An Interview with Anya Kless, author of “Lilith: Queen of the Desert”

Galina: How does your work with Lilith impact your spirituality?

Anya: Lilith keeps me grounded in regular acts of devotion and service. Perhaps because She’s been in my life the longest, I make Her regular offerings and tend to Her altar at least once a week. As I mentioned earlier, She also helps me find my own strength and my own voice. She spurs me to stand up for myself, for what is Just, and for work that needs to be done.

Of my Gods, She has also given me the most difficult work (thus far). As Her priestess, I have had to hold mirrors up to people to show them parts of themselves they refuse to claim. I often have to point out to people their own responsibility for their current situation. It’s a Tough Love ministry.
Galina: Do you find any type of conflict in serving both Her and Odin?

Anya: Initially, I did struggle with this, although that struggle stemmed from my own preconceptions about Lilith and Odin rather than a conflict between the Gods themselves. Being claimed by Odin happened very quickly, and a lot of it felt like it happened without my consent. (I have since learned that consent as a concept is much trickier–much more beside the point–than I understood at the time) Part of me felt that Odin was stealing me from Lilith, and this caused me to be somewhat outraged. As an unabashed feminist, who had left the patriarchal structures of Catholicism in my teens to embrace a Goddess-centered spirituality, being claimed by a male deity (much less as His wife) was just about the last thing I expected or thought I wanted. Considering Lilith’s history of unfair treatment at the hands of male gods, my love for Her made me feel as if She had been cheated yet again.

What I came to realize is that Lilith had negotiated this relationship with Odin, and She in no way needed my misplaced rage to protect Her. Speaking with Her one evening, by the light of a single candle, I learned that not only did She approve, but that I was getting what She had never had: a relationship with a god I loved. In the case of Her relationship with Yahweh, that had been denied Her. It was either Adam or exile.

Continued —>