More than likely, you have heard the story of Adam and Eve, but you may not have known that Adam was betrothed to another before Eve. Lilit or Lilith was created on the same day and made from the same clay as Adam. She was created to be exactly his equal. A true partner.
Almost from the day of creation there was a problem in paradise – Lilith refused to be subservient to Adam and his needs. Although Adam loved her dearly, Lilith did not have the same desires as Adam with her unhealthy cravings and need for freedom. Tensions rose even more when she refused to lie beneath Adam during intercourse and be dominated by him. Lilith was banished, but others think in true Lilith style she fled from the Garden of Eden and never looked back. God and his angels attempted everything to convince Lilith to return to Adam. She blatantly refused. While God worked on Adam's new companion, Lilith was punished, and her 100 children were sentenced to death. Replaced by the soft and somewhat naif Eve, who was this time made directly from Adam's rib. Eve would bring her own problems, but that is a different story altogether.
Labelled a demon by the patriarchal figures of the time, Lilith was seen as a wicked, vengeful demoness towards men and children. In the Middle Ages many scholars believed that Lilith was not a good role model for young girls. Young girls and mothers would wear amulets inscribed with "Lilith-Abei" meaning Lilith Begone. For thousands of years, women have been taught to fear their desires, their sexuality, and their need for freedom. Women healers, wild-crafters and medicine women have been called witches and sentenced to death for centuries. Feared because they had the power to heal, and that power gave freedom and autonomy.
Lilith rejected the misunderstanding of her as a demon and has become a symbol for modern day feminism for her assertion of equality, independence, sexual liberation. Lilith is a symbol of a woman whom society cannot control.
The question is, are we an Eve or a Lilith? Or are we perhaps a mix of both? Sisters in the fight for freedom and equality; always questioning and pushing the boundaries of our expectations.
