Deplorable Words: Lilith and The Chronicles of Narnia

It is difficult to study Lilith and not feel inspired, even if you're Christian  author C.S. Lewis.  It's fairly common knowledge that the White Witch was based on Lilith, (along with the dreaded Snow Queen from Hans Christian Andersen, Ayesha from Rhyder J. Haggard's She, the Queen of Babylon in Neshbit's Story of the Amulet, and some chump called Satan from Paradise Lost).  It's even more common knowledge that she figures into Jadis's heritage as an ancestor.  Lilith, after all, was credited by Jewish's theology as the mother of demons, Djiin and every unclean spirit on earth. 



Originally conceived as the antagonist for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Jadis proved to be more enduring.  Her history is recapped in Book Six of The Chronicles of Narnia, entitled The Magician's Nephew.  Hiering form the pagan world of Charn, she was a mystical princess at war with her sister.  At some point, the witch learned to use "The Deplorable Word," to traumatically end the conflict.  The villainess is let lose in our world and eventually finds her way to the dawn of Narnia.  There she enjoys a thousand year rule until her death at the hands of Aslan.  There's some speculation that she appeared in The Silver Chair as the Queen of the Underland.    While it's commonly discredited by fans, I once worked with a children's book scholar at Barnes and Noble's who claimed the link was confirmed by Lewis's lectures.  I have, however, never been able to locate her source.  Apparently, Jadis's presence was supposed to slip "in and out of Lewis's books" in "other forms."  Lilith herself is said to be, "a fierce spirit of myriad names and many shapes."

Aside from her personality and perilous beauty, Lilith is most evident in Jadis's use of the Deplorable World.  In the Garden of Eden, Lilith was said to invoke the mysterious name of God in order to grow wings and fly from Paradise.  Her ancestress Isis also knew the hidden name of the Sun God and used it to make herself the head of the Egyptian pantheon. Fiction or not, Jadis belongs to a powerful legacy.  If Lewis's Narnia books were part of the public domain, along with the Brothers Grimm and the "modern" fairytales of Lewis Carrol and L.Frank Baum (creators of Wonderland and Oz, respectively), Jadis would probably have her own novel by now. 

Lilith and the "The Little Faces"

Ancient Christianity is littered with references of semi-divine women and full blown female deities   Figures like Asherah, Sophia, Mary Magdalene and Lilith fascinate us in the modern age, now that we have the resources to revisit them.  Lilith is the most notorious.  There is no denying that.  Most likely this is due to her popularity as Judaism's Queen of Demons.  There is no great emphasis placed on the rest of the story, what transpired before she arrived in the desert and after she left Eden.

     The Zohar paints an interesting picture of Lilith's adventures.  Some time after leaving Adam behind in Paradise (or immediately after) she flew to Heaven.  There she noticed the Cherubim:

"She desired to cleave to them and to be shaped as one of them, and was loath to depart from them.  But the Holy One, blessed be He, removed her from them and made her go below...

Then He...gave him [Adam] a partner, as soon as Lilith saw Eve clinging to his side she was reminded by his form of the supernal beauty, she flew up from thence and tried as before to attach herself to the 'little faces' [Cherubim].  The supernal guardians of the gates, however, did not permit her.  The Holy One, blessed be He, chide her and cast her into the depths of the sea."

So Lilith, the "Queen of Demons" is capable of feeling affection and loss.  She left Eden because her mate insisted he was superior to her.  She found a new home and attempted to join a community.  Ultimately she is rejected in a very serious way. Sometime after Adam and Eve are expelled, God brings Lilith out from the depths of the sea:

"...and gave her power over all those children, the ''little faces' of the sons of men, who are liable to punishment for the sins of their fathers.  She then wandered up and down the world.  She approached the gates of the terrestrial paradise [Eden], where she saw the Cherubim, the guardians of the gates of Paradise, and sat down near the flashing sword, to which she was akin in origin.  When she saw the flashing sword revolving, indicating that man had sinned, she fled and wandered about the world...finding children liable to punishment."

     Lilith's fate has strong parallels with the legend of La Llorona, the roving specter explored in a previous entry concerning Latin America.  La Llorona was once Maria, a Mexican divorcee who drowned her children to punish her adulterous husband.  Maria was turned away from the gates of Heaven and instructed to find her children, which is why she roams the world, finding children who resemble her own.

Lilith's story does not end after she leaves Eden.  She does not deteriorate and become the Queen of Demons.  Like Moses, Elijah or Jesus himself, her story is told in layers.  In Midrash, the Talmud and the Dead Sea Scrolls we have additional chapters in the evolution of a turbulent character.  But unlike her Biblical contemporaries  Lilith's name occurs in older parts of the world, linking her with past lives and an older class of gods and heroes. 

Lilith and Gilgamesh

Ancient Sumeria gives us the following tale:

After heaven and earth had been separated 

     and mankind had been created,

after Anûum, Enlil and Ereskigal had taken possession 

         of heaven, earth and the underworld;

after Enki had set sail for the underworld 

     and the sea ebbed and flowed in honor of its lord;

on this day, a huluppu tree 

     which had been planted on the banks of the Euphrates 

     and nourished by its waters

was uprooted by the south wind 

     and carried away by the Euphrates.

A goddess who was wandering among the banks 

     seized the swaying tree

And -- at the behest of Anu and Enlil -- 

     brought it to Inanna's garden in Uruk.

Inanna tended the tree carefully and lovingly 

     she hoped to have a throne and a bed 

made for herself from its wood.

    After ten years, the tree had matured.

But in the meantime, she found to her dismay 

   that her hopes could not be fulfilled.

because during that time 

     a dragon had built its nest at the foot of the tree

the Zu-bird was raising its young in the crown, 

     and the dark maid Lilith had built her house in the middle.

a dragon had built its nest at the foot of the tree 

    the Zu-bird was raising its young in the crown, 

and the demon Lilith had built her house in the middle.

   But Gilgamesh, who had heard of Inanna's plight, 

came to her rescue.

  He took his heavy shield 

killed the dragon with his heavy bronze axe, 

  which weighed seven talents and seven minas.

Then the Zu-bird flew into the mountains 

   with its young,

while Lilith, petrified with fear, 

     tore down her house and fled into the wilderness..."

     Here we have the first reference of Lilith written around 2,000 BCE.  The story follows a historical King of Uruk who struggles against the female divinity Ishtar.  The narrative is very similar to Marduk's quest in the The Enuma Elish of Babylon and the journey of Aeneas in The Aeneid   Marduk comes face to face with Lilith before she is reinvented (or relocates) o the Garden of Eden.  Both stories are incredibly similar and both center around a a fabled tree near the Euphrates.  Lilith herself leaves her green home to inhabits the wilderness.  The goddess Inanna who I've often described as a Sumerian Mary can also be compared to Eve and has been several times by scholars and theologians.  Review the evidence for yourself and ask, "Just how old are you, Lilith? Why are you so prevalent?  Why can we find you in every corner of the globe?

Ghost Stories: Lilith in Latin America (Revised, 11/25)

Lilith is best known as the Queen of Demons in Jewish Mythology, the spectral genetrix of every of "unclean spirit" we've ever known. Oddly enough her presence is felt in the the folktales of Latin America as the roving ghost La Llorona.  Like it or not, she also bears resemblance to Brujeria's favorite folk saint, Holy Death.  Let's take a look at a few of the reasons why.

As a child in the American Midwest I heard very little about Mexico.  The older people in my neighborhood didn't paint a pretty picture.  Most of the information they gave me was based on ignorance.  It became clear this was a misunderstood place, home to people who weren't at all welcome in my conservative hemisphere.  Every so often we'd read a geographical fact or folktale in grade school credited to Mexico.  By third of fourth grade I heard about La Llorona, the ghostly woman in white who hunted for children.  By twenty-three I was living in New Mexico and learned several different versions of her tale.  It became clear she was just as misunderstood as the Mexicans who occasionally made their way to my home town.  

     So who is La Llorona?  I asked my boyfriend who grew up in Moriarty and Albuquerque, New Mexico, if he ever heard of her.  He told me she was a woman who was searching for "her kid" and drowned at a certain point.  "I always kind of thought she was real, you know?"  This from a practical twenty-six year old who grew up with the realities of racism, violence and road rage that plagues our city.  "I just knew."

     There are several different versions of La Llorona.  Like Santisima Muerte (The Holy Death) she is partially rooted in Cihuacoatl, the Aztec deity who supposedly appeared weeping in white for her children who would be conquered by the Spaniards.  Later she is linked to La Malinche, an Aztec woman who stabbed her children by a lake in Mexico City to protect them from Cortes.  After her death she was said to haunt the area as the Weeping Woman, terrifying locals with her famous scream.  In more modern times the name has been applied to Maria, a mother who drowned her own children to punish her husband.  After he death she was turned away from the gates of Heaven and told to find her children.  She exists ever after as the mournful Weeping Woman, searching for children who look like her own.

     So how do these spirits relate to Lilith?  They each transcend Christian and Pagan boundaries.  They each have many hats. La Llorona has been called a Mexican Lamia, the child-stealing monster discussed last entry.  Lilith, who was said to steal human children to replace those God had murdered was also refuse by Heaven when she tried to retire there like Maria's Weeping Woman.  In the case of Santisima Muerte we have a Mexican folk saint believed to derive from pre-Christian sources, whose colored robes connect to certain events in the Garden of Eden. Her messenger is none other than Lilith's totemic owl.  They are all phantoms, but they are also angels and ghosts.

Shades: Lilith in Greek Mythology, Part 1 (Revised, 11/25)

Traces of Lilith occur in Greek Mythology.  To be fair, "traces" is putting it lightly.  Lilith is evident in at least three races of humanoid women, the Lamiai, the Empusae and the Mormo.  She is also similar to the Libyan Queen Lamia and the sorceress Medea. Parallels abound in the the heritage of these creatures, their legacies and physical depictions.  It's very likely they represent a phase in Lilith's evolution from ancient Sumer to the spirit we know today.  Therefore they can be coined "transitional Liliths."

     In this entry, which is part of a series on Lilith's connection to Greek Mythology, we'll explore the parallels between Lamia, her demonic contemporaries and the Semetic Lilim.

Images of Lilith are regularly conjured in the Greek world's "demon" element the Lamiai, Empusae and Mormo.  Each of these classes are known for their seductive demeanor and strong associations with vampires and succubi.  In the case of the Lamiai and the Mormo they were believed to abduct or devour children. The also have strong associations with night time, shapes shifting, magic and snake lore.  Let's examine each species below:

The Lamiai are believed to take their name from a plural-form of Lamia, the Libyan queen who was cursed by Hera, the Queen of Heaven.  Lamia slept with Zeus and boasted of her accomplishment, making her a prime target for his famous wife.  Hera, being the goddess of childbirth, cursed Lamia with continuous still-borns.  This added to her poor reputation and Lamia eventually went mad.  To replace her own children she would steal others in the night and gradually turned into a snake hybrid.  It was said she could resemble either form and tempt men to devour or covet their seed.  Lamia is a truly fearsome, much storied creature worthy of Medusa.

The Empusae were believed to serve Greece's witch queen Hecate.  They are most famous for opposing travelers, perhaps in connection to their mistress who guarded the crossroads.  Their epithet, "Daughters of Hecate" may imply a form of devotion or an actual lineage as the witch's offspring.  They were said to transform like the Lamiai but are generally depicted with ass or goat features and one leg made out of brass.  Their primary function in Greek Mythology was to scare or haunt people.

Less famous is the Mormo or Mormo' Lyceion, a sort of Greek bogey-woman.  Nurses and mothers would tell their children to behave so the Mormo wouldn't get them.  They were believed to bite said children and travel with Hecate.  They also appear in the service of Queen Laestrygonian to steal children.

It's interesting to note the Lamiai, the Empusae and the Mormo share Lilith's association with child theft.  Lilith was threatened by God in the Genesis story to have her children killed if she did not return to Adam.  To compensate, she decided to abduct human children and produce hybrids of her own.  In Greek Myths Lamia is cursed with still-births by Hera, another sky god, and compensates by stealing, devouring and spawning human babies.  The Empusae and the Mormo were believed to share similar succubus rites.  The are each linked to sexuality and procreation. Each of these breeds, in fact, have a recurrence in the film version of Neil Gaiman's Stardust linking them with Lilith. Here the Witch Queens (also called Lilim in the book, a popular name for Lilith's daughters) are named Lamia, Empusa and Mormo.  Their leader Lamia is played by Michelle Pfeiffer.

Rough Magic: The Wicked Queen

Lilith has been called the Queen of Witches.  Like Diana and Herodias her name appears in witch trials and folklore.  One well known story links Lilith's cave by the Red Sea with "every mirror." In it, a mother buys a mirror in connection to several furnishings for her home.  She places the mirror in the room of her daughter who later becomes possessed by a daughter of Lilith because, "every mirror is a gateway to the Other World and leads directly to Lilith's cave...That is why it is said that Lilith makes her home in every mirror..."  That said, is it likely that such traditions made their way to the mythos collected by the Brothers Grimm?  Enter the Wicked Queen.

   We are all familiar with Snow-white and the Seven Dwarves.  In the earliest version, Snow-white offends her jealous stepmother, the Queen, by possessing richer beauty than her own.  This is discovered by a magic mirror the Queen consults everyday.  "Looking glass upon the wall, who is fairest of us all?"  After the huntsmen tries to deceive her with a deer's heart the Queen makes three attempts on Snow-white's life.  Each time she poses as a peddler and tempts Snow-white with fatal wares.  At first she uses a corset and a comb "poisoned with witchcraft."  In the end she offers Snow-white the fabled apple and temporarily ends her life.  The Queen herself is captured when the heroic Prince weds Snow-white.  Her life ends after she is forced to dance in a pair of red-hot shoes.  Typically, abridged reincarnations omit this part, taking a page (perhaps) from Walt Disney.

   Modern renditions featuring Snow-white and the Wicked Queen attempt to flesh out her back story.  In both  The 10th Kingdom and Once Upon a Time (owned by Disney subordinate ABC) the "Evil Queen" represents a pact or bond between two women, a sort of lineage.  Diane Weist's Evil Queen from The 10th Kingdom was chosen as the successor of the original Queen to continue her work and ruin Snow White's entire house.  Lana Parrilla's Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time was forced into power by conniving mother, who arranges her marriage to the father of Snow White.

   Concerning her connection to the Queen of Demons in Jewish mythology, the Wicked Queen shares several of her motifs.  An apple is used to tempt Snow-white and an apple is used to temp Eve by the serpent in the Garden of Eden.  In art, the serpent has been depicted as Lilith, reflecting an older belief in the Fall of Man.  Consider too the Wicked Queen's fascination with mirrors   Everyday she stood before the magic looking-glass to assess her beauty, not unlike the daughter in the famous Jewish tale.  While it is unlikely that the Wicked Queen is a Brothers Grimm avatar of Lilith she makes an appropriate totem.  Even more likely, their shared features stem from Lilith's lineage in world mythology. Lilith is "the soul of every living thing which creepeth," and the genetrix of every spirit, demon, goblin and fatal entity from the ancient world.  Perhaps like Jadis in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, the Wicked Queen could be viewed as her descendant.

PULP! Lilith and Vampirella

Vampirella is a famous comic book character whose mother just happens to be Lilith.  She was devised in the late sixties for Warren Publishing by Forrest Ackerman, Tim Sutton and costume designer Trina Robbins.  In the 1990's she was rewritten as the daughter of Lilith and, possibly, her avatar.  As a result, Vampirella made it her mission to rid the world of all vampires and redeem her mother.  But Lilith, who fashioned her daughter in the bowels of Hell, had an ulterior motive.

In the Vampirella universe Lilith is known as The Conjuress.  She is based primarily on the Garden of Eden Lilith with a heavy emphasis on her vampiric legends.  In story she was banished from Paradise by God and birthed legions of demons as an act of spite.  Apparently repentant, she created Vampirella as a counter agent.  The anti-heroine's mission was to erase her mother's work by ridding the earth of every last vampire.  Of course this was merely a ploy.  Lilith had been killed by God and was using these murders to fuel her resurrection.  Currently the character appears in Dynamite's Vampirella and Pantha titles.