The Confrontation Between Lilith and Adam: The Fifth Round

Pope John Paul I, speaking about God at his regular Sunday Angelus blessing in St Peter's Square: ‘He is Father. Even more, God is Mother, who does not want to harm us.’

At The Present Time, the relationship between women and men in Western society is in a state of flux. Wherever we turn we see people attempting to modify not only the role expectations society places on them but also to redefine just what constitutes a woman or a man. Women especially are rejecting the limitations of the Eve image imposed on them from outside. They are reaching out for a wider understanding of their own potentials as women and are searching for their own feminine self-image. They are questioning their position in relation to others, men and women. Men are being called upon to reexamine their attitude towards women and the rôCle women play in their lives. And as the patriarchal structure begins to crumble, they too are beginning to explore meaningful alternatives to the time-worn past.

Lilith's story, as told in the creation myth in the Alphabet of Ben Sira, tells the story of the confrontation between Lilith, the first woman, and Adam, the first man. By going into what their struggle was all about, we may come to a clearer realisation of what it means for both the women and men of today to be faced with the archetypal image of Lilith erupting into their lives; on the collective level in the feminist challenge to society's patriarchal values, on the personal level as a new model for women and men to consider in relationship to each other; and for the woman specifically to face, in her inner conflicts as to her own worth and wants. We may see what the basic psychological problems are for the woman who experiences the need to grow beyond Eve. The focus of this paper will be on the problems these aspects of the myth pose for the woman.

Before going into the myth, however, I would like to sketch briefly how I perceive both Eros and psychic energy as synonymous with love and p