Difference between revisions of "Lilith"

The depiction of Lilith in Romanticism continues to be popular among [[Wicca]]ns and in other modern [[occult]] traditions. Many early occult writers who contributed to modern day Wicca expressed special reverence for Lilith. [[Gerald Gardner]] asserted that there was continuous historical worship of Lilith to present day, and that her name is sometimes given to the goddess being personified in the coven by the priestess. This idea was further attested by Doreen Valiente, who cited her as a presiding goddess of the Craft: "the personification of erotic dreams, the suppressed desire for delights."

In some contemporary concepts, Lilith is viewed as the embodiment of the Goddess, a designation that is thought to be shared with what these faiths believe to be her counterparts: Inanna, [[Ishtar]], Asherah, Anath, Anahita and [[Isis]]. According to one view, Lilith was originally a Sumerian, Babylonian, or Hebrew mother goddess of childbirth, children, women, and sexuality. A few magical orders dedicated to the undercurrent of Lilith, featuring initiations specifically related to the arcana of the "first mother", exist. Two organisations that use initiations and [[ritual magic|magic]] associated with Lilith are the ''Ordo Antichristianus Illuminati'' and the ''Order of Phosphorus''.

Lilith appears as a succubus in [[Aleister Crowley]]'s ''De Arte Magica''. Lilith was also one of the middle names of Crowley's first child, Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith Crowley (1904–1906), and Lilith is sometimes identified with Babalon in [[Thelema|Thelemic]] writings.

Many theistic Satanists consider Lilith as a goddess. She is considered a goddess of independence by those Satanists and is often worshipped by women, but women are not the only people who worship her. Lilith is popular among theistic Satanists because of her association with [[Satan]]. Some Satanists believe that she is the wife of Satan and thus think of her as a mother figure. Others base their reverence for her on her history as a succubus and praise her as a sex goddess. A different approach to a Satanic Lilith holds that she was once a fertility and agricultural goddess.