What do you think?
Rate this book
The Book of Lilith
Lilith is the mythological seductress that has been repressed since Biblical times. She is the representative of the essentially motherless form of the feminine Self that arose as an embodiment of the neglected and rejected aspects of the Great Goddess. Written by a Jungian analyst, this material can help modern men and women come to terms with this aspect of the feminine within.
127 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 1986
155 people are currently reading
2028 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Black Koltuv
8 books19 followersBarbara Black Koltuv received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in 1962. She had a Post Doctoral Fellowship in 1963, and was licensed by New York State as a Psychologist. She began to study at the New York University Post Doctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Her primary supervisor was Erich Fromm, with whom she studied the language of dreams, and learned to work with patients from a deeply spiritual psychological perspective. In 1969 she was awarded a Diploma in Psychoanalysis from the New York University Post-Doctoral Program.
Barbara Black Koltuv began her psychoanalytic practice in New York in 1963. She was known to be "a talented psychoanalyst" who, because she had no particular theoretical preference, "worked with dreams from the seat of my pants". All that changed in the summer of 1968 when she discovered Jung's autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections. There she found a theoretical orientation that honored intuition and was deep and broad enough to include psychology, imagination, creativity, spirituality, and a way of healing personal suffering. She began reading everything of Jung's and the Jungians, and began analysis with a wonderful Jungian analyst.
In 1973 she began training at the C.G. Jung Institute of New York. There, her teachers were Edward Edinger and Christopher Whitmont.
She received her Diploma as a Jungian Analyst in 1980 from the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and served on the Board of the Institute, and on the faculty as a supervisor and training analyst.
She lectured and gave workshops and classes in feminine psychology, Lilith, relationships, creativity, and spirituality at the C.G. Jung Foundation, Wainwright House, and The Open Center.
In 2003 she was a founding member of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association, where she continue to be a faculty member, supervisor, and senior analyst, and serve on the Philip T. Zabriskie Lecture Committee.
Barbara Black Koltuv began her psychoanalytic practice in New York in 1963. She was known to be "a talented psychoanalyst" who, because she had no particular theoretical preference, "worked with dreams from the seat of my pants". All that changed in the summer of 1968 when she discovered Jung's autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections. There she found a theoretical orientation that honored intuition and was deep and broad enough to include psychology, imagination, creativity, spirituality, and a way of healing personal suffering. She began reading everything of Jung's and the Jungians, and began analysis with a wonderful Jungian analyst.
In 1973 she began training at the C.G. Jung Institute of New York. There, her teachers were Edward Edinger and Christopher Whitmont.
She received her Diploma as a Jungian Analyst in 1980 from the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and served on the Board of the Institute, and on the faculty as a supervisor and training analyst.
She lectured and gave workshops and classes in feminine psychology, Lilith, relationships, creativity, and spirituality at the C.G. Jung Foundation, Wainwright House, and The Open Center.
In 2003 she was a founding member of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association, where she continue to be a faculty member, supervisor, and senior analyst, and serve on the Philip T. Zabriskie Lecture Committee.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
July 11, 2007
Fun if you're a female ex-catholic.
June 16, 2009
i found the premise of this book really fascinating, however, the book is too short to really go in-depth enough for my liking. the author quotes a lot of religious texts, which are interesting, but take up at least half the book. i think i would've liked less focus on the religious text themselves and more on the psychology of the lilith archetype. maybe that would've been possible if this book had been longer.
November 10, 2012
This is a good starting source on the mythos and psychological analysis of Lilith. It examines both the ancient culture and how "Lilith's spirit" effects woman today.
February 1, 2022
a bit all over the place but still reputation era vibes
November 15, 2019
I'm very interested in the archetype of Lilith, but this was fucking unreadable. Scattershot, not sure if it wanted to be an academic treatise or a collection of artistic interpretations. Somebody was in desperate need of an editor.
Love the cover...
Love the cover...
February 1, 2025
Найкраща робота присвячена архетипу Ліліт після Ґурвіца.
В Барбари Блек Колтув нема того історичного фактажу і доступу до всіх джерел як у Ґурвіца, але за те багато сексу та ієрогамії.
Особливо тішить аналіз шлюбу між Ліліт і Самаелем з фігурою сліпого дракона, який їх одружує замість священика.
В Барбари Блек Колтув нема того історичного фактажу і доступу до всіх джерел як у Ґурвіца, але за те багато сексу та ієрогамії.
Особливо тішить аналіз шлюбу між Ліліт і Самаелем з фігурою сліпого дракона, який їх одружує замість священика.
April 26, 2019
A slim, but informational book on Lilith. The book takes a Jungian approach to Lilith, in a feminist light. That may very well appeal more or less to readers, depending on what they're looking for here.
September 10, 2025
Attempts were made. Convoluted, disorganized, & in desperate need of an editor. Not to mention the constant "Israel, Israel, Israel." Didn't know it was possible to make a book about Lilith misogynistic... but we persevere.
July 30, 2020
4.5
É uma introdução incrível, cheia de citações e visões diferentes de como a figura de Lilith foi/é construída e como o arquétipo da mulher é baseado nela e em suas ações.
É uma introdução incrível, cheia de citações e visões diferentes de como a figura de Lilith foi/é construída e como o arquétipo da mulher é baseado nela e em suas ações.
Want to read
October 25, 2025Λίλιθ, η σκοτεινή θηλυκή αρχή
Barbara Black-Koltuv
https://metabook.gr/penny1982?page=21...
Barbara Black-Koltuv
https://metabook.gr/penny1982?page=21...
December 5, 2017
Cento e oitenta páginas de ladainha (literalmente) judaico-cristã para pinçar breves momentos de lucidez e consciência de que devemos reconhecer e acolher nossas sombras, como:
"(...) É essa sabedoria salomônica - que espelha a natureza divina e demoníaca da mulher - que redime Lilith. Ela não pode ser expulsa; pelo contrário, ela deve ser acolhida e conhecida conscientemente."
Para quem tem interesse sobre o assunto, o livro "Lilith - A Lua Negra" (Roberto Sicuteri) é mais rico em fontes e interpretações.
"(...) É essa sabedoria salomônica - que espelha a natureza divina e demoníaca da mulher - que redime Lilith. Ela não pode ser expulsa; pelo contrário, ela deve ser acolhida e conhecida conscientemente."
Para quem tem interesse sobre o assunto, o livro "Lilith - A Lua Negra" (Roberto Sicuteri) é mais rico em fontes e interpretações.
January 4, 2018
Learned a lot from this book, but am interested to learn more...
October 4, 2020
Fantastic read that will aid in exploring the dark sensuality that resides in you.
July 29, 2019
Review coming after I get back from vacation. This was very eye opening. I am still always si amazed how how sexist religions are towards women. How/why do women put up with this crap?
Lots of mythology and folk tales here on the evil ways of women!
Lots of mythology and folk tales here on the evil ways of women!
September 3, 2025
Every act is an act of shame when you're an ex-Catholic woman and that's tea. Thanks Old Testament
I liked the analysis of the Lilith in all of us
I liked the analysis of the Lilith in all of us
April 13, 2025
Lilith
- [ ] Og bc sun and moon were equal luminaries but then god told moon to diminish herself
- [ ] Repressed shamed split off feminine shadow
- [ ] Carries weight of feminine being cut out of Bible/degraded
- [ ] “Evil”
- [ ] Earthy instinctive sensuality
- [ ] Bitter raging vengeful wounded feminine sexuality seductive and shamed echoing the diminishment of the moon
- [ ] Nightbitch
- [ ] Sovereign “not submissive” feminine- not Eve, will not submit or be dominated (lie under adam) by men as many are
- [ ] Cast out and forced into consciousness
- [ ] Promethean sin is like Eve/lilith~the serpent choosing knowledge of evil
- [ ] Prometheus and Eve Lilith are like Aquarius- just see what’s true beyond what’s been told to you as right / what you would like to be right.Aquarius can actually be quite spiritual. Well equipped for TRUTH. Objectivity might not be just cold distance but such a devotion to truth that it’s primary above all else - comfort, connection, belonging, safety. Ex the woman who destroyed her house in the dream, destroyed the ideas behind which she had been sheltered before, cuts to the essential nature of things
- [ ] This mind comes from natural sources not opinions like books
- [ ] “Commits the promethean sin”
- [ ] To place a woman in a desolate unrelated wilderness. This period is often experienced as madness.
- [ ] Lilith’s flight- Wilderness and Separateness and unrelatedness is needed for this period- she can connect with the elemental feminine within her and natural healing process occurs
- [ ] Spiritual outcast, lady of the beasts
- [ ] Circe but not the one who fell fr O
- [ ] Screeching
- [ ] “Alluring and seductive figures of fatal enchantment”
- [ ] Dark side of feminine transformation, Jung called her shamanistic anima
- [ ] Younger women unconsciously experience Lilith seductive energy by being object of men’s desires, can become conscious with older age - being actively consciously seductive (a numinous experience) from one’s true ground/experiences- birth of children or great works, no longer the maiden (56)
- [ ] Conscious connection to adornment and seduction is connection to Lilith- sensual, not sure how I feel about consciously seducing- feels manipulative to control someone like that? Lure them, maybe if seen as sensory play not as bad? Like RB seducing yourself into movement when you aren’t feeling like it
- [ ] Chat’s response to my seduction question:
- [ ] That’s such a thoughtful and nuanced question. It makes sense that seduction might feel immoral or manipulative—especially if you associate it with deception, power games, or using charm to override someone’s autonomy.
But seduction doesn’t have to be that. At its core, seduction is about creating attraction, drawing someone in, awakening desire. If it’s rooted in authenticity, mutuality, and consent, it can actually be a beautiful, even spiritual, form of connection. It can look like:
• Inviting, not coercing
There’s no pressure, just an open, playful invitation—letting the other person want to come closer.
• Expressing, not performing
Seduction doesn’t have to be an act. It can be an honest expression of your sensuality, your curiosity, your appreciation of another being.
• Honoring boundaries and agency
True seduction respects the other person’s pace, feelings, and freedom to say no.
- [ ] In that frame, it’s not about manipulation—it’s about presence, responsiveness, and offering a kind of energetic or emotional yes. Almost like art or music, it can be about sharing a vibe, not achieving a goal.
- [ ] About communing with Eros dancing in that energy letting it move thru you, presence and aliveness 62
- [ ] Moon magic Dion fortune Eros description: the need in feminine psychology for a woman to have her Lilith seductiveness consciously available to her as an ego function. The mystic Dion Fortune, in her occult novel Moon Magic, has her heroine Lilith Le Fay, who is a priestess to the Great Goddess Isis, describe the conscious use of her Goddess given seductive powers: So I, to whom poverty and wealth were all one, had resources placed at my disposal, and I used them to build my magical personality in the eyes of men and to make them see me as I wished to be seen.
- [ ] For the once-born cannot look into the heart, and only a few of them can interpret the subtle workings of the mind; but one can suggest to them through the eyes what one wishes them to believe.
- [ ] This is better than suggestion given by the spoken word, for they discount that so heavily, being versed in that art themselves.
- [ ] I, for my part, knew how little the true adept needs for his magic, but I had to work upon men's imaginations, and for that I needed a stage. I had to make them see me as an adept or I should never have been an adept in their eyes; and to this end I had to have about me that which should suggest the great days of the past when the cult to which I belonged was at the height of its power, so that their thoughts being turned thereto, memories might be awakened and they might come on to my wave-length.
- [ ] And so, little by little, I had collected ancient things from the old temples; and these had to be kept in a dim light so that their magnetism might not be dispersed, but gather about them and pervade the atmosphere as incense pervades it
- [ ] I also used colours for my background, knowing their power over the mind-over my mind as well as over the minds of those who came to visit me. There is a science of colours, and we classify them in magic under the ten stations of the heavens which are the seven planets and space, the zodiac and the earth. There are also the four elemental kingdoms, but these are another matter.
- [ ] For my purpose I used the opalescent moon— colours on a base of silver; the purple that is a plum-colour, and the reds that are magenta or maroon, and the blues of sea-water and sky at night; never the strong primaries such as a man uses when he is a magus.
- [ ] Always the shadowy, blended colours are mine, for I am the shadow in the background.
- [ ] As for my body, I had made that to be the instrument of my personality, training it, suppling it, learning its arts and its powers.
- [ ] Nature had not been unkind, but she had not been lavish, and I had
- [ ] to make of myself something that I could use for the purpose I had in hand. Being dedicated, I had
- [ ] the right to ask for what I needed, and I, naturally, asked for that beauty which should enable me to hold men's eyes and attention; but instead I was given insight and imagination, and with the knowledge that came from these I created my own kind of beauty.
- [ ] It was said of another: 'She had the face that suits a woman for her soul's screen,' and this was true of me. My face was pure Egyptian, slightly high in the cheekbones, which makes my eyes look almond-shaped; slightly aquiline as to the nose, for there was Assyrian blood in the royal caste of Egypt. My eyes are very deep-set, which makes them look darker than they really are. Seen in good light, they are almost green-to match my tiger teeth, it has been said. 1 am supposed to be like Cleopatra-or perhaps Cleopatra was like me. I have an immense amount of hair of that very dark brown that is just not quite black; it is perfectly straight and sometimes I wear it in a knot on the nape of my neck; sometimes I twist it round my head in a coronet; sometimes in hot weather I let it hang in two plaits down over my breasts. Always I wear it parted in two smooth crow-wings upon my forehead as the Indian women wear theirs. For this reason people have talked of coloured blood, though my skin should give the ie to that, for it is the white of ivory, or of the great magnolia bloom: that have no touch of pink in them. I am bold, even rash, in the matter of lipsticks, and I love long earrings. It would require Huysmans to do justice to the ear-rings I have possessed -jade, amber, coral, lapis, malachite for day; and for the night I have great jewels-square-cut emeralds; long, pale, dropshaped pearls; and all the fires of the different opals, which I adore.
- [ ] I am a little taller than middle height, and but for my length of limb could walk straight out of the shop in whatever model gown I might try on. But I never wear model gowns. I wear my own fashions, and they come from the "soft furnishings" as often as not. for there is a richness in the great breadths of the draperies that one does not find in the dress materials, and who shall say me nay if I choose to wear what was meant for the windows of a Venetian palace? I like my gowns to hang full and straight and lie upon the ground around my feet, and I wear soft sandals of silver and gold and iridescent colours.
- [ ] Then I love furs, for I am a cold-blooded creature— it is my one physical weakness; I wear furs even in the house, and I have my houses hot. I love the whole skin with the great wicked head, and I love it to be a noble one, not the little mean mask of a fox. I have the pale skin of a timber wolf, and a blue wolf verging on black; of the great cats I have a spotted jungle leopard and a lovely pale leopard of the snows from the Himalayas that the Tibetans say are the ghosts of bad lamas who die in sin.
- [ ] I like rings, too, so big that I can hardly get my gloves on over them; and bracelets like fetters on my wrists. My hands are supple with ritual, and I am as bold in my nail lacquers as in my lipsticks. I have used silver and gold lacquers, and reds so dark that they are almost black; and iridescent lacquers that make my nails look like opals, and I wear my nails long to match my tiger teeth.
- [ ] I like my shoes to be very soft and light and supple, like gloves rather than shoes, so that I can move in them without sound. I was trained as a dancer in the days of my youth, and I know the meaning of
- [ ] movement-how it should flow like water. I know too how the body should swing and balance from the waist, and that this is worth more in beauty than a slender line.
- [ ] I am not, and never have been, a fashionable woman, not that I decry the fashions; they are for some, but they are not for me. Some say that fashions are artificial, the work of the trade, but that is untrue.
- [ ] Fashions change because novelty attracts and stimulates. But I who am the eternal woman, the archetypal feminine-I do not speak to the surface of consciousness, the sophisticated mind that the novelties catch, but to the archaic and primordial that is in the soul of every man, and I will pit my charm against that of any fashionable woman. They may have lovers, but I have been loved
- [ ] And I will pit my silences against their speech. Yet there is much in a voice, and the tones of a voice; they should be singing tones, even
- [ ] when speaking; sweet and soft on the lips, yet with reverberation behind them, for in that reverberation there is power, a strange power that beats upon the soul. I know it well, for I have used it. I shall tell presently how I use it.
- [ ] For I use colour and movement and sound and light as other women use fashions, but more important than all these is scent. I value scents highly, and attach great importance to them, for there is a whole psychology and theology of scents. The scents I employ are spicy and aromatic; the flower odours are not for me—no one has ever likened me to a flower though I have been told I am as beautiful as a leopard. Sandal and cedar and Russia leather -these are my favourites. I love also the after odour of burnt musk and the way it So much for my personality, or as much of it as I can convey in words. The rest must be told by what I do . 49
- [ ] There is an unmistakable element of ritual in this lengthy passage which explains in detail how a woman may use her face and body, makeup, hair, jewelry, clothing and scent to enhance her eternal feminine connection to Lilith's seductive powers. The Talmud describes Lilith as the long haired demon of the night. Traditionally, a woman's hair has been considered her crowning glory, a symbol of wisdom, an aspect of her essentially feminine nature. Brides of Christ, Vestal Virgins, and Orthodox Jewish Brides have been made to sacrifice their long seductive and ensnaring hair. Woman's hair has been cut and bound and covered in an effort to separate her from this goddess-given sexually seductive power of Lilith's. The Bible describes in explicit detail how Ruth, Esther, Jezebel, and Judith used oils, unguents, and scents, jewelry and clothing, as well as kohl to outline their eyes, before each faced a terrifying transformative
- [ ] encounter with the masculine. These rituals of feminine adornment are archetypically connected to Lilith and her essential female seductiveness. Conscious knowledge of this connection to Lilith and the Goddess is vital to woman's spiritual and psychological development.
- [ ] 49 Dion Fortune: Moon Magic (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1956) pp. 57-60. Used by permission.
- [ ] Men not engaging with Lilith testy fighting which is also instinctive and ALIVE is isolating : When she stormed and when her temperature rose, her husband was nowhere to be seen. He was like some bland sky looking down at her and waiting for her storm to spend itself. If he, like an equally primitive animal, had appeared at the other end of this desert, facing her with the same electric tension of hair, skin, and eyes, if he had appeared with the same jungle body, treading heavily and wanting some pretext to leap out, embrace in fury, feel the warmth and strength of his opponent, then they might have rolled down together and the bitings might have become of another sort, and the bout might have turned into an embrace, and the hairpulling might have brought their mouths together, their teeth together, their tongues together. And out of the fury their genitals might have rubbed against each other, drawing sparks, and the two bodies would have had to enter each other to end this formidable tension . 63
- [ ] Women to integrate Eve and Lilith parts of psyche within them, in part individuating by being true to their feelings
- [ ] Eve life Lilith death
- [ ] Lilith is barren , strong bc indep and not submissive but unrelated (goddesses in every woman) tradeoff
- [ ] Eve “clings to Adam’s side”
- [ ] 93
- [ ] At certain times, particularly during the premenstrual days when Lilith holds sway, it is necessary for a woman to listen to her Lilith needs for freedom and isolation, to strangle her infantile needs for love and approval within a relationship, and to flee from the needs of others. During this time she can become conscious of whatever has been rejected or neglected on the Lilith side. In this way the child killing destructive Lilith energies can be gathered, and made ready for Eve's more related turn of the cycle.
- [ ] Transform Lilith to Venus- self destructiveness to self acceptance and love
- [ ] To become conscious of the split of the feminine- child killing Lilith and child loving Eve, a woman needs to be connected to herself at a basic and instinctual bodily level
- [ ] She has historically been suppressed denied and cast out of psyche, not integrated loved accepted
- [ ] Parable- enlightenment comes from energetically consciously taking in and caring for offspring of Lilith
- [ ] Lilith as god’s consort replacing ashira/shakina, both motherless feminine, rejected
- [ ] Lilith as seductive witch outcast shadow
- [ ] Rejected qualities of the goddess- 1) Lunar consciousness of life death rebirth, and maiden mother crone 2) the body (instinctually, sexuality) 3) prophetic inner knowledge and experience over law 4) god the mother and creatix
- [ ] I still don’t really have a handle on Lilith feel like this was all over the place. Meh. Cool to incorporate ancient art! I’m sad the feminine origin stories got all scrubbed and demonized :(
- [ ] Og bc sun and moon were equal luminaries but then god told moon to diminish herself
- [ ] Repressed shamed split off feminine shadow
- [ ] Carries weight of feminine being cut out of Bible/degraded
- [ ] “Evil”
- [ ] Earthy instinctive sensuality
- [ ] Bitter raging vengeful wounded feminine sexuality seductive and shamed echoing the diminishment of the moon
- [ ] Nightbitch
- [ ] Sovereign “not submissive” feminine- not Eve, will not submit or be dominated (lie under adam) by men as many are
- [ ] Cast out and forced into consciousness
- [ ] Promethean sin is like Eve/lilith~the serpent choosing knowledge of evil
- [ ] Prometheus and Eve Lilith are like Aquarius- just see what’s true beyond what’s been told to you as right / what you would like to be right.Aquarius can actually be quite spiritual. Well equipped for TRUTH. Objectivity might not be just cold distance but such a devotion to truth that it’s primary above all else - comfort, connection, belonging, safety. Ex the woman who destroyed her house in the dream, destroyed the ideas behind which she had been sheltered before, cuts to the essential nature of things
- [ ] This mind comes from natural sources not opinions like books
- [ ] “Commits the promethean sin”
- [ ] To place a woman in a desolate unrelated wilderness. This period is often experienced as madness.
- [ ] Lilith’s flight- Wilderness and Separateness and unrelatedness is needed for this period- she can connect with the elemental feminine within her and natural healing process occurs
- [ ] Spiritual outcast, lady of the beasts
- [ ] Circe but not the one who fell fr O
- [ ] Screeching
- [ ] “Alluring and seductive figures of fatal enchantment”
- [ ] Dark side of feminine transformation, Jung called her shamanistic anima
- [ ] Younger women unconsciously experience Lilith seductive energy by being object of men’s desires, can become conscious with older age - being actively consciously seductive (a numinous experience) from one’s true ground/experiences- birth of children or great works, no longer the maiden (56)
- [ ] Conscious connection to adornment and seduction is connection to Lilith- sensual, not sure how I feel about consciously seducing- feels manipulative to control someone like that? Lure them, maybe if seen as sensory play not as bad? Like RB seducing yourself into movement when you aren’t feeling like it
- [ ] Chat’s response to my seduction question:
- [ ] That’s such a thoughtful and nuanced question. It makes sense that seduction might feel immoral or manipulative—especially if you associate it with deception, power games, or using charm to override someone’s autonomy.
But seduction doesn’t have to be that. At its core, seduction is about creating attraction, drawing someone in, awakening desire. If it’s rooted in authenticity, mutuality, and consent, it can actually be a beautiful, even spiritual, form of connection. It can look like:
• Inviting, not coercing
There’s no pressure, just an open, playful invitation—letting the other person want to come closer.
• Expressing, not performing
Seduction doesn’t have to be an act. It can be an honest expression of your sensuality, your curiosity, your appreciation of another being.
• Honoring boundaries and agency
True seduction respects the other person’s pace, feelings, and freedom to say no.
- [ ] In that frame, it’s not about manipulation—it’s about presence, responsiveness, and offering a kind of energetic or emotional yes. Almost like art or music, it can be about sharing a vibe, not achieving a goal.
- [ ] About communing with Eros dancing in that energy letting it move thru you, presence and aliveness 62
- [ ] Moon magic Dion fortune Eros description: the need in feminine psychology for a woman to have her Lilith seductiveness consciously available to her as an ego function. The mystic Dion Fortune, in her occult novel Moon Magic, has her heroine Lilith Le Fay, who is a priestess to the Great Goddess Isis, describe the conscious use of her Goddess given seductive powers: So I, to whom poverty and wealth were all one, had resources placed at my disposal, and I used them to build my magical personality in the eyes of men and to make them see me as I wished to be seen.
- [ ] For the once-born cannot look into the heart, and only a few of them can interpret the subtle workings of the mind; but one can suggest to them through the eyes what one wishes them to believe.
- [ ] This is better than suggestion given by the spoken word, for they discount that so heavily, being versed in that art themselves.
- [ ] I, for my part, knew how little the true adept needs for his magic, but I had to work upon men's imaginations, and for that I needed a stage. I had to make them see me as an adept or I should never have been an adept in their eyes; and to this end I had to have about me that which should suggest the great days of the past when the cult to which I belonged was at the height of its power, so that their thoughts being turned thereto, memories might be awakened and they might come on to my wave-length.
- [ ] And so, little by little, I had collected ancient things from the old temples; and these had to be kept in a dim light so that their magnetism might not be dispersed, but gather about them and pervade the atmosphere as incense pervades it
- [ ] I also used colours for my background, knowing their power over the mind-over my mind as well as over the minds of those who came to visit me. There is a science of colours, and we classify them in magic under the ten stations of the heavens which are the seven planets and space, the zodiac and the earth. There are also the four elemental kingdoms, but these are another matter.
- [ ] For my purpose I used the opalescent moon— colours on a base of silver; the purple that is a plum-colour, and the reds that are magenta or maroon, and the blues of sea-water and sky at night; never the strong primaries such as a man uses when he is a magus.
- [ ] Always the shadowy, blended colours are mine, for I am the shadow in the background.
- [ ] As for my body, I had made that to be the instrument of my personality, training it, suppling it, learning its arts and its powers.
- [ ] Nature had not been unkind, but she had not been lavish, and I had
- [ ] to make of myself something that I could use for the purpose I had in hand. Being dedicated, I had
- [ ] the right to ask for what I needed, and I, naturally, asked for that beauty which should enable me to hold men's eyes and attention; but instead I was given insight and imagination, and with the knowledge that came from these I created my own kind of beauty.
- [ ] It was said of another: 'She had the face that suits a woman for her soul's screen,' and this was true of me. My face was pure Egyptian, slightly high in the cheekbones, which makes my eyes look almond-shaped; slightly aquiline as to the nose, for there was Assyrian blood in the royal caste of Egypt. My eyes are very deep-set, which makes them look darker than they really are. Seen in good light, they are almost green-to match my tiger teeth, it has been said. 1 am supposed to be like Cleopatra-or perhaps Cleopatra was like me. I have an immense amount of hair of that very dark brown that is just not quite black; it is perfectly straight and sometimes I wear it in a knot on the nape of my neck; sometimes I twist it round my head in a coronet; sometimes in hot weather I let it hang in two plaits down over my breasts. Always I wear it parted in two smooth crow-wings upon my forehead as the Indian women wear theirs. For this reason people have talked of coloured blood, though my skin should give the ie to that, for it is the white of ivory, or of the great magnolia bloom: that have no touch of pink in them. I am bold, even rash, in the matter of lipsticks, and I love long earrings. It would require Huysmans to do justice to the ear-rings I have possessed -jade, amber, coral, lapis, malachite for day; and for the night I have great jewels-square-cut emeralds; long, pale, dropshaped pearls; and all the fires of the different opals, which I adore.
- [ ] I am a little taller than middle height, and but for my length of limb could walk straight out of the shop in whatever model gown I might try on. But I never wear model gowns. I wear my own fashions, and they come from the "soft furnishings" as often as not. for there is a richness in the great breadths of the draperies that one does not find in the dress materials, and who shall say me nay if I choose to wear what was meant for the windows of a Venetian palace? I like my gowns to hang full and straight and lie upon the ground around my feet, and I wear soft sandals of silver and gold and iridescent colours.
- [ ] Then I love furs, for I am a cold-blooded creature— it is my one physical weakness; I wear furs even in the house, and I have my houses hot. I love the whole skin with the great wicked head, and I love it to be a noble one, not the little mean mask of a fox. I have the pale skin of a timber wolf, and a blue wolf verging on black; of the great cats I have a spotted jungle leopard and a lovely pale leopard of the snows from the Himalayas that the Tibetans say are the ghosts of bad lamas who die in sin.
- [ ] I like rings, too, so big that I can hardly get my gloves on over them; and bracelets like fetters on my wrists. My hands are supple with ritual, and I am as bold in my nail lacquers as in my lipsticks. I have used silver and gold lacquers, and reds so dark that they are almost black; and iridescent lacquers that make my nails look like opals, and I wear my nails long to match my tiger teeth.
- [ ] I like my shoes to be very soft and light and supple, like gloves rather than shoes, so that I can move in them without sound. I was trained as a dancer in the days of my youth, and I know the meaning of
- [ ] movement-how it should flow like water. I know too how the body should swing and balance from the waist, and that this is worth more in beauty than a slender line.
- [ ] I am not, and never have been, a fashionable woman, not that I decry the fashions; they are for some, but they are not for me. Some say that fashions are artificial, the work of the trade, but that is untrue.
- [ ] Fashions change because novelty attracts and stimulates. But I who am the eternal woman, the archetypal feminine-I do not speak to the surface of consciousness, the sophisticated mind that the novelties catch, but to the archaic and primordial that is in the soul of every man, and I will pit my charm against that of any fashionable woman. They may have lovers, but I have been loved
- [ ] And I will pit my silences against their speech. Yet there is much in a voice, and the tones of a voice; they should be singing tones, even
- [ ] when speaking; sweet and soft on the lips, yet with reverberation behind them, for in that reverberation there is power, a strange power that beats upon the soul. I know it well, for I have used it. I shall tell presently how I use it.
- [ ] For I use colour and movement and sound and light as other women use fashions, but more important than all these is scent. I value scents highly, and attach great importance to them, for there is a whole psychology and theology of scents. The scents I employ are spicy and aromatic; the flower odours are not for me—no one has ever likened me to a flower though I have been told I am as beautiful as a leopard. Sandal and cedar and Russia leather -these are my favourites. I love also the after odour of burnt musk and the way it So much for my personality, or as much of it as I can convey in words. The rest must be told by what I do . 49
- [ ] There is an unmistakable element of ritual in this lengthy passage which explains in detail how a woman may use her face and body, makeup, hair, jewelry, clothing and scent to enhance her eternal feminine connection to Lilith's seductive powers. The Talmud describes Lilith as the long haired demon of the night. Traditionally, a woman's hair has been considered her crowning glory, a symbol of wisdom, an aspect of her essentially feminine nature. Brides of Christ, Vestal Virgins, and Orthodox Jewish Brides have been made to sacrifice their long seductive and ensnaring hair. Woman's hair has been cut and bound and covered in an effort to separate her from this goddess-given sexually seductive power of Lilith's. The Bible describes in explicit detail how Ruth, Esther, Jezebel, and Judith used oils, unguents, and scents, jewelry and clothing, as well as kohl to outline their eyes, before each faced a terrifying transformative
- [ ] encounter with the masculine. These rituals of feminine adornment are archetypically connected to Lilith and her essential female seductiveness. Conscious knowledge of this connection to Lilith and the Goddess is vital to woman's spiritual and psychological development.
- [ ] 49 Dion Fortune: Moon Magic (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1956) pp. 57-60. Used by permission.
- [ ] Men not engaging with Lilith testy fighting which is also instinctive and ALIVE is isolating : When she stormed and when her temperature rose, her husband was nowhere to be seen. He was like some bland sky looking down at her and waiting for her storm to spend itself. If he, like an equally primitive animal, had appeared at the other end of this desert, facing her with the same electric tension of hair, skin, and eyes, if he had appeared with the same jungle body, treading heavily and wanting some pretext to leap out, embrace in fury, feel the warmth and strength of his opponent, then they might have rolled down together and the bitings might have become of another sort, and the bout might have turned into an embrace, and the hairpulling might have brought their mouths together, their teeth together, their tongues together. And out of the fury their genitals might have rubbed against each other, drawing sparks, and the two bodies would have had to enter each other to end this formidable tension . 63
- [ ] Women to integrate Eve and Lilith parts of psyche within them, in part individuating by being true to their feelings
- [ ] Eve life Lilith death
- [ ] Lilith is barren , strong bc indep and not submissive but unrelated (goddesses in every woman) tradeoff
- [ ] Eve “clings to Adam’s side”
- [ ] 93
- [ ] At certain times, particularly during the premenstrual days when Lilith holds sway, it is necessary for a woman to listen to her Lilith needs for freedom and isolation, to strangle her infantile needs for love and approval within a relationship, and to flee from the needs of others. During this time she can become conscious of whatever has been rejected or neglected on the Lilith side. In this way the child killing destructive Lilith energies can be gathered, and made ready for Eve's more related turn of the cycle.
- [ ] Transform Lilith to Venus- self destructiveness to self acceptance and love
- [ ] To become conscious of the split of the feminine- child killing Lilith and child loving Eve, a woman needs to be connected to herself at a basic and instinctual bodily level
- [ ] She has historically been suppressed denied and cast out of psyche, not integrated loved accepted
- [ ] Parable- enlightenment comes from energetically consciously taking in and caring for offspring of Lilith
- [ ] Lilith as god’s consort replacing ashira/shakina, both motherless feminine, rejected
- [ ] Lilith as seductive witch outcast shadow
- [ ] Rejected qualities of the goddess- 1) Lunar consciousness of life death rebirth, and maiden mother crone 2) the body (instinctually, sexuality) 3) prophetic inner knowledge and experience over law 4) god the mother and creatix
- [ ] I still don’t really have a handle on Lilith feel like this was all over the place. Meh. Cool to incorporate ancient art! I’m sad the feminine origin stories got all scrubbed and demonized :(
September 19, 2010
This book wasn't that great to be honest. While the early Jewish mysticism about Lilith was interesting, I felt the author really portrayed a disjointed essay on Lilith, mostly with large amounts of religious texts and Jungian analysis that seemed either tacked on, didactic rather than introspective or illustrative of Lilith's story and influences, and sometimes the author made statements that had no source. The ending chapter of the book was probably the best, where the author finally began to share her thoughts about Lilith and how she is part of the Great Goddess that Judeo-Christians reject. If the whole book would have had the same tone as the last chapter, I might have enjoyed it more.
November 12, 2010
Words fail me in saying just how fascinating this book is. Koltuv, a Jungian psychologist, thoroughly examines the various myths of Adam's first wife and deftly applies the tales to real life situations. I am so glad that such a book exists for this largely unexplored dark corner of the Abrahmic faiths.
May 18, 2019
I’ve always been fascinated by Lilith and although this is a short book it contains many stories featuring her origin and the many myths she’s featured in plus how she manifests herself today. Loved it!
June 11, 2014
Interesting look at feminists and the Old Testament.
August 21, 2018
It was like time travelling through the history of femininity.
August 13, 2024
There are different levels of peculiar obscurity regarding Biblical tales, with some branches so controversial that the canon rejected them altogether. Lilith is one of the most popular of these figures, finding a significant resurgence in the modern-day Western feminist occult scene for reasons that are as exciting as they are obvious.
Early Jewish/Mesopotamian legend suggests that Lilith was Adam's lover before Eve. She was ultimately banished from the Garden of Eden because she refused to be subservient to her man, and so she went off and married the devil instead. Due to these events, her reputation has split into two schools of interest. The first labels Lilith as a succubus demon who seduces men to steal their seed and murders babies in jealousy. But perhaps more prominent are those sects that romanticise Lilith as a goddess, the original mother, and a female icon who empowers women to fight against the patriarchal system inherent to religion, often through means of sexual liberation. Of course, this reverence goes as deep as you dare to look, with many theistic witches and Satanists invoking the Lilith spirit in their spells and rituals.
Any mythology enthusiast will find Lilith captivating, and Barbara Black Koltuv's little study on the topic appears to be among the highest regarded. Personally, I am most interested in useable, referenced information, and this book delivers with citations and numerous images of related artefacts. What was news to me is how much of the Lilith documentation depends on The Zohar, which is undoubtedly the most essential Kabbalistic text outside the Torah. These reputable ancient fables stimulate my taste buds but, unfortunately, were diluted by other dubious authorities.
My least favourite forehead-slapping inclusions were when The Book of Lilith deems anonymous people's dreams as trustworthy sources. It quotes sleepytime visions as factual encounters, which might qualify in the magical realm of sorcery but is ludicrous by scholarly measurement. With such a low bar of acceptable material, it's no surprise that Barbara frequently loses her place, presenting an erratic cut-and-paste journey where some texts may not even relate to Lilith whatsoever. I appreciate the difficulty of painting the complete picture of a character with ample contradictory general reactions, but without better structure or dedication to an opinion, the account ends with minimal certainty.
For some, I imagine The Book of Lilith as a decent entry point to meddle with their inner goddess. Like anything occult, you will find whatever you're open to believing, as is the nature of our confirmation bias-based reality. But for those who require more concrete studies, your rolling eyes may interrupt certain pages. That noted, there is a fair amount of education on offer, and it's an easy read, so it's worth a spin if you're into that sort of thing.
THIS BOOK IS PART OF THE LAMB PROPHECY STUDIES; BOOK 2 OUT IN 2026!
Early Jewish/Mesopotamian legend suggests that Lilith was Adam's lover before Eve. She was ultimately banished from the Garden of Eden because she refused to be subservient to her man, and so she went off and married the devil instead. Due to these events, her reputation has split into two schools of interest. The first labels Lilith as a succubus demon who seduces men to steal their seed and murders babies in jealousy. But perhaps more prominent are those sects that romanticise Lilith as a goddess, the original mother, and a female icon who empowers women to fight against the patriarchal system inherent to religion, often through means of sexual liberation. Of course, this reverence goes as deep as you dare to look, with many theistic witches and Satanists invoking the Lilith spirit in their spells and rituals.
Any mythology enthusiast will find Lilith captivating, and Barbara Black Koltuv's little study on the topic appears to be among the highest regarded. Personally, I am most interested in useable, referenced information, and this book delivers with citations and numerous images of related artefacts. What was news to me is how much of the Lilith documentation depends on The Zohar, which is undoubtedly the most essential Kabbalistic text outside the Torah. These reputable ancient fables stimulate my taste buds but, unfortunately, were diluted by other dubious authorities.
My least favourite forehead-slapping inclusions were when The Book of Lilith deems anonymous people's dreams as trustworthy sources. It quotes sleepytime visions as factual encounters, which might qualify in the magical realm of sorcery but is ludicrous by scholarly measurement. With such a low bar of acceptable material, it's no surprise that Barbara frequently loses her place, presenting an erratic cut-and-paste journey where some texts may not even relate to Lilith whatsoever. I appreciate the difficulty of painting the complete picture of a character with ample contradictory general reactions, but without better structure or dedication to an opinion, the account ends with minimal certainty.
For some, I imagine The Book of Lilith as a decent entry point to meddle with their inner goddess. Like anything occult, you will find whatever you're open to believing, as is the nature of our confirmation bias-based reality. But for those who require more concrete studies, your rolling eyes may interrupt certain pages. That noted, there is a fair amount of education on offer, and it's an easy read, so it's worth a spin if you're into that sort of thing.
THIS BOOK IS PART OF THE LAMB PROPHECY STUDIES; BOOK 2 OUT IN 2026!
January 2, 2025
1.5 stars rounded up to 2 purely for the very gorgeous, unique, and empowering prose in this strange little book that I know will be haunting me for a while.
As a lifelong Christianity hater, I've always had a very difficult time reading any sort of biblically focused writing, despite wanting to better understand some of the mythos of this religion in order to better understand media I actually enjoy. I also was hoping to learn more about Lilith for the purpose of understanding the placement named after her in astrology, and synchronistically enough, I ended up having a flirtatious conversation with a woman who is currently experiencing a Lilith transit/working with her Lilith placements while in the midst of reading this book. While it is pathetically short, disorganized, and strikingly dated, there are some beautiful bits of prose (mostly quoted from other works...) and some moving commentary that leaves me feeling a bit haunted as a 21st century pagan feminist who's still been subconsciously damaged by Puritanical bullshit despite my conscious distance from it.
To my understanding, Lilith represents a sort of repressed, malefic side of Venus, embodying the major so-called malefic planets (Mars, Saturn, Pluto) in her various attributes. The book posits that Lilith is a symbol of female empowerment that was then demonized as humanity entered our current era of patriarchy; Lilith is Eve's evil twin, but also her better half. I enjoyed how the book confidently asserted that without embracing Lilith's bestial and passionate (Martian) nature, women cannot embrace their full selves and overcome the binds that patriarchy has saddled femininity with. There's also a definite Chironic quality to Lilith in that she also represents post-traumatic rage and life as an outcast. Lilith's association with owls also invokes Athena's role as a military strategist, which kind of places her as a halfway point between Aries and Athena in my mind (considering Athena's celibacy vs Lilith's promiscuity). Still pondering what that means to me.
Sadly, this book was pretty bare bones, so I'll need to learn more about Lilith through another source. This is a decent introduction, though.
As a lifelong Christianity hater, I've always had a very difficult time reading any sort of biblically focused writing, despite wanting to better understand some of the mythos of this religion in order to better understand media I actually enjoy. I also was hoping to learn more about Lilith for the purpose of understanding the placement named after her in astrology, and synchronistically enough, I ended up having a flirtatious conversation with a woman who is currently experiencing a Lilith transit/working with her Lilith placements while in the midst of reading this book. While it is pathetically short, disorganized, and strikingly dated, there are some beautiful bits of prose (mostly quoted from other works...) and some moving commentary that leaves me feeling a bit haunted as a 21st century pagan feminist who's still been subconsciously damaged by Puritanical bullshit despite my conscious distance from it.
To my understanding, Lilith represents a sort of repressed, malefic side of Venus, embodying the major so-called malefic planets (Mars, Saturn, Pluto) in her various attributes. The book posits that Lilith is a symbol of female empowerment that was then demonized as humanity entered our current era of patriarchy; Lilith is Eve's evil twin, but also her better half. I enjoyed how the book confidently asserted that without embracing Lilith's bestial and passionate (Martian) nature, women cannot embrace their full selves and overcome the binds that patriarchy has saddled femininity with. There's also a definite Chironic quality to Lilith in that she also represents post-traumatic rage and life as an outcast. Lilith's association with owls also invokes Athena's role as a military strategist, which kind of places her as a halfway point between Aries and Athena in my mind (considering Athena's celibacy vs Lilith's promiscuity). Still pondering what that means to me.
Sadly, this book was pretty bare bones, so I'll need to learn more about Lilith through another source. This is a decent introduction, though.
July 9, 2024
There are not enough drugs in the world for me to understand what the hell this book was banging on about.
I bought this over ten years ago, when I was still a witch and worshipped goddesses like Lilith. I'm an atheist now (not because of this book). I found this book on my shelves the other day and reread it.
The book's organization is terrible. The author keeps jumping around from mythology, Jungian psychology and people's dreams without warning. It would've been better had she separated the book into Lillith in Mythology, Lilith in Art, Lilith in Modern Literature and Lilith in Psychology. But I guess that would've made too much sense.
You have to have studied subjects like the Zohar, modern poetry, Carl Jung and his wonky followers, and Wicca before you can have any hope of figuring this mess out. I think. For example, she throws around names like the Shenkinah fully assuming you know what she's talking about.
She doesn't just quote from her sources -- she reproduces pages and pages from other sources. At least a quarter of this book has been written by somebody else. She gives the same weight to a patient's dream as she does to the Bible. She also seems to believe EVERYTHING, which is just weird.
You could also make a drinking game out of every time she uses the word "patriarchy".
If I understand this right (and probably don't) women have to have multiple male lovers in order to be happy. How about not depending on ANY lover for your inner happiness? Like the late, great Bill Hicks said:
Have some self respect. Stay home and masturbate.
There are black and white photos of artwork and amulets in here, otherwise I'd give this no stars. Wiccan and Pagans may like the descriptions of old protective spells.
I bought this over ten years ago, when I was still a witch and worshipped goddesses like Lilith. I'm an atheist now (not because of this book). I found this book on my shelves the other day and reread it.
The book's organization is terrible. The author keeps jumping around from mythology, Jungian psychology and people's dreams without warning. It would've been better had she separated the book into Lillith in Mythology, Lilith in Art, Lilith in Modern Literature and Lilith in Psychology. But I guess that would've made too much sense.
You have to have studied subjects like the Zohar, modern poetry, Carl Jung and his wonky followers, and Wicca before you can have any hope of figuring this mess out. I think. For example, she throws around names like the Shenkinah fully assuming you know what she's talking about.
She doesn't just quote from her sources -- she reproduces pages and pages from other sources. At least a quarter of this book has been written by somebody else. She gives the same weight to a patient's dream as she does to the Bible. She also seems to believe EVERYTHING, which is just weird.
You could also make a drinking game out of every time she uses the word "patriarchy".
If I understand this right (and probably don't) women have to have multiple male lovers in order to be happy. How about not depending on ANY lover for your inner happiness? Like the late, great Bill Hicks said:
Have some self respect. Stay home and masturbate.
There are black and white photos of artwork and amulets in here, otherwise I'd give this no stars. Wiccan and Pagans may like the descriptions of old protective spells.
September 29, 2023
É uma obra profundamente intrigante que mergulha nas profundezas do feminino, usando a figura mítica de Lilith como seu fio condutor.
A narrativa desse livro não apenas resgata Lilith da obscuridade da mitologia judaica, mas também a utiliza como um arquétipo para explorar as profundezas da psicologia feminina.
Barbara habilmente destaca como Lilith representa a independência, a sexualidade e a rebeldia feminina, desafiando as normas patriarcais estabelecidas. Ela explora as implicações psicológicas e espirituais desses temas, fornecendo uma visão abrangente da experiência feminina.
A abordagem psicológica e espiritual deste livro é cativante, pois convida os leitores a examinarem suas próprias compreensões do feminino e a considerarem como os aspectos "sombrios" ou reprimidos desempenham um papel fundamental em nossa psicologia.
No entanto, vale ressaltar que este livro pode ser denso em sua análise e requer uma mente aberta e disposta a mergulhar nas complexidades da psicologia feminina e na mitologia. Aqueles que buscam uma compreensão mais profunda da feminilidade e sua interação com a sociedade encontrarão em "Lilith: O Resgate do Lado Sombrio do Feminino Universal" uma obra provocadora e esclarecedora.
"Houve um tempo em que não eras uma escrava, lembra-te disso. Caminhavas sozinha, alegre, e banhavas-te com o ventre nu. Dizes que perdeste toda e qualquer lembrança disso, recorda-te... Dizes que não há palavras para descrevê-lo, dizes que isso não existe. Mas lembra-te. Faze um esforço e recorda-te. Ou, se não o conseguires, inventa."
A narrativa desse livro não apenas resgata Lilith da obscuridade da mitologia judaica, mas também a utiliza como um arquétipo para explorar as profundezas da psicologia feminina.
Barbara habilmente destaca como Lilith representa a independência, a sexualidade e a rebeldia feminina, desafiando as normas patriarcais estabelecidas. Ela explora as implicações psicológicas e espirituais desses temas, fornecendo uma visão abrangente da experiência feminina.
A abordagem psicológica e espiritual deste livro é cativante, pois convida os leitores a examinarem suas próprias compreensões do feminino e a considerarem como os aspectos "sombrios" ou reprimidos desempenham um papel fundamental em nossa psicologia.
No entanto, vale ressaltar que este livro pode ser denso em sua análise e requer uma mente aberta e disposta a mergulhar nas complexidades da psicologia feminina e na mitologia. Aqueles que buscam uma compreensão mais profunda da feminilidade e sua interação com a sociedade encontrarão em "Lilith: O Resgate do Lado Sombrio do Feminino Universal" uma obra provocadora e esclarecedora.
"Houve um tempo em que não eras uma escrava, lembra-te disso. Caminhavas sozinha, alegre, e banhavas-te com o ventre nu. Dizes que perdeste toda e qualquer lembrança disso, recorda-te... Dizes que não há palavras para descrevê-lo, dizes que isso não existe. Mas lembra-te. Faze um esforço e recorda-te. Ou, se não o conseguires, inventa."
December 28, 2024
So this book is almost exclusively based on a medieval Jewish text that modern scholars in and outside the Jewish fold state is a forgery based on zero fact.
The author then makes weak connections to Biblical and Talmudic verses that are taken out of context in every way, shape, or form.
The book reads as a mixed Medieval and Modern "religious" pornography that perverts sacred texts, connects them to modern feminist perspectives, and simply speaks to the perspective that Lilith is the ultimate embodiment of everything humans want...which according to the author is sex, sex, sex. If anything this book makes women look like sexual fiends that use their bodies for negotiation, actively think of other women...especially during pregnant, etc.
The book is despicable and not worth the time to read. What makes it worse is the author tries to make it seem as this is truth and based on widely supported Jewish sources...which is simply not true.
Other reviewers have stated that this is a good book for ex-Catholic feminists, or women's power supporters, or anti-male lesbian groups...I won't go thay far, but I can see why people think that way.
If you read this as a pornographic book that spills into beastiality, homosexuality, and the like, then this book could get a higher rating...but I wouldn't have even picked it up then.
The author then makes weak connections to Biblical and Talmudic verses that are taken out of context in every way, shape, or form.
The book reads as a mixed Medieval and Modern "religious" pornography that perverts sacred texts, connects them to modern feminist perspectives, and simply speaks to the perspective that Lilith is the ultimate embodiment of everything humans want...which according to the author is sex, sex, sex. If anything this book makes women look like sexual fiends that use their bodies for negotiation, actively think of other women...especially during pregnant, etc.
The book is despicable and not worth the time to read. What makes it worse is the author tries to make it seem as this is truth and based on widely supported Jewish sources...which is simply not true.
Other reviewers have stated that this is a good book for ex-Catholic feminists, or women's power supporters, or anti-male lesbian groups...I won't go thay far, but I can see why people think that way.
If you read this as a pornographic book that spills into beastiality, homosexuality, and the like, then this book could get a higher rating...but I wouldn't have even picked it up then.
June 22, 2025
🩸 The Book of Lilith by Barbara Black Koltuv
Vibe: Jungian psychology meets ancient feminine power with an unapologetic edge
This book isn’t a novel or a light spiritual read — it’s a rich, heady dive into myth, mysticism, and the repressed rage of the feminine psyche. Barbara Koltuv, a Jungian analyst, reclaims Lilith not as a demon or seductress but as the original woman who said hell no to patriarchal submission — and got vilified for it.
Lilith becomes a symbol here: of autonomy, sexual power, raw emotion, and shadow integration. Koltuv connects her mythos to dreams, archetypes, and even modern psychology, showing how denied feminine energy becomes distorted — and how reclaiming it is a path to healing and wholeness.
It’s not always easy reading — it’s academic, psychological, and sometimes trippy — but for the wild feminine soul? It hits home. It’s like being handed a mirror you weren’t sure you were ready to look into.
⭐️ Read if you want: depth, archetypal shadow work, feminine rage and power reclaimed, and to stop apologizing for being too much, too wild, too anything.
Vibe: Jungian psychology meets ancient feminine power with an unapologetic edge
This book isn’t a novel or a light spiritual read — it’s a rich, heady dive into myth, mysticism, and the repressed rage of the feminine psyche. Barbara Koltuv, a Jungian analyst, reclaims Lilith not as a demon or seductress but as the original woman who said hell no to patriarchal submission — and got vilified for it.
Lilith becomes a symbol here: of autonomy, sexual power, raw emotion, and shadow integration. Koltuv connects her mythos to dreams, archetypes, and even modern psychology, showing how denied feminine energy becomes distorted — and how reclaiming it is a path to healing and wholeness.
It’s not always easy reading — it’s academic, psychological, and sometimes trippy — but for the wild feminine soul? It hits home. It’s like being handed a mirror you weren’t sure you were ready to look into.
⭐️ Read if you want: depth, archetypal shadow work, feminine rage and power reclaimed, and to stop apologizing for being too much, too wild, too anything.
June 4, 2025
I mean I guess it's my fault for wanting this book to be a cultural analysis and not a bunch of Jungian baloney but there ya go
I also think I might be too gay for a book that's pretty much all about the contradictions of female heterosexuality. Yeah sorry can't relate to being torn between submitting to Adam and going on a bender with Samael. I'd be curious whether Koltuv even thinks it's possible for a woman to be gay and how that would fit into her model of women's sexuality. I know, I know, not everything is about me but still. This would bother me less if the book didn't end with a quote by a lesbian author from a book about forcing a non-lesbian audience to adopt an essentially lesbian point of view on human existence. It's like damn keep Wittig out of this
The best stuff was all taken from "The Hebrew Goddess" which it seems is the book I was looking for all along so I'm glad I've been pointed to it!
I also think I might be too gay for a book that's pretty much all about the contradictions of female heterosexuality. Yeah sorry can't relate to being torn between submitting to Adam and going on a bender with Samael. I'd be curious whether Koltuv even thinks it's possible for a woman to be gay and how that would fit into her model of women's sexuality. I know, I know, not everything is about me but still. This would bother me less if the book didn't end with a quote by a lesbian author from a book about forcing a non-lesbian audience to adopt an essentially lesbian point of view on human existence. It's like damn keep Wittig out of this
The best stuff was all taken from "The Hebrew Goddess" which it seems is the book I was looking for all along so I'm glad I've been pointed to it!
September 22, 2021
Um livro muito interessante pois nos mostra a origem de um feminino que se sente trancado, diminuído. E todo um misticismo por trás do significado dessa palavra e o quanto reverbera até hoje. A autora trata do assunto de maneira bem acadêmica ao meu ver mas isso não deixa nem um pouco ruim. A sensação é de estar lendo um artigo um tanto longo, o incrível é que ela consegue explicar a partir de textos bíblicos e místicos, contos e poemas, além das imagens que também explica sobre cada uma.
Nos últimos capítulos a sensação de “ah faz muito sentido, então é por isso que somos tratadas ou chamadas a séculos assim e assado” 😊
Um ótimo estudo para complementar leituras sobre saberes sobre o feminino ou até leituras feministas.
Nos últimos capítulos a sensação de “ah faz muito sentido, então é por isso que somos tratadas ou chamadas a séculos assim e assado” 😊
Um ótimo estudo para complementar leituras sobre saberes sobre o feminino ou até leituras feministas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews