Written: between the year 700 and 1000 CE
Writer: anonymous
Soon afterward the young son of the king took ill. Said
Nebuchadnezzar, "Heal my son. If you don't, I will kill you." Ben Sira
immediately sat down and wrote an amulet with the Holy Name, and he
inscribed on it the angels in charge of medicine by their names, forms,
and images, and by their wings, hands, and feet. Nebuchadnezzar looked
at the amulet. "Who are these?"
"The angels who are in charge of medicine: Snvi, Snsnvi,
and Smnglof [סנוי סנסנוי וסמנגלוף] (in English: Senoy, Sansenoy and
Semangelof). While God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not
good for man to be alone' (Genesis 2:18). He also created a woman, from
the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam
and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,'
and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are
fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior
one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were
both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another.
When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away
into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the
universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the
Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels to bring her back.
"Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back,
what is made is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her
children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom
they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the
Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did
not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'
"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause
sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for
eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.'
"When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she
go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal
God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I
will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one
hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one
hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels'
names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names,
she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."
break the chains of misogyny and
free yourself.
burn your past and
look ahead.
the old Abrahamic religions are dying .
Judaism, Christianity, Islam ends.