This guide lists the texts and objects on which the House's account of Lilith rests, in the order in which they were made. Each entry says what the source is, what it contributes, and how far it can be pressed. We name works and not editions. Any of these can be found in scholarly translation through a public or university library.
The House's own papers are listed last and are clearly separated, because they are modern commentary and carry no authority beyond their arguments.
Mesopotamian sources
- Akkadian incantations against the lilu spirits Ritual texts for driving out the lilu, the lilitu, and the ardat lili. These are the foundation of the name. They show a class of hostile night spirits and give no sign of worship.
- Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld The prologue tells of a spirit living in the trunk of Inanna's tree. Often quoted as the first literary appearance of Lilith. The identification depends on one contested translation and should be cited with that warning attached.
- The Old Babylonian terracotta relief of a winged goddess The best-known image associated with Lilith and very probably not an image of her. Useful mainly as a lesson in how a label can outlive the argument for it.
Scripture and rabbinic literature
- Isaiah 34:14 The one biblical occurrence. Compare several translations side by side to see how differently the word lilit has been handled.
- The Songs of the Sage A hymn that names Lilith among spirits to be frightened off. It shows that she was an established figure in Jewish demonology before the rabbinic period.
- The Babylonian Talmud A few scattered remarks, in the tractates Eruvin, Niddah, Shabbat, and Bava Batra, mention her hair, her wings, and the danger of sleeping alone. Brief, and for that reason valuable: they show what could be taken for granted.
- Aramaic incantation bowls Hundreds survive, and many have been published with translations. They are the best evidence for household belief, and they include the remarkable texts that divorce Lilith by legal writ.
Medieval narrative and mysticism
- The Alphabet of Ben Sira The source of the first-wife story and the most important single text for the modern archetype. Read the whole episode and not only the famous lines. The frame, in which the story explains an amulet, changes how it sounds.
- The Treatise on the Left Emanation The earliest work to present Lilith and Samael as a ruling pair. The starting point for her place in the structure of the Other Side.
- The Zohar The fullest mystical treatment. Lilith appears in many passages, and they are not consistent with one another. Read in selections with a commentary.
- Childbirth amulets Handwritten and later printed charms naming the three angels. Many are held in museum and library collections of Jewish folk art, and reproductions are easy to find. See the essay The Fear Was Real.
Modern literature and art
- Goethe, Faust, Part One The Walpurgis Night scene. A few lines only, but they introduced Lilith to European letters.
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lady Lilith and "Body's Beauty" The painting and its sonnet. Together they fix the image of Lilith as a fatal beauty. Discussed in The Hair and the Mirror.
- George MacDonald, Lilith A visionary novel in which Lilith is a proud queen who must learn to let go. Not a source for practice, but an early attempt to give her an inner life.
- Feminist retellings of the 1970s Short works of modern midrash that reread the Ben Sira story as a tale of equality and of friendship between Lilith and Eve. The turning point between the feared Lilith and the reclaimed one.
- The writings of Carl Jung on the shadow Not about Lilith, but the origin of the concept that shadow-work depends on.
The House Papers
Between 2017 and 2023 the keepers wrote a series of short papers for their own use. Their substance has been absorbed into the pages of this site, and they are listed here so that quotations elsewhere can be traced. They are interpretation, not source.
- No. 1: The Same Earth A close reading of the Ben Sira episode. The basis of Self-Sovereignty.
- No. 2: What She Was Asked to Carry On Lilith as a communal shadow. The basis of the Archetype.
- No. 3: Four Movements The method of naming, meeting, hearing, and housing. The basis of Shadow-Work.
- No. 4: Where the Throne Stands On the left-hand path and its temptations. The basis of Lilith and the Left-Hand Path.
- No. 5: The Night Office The settled text of the dark moon observance.
Reading critically
A few habits will protect a reader from most of the errors that circulate about Lilith.
- Ask for the date. Almost every confusion comes from treating a medieval or modern text as if it were ancient.
- Ask who is speaking. A rabbinic remark, a satirical tale, a mystical treatise, and a Romantic poem are not the same kind of witness.
- Ask what the text itself says. Summaries of the Ben Sira story are often wrong on the central point. See She Was Not Cast Out.
- Be wary of the word "originally." It usually introduces a claim that no source supports.