Okay, so I’ve been spiraling down a rabbit hole regarding the "deleted" parts of Genesis, specifically the Midrash stories about Lilith. I always thought she was just some edgy demon figure, but reading the actual breakdown of the myths (specifically the Graves/Patai stuff) is wild.
Two things really stuck out to me that I can't stop thinking about:
The "Filth" Detail: We all know Adam was made from dust. But the texts say Lilith was made at the same time, but God used "filth and sediment" instead of pure dust. It’s such a specific, nasty detail. It sets her up to be "wrong" from the very start.
The "Position" Argument: The reason she left Eden wasn't because she ate an apple. It was literally because Adam demanded the "superior" position during sex. She asked, "Why must I lie beneath you? I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal."
But here is where it gets trippy. I found an essay arguing that Lilith isn't just a monster who kills babies (though the myths say she does that too, specifically uncircumcised boys, which is terrifying). The argument is that Lilith represents Adam's "Shadow."
Because Adam couldn't accept his equal, he tried to dominate her. She fled. And because he repressed that part of himself, it came back as a "demon" to destroy his legitimate children (Eve's kids). It’s basically a 2,000-year-old lesson in Jungian psychology: If you reject your Shadow, it turns into a monster.
It’s honestly tragic. They were originally a "dual-bodied being" (androgynous), and splitting them apart caused all this mess.
👉 Here is the deep dive: [https://youtu.be/2HX1U-tFOmU\]
by VastPalpitation9213
4 Comments
When you’re writing and selectively editing a work of fiction, you can make it mean whatever you like.
Bro he couldn’t handle Eve aswell, that’s why they got kicked out remember ?
There’s no “gap” or “cover up” here. Lilith is a late antiquity construction. Same with the Midrash sources you cite.
Lilith, Sophia, Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Anat, Tiamat, Asherat: they’re just different names for the same figure moving through millennia across the Fertile Crescent. (And i talked only about those here, there are plenty more all across the World). It’s always the same female power creating on her own INDEPENDENTLY, crossing boundaries, and getting softened, split, or demonized by the cultures that inherit her (the Demiurge Is litterally portrayed as a horrible fetus…). Languages change, pantheons change, but the myth underneath stays the same. And at the root of it all, before any name, NUN is the Mother. JAYANTI MANGALA KALI. Lei ti dà tutto, lei ti dà tutto, e all’improvviso TI TOGLIE TUTTO.