Kabbala: Lilith the Seductress
In the following passages Lilith is revealed in her
role as succubus. Her job in this guise is to sleep with
men (which they experience as wet dreams), or otherwise
collect their semen. Then she becomes pregnant from them
and bears demonic children. This process begins with Adam
who attempts celibacy for a period of time. That
separation from his wife leaves him vulnerable to Lilith
(and Naamah, who functions similarly). There may, in
this, be an underlying invective against the practice of
celibacy as part of religious dedication. Celibacy was
obviously a part of Christianity at the time and the
story teller may hope to prevent its catching on in
Jewish circles. Lilith may also collect semen even from
the marriage bed, though. The sage must be careful to
ensure that she is denied access to the bedroom through
both proper modesty and the performance of prophylactic
rituals.
Naamah, like Lilith, is a demon-seductress.
In that sense their roles appear identical. Naamah,
however, doesn't have Lilith's baby-stealer(/corrupter)
role.
Zohar 3:76b-77a
For 130 years Adam kept separate from
his wife and did not beget. After Cain killed Abel, Adam
did not want to copulate with his wife. Rabbi Yose said:
"From the hour in which death was decreed upon him and
upon the whole world, he said 'Why should I beget
children for terror?' and instantly separated from his
wife."
And two female spirits [Lilith and Naamah] would come
and copulate with him and bear children. and those whom
they bore are the evil spirits of the world who are
called the Plagues of Mankind. And they lead the sons of
man astray, and dwell in the doorway of the house, and in
the cisterns and in the latrines.... But if the holy name
Shaddai with supernal crowns is found in the doorway of a
man's house, they all flee and go away from there.
And we have learned that in the hour in which man
descended to the earth in the supernal image, in the
image of the Holy One, and the higher and lower beings
saw him, they all approached him and proclaimed him king
over this world. After the Serpent mounted Eve and
injected filth into her, she gave birth to Cain. From
thence descended all the wicked generations in the world.
And the abode of demons and spirits is from there and
from his side. Therefore, all the spirits and demons have
one half from man below, and the other half from the
angels of the supernal realm.
Thereafter Adam begot on those spirits daughters who
are the beauty of those above and those below. And all
went astray after them. And there was one male who came
into the world from the spirit of Cain's side, and they
called Tubal-Cain. And a female came forth with him, and
the creatures went astray after her, and her name was
Naamah. From her issued other spirits and demons. and
they hover in the air and tell things to those others
found below. And this Tubal-Cain brought weapons of
killing into the world. And this Naamah became aroused
and adhered to her [evil] side. And to this day she
exists, and her abode is among the waves of the great
sea. And she comes forth, and makes sport with the sons
of man, and becomes hot
from them in the dream, in that desire which a man has,
and she clings to him, and she takes the desire and from
it she conceives and brings forth other kinds [of
spirits] into the world. And those children whom she
bears from the sons of man come to the women, and they
conceive from them and bear spirits. And all of them go
to Lilith the Ancient, and she rears them....
(Patai81:456f)
And she goes out into the world and seeks her
children. And she sees the sons of man and clings to
them, in order to kill them, and to become absorbed into
the souls of the children of the sons of man, and she
goes off with that child. But three holy spirits arrive
there and fly before her and take that child from her and
place him before the Holy One, blessed be He, and there
he studies before Him. Therefore the Tora warns, Be
sacred (Lev. 19:2). If a man is holy, he is not
harmed by her, for the Holy One, blessed be He, orders
those three holy angels whom we have mentioned, and they
guard that child, and she cannot harm him. But if a man
is not holy, and draws a spirit from the impure side,
then she comes and makes sport with that child, and when
she kills him she penetrates that soul [which departs
from the child] and never leaves it....
(Patai81:466)
At times it happens that Naamah goes forth into
the world to become hot
from the sons of man, and a man finds himself in a
connection of lust with her, and he awakens from his
sleep and takes hold of his wife and lies with her. And
this desire comes from that lust which he had in his
dream. Then the child that she begets comes from the side
of Naamah, for the man was driven by his lust for her.
And when Lilith comes and sees that child, she knows what
happened, and she ties herself to him and brings him up
like all those other sons of Naamah. And she is with him
many times, but does not kill him. This is the man who
becomes blemished on every New Moon, for she never gives
him up. For month after month, when the moon becomes
renewed in the world Lilith comes forth and visits all
those whom she brings up, and makes sport with them, and
therefore that person is blemished at that time.
(Patai81:457f)
Zohar Sitrei Torah 1:147b-148b
Jacob's Journey
Jacob had entered this gateway to faith.
[1]
Adhering to that faith, he had to be tested
in the same place his fathers had been tested,
entering in peace and emerging in peace.[2]
Adam entered but was not careful.[3]
Seduced by her, he sinned with that whore of a woman,
the primordial serpent.[4]
Noah entered but was not careful.
Seduced by her, he sinned as well,
as it is written:
He drank of the wine and became drunk
and uncovered himself within his tent (Gen. 9:21)
Abraham entered and emerged,
as it is written:
And Abram went down to Egypt...
And Abram came up from Egypt (Gen. 12:10, 13:1)
Isaac entered and emerged,
as it is written:
Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in
Gerar...
From there he went up to Be'er Sheva (Gen 26:1, 23)
Jacob, having entered into faith,
had to continue and probe the other side.
For one who is saved from there is a loved one,
a chosen one of the Blessed Holy One.
What is written?
Jacob left Be'er Sheva
the secret of the mystery of faith,
and set out for Haran
the side of the woman of whoredom, the adulteress.
[5]
The secret of secrets:
Out of the scorching noon of Isaac,
out of the dregs of wine,[6]
a fungus emerged, a cluster,
male and female together,
red as a rose,[7]
expanding in many directions and paths.
The male is called Sama'el,
his female is always included within him.
Just as it is on the side of holiness,
so it is on the other side:
male and female embracing one another.
The female of Sama'el is called Serpent,
[8]
Woman of Whoredom,
End of All Flesh, End of Days.
Two evil spirits joined together:
the spirit of the male is subtle;
the spirit of the female is diffused in many ways and paths
but joined to the spirit of the male.
She bedecks herself with all kinds of jewelry
like an abhorrent prostitute posing on the corner to seduce men.
The fool who approaches her--
she grabs him and kisses him, [Prov. 7:13]
pours him wine from the dregs, from the venom of vipers.
As soon as he drinks, he strays after her.
Seeing him stray from the path of truth,
she strips herself of all her finery that she dangled before that
fool,
her adornments for seducing men:
her hair all arranged, red as a rose,
her face white and red,
six trinkets dangling from her ears,
her bed covered with fabric from Egypt,
on her neck all the jewels of the East,
her mouth poised, a delicate opening,
what lovely trappings!
The tongue pointed like a sword,
her words smooth like oil,
her lips beautiful, red as a rose,
sweet with all the sweetness of the world.
She is dressed in purple,
adorned with forty adornments minus one.
[9]
This fool follows her, drinks from the cup of wine,
fornicates with her, deviates after her.
What does she do?
She leaves him sleeping in bed.
She ascends, denounces him, obtains permission, and descends.
[10]
That fool wakes up and plans to play with her as before.
But she removes her decorations
and turns into a powerful warrior confronting him.
Arrayed in armor of flashing fire,
his[11] awesome terror vibrates the
victim's body and soul.
He is full of fearsome eyes;
in his hand a sharp-edged sword drips bitter drops.
He kills that fool and flings him into hell.
Jacob descended to her, went straight to her abode,
[12]
as it is said:
and he set out for Haran.
[5]
He saw all the trappings of her house
and was saved from her.
Her mate, Sama'el, was offended
and swooped down to wage war
but could not overcome him,
as it is written:
And a man wrested with him... (Gen. 32:25)
Now he was saved and perfected,
raised to a perfect sphere and called Israel.
He attained a high rung, total perfection!
He became the central pillar, of whom it is written:
The center bar in the middle of the planks shall run from end to
end (Exo. 26:28)
(Matt83:76-79f)
Zohar 2:267b
And that spirit which is called Asirta
becomes stirred up...and goes to the female who is
beneath all females. And she is Lilith the mother of
demons. And a man may become stirred up by that evil
spirit called Asirta, which attaches himself to that man
and ties himself to him permanently. And on every New
Moon that spirit of evil appearance becomes stirred up by
Lilith, and at time that man suffers harm from the
spirit, and falls to the ground and cannot get up, or
even dies.
(Patai81:462)
Bacharach, 'Emeq haMelekh, 19c
And behold, the harsh husk, that is
Lilith, is always in the sheet of the bed of a man and a
woman who copulate, in order to take the sparks of the
drops of seed which go waste, because it cannot be
without this, and she creates from them demons, spirits
and Lilin. And there is
an incantation to drive away Lilith from the bed and to
bring forth holy souls, which is mentioned in the holy
Zohar.
(Patai81:463f)
Zohar 3:19a
The remedy against Lilith is this: In
that hour in which a man copulates with his wife, he
should concentrate in his head on the holiness of his
Master and say this:
O you who are wrapped in velvet,
You have appeared!
Release, release!
Neither come nor go!
Neither you nor yours!
Go back, go back!
The sea is raging,
Its waves call you,
I hold on to the Holy One,
Wrap myself in the King's holiness.
Then let him cover his head and his wife for one hour,
and do thus each time for three days of the receiving.
For a grafting which is not received within three days
will not be received at all. But in the book which
Ashmodai gave to King Solomon it says for thirty days,
and it says that after he finished the act he should
sprinkle clear water around the couch.
(Patai81:463)
Bacharach, 'Emeq haMelekh, 102d-103a
The Alien Woman is Lilith, and she is
the sweetness of sin and the evil tongue. And from the
lips of the Alien Woman honey flows. And although the
Impure Female has no hands and feet for copulation, for
the feet of the
serpent were cut off, nevertheless the Female in her
adornments looks as if she had hands and feet. And it is
the mystery of her adornments that she can seduce men....
And she leaves the husband of her youth [Samael] and
descends and fornicates with men who sleep below in the
impurity of spontaneous emission, and from them are born
demons and spirits and Lilin, and they are called the Sons of Man.
(Patai81:462ff)
Zohar 1:54b-55a
R. Yitzhaq said: From the hour in which
Cain killed Abel, Adam separated himself from his wife,
[and] two female spirits came and copulated with him, and
he begot spirits and demons which roam in the world. And
this should not be difficult for you [to understand], for
when a man dreams, female spirits come and play with him
and get hot from him
and thereafter bear [those demons] which are called the
Plagues of Mankind. And they turn into a likeness of men,
but they have no hair on their head.... And in a similar
manner male spirits come to the women of this world who
become pregnant from them and give birth to spirits and
all of them are called Plagues of Mankind. After 130
years Adam clothed himself in zeal and had union with his
wife and begot a son and called his name Seth
(Patai81:471)
Notes
[1] Shekhinah, the opening to the realm
of the sefirot, which are the object of mystical faith.
[Matt:227].
[2] The same phrase appears in rabbinic
literature to describe Rabbi Akiva's successful journey into the
mystical orchard; see Tosefta, Hagigah 2:4; Shir
ha-Shirim Rabbah 1:28.
[Matt:227].
[3] Here we find another perspective on Adam's
sin: he was seduced by demonic and sexual forces; cf. Zohar 1:140b;
2:245a. [Matt:227].
[4] E.g. Lilith. [AH]
[5]. The Zohar associates Haran with
haron, "wrath". cf. 1:78b (Sitrei Torah
[Matt:227]
[6]. According to Matt::227f, both Isaac and the dregs mentioned here
allude to power and judgment overcoming love and mercy. This
imbalance, according to the passage, is at the root of the
origins of the demonic. [AH]
[7]. Red symbolizes the power of the left and the
demonic [Matt:228]
[8]. On Lilith = Serpent = Woman of
Whoredom see 'Emeq
haMelekh 23c-d. [AH] The Zohar links sin, lust, and death.
All these are the works of Lilit acting in consort with
Sama'el. The phrase "woman of whoredom" is from Hosea
1:2; "end of all flesh" is from the story of the
Flood, Genesis 6:13; cf. Zohar 162b-63b.
[Matt:228]
[9]. corresponding to the number of lashes
administered by the court according to rabbinic law; see Deut.
25:3; Mishnah, Makkot 3:10. Lilit's allurements soon
turn into punishments. [Matt:228]
[10]. Cf. Talmud Bava Batra 16a,
where Satan's itinerary is described: "He descends and leads
astray, ascends and arouses [God's] anger, obtains permission
and takes the soul." [Matt:228]
[11] Note the shift from feminine
pronouns to masculine. Patai's translation (Patai81:461f) keeps
the feminine pronouns throughout. I have not checked
the Hebrew, but I suspect that that Matt is following
it and Patai has corrected what he perceived to be an
error. If Matt is correct, then this is another
instance of gender mixture between Lilith and Samael.
See my note on Bacharach,
'Emeq haMelekh 23c-d. Matt simply comments
"Lilit becomes Sama'el" (228)[AH]
[12]. He exposed himself to demonic and
sexual temptation as part of his journey of transformation.
[Matt:228]
