Lilith

Paula Cole

Shawn Colvin

We discussed The Red Tent at my book club on Tuesday. One of the new members mentioned a book similar to The Red Tent about other female characters from the Bible, one of them being Lila.

Sarah McLachlan

I’ve never heard of this particular character before and my first thought was the mythical first wife of Adam. The woman explained who Lila was (I don’t remember at the moment), and it was not who I thought. At the time, I couldn’t remember the name of the character I was thinking of. Had I stopped to think, I would have remembered Lilith Fair, named for the mythical Lilith.

Lilith

The legend is that Eve was not the first woman. Adam’s first wife, Lilith, left him because he wanted her to submit to him and she didn’t want to. At least, that is the Lilith Sarah McLachlan had in mind when she named her music festival: An all-female line-up to celebrate the strength of women.

Other accounts of Lilith say she was a demon or something similar. One interpretation I read says she was unfaithful to Adam with Satan and she left to mother a race of demon children with him.

Anyone who knows me will know I prefer McLachlan’s version. Lately, I’ve been listening a lot to artists who performed at Lilith Fair: McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole, Natalie Merchant. Their music, lyrics, the feel of their voices in my mind, washing over my whole self, put me in mind of strength, love and strong spirituality. The music makes me want to gather my closest girlfriends and go away somewhere to celebrate our shared gender and all it entails.

I’ve never thought of myself as a feminist, exactly. I certainly believe women should be allowed to make their own choices, have careers, not have to rely on men to take care of them, equal pay for equal work – all of that. What I don’t subscribe to are ideas such as, “If women ran the world, there would be peace and love and no war.” Human nature is what it is. Women can be and have been as brutal as men, historically. Sometimes more so.

Natalie Merchant

I’m not one of those brutal women. Perhaps that’s why I identify so much with these musical artists. While I play no instrument and my singing voice would cause even the most patient person to take off running for the hills, I am an artist in my own right. I was a ballerina for a time, and not so bad at it. I am a writer. Words on paper, to me, are equivalent to paint on a canvas. They present a picture in their own way.

In this way, I am about creation, as all artists are. And I think the mythological Lilith was, as well. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I just read that Lilith Fair will return in 2010. So far, the only dates I’ve seen are in Europe. If it comes anywhere near Florida, though, I will be there, even if I have to go alone.

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