#alilat

Race: Entity

Arcana: Empress

Alignment: Light-Chaos

June 13th, 2024

A personal favorite kind of demon throughout the series has to be the ones that are completely alien- demons that look like they originated from a psychological study, or living beings that, by all means, look like they shouldn't be real. Demons of this kind are surprisingly few and far between, with most appearing as rather standard depictions of monsters or humanoid beings, but when the artists dip their toes into the strange, almost beyond this world, I fall in love with the designs the instant I lay my eyes on them. One of these, of course, is today's Demon of the Day, and a strange outcast even among the strangest demons throughout the series- the ill-known Mother Goddess of the Arabian Peninsula, Alilat.

Mostly known by one of her many names, al-Lat, Alilat is a relatively obscure goddess in the grand scheme of history. As a pre-islamic goddess worshipped in Arabia, a lot of history surrounding her is hard to parse, even down to the exact areas that her reign was present within, but the general consensus appears to be that she was mainly worshipped in several widespread cults throughout Arabia during its pre-islamic days. Another name of hers, Allat, has actually been the name of several goddesses throughout several different areas in history as well, making her story even more confusing to dig through. The tangled webs of tales and future conflations between her and other deities make her an incredibly confusing deity to sift through the facts about.

Our first recorded mention of Alilat actually comes in the form of a retelling from Greek scholar Herodotus, who, in his book 'Histories' wrote,

"They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the Heavenly Aphrodite; and they say that they wear their hair as Dionysus does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples. They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, Alilat."

I will admit to copying that passage from Wikipedia, but I'm not about to sift through a copy of such a massive transcript to search for a single line. Interestingly, this transcription by Herodotus actually has a conflict with how most other people drew comparisons- it was commonly believed, and still is today, that Alilat was actually the ancient Arabian's version of Athena. As a goddess of motherhood and fertility, as well as peace, she shares some similar traits to Athena in greek myth, as they also both share a trait as a goddess of war. Where this came from is described in several Safaitic inscriptions, as she used to be invoked by travelers through the region in order to guarantee peace, prosperity, and protection, while warriors at the time would invoke her name to ensure good loot and those attacked would invoke her for vengeance. As one of two principal deities, she seemed to be stuck working overtime a lot.

This is also proven by how scattered her inscriptions are throughout Africa- there are only few given, and most of them are in vastly different areas, giving light to the idea that her cult was widespread but decentralized. And yes, it was a cult, not a formalized religion, as her worship was incredibly sparse. She was revered by many names and even more traditions, including a northern Arabian tribe known as the Qedarites, the widespread peoples of the Nabataeans, and even those residing within the largest Parthian city of its time, Hatra. A lost city known as Iram of the Pillars was also a home of Alilat worship, with them having erected a temple that has now been buried beneath the sands- tragically, all that has been left was a few pillars and a crumbled statue of a lion, but accounts and some small inscriptions on the inside of the temple revealed that it originally had a gorgeous statue of Alilat inside, resembling none other than Athena.

Unfortunately, as time went on, the temple fell into disrepair, having been the target of an attack from Greek forces, then utterly demolished in the fourth century by Christian mobs. You can read more about it on the blog I linked above. However, in terms of Mythology, there's still a bit more to go. Al-Lat wasn't just the deity of a cult, but also appears in Islamic tradition as well, fulfilling a similar purpose to Ba'al in some respects as a false god, though one depicted far more sympathetically. In some retellings, she's not even that, and is instead a daughter of Allah, or even a consort of his in others. Alilat was also the subject of the infamous Satanic Verses incident, something that is beyond the scope of this post, but is an incredibly interesting (and kinda hilarious) rabbit hole to dig through.

In the Book of Idols, an encyclopedia on pre-islamic religion in Africa written by scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, it's written that a group of the Quraysh would chant a set of verses celebrating al-Lat, al-'Uzza, and Manat, of which al-Lat is our subject of interest. A common translation purports the word used to refer to them as a collective, gharaniq, to mean "Most exalted females," but this is hotly debated. Again, see the Satanic Verses incident. Lastly, she is mentioned in the Quran, albeit rarely, and, again, as the subject of the Satanic Verses incident. This is starting to feel like the noodle incident of this post.

I wish I could've shown her uncensored design, but alas, I have no idea if it'd pass the 'Female presenting nipple' guideline, but take it from me when I say that Alilat has an amazing design. Combining her esoteric and hard to sort through lore with her role as a mother goddess was a great call, as it makes her both unique and almost unsettling, even in this series rife with body horror. Even the titties, which I normally see no real point in having on a lot of designs and just feel like gratuitous fanservice (cough cough LAMIA) serve a purpose, as what does a mother do but breastfeed? The idea to portray her almost like a piece of art on a bizarre, floating obelisk was such a cool concept, and it was done perfectly.

Eisheth Zenunim - Lilith

Eisheth Zenunim - Lilith comes with serpents and lions.

-In this sense she resembles Kadesh, the Canaanite goddess of sacred ecstasy and sexual pleasure who presided over sacred prostitution of the ancient world.

-Her temple is the Cave of Gamaliel, where she sits on the throne of stone, naked, with legs spread, her left hand down between her legs in continuous act of pleasuring herself.

-In the right hand she holds the Grail that contains both Essence of sexual chemistry of the Serpent and the Nectar of Resurrection.

-Her hair writhes like serpents.

-Menstrual blood flows from her womb onto the floor, and she has a beautiful face in expression of everlasting ecstasy.

-The blood flowing between her legs is red, but when it drops on the ground, it becomes black and poisonous.

-She invites visitors to drink the elixir from her Cup and to anoint their bodies with her in order to awaken the ecstasy of transformation through her sacred and obscene mysteries.

-She welcomes the sacrifice of sexual fluids, and they all should be offered in rituals through which she is summoned.

-In the case of female practitioners, the most valued offering is menstrual blood.

Source: Book Lilith Dark Feminine Archetype

Abn Iiblis

Herodotus, the Histories

Litanies of Lady Death - A Devotion to Eisheth Zenunim lilith.

I wrote this for Eisheth Zenunim - Lilith

-Death is as red as a rose.

-She wears a cloak of flame.

-She holds a poisoned sword.

-Life clings to her, Like an infant hugging her neck.

-She cradles him And sings him to sleep.

-She is called a “princess” Because she comes for us all, And all of us must pay her price.

-She is the Devil’s bride, The Queen of Queens— And she sits beside the Satan.

-She is drunk on the blood of saints.

-Even the chaste faint away at her kiss.

-She is Mystery,The Satan---Abominations are her best - loved.

-She is adorned with many jewels, With tattered silk, and tarnished ornaments of gold.

-She is voluptuous, feasting on flesh, And fecund with all the small crawling things To which death gives and life.

-Her hair, as cool as earth.

-The serpent encircles her throat.

-She always weeps but always smiles.

-Because of her, nobody dies alone.

-She bears the scythe.

-And she is called the End of Flesh, And the End of All Days; that it! she reaps the pure and the impure, Weaving all into her vesture of flame.

-You are the source of inspiration and strength

Hail Lil, be thou adored!

Abn Iiblis