Succubus

A succubus (pl.: succubi) is a female demon or supernatural

entity in folklores who appears in dreams to seduce men, mostly
through sexual activity. According to some folklore, a succubus
needs male semen to survive; repeated sexual activity with a
succubus will result in a bond being formed between the succubus
and the person; and a succubus will drain or harm the man with
whom she is having intercourse.

In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a A depiction of a succubus in "My

beautiful seductress or enchantress, rather than as demonic or Dream, My Bad Dream" by Fritz
frightening to attract people instead of frighten. The male Schwimbeck, 1915

counterpart to the succubus is the incubus.

Etymology
The term derives from Late Latin succuba "paramour" from succubare "to lie beneath" (sub- "under" and
cubare "to lie"),[1] used to describe this being's implied sexual position relative to the sleeper's position.
The English word "succubus" dates from the late 14th century. The succubus is also known as the earth
wanderer.[2][3]

In folklore
As depicted in the Jewish mystical treatise Zohar and the medieval Jewish satirical text Alphabet of Ben
Sira, Lilith was Adam's first wife, who later became a succubus.[4][5] She left Adam and refused to return
to the Garden of Eden after she mated with the archangel Samael.[5] In Zoharistic Kabbalah, there were
four succubi who mated with the archangel Samael. The four original queens of the demons were Lilith,
Eisheth Zenunim, Agrat bat Mahlat, and Naamah.[6] A succubus may take a form of a beautiful woman,
but closer inspection may reveal deformities of her body, such as bird-like claws or serpentine tails.[7]
Folklore also describes men being forced to perform the act of cunnilingus. [8] In later folklore, a
succubus took the form of a siren.

Throughout history, priests and rabbis, including Hanina ben Dosa and Abaye, tried to curb the power of
succubi over humans.[9] However, not all succubi were malevolent. According to Walter Map in the satire
De nugis curialium (Trifles of Courtiers), Pope Sylvester II (999–1003) was allegedly involved with a
succubus named Meridiana, who helped him achieve his high rank in the Catholic Church. Before his
death, he confessed of his sins and died repentant.[10]
Ability to reproduce
According to the Kabbalah and the school of Rashba, the original three queens of the demons, Agrat bat
Mahlat, Naamah, Eisheth Zenunim, and all their cohorts give birth to children, except Lilith.[11]
According to other legends, the children of Lilith are called Lilin.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, or Witches' Hammer, written by Heinrich Kramer (Institoris) in
1486, succubi collect semen from men they seduce. Incubi, or male demons, then use the semen to
impregnate human females,[12] thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children, despite the
traditional belief that they were incapable of reproduction. Children so begotten—cambions—were
supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences.[13]

King James in his dissertation titled Dæmonologie refutes the possibility for angelic entities to reproduce
and instead offered a suggestion that a devil would carry out two methods of impregnating women - the
first, to steal the sperm out of a dead man and deliver it into a woman. If a demon could extract the semen
quickly, the substance could not be instantly transported to a female host, causing it to go cold. This
explains his view that succubi and incubi were the same demonic entity, only to be described differently
based on the tormented sexes being conversed with. The second method was the idea that a dead body
could be possessed by a devil, causing it to rise and have sexual relations with others. However, no
mention has been found of a female corpse being possessed to elicit sex from men.[14]

In non-Western literature

Buddhist canon
A Buddhist scripture regarding prayer to Avalokiteśvara, the Dharani Sutra of Amoghapāśa, promises to
those who pray that "you will not be attacked by demons who either suck your energy or make love to
you in your dreams."[15]

Arabian mythology
In Arabian mythology, the qarînah (‫ )قرينة‬is a spirit similar to the succubus, with origins possibly in
ancient Egyptian religion or in the animistic beliefs of pre-Islamic Arabia.[16] A qarînah "sleeps with the
person and has relations during sleep as is known by the dreams".[17] They are said to be invisible, but a
person with "second sight" can see them, often in the form of a cat, dog, or other household pet.[16] "In
Omdurman it is a spirit which possesses. ...Only certain people are possessed and such people cannot
marry or the qarina will harm them."[18]

In Upper Egyptian folk belief, the qarînah can be appeased by sacrificing an all-black animal to her. The
animal is slaughtered without prayers, and it is cooked without salt. No one speaks during the meal and it
is buried in the house of those it has afflicted.[19]
See also
List of mythological creatures
List of succubi in fiction

References
1. "Succuba" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/succuba). dictionary.com.
2. "succubus" (https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?q=succubus). Oxford English
Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution
membership (https://www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyourlibrary) required.)
3. Ha, Douglas. "Succubus" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=succubus). Online
Etymology Dictionary. "late 14c., alteration (after incubus, giving a masc. form to a word
generally felt as of female meaning) of Late Latin succuba"
4. Patai, Raphael (1990) [1967]. "Lilith" (https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0iRAwAAQBAJ&
pg=PA221). The Hebrew Goddess. Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and
Anthropology (3rd Enlarged ed.). Detroit: Wayne State University Press. pp. 221–251.
ISBN 978-0814322710. OCLC 20692501 (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/20692501).
5. Mcdonald, Beth E. (2009). "In Possession Of The Night: Lilith As Goddess, Demon,
Vampire" (https://books.google.com/books?id=-2tgt184wXkC&pg=PA173). In Sabbath,
Roberta Sternman (ed.). Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an As Literature
and Culture. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 173–182.
doi:10.1163/ej.9789004177529.i-536.42 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2Fej.9789004177529.i-53
6.42). ISBN 978-90-04-17752-9.
6. "Zohar: Chapter XXXII" (http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/zdm/zdm041.htm). Internet Sacred
Text Archive.
7. Davidson, Jane P. (2012). Early modern supernatural : the dark side of European culture,
1400–1700. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger. p. 40. ISBN 978-0313393433.
8. Guiley, Rosemary Ellen (2008). The encyclopedia of witches, witchcraft and wicca (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=nDdcVt9-jnMC&pg=PA95) (3rd ed.). New York: Facts On File.
p. 95. ISBN 978-1438126845.
9. Geoffrey W. Dennis, The encyclopedia of Jewish myth, magic and mysticism. p. 126
10. "History of the Succubus" (https://web.archive.org/web/20040717001332/http://www.cyodin
e.com/succubus/History.htm). cyodine.com. Archived from the original (http://www.cyodine.c
om/succubus/History.htm) on 17 July 2004.
11. Humm, Alan. "Kabbala: Lilith, Queen of the Demons" (http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilit
h/Queen-of-the-Demons.html). lilithgallery.com. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
12. Kramer, Heinrich and Sprenger, James (1486), Summers, Montague (translator – 1928),
The Malleus Maleficarum, Part2, chapter VIII (http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm02b
08a.htm), "Certain Remedies prescribed against those Dark and Horrid Harms with which
Devils may Afflict Men," at sacred-texts.com (http://www.sacred-texts.com)
13. Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy, Sisung Kelle S. (Editor) (1996), Angels A to Z,
Entry: Incubi and Succubi, pp. 218, 219, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 0-7876-0652-9
14. Warren, Brett (2016). The Annotated Dæmonologie of King James. A Critical Edition. In
Modern English. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 79–83. ISBN 978-1-
5329-6891-4.
15. Yü, Chün-fang (2001). Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara (https://arch
ive.org/details/kuanyinchinesetr0000ychn). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 57.
ISBN 023112029X.
16. Zwemer, Samuel M. (1939). "5". Studies in Popular Islam: Collection of Papers dealing with
the Superstitions and Beliefs of the Common People. London: Sheldon Press.
17. Tremearne, A. J. N. (1914). Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and
North Africa (https://archive.org/details/cu31924029887431).
18. Trimingham, J. Spencer (1965). Islam in the Sudan. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. p. 172.
19. Winkler, Hans. Ghost Riders of Upper Egypt.

Further reading
Grover, S.; Mehra, A.; Dua, D. (January–June 2018). "Unusual cases of succubus: A cultural
phenomenon manifesting as part of psychopathology" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art
icles/PMC6198602). Ind Psychiatry J. 27 (1): 147–150. doi:10.4103/ipj.ipj_71_17 (https://do
i.org/10.4103%2Fipj.ipj_71_17). PMC 6198602 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC6198602). PMID 30416306 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30416306).

External links
The dictionary definition of succubus at Wiktionary
Media related to Succubus at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Succubus&oldid=1272192804"