I have decided to create this page, giving folklore beliefs of the Demon Lilith. before starting. i would like to tell you about the sources i have used to obtain these beliefs. The 'Alphabet of Ben-Sira' is one of the, if not the oldest known accounts of Lilith, the Alphabet is dated from between 8th and 10th centuries AD. It refers to Lilith as Adam' first wife and of her meeting with what was called 'ArchAngel' Samael, though i have read that many people believe Samael to be a fallen Angel, this is not a belief held true in all folklore and practices, i will also use a few sources from Jewish Kabbalah, the background of the Alphabet of Ben-Sira is very vague, it seems to be a collection of proverbs and tales of heroes from the bible and the Talmud. I will be using as few quotes as possible, but when i do i shall try and list the sources for you to look into further should you wish to. The first part shall be the story of Lilith in brief, according to the Alphabet of Ben-Sira.

"After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone' (Gen. 2:18). He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and named her Lilith. Adam and Lilith began to fight, she said "I will not lie below,' and he said "I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while i am to be in the superior one." Lilith responded "We are equal to each other as in much as we are both created from the earth" but they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator. "Sovereign of the Universe!" he said "The woman you gave me has run away" At once the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three Angels to bring her back (From my research i believe that the Angels were named Sansenoy, Sennoi and Samangaluf, (These Angels have other names as well, including names which are unpronounceable to the Human tongue)

Said the Holy One to Adam "If she agrees to come back, what is made is good. if not, she must permit One Hundred of her children to die every day" the Angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they over took in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters where the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God' word, but she did not wish to return, the Angels said "We shall drown you in this sea!"

"Leave me!" said Lilith "i was created to cause only sickness to infants, if the infant is male, i have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, twenty days."

When the Angels heard her words they insisted that she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the Living and Eternal God "Whenever i see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over the infant" she also agreed that One Hundred of her children would die every day. Accordingly, every day, One Hundred Demons perish, and for the same reason we write the Angel's names upon the amulets of our young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers." - From the Alphabet of Ben-Sira

Apparently, when Lilith journeyed to the Red Sea, she encountered a 'ArchAngel' Samael, who was then later named Asmodeus in other texts (It should be known that the name Samael is very contradictory in it's meaning and for whether it is the name of a Angel, Demon, or the Devil itself. For there was belief that Samael was Satan' name whilst he was amidst the ranks of Angels. It is also a name used for a Archon in heaven.)

Lilith encountered ArchAngel Samael near the Red Sea and mated with him, producing legions of 'Unclean spirits'. She became the first of his four wives. Lilith, Igrath, Naamah and Mahalath. each of them the mother of her own brood of Demons. the marriage of Lilith and ArchAngel Samael was arranged by the "Blind Dragon" who appears to be the counter part for the "Dragon who lives beneath the sea" who could well be Leviathan, the primordial creature of the sea. However the "Blind Dragon" is a intermediary between Samael and Lilith

The marriage of Samael and Lilith is known as "Angel Satan" or "The Other God". But it was not to last, to prevent Lilith and Samael' demonic children, Lilin,from overrunning the world, God castrated Samael. In the 17th century kabbalah, both Lilith and Samael are identified as "Leviathan the Slant Serpent and Leviathan the Tortuous Serpent" and are interpretation of the old Talmudic myth where God castrates the male Levithan and slays the female leviathan to stop them from mating and destroying the earth.

When Lilith learned of her husbands castration, she abandoned him and fornicated with earthly men who experience nocturnal missions. She became something of a Succubus, however a 15thC/16thC kabbalah text says that God has cooled the demon Lilith, thus making her infertile and she is a mere fornication.

Indeed, during the Medieval period, monks who experienced nocturnal emissions blamed them upon the demon Lilith.

Asmodeus is not mentioned as fornicating with Lilith until one looks into a 13thC document named 'the Treatise on the Left Emanation'. It states that there were two Lilith's and that one, the lesser being was married to the Great Demon Asmodeus and the other as being the serpent tempter in the Garden of Eden who first tempted Eve, Adam' second wife. This would make sense, for Lilith, being his first wife, was to become the Demon mother of the Red Sea and was thusly named a serpent, i believe it fits well with her character to act out her role and lure Adam' wife from not only him, but also God, who ordered the deaths of One Hundred of her children every day. It would also explain various medieval iconography which depict the snake being a female who tempts Adam and Eve.

Lilith is sometimes referred to as the "First Mother" by some gatherings of occultist's who focus on Lilith. I know of only a handful of gatherings which use Lilith as a focus, they seem to have taken their practices from older cults which were related to old masonic beliefs. However it would not be prudent to display their rites and rituals for the whole world to see. Lilith also appears in modern Luciferianism as the consort of Lucifer and who is identified with the figure of Babylon. She is said to come from Mud and Dust and she is the Queen of Succubi. When she and Lucifer mate, they form the being Baphomet or the "Goat of Mendes" also known as the "God of Witches". She is also said to have been the Mother of Cain, rather than Eve, and said to be the Goddess of Witches, Dark Feminine principle and the Goddess Hecate. (a Titan from Ancient Greece, who played various roles but who eventually became a Dark Goddess, plaguing humanity with hosts of twisted creatures)

Wicca holds a positive view of Lilith, she is seen as either a Dark Moon Goddess, the embodiment of the Goddess or as the Hebrew Goddess of childbirth, who was later demonized due to the rise of a patriarchal society. She is more often than not, in modern eyes, seen as a female form of strength and power. The ability to dominate or rather, empower and indeed she has become somewhat of a role model for more than a few women.

Lilith has many abilities, many of which seem to be linked to the Ancient Roman Succubus. She could fly, she fornicated with men during their sleep, she was said to sometimes feast upon the seed of man, though it is rare if i hear or read this. In the epic of Gilgamesh Lilith was said to have made her home in the center of a sacred willow planted by the Goddess Ishtar, in it she is named a Maiden of Darkness and flees from Gilgamesh when he kills a serpent. images depicting her as a beautiful and seductive woman of youth, holding a rod of power and ring, with wings of a Zu bird and talons are based upon this myth.

Regardless of whether viewed as Good or Evil, she is always seen as a Mother. Which would show her roots in ancient beliefs Female Goddesses of Fertility, perhaps she was once as such. She was said to have survived the Great Flood and takes infants from their cradle, often tainting them, though sources are very vague on what changes the child undergoes. In Muslim Myth, she is the consort of Satan and her children are the Djinn.

Lilith is a Mother and a seducer, she appears as the male fear or rather, temptation of lust and desire, for example the nocturnal emissions experienced by priests and monks which they claimed to be Lilith. She appears to also be the power of the female form, the idea of a female having so much sway and power over men in a male dominated age must have been unsettling to say the least, however she has gained a new or if you prefer, lost status as a Mother Goddess or empowered female.