Common Misconceptions about the goddess Lilith
*Lilith was anciently worshiped. - She was never historically worshiped until fairly recently. (Probably at least the 1980s if not a bit earlier.) Ancient people thought of her as a spirit or a demon, and a harmful on at that. (She’s also not older than Ishtar.)
*She’s a goddess of women and children. - She was never a “goddess of” because she was a spirit and a class of spirits. Being a goddess of women is one thing, but Lilith seemed to have killed children and harmed mothers or those giving birth in her original mythos. If anything, she is similar to Ishtar’s kilili forms and her handmaiden. (Demons serve gods in Mesopotamian myths.)
*She’s Adam’s ancient wife. - This myth came from the Alphabet of Ben Sira and is a medieval European Jew text. She had no connection to Adam prior to this. She’s Adam’s former wife, too. After this, depending on tradition, she married Samael (Satan) or Asmodeus. In Jewish mysticism, she also left Samael, and was even God’s consort for a time!
*She was omitted from the bible. - She was never in the bible to begin with! The one passage that may be here (Isaiah 34:14) is highly contested and is not linked to Adam or Eden.
*Lilith is a victim of the patriarchy and was demonized by men! - This usually includes ideas that she was originally a benevolent mother goddess and protector of children. But she was already fairly negative in portrayal in ancient texts and the patriarchy had little to do with her demonic character, outside of using her as an example of how awful independent women are, which was pretty sexist. [Note: Ancient interpretations are not the same as modern.]
*Lilith is a dark mother. - This is a modern thought. In ancient texts, she is seen as a maiden and barren. While she has kids in Jewish lore later, she again becomes barren in those myths. She was still seen as a “maiden” prior to this. (I actually like the idea of her as a dark mother, btw.)
*Lilith is a victim of God and was punished for leaving Eden! - This is loaded because the myths of this state that she actually left the Garden of Eden of her own free will after demanding of equality, which makes her an empowering, independent feminist in modern thought. God punishes her after her refusal to return to Adam and her threats of attacking babies. He tells her he will kill 100 of her children a day, which doesn’t even bother her.
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