Lilith

Lilith is a Hebrew name for a figure in Jewish mythology who is generally thought to be in part derived from a class of female demons called Lilitu in Mesopotamian texts. The Gilgamesh appendix and the Arslan Tash amulets are the two sources used to connect the Jewish Lilith to an Akkadian Lilitu. The Hebrew term Lilith first occurs in Isaiah 34:14.

In Jewish folklore, from the 8th–10th century work The Alphabet of Ben Sira onwards, Lilith becomes Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time and from the same earth as Adam. This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs. Lilith’s legend was greatly developed during the Middle Ages. In a 13th Century writing, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. She was said to have spoken the secret Holy name of God and transformed herself into an owl to fly from Eden. The name "Lilith" means "screech owl".  In some medieval folklore, Lilith does return to Eden as a serpent. She then offers forth the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge to Eve, making her a kind of proto-Sophia or wisdom Goddess.

Charles Leland associated Aradia with Lilith. Aradia, says Leland, is Herodias, who was regarded in stregheria folklore as being associated with Diana as chief of the witches. Leland further notes that Herodias is a name that comes from West Asia, where it denoted an early form of Lilith.

Gerald Gardner asserted that there was continuous historical worship of Lilith to present day, and that her name is sometimes given to the goddess being personified in the coven, by the priestess. This idea was further attested by Doreen Valiente, who cited her as a presiding goddess of the Craft: “the personification of erotic dreams, the suppressed desire for delights.”

In some Traditional covens, Lilith is viewed as the embodiment of the Witches' Goddess. She was said to have embodied herself in the form of Na'amah, the sister of Tubal Cain, and is therefore one of the original sources of Witchblood. Some see this Lilith as the Queen of the Fairies and Grandmother to them as well.

One of the old names for the moon is Lilith’s Lantern, as it was said to be the light that Witches met by. Lilith is associated with the moon, owls, and serpents.

Prayer Unto the Queen of Succubi
by Andrew Chumbly

I bless the Waters of Desire
I drink the Fountain White.
I call thee Mother Lilith
Harlot of the Night.

Mine are the Blossoms of Rousing
To Bewitch the Moon-Feast round;
Unto me thy Daughters
Ye Nymphs of Paradise ground.

I bless the Waters of Desire
I drink the Fountain White.
I call thee Mother Lilith
Harlot of the Night.

By the Mystery of the Bright Moon
And the Vessel of Quickening Fire
Thy Power is Made Flesh.

The Burney Relief, thought to depict Lilith

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were—I have not seen
As others saw—I could not bring
My passions from a common spring—
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow—I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone—
And all I loved—I loved alone—
Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still—
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the red cliff of the mountain—
From the sun that ’round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by—
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view—

~Edgar Allan Poe

The Watchers

The Watchers, or Grigori, are ancient angelic beings associated with stellar lore that watch over witches. They are sometimes envisioned as the Watchtowers of the witch’s circle.

In the stellar cults of Mesopotamia there were fourstars known as Lords or Watchers. Each of these stars “ruled” over a cardinal point of the compass, circa 3000 BCE. Aldebaran was the star of the Vernal Equinox, and was the Watcher of the East. Regulus, star of the Summer Solstice was the Watcher of the South. Antares was the star of the Autumnal Equinox and was the Watcher of the West. Finally Formalhaut was the star of the Winter Solstice and Watcher of the North. Seven-stepped pyramid towers were constructed bearing symbols of each of these four stars and times of year. These ziggurats formed the first instance of the Watchtowers.

The Watchers are echoed in the four winds of the ancient Greeks, and in the four Archangels of Christian belief: Michael (Fire), Gabriel (Water), Raphael (Air), and Auriel (Earth). However, the Watchers are also mentioned as fallen angels in the apocryphal  Book of Enoch. These Watchers are said to have instructed the daughters of men in certain magical arts. The usual associations are as follows:

• Araqiel: signs of the earth
• Armaros: enchantments
• Azazel: masking, smithing, and witchcraft
• Barqel: astrology
• Ezequeel: signs of the clouds
• Gadreel: making weapons
• Kokabeel: stellar lore
• Penemue: written spells
• Sariel: lunar magic
• Semjaza: herbal magic
• Shamshiel: solar magic

These Enochian Watchers were said to have mated with the daughters of men and produced a race of giants, the Nephilim, who were gifted with magical powers. These Nephilim possessed odd genetic traits that are similar to the “Witches’ Marks” of old, such as giantism, extra teeth, polydactylism, and supernumery nipples. Indeed, some modern witches still claim descent from certain specific fallen angels.

The Line of Cain

Are Cain, Tubal Cain, and Azazel the same entity?  Yes!   And no...

Cain, Son of Eve

Cain/Qayin is the son of Eve through the serpent, Ha-satan. In Genesis when Eve says "I have begotten a man with the Lord" she is referring to Lord Satan-Lucifer.  His brother Abel was the son of Adam and Eve, a creature of clay made flesh, whereas Cain was a creature of spirit made flesh.

Cain was the first to till the earth and harvest plant matter. For this reason he is known as the Lord of the Green Kingdom.  While Cain harvested plants, Abel shepherded flocks of beasts.  When the time came for Cain and Abel to make offerings to Yahweh Abel's offerings of blood pleased Yahweh, but Cain's offerings of burnt plants did not.

It was for this slight in the eyes of Yahweh that Cain killed Abel.  Cain offered forth his most cherished gift of blood (his own brother) to Yahweh.  Abel's blood watered the field and made it fertile. The Necrosophic tradition claims that the blood of Abel that 'watered' the garden also empowered it, making the plants within linked to the bloodline of Cain. This is also the origin of plant spirits or the "Black in Green."

Because of the fact that Cain was the first murderer of man, he eventually became the reaper.  He is the Lord of the Western realms, and the guide of the dead.  Cain was also marked for his crime, and it is this mark (the Witches' Mark) that all children of Cain carry, though in diluted form.

Azazel and Tubal Cain

Azazel was chief among the angels in the story of The Fall of the B'nai Elohim in the Book of Enoch.  The B'nai Elohim is a term that refers to angels. It occurs four times in the Old Testament and is rendered "Angels of God" in the ancient Septuagin translation. These fallen angels, or Watchers, descended to the realm of matter (earth) where they took the descendants of Cain as human vessels. They took women as their wives, taught them, witchcraft and other skills. Azazel took Tubal-Cain, the blacksmith, as his vessel and further improved the arts of smith craft and witchery. Naamah was the human vessel of Nahema-Lilith (Lilith the younger or Lilith's daughter).


The Nephilim

The children of the watchers were the giants known as the Nephilim, which derives from the Hebrew naphal (to fall), or the Fallen Ones. (The Greek Septuagint renders this term gigantes, which actually means "earth-born." This is often misunderstood to mean "giants".  They were marked by extra teeth, extra fingers and toes, double crowned skulls, giant-ism, and other traits that future generations would interpret as witch marks.

The Watchers were originally the four stars Aldebaran (the East), Regulus (the South), Antares (the West), and Fomalhaut (the North).  Witches then, are those who can trace their bloodline to Cain -- the Red Thread -- and are the children of the stars.

For more information:
http://theisticsatanism.com/CoEvan/arguments/henotheism/Devil.html
http://www.ixaxaar.com/

Witch Marks, Witch Blood, and the Kuthun

Witch Marks

Some witches are born with a special mark upon them that singles then out as a person gifted with power.  Some traditional variations on this mark include: a specially shaped birthmark, a supernumerary nipple, polydactylism, red hair, extra teeth, and being born with a caul (a portion of the birth sac over the head).

Witch marks are created at certain rites of passage within our tradition.  They consist of a special symbol marked on the body, either astrally or physically, as in a tattoo.  Both the symbol and its placement of the body are significant to our tradition.

Witch Blood

Some witches claim blood lineage from witches who have gone before.  This is known as possessing witch blood.  It is based on a very ancient notion from the book of Enoch that T'Qayin once mixed his seed with that of the daughters of Adam, producing a race of supernaturally gifted beings.  These beings are sometimes referred to as The Watchers.  It is said that this divine spark runs through the veins and sings from the bones of every witch.  Remember that you are made of the same materials as the stars, and that magic lives within you.  Even if you cannot trace your familial lineage to that of a known witch, know that through the forging of the Red Thread, the magical link that this tradition creates between you and the Mighty Dead, you share the blood of T'Qayin.

The Kuthun

Is is told that for a witch to pass from this life into the next, she must pass her power on to another.  This provides incentive for teaching the Craft to others, ensuring that our ways do not die with us.  The Kuthun is a tangible object that links the power of a witch to her descendant. It may be a beloved magical tool, a piece of jewelry or regalia, or a formal document of lineage.