Lilith or Eve
What if we could be both, creating a new story.
Welcome to this edition of Liminal Walker Musings!
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Today I am exploring two female archetypes from Abrahamic antiquity that have had and continue to have a major influence on our lives of today. Both considered the wives of Adam. Here is their story…
My Own Misogyny
Growing up I was completely oblivious to the misogynistic attitudes that I was steeped in. This cauldron of life as a slow cooking stew. Its ingredients fueling my upbringing and becoming my internal beliefs. Later, though in my teenage years, something broke free. I began to find an emancipation, a wild side. But I was still held captive by these fundamental constituents. Tied to playing the submissive good girl role while on the other hand having to be sexy and seductive. It was a confusing time, battling these unseen abstractions. Trying to fit into a world where I felt I did not belong.
When I got married, the noose tightened. My own inner misogyny usurped my untethered longings of free expression. Expectations of playing the role of wife and mother were strong. The only models I knew of came from my mother and the messages from various TV sitcoms. June Cleaver was the perfect stereotypical housewife that my mom modeled herself after. I am glad I didn’t have to go that far, but the noose was there, nevertheless.
It has been challenging to unshackle myself from these objectifications. Thankful for the many that have already fallen away. Over the past millenniums, these ideologies have been completely embedded into our social, political and business constructs. The misogynistic tenets of Christianity as the substructure they rise from. One does not have to be part of the Christian religion to be subjected to the doctrines in it. For they are the thickening ingredient of the soup we find ourselves in.
We see this clearly in the telling of the Adam and Eve story from the bible. But before her there was Lilith…
Who is Lilith, Why She is so Important!
First, the Misinformation
Lilith is a being of great mystery and depth! Unfortunately, there is also a lot of misinformation about her too. She appears in several old rabbinic texts as the first wife of Adam. We must remember what has been recorded about Lilith is entrenched in the teachings and the written word of that time. Which were mostly if not completely controlled by men. In this way it becomes their story of this mythic feminine.
In the texts it was said she was created by God as Adam was, from the dirt and clay. A strong-willed woman who believed she was created as Adam’s equal and did not want to be subservient. She was later banished from Eden because she refused to obey and lay beneath him. In exile, it was alleged that she lived immorally, was highly promiscuous and a child killer. Even a demon, a snake.
What About Another Story…
How important it is to look deeper. Beyond the layer of what we have been told. Lilith was made from dirt and clay like Adam was, she didn’t consider herself inferior. When Adam forced himself on her, it was her choice to leave the garden, she was not banished. Sumerian legends describe Lilith as the bird-serpent goddess and the handmaiden to Inanna. Her symbols were the owl, dark moon, tree and snake. She was not a child killer nor a demon as the patriarchal stories perverted. She was instead a protector of mothers and their young. Teaching women the divine feminine mysteries.
I am Lilith
Mother of All
Patron Saint of the Orphaned
Queen of the Outcasts
Guardian of the WoundKeeper of the Original Flame
My name is not a word
It is the sound of God
Reverberating in flesh
I am the song released
When you let go from the deep
When Body opens from insideI am the heat of truth
In the sacred flame
If you want to know me
Say My Name--Maya Luna1
Dancing with the Serpent
Snakes are not evil, the serpent not wicked nor immoral. Being that some are poisonous though, they do require respect. These reptiles represent transformational forces of fertility, death and rebirth. As the ouroboros, it is the circle, the ongoing cycles of life. As Kundalini, a creative power that lives coiled at the base of our spine, traveling the channels kindling our life force.
My whole life I have been dancing with the serpent… The snake undulating through my being and body in tangible ways as the many sacred feminine codes. That of mystery, death and rebirth, sensuality, the underworld, wisdom and the cycles.
My whole life I have been dancing with the serpent… Shakti herself as the spiral snake rising up my spine. Ascent isn’t the only side of the coin. Descent brings me into the body, opening the heart of Eros and compassion, unlocking the belly of sacred power and creativity.
My whole life I have been dancing with the serpent… Answering the call of the serpentine fire. Forging new pathways by unchaining myself from old paradigms about the devil as the snake and Eve as the source of original sin.
My whole life I have been dancing with the serpent… Shedding my skin and renewing myself. Releasing and opening to my intuitive nature. Navigating the hidden realms. Dying and being reborn again into a deeper trust with life and my own instincts.
My whole life I have been dancing with the serpent…
Eve
We all know the story of Adam and Eve. What is most important is how Christianity has packaged this story, legitimizing female oppression while fostering male authority. Eve as the target of “original sin”, that fall from grace that supposedly has affected all of humanity since then. Redemption only possible by a male god in the sky.
If Adam Picked the Apple
There would be a parade,
a celebration,
a holiday to commemorate
the day he sought enlightenment.
We would not speak of
temptation by the devil, rather,
we would laud Adam’s curiosity,
his desire for adventure
and knowing.
We would feast
on apple-inspired fare:
tortes, chutneys, pancakes, pies.
There would be plays and songs
reenacting his courage.
But it was Eve who grew bored,
weary of her captivity in Eden.
And a woman’s desire
for freedom is rarely a cause
for celebration.--Danielle Coffyn2
Lilith and Eve, Together
I imagine Lilith and Eve are sisters, writing a whole new story together. Asking us to enter it. Now more than ever their message is needed. Here it is…
The Divine Feminine has been split into the holy mother on one side and the sexy demoness on the other. Life bisected as well. Dichotomies of spirit and body, heaven and earth, light and dark. Polarities run rampant in your world right now. An invitation to unite them as a process of coming home!
Women, honor your passions AND innocence. Recognize the pure power that is the feminine. Embody the love in your heart, the creativity in your womb, the songs in your soul, the wisdom in your bones, the myths in your blood. Let the serpentine energies spiral you into remembrance.
Patriarchy may be enforcing conformity and submissiveness, trying to burn you. But there is a potent fire in your belly! Flames of ardor and devotion. Sparks of ferocity and enthusiasm. Remember, what was buried long ago, can still be found alive and living in your body.
BLESSING
May we find solace in these times by paying attention to what is most important. Connection, community, acknowledging how we feel, self-care, letting ourselves cycle. Living life is a non-linear process. When (not if) we find ourselves in the dark cave of the Mother, may we receive and let Her birth something new in us.
Blessed Be!
Questions for you…
What message does Lilith and Eve have for you?
Where do you need to look deeper, beyond the surface story?
How does misogyny show up in you?
Would love to know your thoughts and feelings. Let’s have a conversation…
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Maya Luna, https://www.deepfemininemysteryschool.com The full poem can be found there.
Danielle Coffyn, https://www.instagram.com/daniellecoffyn/ Where you can PRE-ORDER her first book.
Such a powerful piece. Literally makes the blood thrum with the knowledge that we are born of wilder things. ❤️
Julie, this is so well written and organized. I just absolutely love it. I too my entire life have been dancing with the snake metaphorically and literally well done.
Thank you