paghat
2003-11-05 19:57:27 UTC
Lailah, the Angel of Night, is commonly regarded in Jewish myth as
male [Niddah 16b; Sanhedrin 96a], but the name is feminine & patently
a name of Lilith, or equivalent to the Greek Goddess Nyx. (As a male
angel the name would be Leliel, but several midrashim nevertheless
identify "him" as having the female name sometimes accompanied a la
Samael by his bride Lilith. In any case, though he or she is an Angel
of Darkness, with demonic propensities, this is not a fallen angel,
but is among the heavenly hosts).
Whenever a woman was about to conceive, Lailah intercepted the sperm
and delivered it to God, who decided its fate & sex, investing it with
a soul before Lailah put the sperm into the womb [Jerahmeel 9:1]. This
reflects Lilith's Artemis-like policies over pregnant women &
children, for Artemis decided which
children would be blessed with long life, and which would be slain
with arrows; & which pregnancies would be easy, or which would be
painful or deadly. Lilith is generally recalled for her child-eating
qualities alone, but an Aramaic incantation survives in which Lilith
is magically impressed into the duty of protecting the child's bed.
Lailah's role in intercepting sperm occurs in Lilith's mythology when
she is regarded as the Supernal Midwife who mischievously swaps souls
in the Hall of Changes, causing, for a chief example, the infant Jacob
to be born after his twin Esau.
Lailah occurs in Moslem poetic legends as "the Beauty of the Moon,"
and the highest ranking Peri (a female jinn or celestial fairy). In
Arabic the name still means "Night" but has taken on connotation of
the Moon, & of the conubial palace (or bed). Her name meant "Tulip" in
Persia, & was a nice way to say vagina.
Lailah's beauty resembles that of Allah, but it is regarded as a great
error to mistake her for God, because her beauty waxes and wanes,
while Allah's is constant. When her face turns black, she is most
certainly to be feared. The crescent moon is regarded as Lailah's
litter, upon which those enslaved by her must hold her aloft, but
others say the crescent moon is Lailah's foot-stirrup. Her name was
given to a beautiful Moslem maiden, the romance of Lailah and Majnun
being the Sufi Romeo and Juliet. There are essentially two takes on
this Romance, depending on the poet. To Hafiz, Lailah nearly
symbolizes the divine realm and is the True Beloved (God) whom Majnun
seeks to distraction with singleminded merit, but Rumi takes the
commoner tact, supposing Lailah is the Beloved but not the True
Beloved who is only Allah; rather, Lailah is the material world, and
Majnun, misguided by his passion, brought himself to ruin. This mortal
Lailah is ultimately the same as the immortal Peri, a beautiful
demoness who leads humanity astray then punishes them for such
weakness, or the Peri-faced Beloved who is Allah in the form of an
irresistable virgin, of whom Hafiz said, "A hundred of your
punishments I will bear, to experience once your fluttering glance."
To sufis the mystical quest is itself personified as a beautiful woman
named Laila. When Muhammad al-Harraq said "You seek Laila, but she is
within you" this would would seem to name the Soul, but here Laila is
regarded as the Spirit within Matter, & "she" is the equivalent of a
visit to the Kaaba at Mecca. The Kaaba is said to mark the burial
place of Hagar the Egyptian, & before the arrival of Mohammed was
sacred to the Sun-mother Allatu (who ruled the land of the dead by
night, the land of the living by day). Identifying the Kaaba with such
female figures as Hagar & Laila perhaps echoes some lingering bit of
pre-Islamic faith.
Laila also occurs in Hindu religion as an erotic goddess & protectress
of courtesans, but is a frank cooptation of the Islamic peri; Islam's
Laila & Majnun are the same as the indic Radha & Krishna.
© paghat the ratgirl
male [Niddah 16b; Sanhedrin 96a], but the name is feminine & patently
a name of Lilith, or equivalent to the Greek Goddess Nyx. (As a male
angel the name would be Leliel, but several midrashim nevertheless
identify "him" as having the female name sometimes accompanied a la
Samael by his bride Lilith. In any case, though he or she is an Angel
of Darkness, with demonic propensities, this is not a fallen angel,
but is among the heavenly hosts).
Whenever a woman was about to conceive, Lailah intercepted the sperm
and delivered it to God, who decided its fate & sex, investing it with
a soul before Lailah put the sperm into the womb [Jerahmeel 9:1]. This
reflects Lilith's Artemis-like policies over pregnant women &
children, for Artemis decided which
children would be blessed with long life, and which would be slain
with arrows; & which pregnancies would be easy, or which would be
painful or deadly. Lilith is generally recalled for her child-eating
qualities alone, but an Aramaic incantation survives in which Lilith
is magically impressed into the duty of protecting the child's bed.
Lailah's role in intercepting sperm occurs in Lilith's mythology when
she is regarded as the Supernal Midwife who mischievously swaps souls
in the Hall of Changes, causing, for a chief example, the infant Jacob
to be born after his twin Esau.
Lailah occurs in Moslem poetic legends as "the Beauty of the Moon,"
and the highest ranking Peri (a female jinn or celestial fairy). In
Arabic the name still means "Night" but has taken on connotation of
the Moon, & of the conubial palace (or bed). Her name meant "Tulip" in
Persia, & was a nice way to say vagina.
Lailah's beauty resembles that of Allah, but it is regarded as a great
error to mistake her for God, because her beauty waxes and wanes,
while Allah's is constant. When her face turns black, she is most
certainly to be feared. The crescent moon is regarded as Lailah's
litter, upon which those enslaved by her must hold her aloft, but
others say the crescent moon is Lailah's foot-stirrup. Her name was
given to a beautiful Moslem maiden, the romance of Lailah and Majnun
being the Sufi Romeo and Juliet. There are essentially two takes on
this Romance, depending on the poet. To Hafiz, Lailah nearly
symbolizes the divine realm and is the True Beloved (God) whom Majnun
seeks to distraction with singleminded merit, but Rumi takes the
commoner tact, supposing Lailah is the Beloved but not the True
Beloved who is only Allah; rather, Lailah is the material world, and
Majnun, misguided by his passion, brought himself to ruin. This mortal
Lailah is ultimately the same as the immortal Peri, a beautiful
demoness who leads humanity astray then punishes them for such
weakness, or the Peri-faced Beloved who is Allah in the form of an
irresistable virgin, of whom Hafiz said, "A hundred of your
punishments I will bear, to experience once your fluttering glance."
To sufis the mystical quest is itself personified as a beautiful woman
named Laila. When Muhammad al-Harraq said "You seek Laila, but she is
within you" this would would seem to name the Soul, but here Laila is
regarded as the Spirit within Matter, & "she" is the equivalent of a
visit to the Kaaba at Mecca. The Kaaba is said to mark the burial
place of Hagar the Egyptian, & before the arrival of Mohammed was
sacred to the Sun-mother Allatu (who ruled the land of the dead by
night, the land of the living by day). Identifying the Kaaba with such
female figures as Hagar & Laila perhaps echoes some lingering bit of
pre-Islamic faith.
Laila also occurs in Hindu religion as an erotic goddess & protectress
of courtesans, but is a frank cooptation of the Islamic peri; Islam's
Laila & Majnun are the same as the indic Radha & Krishna.
© paghat the ratgirl