Lilith is a vampire spirit. But, like the other fallen threshold guardians, that’s not the only way to describe her or her sole function. She’s also associated with night, the grave, and dispossession.

When she wears the face of Anat, she also claims sovereignty of appointed time. Although Anat is often termed a ‘war goddess’, she never leads an army but simply revels in vindictive violence and wanton massacre. She’s a berserker, not a commander. Some of the Pharaohs, notably Rameses the Great, invoked her as a protector in battle.

Lilith’s occult specialty is necromancy—both in the sense of death magic as well as those dark arts connected with the grave, communication with the dead and trying to obtain a mantle from a deceased celebrity.

Lilith’s name is, rather curiously, related to the word lullaby. Or perhaps not so curiously, since some of the oldest lullabies in the world were designed to ward off her Mesopotamian face—Lamashtu.

Although Lilith’s name occurs only once in Scripture, there are placenames associated with her through night—Luz, for example, which was the original name of Bethel. This locality was the threshold linking heaven and earth, a ‘thin place’ where Jacob had a dream in the night of a ramp used by a multitude of angels. Although Luz is usually translated almond, it is also nightfall—from a sense of light twisting away.  Bethel is also connected with this spirit through Anat-Bethel, a deity who witnessed a treaty between Assyria and Tyre.

As Anat, Lilith claims to have conquered every major spirit from Leviathan to Death. This boast might seem strange given that Leviathan, like Lilith, is a threshold guardian and that should make them natural allies. However, this is not the case. Only their common fear that we humans will listen to God closely enough to pass over into our calling causes them to put aside their mutual hostility for one another. We are a massive threat to them. They know that, when we do achieve our calling, we will be given the authority to judge them. They also know that, according to Psalm 82, we can only render one verdict: they must reap what they have sown and since they’ve caused mankind to lose immortality, so they in turn must lose it.

That’s why they so fiercely oppose us.

Lilith’s most significant tactic is blocking a person’s ability to properly process shame, thus paving the way for narcissism.

God makes us a promise: Those who believe will never be put to shame. That’s the inscription on the new Cornerstone He pledges to give us. But the pledge is not unconditional. We need to repent of false refuges, renounce our covenants with Death and the grave. Only when they have been annulled are we ready for a new Cornerstone.

It’s unwise to do this hastily. Because the other translation of the inscription is: Those who believe will not be in haste.

This is Grace Drops and I’m Anne Hamilton. May Jesus of Nazareth be your only Cornerstone.

Thank you to Lorna Skinner of www.riversofmusic.co.uk for the background music.

Understanding false refuges is the single most important step towards dealing with the obstacles barring you from coming into your calling. Hidden in the Cleft explains false refuges in more detail and is available as a paperback or an ebook.