Marsha,
Marsha, I wonder about this depiction of females
of evil, too, and I found two depictions (a more
positive one and a more negative one) of Lila: one
'western' (more negative) and one Sanskrit/Hindu (more
positive). Have you or anybody else come across this
before? I'll explain what I came across as follows:
Here is an interesting trace of a woman named
Lilith or Lila that goes way back to Sumer and
scholars note this mythological story must have even
deeper historical/prehistorical roots. I also find
Goethe wrote about her, the Grecro-Roman mythology,
Arabic mythology, etc...
Two internet sources depict how Lilith or Lila is
understood within the same Indo-European language,
yet, a seeming divergence took place somewhere and
Sanskrit depicts Lila in a more positive light and the
'western' version has Lila in a more negative light.
Here are the two links as follows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila
Note, in the links above, Lilith is the 'western'
version.
Lila is the Sanskrit version. Within the Lilith
link above the Etymology of Lilith includes Lila.
The rest of this post are describes some of what I
read so far, what lead me to search Lilith, and some
thoughts that stirred due to what has become
fascinatingly connective to the book Lila by Pirsig.
I was watching the History Channel on TV about
books of the bible that are not in the bible. On this
show, Lilith was described and the commentators also
mentioned that Lilith means Lila.
The bible has two creation stories in Genesis.
Rabbi's associate the first woman who was created by
G-d with man (as opposed to the second woman who was
created from Adam's rib) was a woman equal to man (see
quote below). This woman created from G-d just as
Adam was created from G-d is named Lilith. Her name
does not show up in the King James Version of the
bible until the book of Isaiah, but Rabbi's associate
Lilith with this first woman created before the second
woman named Eve. Keep in mind, this first woman was
equal and meant equality to Adam, until Adam wanted to
subdue her, she refused this dominating act of Adam,
and then in turn refused the garden of Eden and left.
After leaving the garden, this is when negative
connotations are associated with Lilith/Lila in the
'western' versions.
So, I looked up Lilith and found a wikpedia
reference to her (see above). She is socially seen as
a prostitute corrupting society, biologically she
seduces young males at night (wet-dreams) and may kill
babies at night, she is also referred to as the night
or the wind, she leads one away from understanding,
and she is seen as a demon, thus, is in the mystical
world, too. This is one quote as follows from
wiki/Lilith:
"However, what this association does not take
into account are additional descriptions of the
"Seductress" from Qumran that cannot be found
attributed to the "strange woman" of Proverbs; namely,
her horns and her wings: "a multitude of sins is in
her wings." The woman illustrated in Proverbs is
without question a prostitute, or at the very least,
the representation of one, and the sort of individual
with whom that texts community would have been
familiar. The "Seductress" of the Qumran text,
conversely, could not possibly have represented an
existent social threat given the constraints of this
particular ascetic community. Instead, the Qumran text
utilizes the imagery of Proverbs to explicate a much
broader, supernatural threat the threat of the
demoness Lilith."
Notice, Lilith if not on the "community" level or
seen not as a "social threat", she turns up in those
communities as a "supernatural threat".
What's also interesting is that this 'western'
approach to Lila/Lilith is in a more negative light,
whereas the kin Indo-European language of these
'western' versions known as Sanskrit and found in the
Hindu religion applies Lila in a more positive light.
Here is another quote from wiki/Lilith where
Lilith/Lila is perceived more positively, but also
shows how this more positive light turns seemingly
negative as follows:
"After God created Adam, who was alone, He said,
'It is not good for man to be alone.' He then created
a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created
Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith
immediately 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 the superior one.' Lilith
responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we
were 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."
Did anybody comes across this before? I know on
the "Lila" link given above, Pirsig is mentioned as
well as others such as Joseph Campbell, Heinrich
Zimmer, Fritjof Capra, and Alan Watts, to name some.
night woods,
SA
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