Jewish Tales of the Supernatural

Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural by Howard Schwartz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Asmodeus and Lilith are the crown regent of the sitra achra or the other side. They rule over all the demon. Both King an Queen are spoken of quite frequently in Jewish literature. Asmodeus threw King Solomon out of his palace and too, his place for a number of years. Lilith rebelled against Adams superiority trip and fled the Garden of Eden. She gives birth to demons. I legend she seduces men and kills children unless they are protected with a certain amulet.

This book is a collection of 50 stories regarding the supernatural, collected from the Jews in Europe and from Jewish communes in the Middle East . In these stories Rabbis serve as powerful magicians doing battle against demons, supernatural creatures and other sorcerers . These Rabbis cast circle on the ground , see into the future, raise the dead and caste spell. A good number of stories include Asmodeus and Lilith. In one story a gold smith is about to die in the forest and in order to survive he makes a deal with Asmodeus. He marries his daughter and she lives in the cellar of the goldsmiths shop. He frequent her there and they even have kids. After The affair is discovered. The demon goddess lives there with the offspring until generations later rabbis compel then to leave. In another story Lilith or Queen Sheba seduces a man and lives in siniliar circumstance .

I enjoyed reading this collection and finished it in two days. Th stories pull motifs from Jewish sources like the bible, Talmud and Kabbalah . Yet they also draw from Faery lore. You have women marrying demons and then living with them at the bottom of the ocean. Lots of Faery kings have seduced many a human in so a fashion. In one story two friend are reunited after one dies. They study Torah for a few hours, but the passes quickly and 150 years go by. In the Faery world time moves in such a fashion.


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