Please Don't Go (36 page)

An example from official papal records: Father Murphy, a Catholic priest in Ballyvaughn, Ireland during the 1870’s, reported to his parishioners that he had been visited by a feminine demon on dozens of occasions, but had never succumbed to her incessant will. He had named her “Lily.” Her visitations and beleaguering taunts happened both in and out of sleep, according to Father Murphy, though it was impossible to prove these purported facts to his religious brethren. His followers slowly drifted away from his congregation and Father Murphy dwindled into a state of ripened madness. His own people, whom he had stood in defense of on so many occasions for even the simplest of matters, had abandoned him. The Father had nobody left to turn to, save for the sly demon who supposedly tormented him on a daily basis. In his final memoirs, he told of his eventual demise at the hands of this demon named “Lily.” On a cold December morning in 1872, he was visited by his second cousin, Father Gallaghan of Cork, who discovered his unresponsive body. Gallaghan claimed to have discovered Father Murphy in his bed, naked and covered with deep scratch marks around his pubic region, coupled by lacerations along his arms and legs. Carved into his chest was a crudely crafted word: “fractus.” This word, as any student of Latin will tell you, translates to “broken.”

A second example, more close to home: A northern Vermont potato farmer by the name of Skeet Tregman had lost his wife in a hunting accident in the winter of 1964. Though he had never confessed as such, it was gossiped amongst the locals that he had killed his wife, and in cold blood, for her past infidelities with a long string of scandalous men. Skeet had denied this act of vengeance until the day he died, but could never break free of those forever-whispered aspersions. Two years after his wife’s death, he claimed to a close confidant that his thought-to-be dead wife was visiting him on a nightly basis, taking him with sexual aggression in such a way that he had never experienced with her while she was still alive, and that he was taking unreasonable enjoyment in the act. His friend worried for Skeet and insisted that he enter treatment for dealing with the emotional pains of his lost love. Skeet begged his friend not to tell anybody of what had transpired, but Skeet was eventually betrayed. Once under steady observation by professionals at a local mental hospital, Skeet began to unfold his mixed pleasures and pains, through a history of carnal activities with his dead wife. She would hurt him in any way she pleased, and threaten his life if he ever told anybody of what had become of her. Skeet claimed that his wife would, “have her child, one way or another.” They had always planned to build a family, and many contend that it was the driving force behind her very unfortunate “accident.” Now an otherworldly demon preying upon her murderous (according to scuttlebutt) husband, her goals remained steadfast. Like Father Murphy before him, Skeet was found one morning in his bed, as stated by one Dr. Graham Ryerson, “with his insides transformed into outsides.” His small and large intestines were spilled from his gut, dangling from his bedside. The crux of the terrible situation, and the nagging thought that created many a sleepless night for the hospital staff, was that Skeet had been restrained to his bed and locked away in a private room behind four deadbolts. He could barely breathe on his own, let alone move an inch, yet still his body had become disemboweled, as if by a cruel miracle.

Lilith (much like Father Murphy’s “Lily,” which may have been no coincidence, given Father Murphy’s extensive theological knowledge), Lilin (of Jewish origin), Belili (Sumerian), and Rusalka (Slavic) are names often attributed to the general blanketed term of
succubi
. The names reoccur through various texts in ancient cultures since the dawn of modern man. Though the names are reworded or respelled at times, the underlying tale never does—a woman, scorned but powerful, is set at odds against the modern roles and machinations of men and women. Part pride, part envy, part loving. She is known by many less official names, as well. “The Screech Owl”, which is often attributed to witches; “The Strangler,” for her physical abuse and wrought power; and even “The Great Mother,” which describes her falsified nurturing nature that is often amended to her hateful true spirit. All of these names and characteristics serve to construct a larger archetype that returns again and again from the lips and fears of man.

The original bipolar, thought Zephyr.

The name Lilith, in particular, also has connections to the Bible. There becomes, on close observation, a thread that connects the tendons of this theory. Mention of demons, undead beasts, and transference of the fourth-dimensional beings that we often label as succubi, many of whom may have existed even in the purported Garden of Eden, and found in even the holiest of scriptures. Lilith’s name only appears (directly speaking) once in the Old Testament. She is mentioned in Isaiah 34:14-15, where her name is roughly translated to “screech owl,” one of her more common names and a pagan connotation in contemporary thought. However, there are many Old Testament passages that are said to refer to the mere
concept
of Lilith, including those in Genesis 2:21 and 4:8, both of which refer to the creation of a man and woman in a world that existed
before
the moment that Eve was derived of Adam’s rib. This alteration from the current perceptions of the Bible can be explained by many theologians as an intermingling of two discrete biblical creation myths.

In some ancient Rabbitical texts (The Talmud being the foremost source),
Lilith
is a female demon (again, a
succubus
, to use more explicit lingo) who is often labeled as Adam’s first wife. The original name in Sumerian texts was “Lilitu,” and the transliteration from the Hebrew may be “Lilith,” “Lillith,” or “Lilit.” Many versions of the Lilith mythology come storming through these sparse notations of various geographies and cultures. One particularly vicious version of what we have come to know as “Lilith” was a Mesopotamian demon with a cold spot in her heart for children, often possessing them or stealing them from their proper parents in the night. She committed these crimes even during childbirth, waiting in the wings for her next possession. Some have described this unquestionable hatred as a backlash against the people (
read: mankind
) of Adam, for Adam pushed the empowered Lilith away in the Garden, instead opting for the eventual weaker form of woman, the more passive animal named Eve. This left Lilith barren, while the people (
read: mankind
) of Eve thrived and built a world around them. If Lilith had not been so willful, mankind would today be in the model of Lilith and Adam. The male sex, it may be theorized from these Rabbitcal texts, would be the passive of the two sexes, with females existing as the aggressor, the powerful being who drives humanity and progress. The traditional male and female roles, to simplify, would be very much reversed.

In this same thread of thought, it can be said that in recent decades, with modern women’s liberation, we have begun a movement as a people towards the Way of Lilith, in both the conscious and subconscious realms of ideology. Men are more and more becoming domesticated in their daily lives, taking on roles that have previously been solely attributed to females. Doing laundry, cooking dinner, and washing clothes are no stranger to the modern man. Some may preach in favor of this paradigm shift, and others still consider this a degradation to the traditional, patriarchal world we have created. The 1960’s in particular saw what one expert (Thomas McCarthy, Women’s Studies professor at the University of Michigan) referred to as a “Rebirth of the Legion of Lilith.”

These echoes and reverberations of Lilith, in general, can be found throughout the world, at different crucial points during humanity’s history. Sometimes the scapegoat, other times the venomous villain, Lilith is a theme that cannot be easily ignored. A fourth-century historian named Hieronymus drew a parallel between Lilith and the mythical Greek Lamia, a Libyan queen who bedded the mighty Zeus. After Zeus abandoned Lamia, Hera (Zeus’ wife) stole Lamia’s children, and Lamia took eye-for-an-eye revenge by stealing mortal children within Zeus’ kingdom. This threads back in with the previous theory that Lilith may have been an angry spinster with a barren womb. Perhaps she was only left barren after her transgressions with Zeus, where it is legend that if he was to have a child with her, that he would be the last one to ever give her a child; that the finality in their mating would leave her without the potential for further offspring. She had, in the embrace of Zeus, reached the pinnacle of mothering. Of course, this is all based on tying one mythology to another, and neither can be vetted for certain, nor can the connections. Such is the way with mythology, but the underlying thematic tone of these myths call for closer examination.

According to Jewish folklore, Lilith refused to assume a subservient role to Adam during sexual intercourse and eventually left Adam by the wayside, to one day end up in the arms of Eve (his second choice, or his lesser of two evils?). Some have pushed forward the theory that Adam left Lilith for greener pastures and others have claimed the opposite: that Lilith was “too much woman” for Adam. One may find that the theory often bends in one direction or another based upon the personal politics of the theorizing individual, which only serves to further complicate a scientific reasoning based upon very unscientific hearsay.

There also remains a theological question as to whether or not Lilith was given a child by Adam. The moment of abandonment, no matter which of the sexes is to blame, some believe was a direct result of her becoming heavy with child. This, of course, destroys the theory of her being barren, but also reveals a whole new dynamic relating to Adam and Eve and the subsequent children (
read: mankind
) that followed. If Adam and Eve gave birth to mankind, then what kind of being did Adam and Lilith bring into the world? The mind can wander when putting this thought into motion. Some Jewish theological experts have even gone so far as to theorize that Adam and Eve created “good,” and that Adam and Lilith created “evil,”- that Lilith is in fact the metaphoric serpent in the Garden, offering the apple to Eve. Early images of the Lilith archetype often depict her with a serpent intertwined about her body, as if they are one unified beast with two heads and one body.

All of this, of course, is hearsay based upon a mixture of theologies and resulting mythologies (if one is to claim that theology is any different from mythology) that encircle them, the Bible included. We must be truly scientific in our explanation to note that the Bible in and of itself, methodically speaking, is a mythology no different from the various Jewish texts (The Talmud, The Tanakh, etc.) on Lilith, and no different from Zeus or any of the Babylonian gods and demons. All mythology echoes its brothers and sisters in the sands of time, repeating universalities as testaments or warnings. The recurring themes of good and evil, or Heaven and Hell, if speaking of geographic hemispheres, can be traced back much further than our modern theological perceptions allow us.

The earliest “cradle of civilization” references, taken from Sumer and Babylon, depict Lilith (attributed as
Ishtar
, the goddess of sex and war in Assyrian and Babylonian texts) as a bird-like creature, complete with wings and talons. In addition, she is often depicted with the head of a lion. To say that these implications are fitting to her archetypical character would be an understatement: in nearly all textual and visual references to this character universally translated as Lilith, she is a demon of flight who can travel at will. In addition, her talons and lion’s roar make her formidable as a tormentor. Lilith, in almost all translations, is a vicious
beast
.

There is a ritualistic Babylonian text that is meant to keep Lilith away, when delivered as an incantation of protection:

You should not approach my body,

You should not walk in front of me,

You should not follow me,

Where I stop, you should not stop,

Where I sit down, you should not sit down,

You should not enter my house,

You should not cast a spell on my house,

You should not place your feet in my footprints,

Where I go in, you should not go in,

Where I enter, you should not enter.

This incantation fails to mention a very common belief that demons, if named, cannot inflict damage upon the one who speaks that name. This mythological standard shows up in fairy tales as well (
Rumpelstiltskin
, as an example), for they are universal warnings and sage advice from centuries of demonology.

There are textual proofs in the Talmud that after she left Adam (or vice versa), Lilith went on to mate with Asmodai, (the king of the demons or The King of The Nine Hells), whom she encountered along the banks of the Red Sea, creating a plethora of succubus children from his seed. Other testaments, poetry, and folklore relating to Lilith’s post-Adam existence say that she was in league with a bevy of demons at the Red Sea, and that she adored the quiet evil in the murkiness of the ocean. Yet another version of the Lilith myth has her seducing Adam after the fall of man and giving birth to various immortal imps who are tasked with spreading her evil ways among the children of humanity. In both of these versions, Lilith is reputed to be immortal, since she did not eat from the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) as Adam and Eve had done.