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Lilith: History, Pop Culture and Feminism

Lilith is a female demoness whose name has terrorized civilizations for thousands of

years. People hid their wives and young children in fear that she would take away their purity or

their life. The name, Lilith, is derived from the Sumerian word, Lilitu, meaning “wind spirit” or

“female demon” and it first appeared in the Sumerian epic poem, “Gilgamesh and the Huluppu

Tree” which dates back to around 2000 B.C.E. A terracotta plaque was found that had been

carved around the same time the Gilgamesh poem was scribed and according to scholars, was the

first physical depiction of Lilith. Janet Howe Gaines wrote an article for Bible History Daily that

said, “The Babylonian relief shows her as a beautiful, naked sylph with bird wings, taloned feet

and hair contained under a cap decorated with several pairs of horns. She stands atop two lions

and between two owls, apparently bending them to her will.” These features are based off of

early Babylonian demonology.

Out of all the myths surrounding Lilith, she is most prominent as a figure in the Tanakh

or the Jewish Bible. In the Tanakh, she is credited as the first wife of Adam, the first man on

Earth. She runs away from Adam and the Garden of Eden when Adam tries to have sex with her

in a submissive position. She didn’t want to submit to him because they were created as equals.

She didn’t accept being lesser than him and refused to be told what to do. One version of this

story says Lilith “flies” out of the garden and would not return when God asked; another version

says God banished her from the Garden. After she left the garden she inhabited a cave. In the

book, Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural by Howard Schwartz, the author includes

this cave as an important part of Lilith’s demonization. He stated, “That is the cave Lilith went to

when she abandoned Adam and the Garden of Eden for all time, the cave where she sported with
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her demon lovers. From these unions multitudes of demons were born, who flocked from that

cave and infiltrated the world.”

The Jewish myth surrounding her demonization isn’t that much different from other

cultures but it’s the most popular considering Judaism is one of the most followed religions to

this day. The Jewish version wasn’t the first to mention Lilith giving birth to demons either; in an

article written for a website called Ancient Origins, the author, Natalia Klimczak wrote, “In the

Babylonian Talmud, Lilith was described as a dark spirit with an uncontrollable and dangerous

sexuality. She is said to have fertilized herself with male sperm to create demons. She is believed

to be the mother of hundreds of demons.” Who she is conceiving these demons with differs from

story to story. Some say it was from the human men that she lured into her cave, other accounts

claim she had sex with the devil himself. Nonetheless, she acquired the name, “mother of

demons” which proved to be very influential when it came to depictions of her within pop

culture.

Although the Jewish myth surrounding Lilith is the most popular, her story has found its

way into many different cultures around the world. Civilizations from thousands of years ago

feared her. Some describe her to look half women half serpent, others a woman with wings like

an owl, and other times she is described as a beautiful and seductive woman. Her physical

attributes and creation myths differ from culture to culture, but her evildoings remain relatively

the same. She was said to travel through the night, normally on wings, killing pregnant women

for their fetuses or stealing babes from their cribs for her to feast upon. She seduced men to sleep

with her and taught impressionable teen girls vanity, narcissism and awakened their sexuality.

The term “possess” was used several times in reference to her taking young girls’ purity. They

were told not to look in mirrors because it was believed if they looked for too long, Lilith or her
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demon children would appear and take control over them. Mirrors were placed in attics and

amulets and stone tablets were forged to ward off against her and her demon children, so they

couldn’t enter one’s home or one’s body.

These amulets were mostly used against evil but for some, the amulets were used for

summoning evil. There aren’t many scholarly sources on people trying to summon Lilith, but it

is sure to have happened. It is possible to find amulets today that are supposed to summon Lilith

or harvest some of her power. Lilith is most commonly known as a demon, but she is also

attributed to being the first witch. She bore numerous demon children to the devil, it would make

sense for him to make her one of the most powerful if not the most powerful witch. An online

antique shop called “Haunted Curiosities” sells paranormal and occult artifacts. One of the

artifacts in their shop right now is a bracelet called “The Munich Mirror of Lilith” which is

currently being sold for $5,000. This bracelet was made using the Munich Manual, a 15th century

grimoire used to conjure demonic spirits. In the description for the bracelet it says, “The mirror is

not exactly a real mirror but a power or ability that allows you to see what you need to see. This

can be future events or things you want created for you.” It’s understandable why Lilith was so

feared if that bracelet is supposed to embody a portion of the magic she possesses.

The witch myths surrounding Lilith have tied her into the origins of vampirism. She is

referred to as a nocturnal demoness inflicting night terrors on humans. Her relation to attacking

during the night is at the center of her association with witchcraft and vampirism. Klimczak’s

article touches on the topic briefly saying, “She represented chaos, sexuality, and she has been

said to have cast spells on people. Her legend is also related to the first stories about vampires.”

The term “vampire” hadn’t appeared in English until about the mid 18th century but it’s roots can

be traced back to the Turkish word for “witch.” Lilith has made several appearances in books
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and television shows that relate her character to vampirism, with most portraying her as the

“mother of vampirism.”

In season 5 of the TV show, True Blood, Lilith makes an appearance as the first ever

vampire who was created by God. According to the True Blood Wiki page, she was created

before Adam and Eve, who were formed as food for her and their children the food for the next

vampires to come, so on and so forth. Some of the vampires view her as a God where as others

don’t even believe she is real. She recognizes she is worshiped as a God but knows she is not,

stating, “God made me as vampire, and Adam and Eve as human. I am worshiped as a god as

some may come to worship you as a god. But there is no god but God.” In the show there is a

group of vampires who refer themselves as “The Sanguinista Movement” who live by the Book

of the Vampyr or the “vampire Bible” as literally as possible. They don’t believe in coexisting

with humans and trying to pass as such; they see them as nothing more than food. They believe

any kind of relationship with a human is punishable. Although, not all vampires live like this. No

matter the difference in ideals between vampires, they will always share a belief in Lilith. Even if

they don’t believe in Lilith as a literal being, she is a figure in the vampire Bible and one they all

look up to. Being that she is the first vampire, she has unique abilities that other vampires don’t

have, including but not limited to, telekinesis, clairvoyance, invulnerability to staking and astral

projection. Her blood holds these abilities and if another vampire were to drink it, they would

gain them for themselves as well as experience some insane hallucinations. Her only weakness

was the sun, the biggest weakness of any vampire. Vampires can combat the effects of the sun by

drinking the blood of faeries, but it only protects them temporality. As the mother of vampires,

Lilith can call on them and command them to do anything she wishes since she is their maker

(Wiki).
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Another account of Lilith as a vampire, is in the Marvel universe. She is the daughter of

Dracula, making her first debut in Giant-Size Chillers featuring The Curse of Dracula #1 (June

1974). Her physical features were described as tall, long, black hair and beautiful. She resembled

the stereotypical Dracula that is prominent in media. Lilith is the eldest child of Dracula and the

only child her mother ever had. Her father was forced into a marriage by his father and broke it

off when his father died. He banished his wife away, so he could be with his true love and Lilith

was sent off with her. She ended up being raised by gypsies after her mother committed suicide.

In the years Lilith was growing up, the gypsies turned Dracula into a vampire with magic. After

he killed one of their elders, they turned Lilith into a vampire as well. When they turned her, they

gave her special abilities that no other vampire had. Lilith did not fear holy symbols, could

shapeshift, was not able to be killed by being out in the daylight and did not need to sleep in a

coffin lined with her native soil. She could also survive without drinking blood. With these

special abilities came a curse though. She was forced to seek revenge against Dracula until the

day he was completely destroyed. If she were to be killed, she would come back to life as an

innocent woman and could shift back into her own self. Lilith’s character spent her entire life

tracking down Dracula with the intent to kill him. She inhabited several human beings trying to

make her way to him. During a fight between the two, Dracula revealed to her that the curse that

was put on her to hunt him down forever ironically prevented her from ever being able to kill

him. The two were both destroyed completely along with the rest of the vampire race by Doctor

Strange (Wikipedia).

The vampire version of Lilith isn’t the only representation of her in pop culture, many

shows have incorporated her with her demon background. Throughout these shows are several

parallels between vampire Lilith and demon Lilith. In Supernatural seasons 3 and 4, Lilith was
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one of the main antagonists. Lilith’s true form cannot be perceived by most humans on earth

except for her eyes which are fully white. She is said to be the first demon that Lucifer ever

created and is one of the keys for him to be released from Hell. In the hierarchy of demons, she is

the highest ranked of all only to be over ruled by Lucifer. She used to reside in Hell with him

until she escaped after the Winchester brothers killed Azazel and opened the gates to Hell. Once

she was free on Earth, she took over as leader to Azazel’s army of demons. She had to eliminate

a few of her demon rivals as she rose to be leader, but she did so with ease. Sam and Dean

Winchester, the two protagonists, make it their mission to kill her. Not only because she is the

leader of the demon army but because she killed Dean and tortured him in Hell (Dean escaped

with the help of angels). In Lilith’s backstory we learn that she was one of the first humans on

Earth. Lucifer tortured her soul into becoming a demon in an attempt to prove to God that the

humans were weak and unworthy for the angels to bow down to. God saw this as a most wicked

action and was the one who imprisoned Lucifer in Hell. He also saw to it that Lilith had to be

killed if Lucifer was to be set free. Lilith knew she had to die in order for Lucifer to be set free

and made a plan to ensure she would because of her commitment to him. She sent a demon to

“befriend” the brothers and lead them down a path she knew would involve them in her death.

She needed to involve the brothers because the younger brother, Sam, was the one true vessel

that would allow Lucifer to walk freely on Earth. Any normal human body would rot from the

inside out if he were to stay in it for too long, but not Sam’s. Lilith knew her plan would take

some time to be put into action so while she waiting, she possessed the body of a little girl and

tortured her family for fun. She had demons secretly possessing what appeared to be innocent

civilians and neighbors to keep an eye out for the brothers. Lilith viewed her death as heroic

because she was honoring her creator (Wiki).

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A more recent demon portrayal of Lilith is in the Netflix original series, The Chilling

Adventures of Sabrina. Her role is a bit more obscure in this show because her true identity as

Lilith isn’t revealed until the last episode, although it is hinted at several times and isn’t hard for

the audience to figure out. Throughout the show, her character has tremendous influence over the

main character, Sabrina. She possesses the body of Sabrina’s favorite teacher as a way to get

close to her. She pretends to be an excommunicated witch who conveniently has all the answers

for Sabrina who is struggling to choose between her human life and her witch life. What the

audience knows the Sabrina doesn’t, is that her character is working for the devil and relaying all

the information she gathers on Sabrina to him. She needs Sabrina to choose her life as a witch

and sign her name in the devil’s book. Sabrina comes from a family of very powerful witches

and the devil wants to ensure her power belongs to him. With her name in the devil’s book, she

is bound by blood to follow his every command. Lilith is credited as the mother of demons in

this show and is even referred to as “Madame Satan.” It’s unclear if she’s supposed to be his

mistress, partner or daughter because all of their conversations are one-sided but If the show is

renewed for a second season, there is bound to me more backstory released about Lilith.

With all of the evil and darkness that surrounds Lilith in history and in pop culture, there

are some people that have found virtue in her. To a number of Jewish women, Lilith is seen as a

feminist icon. Even women outside of the Jewish faith that know her history hold her in high

regard. The story of Lilith leaving the Garden of Eden is normally presented as her running away

from Adam and God. But there are other versions that portray her to be escaping from them.

These may sound the same but escaping holds a different connotation than simply running away.

Jill Hammer is a female Rabbi that writes for an educational Jewish website. In one of her

articles titled Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness, she dives deeper into the topic of Lilith escaping
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from Adam writing, “Lilith becomes what all tyrants fear: a person who is aware she is

enslaved.” God never stated that Adam had authority over Lilith, they were created as equal

beings. She grew tired of Adam trying to control her and left. She didn’t leave so she could sin

freely, she left because she would rather be demonized than be trapped in a garden with a man

that controls her life on the ground and another from the sky. No one wants to stay in a

relationship with someone else when they are looked down upon and told what to do. She

escaped the first patriarchy and by doing so made a name for herself. Many women who’ve

found themselves in the same position, look up to Lilith’s story as a heroic female tale. In 1976,

a magazine company was founded under the name “Lilith Magazine” that was a Jewish, feminist

and non-profit publication. It includes investigations, entertainment news and poetry as some of

their sections. It was created for women in the Jewish community who wanted a voice in the

world, so they could work towards changes for women of all age, race, or background. The

company is still producing magazines and has an extensive website that includes just about any

article topic someone would want to read about. They have a large group of staff of writers, but

anyone can submit their work for a chance to be featured.

Another example of Lilith in feminism is the Lilith fair. The Lilith fair was founded by Sarah

McLachlan who was annoyed that concerts rarely featured two or more female artists in a row.

She took it upon herself to plan a concert herself and in 1997 she founded the Lilith Fair tour that

featured around 69 female artists including, Lisa Loeb, Pat Benatar and Michelle McAdorey. The

fair earned around $16 million, “making it the top-grossing of any touring festival” according to

Wikipedia. This tour made up of only women who attended because they wanted to befriend and

empower other women. The tour also raised over $10 million for charity.
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Bibliography

Chong, Sylvia. “The Myth of Lilith.” Another Woman's Love Story,

www.art.net/~schong/lilithmyth.html.

Daniel, Lynn. "Lilith." Hecate, vol. 21, no. 1, 1995, p. 31+. Literature Resource Center,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A17834780/LitRC?

u=wilm99594&sid=LitRC&xid=78dcfd5a. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Gaines, Janet Howe. “Lilith.” Biblical Archaeology Society, 15 Mar. 2018,

www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-

bible/lilith/.

Keywords: Babylonian demonology, spells, Sumerian derivation

Gilbert, Nora. "Lilith on the Moors: The Brontë Sisters' Runaway Women." Victorian Review,

vol. 42 no. 2, 2016, pp. 273-289. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/vcr.2016.0064

Keywords: Escape

Hammer, Jill. “Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness.” My Jewish Learning,

www.myjewishlearning.com/article/lilith-lady-flying-in-darkness/.

Keywords: Feminism, escaping, abuse

“Haunted Curiosities.” Hauntedcuriosities.com, hauntedcuriosities.myshopify.com/. The best

paranormal, occult, haunted and metaphysical items on the net. Operating since 1996.

Keywords: Grimoire, demon, spirit

Klimczak, Natalia. “Lilith: Ancient Demon, Dark Deity or Sex Goddess?” Ancient Origins, 17

May 2016, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/lilith-ancient-demon-dark-deity-or-

sex-goddess-005908.

Keywords: lilitu, wind spirit, mother of demons, vampires

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“Lilith Fair.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Nov. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith_Fair#History.

Keywords: Feminism

“Lilith (Marvel Comics).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Nov. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith_(Marvel_Comics)#Dracula's_daughter.

Keywords: Vampire

“Lilith.” Supernatural Wiki, supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/Lilith.

“Lilith.” True Blood Wiki, trueblood.wikia.com/wiki/Lilith.

“Sanguinista.” True Blood Wiki, trueblood.wikia.com/wiki/Sanguinista.

Schwartz, Howard. Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural. OUP USA, 1991.

“The Munich Manual of Demonic Magic.” Black Witch Coven, 3 Aug. 2015,

blackwitchcoven.com/the-munich-manual-of-demonic-magic/.

Keywords: Grimoire, black magic