Lilith (1892) by John Collier in Southport Atkinson Art Gallery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hail the High Priestess

The best example or perhaps story that demonstrates the sovereign power of the Goddess, as first personified in human form, comes from a Judaic body of literature fraught against her rightful sovereign nature. Many stories have come down to us today about the struggles between

men and women for the right to express Free Will.

The very first female is depicted as Lilith who was created at the same time as Adam.

In this anthropogenesis depiction she is shown denying Adam, simply by choosing not to be with him or more contextually appropriate; unwilling to submit. Adam is apparently portrayed as trying to force Lilith to assume the missionary position. Liliths refusal to be subordinate to Adam is the purported reason for the creation of the second female – Eve. As Adam complains to God of Liliths disobedience, he asserts that he wants a woman to be his subjective mate.

To avoid God’s wrath Lilith, knowing the secret name of God, speaks it, rises up in the sky and flees the garden avoiding supposed punishment. Thus, Lilith shows up in many ancient texts as the Temptress. In the Zohar, we find her tempting Cain, who succumbs to her, resulting in the creation of winged creatures. She thus symbolizes rebellion, rage and the untamed sexual nature of the pontificated negative feminine of the patriarchal movement.

This is more than just a mere bit reminiscent of the story of Cain and Abel‘s Twin sisters. With several Gnostics Scriptures relating Lilith as Cain’s wife, and her sister Naamah as Abel’s consort the overall association continues. Obvious connections become most apparent in light of the illicit affair between Abel and Lilith, (our Osiris and Nephthys). Moreover, the Gnostic followers of John the Baptist relate that Lilith is the daughter of the King and Queen of the Underworld (Duat), who copulates with the King of Knowledge/Light and creates a son who is a blend of both the dark and the light.

The entire correlation of this archetypal cosmology chapter of creation is completely reinforced by the profound parallelism regarding the secret name of God. Comparing this event to the story of Isis, we find striking similarities. Isis learns the secret name of God by tricking Atum into tell her it. Isis, armed with this knowledge can then raise Osiris from the dead in order to copulate with him and create Horus. When we embrace the understanding of the creation of a divine child, it becomes obvious that the connection is the

English: picture of the goddess Nephthys (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

awareness of the secret name of God.

Lilith’s form is depicted as a woman with wings and the feet of a bird. She is holding two shens, one in each hand. The shen is the Greek sign of the omega, meaning never ending or infinite, and the cyclic nature of reality, an eternal state. The shen also resembles a snake looped around itself and extending past its tail. In comparison, the primordial parents of Neith and Khnum (to join) who gave birth to a son called Heka (Divine Alchemy or Magic) took form in the Duat (underworld) as a snake. Heka later transforms into a man who is holding two snakes, one in each hand as a masculine reflection of the same manifestation of Lilith; the powerful divine first being.

Lilith is also accompanied by two owls, which represent wisdom. She also stands on top of a double-headed lion. Allegorically, the shen and lions (Sekhmet) both represent protection and spiritual strength.

Interestingly enough, Nephthys, like Lilith is also depicted with wings and her animal totem is the owl. Nephthys is known for raising Isis’s son Horus and because of this, she is the nurse and caretaker of children. It is thought that the “Guardian Angel” of Children came from her role. This is a very misleading twist in the derivation of Lilith who is feared as the creator of wet dreams, responsible for fornication and the stealing of the illicit by-product: the babies.

Additional correlations are found with Lilith, Nephthys and Set, as they are all most present or strongest on the new moon. Nephthys is symbolic of the summer solstice and the principle of secretion; her tears sustain or give life (shown on headdress as a bowl full of water). This time of year symbolized the regeneration of life, with the first new moon in the first month of the new year commencing with a great six day feast, where Sa infused food offerings, were taken to the tombs of the deceased for sustaining their Ka. Therefore, Nephthys, again like Lilith, is associated with great significance as a powerful life giving first-lady.

Ever the more indelible is the evidence of the meaning of Nephthys secret name or appellation: Urt-Hekau – “Master of Sacred Powers” or “Great words of power”. In actuality, to know the secret name of God is to understand the Gnosis of the power of the spoken word, and its representation as the alchemical frequency pattern of the creational vibration. Lilith and Isis both epitomize the knowledge of knowing their own name. Thus ultimately knowing the secret name of God is literally knowing your own truth as a divine creator being. The frequency of truth is what shatters the illusion of a singular name that represents an all-powerful word.

One of the most sacred devices or staffs of all are named after Nephthys; the Ur-Hekau, which is used to transmit the m

The Burney Relief, ca. 1950 BC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ost sublime eternal cosmic life force, the Sa (Cosmic Force). The power associated with Heka is further elucidated upon when we fully appreciate the meaning of Nephthys’s other appellation – Nebt-Heka, which is the name of the oracle temples where she is the divine deity or Neteru who enables the seers to foretell the future of individual and collective destiny.

The emphasis and importance of the return of the Goddess is further strengthened by realizing that our divine daughter Zoe (Life Breath), the first female to animate the material form, gave birth to Seth. Seth is the personification of the first divine child (Horus-Hawk/Christ-like winged being) by sharing her spirit/breath with her father Sanat Kumara in etheric form, immaculately conceiving a divine race of spiritually imbued beings.

Aker, an ancient Egyptian personification of the horizon. Two lions symbolize ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’ with the sun-disk rising between the symbolic horizon between them. The hieroglyph for ‘sky’ spans across the top. Based on New Kingdom tomb paintings and the book of the dead. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sophia is present in all forms of the Goddess; here we see her reflection in the Gnostic Scripture entitled, ‘The Thunder, Perfect Mind‘:

I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one. I am the wife and the virgin. I am the mother and the daughter. I am the members of the mother. I am the silence that is comprehensible and the idea whose remembrance is frequent. I am the voice whose sound is manifold and the word whose appearance is multiple. I am the utterance of my name.

Here we have fortified and revealed the undeniable connection between Lilith and Nephthys as our archetypal High Priestess. It is most significant to note that the presence and involvement of this quality is not only paramount in honoring everyone’s free will. Moreover, respecting, honoring, allowing and appreciating Nephthys/Lilith as an essential ingredient required for the absolute balancing of each of the archetypal personas. Therefore, creating a fully present and blended composition completely expressed on all levels of manifestation, both individually and collectively. Literally stated, one who becomes the galvanization of the King/Queen and the High Priest/Priestess.

The Author

The painted image of the goddess Nephthys from a shroud, made of linen and tempera. Likely from the 2nd to 1st century B.C. Now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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