East Bay Slimes

THE EXODUS OF LILITH //

🖐 silky fatty base (reminds me of a pink and velvety-smooth devil's tongue!) + clay heart to mix in + add ins
👃 just-bitten red fruits (hawthorn, cranberry, red currant, berries, plum, cherry), wild rose, earthy resins, dark musk, body heat, dark chocolate, anise, and a smear of red lipstick

Lilith is a controversial figure with origins in Mesopotamian mythology, where she appears as Lilitu, a predatory wind spirit or night demon who caused infertility and harm to women during childbirth and represented the chaos of storms.

In Jewish folklore, Lilith is mentioned in the Bible’s Book of Isaiah as a lone, nocturnal figure and appears in the Talmud as a dangerous spirit associated with harming newborns.

The most famous version of Lilith’s story comes from The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a satirical Jewish text from the medieval period. Here, Lilith is described as the first wife of Adam. Arguing that she is created from the same earth as him, she refuses to be subservient, sprouts wings, and flees the “perfect” paradise of Eden. After Adam complains, God sends three angels to bring her back. When she refuses, the angels threaten to destroy 100 of her children daily, and in some versions, she becomes a demon in her grief, drinking the blood of her victims in revenge. To ward off her attacks, parents would hang amulets around their children's cradles.

Lilith's story, as folk tales do, twists and evolves as it passes through different tongues. In some stories, she is a symbol of chaos and sexuality, with taloned feet, holding her lovers captive, seducing men in their sleep, and subsisting on the blood of infants. In others, she is a symbol of empowerment and rebellion. In a modern retelling, Lilith returns to the garden and befriends Eve, and the two become allies in the search for knowledge (Yes, there's also a version where the two have a sexual relationship.) Lilith embodies the night, as her name suggests; unbridled sexuality, rage, and freedom.