I know you are here, Lilith,
By the way cool moonlight chases the shadows in my room
And incense smoke snakes around,
..............................................Hypnotizing me.
I pray for strength to stand in the world
And you slip in.

As Nimue enticed Merlin into the crystal cave,
So you carried forward the chimera
Of Fully Woman
For me and my sisters to step into
At this turn of the wheel.

You rode moonbeams
And men's erotic fantasies
Sideways between dreams
........Far too long.

Now my memory is restored
And I will not sleep another night
Until yours is, too.

Come in, Great Goddess.
........Inside
We bathe in the warm light
Of the Lover, the Mother, and the Maiden of Ideas
And Fully Man embraces us all.
.........................Our resplendent aura grows.

Slithering down from the Tree of Recognition
The Serpent encircles us with love
And whispers secrets of the Earth womb,
.........................Our home.

Stay, dear Lilith
In this Basilica of Harmony Restored
........Setting altars in every woman's heart
........Lighting candles in every man's eyes
Here, sovereign Angel of Truth,
In your Sanctuary
................Never again to be exiled.

James: Lilith is blue in this painting, because Becca wanted her the color of moonlight. Her traditional red hair now wears a crown with the yoni symbol atop it. Lilith was considered a "night demon" and traditionally depicted as a hag with wings, so I put wings on her, and lo and behold! Now she's an angel! After having been cast out of the Church and our culture for hundreds of years, it gave me great satisfaction to bring her back in to "holy ground" with all its trappings: stained glass, the cherub - now with apple! - and church architecture. Of course the serpent is allowed back in, too. Her flower, the lily - here an Easter lily - the moon, and yoni and lingam triangles also appear in the stained glass. Seeing Lilith finally as a true angel, a true goddess, gave me such pleasure. I am so incensed over the denial of her in the Scriptures and what has befallen Woman because of it.

Becca: By the time our emotions and psyches had been through the mill of the Lilith series, I found myself staring at the crowning painting, Sanctuary, and wondering how I could do it all justice. The answer was for me to write the poem in a very personal voice - in a simple prose style, addressed to Lilith herself. So the poem revealed itself as my monologue to someone I had come to know deeply. I recognize her as a role model for a fully-realized woman ("Fully Woman"), though for centuries such an image was regarded as an unrealizable dream or a she-monster to be destroyed (hence my reference to the Greek mythological monster, the "chimera"). Lilith had to use cunning and stealth, as the Celtic moon-goddess Nimue might have, to deliver this "Fully Woman" image into our present age. No longer can she be condemned as a demon who would slip in at night (riding "moonbeams" and "men's erotic fantasies") to tempt men to debauch themselves. I declare my commitment to restoring her good name ("I will not sleep another night until . . ."). Having been on the outside of our culture, she is now invited to come in out of the cold to "the warm light" of the unified woman who can demonstrate her aspects of lover, mother, and free-thinker. I invite her to dwell with our society under a new ethos of harmony, truth, and love.

§§ For more details on how the new Lilith myth came into being, please refer to "Lilith of the Night" and "Father as Failure".
§§ EVE, LILITH
§§ The Lilith Series, in order: (1) "Goddess", (2) "Daughters of Lilith", (3) "Under the Apple Tree", (4) "The Redemption of Adam", and (5) "Sanctuary".

_____________________________

............In the beginning, the Elohim God(s) create a human in their own image. Out of clay from the four corners of the Earth, God fashions this creature, and breathing into its nostrils, he gives it the breath of Life. It is an androgynous being, whom he calls "Adam", which means "made out of clay". Adam beholds its wondrous garden home and names the animals. The human notices that all the animals have mates and even tries to couple with them. God fixes this by sawing the androgyne in half: one of the sun and one of the moon, Man and Woman, Adam and Adamah. Thus Adam has his mate, Lilith or Adamah.

............God tells the First Couple, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the Earth and conquer it. Have dominion over every living thing that moves upon the Earth."

Although they are soul mates, Adam considers his solar thinking superior to Lilith's instinctual feelings. He figures he has the right to conquer her - isn't that what God meant? One day, as they prepare to make love, Adam commands her, "Lilith, lie beneath me, as is proper."

............"Are you kidding?" Lilith replies. "Why should I?"

............"God made me first, so obviously I have the superior position."

............"Dream on, Bucko! God made both of us at the same time, out of the same dirt! Have you forgotten? We are equals!"

............Adam thunders, "Woman! I command you - "

............Lilith has had enough. Hissing like a snake, she turns on him, shouts out "YHWH!", the magic name of the Goddess, takes wing, and flies off toward the Red Sea. No man is going to treat her like dirt . . . well, at least not without admitting he is dirt, too.

............Lilith dwells in the wilderness. Once she gets over her anger with that arrogant Adam, she finds she quite enjoys her solitude. Even the desolate desert teems with life, and she learns the wild ways of the animals. Bathing in moonlight, she delights in her body: her long orange hair, full red lips, clear dark eyes. She rubs her round breasts with sweet oil and adorns her ears and neck with jewels. Perched on her hairy legs and clawed feet, she becomes the Bird Woman, like the owl that is her favorite companion.

............Adams cries to God about Lilith's leaving him, so God complies by sending three angels to bring her back. She is quite happy where she is - thank you very much - and repels the angels. They threaten her with God's wrath and punishment. "To hell with you and the winds you rode in on!" she spits at them.

............Then a snake spirit, the Blind Dragon, arranges a marriage between the fallen angel Samael (the Devil) and Lilith. They both ride the mysterious power of the serpent, and Lilith gives birth to hundreds of demons, hairy children, and evil-doers.

............In subsequent history, Lilith's daughters, the lilim, would terrorize men with sexual temptations, inducing men to masturbate, and then taking their spilled semen to impregnate themselves. These succubae or "harlots of hell" claimed souls for the Devil. Lilith - at least in the minds of Yahweh-fearing people - changed from a protectress of children to a devourer of them. When she swooped into the nursery in the night, she could cause crib death, epilepsy, or sickness. Middle Eastern Jews and later medieval Christians depended on their rabbis and priests to supply amulets, spells, and prayers to ward off the fearsome Lilith and her demonic family.

See also: ADAM, EVE.