Lillith

[RoseKitten]

Can someone point me in some good general sites about Lillith? I've been looking for Inanna pendants, and none are right, however a great number of the Lillith pendants are taken from the Sumerian statues of Inanna. Since I don't know anything about Lillith, it's hard for me to know *why* they're doing it. Thanks.

Inanna: http://home.tiscali.nl/gibbon/inanna.jpg

Lillith pendant (wrong??): http://www.sacredsource.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PL

Inanna pendant (bad): http://www.sacredsource.com/prodinfo.asp?number=J-IPN

[Theres]

these first two look pretty good at a glance...

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith/ancPics.html

http://www.piney.com/MuLilith.html

Lilith is a deity closely connected with Inanna.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Inanna

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/4885/lilith.html

[RoseKitten]

these first two look pretty good at a glance...

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith/ancPics.html

http://www.piney.com/MuLilith.html


http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Inanna

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/4885/lilith.html

Your first two sites contradict themselves.



Lilith had her willow tree (a tree sacred to the Goddess) which was planted by Inanna herself) on the Euphrates river in which she lived in a nest. This home she shared with the Zu-bird, or the Sumerian storm-god. Lilith is repeatedly connected to the Tree of Knowledge. She was often shown on the tree with her serpent tail and animal foot, upside down.

She is seen as the dark face of Ishtar and appears as the right hand of Inanna. She is probably the Babylonian Lilitu.




Sumerian or Assyrian terra cotta relief of a woman with bird feet, accompanied by various desert animals, sometimes speculated to be Lilith. However, the connection between Lilith and this relief is currently regarded by some scholars as dubious.

Ok, maybe not a complete contradiction, but Lillith and Inanna are not the same.



The presence of animals is not at all unusual. In fact, the lions she is standing on create something of a problem (if we want this to be Lilake/Lilitu), since they are generally associated with Inanna. For identification with Lilith the key lies in the owls and the bird feet.


This itself is wrong as well, the Owls were also associated with Inanna (wisdom), and the bird feet were also related with Inanna as well as standing upon the lions.

Thoughts?

[Amythyst]

Here you go, dear, hope this helps...


Lilith (pronounced lil'ith) was originally the Sumerian Queen of Heaven, A Goddess older than Inanna. The Hebrews took the Goddess and transformed her into the first wife of Adam, who refused to lie beneath him when having intercourse. She insisted that because they were created equal, they needed to have sex equally. When Adam refused, she left him. Thereafter, in Jewish mythology, she was described as a demon.


To read more, follow the link:

http://www.angelfire.com/va/goddesses/lili.html

[Philosophia]

If I had to speculate, I would say that Inanna was the "prototype" of Lilith. Like many other mythologies around the world, Christianity did infuse/absorb aspects of different Goddesses through out the world. It seriously wouldn't surprise me if this occurred between Inanna and Lilith. Now whether they are the same or not really depends upon ones interpretation of the history and mythology that surrounds both Goddesses (or Goddess and demon).

I found this:


In ancient Sumeria she was regarded as the "left hand" of the Great Goddess Inanna. She assisted her by bringing the men to the goddess' temples, to worship her by participating in "Tantric" rites with the temple-women. As a result of this role, Lilith became known as seducer of men and as harlot.

Among the Semitic speaking peoples of Mesopotamia she was first a figure similar to Lil, a Sumerian goddess of destructive winds and storms. When Hebrew/Semitic morals became dominant in the Near East she was equated and merged with Lamashtu, a demonic female spirit (sometimes witch) known in Syria as a killer of children. Here she acquired her characterization as a winged demon of the night (Talmud), as dangerous vampire and succubus (Zohar), as mother of the incubi and as screeching night-owl (Bible).

From here (http://www.yoni.com/bitchf/lilith.shtml)

Here are some more links:
http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/amethystbt/lilith.html
http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0205.htm
http://www.halexandria.org/dward382.htm
http://www.sacredspiral.com/articles/lm/lilith.htm

[RoseKitten]

Here you go, dear, hope this helps...


Lilith (pronounced lil'ith) was originally the Sumerian Queen of Heaven, A Goddess older than Inanna. The Hebrews took the Goddess and transformed her into the first wife of Adam, who refused to lie beneath him when having intercourse. She insisted that because they were created equal, they needed to have sex equally. When Adam refused, she left him. Thereafter, in Jewish mythology, she was described as a demon.


To read more, follow the link:

http://www.angelfire.com/va/goddesses/lili.html

I don't really trust angelfire sites unless they link sources. The more I look into this the less I believe that they are the same. In the Sumerian books I've read (published by well known and respected authors and historians), I haven't seen them used as interchangeable. I'm going to dig around a little more and see what I can find, but I'm sure they aren't the same goddess.

[Theres]

Your first two sites contradict themselves.
hey, they're not my sites... i just Googled them for you.

[RoseKitten]

If I had to speculate, I would say that Inanna was the "prototype" of Lilith. Like many other mythologies around the world, Christianity did infuse/absorb aspects of different Goddesses through out the world. It seriously wouldn't surprise me if this occurred between Inanna and Lilith. Now whether they are the same or not really depends upon ones interpretation of the history and mythology that surrounds both Goddesses (or Goddess and demon).

I found this:



From here (http://www.yoni.com/bitchf/lilith.shtml)

Here are some more links:
http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/amethystbt/lilith.html
http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0205.htm
http://www.halexandria.org/dward382.htm
http://www.sacredspiral.com/articles/lm/lilith.htm

And these sources have different info. I'm going to disregard the angelfire site for now, I may get back to it in a minute.

The second link states that perhaps Lillith is older than Inanna (and certainly older than the bible), but few resources are used so I can't really trace those fact. However, the third site states that Lillith was the handmaiden to Inanna. O.o How can you be sure which is right?

~RK
aka: really confused.

[RoseKitten]

hey, they're not my sites... i just Googled them for you.



good general sites


I was asking for sites people knew of as being reliable. I can google myself, and when all I find is a mass of contradicting information I come here and ask those who may actually know. Just as if someone asked about Sumer I'd point them to templeofsumer.org because I know it's reliable.

[BlackLili]

Lilith and Innana are not the same deity.

Just like Venus and Aphrodite are technically not the same deity. One is older, they come from different cultures, and while their stories can be similar, they are not the same.

The Sumerians and the Babylonians and the Hebrews all have stories about Lilith, with some variations of spelling, pronunciation, and origin.

It is surmised (though almost impossible to prove beyond a doubt) that Lilith and Innana developed along parallel lines within the cultures I mentioned above. Lilith is thought by some to be a development from the Lamashtu mythos of the Sumerians as well.

What you have to bear in mind when researching parallels between deities of different cultures is that these cultures exchanged ideas, goods, and Gods. Myths and legends were methods of transmitting knowledge, and since most stories were transmitted orally, we can fully expect some blending and bleeding among deities with similar aspects.

Lilith, in my experience, was seen as a more aggressive personality than Innana. They may have had similar stories and their images may have quite possibly been used back and forth - or the ones we associate with them may not have been what was intended by those who created them at all. We don't know, we can only surmise.

There have been some really good sites already mentioned, but as for trying to answer your specific quandry - I wouldn't substitute a Lilith pendant for Innana. Creatrixes they both are, but in my mind Lilith is closer to Kali as a creatrix than to Innana. (This is just my personal opinion on their "attitudes" so to speak, not an anthropological observation.)

Wikipedia has a very informative article as well, with good sources listed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith

~BlackLili

[Theres]

I was asking for sites people knew of as being reliable. I can google myself, and when all I find is a mass of contradicting information I come here and ask those who may actually know. Just as if someone asked about Sumer I'd point them to templeofsumer.org because I know it's reliable.
you're welcome.

[Agaliha]

Lilith (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkk.MVg5Hd3MBroRXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4c3IzcmswBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1NTMDFfNzgEb ANXUzE-/SIG=1224lmlic/EXP=1192208396/**http%3a//ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith/)
Information, pictures and links regarding Lilith, the mythological first wife of Adam, and the feminine dark side of the divine
:huh:

I found this on the site GatewaysToBabylon (http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/) (which has tons of info on the Mesopotanian area, from what I gather it's a good site)


A NOTE ON LILITH Lilith is listed here because there seems to be some confusion regarding this personage, who is wrongly thought to be a Sumerian goddess. Fundamentally, Lillith is not a Sumerian goddess, but a Jewish figure, there occupying a central place as a demoness. Neo-paganism has deified Lilith, but the fact remains that according to Sumerian sources lilith is not a deity. In fact, Lilith is not an individual at all, but rather a class of ancient near-eastern demons. To quote "Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia,":
The male lilu and two females lilitu and ardat-lili are a sort of family group of demons.
They are not gods.
The only appearance of a Lilith in Mesopotamian mythology was in "Inanna and The Huluppu Tree," wherein it was portrayed as an evil demon which had infested Inanna's Huluppu tree, the sacred tree Inanna found by the banks of the Euphrates and transplanted to Her city, Uruk. Lillith, a treacherous snake and bird make a home for themselves in the Tree, until forcibly driven out by Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh at this stage seems to have been a close friend of the young goddess, and it is to him that Inanna turns for help regarding the unwelcome guests lodging in the Tree. In this sense, the presence of Lillith in the first part of the Cycle of Inanna may well mean the full range of feminine energy Inanna has yet to develop and integrate within herself.
Lishtar´s Note: Personally, I find the Spirit can call upon us under many Names and guises, all equally holy. I just wanted to establish the historicity of Lillith, which definetly is not Sumerian.
http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/ladies/goddessketches.htm (http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/ladies/goddessketches.htm)

You might also want to look more into Jewish Midrash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash). I think that played a key role with Lilith.
Midrash is divided among peshat (simple meaning), remez (hints, clues), derash (interpretation) and sod (mystical, lit. "secret"). The Midrash concentrates somewhat on remez but mostly on derash. Many different exegetical methods are employed to derive deeper meaning from a text.
All came up on related searches:
Sep 07 - Go & Learn: Lilith Evolved: Writing Midrash (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkuXWA5HeW0BknpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4NzhxbDduBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1NTMDFfNzgEb ANXUzE-/SIG=11nr8mjsu/EXP=1192208919/**http%3a//jwa.org/teach/golearn/sep07/)
Ideas & Belief: Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness (http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ideas_belief/god/Overview_About_God/Angels/Demons/Lilith.htm)
Eve and the Identity of Women: 7. Eve & Lilith (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkuXWA5HeW0BmHpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4aWNrMWY0BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1NTMDFfNzgEb ANXUzE-/SIG=125lptoh7/EXP=1192208919/**http%3a//witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/7evelilith.html)
Lilit, Malkah ha-Shadim (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkn.WA5Hsm4BsBpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5aWF0NjFkBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTEEY29sbwNzazEEdnRpZANTUzAxXzc4B GwDV1Mx/SIG=11r1qf7ks/EXP=1192209022/**http%3a//www.lilitu.com/lilith/lilit.html)
Looking for Lilith (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkn.WA5Hsm4BvhpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5MHB1ZDdzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTgEY29sbwNzazEEdnRpZANTUzAxXzc4B GwDV1Mx/SIG=12hnc843c/EXP=1192209022/**http%3a//www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/950206_Lilith.html)

http://gnosis.org/lilith.htm (http://gnosis.org/lilith.htm) --mentions her

Also: The Alphabet of Ben-Sira (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alphabet_of_Ben-Sira)


The text is best known because of its reference to Lilith, and it is the fifth of Ben Sira's responses to King Nebuchadnezzar. It is reproduced here in its entirety:

Soon afterward the young son of the king took ill. Said Nebuchadnezzar, "Heal my son. If you don't, I will kill you." Ben Sira immediately sat down and wrote an amulet with the Holy Name, and he inscribed on it the angels in charge of medicine by their names, forms, and images, and by their wings, hands, and feet. Nebuchadnezzar looked at the amulet. "Who are these?" "The angels who are in charge of medicine: Snvi, Snsvi, and Smnglof (In english: Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof). After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone' (Genesis 2:18). 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. 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. "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 overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.' "'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.' "When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted 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 that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."

Not sure if that helps.

[RoseKitten]

Lilith and Innana are not the same deity.

Just like Venus and Aphrodite are technically not the same deity. One is older, they come from different cultures, and while their stories can be similar, they are not the same.

The Sumerians and the Babylonians and the Hebrews all have stories about Lilith, with some variations of spelling, pronunciation, and origin.

It is surmised (though almost impossible to prove beyond a doubt) that Lilith and Innana developed along parallel lines within the cultures I mentioned above. Lilith is thought by some to be a development from the Lamashtu mythos of the Sumerians as well.

What you have to bear in mind when researching parallels between deities of different cultures is that these cultures exchanged ideas, goods, and Gods. Myths and legends were methods of transmitting knowledge, and since most stories were transmitted orally, we can fully expect some blending and bleeding among deities with similar aspects.

Lilith, in my experience, was seen as a more aggressive personality than Innana. They may have had similar stories and their images may have quite possibly been used back and forth - or the ones we associate with them may not have been what was intended by those who created them at all. We don't know, we can only surmise.

There have been some really good sites already mentioned, but as for trying to answer your specific quandry - I wouldn't substitute a Lilith pendant for Innana. Creatrixes they both are, but in my mind Lilith is closer to Kali as a creatrix than to Innana. (This is just my personal opinion on their "attitudes" so to speak, not an anthropological observation.)

Wikipedia has a very informative article as well, with good sources listed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith

~BlackLili

Thank-you for actually answering me. :) I appreciate it. As far as the pendants go, the confusion came up because one marked as Lillith was certainly of a well known Inanna statue (I believe that I linked it), and the one marked as Inanna was definatly not (doesn't fit the art or style of Sumer). That what made me question it to begin with.

^_^

[Agaliha]

Thank-you for actually answering me. :)


Those that were posting links for you were "actually" answering you. (edit: I don't think you meant the comment in a negative way, but it could come off as such)

There seems to be a lot of crap out there about Lilith so it's hard to find any good sites in general. Also when when I post links, I expect the person to discern the quality of the site. I can't sit there for hours and reseach before I post something. I get that if someone knows of a great site (say Theoi for Hellenic myth and deities) then they post that, but I don't think there are any for Lilith. Everyone that posted links was doing so to help you. Just saying. ;) To get a good picture of Lilith there might be a lot of wading though crap before you get to some good info.

Edit:


Great research btw, though.

Thank you. I try :lol:
And you're welcome :)

[RoseKitten]

I found this on the site GatewaysToBabylon (http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/) (which has tons of info on the Mesopotanian area, from what I gather it's a good site)

This first quote was very helpful. :) Now that I think about it in reading one of the myths of Inanna it mentioned the demon that took up home in the roots of her tree. That still doesn't explain why they mix the images, but I suspect that just has to do with the mass of confusing information. :)

[BlackLili]

Lilith (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkk.MVg5Hd3MBroRXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4c3IzcmswBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1NTMDFfNzgEb ANXUzE-/SIG=1224lmlic/EXP=1192208396/**http%3a//ccat.sas.upenn.edu/%7Ehumm/Topics/Lilith/)
Information, pictures and links regarding Lilith, the mythological first wife of Adam, and the feminine dark side of the divine
:huh:

I found this on the site GatewaysToBabylon (http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/) (which has tons of info on the Mesopotanian area, from what I gather it's a good site)

You might also want to look more into Jewish Midrash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash). I think that played a key role with Lilith.
All came up on related searches:
Sep 07 - Go & Learn: Lilith Evolved: Writing Midrash (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkuXWA5HeW0BknpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4NzhxbDduBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1NTMDFfNzgEb ANXUzE-/SIG=11nr8mjsu/EXP=1192208919/**http%3a//jwa.org/teach/golearn/sep07/)
Ideas & Belief: Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness (http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ideas_belief/god/Overview_About_God/Angels/Demons/Lilith.htm)
Eve and the Identity of Women: 7. Eve & Lilith (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkuXWA5HeW0BmHpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4aWNrMWY0BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA1NTMDFfNzgEb ANXUzE-/SIG=125lptoh7/EXP=1192208919/**http%3a//witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/7evelilith.html)
Lilit, Malkah ha-Shadim (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkn.WA5Hsm4BsBpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5aWF0NjFkBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTEEY29sbwNzazEEdnRpZANTUzAxXzc4B GwDV1Mx/SIG=11r1qf7ks/EXP=1192209022/**http%3a//www.lilitu.com/lilith/lilit.html)
Looking for Lilith (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkn.WA5Hsm4BvhpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5MHB1ZDdzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTgEY29sbwNzazEEdnRpZANTUzAxXzc4B GwDV1Mx/SIG=12hnc843c/EXP=1192209022/**http%3a//www.acs.ucalgary.ca/%7Eelsegal/Shokel/950206_Lilith.html)

http://gnosis.org/lilith.htm (http://gnosis.org/lilith.htm) --mentions her

Also: The Alphabet of Ben-Sira (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alphabet_of_Ben-Sira)


Not sure if that helps.

The Alphabet is a great source, much of it is discussed in the midrash, which is how Lilith got in there, too.

As for the Lilitu and the Lilin not being Gods but rather demonic annoyances, this has been said - but I was always under the impression that Lilin was the name of Lilith's children she produces with the Demons of the wilderness, and that Lilitu was the Babylonian name for that entity.

As I said though, I don't know that it's a possibly provable point, being that we're assuming we understand Sumerian and Babylonian archetypes and how they affected their individual cultures - and how they've evolved since then. Any details we have are, at best, sketchy.

Great research btw, though.

[RoseKitten]

Those that were posting links for you were "actually" answering you.
There seems to be a lot of crap out there about Lilith so it's hard to find any good sites in general. Also when when I post links, I expect the person to discern the quality of the site. I can't sit there for hours and reseach before I post something. I get that if someone knows of a great site (say Theoi for Hellenic myth and deities) then they post that, but I don't think there are any for Lilith. Everyone that posted links was doing so to help you. Just saying. ;) To get a good picture of Lilith there might be a lot of wading though crap before you get to some good info.

Well, they were and they weren't ;) I do a lot of google seraches myself, but it's hard to know when the links are good. When all the info is contradictory it becomes even harder to tell. So, a drawn out response helping to explain was what I was after, or atleast a good site. :P I know they were trying to help, but after just a couple moments of reading you can see all the crap... I just wondered if people actually *knew* (as was posted above with the babylon site). I guess I'm just picky when I ask for help in getting through crap and all I get pointed to is more crap. *shrugs*

[David19]

Here you go, dear, hope this helps...


Lilith (pronounced lil'ith) was originally the Sumerian Queen of Heaven, A Goddess older than Inanna. The Hebrews took the Goddess and transformed her into the first wife of Adam, who refused to lie beneath him when having intercourse. She insisted that because they were created equal, they needed to have sex equally. When Adam refused, she left him. Thereafter, in Jewish mythology, she was described as a demon.


To read more, follow the link:

http://www.angelfire.com/va/goddesses/lili.html

I think that's wrong, 'cause for one, Inanna is a very old goddess, (from Sumer) and also I've read was the first deity to be depicted in anthropomorphic terms, and Lilith was always a demon, in both Sumerian times (as part of a class of demons) and the Jewish Lilith is one of those demons, who I believe is a goddess now (a particularly powerful member of the Lilitu demons) or close enough.

[RoseKitten]

I think that's wrong, 'cause for one, Inanna is a very old goddess, (from Sumer) and also I've read was the first deity to be depicted in anthropomorphic terms, and Lilith was always a demon, in both Sumerian times (as part of a class of demons) and the Jewish Lilith is one of those demons, who I believe is a goddess now (a particularly powerful member of the Lilitu demons) or close enough.

*nods* That's what I was thinking as well. I'll have to look up the myth that where she takes up residence in Inanna tree. I wonder if perhaps the reason people do this is because they want to spread wrong information, or if it's because everybody wants the claim to "first"? I'm not saying first = only way, or anything like that, but it seems there are a lot of people (from many walks) that say their gods are the oldest... but why should it matter? Their power doesn't change because of when they were worshiped. *shrugs*

[end random thought]

[Nocturna]

...I wonder if perhaps the reason people do this is because they want to spread wrong information, or if it's because everybody wants the claim to "first"? ...


I'm not sure that it's so much that people want to spread wrong information, as that there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Scholars do not always agree on how to interpret ancient artifacts, and sometimes scholarly opinion changes as new info comes to light.

The relief in your first attachment shows up in a book called The Hebrew Goddess by an anthropoligist and religion scholar named Raphael Patai. He identified it as Lilith and posited that she had once been a goddess. He cites a scholarly article, so apparently he was not alone in the first half of the 20th cent. Other scholars disputed this idea and most now agree that the figure represents Inanna. Nevertheless, the erroneous identification stuck around in the popular culture, and now the image is iconographic of a distinctly modern concept of Lilith as a goddess. That is why you see it showing up in jewelry and statues as Lilith rather than Inanna.

So, getting back to your original question, you could use that pendant as a representation of Inanna and be historically correct, but don't be surprised if other Pagans think it's supposed to be Lilith.

[LunaWolfe]

I think that's wrong, 'cause for one, Inanna is a very old goddess, (from Sumer) and also I've read was the first deity to be depicted in anthropomorphic terms, and Lilith was always a demon, in both Sumerian times (as part of a class of demons) and the Jewish Lilith is one of those demons, who I believe is a goddess now (a particularly powerful member of the Lilitu demons) or close enough.

From what I know of her from working/following a path that mainly worships her and her brother archetype, they both seem to be forms of demons. Lillith to me represents another facet of the love goddesses/lust goddesses, she just somehow seems more tangible to me.

This thread is interesting though, when I first started learning about Innana there were a lot of texts that referenced her and Lillith as the same being. But, upon doing more research, they seem to be completley different. I guess it's just all up for debate.

[Ionna Starfire]

This first quote was very helpful. :) Now that I think about it in reading one of the myths of Inanna it mentioned the demon that took up home in the roots of her tree. That still doesn't explain why they mix the images, but I suspect that just has to do with the mass of confusing information. :)

I am actually reading a book about Dark Goddesses and this exact subject comes to light in "Chapter Six: The Dark Maid: Lilith" in Demetra George's book Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess. It is best to read the entire chapter to get a clear understanding why the symbolism of the demon in the tree is slayed by Gilgamesh for Innana.

The book also explains in valid perspective of the interchangeability of Innana and Lilith on plaques and other artifacts.

On page 176, the explanation for your inquiry is described. In the second paragraph on page 176, it asks the questions you did with an additional one: (I do not want to plagarize so I will paraphrase). Why would Innana weep at the sight of her handmaid, Lilith, in the scared huluppu tree when the tree and the symbols of the ancient Bird(uniting of Heaven and Earth) and the Snake Goddess(sexual renewal symbolized by the serpent) had been so sacred in Innana's life prior to Gilgamesh? Why would Innana want them gone? And why reward Gilgamesh for destroying these vauable symbols in her life?

The answer is basically that Gilgamesh, and the patrichary of the era, were fearful of the power of the Goddess so the myths were made to destroy the symbolism of power that the Goddess had: the bird, the snake, and the tree.

It goes far more in-depth and gives it more justice than I can as I have just began to study the dark mysteries. However, it does provide food for thought on another view of Lilith, the representation of not an evil demoness seducing men and killing mothers and children in childbirth; but rather, one where the sacred feminine was surpressed in the tale of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

There are many representations of Lilith, which have already been eloquently stated and explained in the previous posts. As for Lilith being a she-demon or goddess, one is as one wants it to be in that era and culture.

I hope this has been of some value to help in answering some of the many mazes surrounding Lilith and Innana.

[David19]

I am actually reading a book about Dark Goddesses and this exact subject comes to light in "Chapter Six: The Dark Maid: Lilith" in Demetra George's book Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess. It is best to read the entire chapter to get a clear understanding why the symbolism of the demon in the tree is slayed by Gilgamesh for Innana.

The book also explains in valid perspective of the interchangeability of Innana and Lilith on plaques and other artifacts.

On page 176, the explanation for your inquiry is described. In the second paragraph on page 176, it asks the questions you did with an additional one: (I do not want to plagarize so I will paraphrase). Why would Innana weep at the sight of her handmaid, Lilith, in the scared huluppu tree when the tree and the symbols of the ancient Bird(uniting of Heaven and Earth) and the Snake Goddess(sexual renewal symbolized by the serpent) had been so sacred in Innana's life prior to Gilgamesh? Why would Innana want them gone? And why reward Gilgamesh for destroying these vauable symbols in her life?

The answer is basically that Gilgamesh, and the patrichary of the era, were fearful of the power of the Goddess so the myths were made to destroy the symbolism of power that the Goddess had: the bird, the snake, and the tree.

It goes far more in-depth and gives it more justice than I can as I have just began to study the dark mysteries. However, it does provide food for thought on another view of Lilith, the representation of not an evil demoness seducing men and killing mothers and children in childbirth; but rather, one where the sacred feminine was surpressed in the tale of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

There are many representations of Lilith, which have already been eloquently stated and explained in the previous posts. As for Lilith being a she-demon or goddess, one is as one wants it to be in that era and culture.

That's interesting info, but I'm not sure if I buy it, it's just that there has never been "age of The Goddess" that patriarchy destroyed, and also, while the Sumerian society wasn't as advanced in terms of equal rights for men and women (no ancient society/culture was), I don't think Goddesses were seen as "inferior" and I think women in Sumer actually had more rights then than now in the Middle East. Inanna wasn't made an "inferior" deity, she was one of the 7 Who Decree Fate, a very, very powerful position, she was also among the most popular deities (so popular that she even survived in various forms in Christianity, in the form of Babalon). She was and is a Goddess who doesn't bow before men, she does what she wants to do, she'll have sex with whoever she wants, she's in charge of her own life, IMO, she's a great symbol and Goddess for feminists and feminism. So I don't buy that the Epic of Gilgamesh represents patriarchy destroying the matriarchy or the feminine.

I personally prefer seeing Lilith as a demon. She was part of a group of demons called the Lilitu (the male versions were called Lillu demons), and, in my own personal beliefs and mythology, Lilith came from this group, she crawled herself up and became a God, a powerful and strong deity, and her adventures that she has are quite cool (the mythos surrounding her).

That actually could be used as a good message for feminists, to work and crawl your way up, to not to take any BS, and do what it takes to get to the top (actually, that's not just a good message for women, but for men and women too).

But Lilith always started off as a demon, not a Goddess, the Epic of Gilgamesh isn't a tale of patriarchy vs. the sacred feminine, etc.

Here's a good article on Lilith that you might like:

Lilith: From Demoness to Dark Goddess' by Aaron Leitch (http://kheph777.tripod.com/lilith.html).