A sexual spirit or demon preys on a person through the act of intercourse or intimacy. In traditional lore the incubus is the male spirit, the succubus is female. They arrive in dreams to drain essential life force and leave the victim exhausted and sick.
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They attack when the victim is emotionally vulnerable. Their purpose is selfish, insofar as existence is selfish. They need to feed on sexual passion and sensual energy of humans.
Metaphysical energy vampires, they are emotionally draining, soul-sucking sponges. They drink of human life essence. Too many encounters with these unfeeling predators can kill a person.
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A sexual spirit in popular culture is often a beautiful person seducing a hapless victim until the moment of intercourse or orgasm. Then it transforms to a crazed demon and tries to rip the person's face off. Those are only books and movies. The real thing is far worse.
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Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians believe evil spirits can enter the body through orifices (ears, nose, anus, etc) and / or hair. Demons can also possess a person through the contact of sexual intercourse or intimacy such as kissing or fondling.
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After an encounter with a sex demon, a person may have a vague recollection of an erotic dream or wake up in the grips of a nightmare, possibly in half-dream state. Possession by a demon isn't easy to define as outward appearances may deceive.
There are certain signs.
anger, strong emotions
sensitivity and overreaction
change in habits
erratic behavior
change in libido (higher or lower)
unusual strength
conflict with others
amnesia
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One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, c. 2400 BCE. The father of Gilgamesh is listed as Lilu, an entity described as "disturbing" and "seducing" women in their sleep.
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Lilitu (Lilith), a female demon, seduces men in erotic dreams. Mesopotamian sexual entities include Ardat lili, who also visits men by night. She supposedly died before being sexually fulfilled, and stalks through dreams and darkness seeking humans to satisfy her desires.
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Ardat lili and her male counterpart Idlu lili were once storm or wind demons, ruled by the infamous Pazuzu. "Lili" means wind demon. Idlu lili visits women by night and impregnates them.
Merlin of Arthurian legend is said to be born this way. In medieval Europe, it's thought union with an incubus results in birth of witches, demons and deformed humans.
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The child of demon and mortal is a cambion. The cambion can also be the offspring of succubus and incubus, born in the demon realm and exchanged with a human baby as a changeling.
The Bishop of Paris, William d'Auvergne writes about cambions in his 13th-century De Universo. He calls them
"... cambiones, from cambiti, that is 'having been exchanged'": the "sons of incubi demons." These false infants constantly wail for milk and cannot be satisfied even by four nurses."
Canadian scholar Richard Firth Green notes that this "was to become the standard scholastic explanation for changelings throughout the Middle Ages."
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With sexual demons, encounters can be one time or repeated. While a one-nighter might cause a person to feel used, repeated sexual activity with an incubus or succubus can create serious health problems.
Deterioration of physical, mental conflict and death can result as the demon drains one's life essence. A person can feel exhausted on waking, or ill at ease and not sure why. Eventually the immune system breaks down or madness sets in.
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Possession is another matter, in which the demon takes over the person's body and thoughts. In many parts of the ancient world demons are considered to cause sickness and insanity. The demon responsible for epilepsy or "bennu" disease is Shulpae.
Demonic possession may be perceived as a health problem, for which exorcism is a medical as well as spiritual treatment. In Mesopotamia there are three types of healer.
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The exorcist (ašipu) works with the diviner or barû (baru), who identifies the demon(s) or angry god(s), and the objective healer or ašu who treats symptoms with methods known to work, such as fresh aloe vera on a burn. Mesopotamian doctors often practice from temples.
The ašipu is typically a priest specializing in demonology, exorcism and spiritual healing. This healer's body of knowledge is āšipūtu, translated as “exorcistic lore” or, simply “magic”.
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The trope of priests vs. demons might begin here, but it doesn't. The pagan priest goes by different names but overall is a mystic specialist, shaman, guide or spirit worker from the time of the Paleolithic.
In Hebrew literature the original succubus is Lilith, Adam's first wife. She leaves him and refuses to come back after a sexual encounter with Archangel Samael, whose name means "Venom / Poison of God".
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Samael is described as a seducer and destroying angel. Lilith is a Mesopotamian demon before she meets Adam. She appears in myth as a class of wind demon, Lilitu. Her name means 'night monster'.
In Germania the demonic Drude may take a role as a succubus or incubus to possess a person. The Alp or Elf, for example the nocturnal Mare also causes nightmares and misery but is not a demon. A nightmare in German is Alptraum, or elf dream.
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The Malleus Maleficarum or Witches' Hammer (1486 CE) says succubi collect semen of men they seduce. Incubi or male demons use the semen to impregnate human females.
This way the church explains the 'offspring' of demons, as it is written they can't reproduce.
In Arabian myth the qarînah is similar to the succubus. A qarînah sleeps with the person and has relations during sleep as shown in dreams. They're invisible, except to someone with second sight. The victim cannot marry or the qarina will harm him.
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A Buddhist scripture regarding prayer to Avalokiteśvara promises to those who pray, "you will not be attacked by demons who either suck your energy or make love to you in your dreams."
The Trauco of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. The Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women.
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A variation is the Tintín of Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of long-haired women and seduces them at night by playing guitar outside their windows. This myth is believed created during Colonial times to explain pregnancies in women under the watch of a chaperone.
In Hungary, a lidérc comes from the egg of a black chicken. It attaches itself to a person and shifts gender if desired for intimacy. The creature is also a type of vampire, sucking out the victim's blood until the person weakens and dies.
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In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa is an evil spirit or shetani who attacks men and women anally. It's a violent demon and although known only about 50 years, has caused mass panic attacks in entire regions of the country.
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