#naamah

[valentinemesis]

capitulate to pleasure

[jollmaster]

design trivia: Naamah

° the third of four wives by seniority, but the fourth is actually

° Adam's great(n times)-granddaughter on Cain's side, so technically Lucifer is also his grandson-in-law

° bright red hair

° likes to wear jewelry

° worshipped lesser deities and spirits in her lifetime, never was married

° the only one of the four who relived the first death: she was taken by water

° the first Tainted (she was hungry, angry and attacked by a flesh demon)

° taken as a wife mainly for musical and singing talents and to complete lucky number (she's infertile after first death)

° Lilith was jealous at first, but soon realized that Naamah didn't want to hurt her status, and they quickly became besties

main gang: Vaggie, Charlie, Angel Dust, Niffty, sir Pentious, Cherri Bomb, Husk, Alastor (+ as humans)

Heaven: Adam, Eve, Lute, Emily, Sera

Adam and Eve's children: Cain, Abel, Seth, Awan, Azura

Hell: Lilith, Lucifer, Seviathan, Helsa, Razzle and Dazzle, Keekee

Sins: Asmodeus [Lust], Beelzebub [Gluttony], Satan [Wrath], Mammon [Greed], Belphegor [Sloth]

Lucifer's wives: Eisheth Zenunim, Agrat bat Mahlat

Vees: Vox, Valentino, Velvette

overlords: Zestial, Rosie, Carmilla Carmine, Odette and Clara, Flaming Skull Guy

friends and relatives: Mimzy, Arackniss, Molly, Alastor's mom, Alastor's father

[sonicspeeddemon]

[eirikrjs]

Thinking Beyond Replacement

The new Lilith reveal when Vengeance was announced led to another stupid & frankly outdated thought: "why design a new look for a classic SMT demon that's still popular when the new is functionally identical to the old?"

This thought nevertheless got me curious, so i made the Qadistu quartet edits seen above. I've become pro-Doi Lilith for the following reasons:

Kaneko is super dead now that he left Atlus. It's time to move on for real. I'm especially talking to myself.

the palettes of Eisheth Zenunim, Agrat bat Mahlat, and Naamah aren't dissimilar to the Amemiya or Kaneko Liliths, so they would still look fairly cohesive even with the latter. But Lilith is still the leader of the Qadistu and her bubblegum pink hair makes her pop out among them.

However, I think it's undeniable that Doi designed the Qadistu as a unit, combining, as he says, "beauty and ugliness." All 4 have grotesque features and I particularly like Lilith's bony joint aberrations:

There's just a level of cohesion usually only a single artist can lend to such a related/thematic assemblage; I'm also pretty positive on Naamah; even if her purpose in the Qadistu might just be to breast boobily, she's a demon I've wanted in SMT for a long time and i think her design delivers.

I'm not as hot on Agrat bat Mahlat, she reminds me of Ranni for some reason; I just think the "dark witch" motif is a little derivative but at least she adds variety to the group. The most notable thing about her to me is that her red eyes make it look like she's been doing some heavy dabbing in the sweet leaf. Eisheth Zenunim I'm pretty neutral about.

Last point on accepting change, as sad as that sounds to say (but it totally is what's necessary):the 4 Qadistu are the wives of Samael, and so the new Lilith is still wrapped by a snake--a red snake, the same color Samael has always been in Kaneko's designs. While it seems a given Samael will be involved in the story eventually, it would also mean he will have a new design, and probably not a snake, or at least something more involved. I also imagine Lilith's snake having a role in cutscenes--further necessitating the need for an all-new design/model.

Also, i totally expect there to be some classic SMT comparative etymological conflation bullshit with Samael this time around, because "Samael" is one of the alternate names of Yaldabaoth. And oh yeah, Sophia is the mother of the demiurge and in vanilla she called herself a sacred prostitute:

So expect her involvement, too. I'm honestly pretty excited for Vengeance! It's coming out at a great time for me, I think it'll be doable for me one-handed,Doi's new designs I would put on a Kaneko quality scale of somewhere between SMT2 and Devil Summoner, and vanilla SMT5 was so low impact, the only place it can go now is up!

[sageofanys]

The four wives of Samael – Qadištu –

[paraseleneblur]

I love SMT 5 vengeance it is a good game

[31231016]

[aerithcloud]

I like how the Qadištu only ever manage to charm female party members. They're for the sapphic gaze.

[kastillia]

Will you scream for me?

[malky-tea]

Of course, I couldn't resist putting them together…

The First House. Heralds. House of the Dawn. Namaru. Devils.

Nusku | Qingu | Bel

[weisart20]

[skullcula]

quick and sloppy naamah

[catulhu333]

Demon WLW in Kabbalah

(note: this contains controversial topics)

As Lilith is now again more on people's minds, as are to a lesser degree the 3 other Demon Queens/Angels of Prostitution (them thanks to the soon coming out Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance and maybe Majo Taisen), I wanted to bring up something about them, that is oddly obscure and underused.

Specifically that in Kabbalist texts, 3 of them (Lilith, Agrat bat Mahlat and Naamah) are characterized as Women Loving Women (WLW).

Lets first discuss the less controversial Agrat bat Mahlat and Naamah, who are described (seemingly) as lovers in Rabbi's Naftali Hertz's "Sefer Emek haMelech":

"Asimon (a demon) rides on Naamah, and Naamah rides on Igrath the daughter of Mahalath, and this Igrath rides on several kinds of spirits and bands of midday-demons;"

("Igrath daughter of Mahalath" is another possible spelling/transliteration as well as partial translation of Agrat bat Mahlat from Hebrew)

To be clear, the term "ride" is used in Kabbalah seems to be a synonym for sexual relationships among demons. The most (in)famous example is Samael "riding" Lilith ("The serpent, Lilith, is ridden by Samael").

Now to Lilith herself...in the Zohar (one of the foundations of Kabbalah), Lilith is described as lusting after and possibly being in love with both Adam and Eve:

"When He created Adam, in order to perfect this world, as soon as Lilith saw Eve affixed to the side of Adam, and saw in them the beauty of the Above, and saw their perfect image, she flew off from there and wanted, as before to attach herself to the little faces. But the guardians of the gates of Above did not Let her."

It also seems Lilith managed to later seduce not only Adam, but also Eve herself. But first to explain some things. As I mentioned above, in the Zohar, Samael isn't really the Serpent of Eden, he just rides it/her, the Serpent being Lilith ("We have learned that the Spirit of Defilement comes from the corrupt serpent, WHICH IS LILIT"). And well, Lilith/the Serpent of Eden is described to have sexually seduced Eve:

"After Adam and his wife sinned, and the serpent had intercourse with Eve and injected filth into her, Eve bore Cain. He had the shape from above and FROM below in the secret of the filth of the Other Side, and from the side below OF THE EXTERNAL FORCES. Therefore, he was the first to bring death into the world, caused by his side, AS HE CAME OF THE FILTH OF THE SERPENT."

This is also repeated in the mentioned above Sefer Emek haMelech:

And the Serpent, the Woman of Harlotry, incited and seduced Eve through the husks of Light which in itself is holiness. And the Serpent seduced Holy Eve, and enough said for him who understands. An all this ruination came about because Adam the first man coupled with Eve while she was in her menstrual impurity -- this is the filth and the impure seed of the Serpent who mounted Eve before Adam mounted her.

("Woman of Harlotry" is a title of Lilith)

And yeah, it means Lilith is described as Cain's "father". (And sometimes also kinda Abel's). Though this is complicated as other parts of the Zohar state Samael is Cain's father, but at other times he is specifically not, only Lilith/the Serpent is. And sometimes Adam, Lilith/the Serpent and Samael are all Cain's "fathers" (meaning the guy somehow had 4 parents). Though this version more suggests Lilith and/or Samael somehow "polluted" Cain in the womb (when seducing Eve), hence they are also his "parents".

One might ask how this can be the case with Lilith, Agrat and Naamah being described as engaging in sexual acts and relationships with other women? Well, it's because it's portrayed as sinful, (in the eyes of the writers) as part of the three's sexual perversion, with the three being succubi, even their queens. This is another reason I described this as controversial, and wasn't sure to post it on June/Pride Month. Still, I think there is a lot of value with making this more known, and one can say Lilith, Agrat and Naamah can be reclaimed.

Why isn't this well known? Well, works of Kabbalah were not easily available in past, especially translated from Hebrew and Aramaic , there often being mostly excerpts or summaries in books describing them. And the authors of these, often overlooked or downplayed the WLW aspects, due to them being even more controversial in the past, due to greater homophobia then. This also why Lilith, Naamah and Agrat being WLW was not often or at all used in fiction.

Still, I hope people reading these found it interesting, and I apologize though if it was offensive for others.

[malak-ballari]

ᗰOTᕼEᖇ | ᗰIᖇᖇOᖇ

I was excited for these prompts by @ultrainfinitepit and Sanctas Seraphina because they perfectly fit for Na’amah, my pretty tainted angel boy.

Na’amah is described as the ‘mother of all demons’ who’s name translates to ‘pleasing’. More often than not, Na’amah is depicted as a female demon or fallen angel responsible for birthing most of the demons in Hell.

My characterization of Na’amah frequently gets annoyed with the misconception that he is female, and even capable of being a mother. In reality, he’s just a very effeminate fallen angel who’s a bit too into his looks. He often mocks the title of ‘mother of all demons’ and tries to laugh it off.

[paraseleneblur]

If I was in Da'at nobody could stop me

[vixxenlove98]

I believe in the strength of femininity.

How can I look at Lilith, Naamah, Aphrodite, Hekate, Medusa, and all of the divine feminines and believe that women are weak and submissive.

If we’re made in the image of god then why would I not reflect the strength of my mothers? There is beauty and softness in femininity but there is also strength.