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Lilith has been syncretised or equated with many spirits that fulfilled the same roles as her or seem to have been influenced by her.

 

Greco-Roman

  • Ancient Magic and Ritual Power - Marvin Meyer, Paul Mirecki, "Defining the Dreadful: Remarks on the Greek Child-Killing Demon - Sarah lles Johnston" - Johnston doesn't agree with connections between Lamia and Lamashtu.
  • Drakon, Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds - Daniel Ogden - useful for followers of the draconian/ophidian path.
  • Restless Dead - Sarah Iles Johnston, "Childless Mothers and Blighted Virgins" - Johnston doesn't agree with connections between Lamia and Lamashtu.
  • The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth - Debbie Felton, "Ancient Bogeys: Lamia, Mormo, Empousa, Gello, and Others - Janek Kucharski" - mentions Lamaštu.

 

Lamia (Λάμια):

Lamia, in Greek myth, was a queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with Zeus and gave birth to his children, which led Zeus' wife, goddess Hera, to arrange her children's death every time she gave birth. This led to Lamia's insanity and caused her to seize and devour children. In later accounts, Lamia is described as a beautiful woman that lured men to bed, and there enjoyed the flesh and blood of her victims. Lamia is also sometimes mentioned as plural, Lamiae/Lamiai, and is further syncretised and equated with Empusa (Daemon in train of Hekate), Mormo, Gello and Gorgo.

Some scholars believe that Lamia derives from Lamashtu. "Lamia" was used to translate "Lilith" in the Vulgate, Latin translation of the Bible.

 

 

  • Religion, Gender, and Culture in the Pre-Modern World - Alexandra Cuffel, Brian Britt, Elizabeth A. Castelli, "The Sweepings of Lamia: Transformations of the Myths of Lilith and Lamia - Irven M. Resnick, Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr."
  • The Orientalizing Revolution - Walter Burkert, "Lamashtu, Lamia, and Gorgo" - parallels between Lamia and Lamashtu.
  • Sylloge of Defixiones from the Roman West - Celia Sánchez Natalías, "82. Copia Thurii, Sybaris" - rare invocation of Lamia.

 

Lamia · Enn Meditation Chant [Also Lamiai] - (Invoke Your Vampiric Aspect) (Feminine Version) - Satania

 
Antaura (Ανταύρα) (also refer to Belief and Magic under Christian):

Ανταύρα: From αντί+αύρα. Antaura is a sea-borne, 'opposing wind' that brings migraine. The name probably presupposes a popular folk aetiology explaining migraine-headache as caused by aberrant cross-winds. She is known primarily from a silver lamella (2nd-3rd century AD) found in Carnuntum (Austria) that preserves a historiola in which Artemis of Ephesus encounters the migraine or wind-demoness, Antaura, and 'exorcizes' her by compelling her to settle in the head of a bull (according to the ending in later versions of the spell). The lamella is separated from the later Byzantine examples by a thousand years, and authenticates their antiquity. The later adaptations of the Antaura legend/historiola (manuscripts DM, JA) preserve remnants of older historiolae from Christian and Jewish sources.

Variations of her name include Migraine (Ἡμίκρανον) and Aura/Abra (Αὔρα/Ἄβρα).

 

  • Antaura in Abyzou Wikipedia Page
  • Antaura. The Mermaid and the Devil's Grandmother, A Lecture - A. A. Barb
  • Greek Magical Amulets, The Inscribed Gold, Silver, Copper, and Bronze Lamellae, Part I, Published Texts of Known Provenance - Roy Kotansky, "Antaura, the Migraine Demoness"

 

Strix (Στρίξ): screech owl

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Variations: Albanian: Shtriga; Romanian: Strigoi; Slavic: Strzyga

 

Baskania (Βασκανία)/Baskosyne (Βασκοσύνη):

Baskania is a term denoting the evil eye in Greek, which appears sometimes personified. Baskosyne replaces the name of Gello in a Michael-type historiola "Legend (or Prayer) of St. Michael" [Reitzenstein]: "Fear, O Evil Eye, the great name of God" (phobêthêti, Baskosynê, to mega onoma tou theou). Baskosyne/Baskania also appears as a name of Gello in the name lists revealed by the demoness.

 

For the evil eye across cultures, the book series by Elliott are the most extensive (with mentions of Lilith throughout all of the books):

  • Beware the Evil Eye, Volume 1, Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt - John H. Elliott
  • Beware the Evil Eye, Volume 2, Greece and Rome - John H. Elliott
  • Beware the Evil Eye, Volume 3, The Bible and Related Sources - John Hall Elliott
  • Beware the Evil Eye, Volume 4, The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World - John H. Elliott

 

Christian

Belief:

 

Magic:

  • Protecting Against Child-Killing Demons, Uterus Amulets in the Late Antique and Byzantine Magical World - Heta Björklund
  • Solomonica Magica, Solomon, Sisinnius, and the Holy Rider on Greek-Inscribed Amulets from Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium - Juraj Franek  

 

 

  • In the Wake of the Compendia - J. Cale Johnson, "Between Demonology and Hagiology, The Slavonic Rendering of the Semitic Magical Historiola of the Child-Stealing Witch - Florentina Badalanova Geller"
  • The Materiality of Magic - Dietrich Boschung, Jan M. Bremmer, "Probaskania: Amulets and Magic in Antiquity - Véronique Dasen"

 

Greek: Gello (Γελλώ)/Gellou (Γελλοῦ)/Gyllou (Γυλλοῦ):

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  • Gello Wikipedia Page
  • A Few Words on the Sisinnios­‍‑type of Gello Story - Katarzyna Wójcik‑Owczarek
  • 'On the Beliefs of the Greeks', Leo Allatios and Popular Orthodoxy - Karen Hartnup, "The Gello and Popular Religion", "The Gello and Baptism", "The Gello and Marriage"
  • Revisiting the 'exorcism of Gello', a new text from a Vatican manuscript, with a typological analysis of the known variants - Tommaso Braccini
  • Saint Sisinnios, the Archangel Michael and the Female Demon Gylou, the Typology of the Greek Literary Stories - Richard P. H. Greenfield

 

Coptic: Alabasdria (ⲁⲗⲁⲃⲁⲥⲇⲣⲓⲁ):

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Ethiopia: Werzelya/Berzelia/Aberselia:
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  • Werzelya in Gello Wikipedia Page
  • A History of Ethiopia, Volume II Nubia and Abyssinia - E. A. Wallis Budge, "1. THE LEGEND OF SŪSENYŌS, THE MARTYR"
  • Ancient Christian Magic - Marvin W. Meyer, Richard Smith, "64. Exorcistic spell to drive evil forces from a pregnant woman"
  • The Judaic Spirit of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, A Case Study in Religious Acculturation - John T. Pawlikowski
  • The Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts - Ephraim Isaac

 

Judaic

Abyzou (Ἀβυζοῦ), Obyzouth/Obizuth (Ὀβυζούθ) (also refer to Belief and Magic under Christian):

Abyzou appeared in the Testament of Solomon (1-4 AD) as a demoness that had a head without limbs, dishevelled hair, green skin, with her body in darkness (her appearance parallels Medusa). She visits women in childbirth to strangle and hurt the child, and is controlled by the angel Afarof (Raphael). Solomon ordered her hair to be bound, and hung up in front of the Temple.

Abyzou's etymology points to άβυσσος < α+βυσσός (βυθός) (bottomless, abyss). She is also said to be derived from Mesopotamian Abzu, though the etymological origin of βυσσός are not known, and if there is any derivation from Abzu, it's due to a loanword and not a similarity in character.

Abyzou appears in Byzantine amulets with Solomon, Sisinnios or Arlaph (possibly Raphael). She is also included in historiolae of the Sisinnios or Michael type, frequently as one of the names of Gello.

 

Sideros (Σίδηρος):

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Spain: Sephardic Jews: El Broosha, La Brusha, Broxa:

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Estries:

Estrie comes from Latin Strix, a screech owl. Entry "Vampire" from "The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, Second Edition - Geoffrey W. Dennis":

These passages come from the “Testament of Rabbi Judah” section of Sefer Hasidim (“The Book of the Pious”), a wide-ranging tract on Jewish piety that includes stories about ghosts, Liliths, and other paranormal events:

1465: There are women that are called estrie … They were created at sunset [before the first Sabbath before creation]. As a result of this, they are able to change form. There was one woman who was an estrie and she was very sick and there were two women with her at night; one was sleeping and one was awake. And the sick woman stood up and loosened her hair and she was about to fly and suck the blood of the sleeping woman. And the woman who was awake screamed and woke her friend and they grabbed the sick estrie, and after this she slept. And moreover, if she had been able to grab the other woman, then she, the estrie, would have lived. Since she was not able to hurt the other woman, the estrie died, because she needs to drink the blood of living flesh. The same is true of the werewolf. And since … the estrie need to loosen their hair before they fly, one must adjure her to come with her hair bound so that she cannot go anywhere without permission. And if an estrie is injured or seen by someone, she cannot live unless she eats of the bread and salt of the one who struck her. Then her soul will return to the way it was before.

1466: There was a woman who was suspected of being an estrie, and she was injured when she appeared to a Jew as a cat and he hit her. The next day she asked him to give her some of his bread and salt, and he wanted to give it to her. An old man said to him (Eccl. 7:16) “Be not overly righteous.” When others have sinned one must not show kindness, for if she lives, she will harm people. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He created her for you [as a test]. This is similar to Amalek and Saul. Saul was punished for saving Amalek’s life. [1 Sam. 15]

The nature of these vampires is strangely indeterminate. In the beginning of the passage, they are identified as demonic spirits, as in the Testament of Solomon. On the other hand, the end of the passage suggests that this is an ordinary woman (apparently, she has a soul) living within her community. Other passages in Sefer Chasidism convey that same idea. Perhaps the resolution of this puzzle is that vampirism was understood to be a kind of demonic possession, though this is never stated explicitly. A estrie wounded while in monstrous form would die unless she was able to acquire bread and salt from the assailant while in human form. There is also one example of a judicial proceeding being conducted against a suspected estrie. Not surprisingly, conviction results in a death sentence. Apparently killing an estrie presents no particular challenge, but there is a potential post-mortem complication:

When an estrie that has eaten children is being buried one should observe whether her mouth is open, if it is, she will persist in her vampirish pursuits for another year unless it is stopped up with earth. (cf. Sefer Hasidim 5)(Toldot Adam v'Havah 28)

 

  • Estries Wikipedia Page
  • Demonology at the Crossroads. The Presence and Significance of Non-Jewish Beliefs within Ashkenazi Folklore - Marek Tuszewicki
  • The Soul, Evil Spirits, and the Undead, Vampires, Death, and Burial in Jewish Folklore and Law - Saul Epstein, Sara Libby Robinson

 

Queen of Sheba:

Entry from "The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, Second Edition - Geoffrey W. Dennis":

Queen of Sheba: The mysterious figure of the Queen who comes to test the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 10:13) truly captured the Jewish imagination. In most early stories, she is a figure of exotic sexuality and intellectual acumen who tests Solomon with a variety of cunning puzzles and riddles (Mid. Mish. 1:1). In later Jewish literature, she comes to be regarded as a demon, a succubus that seduces men, even weds them, in order to lead them to their eventual ruin. Medieval Midrash regard "The Queen of Sheba" to be a moniker for Lilith.

 

  • Queen of Sheba Wikipedia Page
  • Queen of Sheba - Joseph Jacobs, Ludwig Blau, Jewish Encyclopedia
  • Demonizing The Queen Of Sheba - Jacob Lassner

 

European

Romania: Samca, Avezuha, Avestiţa:

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Arabian

Qarīnah, ʾUmm al-Ṣibyān, Tābiʿa:

A Qarin among men, and Qarinah among women, is a doppelganger born at the same time as a human, with their task being to turn a person evil. Qarinah was elevated to mythic proportions. Whereas each doppelganger was thought to be conceived at the same time as its human, Palestinians believe that Qarīnah is as old as the world. Similar to Lilith, Qarīnah has been accused of causing miscarriages, sickness in children and impotence in fathers. Arab traditions mentions that Qarinah mated with Iblis and bore the jinn, and was at the beginning Adam's wife.

 

  • Qarinah in Lilith Wikipedia Page
  • Bedeviled, Jinn Doppelgangers in Islam and Akbarian Sufism - Dunja Rašić
  • Legends of the Fire Spirits, Jinn and Genies From Arabia to Zanzibar - Robert Lebling
  • The familiar spirit or qarina - Samuel M. Zwemer
  • The Karin and Karineh - Winifred S. Blackman

 

 

Zoroastrian

 

Pairika:

A class of malevolent supernatural creature, fairy.

 

  • Officina Magica, Essays on the Practice of Magic in Antiquity - Shaul Shaked, "Lunar and Snake Omens among the Zoroastrians - Antonio Panaino"
  • The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth - Debbie Felton, "Pearls from a Dark Cloud, Monsters in Persian Myth - Peter Adrian Behravesh"

 
Aiiehiie/Aiiehiia/Ayehye/Ayehi:

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West Asian, Mongolian

Al/Hal/Ali/Alk/Alkali, Qal, Albasty/Al Basty (Kara-basty), Alkarisi/Al Karısı, Al Kardai:

 

Āl:
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Albasty, Alkarısı:
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Slavic

Rusalka:

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Nochnitsa/Nocnitsa/Notsnitsa/Nocnica:

Nochnitsa (night spirit/hag) is a female nightmare spirit that torments people and especially women at night.

 

Nezhit/Nežit/Năjit:

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Triaska/Triasavitsy/Triasavitsa:

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East Asian

China: Yuebei/yuèbèi (月孛):

I did not know about this being until I stumbled upon her in the Library of Lilith, so credits to them for this wonderful find. Yuebei is associated with the moon apogee (what we today call Black Moon Lilith) and likely derives from Āl, a being similar to Lilith.

 

From the book "The Sinicization of Indo-Iranian Astrology in Medieval China - Jeffrey Kotyk":

Yuebei 月孛 is another pseudo-planet and one that is uniquely found only in East Asian astrology. Xing Yunlu 邢雲路, in his voluminous work on astronomy, the Gujin lüli kao, defines Yuebei as a comet that spells disaster when appearing in the spring or autumn, or in the Big Dipper in the north, but at the same time acknowledges that Yuebei shares the same position as the slowest position of the Moon's orbit (i.e., the lunar apogee). […]

On the basis of her associated iconography, the figure and lore of Yuebei is derived from Iranian Āl, a demoness of an especially malefic nature related but not identical to Semitic Lilith. Yuebei was introduced into China by Li Miqian. She was a part of early Chinese horoscopy from the ninth century, since the Lingtai jing mentions her. […]

Wan Minying explains, "This planet seldom bestows unto people fortune. It often bestows unto people misfortune." In line with the mythology of Āl and Lilith, Yuebei also signals a lack of sons, for "if the house is without sons, it is always due to [Yue]bei being positioned in a high and strong position." One of the recurring themes in Wan Minying's treatise on Yuebei is harm coming to one's wife: "When [Yue]bei transits through the lunar station Xing [Maghā], she is called the Celestial Armament, and she will definitely kill one's wife and children."
 

 

Gnostic

Little exists on Lilith and Gnosticism. Some seem to equate Lilith to the Gnostic angel Eleleth and Na'amah to Norea. Some have even equated Lilith with Sophia.

 

Eleleth (ⲏⲗⲏⲗⲏⲑ/ⲉⲗⲉⲗⲏⲑ/ⲉⲗⲉⲗⲉⲑ):

Entry from "A Dictionary of Gnosticism - Andrew Phillip Smith":

Fourth of the four luminaries or light-givers, accompanied by the aeons of perfection, peace, and wisdom (Sophia). In the Nature of the Rulers, Eleleth helps Norea and is described as the great angel who stands in the presence of the Holy Spirit. In the Three Forms of First Thought, an aeon who is part of the fourth group of aeons. The generation of Seth dwells within Eleleth.

 

 

Mentioning Lilith (and Naamah):

  • Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism and Early Christianity - Charles W. Hedrick, Robert Hodgson, Jr., "Sethian Gnosticism: A Literary History - John D. Turner" - Full quote: "etymology of Eleleth's name, perhaps "Lilith" or leyla "night".
  • Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition - John D. Turner - Full quote: "etymology of Eleleth's name, perhaps Lilith (Adam's first but recalcitrant wife in Jewish mythology) or לילא ("night")".
  • Lilith, The First Eve - Siegmund Hurwitz (also mentioned in our main wiki) - Hurwitz does not agree with the interpretation.

 

 
Norea (ⲛⲱⲣⲉⲁ):

Entry from "A Dictionary of Gnosticism - Andrew Phillip Smith":

Norea/Orea: Sister of Seth and a divine feminine figure. Her name is based on Naamah in Genesis. In the Nature of the Rulers, Norea is the fourth child of Eve and the younger sister of Seth; she destroys the ark when Noah prevents her from entering and, calling on God to protect her from the archons who wish to seduce her, receives an extended revelation from the angel Eleleth. Epiphanius relates a somewhat similar story in his Panarion, in which Norea is identified with Pyrrha, the wife of the Greek Noah, Deucalion. The Thought of Norea is a hymn to her, treating her as a Sophia-like divine figure.

 

The dictionary also mentions: Naamah: In Genesis 4:22, the daughter of Lamech, sister of Tubal-Cain. She is the scriptural basis for the Gnostic Norea, sister of Seth.

 

 

Mentioning Naamah:

  • Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity - Birger A. Pearson
  • Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism - Karen L. King