A Lilith Bibliography by Simon L. C., PhD

Several of the witches I am working with in mentorship and initiatory capacities have recently asked about Lilith. My knowledge and intimacy with Lilith is quite limited, but my partner - a prescient scholar, skilled research, and PhD happens to have done a lot of research into Her. Here is a bibliography he put together.

Love, Fio~

…

Lilith is a difficult being to speak about. She is a shapeshifting seductress, a baby-killer, the embodiment of lust, fury, and all-consuming desire. Scholars agree that her roots lie in ancient Mesopotamia as a class of demon responsible for illness and storms who became syncretised with Lamaštu, a chthonic spirit who devoured new born children and dwelled in desolate areas. Lilith then began to creep into Jewish demonology and the Kabbalah, and became a major figure within Judaism once the Zohar was published. It was not until the latter half of the 19th century/early 20th century that she started receiving significant attention outside of Judaism, reaching an international popularity when feminists identified her as a symbol of female sexual liberation and resistance against patriarchy.

Below is a bibliography of texts I have compiled over the past few years that explores Lilith’s many aspects and forms. These resources cover Lilith’s Jewish and Kabbalistic histories, Jungian analyses, debates around the ‘Queen of the Night’ plaque, contemporary esoteric and feminist writings on Lilith, and a handful of other articles that I found useful. I have also included some papers on Mandaean cosmogony and customs thanks to Hurwitz’s (2012) excellent book on Lilith. His text is the only one I have found that presents the Mandaean Lilith, and it has been difficult to find accessible resources that elaborate on this aspect of her. I have also not delved much into Lilith’s place within the Qliphoth, though I have provided two texts that give a good introduction on this.

Jewish, Kabbalistic, Gnostic, & Christian Texts

(1804). The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol VIII: Leon - Moravia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

Bamberger, B. (1952). Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan’s Realm. United States: Jewish Publication Society.

Baumgarten, J. (1991). On the Nature of the Seductress in “4Q184”. Revue de Qumrân, 15(1/2), 133 - 143.

Blair, J. (2009). De-Demonising the Old Testament: An Investigation of Azazel, Lilith, Deber, Qeteb and Reshef in the Hebrew Bible. Germany: Mohr Siebeck.

Dan, J. (1980). Samael, Lilith, and the Concept of Evil in Early Kabbalah. AJS Review, 5, 17 - 40

Dan, J. & Kiener, R. (Eds.) (1986). The Early Kabbalah. New York: Paulist Press.

Fröhlich, I. (2010). Women as Strangers in Ancient Judaism: The Harlot in 4Q184. In G. Xeravits & J. Dušek (Eds.), The Stranger in Ancient and Mediaeval Jewish Tradition (pp. 139 - 159). Germany: De Gruyter.

Gaster, T. (1955). The Holy and the Profane: Evolution of Jewish Folk-ways. New York: William Sloane Associates Publishers.

Gaster, T. (1969). Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament. New York: Harper & Row.

Ginzberg, L. (1913). The Legends of the Jews: Vol I. Bible Times and Characters From the Creation to Jacob (Trans. H. Szold). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America.

Ginzberg, L. (1920). The Legends of the Jews: Vol II. Bible Times and Characters from Joseph to the Exodus (Trans. H. Szold). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America.

Ginzberg, L. (1925). The Legends of the Jews: Vol V. Notes to Volumes I and II From the Creation to the Exodus (Trans. H. Szold). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America.

Graves, R. & Patai, R. ([1963] 2005). Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited.

Idel, M. (2005). Kabbalah and Eros. United States: Yale University Press.

Kirsch, J. (2002). The Woman who Laughed at God: The Untold History of the Jewish People. United States: Penguin Books.

Kosior, W. (2018). A Tale of Two Sisters: The Image of Eve in Early Rabbinic Literature and Its Influence on the Portrayal of Lilith in the Alphabet of Ben Sira. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s Studies & Gender Issues, 32, 112 – 130.

Kvam, K., Schearing, L., & Ziegler, V. (Eds.) (1999). Eve & Adam: Jewish,Christian, and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender. United States: Indiana University Press.

Langdon, S. (1931). The Mythology of All Races in Thirteen Volumes: Semitic. United States: Marshall Jones Company.

Luttikhuizen, G. (Ed.) (2000). The Creation of Man and Woman: Interpretations of the Biblical Narratives in Jewish and Christian traditions. The Netherlands: Brill.

Luttikhuizen, G. (Ed.) (2003). Eve’s Children: The Biblical Stories Retold and Interpreted in Jewish and Christian Traditions. The Netherlands: Brill.

Mcdonald, B. (2009). In Possession Of The Night: Lilith As Goddess, Demon, Vampire. In R. Sabbath (Ed.), Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur’an as Literature and Culture (173 – 182). The Netherlands: Brill.

Patai, R. (1981). Gates to the Old City. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

Patai, R. (1990). The Hebrew Goddess (Third Enlarged Edition). Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

Phillips, J. (1984). Eve: The History of an Idea. United States: Harper & Row.

Rappoport, A. (1995). Ancient Israel: Myths and Legends, Vol. 1. England: Studio Editions.

Rousseau, V. (2005). Eve and Lilith: Two Female Types of Procreation. Diogenes, 208, 94 – 98.

Scholem, G. (1974). Kabbalah. United States: Meridian Books.

Schwartz, H. (1991). Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schwartz, H. (1998). Reimagining the Bible: The Storytelling of the Rabbis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schwartz, H. (2004). Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Thompson, R. (1908). Semitic Magic: Its Origins and Development. London: Luzac & Co.

Tishby, I. ([1989] 2008). The Wisdom of the Zohar, Vol I - III. United States: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation.

Trachtenberg, J. ([1939] 2004). Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion. United States: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Waite, A. E. (1911). The Secret Doctrine in Israel: A Study of the Zohar and Its Connections. United States: Occult Research Press.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Ann, M. & Imel, D. (1993). Goddesses in World Mythology. United States: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

Bane, T. (2012). Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures. United States: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

Coulter, C. & Turner, P. (2000). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. United States: Routledge.

Davidson, G. ([1967] 1971). A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels. United States: The Free Press.

Freedman, D. (Ed.). (1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary. United States: Yale University Press.

Sykes, E. ([1952] 2002). Who’s Who in Non-Classical Mythology. United States: Routledge.

Van der Toorn, K., Becking, B., & van der Horst (Eds.) ([1995] 1999). Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Second Edition. The Netherlands: Brill.

Walker, B. (1983). Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers.

Books Dedicated to Lilith

Dame, E., Rivlin, L., & Wenkart, H. (Eds.) (1998). Which Lilith? Feminist Writers Re-Create the World’s First Woman. United States: Jason Aronson, Inc.

De Mattos Frizvold, N. & de Mattos Frizvold, K. (2021). The Canticles of Lilith. United Kingdom: Troy Books.

Haight-Ashton, L. (2019). The First Sisters: Lilith and Eve. United States: John Hunt Publishing.

Hurwitz, S. (2012). Lilith: The First Eve. Historical and Psychological Aspects of the Dark Feminine. Switzerland: Daimon Verlag.

Koltuv, B. (1986). The Book of Lilith. United States: Nicolas-Hays, Inc.

Spoto, S. (2021). Lilith, Gender and Demonology. Atramentous Press

Mandaean Literature

Abudraham, O. & Morgenstern, M. (2017). Mandaic Incantation(s) on Lead Scrolls from the Schøyen Collection. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 137(4), 737 - 765.

Aldihisi, S. (2013). The Story of Creation in the Mandaean Holy Book the Ginza Rba. (PhD Thesis: University College London).

Drower, E. (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Ford, J. (2002). Another Look at the Mandaic Incantation Bowl BM 91715. Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, 29(1), 31 - 47.

Müller-Kessler, C. (1996). The Story of Bguzan-Lilit, Daughter of Zanay-Lilit. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 116(2), 185 - 195.

Yamauchi, E. (1967). Mandaic Incantation Texts. Connecticut: American Oriental Society.

Civilisations from Antiquity (Greek, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, etc.)

Bhayro, S. & Rider, C. (Eds). (2017). Demons and Illness from Antiquity to the Early-Modern Period. Netherlands: Brill.

Durdin-Robertson, L. (1975). The Goddesses of Chaldaea, Syria, and Egypt. Eire: Cesara Publications.

Gabbay, U. (2010). The King of the Demons: Pazuzu, Bagdana, and Ašmedai. In W. Horowitz, U. Gabbay, & F. Vukosavović (Eds.), A Woman of Valor: Jerusalem Ancient Near East Studies in Honor of Joan Goodnick Westenholz (pp. 55 - 72). Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.

Johnston, S. (1995). Defining the Dreadful: Remarks on the Greek Child-Killing Demon. In M. Meyer & P. Mirecki (Eds.), Ancient Magic and Ritual Power (pp. 361 - 390). Netherlands: Brill.

Langdon, S. (1913). Babylonian Liturgies. Paris: Librairie Paul Geuthner.

Langdon, S. (1914). Tammuz and Ishtar. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Resnick, I. & Kitchell Jr., K. (2007). “The Sweepings of Lamia”: Transformations of the Myths of Lilith and Lamia. In B. Britt & A. Cuffel (Eds.), Religion, Gender, and Culture in the Pre-Modern World (pp. 77 – 104). United States: Palgrave Macmillan.

Schwartz, M. (2008). On Aiiehiiā, Afflictress of Childbirth, and Pairikā: Two Avestan Demonesses (with an Appendix on the IndoIranian Shipwrecked Seaman). Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 22, 95 - 103.

Shaked, S. (1985). Bagdāna, King of the Demons, and Other Iranian Terms in Babylonian Aramaic Magic. In H. Bailey, A. Bivar, J. Duchesne-Guillemin, & J. Hinnells (Eds.), Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce (pp. 511 - 525). Netherlands: Brill.

Shaked, S., Ford, J., & Bhayro, S. (2013). Aramaic Bowl Spells: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowls. Netherlands: Brill.

Stol, M. (1993). Epilepsy in Babylonia. Netherlands: STYX Publications.

Wiggermann, F. (2000). Chapter X: Lamaštu, Daughter of Anu. A Profile. In M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean Setting (pp. 217 – 249). The Netherlands: Styx Publications.

Wiggermann, F. (2010). Dogs, Pigs, Lamaštu, and the Breast-Feeding of Animals by Women. In D. Shehata, F. Weiershäuser, & K. Zand (Eds.), Von Göttern und Menschen (pp. 407 – 414). The Netherlands: Brill.

Queen of the Night/Burney Relief

Albenda, P. (1970). The Burney Relief Reconsidered. Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University, 2(2), 87 – 93.

Albenda, P. (2005). The “Queen of the Night” Plaque: A Revisit. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 125(2), 171 – 190.

Collon, D. (2007). The Queen under Attack – A Rejoinder. Iraq, 69, 43 – 51.

Feminist Texts

Budapest, Z. (1989). The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries: Feminist Witchcraft, Goddess Rituals, Spellcasting and Other Womanly Arts, Complete in One Volume. United States: Wingbow Press.

Cantor, A. (1976). The Lilith Question. Lilith: A Quarterly Magazine.

Daly, M. (1978). Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. United States: Beacon Press.

Fabian, C. (1997). The Holy Whore: A Woman’s Gateway to Power. In J. Nagle (Ed.), Whores and Other Feminists (pp. 44 - 54). United Kingdom: Routledge.

Gottlieb, L. (1995). She Who Dwells Within: A Feminist Vision of a Renewed Judaism. United States: HarperSanFranscico.

Gren, K. (2007). Lilith’s Fire: Examining Original Sources of Power Re-defining Sacred Texts as Transformative Theological Practice. Feminist Theology, 16(1), 36 - 46.

Plaskow, J. (2005). The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, 1972 – 2003. Boston: Beacon Press.

Plaskow, J. (2007). “The Coming of Lilith”: A Response. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 23(1), 34 – 41.

Raphael, M. (1995). ‘Cover not our Blood with they Silence’: Sadism, Eschatological Justice and Female Images of the Divine. Feminist Theology, 3(8), 85 - 105.

Raphael, M. (1996). Thealogy and Embodiment: The Post-Patriarchal Reconstruction of Female Sacrality. England: Sheffield Academic Press, Ltd.

Shapiro, M. (2019). The Temptation of Legitimacy: Lilith’s Adoption and Adaption in Contemporary Feminist Spirituality and Their Meanings. Modern Judaism, 39(2), 125 - 143.

Walton, R. (2011). Lilith’s Daughters, Miriam’s Chorus: Two Decades of Feminist Midrash. Religion & Literature, 43(2), 115 - 127.

Contemporary Esoteric Writings

Chumbley, A. (1995). Qutub: The Point. United Kingdom: Xoanon Press.

Clavicula Nox Issue IV: Lilith. (2009). Finland: Ixaxaar Occult Literature.

Crowley, A., Neuberg, V., & Desti, M. (1998). The Vision & The Voice with Commentary and Other Papers. United States: Samuel Weiser, Inc.

Daemon Barzai. (2016). Unholy Goddesses of the Darkside. United States: Black Tower Publishing.

Ford, M. (2005). Luciferian Witchcraft: The Grimoire of the Serpent. United States: Succubus Publishing.

Grey, P. (2008). The Red Goddess. United Kingdom: Scarlet Imprint.

Jackson, N. (1996). Masks of Misrule: The Horned God & His Cult in Europe. United Kingdom: Capall Bann Publishing.

Karlsson, T. (2009). Qabalah, Qliphoth, and Goetic Magic. United States: Ajna.

Mason, A. (Ed.) (2013). Visions of the Nightside. United States: Black Tower Publishing.

Mason, A. (Ed.) (2016). Tree of Qliphoth. United States: Temple of the Ascending Flame.

Tyson, D. (2006). Liber Lilith: A Gnostic Grimoire. London: Starfire Press.

Valiente, D. (1973). An ABC of Witchcraft Past & Present. United States: Phoenix Publishing Inc.

Miscellaneous

Blavatsky, H. P. (1888). The Secret Doctrine, Volume I: Cosmogenesis. London: Theosophical Publishing Company, Limited.

Conway, D. (1879). Demonology and Devil-Lore, Volume II. United States: Henry Holt and Company.

Ehrenreich, B. (2020). Desert Notebooks: A Road Map for the End of Time. United States: Counterpoint LLC.

Gaster, M. (1887). Ilchester Lectures on Greeko-Slavonic Literature and Its Relation to The Folk-Lore of Europe During the Middle Ages. London: Trübner & Co.

Leland, C. ([1899] 1999). Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, Expanded Edition (Trans. M. Pazzaglini & D. Pazzaglini). United States: Phoenix Publishing, Inc.

Leland, C. (1962). Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling. New York: University Books.

O’Sullivan, M. (1993). “Subtly of Herself Contemplative”: The Legends of Lilith. Studies in the Humanities, 20(1), 12 – 34.

Simpson, J. (2011). On the Ambiguity of Elves. Folklore, 122(1), 76 - 83.

Tookey, H. (2004). ‘The Fiend That Smites With A Look’: The Monstrous/Menstruous Woman and the Danger of the Gaze in Oscar Wilde’s “Salomé”. Literature and Theology, 18(1), 23 – 37.