I've had a number of issues I've been dealing with, and have had Magick (and, sadly, worship) on the back burner for a little while. But I'm back, and coming up strong. Today- Tonight- I'm going to talk a little about Lilith. (Hooray! Some of you say.)
Lilith has four aspects, all of which must be honoured. There is her in her aspect of Storms, her aspect of Darkness, her aspect of Knowledge, and her aspect of Sensuality. None of these are more important than the other. This is important. Each aspect must me treated in the manner it deserves.
You see, this is where I diverge from a lot of the things that are said by others who have tried to walk beneath Her wings. They all tend to spout what amounts to "Come fill me with your dark, naughty power! Consort of Lucifer...." and so on and so forth.
And then you get the Feminist Witches, who bang on about Female Empowerment and use her as an example of a free, liberated woman and a deity of such. As someone I know said, that path leads to disaster. I believe they described it as a "Can of flesh-eating worms that are hungry all the time".
The thing is that none of the above views are wrong. But to focus on each of those, and to approach without the right mindset, is to set yourself up for disaster, breakdown, and fully-fledged catastrophe. And if you're wanting Lilith as cheap, easy, sexy power, stop reading RIGHT NOW. You won't get that here. While you can get some of that from her, You have to remember what is said in the Declaration:
"I am Myself; nothing more, nothing less.
I am rage and restraint, decorum and debauchery,
sensitivity and savagery, sorrow and sweetness.
I am storms, and I am breeze;
I am mist, and I am deluge;
I am soft soil, and I am flinted rock;
I am hearth, and I am inferno.
"I am all these things, and more, for I am woman unbound.
I am neither dominance nor submission, though both of
those are within me. I am the darkness that is as essential
as the light, and I bear pain, and I bear truth. I am never
within unless invited in, but once there, I am eternal.
"I am She who was dismissed,
I am She who brings the storm,
I am She who knows truth.
Conscience I have, and the strength to defy it when necessary.
"Come to me and worship, and I devote myself to thee in return.
But approach with your heart and mind in accord, and in the
right places; for they who do not see me for what I am will find
themselves ignored, or will find my displeasure.
"I demand no sacrifice save that of the self;
and I, to my truly devoted, will sacrifice in return."
Those two paragraphs at the end are vitally important. In particular, for those who look to use her, the last two lines. Give to her, and She will give to you. In other words... no using. You worship her, it's a partnership.
So next, we come to the shrines. Here's a picture of my (temporary) shrine. As I said, things have been difficult for me of late.
Yes, it's a shelf in a cupboard. Sooner or later it will become a bigger, proper Altar.
On the left, we have an image of a Bolt of Lightning. This has a small rosewood wand and a glass of water in front of it, representing Lilith in her Magickal aspect. On the right, we have an Owl. I've already talked about Lilith and her relationship to Screech Owls, and so this is an Otus asio- Eastern Screech Owl, common to Israel and Jordan. (And also parts of the USA.) In front of this is incense, representing Lilith as secret-keeper and bearer of knowledge. In the middle... well, I dragged that picture off the net somewhere, as I was told to find a picture of Lilith in "Antic pose". This, obviously, represents Lilith in the aspect of Sensuality. In front of that is a dried, dead rose. Eternally there.
The fourth shrine is not shown here. This shrine represents Lilith as a Spirit of Darkness. Darkness as opposed to Evil. Darkness as opposed to light, Darkness as in the things that may be hard or unpleasant to do, but still need doing. This shrine cannot be seen from this angle, and the item that should be in front of it is a small, sharp, serviceable knife. One that can be used. None of these fancy yet blunt Athames here. It needs to be ready to be used if necessary.
The layout should be like this: The three shrines that I have pictured should be visible as you enter the room, immediately in view. The fourth should be by the exit to the room, so you see it as you leave. The reason for this layout is that you always remember the less pleasant side of Her as you leave, but you should not come in with that uppermost in your mind.
Dedicating yourself to her can be done in front of any one of the separate shrines. But focus should be on the shrine that shows the aspect that you are calling on at any one time, unless you're doing a general devotional. For a general devotional, offerings of red wine and dark chocolate are generally well accepted. As far as the specific aspects go, you need to choose something appropriate if you need to call on one of them.
That's pretty much it. At a later date, I'll post the Tear of Lilith and its meaning.
In the meanwhile, those of you who want to take Her into your life, think on this post.
