Lilith The Mother
of Musical Worship
From "Hebrew Myths" by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, and other sources, we learn that Naamah has a rich tradition in the ancient literature:
Naamah 'Lilith' is usually derived from the Babylonian-Assyrian word 'lilitu,' 'a female demon, or wind-spirit' -- one of a triad mentioned in Babylonian spells. But she appears earlier as 'Lillake' on a 2000 BC Sumerian tablet from
Ur containing the tale of Gilgamesh and the Willow Tree.
There she is a demoness dwelling in the trunk of a willow tree tended by the Goddess Inanna (Anath) on the banks of the Euphrates.
Popular Hebrew etymology seems to have derived 'Lilith' from 'layil,' 'night'; and she therefore often appears as a hairy night-monster, as she also does in Arabian folklore. Solomon suspected the Queen of Sheba of being Lilith, because she had hairy legs. His judgement on the two harlots is recorded in 1 Kings III:16. According to Isaiah XXXIV:14-15, Lilith dwells among the desolate ruins in the Edomite Desert where satyrs ("se'ir"), reems {2}, pelicans, owls {3}, jackals, ostriches, arrow-snakes and kites keep her company.
"Some say the God created man and woman in His own image on the Sixth Day, giving them charge over 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 like a twenty-year-old man-- felt jealous of their loves, and though he tried coupling with each female creature in turn, found no satisfaction in the act. He therefore cried: "Every creature but I has a proper mate!" 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 and sediment instead of pure dust. From Adam's union with this demoness,
and with another like her named Naamah, Tubal Cain's sister,
sprang Asmodeus and innumerable demons that still plague mankind.Many generations later, Lilith and Naamah came to Solomon's judgement seat, disguised as harlots of Jerusalem.
Lilith typifies the Anath-worshipping Canaanite women, who were permitted pre-nuptial promiscuity.
Time after time the prophets denounced Israelite women for following Canaanite practices; at first, apparently, with the priests' approval -- since their habit of dedicating to God the fees thus earned is expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy XXIII:18.
Lilith's flight to the Red Sea recalls the ancient Hebrew view that water attracts demons. Tortured and rebellious demons" also found safe harbourage in Egypt. Thus Asmodeus, who had strangled Sarah's first six husbands, fled "to the uttermost parts of Egypt" (Tobit VIII:3), when Tobias burned the heart and liver of a fish on their wedding night.
Lilith's children are called 'lilim.' In the Targum Yerushalmi, the priestly blessing of Numbers VI:26 becomes: "The Lord bless thee in all thy doings, and preserve thee from the Lilim!" The fourth-century AD commentator Hieronymous identified Lilith with the Greek Lamia, a Libyan queen deserted by Zeus, whom his wife Hera robbed of her children. She took revenge by robbing other women of theirs.
'Naamah,' 'pleasant,' is explained as meaning that 'the demoness sang pleasant songs to idols.' 'Zmargad' suggests 'smaragdos,' the semi-precious aquamarine; and may therefore be her submarine dwelling. A demon named Smaragos occurs in the Homeric Epigrams. From "Hebrew Myths" by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai
Naamah was the daughter of Lamech and is considered the "mother" of divination--
"Jubal... exercised himself in music (instrumental music); and invented the psaltery and the harp. But Tubal... exeeded all men in strength, and was very expert and famous in martial performances.
He procured what tended to the pleasures of the body by that method; and first of all invented the art of making brass...
Naamah was so skilful in matters of divine revelation, that he (Lamech) knew he was to be punished for Cain's murder of his brother." (Josephus, Ant., Adam and Eve).
"From this Jubal, not improbagbly, came Jobel, the trumpet of Jobel or jubilee; that large and loud musical instrument used in proclaiming the liberty at the year of Jubilee." (Josephus, Ant. p. 27)
The Bible, secular history, paganism and a rich folklore show that instrumental music as a tool for worship was based upon the idea that the idol actually dwelled within the musical instrument and spoke to the priest or soothsayer as he was appeased and the worshippers were control by instrumental music.
Dead Sea Scrolls 11QPsAp
- And I, the Sage,
- declare the grandeur of his radiance
- in order to frighten and terrify
- all the spirits of the ravaging angels
- and the bastard spirits,
- demons, Liliths, owls and [jackals...]
- and those who strike unexpectedly
- to lead astray the spirit of knowledge....
The bible has numerous connections between music, the demons and "taking away the key to knowledge." See Isaiah 34
Zohar 3:76b-77a
For 130 years Adam kept separate from his wife and did not beget. After Cain killed Abel, Adam did not want to copulate with his wife. Rabbi Yose said: "From the hour in which death was decreed upon him and upon the whole world, he said 'Why should I beget children for terror?' and instantly separated from his wife." And two female spirits [Lilith and Naamah] would come and copulate with him and bear children. and those whom they bore are the evil spirits of the world who are called the Plagues of Mankind. And they lead the sons of man astray, and dwell in the doorway of the house, and in the cisterns and in the latrines.... But if the holy name Shaddai with supernal crowns is found in the doorway of a man's house, they all flee and go away from there. And we have learned that in the hour in which man descended to the earth in the supernal image, in the image of the Holy One, and the higher and lower beings saw him, they all approached him and proclaimed him king over this world. After the Serpent mounted Eve and injected filth into her, she gave birth to Cain. From thence descended all the wicked generations in the world. And the abode of demons and spirits is from there and from his side. Therefore, all the spirits and demons have one half from man below, and the other half from the angels of the supernal realm. Thereafter Adam begot on those spirits daughters who are the beauty of those above and those below.
And all went astray after them. And there was one male who came into the world from the spirit of Cain's side, and they called Tubal-Cain. And a female came forth with him, and the creatures went astray after her, and her name was Naamah.
From her issued other spirits and demons. and they hover in the air and tell things to those others found below.
And this Tubal-Cain brought weapons of killing into the world.And this Naamah became aroused and adhered to her [evil] side. And to this day she exists, and her abode is among the waves of the great sea. And she comes forth, and makes sport with the sons of man, and becomes hot from them in the dream, in that desire which a man has, and she clings to him, and she takes the desire and from it she conceives and brings forth other kinds [of spirits] into the world.
And those children whom she bears from the sons of man come to the women, and they conceive from them and bear spirits. And all of them go to Lilith the Ancient, and she rears them.... (Patai81:456f) And she goes out into the world and seeks her children. And she sees the sons of man and clings to them, in order to kill them, and to become absorbed into the souls of the children of the sons of man, and she goes off with that child. But three holy spirits arrive there and fly before her and take that child from her and place him before the Holy One, blessed be He, and there he studies before Him. Therefore the Tora warns, Be sacred (Lev. 19:2). If a man is holy, he is not harmed by her, for the Holy One, blessed be He, orders those three holy angels whom we have mentioned, and they guard that child, and she cannot harm him. But if a man is not holy, and draws a spirit from the impure side, then she comes and makes sport with that child, and when she kills him she penetrates that soul [which departs from the child] and never leaves it.... (Patai81:466) At times it happens that Naamah goes forth into the world to become hot from the sons of man, and a man finds himself in a connection of lust with her, and he awakens from his sleep and takes hold of his wife and lies with her. And this desire comes from that lust which he had in his dream. Then the child that she begets comes from the side of Naamah, for the man was driven by his lust for her.
And when Lilith comes and sees that child, she knows what happened, and she ties herself to him and brings him up like all those other sons of Naamah. And she is with him many times, but does not kill him. This is the man who becomes blemished on every New Moon, for she never gives him up. For month after month, when the moon becomes renewed in the world Lilith comes forth and visits all those whom she brings up, and makes sport with them, and therefore that person is blemished at that time. (Patai 81:457f)
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Lady E.S.Drower: The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran, Clarendon Press, Oxford,193 The Creation of Man Ruha and Pthahil tried to make Adam and, when they had finished, he was like a man, but moved about on all fours, had a face like an ape, and made noises like a sheep. They were puzzled and went to the House of Life and told them of their failure, and the House of Life (Zoe) said, We will send Hiwel Ziwa. Hiwel Ziwa came, and the Soul was in his hands. When the Soul saw Adam, she was horrified, and said, 'What! must I dwell in this flesh and blood, this house of uncleanness?' And she refused. Hiwel Ziwa said, 'Dost thou refuse the order of the House of Life?' She said, 'I will accept on one condition only, and that is that everything that is in the world of light shall be in this world-flowers, trees, light, ajar (pure air), running water (yardna), baptisms, priests, and everything as it is up there.' Hiwel Ziwa returned and told them (the House of Life or Zoe) and brought back a letter ('ngirtha). It would not open, but spoke, and promised that the House of Life would give all that the Soul had asked. So the Soul (Nishimta) entered the body of Adam and he stood erect and talked, and Hiwel Ziwa taught him reading and writing, how to marry, how to bury the dead, how to slaughter a sheep, and all knowledge.
Ruha went to Adam son of Adam and said to him, 'Come, amuse yourself with us !' and he went.
The Jews were of the children of Ruha and Adam. Their great men were the children of Ruha ; Moses was Kiwan, and Abraham was Shamish. They travelled and travelled until they came to 'Ur shalam (Jerusalem), which they called "Uhra shalam', 'The-road-is-complete'. They wanted books and Melka d Anhura said, 'A book must be written that does not make trouble for the Mandai', and they sent one of the melki - T'aw - s Melka (I.e. Peacock King) to write the Torat (Old Testament). The Jews had no priests, so Anush 'Uthra put seed into the Jordan and the Jewish women drank and became pregnant and brought forth 365 priests. 'Inoshvey, too, drank of the water, and she brought forth Yahia, and all the men who were born of the seed sown in the Jordan were baptized and became priests. Lilith is a deity closely connected with Inanna. Lilith originally sat on her throne, a three-fold willow tree with a serpent-dragon at its roots and Anzu or Zu-bird on top. She was pictured as a beautiful naked woman with lovely prominent breasts, unabashedly sexual, standing on two lions, flanked by owls, wearing a snake turban and sporting wings (an obvious angelic connection). Her hands, raised high were the symbol of power. Lilith had her willow tree (a tree sacred to the Goddess) which was planted by Inanna herself) on the Euphrates river in which she lived in a nest. This home she shared with the Zu-bird, or the Sumerian storm-god. Lilith is repeatedly connected to the Tree of Knowledge. She was often shown on the tree with her serpent tail and animal foot, upside down. She is seen as the dark face of Ishtar and appears as the right hand of Inanna. She is probably the Babylonian Lilitu. Inanna or Ishtar shown to the left of the tree was also symbolized by weapons and musical instruments. She could be worshiped as both male and female. The Talmud states Lilith was formed in response to Adams request for a mate. Jehovah used mud and sediment to form her, rather than the pure dust he used for Adam. Male and female he created them, Genesis states in its first version of the creation story, however Bible casts out Lilith as the symbol of the feminine as the only sacred. The Kabbalists describe the creation of Adam, or man, as androgynous. The first human was created as an androgyne with two faces, one looking in each direction, a balanced whole. Later this being was sawed in half, and backs were made for each of the faces. Adamah was Lilith's name in this tradition, the Hebrew word for soil or Earth. In the Talmud, the Zohar and the Bible, Lilith is described as the soul of beasts, as "every living creature that creepeth." She is the Lady of the Beasts, for she is of nature, the Great Goddess of the Earth. To seduce the sons of man she had red-rose hair. Her ears are ornamented with six bangles. Egyptian chords and all the ornaments of the Land of East hang from her nape. Her mouth is set like a narrow door comely in its decor, her tongue sharp like a sword, her words are smooth like oil, her lips are red like a rose and sweetened by all the sweetness of the world. She is dressed in scarlet and adorned with thirty nine ornaments. The fool goes astray after and drinks from the cup of wine and commits fornications and strays after her.
From "Hebrew Myths" by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, and other sources, we learn that Naamah has a rich tradition in the ancient literature. This sheds some light on the Jews hanging their harps on the Willow trees by the canal whose name speaks of magic or enchantment:
(Note: the king of Tyre as the harp-playing prostitute would, after her return from seventy years captivity, again take up the harp to attract the dollars to the collection plates. However, she would make her prostitution religious by dedicating it to the use of the Lord but to buy rich robes for the priests)
Of the Transmission of the Art of Playing the Harp, that is to say of Music and Singing and Dancing.
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See the Meaning of sending across the Sea and Rising up to Play
See the large version of the image of
Lilith. (62 Kbytes) Dating to 2300 BCE or earlier, Lilith
is the first feminist While she is referred to as a
demon by Levite priests who wrote the Bible, this is
likely due to her assertive
behavior at a time when
patriarchy was
new. A Sumerian, Hebrew, and
Muslim Goddess, she is referred to anciently as the hand of
Inanna who gathered males into the temple for sacred sexual rites. In our tradition she was the original wife of
Adam, with whom she claimed
equality because they were
created together in the image of Elohim (a word for God
which had feminine as well as masculine linguistic roots). A
Goddess of childbirth, she holds the rod and ring of
Sumerian royal authority, wears a stepped crown perhaps
symbolic of lunar cycles, and is guarded by the bird of
wisdom and the king of beasts. Click Here for the Source
For more details see Lamech and Babylonian music
See the myth from Robert Graves and Raphael Patai
See Gingsberg's Legend of Cain
See Ginzberg Punishment of the Fallen Angels
See later Gnosticism from the CE.
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