Honoring Lilith Part 3: A Prayer and a Share

Hail Lilith
Sing her praises —
She who walked of her own volition
Into the fire and sand of the desert
Where she would seek her freedom.

Lilith by DonatellaDrago on DeviantArt

I did a quick Lilith-themed poetry search to dig up some relevant poetic work to share (because it felt weird leaving the “Honoring Lilith” posts at only two parts, so there yuh go). Have fun with these!

I’ve been thinking about this a great deal. After all, I believe my poetry is reflective of my femininity. Have I misrepresented Lilith? She’s been walking the landscape of collective psychology much longer than feminist theory, and I believe she deserves the layers of an epic hero.

Lilith by angiemflanagan

 

I am in God’s image
– does that frighten you?

Lilith by Madeline Windsor

 

I’m no one’s wife and no one’s daughter…

Lilith in the bath by rebeccashaplandfreewriting

 

…if feminine equipment is impure,
unruly both in body and in mind,
and women must be governed to be sure
we walk the male-ordained three steps behind…

Becoming Lilith by Sputterpub

 

The Last of the Women with Talons for Toes

that’s how every girl knows me by sight…

The End of Lilith by

Furthermore, a quick Lilith-themed search found me these blog posts which seem in line with Lilithian (yup, it’s a word now) values and which also tickled my fancy. Check out some of these excerpts and if you like what you see, find out what else the original post has to offer.

I have a love affair with different aspects of paganism, although I am not pagan myself. I love the old gods. I love how the perspective wasn’t to adore the gods and beg for their attention but instead to be aware that getting their attention was not necessarily a good thing. I like to look through different books on paganism and Wicca. One common, frustrating theme? The insistence that everything they do is good and not in anyway associated with Satan. You are free to worship the divine how you please, but no Satan. All things associated with Satan/Lucifer are Bad, even for those in a completely different religion. Worship Diana? Thor? Whatever. Those are fine. Satan? Bad bad bad. What if that was the aspect of the divine you wanted to worship, though? And isn’t nature by its nature more neutral than good? So why do so many nature-worshiping people focus on how everything is good?

Neutrality, Good, and Evil by Lilith Williams

 

The abrahamic religions have all had a difficult relationship with women. This is because in their mythology, rituals etc the female principle has been purposefully excluded. The truth of the matter only survived in secret cabals and riddles. Both the jewish kabbalah and the tantra see the human psyche as composed of male and female energies. But if the world is lived through the lens of the abrahamic tradition then the nurturing feminine archetypes remain unexpressed and unexplored whereas the protective masculine becomes overpowering and overwhelming. The psychic energies would remain unbalanced and the personality would tend towards the demonic ideas such as authoritarianism(In a nutshell this is the position also taken up by Carl Jung and Wilhelm Reich). However the catholic church was extremely efficient in wiping out all traces of druidry, paganism, witch craft or anything remotely resembling feminine magic from Europe.

Women in Religion and the Birth of Patriarchy by vajrachinta

 

Related:

Honoring Lilith Part 1: The Tale of the Screech Owl Girl (or, a Note to the Daughter I’ll Never Bear)

Honoring Lilith Part 2: The Right to Choose.