Are You Ready For Both People To Wear The Pants In A Relationship?
Adam had a wife before Eve
Lilith was her name, and God made Adam and Lilith in his image. Since they were made from the same cloth, Lilith wanted to be treated as an equal. Adam refused, so Lilith fled the Garden of Eden.
Let’s take a look where Lilith fits in with the Book of Genesis. In Chapter 1, verse 27, it is said, “So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.” The authors of the verse were from the Priestly source, containing ritual Priestly instructions.
In Chapter 2, verse 22 in the Book of Genesis: “And the rib, which the lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” This text is known as the Yahweh version.
The Talmud is an expression of opinions on the Torah (the Old Testament).
There are two versions of the Talmud, the Babylonian and Jerusalem. The Rabbis from the Babylonian Talmud saw there was a contradiction with the two passages. So, the Babylonian Talmud says, in Chapter 8 verse 1: “When the holy one created the first Adam, God made it, androgynous. That’s what it means when it says, male and female God created them.”
Lilith is mentioned in Chapter 22 verse 7, “God proceeded to create a second Eve for Adam, after Lilith had to return to dust.” The Talmud mentions Lilith three more times.
Lilith is associated with being a dangerous demon of the night, and devours children. Her name probably comes from what scholars believe, was inspired by a Sumerian myth, where female vampires, night creatures were called Lillu.
Its synchronistic her name is “Lilith” meaning a night creature. In the past, we were not identified with equality, this interaction was very unconscious. We are still not identified with equality, but at least, it’s on the surface of our unconscious. We associate night with the shadow, the unconscious, a part of us that is stuffed away out of sight. Any trait we don’t associate with, is cast out of our mind, and is considered the dark side of us.
Other Writings
In the 9th century of the Common Era, we have the anonymous writings of the Alphabet Ben Sira.
It is stated in these writings… “He also created a woman, 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.
Lilith is also mentioned in the Zohar and in esoteric writings that predates the Zohar, The Treatise on the Left Emanation.
Regardless of the history, we have two different tones in the Book of Genesis. One is of wholeness depicting equality, while the other is of the world of duality, of dominance and subservience.
In the Yahweh source, which was written 500 years earlier, than the Priestly, the authors make a distinction that Yahweh is a domineering presence in the heavens, and is all powerful, almighty, and all-knowing.
Yahweh has masculine traits, therefore Women… and Men are in submission… to the masculine Yahweh. In the words of Joseph Campbell, a Myth of any culture influences their society. Yahweh is viewed as masculine, so in our social system, it is acceptable, men with masculine traits rule.
In a Patriarchal system there is always a Dominate and Submissive
In her book, The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock, she explains: In patriarchal relationships, a dominate person and a submissive is the rule. The dominate person has to keep a one up position.
A want to make a note: There are some women who identify with the masculine qualities, and attract men who are the submissive. Some would say, these women are Lilith incarnate, but Lilith was for equality, not domination!
In the west, women have come a long way to be recognized as an equal, but there is still a long ways to go… regarding relationships. This was so clearly evident in the whole, 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon. The story so clearly depicted the domineering and submissive interaction in relationships. While most people focused on the S and M sex of the story. Most were not seeing the psychological, dominate and submissive interaction between the main characters.
Adam and Lilith’s soul were created equal; representing an androgynous connection. But the relationship could have succeeded, only if Adam accepted the fact, they were equal, and was able to embrace Lilith as his counterpart. Even still, neither one created their ego into wholeness, so they could not be together.
Ending the world of Duality
If we lived in a world that transcended duality, our society would be influenced by the union of the masculine and feminine. The habitual dominate and subservient, would also transform into an autonomous, interdependent, empathic relationship.
But until that day comes, masculine traits will always have an upper hand, and the equality, that Lilith represents, will continue to be thought of as an unconscious shadow aspect, in our society.
Here are 4 tips the Adam and Lilith story can teach you about Equality:
1) Are you the dominate or submissive person in the relationship?
Stop the habitual interaction and ask yourself: Are you the dominate person-the all-powerful, all-knowing? or are you the submissive-the obeyed, the accommodator?
2) Are you willing to be a Lilith (regardless of gender) and stand up for equality but not domination?
3) God made Adam and Lilith from the same cloth. Are you ready to see one another as equal?
4) The interdependent relationship brings equality into the picture. The people involved in this relationship are identified with their masculine and feminine traits. This means neither one is the dominate person nor the submissive. They graduated into autonomy and now see one another as equal. Are you ready to do the work it takes to be equal?
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