Zooming in on Lilith

I’ve so appreciated your coming by to the April A-Z blog challenge! Thank you so much! You’ve all helped immeasurably in highlighting the necessity of uncovering the wounds of the rejected Lilith and the Dark Feminine and the need to re-claim her gifts, of courage and persistence and willingness ‘to stand on the edge’ inter alia; and putting into perspective the patriarchal oppression – even by women – of this mythological figure, ongoing today as it is in all spheres of life. Your comments always opened the way for further dialogue, further clarification, further questioning, and a further knowing that our voice counts. Your support was wonderful thank you again!

Ally Bean:  Eve offered knowledge, Lilith offered emotions? Is that how one thinks about these two female archetypes? Just wandering down my own path of musings …

Genevive: we are creatures of habits and once we get accustomed of wearing a skin which makes us feel at home and comfortable, it is not easy to let go of it.

Jean: We need to remember Lilith and the names of these courageous women who carry her spirit. They embolden us to rise above our timidity and complacency.

Sandra: (faerie embassy) sometimes I am so intent on shedding the old and love the exhilaration when it is cast aside and the skin is new to the breeze and life is fresh and a little awkward, and other times I hang on for dear life (of the ego) to the habit not even wanting to peel a little. that both can inhabit me simultaneously is part of the journey …

Hilary: … that puts my present life into perspective … I am shedding a skin to restart anew, remembering myself, yet appreciating what I need to learn in this particular situation.

Donna: It is the shared discussion that leads to a richness of understanding that we could never have reached alone.

Silvia: I too wonder at all the what ifs. What if, for example, Eve was portrayed as being her own being rather than part of the man? Womanhood as a whole may have had quite a different existence. 

LB: Maybe the dark, solitary journey of the dark feminine begins with the shattering of illusions and ties (to family, tribe, nation, empire), and it’s in this ripping away and apart that our quest and deeper questionings begin. 

Elaine: Looking at recent history, it’s no wonder the Repressed Feminine is enraged. Nature herself is also enraged. This harming of the feminine goes back and back and back. Even with a lifetime of psychological work behind me, I struggle to release myself from my patriarchal values, passed on to me by my mother more than my father. I read this quote from Pema Chodron this week: ““The kindness that I learned from my teachers, and that I wish so much to convey to other people, is kindness toward all qualities of our being. The qualities that are the toughest to be kind to are the painful parts, where we feel ashamed, as if we don’t belong, as if we’ve just blown it, when things are falling apart for us. Maitri, or loving-kindness, means sticking with ourselves when we don’t have anything, when we feel like a loser. And it becomes the basis for extending the same unconditional friendliness with others.”

Andrea Mathieson: (very much shortened) This long conversation that you have initiated, Susan, is part of a larger restorative process; what I’m suggesting is that this opening is not just for personal growth. It is not a strictly human issue. I see Lilith’s presence emerging ever more strongly in our consciousness as part of the primal nature of the earth itself. Call this energy the wisdom of creation, the intelligence of nature, or the lumen naturae (light within matter) Lilith is reappearing and must be welcomed and integrated.

Let us be patient with one another

and even patient with ourselves.

We have a long, long way to go.

So let us hasten along the road,

The road of human tenderness and generosity.

Groping, we may find one another’s hands in the dark.

Green Balch

 Thank you all so so much for accompanying me and others on this journey!

44 Comments on A to Z Zooming in on Lilith

  1. I came in quite late to this blog, so I’ll admit I’m a bit lost – but I had to mention how much I love your images on this post.

    • Thanks for coming by JEN and I’m sorry that I’m pretty late in acknowledging your comment re loving the images!

  2. You made it to Z and so did I. This has been enriching balance to my personal world with mother-in-law blues (more injuries), a 50th wedding anniversary with a dead groom, and the 10th anniversary of Vic’s death coming soon. There is this constant destruction needed in order to create the new. I love the way you’ve woven in quotes from your readers, including that wise Pema Chodron. I agree fully with Andrea’s perspective and remember how difficult the birth process was. Nature is not sweet. Lilith is erupting as an Earth Goddess and we humans refuse to listen (collectively) to her warnings. Thank you for this incredible journey, Susan. I’ll now have a look at your wrap up.

    • Elaine, thank you so much. I felt my blood corpuscles expanding a bit in my veins when I read your comment about your present circumstances inter alia and about destruction making way for the new; and the warnings we really have to face and take heed, not only collectively but also individually. Always the messiness of life. Thank you for your contribution throughout, I’ve so appreciated it.

  3. Congratulations on zooming all the way through to z, Susan. Seems you’ve had some mighty fine conversations going on. I look forward to catching up on some of it sometime. Best wishes.

  4. Thank you, Susan. Though deeply relevant, I had to miss the inspiring discussions around Lilith you instigated, dealing with father stuff, after his death at 99, which is bringing up useful metaphors about despots, appearing in dreams and also in the environment.
    I guess that theme will feature in my next post.
    As always, I appreciate your visits to my island, and your loving support ♥

    • Thank you for coming by Ashen. You’re in my thoughts as you digest all that is happening. Hopefully your Spring will brighten your days and nights…

  5. Well done for finishing the A-Z again ma! Shoh – looked like a lot of work!

  6. Zoom was not my operative word this past week! I pooped out on the last day, and am finally getting back to comment. Very interesting views and comments and I always learn something from your posts.

    Beth

  7. So sorry I didn’t make it through all (or most) of the Challenge posts–crazy month, but I was cheering you from afar.

  9. Congratulations on finishing the challenge, Susan! Sounds like you and your readers had quite the journey; deep, deep thoughts in all those comments. How fabulous that you (and Lilith) have touched so many, inspired such introspection.

    Thanks so much for the visit over at Damyanti’s for my guest post! Loved seeing you there 🙂
    Guilie @ Life In Dogs

  10. Beautiful post Susan and what a way of showing your gratitude to every person who commented and thanks for mentioning my name:) its time to celebrate susan, appreciate you for the lovely journey you initiated through all the meaningful posts you shared and its been my pleasure to not only join you in your journey but also for having learnt so much form you and those your lovely comments. Thanks for your generosity and once again I want you to know that I have grown up a little more reading your posts. Thank you for sharing:)

    • Thank you Genevive! I may have left out a few people’s comments. I’ve appreciated your support along the way and if the Lilith’s posts and comments have been of value to you, more than this I cannot ask. Have a lovely May!

  12. Thank you for taking on this incredible journey, Susan. I’ve learned a great deal from your thought-provoking questioning, your clarifications, and the ensuing dialogue.
    Now whatever will we do with ourselves during the month of May?! 🙂

    • Thank you Donna! I appreciate your support in travelling along! Good question re May! Pinch and a punch for the first of the month – do you know that saying?

  13. Hooray!! You survived the Challenge and did an EXCELLENT job! Thank you for the education and enjoyment! I’ll bet you are welcoming May!

    • 1st May is a public holiday here, I think an international holiday – called Workers Day. Is it the same in the US? Thanks Gwynn for your support along the way, much appreciated!

  15. Thanks for including me in your quotes from comments. I’m honored. I’ve enjoy learning more about Lilith and how her message is still relevant today. Now take a rest, you deserve one!

  16. Oh, Susan, I can’t fully express how much I’ve enjoyed reading you this month, and I love that you picked an illuminating and interesting theme, and the thoughtful ways in which you wrote each and every post. Thank you for including me on your list and for being such a wonderful person and friend. Congratulations on completing the challenge so strong. Now, let’s rest a little, then be back at reading, and as you say ‘being patient with ourselves.’ Love, Silvia.

    • Thank you dear Silvia for your very kind words and excellent support along the way! It’s my privilege and pleasure to be friends with one such as you, as it is my pleasure and privilege for all those who’ve travelled this journey with us. Love yo you, Susan.

  17. And thank you, Susan, for leading us along this path to greater understanding of the dark side of the Deep Feminine. Over and over in your posts and the posts of your readers I see words like recognizing, respecting, remembering, accepting, appreciating, persevering, growing, healing, and loving the Feminine in all of us, light and dark, wise and wild. In whatever guise she comes to us, may we remember that she comes for the purpose of healing, connecting, uniting, health and wholeness for us and All That Is. Blessings and congratulations on this excellent body of work you’ve created.

    • Thank you so much Jeanie. I couldn’t have done it without you and others who have a similar view of the agency and urgency of the purpose of the Deep Feminine.

  18. Just superb! Thank you so much Susan for zooming in on “Lilith” with your numinous lens! The depths, wisdom and ways of the wild woman, you and others have shared here in the glorious “Garden of Eden” has been remarkable. Donna sums this shared wisdom succinctly! Hmm, I’m left wondering if there’s enough to consider writing a new book? If so, please put me down for a copy! In sisterhood and in soul, Deborah.

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