Liltih Fair

Lilith is most commonly derived from the Babylonian-Assyrian word, "lilitu," which is "female demon" or "wind spirit." Her name can also be derived from the Hebrew word, "layil" ("night" or "night monster"). Here, she is seen as a hairy nocturnal monster (as she does in Arabian lore).

"Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs* shall call to one another; there shall the lilith** repose, and find for herself a place to rest."

In the Alphabet of Ben-Sira, Lilith is said to be Adam’s first wife, even before Eve. God made Adam and Lilith out of the same stuff, (he is thought to made from earth and divine breath and she from air and fire, sometimes she is thought to be created from sterile soil and night wind) and she thought of them as equals because of this. However, Kabalistic people believed that Lilith was not actually female, but hermaphroditic and, in essence, one with Adam until God separated the two. They were not compatible in bed either. She refused to be subservient and lay beneath him. "Why must I lie beneath you? I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal."

Adam complained to God and He sent three angels: Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof (I have also seen their names: Snvi, Snsvi, and Smnglof) to fetch Lilith back. The angels encountered Lilith near the Red Sea. This was the region abundant of lascivious demons, who she produced her babies, lilim, with. She gave birth to more than one hundred every day. The three angels went to her and said, "Return to Adam without delay, or we will drown you!"

Lilith did not want to return and the angels said, "It will be death to refuse!"

"How can I die," Lilith responded, "when God has ordered me to take charge of all newborn children: boys up to the eighth day of life, that of circumcision; girls up to the twentieth day. None the less, if ever I see your three names or likenesses displayed in an amulet above a newborn child, I promise to spare it." These amulets have appeared as insect-headed creatures covered with either hair or spines, a flipper, and tentacles for arms. The angels agreed, but God still punished Lilith by making one hundred of her children die per day. This was probably the ancients people’s way of explaining Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Lamia was also known for seducing men in their sleep. When she did so, she was seen as naked straddling him while he lying on his back. This was very uncommon, for women were supposed to be passive and recumbent during intercourse and, of course, Lilith refused.

Some people even think of Lilith as a goddess. Rage, alienation, stillbirths, and abortions are what she was the goddess of.

She has also been embraced by many feminists of today. This is mostly because of the Alphabet of Ben-Sira, which demonstrates that she, as a strong, independent woman, was willing to give up the paradise of Eden for equality and freedom.

“Stripped of the overlay of medieval mysticism and demonology this Lilith emerges as an independent spirit. Had she succeeded in her battle with Adam for equal rights, Lilith might today represent that spark of original creativity in whose image women could retrace and recreate their history. Instead history plunged her into the depths of demonhood. Only in the twentieth century, which has no use for sheydim, may the Lilith, who has been obscured by the mists of demonology these thousands of years, be revealed today as the first woman on earth, equal to man and a free spirit.”