Reflections on the name "Lilith"[Spoilers]

[100%牧草飼育牛乳]

I'm choosing to put the spoiler warning here and in the thread title rather than spoiler tag the entire post, which would make it cumbersome to read as I've got the feeling it's going to become quite long. If you haven't completed the game yet and somehow ignored the warning in the title, then I say again, please don't read any further.

It's a pretty interesting choice, and one that must have been intentional. If you're here reading this and interested in this type of game, you're probably aware that the mythological Lilith was, the story goes, the first wife of Adam, who unlike Eve was created from the same dirt as Adam, rather than Adam's rib. Believing this made her his equal, she was banished from the Garden of Eden for refusing to accept her "natural"(biggest scare quotes ever) role as a woman and submit to Adam. In some sources, she is also a female demon or a succubus, who either steals male infants away, or murders them in their cribs while they sleep.

Our Lilith, being a tulpa, in a way was also created from the same "dirt" of our mind as the being we perceive as "us" is, and also in a way has equal status as an inhabitant of our mind as "we" do. In the Heart Sutra, the Bodhisattva Kanseon(also known in Sanskrit as Avalokiteshvara, but for convenience and ease of pronunciation I'll be using her Japanese name from here on[also another interesting parallel given Kanseon's nature as a female deity and a goddess of mercy and compassion, but also of wrath; more on that later]) declares something that our Lilith also touches on, which is the idea that objects, phenomena, and even people possess no independent nature, no true "self", as things can only be defined in relation to other things, concepts can only be defined by recursively referring to other concepts, which themselves must also then be defined in the same way, with no "end" or "bottom. If the "self" through which we consciously perceive reality is devoid of independent existence and is merely the product of the five aggregates, then our Lilith herself, as a conscious and autonomous being dwelling within our minds, is no more "real" or "fictional" than we ourselves are. I also think this parallel too must be intentional, given Kanseon's status within Tibetan Buddhism, and the practice of creating tulpas also originating within Tibetan Buddhism.

The mythological Lilith was created to be a companion for Adam, to give and receive his love; our Lilith was also created to be the embodiment of the love we desperately wished to give and to receive. As the absolute ruler of our "kingdom" of loyal subjects(read: furniture) who created her out of the "dirt" of our mind, and as a lonely man desiring companionship, our role in the existence of our Lilith is similar to that of both Adam and the Abrahamic God at once. The mythological Lilith either steals male infants away to her own realm, or smothers them in their cribs, which as we can see from the BAD END, is one way of interpreting our Lilith's actions. Her existence, her unconditional acceptance of us, makes us unable to function in the real world of conditional, transactional relationships; we fail to thrive, fail to leave our crib, she has stolen us away from the real world and back to her own realm.

The BAD END is us mistaking her compassion for wrath and lashing out at her, much like a scared animal caught in a hunter's trap might attack the very person trying to free it. Concepts such as "compassion" and "wrath", being only able to be defined in relation to each other and to other concepts, are necessarily contained within each other. As a product of our mind and our subjective perceptions, when we start to perceive her as a Mythological Lilith, as a female demon come to smother us in our crib before we've ever had the chance to thrive, that is what she becomes to us. Much like the mythological Lilith, her supposed failure to live up to our expectations of her makes her evil in our eyes.

On the other hand, my interpretation of the GOOD END is of us realizing and accepting that as a conscious, autonomous being possessed of the five aggregates, our Lilith is just as "real" (or just as "fictional") as we are, coming to terms with the reasons we created her, accepting her unconditional compassion, allowing her to free us from our self-imposed hunter's trap. As a being of unconditional love and compassion, she also makes sure to remind us that she'll always be there if we ever start to falter....

Finally, in the neutral end, I interpreted it as our original consciousness becoming walled off and replaced with hers, essentially trading places and roles with her. We become the mythological Lilith, and as the Abrahamic God as well, we banish ourselves from our own kingdom of furniture, we exile ourselves from Eden, for the crime of failing to live up to the role that was meant to be natural to us. We become Lilith, and Lilith becomes Eve, our replacement, someone better suited than us to the role that we were originally meant to fill.

Anyway Lilith is very very cute and we should love her and be nice to her and give her strawberry cakes.

[『Mr.Lucky』]

Well said

[taiki.chr]

The best thing i have read here on steam

[Kayden Breaker]

That's really interesting theory about lilith connecting with the endings

[bonehrust]

Hey. Is it alright if I incorporate this in my video on this game? I will cite my sources of course, but this analysis is just awesome, and I think it’s very concise, while also offering actual relevant and meaningful insight.

[100%牧草飼育牛乳]

I don't mind, sounds cool

[СКУФЁНЫШ]

You're literally a genius, my friend. Thank you for your work, it's really a good theory. I need to play this game again, keeping in mind your words

[NotPenny]

i never expected going from strawberry cake girl to mythological things i cant understand

[Naia24]

damn

[ああああ]

This is very well done. I only have a tulpamancy perspective, but the name "Lilith" was clearly a mythological allusion.