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"Welcome friend" says the cleric, smiling warmly "So you wish to know about the succubus, well listen well my friend, for what I have to tell is not fiction, but truth...." The cleric touches his holy amulet somewhat nervously, but his face remains calm.



What is a succubus I hear you ask...











Well, the succubus is a demon from legend that supposedly preys on mortal men while he sleeps; a sexual vampire of sorts. The actual name has its origins from late Latin- succuba meaning prostitute, which in turn comes from medieval Latin sub cubaire meaning 'that which lies beneath'. The male version is the incubus (from Latin- 'that which lies above'). There are some sources who claim that the succubus and the incubus are one and the same creature who can change form at will to prey on mortals.

Many varying legends relate to the succubus, each influenced by the culture and socio-political context in which these legends arose. For example, in medieval times, the succubus was seen as a fearsome creature who killed her victims by drinking their breath. This is interesting in that, at the time, the breath was seen as a part of the person's spirit, and in doing so, the succubus was thought to be stealing the victim's soul. Later, the habits of the succubus were deemed to of a more sexual than vampiric nature, and this notion probably arose from the change in social climate that saw sexual deviancy as a mortal sin, and so, those who committed such a sin against God, were deserving of their fate in some way.





Lilith







The succubus kind is often said to have originated from a single demon- Lilith. According to ancient Semitic legend, Lilith was the first wife of Adam, made from filth before the creation of Eve. She left her husband because she objected to him lying on top of her during sexual intercourse- she felt herself his equal, and that copulation should take place lying side by side- and went off to mate with fallen angels who spawned a great family of demons upon her. These are the lilim, who seduce and weaken men in the silence of the night.





More about Lilith

Early Mythology



Perhaps the earliest examples of succubi/incubi activity is described in Greek mythology, when the God Zeus seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. And in Celtic myth, there are many tales of amorous faries. The magician Merlin was said to be the son of an incubus.

In the Secret Commonwealth (1691) Robert Kirk writes "In our Scotland, there are numerous and beautiful creatures of the aerial order, who frequently assign meetings to lascivious young men as succubi, or as joyous mistresses and prostitutes, who are called Leannain Sith or familiar spirits."

Similarly, Christian dogma claims that Christ was born of of a virgin by the Holy Ghost (which may be interpreted as an incubus visitation). Also, the book of Enoch tells of how angels called Watchers mated with human women, who bore giants.

In the fourth century AD, St Augustine wrote "it is widespread opinion, confirmed by direct or indirect testimony of trustworthy persons, that the Sylvans and Fauns, commonly called incubi, have tortured women, solicited and obtained intercourse with them."

The theologian Sinistrari sad that the Devil, lacking a body, has intercousre with men and women by borrowing a human corpse, or by forming a new body with other materials. Sinistiri refered not to ordinary erotic dreams, he meant physical intercourse, as damned in books like the Compendium Malificarum. He said that two kinds of people are carnally contacted: sorcerers consciously making a formal pact with demons; or innocent folk who are attacked. He continues by saying that incubi are not the same as common devils: they ignore exorcism, and laugh at holy relics. Later, Cardinal Bellarmin claimed that the antichrist would be born out of a woman having intercourse with an incubus.

The 16th Century author, Nicholas Remy also tells of a herdsman found guilty of witchcraft who, when asked how he had first fallen into the company of witches, explained that he had been corrupted by a succubus. The herdsman said that he had fallen passionately in love with a dairymaid who, alas, did not return his affections. One day, he was, in his own words, 'burning with desire in his solitary pasturage' when he saw what at first he took for the person of his beloved hiding behind a bush. He ran to her, made violent advances, and was repulsed. After a while, the 'dairymaid'- in reality, a demon who had assumed the girls appearance- allowed the herdsman to do with her body as he would on condition that he 'acknowledged her as his Mistress, and behaved to her as though she were God Himself'.

By the sixteenth century, the Church had decided it's policy. Confessions from tortured women (and less commonly men) provide much of the lore of sexual contact with the Devil. Giving herself up for exeution as a witch in the 1660's, Isobel Gowdie said the devil (a meikle, blak, roch man) was 'as cold with me as spring-well-water'.





Exorcising the Succubus



One line of defence against the succubus was the employment of prayer , fasting and other religious devotions.At some time around the year 1500, the Bishop of Aberdeen is recorded as having successfully prescribed such remedies for a young man who approached him for spiritual guidance. For many months, the young man had been pestered by a succubus who came to him by night and either coaxed or forced him into sexual embrace which lasted until the break of day. The Bishop ordered the victim to engage in devout prayer and austerity. Apparently, the measure was successful, for after a few days, the young man was 'delivered from the succubus devil'.

Sometimes, however, those following a life of religious devotion found their prayers of little efficacy against the wiles of the succubi. Thus, for example, towards the end of the last century, the French writer, J. K. Huysmans claimed to have been attacked by a succubus whilst staying at a monestary. Huysman, a novelist of distinction, was in the process of returning to the catholic church whilst on the short monastic retreat. This was intended as a spiritual antidote to the psychological effects of the several years he had spent in what he himself called 'the latrines of superstition'- a reference to his contacts with the oft sinister subculture of 19th Century Parisian occultism.

One night, lying in his hard monastic bed, Huysmans awoke from the climax of an erotic dream to see a succubus vanishing away. That it has taken a physical form, and was not illusiary, was apparent, Husman said, from the appearance of the sheets he had shared with the demon. Huysman's dream had ended with 'an intense ejaculation'. According to many demonologists, the fruits of such succubi-induced climaxes were bourne away by the demons who then, taking on the forms of incubi, used them to fertilise human women.



Lamia



A related concept is the Lamia from old English legends. The lamia was said to appear in graveyards as a beautiful woman who draws young men to their deaths. She would lie in wait for a naive victim, looking as if she needs his assistance in some way. legend has it that, if you see such a woman in a graveyard who appears to need help, you are supposed to call out to her, for the Lamia cannot answer back, since she has a snakes tongue and can only hiss.



Modern Succubi



Modern reports of sexual contacts with supernatural entites more often form the basis of UFO abduction stories, but the traditional succubus still exists: in Creatures from Inner Space (1984), the British Psychologist, Stan Gooch tells how an ex-policeman, Martyn Pryer, was 'attacked' by an invisible entity which lay on top of him. Paralysed, he realised it was a woman who wanted to make love to him. Eventually, it faded away. Gooch concluded that such creatures are creations of the human mind, and suggested that the phenomenon is the activity of elementals or 'tulpas' (mind generated thought forms which take on a life of their own).



The cleric finishes his sililoque with a friendly smile, "but of course, these are only legends. The truth is, as is often the case, interpretive to say the least. And though you may hear the quiet scraping of claws against the window sill in the dark of night, it is probably just a cat trying to get in from the cold, and not the satanic attentions of a succubus. So sleep well listener, and lock your windows before nightfall"