Indie Film Awards

Dear Lilith is a cinematic love letter from the Archangel Samael to the Goddess Lilith and her many incarnations and manifestations. In the first minute I hope the audience very quickly recognizes that they are about to watch a film quite unlike anything they have seen before.

Lilith is deeply tied to my spiritual journey and my even deeper connection to her eternal consort, the Archangel Samael. Four years ago I survived a trip to the emergency room with pneumonia, and though I did not experience a physical death, I did experience apowerful death of the Ego which led to an Out of Body Experience that changed my entire life and my world. Since that time, I have had many encounters with otherworldly beings, angels, goddesses, and other entities. Lilith has been a powerful guide to me, and youcould even say we have helped each other quite a bit. In the midst of all of this, my wife Sarah (who is featured in Dear Lilith in several scenes) and I have had to deal with our own share of struggles as we battled to maintain our sanity and the wholeness of our relationship in a world that seeks to tear good things apart at every turn. More than anything else this film was made as a dedication of my love to her in particular, and to celebrate everything that it is that makes the Divine Feminine divine.

In the light of modern culture, the “Dark Feminine” represents those aspects of femininity which are shamed, devalued, denounced, or controlled. Throughout the whole of recorded human history we have lived in simultaneous awe and fear of the Divine Feminine. In ancient Egypt they revered her as the Goddess Isis. Eventually the qualities of Isis that were once celebrated as divine came to be seen as evil and shameful. Women who connected with nature and who owned the power of their own sexuality were labeled as witches and burned for it. That is one reason why I named this film “Dear Lilith, I Love You” because I wanted women who see this film to remember that they are loved and appreciated for being who they are, even when it feels like they are living in a world that is trying to force them to be anything but who they really are.

I created this film almost as a happy accident. I had been experimenting with similar styles of animated films but I wanted to make something that really celebrated the Divine Feminine that wasn’t pushy and wasn’t expecting anything in return, just a message to say “I appreciate you”. As I began to blend the animations together in my editing studio, I added music to the tracks. The song choices became as critical to the film as any other piece, and in many cases the animations move in perfect synchronicity with the music, even matching the words of the songs. This was mostly serendipitous timing and it truly came to feel like there was “a ghost in the machine” (or perhaps several!) helping me to make this truly magical production.

There are in fact so many I could probably write several pages on each one, but if I had to pick 3 symbols that are key for me, first is the opening frame which is a depiction of the Amazon Queen Cyrene of Thessaly wrestling a lion as she was known to do. The depictionholds a very special significance to me for spiritual reasons which I will be divulging in depth in my upcoming comic book, The Lion of God #3 which will feature the tale of Cyrene. Another key symbol for me is the anchor image of Lilith gazing out at the audience with a neutral expression. This image is also straight out of my book, The Lion of God #1 with the words “For all my human life I had dreamed of her, but I didn’t understand why”. Lilith, you could say, has ‘haunted’ my dreams for a long time and it was very cathartic for me to be able to create the depiction of her, and then to create this film. Personally, I am also quite fond of the symbolism when we show the Mesopotamian stone relief of Inanna, who then comes alive and sprouts her glorious wings. To me this symbolizes how they tried to erase the divine feminine, but try as they may, she cannot be slain and will keep coming back.

I expect resonance, curiosity, and in some cases discomfort — which I see as part of the work. A misreading would be viewing the film as an attack rather than an invitation. It isn’t about opposition; it’s about reclamation.

Of course it goes without saying that many of the aspects of the Divine Feminine that are celebrated in this film, and Lilith in particular, have historically had their share of detractors. Lilith has been demonized by many for a very long time. Perhaps some of that wasdeserved, perhaps some was not. We are all here on this Earth learning how to live together and have been doing so for a very long time. I feel like this is stated well with the inclusion of the song “Maleficent” in the film’s third act. “You made me Maleficent” speaks to the idea that perhaps Lilith is seen as ‘demonic’ because she has been demonized, which she has, repeatedly, throughout history. That dynamic — of labeling what is feared or uncontrollable as evil — is precisely what this film is inviting the viewer to reconsider.

I don’t impose numerology — I listen for it. When patterns like 11:33 emerge organically, I treat them as confirmations rather than instructions. Synchronicity often guides timing, structure, and even when a piece feels complete. I am very well versed in the science of numerology and Gematria. The number 1133 holds special significance to Samael, and it is from his perspective that this film is told. The phrase “I AM the Archangel Samael, First Among Archangels” translates to 1133 in Hebrew Gematria. Hebrews 11:33 (NASB) is “Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions.” It is further interesting to note that Daniel 6:22 which the prior verse references directly does indeed say explicitly that it was an angel who shut the lions’ mouths. 1133 is woven into every work that I do with the Archangel Samael.

The Lion of God is a mythic comic series that features Samael as the main character. His muse, shadow, counterpart, and divine mirror is of course the Goddess Lilith so she is a critical part of his story, which is why she received her own splash page in the first book and what is (in my opinion) the best art piece from that book. The Lion of God will continue to explore the balance between shadow and light, good and evil, and yes, feminine and masculine. One of the taglines for my book is “An immortal love from beyond time and space.”  Dear Lilith represents the feminine pole within a broader exploration of duality, judgment, mercy, rebellion, and divine order. It’s a necessary counterbalance — honoring the feminine not as subordinate or chaotic, but as sovereign and essential.

Each song choice in Dear Lilith felt like the only natural choice once they were selected.  Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics was a perfect opener for the film as it celebrates all that we love about the Divine Feminine, whether we admit it or not. Indeed, sweet dreams are made of these. Next we follow with As Above, So Below by In this Moment, which starts at precisely 3:33 into the film by the way (touching again on the numerology question from earlier). This song choice really struck a chord with me because I am a student of the teachings of Thoth and the Hermetic Laws. I think it speaks to the fact that we are all mirrors of one another, as we treat others so shall we be treated. Women were burned and persecuted as witches for a very long time and this was considered (by some) as somehow acceptable. Even to this day there are some who think it was a good practice, I am sorry to say. As a man sows so also shall he reap. If we treat women poorly, we can expect poor treatment in return. I spoke about the song choice “Maleficent” in my response to question 6, so I won’t repeat that here but I will say that when I put the songs together and the run time almost naturally resolved to 11:33, I knew I had definitely made the correct choices.

Well for one thing, I really hope they will want to check out my comic book series, The Lion of God, and my other video content. But aside from that I hope it opens space for honest discussion about power, autonomy, the feminine, and spiritual sovereignty — especially where those conversations have been silenced or oversimplified. Ultimately, I hope the film invites viewers to reflect on their own relationship to power, agency, and sovereignty — and to decide for themselves what those ideas truly mean.