Living Lilith: Four Dimensions of the Cosmic Feminine

by M. Kelley Hunter

In our twenty-first century renaissance, renewed interest in the goddess has brought many faces of the divine feminine into modern awareness. Lilith is one of the most alluring—and ancient. After five thousand years of smoky rumours, this female of ambiguous reputation remains a mystery. As seductive femme fatale, crib death hag or cosmic goddess, vampire or beacon of female integrity, she has continued to excite our cultural imagination. If we follow her trail back in time to seek the source of the fear and negativity she typically evokes, we often discover, not only a major shift in the collective human image of the feminine, but also something essential that needs to be redeemed in our personal lives.

Living Lilith traces this powerful archetype through mythology, the arts, astrology, on the world stage and in real life. Of increasing interest to astrologers, Lilith is the name given to four astronomical points—an asteroid, a star, a dark "ghost" moon, and the better-known Black Moon. All four Liliths are discussed and differentiated with the aid of numerous case histories and fascinating insights into the lives of public figures. A section of suggested interpretations of Lilith's influence through the signs is included. This book is suitable for all levels of astrology, any anyone interested in the presence of Lilith in our lives today. Not everyone is ready to explore such profoundly unknown dimensions of self and experience. Is she calling to you?

Genres: Astrology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Mythology

230 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2009

Reviews

[Lelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. I was hoping for concrete interpretations of the astronomical points called Lilith. Hunter describes the various stories of Lilith and artistic interpretations, which is helpful, but she shies away from any definitive interpretations. "Lilith lives in those places in our lives that we cannot make happen, but where the path is magic when we open her door." Lovely - but which astronomical Lilith is she talking about and how is that expressed through sign and house? Her examples aren't particularly enlightening: "Vincent Van Gogh, original, colorful, yet mentally unstable artist with a vision way ahead of his time, had Black Moon very close to the Lilith star - a double Lilith. He famously cut off his ear." The descriptions of Lilith in the various signs don't resonate with me. Hunter seems to adopt a stream of consciousness writing style for much of the book which ends up being rather opaque - the art of writing without communicating. Hunter reminds us several times that Lilith does not make sense or yield easily to interpretation, and so, in a way, this book reflects Lilith's enigmatic nature. I will go back through the book and try to glean what I can, but my search for an illuminating book on Lilith continues.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The symbolic functions of Lilith in the horoscope are difficult to understand and describe, which M. Kelley Hunter does a great job of letting you know - Lilith is something glimpsed in passing and grasped intuitively rather than consciously hammered out and nailed down (which would be impossible anyway). And yet, this still must and can translate to definable behaviors and manifestations in a person's life or a world event, and this is where the book comes up short. There are some excellent sections, such as the first several paragraphs of the final chapter, also titled Living Lilith. The writing there really captures the essence of Lilith, and you get some good solid information, too. Overall, though, I thought there was so much repetitive fluff in the prose that reading this book was like wading through waist-high snow. There were valuable nuggets of insight and solid bits of useful information, but you had to dig for them and it was tiring. Maybe that's because my mean Black Moon squares Neptune. Still, I think there would be plenty of others who would agree with me and would have preferred that Lilith not have to be learned while navigating the slopes on a ski holiday. Also, the chart examples in the middle chapters were often so numerous as to be carelessly overgeneralized. Although they provide many opportunities to get a glimpse of Lilith in the charts of well-known people, her attributes seem to be applied whimsically to every highlight of the person's public life and every aspect of their personality, when some of the major planets would have been much more obvious sources for explanations. Few of the chart analyses get very deep because the narrative must move on to the next five examples, before moving on to the next section and then the next chapter. Still, this book is one of the most popular sources on Lilith, and I think it has real merit. The idea of the Lilith corridor, the sector of Lilithian influence that stretches between the osculating and mean Black Moons seems to have been made popular by this text, and there is vital website info to help you find all of your natal Lilith locations. Hunter's book describes them all, too, including the fixed star Algol, and it even touches on the asteroid Medusa (though I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me why the Interpolated Lunar Apogee Lilith is in a different degree than the Mean Black Moon in Astrodienst charts). So, my rating of the book, which should actually be three and a half stars, reflects both the usefulness, insight, and breadth of Hunter's work, and the excessive amount of disappointingly grandiose prose that makes it somewhat of a chore to get through.

[H.K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read on Lilith, mesmerizing and doing the Dark Goddess much justice. I felt very connected and validated in my following of Her through reading this work. Wonderfully done by the author and learning about Her influences in astrology were definitely new to me. A definite favorite.

[Martha Rand]

Amazingly informative about the myth and astrologically.