Tag: Lilith

Remembrance of Things Past: Part Two

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When the reiki healing ended, I sat up and Angelic started the “soul reading” part of our session, where she reported back to me some of what she had seen and received guidance on while she was working with me.

This one was very different from the first one she had given me.

She seemed noticeably stressed as she talked to me. I’m not exactly sure why. It’s possible that she may have just been in a hurry, as we had spent quite a bit of time chatting when I first got to her office.

But I think she was also kind of disturbed by what she had seen while working on clearing my energy this time.

The first time she had known about my “very trying past lives,” and told me so. She also had said that, while I seemed to have a very clear and open heart chakra, everything else was very blocked. 

But that first time what she told me was more general, and more focused on guidance about my current path in life and what my next steps were.

This time, she saw more into the details of some of these past lives (as well as my current one).

And what she saw was not pretty…

Since I had mentioned having had that brief vision of my past life to her before our session that day, she says she decided to ask Archangel Michael for more details and information about this.

She says she saw three.

The first past life she was given access to, I was a woman, a witch, in some Germanic or Norse regions a very long time ago.

She said I was a powerful seer and healer, but I lived by myself in a cabin in the forest far from the town, and was exiled and not included in the rest of the community. The people wold come to me and would use me for my knowledge and visionary abilities, but I was not liked or welcome among the rest of the people.

She also mentioned that if I didn’t already, I should start working with runes. I had done so in this past life, and she recommended that I try this now, as well.

The next past life she mentioned was the one I had been referring to when I told her about my short vision of one.

She said that she saw me, once again a woman in this past life, trapped in an underground cellar, “it was all dark cold stones and chains and it was just horrible.” I was kept a prisoner down there and tortured and god only knows what else…

She must have seen this while I was also having the vision I wrote about earlier, where I broke free from the tomb and escaped.

She says she also received information about a third life, but added that she didn’t see much else or have many details about it. She said that in this life I had “sinned,” although she was uncomfortable actually using that word, it wasn’t exactly what she meant. I had done something wrong, not in integrity, maybe something to hurt someone.

I asked what it was, but she said she didn’t know. “I don’t know, it could have been that you like, went and stabbed someone, I don’t always get all the details because then you might get all caught up in that and miss the point…”

The last thing that she mentioned was “strong Lilith energy” in my past.

She didn’t say it was in connection to a past life, so I think she is well aware that this is something during this lifetime.

She said that I have a lot of anger and stuck emotions in my second and third chakras, and that much of it may be related to this.

Q&A: Why are pagans worshiping the demon Lilith all of a sudden?

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“It is not that uncommon for the deities of one culture to be reinterpreted as the demons of another. Lilith is likely a rare case of a demon from one culture being reinterpreted as a deity of another.”

That’s not the whole story though. Before Lilith was a demon, she is thought to have been a deity from other goddess-worshiping cultures in the Mediterranean/Middle East, one where worship quite often included fertility rites and sex magick/rituals.

She was literally demonized by the conquering patriarchal Jewish religion which came afterwards. She is not truly a demon being wrongly glorified by deluded feminists. Instead she can be seen as a case where a “demonized” deity is in fact simply being returned to her original position.

In the Jewish tradition, Lilith has long represented things such as infant death, miscarriage, impotence, etc. However, she is also seen as representing the female desire for sovereignty (erotic and otherwise), and the dangers to society this has represented over the years.

As a result, she is not meant to be “endearing.” She is not a sweet, loving goddess but instead one who is sure of herself and willing to stand by her convictions no matter what the cost. She is meant to be powerful, strong and yes, maybe even a little bit terrifying (especially to those who would seek to control her).

Just because she is a female deity or mythological figure doesn’t mean she should be sugar and spice and everything nice. In fact, that’s exactly the point of reclaiming Lilith. For women, to reclaim Lilith means reclaiming all the parts of themselves which have been silenced, oppressed and erased: their desire, their rage, their capacity for self-determination.

I have worked with Lilith in ritual before and I do not worship her–I work with her. I evoke her strength of character and capacity to defend herself, her ability to feel righteous anger at oppression, and her belief in herself as a person with integrity and a right to have and express her desires, wants and needs.

As a woman in a patriarchal culture, it’s something I’ve struggled with over a lifetime. When I work with Lilith, I meditate on what she represents and thank her for reminding me that I have a right to self-determination and self-expression, no matter how “demonically” selfish others around me might think that to be.

Lilith: The Original Feminist Icon

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I recently acquired this pendant showing the Seal of Lilith on the front.

I’m still not sure if I’m ready to begin working with Lilith in ritual, but I do know that I’ve been somewhat obsessed with her since I’ve learned of her story.

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For those of you who don’t know, Lilith was Adam’s first wife in the Garden of Eden.
She was made at the same time Adam was, of the same material (not of his rib like her successor Eve), and believed herself to be equal to her male counterpart.

When Adam forced himself on her sexually, she chose to leave the Garden of Eden and pursue an independent life on her own.

This is where the story gets controversial. What did Lilith do after she left the Garden of Eden?

According to many sources (especially traditional Jewish texts), Lilith became a demonic goddess, who consorted with demons out in the wild territories far from God, bearing their devilish children and stealing the children of other women shortly after they were born.

Although this is what the majority of “tradition” has to say about Lilith, I’m not convinced. I personally count myself among those who would see Lilith as the original independent woman, the godmother of all feminists who choose to respect themselves and their power to choose their own path.

I think it’s likely that the majority of negative press Lilith has received has been constructed as the instrument of a patriarchal system, who would have other women who are starting to get certain independent ideas in their heads to think twice about disobeying the male-dominated social order.

I, for one, have a lot of respect for this mythical woman, who shows us that women were created in equality with men, and who deserve to have their rights respected, and refuse to tolerate any less.

Although I’m still unprepared to follow some of the more traditional uses of Lilith’s seal, I will still choose to honor her and let her seal represent the values of independence, self-respect, and fiercely expressed femininity.

Lilith reminds me that taking the path of conviction and honoring your full self as a woman can be difficult (if not seemingly impossible at times). Although she never recovered in the eyes of her society of origin, she was true to herself and lived a life of brave authenticity, which is something I will always admire.