“MEETING LILITH, THE FIRST WOMAN and amulets to counter Her, borne of patriarchal fears & rabbinic fantasies”

with D’vorah J. Grenn

Thursday,  November 19, 2026 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time  

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In Lilith, the first mythological woman before Eve, we see the power of an archetype. The change in public perception of Lilith as a Mesopotamian goddess, to someone later painted as a demonic figure, came about as patriarchy took root; her portrayal grew worse over time. However, starting in the last third of the 20th Century many returned to seeing Lilith as a goddess, as a positive feminist role model, or as a paradoxical figure embodying some of our best and worst qualities.  

As we’ll see, through literature and amuletic images starting in the 2nd  millennium BCE, Lilith was once a deity on whom women could call for protection during pregnancy, childbirth and at other times. But Her later image became that of a child-stealing witch, a succubus, one who made children sick, or worse. Did both women and men support the demonized version of Her?  

Today some still envision Lilith as a negative force; for others, She personifies self-sovereignty, and a free-thinking, sexually autonomous being. However we picture Her, Lilith remains alive in our imaginations, in popular culture, in art, writing, film, music, across the globe. She leads us to question authority and the status quo. That is Her power.

D’vorah J. Grenn, Ph.D is a Yoreshet/lineage holder of a female Kabbalist tradition, En-Kohenet/priestess and ordained Mashpi’ah/spiritual guide. She founded The Lilith Institute (1997), co-directed the Women’s Spirituality MA Program at ITP/Sofia University and has taught at Napa Valley College and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on women’s rituals, feminist thealogy and philosophies, sacred arts and literature, and Jewish mysticism. She co-teaches on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life with Reb Nadya Gross; they recently co-produced their second symposium, “Wisdom of the Mothers: Honoring Our Ancestral Roots” and will offer a “Wisdom of the Mothers: Sacred Arts, Embodied Knowing” Virtual Symposium on May 16-17, 2027.

 D’vorah’s publications include: Lilith’s Fire: Reclaiming our Sacred Lifeforce; Talking to Goddess, an anthology of writings from 72 women in 25 traditions; “Lilith’s Fire: Examining Original Sources of Power”, Feminist Theology Journal; Jewish priestess and Lilith entries in Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions; “For She Is A Tree of Life: Shared Roots Connecting Women to Deity”, her dissertation on beliefs and rituals among U.S. and South African Lemba women of Jewish ancestry, and “Spiritual Brokenness and Healing Presence of the Sacred Feminine”, FEMSPEC feminist journal. She has been a guest on podcasts including the Revelation Podcast Project and Breaking Down Patriarchy; was a featured speaker in the “Crones, Hags and Elder Wise Women” Summit, and co-hosted 50 episodes of the “Tending Lilith’s Fire” broadcast with Kohenet Annie Matan.

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This Salon recording will also be available to members when processed after the event.