feel captive.

This desert men have made around usbears witness to self love and greed,I rest here, the eternal woman'til fate sends me the love I need.

I have opened my garden to youwho gives, asking nothing in return.Never seek for account or measure,my own soul is no other's concern.

Abandon now all worldly purposecommit all, without thought of requite;this garden ever will sustain us

while we rejoice in love's delight."

Hanging round the gardens of Babylon


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Copyright 2004, Ian Thorpe

NOTES:

Who is LilithLilith is one of the most misunderstood characters in MiddleEastern mythology. She has ben cast as the she demon thatled men away from God but many scholars compare her tothe Greek Pandora, who is reputed to have released allhumanity's troubles into the world. Thinking more deeplyabout Pandora's myth (after considerable reading) leads us tosee she might represent a moment of progress in humandevelopment, a point at which human consciousnessdevelops to a point where we no longer dumbly accept ourfate as animals must but understand we have the power tochgange outcomes.

Archaic words:sheol (Aramaic) a dwelling place of the deaddjinn (Arabic) a genie or sprit, not human but can be eithergood or bad, as opposed to an Ifrit, a demon, half human -perhaps one of the "old race" referred to in ancient scriptures.Hebrew equivalent are the Nephilim.

extract from the LILITH MYTH: ( taken from a translation of sections of the Dead Sea Scrolls byRobert Graves)

Some say that God created man and woman in His own image on the Sixth Day, giving them chargeover the world; but that Eve did not yet exist. Now, God had set Adam to name every beast, bird and

other living thing. When they passed before him in pairs, male and female, Adam-being already likea twenty-year-old man-felt jealous of their loves, and though he tried coupling with each female inturn, found no satisfaction in the act. He therefore cried: 'Every creature but I has a proper matel',and prayed God would remedy this injustice.

God then formed Lilith, the first woman, just as He had formed Adam, except that He used filth andsediment instead of pure dust. From Adam's union with this demoness, and with another like hernamed Naamah, Tubal Cain's sister, sprang Asmodeus and innumerable demons that still plaguemankind. Many generations later, Lilith and Naamah came to Solomon's judgement seat, disguisedas harlots of Jerusalem'.

Adam and Lilith never found peace together; for when he wished to lie with her, she took offence atthe recumbent posture he demanded. 'Why must I lie beneath you?' she asked. 'I also was made

from dust, and am therefore your equal.' Because Adam tried to compel her obedience by force,Lilith, in a rage, uttered the magic name of God, rose into the air and left him.

This is the pre-Christian version of the story which, unsurprisingly is left out of the Bible (so much for"literal truth") as Lilith shows herself to be the equal not only of man, but of God too (the essentialfeminist?)

Christian versions of the Lilith myth paint a much darker picture, portraying Lilith and all women sinceas whores and scheming temptresses. In The Old Testament book Ezekiel, Chapter 23, v 19-20describes a woman thus:Ezekiel 23 19:20

19: Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a

prostitute in Egypt.

20: She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkeys and emissions like those of ahorse.That is only one translation, The King James version phrases it much more kindly and whoever thegirl was, I think she was really a sweetheart and the man who wrote those verses was pissed off

Genesis of Lilith
http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/http://machiavelli.blog.co.uk/2013/03/08/quotes-ezekiel-23-19-15607722/http://machiavelli.blog.co.uk/2013/03/08/quotes-ezekiel-23-19-15607722/http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/http://machiavelli.blog.co.uk/2013/03/08/quotes-ezekiel-23-19-15607722/


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because she had given him the knock-back.

The male dominated Abrahamic religions are of course all based on fear and loathing of femalessexuality. The ancient scriptures also say that only when women are properly respected as the equalof men in every way other than physical attributes (in which the two genders complement each otherto make the whole) can humanity be saved. Thus the renaissance of the sacred feminine, the

pagan Goddess of the Old Religion, which this poem deals with, is a pretty urgent task.

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Our Debt To Islam

Should we let our society be defined by the opinions of a minority of

people who, over the past 2000 years have repeatedly shown themselves to

be prone to hysteria and far to ready when faced with challenging times to

adopt the mindset of the mob. I refer of course to the way in which the

events of 9/11 are being written into history as a point in which humanity

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