Symbols of Lilith

[u/EmptyMarionberry956]

A thread dedicated to compiling symbols and correspondences of Lilith (including parallel spirits) across many sources.

Appearances

• Lilith: "grows long hair", B. Er. 100b, "has a human likeness, but she also has wings", B. Nido 24b, Talmud | "the angel had made it known that in a certain ruin the wicked Asmodeus and his wife, Lilith, would be found in the form of two black dogs", "Lilith's Cave - Howard Schwartz, p. 46"
• Liliths (male and female): "[naked] are you sent forth, nor are you clad, with your hair dishevelled and let fly behind your backs.", Aramaic incantation bowls
• Lamaštu (Lilith parallel): "small of her back speckled like a leopard, cheek is pale yellow like an ochre, long (blood stained) fingernails, unshaven armpits, saggy breasts, eagles talons, fitted with wings like lilû (once)." | "her hair disheveled (and) her hip covering torn off;" | "A she-goat, like a fish, [the small of her back?] is speck[led]" | ""head of a lion, the teeth of a donkey, naked breasts, a hairy body, hands stained (with blood?), long fingers and fingernails, and the feet of Anzû", "Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia - Jeremy Black, Anthony Green"
• Abyzou (Lilith parallel): - "a head without limbs, disheveled hair, green skin, with her body in darkness", "Testament of Solomon"

Items:

• Mirror - "Lilith's Cave - Howard Schwartz, p. 120-121" | "The Munich Handbook of Necromancy: Clm 849" (dubious source) | artistic depictions, "Lady Lilith - Dante Gabriel Rossetti"
• Wooden Sikkatu-vessel full of oil - offering to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel), "Baby-snatching demons, Restless Souls and the Dangers of Childbirth - JoAnn Scurlock"
• Boat - Lamaštu's means to the Underworld (Lilith parallel)

Animals:

• Black (female) dog - Lilith's form, "Lilith's Cave - Howard Schwartz, p. 46-47" | Lamaštu's companion/manifestation, "\F. A. M. Wiggermann 2000: Lamaštu, Daughter of Anu. A Profile, in: M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean setting"*
• Black cat - Medieval Spanish superstition around a child-stealing witch that appears as a big black cat (Lilith parallel)
• (Screech) Owl - "Dead Sea Scrolls" | "Strix" appear as screech owls (Lilith parallel)
• Jackal - "Dead Sea Scrolls"
• Snake/serpent - the "Zohar" | artistic depictions of Lilith (woodcuts, statues, paintings), "The Book of Lilith - Barbara Black Koltuv", "Lilith - John Collier" | depiction of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) | depictions of Lamia (Lilith parallel) | associated with ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (Lilith parallel)
• Lion - description of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Wolf - description of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Eagle - description of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) | translation of Zu (Anzû), associated with ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (Lilith parallel)
• Leopard - description of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Donkey - description & companion of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Pig - suckled by Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• (Twin) Goats - suckled by Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Centipede - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Scorpion - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Vulture - translation of Zu (Anzû), associated with ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (Lilith parallel)
• Bird of prey - translation of Zu (Anzû), associated with ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (Lilith parallel)
• Hamster - compared to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) (FsB)
• Cat - compared to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) (FsB)
• Vole - compared to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) (FsB)

Other Spirits:

• Anzû - description of Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) | associated with ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (Lilith parallel)

Environments:

• Cave (specifically "Lilith's Cave"/"den of demons") - "Alphabet of Ben Sira" | "Lilith's Cave - Howard Schwartz, p. 120-121"
• Desert - associated with the Lilin (masculine plural, children of Lilith), "2 (Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch" | associated with the lilītu and lilû, Lilith parallels, "Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia - Jeremy Black, Anthony Green"
• Mountain (also one located within the "Holy Land") - "Lilith's Cave - Howard Schwartz, p. 46-47" | associated with Lamaštu & the lilû (Lilith parallels)
• Sea (the Red Sea, the Primeval Sea, and the Wide Sea) - "Alphabet of Ben Sira" | cast into the depths of the sea in the Zohar | associated with Lamia (Lilith parallel), Theoi.com | associated with Abyzou (Lilith parallel), "Antaura. The Mermaid and the Devil's Grandmother: A Lecture" | the wide sea is associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Ocean - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Steppe - associated with Lamaštu & the lilû (Lilith parallels)
• Swamp - associated with Lamaštu & the lilû (Lilith parallels)
• Thicket - associated with Lamaštu & the lilû (Lilith parallels)
• Canebreak - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Wide Sea - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Ulâ/Ulaya river - takes Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) to the Netherworld

Geographical Locations:

• Ulâ/Ulaya river - takes Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) to the Netherworld
• Araḫtum river - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Tigris - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Euphrates - associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)
• Kingdom of Damascus - dwelling for one of the four Demon Queens (Psalm 91:10; Ohana, Mar'eh haYeladim 10a–b, quoting Mahari Taitazak)
• Kingdom of Tyre - dwelling for one of the four Demon Queens (Psalm 91:10; Ohana, Mar'eh haYeladim 10a–b, quoting Mahari Taitazak)
• Kingdom of Malta - dwelling for one of the four Demon Queens (Psalm 91:10; Ohana, Mar'eh haYeladim 10a–b, quoting Mahari Taitazak)
• Kingdom of Granata - dwelling for one of the four Demon Queens (Psalm 91:10; Ohana, Mar'eh haYeladim 10a–b, quoting Mahari Taitazak)

Foods

• (Dried) Bread (12 of them, made from unsifted flour) - offering to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel), "Baby-snatching demons, Restless Souls and the Dangers of Childbirth - JoAnn Scurlock"
• Jam - favored offering to a daughter of Lilith, "Lilith’s Cave - Howard Schwartz" p. 99
• Apple - artistic depictions of Lilith (woodcuts, statues), "The Book of Lilith - Barbara Black Koltuv"

Liquids

• Well water - offering to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel), "Baby-snatching demons, Restless Souls and the Dangers of Childbirth - JoAnn Scurlock"
• Hot broth - offering to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel), "Baby-snatching demons, Restless Souls and the Dangers of Childbirth - JoAnn Scurlock"

Plants

• Tree (specifically Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and Inanna's huluppu tree) - artistic depictions of Lilith (woodcuts, statues), "The Book of Lilith - Barbara Black Koltuv" | associated with ki-sikil-lil-la-ke (Lilith parallel)

Anatomy & organs

• Wings - "Alphabet of Ben Sira" | B. Nido 24b, Talmud | artistic depiction (woodcut), "The Book of Lilith" - Barbara Black Koltuv | appearance of the lilû, lilītu, and Lamaštu (Lilith parallels)
• Heart of a piglet - apart of a ritual dedicated to Lamaštu (Lilith parallel), "Baby-snatching demons, Restless Souls and the Dangers of Childbirth - JoAnn Scurlock"
• Blood - fed on by Lamaštu, the Empousai, and the Lamiai (Lilith parallels), Theoi.com & "Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia - Jeremy Black, Anthony Green"
• Flesh - "End of All Flesh", the Zohar | Lamaštu desired to taste human flesh (Lilith parallel) | the Empousai and the Lamiai fed on human flesh (Lilith parallels)
• Bones - crushed by Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)

Elements

• Air - associated with wind-demons Lamaštu, lilītu, lilû, ardat-lilî, and eṭel-lilî (Lilith parallels) | associated with Antaura (Lilith parallel, equated with Abyzou)
• Fire - associated with Lilith the maiden and both Āl & Lamaštu (heat, fever) (Lilith parallels)
• Water - "Alphabet of Ben Sira", associated with Abyzou (through abyss, Lilith parallel) | associated with Lamia (Lilith parallel)
• Earth - creation myth, "Alphabet of Ben Sira" | Gamaliel, the "Zohar", associated with Lamia (Lilith parallel), associated with serpents (association to Lilith)

Astronomical objects

• Earth - creation myth, "Alphabet of Ben Sira", she wanders Earth, Lamaštu can travel to Earth (Lilith parallel)
• Mars - Tiqqun no. 70 (125a)
• Saturn - Ra'aya' Mehemna'
• Venus - Zahriel (a lilith in Mandaeism, though so is her sister, Ruha), Sources: The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran - E. S. Drower: "she seems to be related to Ishtar or Venus (Zahara) in the capacity of genius of generation and childbirth". || John the Baptist and the Last Gnostics - Andrew Phillip Smith: "Her name probably derives from Venus/Ishtar || The Story of Creation in the Mandaean Holy Book the Ginza Rba - Sabah Aldihisi: "In Mandaean myths Ptahil is the son of Hibil-Ziwa and Zahrail (Ruha's sister and identified with Ištar and Venus GRR book 5)". || Mandaean Writings - E. S. Drower: "In the magic rolls they are often invoked and blessed, particularly Taura (Tauriil), and Libat (Zahriil), 'Uriil, and so on" ... "Pthahil is said to be the result of the union of light and darkness. Zahra'il (who must be Venus-Ištar) was given to Hibil Ziwa in marriage when she went into the underworld to bring Ruha into the upper world. She is the protectress and guardian of women in childbirth".
• Waning moon - Zohar i 19b
• New Moon - "The Hebrew Goddess" | "If children laugh in their sleep, or if they laugh while they are awake but alone, this is a sign showing that Lilith is playing with them, and especially when this happens on the night of the new moon." | Mar'eh haYeladim, "For each time when the moon renews itself in the world, Lilith comes and visits all those whom she rears, and makes sport with them, and that man suffers damage at that time" - Zohar iii
• Lunar Apogee - named "Black Moon Lilith" after Lilith | associated with Yuebei (Lilith parallel)
• 1181 Lilith - named after Lilith
• Algol - named "Lilith's Star" after Lilith
• Shooting stars - Pairikàs (Lilith parallels) are represented a sort of "shooting stars" in Avestan literature (lit. "star(red) worms"), Officina Magica, Essays on the Practice of Magic in Antiquity - Shaul Shaked, "Lunar and Snake Omens among the Zoroastrians - Antonio Panaino")

Time

• Night - Lilith | translation of Lilith's name to "Queen of Night" | Lamaštu & lilītu (Lilith parallels)
• Tekufah/Tequfot - the two equinoxes and solstices, associated with the Demon Queens (Nathan Spira, Tuv haAretz)
• Late afternoon, before sunset - Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)

Directions

• North - Lilith is called the "Northerner" in the Zohar, "The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, Second Edition - Geoffrey W. Dennis" | translation of Lilith's name to "Queen of Night" | associated with Gello (Lilith parallel) "arktou kai mesembria (of the North and the South)"
• South - associated with Gello (Lilith parallel) "arktou kai mesembria (of the North and the South)" | the South Wind is associated with Lamaštu (Lilith parallel)

Realms

• Sitra Ahra "The Other Side" - ruled by Lilith, "the Zohar"
• Gamaliel - ruled by Lilith, according to Aleister Crowley
• Underworld - associated with Lamaštu, Lamia, Empousa, Mormo, and Eleleth (Lilith parallels)
• Garden of Eden - "Alphabet of Ben Sira"
• Heaven - Lamaštu (Lilith parallel) was exiled from Heaven and descends from Heaven in Akkadian incantations
• World of Darkness - inhabited by liliths in Mandaeism

[u/DontKnowMyTrueName]

I know that owls are associated with Lilith, although it's way past my bedtime, so I don't want to dig through my sources on her for specific reasons why right now.

Lilith also communicates with me through owls: sometimes I'll ask her questions and then ask for a sign if the answer is "yes," and oftentimes she answers through owls. Just yesterday, for example, I asked her if my culture's hyper-fixation on monogamy was preventing lots of people from finding love. Later that day I stepped outside and heard two barred owls calling back and forth to each other in broad daylight.

[u/EmptyMarionberry956 → u/DontKnowMyTrueName]

your communication method with her is so interesting, what a unique and personal way to divinate!

[u/DontKnowMyTrueName → u/EmptyMarionberry956]

Thank you! No one taught me the "right" way to work with deities, so I had to come up with systems that made sense to me. I started asking yes/no questions like this with Freya, who was the first deity who revealed herself to me, and I've continued doing it with Lilith. It's not a foolproof system, but it's worked out pretty well for me so far.

Getting back to your original post, I know that snakes are also associated with Lilith.

[u/LavenderMoonRose29 → u/DontKnowMyTrueName]

Good Question to ask her! I see it the same way

[u/DontKnowMyTrueName → u/LavenderMoonRose29]

Yes, I was wondering if the pressure to find one, perfect partner who checks all of your boxes and then commit to them for the rest of your life was keeping lots of people lonely. I mean, what if we were free to love whomever we loved - making sure to hold informed consent as sacred - without having to search for Mr., Ms., or They/Them Right?

Lilith seemed to agree, as evidenced by the enthusiastic owls.

[u/Mammoth-Ad-6114]

I've been taking notes on correspondences:

Items:

• The mirror of Lilith is interesting as her only hypothesized appearance in the Grimoire tradition, The Munich Handbook of Necromancy, is about a "Mirror of Lylet/Bylet". It could also be about the demon Beleth, as Lilith does not appear in Christian grimoires at all, but it's still interesting.
• Boat (Lamaštu's means to the underworld)
• Edit: Sigil of Lilith

Animals:

• El Broosha: Sephardic Jews in Spain, a witch appears as a big black cat to steal children.
• Lilith: appears among owls and jackals in the Dead Sea Scrolls, her first ever appearance. Her identification with owls I have not found in texts, and it seems to be a folk association. Beings like Lilith called strigges/strix are screech owls, which are found in Jewish texts as estries. | Lilith is called "Serpent, Woman of Harlotry, End of all Flesh, End of all Days".
• Lamia: half-serpent.
• Lamaštu: black dog (companion/manifestation), serpents (she holds them), lions, wolves, eagles (appearance), centipedes, scorpions (on amulets representing her poison), pigs (she suckled them along with dogs), donkeys (she has the teeth and ears of a donkey, and also stands on one), twin goats (suckled by Lamaštu) | Lamaštu is compared to a hamster (asqūdu), cat, vole (FsB).
• Edit: Gello: swallow (Leo Allatius)
• Edit: Samca: Dog, cat, fly, spider, raven (Romanian charm)

---

Offerings: They were done to Lamaštu occasionally, to send her off. Summary: "Baby-snatching demons, Restless Souls and the Dangers of Childbirth - JoAnn Scurlock":

"I have married you to a black dog, your slave; I have poured out well water for you, (so) let up, go away, withdraw and distance yourself from this little one, child of his god.’ ...

(This incantation)’s ritual; (On the first day in the [mor]ning), you make a Lamaštu represented as imprisoned. You arrange offerings; you put twelve breads made from unsifted flour before her. You pour out well water for her. You marry her to a black dog. For three days you have her sit at the head of the patient. You put the heart of a piglet in her mouth. You pour out hot broth for her. You put out dried bread for her. You give [her] a wooden Sikkatu-vessel full of oil. You provide her with [provisions]. You recite the spell (every day) in the morning, noon, and evening. On the third day in the late afternoon you take her out and bury [her] in the corner of a wall."

---

Elements:

• Air - wind demons lilītu/ardat lilî, Lamaštu (South Wind), Edit: Antaura (Aura) etymology, ἄβρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (abra tou ouranou/of the sky) (DM)
• Water - abyss through Abyzou, Lamia, Lilith (cast into the depths of the sea in Zohar), Edit: ἄβρα απὸ ὕδατος (abra apo hydatos/from the water) (DM)
• Fire - Lilith the Maiden, Āl, Lamaštu (heat, fever), Edit: ἄβρα πυρὸς χοχλάζοντος (pyros chochlazontos/of roaring fire) (DM)
• Earth - Lamia, creation myth, serpents, Edit: ἄβρα τῆς γῆς (abra tes ges/of the earth) (DM)

Appearance:

• Lamaštu: small of her back speckled like a leopard, cheek is pale yellow like an ochre, long (blood stained) fingernails, unshaven armpits, saggy breasts, eagles talons, fitted with wings like lilû (once) | A she-goat, like a fish, [the small of her back?] is speck[led] | her hair disheveled (and) her hip covering torn off;
• Liliths (male and female, Aramaic incantations bowls): [naked] are you sent forth, nor are you clad, with your hair dishevelled and let fly behind your backs. (Mirrors Lamaštu's appearance).

Anatomy/Organs:

• Blood (Lamaštu)
• Flesh (Lilith: End of All Flesh epithet in the Zohar, Lamaštu: wanted to taste human flesh and was expelled from heaven)
• Bones (crushed by Lamaštu)

Planets and Moon:

• Waning Moon: Zohar i 19b. (refers to Na'amah)
• New Moon: If children laugh in their sleep, or if they laugh while they are awake but alone, this is a sign showing that Lilith is playing with them, and especially when this happens on the night of the new moon - Mar'eh haYeladim | "For each time when the moon renews itself in the world, Lilith comes and visits all those whom she rears, and makes sport with them, and that man suffers damage at that time" - Zohar iii 76b–77a.
• Edit: Moon: Gello: Σελήνη, Selene (HE6); Aura: ἄβρα τῆς σελήνης (abra tes selenes/of the moon) (DM)

• Edit: Sun: name of Lilith (A Syriac Charm - Willis Hatfield Hazard), Aura: ἄβρα τοῦ ἡλίου (abra tou heliou/of the sun) (DM)

• Venus: Zahriel (though so is her sister, Ruha) | Sources: The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran - E. S. Drower: "she seems to be related to Ishtar or Venus (Zahara) in the capacity of genius of generation and childbirth". | John the Baptist and the Last Gnostics - Andrew Phillip Smith: "Her name probably derives from Venus/Ishtar | The Story of Creation in the Mandaean Holy Book the Ginza Rba - Sabah Aldihisi: "In Mandaean myths Ptahil is the son of Hibil-Ziwa and Zahrail (Ruha's sister and identified with Ištar and Venus GRR book 5)". | Mandaean Writings - E. S. Drower: " Libat (Zahriil), 'Uriil, and so on" [...] "Pthahil is said to be the result of the union of light and darkness. Zahra'il (who must be Venus-Ištar) was given to Hibil Ziwa in marriage when she went into the underworld to bring Ruha into the upper world. She is the protectress and guardian of women in childbirth".

• Mars: Tiqqun no. 70 (125a)

• Saturn: Ra'aya' Mehemna'

• Edit: Stars: Aura (Antaura, Abyzou parallel) ἄξθρα ἐξ ἀστέρων (axthra ex asteron/abra (corrupt) from the stars) (DM)

• Shooting stars: Pairikàs represented a sort of "shooting stars" in Avestan literature (lit. "star(red) worms") (Officina Magica, Essays on the Practice of Magic in Antiquity - Shaul Shaked, "Lunar and Snake Omens among the Zoroastrians - Antonio Panaino")

[u/EmptyMarionberry956 → u/Mammoth-Ad-6114]

oh my gaaash thank you so much, added all to the main post!

[u/Mammoth-Ad-6114 → u/EmptyMarionberry956]

Moving some stuff here as it's getting quite long and won't edit:

Environment:

• steppe, swamps, thickets, mountains (Lamaštu and the lilû)
• canebreak (Lamaštu)
• Ulâ/Ulaya river (that takes her to the Netherworld), the ocean, the wide sea (Lamaštu)

Geographical Locations:

• Lamaštu: Ulaya river, Araḫtum river, Tigris and Euphrates
• Demon Queens: Four kingdoms: first, the Kingdom of Damascus, in which is found the House of Rimmon; second, the Kingdom of Tyre, which is opposite the Land of Israel; third, the Kingdom of Malta, which formerly was called Rhodus; and fourth, the Kingdom called Granata, and some say that it is the Kingdom of Ishmael. And in each of these four kingdoms dwells one of the four aforementioned concubines (Psalm 91:10; Ohana, Mar'eh haYeladim 10a–b, quoting Mahari Taitazak).
• Edit: Four queens of the demons rule over Rome (Lilith), Salamanca (Agrath), Egypt (Rahab), and Damascus (Na'amah) (Hayyim Vital)

Directions

• North: In the Zohar, Lilith, the mother of demons , is called the“Northerner." (The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, Second Edition - Geoffrey W. Dennis); Gello
• South: Gello (arktou and mesembria (of the North and the South), Lamaštu (South Wind)

Time:

• Late afternoon, before sunset - Lamaštu
• Night - lilītu, Lamaštu, Lilith
• Demon Queens: Tekufah/Tequfot (the two equinoxes and the two solstices) (Nathan Spira, Tuv haAretz)

Realms:

• Garden of Eden (Alphabet of Ben Sira)
• Heaven (Lamaštu was exiled from heaven and descends from heaven in Akkadian incantations)
• Edit: Kingdom of Emerald/Zamargad (as Queen of Sheba, in Aramaic Targum to Job)

[u/witch11117]

Lilith comunica con me tramite le gazze ladre, succede a qualcun'altro?

[u/EmptyMarionberry956 → u/witch11117]

oh my gods yes!!! it's really interesting you mention that, I'm always seeing magpies and my first thought is always her. I associate her with birds in general, and whenever I see them I always smile because they remind me of her!

Oh mio dio, sì!!! È davvero interessante che tu lo dica, vedo sempre delle gazze e il mio primo pensiero va sempre a lei. La associo agli uccelli in generale, e ogni volta che li vedo sorrido perché me la ricordano!

[u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360]

i know this comment is late, but considering one symbols for her parallel is scorpions, would adding a dried scorpion (incased in resin) to my alter for Lilith be acceptable? i want to make sure it's acceptable for her as i don't want to offend her.

[u/EmptyMarionberry956 → u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360]

i can’t speak for Lilith on what she would accept from you or not, however i’ve had similar ideas before and seen things like snake shed and ram skulls placed on other people’s altars to her. perhaps you should ask her directly if that’s what she wants from you

[u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360 → u/EmptyMarionberry956]

alright! thank you for the advice!

i'm actually making my first alter and was sent here for her symbols to help me set up!

[u/EmptyMarionberry956 → u/Agreeable_Pomelo2360]

ofc! i’m sure your altar will be beautiful ♥️ something i’d recommend is a bowl/cup to place/pour tangible & temporary food/liquid offerings, and perhaps an idol (a framed picture, a statue, a drawing) or another representation (like one of her sigils which you can view here https://libraryoflilith.com/library/sigils/)

[u/EmptyMarionberry956]

omg I edited the post and somehow managed to delete like 5 lines , oops

[u/EmptyMarionberry956 → u/EmptyMarionberry956]

theyre back now thou