Asuccubus(pl.:succubi) is a femaledemonorsupernaturalentity infolkloreswho appears indreamstoseducemen, usually throughsexual activity.According to some folklore, a succubus needssemento 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 beautiful seductress orenchantress,rather than as demonic or frightening. The male counterpart to the succubus is theincubus.
Etymology
editThe term derives fromLate Latinsuccuba"paramour" fromsuccubare"to lie beneath" (sub-"under" andcubare"to lie" ),[1]used to describe this being's implied sexual position relative to the sleeper's position. TheEnglishword "succubus" dates from the late 14th century. The succubus is also known as the earth wanderer.[2][3]
In folklore
editAs depicted in the Jewish mystical treatiseZoharand the medieval Jewish satirical textAlphabet of Ben Sira,LilithwasAdam's first wife, who later became a succubus.[4][5]She left Adam and refused to return to theGarden of Edenafter she mated with the archangelSamael.[5]In ZoharisticKabbalah,there were four succubi who mated with thearchangelSamael. The four original queens of the demons wereLilith,Eisheth Zenunim,Agrat bat Mahlat,andNaamah.[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 orserpentinetails.[7]Folklore also describes men being forced to perform the act ofcunnilingus.[8]In later folklore, a succubus took the form of asiren.
Throughout history,priestsandrabbis,includingHanina ben DosaandAbaye,tried to curb the power of succubi over humans.[9]However, not all succubi were malevolent. According toWalter Mapin the satireDe 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 theCatholic Church.Before his death, he confessed of his sins and died repentant.[10]
Ability to reproduce
editAccording to theKabbalahand the school ofRashba,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 otherlegends,the children of Lilith are calledLilin.
According to theMalleus Maleficarum,orWitches' Hammer,written byHeinrich Kramer(Institoris) in 1486, succubicollect semenfrom 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 Jamesin his dissertation titledDæmonologierefutes the possibility for angelic entities to reproduce and instead offered a suggestion that adevilwould carry out two methods of impregnating women - the first, tosteal the spermout 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
editBuddhist canon
editABuddhistscripture regarding prayer toAvalokiteśvara,theDharani 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
editInArabian mythology,theqarînah(قرينة) is a spirit similar to the succubus, with origins possibly inancient Egyptian religionor in theanimisticbeliefs ofpre-Islamic Arabia.[16]Aqarînah"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, theqarînahcan 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
editReferences
edit- ^"Succuba".dictionary.com.
- ^ "succubus".Oxford English Dictionary(Online ed.).Oxford University Press.(Subscription orparticipating institution membershiprequired.)
- ^Ha, Douglas."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
- ^Patai, Raphael(1990) [1967]."Lilith".The Hebrew Goddess.Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology (3rd Enlarged ed.).Detroit:Wayne State University Press.pp. 221–251.ISBN978-0814322710.OCLC20692501.
- ^abMcdonald, Beth E. (2009)."In Possession Of The Night: Lilith As Goddess, Demon, Vampire".In Sabbath, Roberta Sternman (ed.).Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an As Literature and Culture.LeidenandBoston:Brill Publishers.pp. 173–182.doi:10.1163/ej.9789004177529.i-536.42.ISBN978-90-04-17752-9.
- ^"Zohar: Chapter XXXII".Internet Sacred Text Archive.
- ^Davidson, Jane P. (2012).Early modern supernatural: the dark side of European culture, 1400–1700.Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger. p. 40.ISBN978-0313393433.
- ^Guiley, Rosemary Ellen (2008).The encyclopedia of witches, witchcraft and wicca(3rd ed.). New York: Facts On File. p. 95.ISBN978-1438126845.
- ^Geoffrey W. Dennis, The encyclopedia of Jewish myth, magic and mysticism. p. 126
- ^"History of the Succubus".cyodine.com.Archived fromthe originalon 17 July 2004.
- ^Humm, Alan."Kabbala: Lilith, Queen of the Demons".lilithgallery.com.Retrieved21 September2016.
- ^Kramer, Heinrich and Sprenger, James (1486), Summers, Montague (translator – 1928),The Malleus Maleficarum,Part2,chapter VIII,"Certain Remedies prescribed against those Dark and Horrid Harms with which Devils may Afflict Men," atsacred-texts.com
- ^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,ISBN0-7876-0652-9
- ^Warren, Brett (2016).The Annotated Dæmonologie of King James. A Critical Edition. In Modern English.CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 79–83.ISBN978-1-5329-6891-4.
- ^Yü, Chün-fang (2001).Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara.New York: Columbia University Press. p. 57.ISBN023112029X.
- ^abZwemer, Samuel M.(1939). "5".Studies in Popular Islam: Collection of Papers dealing with the Superstitions and Beliefs of the Common People.London: Sheldon Press.
- ^Tremearne, A. J. N. (1914).Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa.
- ^Trimingham, J. Spencer(1965).Islam in the Sudan.London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. p. 172.
- ^Winkler, Hans.Ghost Riders of Upper Egypt.
Further reading
edit- Grover, S.; Mehra, A.; Dua, D. (January–June 2018)."Unusual cases of succubus: A cultural phenomenon manifesting as part of psychopathology".Ind Psychiatry J.27(1): 147–150.doi:10.4103/ipj.ipj_71_17.PMC6198602.PMID30416306.
