Editing Succubus

{{Short description|Mythological demoness who seduces men}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Fritz Schwimbeck - My Dream, My Bad Dream. 1915.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Depiction of a succubus in "My Dream, My Bad Dream" by [[Fritz Schwimbeck]], 1915]]
A '''succubus''' ({{plural form|'''succubi'''}}) is a [[Demoness|female demon]] who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to [[sexual activity]], a bond forming between them, and ultimately [[sexual intercourse]], as she requires [[semen]] to survive. The establishment and perpetuation of such a relationship enables the production of a hybrid offspring known as a [[cambion]], but at the expense of the man, whose mental and physical health will deteriorate rapidly, eventually resulting in his death if the succubus continues courting him for a protracted period.

In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a beautiful [[Incantation|seductress or enchantress]], rather than as demonic or frightening, to attract people instead of repulsing them. The male counterpart to the succubus is the [[incubus]]. Historically, folkloric belief in succubi was motivated by distressing nighttime phenomena, chiefly [[wet dreams]] and [[sleep paralysis]].

==Etymology==
The term derives from [[Late Latin]] ''{{Lang|la|succuba}}'' "paramour" from ''{{Lang|la|succubare}}'' "to lie beneath" (''{{Lang|la|sub}}-'' "under" and ''{{Lang|la|cubare}}'' "to lie"),<ref>{{cite dictionary |url= http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/succuba |title= Succuba |dictionary= [[dictionary.com]]}}</ref> used to describe this being's implied sexual position relative to the sleeper's position. The [[English language|English]] word "succubus" dates from the late 14th century. The succubus is also known as the earth wanderer.<ref>
{{oed | succubus}}
</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary
 |url= http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=succubus
 |title= Succubus
 |dictionary= Online Etymology Dictionary
 |first= Douglas |last= Ha
 |author-link= Douglas Harper
 |quote= late 14c., alteration (after incubus, giving a masc. form to a word generally felt as of female meaning) of Late Latin succuba
}}
</ref>

==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.<ref name="Patai 1990">{{cite book |last=Patai |first=Raphael |author-link=Raphael Patai |year=1990 |orig-date=1967 |chapter=Lilith |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0iRAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA221 |title=[[The Hebrew Goddess]] |location=[[Detroit]] |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |edition=3rd Enlarged |series=Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology |pages=221–251 |isbn=978-0814322710 |oclc=20692501}}</ref><ref name="Mcdonald 2009" /> She left Adam and refused to return to the [[Garden of Eden]] after she mated with the archangel [[Samael]].<ref name="Mcdonald 2009">{{cite book |author-last=Mcdonald |author-first=Beth E. |year=2009 |chapter=In Possession Of The Night: Lilith As Goddess, Demon, Vampire |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2tgt184wXkC&pg=PA173 |editor-last=Sabbath |editor-first=Roberta Sternman |title=Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an As Literature and Culture |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=173–182 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004177529.i-536.42 |isbn=978-90-04-17752-9}}</ref> 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 (demon)|Naamah]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Zohar: Chapter XXXII |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/zdm/zdm041.htm |website=[[Internet Sacred Text Archive]]}}</ref> A succubus may take the form of a beautiful woman, but closer inspection may reveal deformities of her body, such as bird-like claws or [[Serpentine shape|serpentine]] tails.<ref>{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Jane P.|title=Early modern supernatural : the dark side of European culture, 1400–1700|year=2012|publisher=Praeger|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=978-0313393433|pages=40}}</ref> Folklore also describes men being forced to perform the act of [[cunnilingus]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Guiley |first=Rosemary Ellen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDdcVt9-jnMC&pg=PA95 |title=The encyclopedia of witches, witchcraft and wicca |publisher=Facts On File |year=2008 |isbn=978-1438126845 |edition=3rd |location=New York |page=95}}</ref> In later folklore, a succubus took the form of a [[Siren (mythology)|siren]].

Throughout history, [[priest]]s and [[rabbi]]s, including [[Hanina Ben Dosa|Hanina ben Dosa]] and [[Abaye]], tried to curb the power of succubi over humans.<ref>Geoffrey W. Dennis, The encyclopedia of Jewish myth, magic and mysticism. p. 126</ref> However, not all succubi were malevolent. According to [[Walter Mapes|Walter Map]] in the satire ''{{Lang|la|[[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.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Succubus |url=http://www.cyodine.com/succubus/History.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040717001332/http://www.cyodine.com/succubus/History.htm |archive-date=17 July 2004 |website=cyodine.com}}</ref>

==Ability to reproduce==
According to the [[Kabbalah]] and the school of [[Shlomo ben Aderet|Rashba]], the original three queens of the demons, Agrat bat Mahlat, Naamah, Eisheth Zenunim, and all their cohorts give birth to children, except Lilith.<ref>{{cite web |author=Humm |first=Alan |title=Kabbala: Lilith, Queen of the Demons |url=http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/Queen-of-the-Demons.html |access-date=21 September 2016 |publisher=lilithgallery.com}}</ref> According to other [[legend]]s, the children of Lilith are called [[Lilin]].

According to the ''{{Lang|la|[[Malleus Maleficarum]]}}'', or ''Witches' Hammer'', written by [[Heinrich Kramer]] (Institor) in 1486, succubi [[semen collection|collect semen]] from men they seduce. Incubi, or male demons, then use the semen to impregnate human females,<ref>Kramer, Heinrich and Sprenger, James (1486), Summers, Montague (translator&nbsp;– 1928), ''The Malleus Maleficarum'', Part2, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm02b08a.htm chapter VIII], "Certain Remedies prescribed against those Dark and Horrid Harms with which Devils may Afflict Men," at [http://www.sacred-texts.com sacred-texts.com]</ref> thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children, despite the traditional belief that they were incapable of reproduction. Children so begotten—[[cambion]]s—were supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences.<ref name="AZ">Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy, Sisung Kelle S. (Editor) (1996), ''[[iarchive:angelstoz0000lewi|Angels A to Z]]'', Entry: Incubi and Succubi, pp. 218, 219, Visible Ink Press, {{ISBN|0-7876-0652-9}}</ref>

[[James VI and I|King James]] in his dissertation titled ''[[Daemonologie|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 [[sperm theft|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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Warren|first1=Brett|title=The Annotated Dæmonologie of King James. A Critical Edition. In Modern English|date=2016|isbn=978-1-5329-6891-4|pages=79–83|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref>

==In non-Western literature==
===Buddhist canon===
A [[Buddhism|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."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yü |first1=Chün-fang |url=https://archive.org/details/kuanyinchinesetr0000ychn |publisher=Columbia University Press |title=Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara |year=2001 |isbn=023112029X |location=New York |page=57 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

===Arabian mythology===
In [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|Arabian mythology]], the ''{{Lang|ar-latn|qarînah}}'' ({{lang|ar|قرينة}}) is a spirit similar to the succubus, with origins possibly in [[ancient Egyptian religion]] or in the [[animism|animistic]] beliefs of [[pre-Islamic Arabia]].<ref name="Zwemer">{{cite book |first= Samuel M. |last= Zwemer |author-link= Samuel Marinus Zwemer |title= Studies in Popular Islam: Collection of Papers dealing with the Superstitions and Beliefs of the Common People |location= London |publisher= Sheldon Press |year= 1939 |chapter= 5 }}</ref> A ''{{Lang|ar-latn|qarînah}}'' "sleeps with the person and has relations during sleep as is known by the dreams".<ref>{{cite book |first= A. J. N. |last= Tremearne |title= Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa |year= 1914 |url= https://archive.org/details/cu31924029887431 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Zwemer" /> "In Omdurman it is a spirit which possesses. ...Only certain people are possessed and such people cannot marry or the qarina will harm them."<ref>{{cite book |first= J. Spencer |last= Trimingham |author-link= J. Spencer Trimingham |title= Islam in the Sudan |location= London |publisher= Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. |year= 1965 |page= 172 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Winkler |first=Hans |title=Ghost Riders of Upper Egypt}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of mythological creatures]]
* [[List of succubi in fiction]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Grover |first1=S. |last2=Mehra |first2=A. |last3=Dua |first3=D. |title=Unusual cases of succubus: A cultural phenomenon manifesting as part of psychopathology |journal=Ind Psychiatry J |date=January–June 2018 |volume=27 |number=1 |pages=147–150 |doi=10.4103/ipj.ipj_71_17 |pmid=30416306 |pmc=6198602 |doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
* {{wiktionary inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}

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[[Category:Incubi and succubi| ]]
[[Category:Succubi| ]]
[[Category:Christian mythology]]
[[Category:Demons in Christianity]]
[[Category:Demons in Judaism]]
[[Category:Female demons]]
[[Category:Jewish mysticism]]
[[Category:Jinniyyat]]
[[Category:Lilith]]
[[Category:Medieval European legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Sleep in mythology and folklore]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Jewish legendary creatures]]