Lilith: the Legendary Original Feminist
Posted: Saturday, December 05, 2009
by Carolyn Tytler
Were you under the impression that feminism is a modern phenomenon? Think again. The origin of the women's rights movement is buried in the myths and legends of ancient history.
The first feminist, Lilith, is best known as a figure in Jewish legend, although similar characters appear in the tales of more than one hundred ancient civilizations. Her earliest appearance was probably in ancient Sumerian legend where she was considered to be goddess of agriculture and fertility.
One day, after a particularly heated argument, Lilith flew away in fury from the Garden of Eden. She settled on the shore of the Red Sea, in an area inhabited by a particularly lustful breed of demons. Through mingling with their number, Lilith gave birth to a hundred little demons every day.
Meanwhile, Adam complained to Jehovah that his helpmate had fled, and God sent three angels to bring her back. They found Lilith cavorting with the demons beside the Red Sea.
When she refused to return to Adam, the angels threatened to kill her but they were unable to do so because she had learned some magical tricks from her evil companions. She was punished by Divine decree: one hundred of her children must die every day.
Furious, Lilith promised to take revenge by strangling newborn human babies while they are sleeping. However, she promised that if she were to find an angelic amulet, or see a circle in which the names of the three angels had been written, near the child, she would spare its life.
The angels then cast her into Outer Darkness, where she became the consort of Satan and the other fallen angels, and gave birth to many more little demons.
The offspring of Lilith and her demon companions are said to continue to plague the descendants of Adam and Eve to this day. They are known as Lilim or Lilin and are depicted as demons with human bodies.
God gave Adam a new partner. Her name was Eve, and she was formed from a rib in Adam's side, in hopes that she would be more submissive to him than her predecessor was.
In appearance, Lilith was usually pictured with the top half of her body as a woman, and the bottom half as a serpent. Occasionally, she could sneak away from the Outer Darkness and visit Earth. It is frequently claimed that the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden was none other than Lilith.
She is said to prowl through the earth seeking women in childbirth. She also causes erotic dreams and will attack and assault men sleeping alone.
She is credited with being the queen of the vampires, or alternately, as being the daughter or consort of Dracula.
The legendary Lilith has become an ideal for some feminist groups because she was a female who refused to submit to male leadership. She is presented as the first and most dedicated feminist, ready to sacrifice even the perfection of Paradise for freedom and equality with the male of the species.
The story of Lilith is, in reality, a dark and grim one, but some radical feminists downplay her baby-killing exploits. They claim that men have added these unflattering layers of detail to the story, in an effort to despoil the image of the first wise and courageous feminist heroine.
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