As the story of mystical reincarnations goes, incubi and succubi are demonic entities that feed on human sexual energy. Incubi are male, succubus are female. Usually they appear at night in various guises and intoxicate people, leading them into a half-asleep doze. In other words, this is neither sleep nor wakefulness, but, in fact, a partial paralysis of the body and consciousness. In this state, a person is not able to resist the attack of a mysterious creature by any physical actions. Often there is a complete weakening of the vocal cords, it is impossible to form thoughts into words, and even more so to pronounce them.
During intercourse, the victim of the attack experiences the highest degree of pleasure, which, at the same time, is accompanied by fear and confusion. Succubi and incubi invade the victim's consciousness and adjust the perception of the external world, thus changing the appearance, adjusting to the victim's desires, in order to squeeze out the maximum sexual energy. Why is the attack of this entity dangerous? And the fact that after him a person in the energy plan is a dry squeezed lemon. During an ordinary sexual intercourse, people exchange energies, and during intimacy with such a spirit, a person only wastes it, thereby completely emptying himself.
There are several signs that distinguish these demons from humans. If an incubus (literally "lying over") entered the woman's bed, then all the inhabitants of the house will plunge into a deep sleep, even the husband sleeping next to her. Other signs are even more obvious: the incubus is often a cruel lover. In addition, he was credited with an unusual physical nature: his penis is depicted as forked, like a snake, like an iron rod, like a burning brand, like a mule's penis. It happened that offspring were born from such unholy relationships, and then all the children of this woman immediately fell under suspicion. They also looked askance at the twins. By the way, it was believed that the hero of Scandinavian legends, the great magician Merlin, was just the fruit of such a connection.
In addition to the incubus seducers, there was, as said, female evil spirits, seducing men, especially monks, elders, hermits. These creatures were named succubus or succubus from the Latin word "succubar" - "to lie under something." There are numerous legends about the tricks of these seductive creatures.
Since the demons incubus and succubus are not subject to the known laws of space and time, they are able to be in several places at the same time, as a result of which the same demon can simultaneously possess any number of people, that is, possess dozens or even hundreds of copulating couples at once, which are considered as wordless "hives" producing the nectar of bliss.
There would be nothing special in this if it were not for the terrible secret that the Fathers of the Church warned about - "shackling the mouth", or "shackling all the gates", when a person dawns only a spark of consciousness that understands and sees everything, but does not have opportunities to express yourself. These unfortunates, however, enjoy themselves - in this sense, incubi and succubi do not disappoint their victims. But it has only one direction - deep into the dark nature of being.
An incubus can take on both male and female guises, sometimes he appears as a man in his prime, sometimes as a satyr, and before the witch he takes the form of a lustful goat. Other images include dogs, cats, deer, bulls, roe deer, birds, especially crows or storks, and snakes. But even the animal appearance did not prevent the incubus from having a carnal relationship with a woman.
Especially insidious demons could come, incarnating in the bodies of real living people - a husband, a neighbor, or a young groom. One medieval nun reported that she was sexually abused by a local prelate, Bishop Sylvanas, but the latter declared in his defense that he was possessed by a demon at that moment. And the monastery council did not condemn the priest.
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Although the incubus's penchant for debauchery itself was not questioned, there was often debate throughout the Middle Ages about how disembodied demons could acquire bodies and mate with women. One of the demonologists of the 17th century named Sinistari explained that an unclean person can take on a bodily shell, settling in another person, or creating a body for himself from various materials. Others believed that demons used corpses for these purposes, especially the bodies of recently hanged people.
The demonologists did not have an unambiguous opinion about the reasons why the demons sought the bed of a human woman. Some believed that since spirits "can experience neither joy nor pleasure," they converge with a person only in order to humiliate him, secretly mocking would-be lovers, who, by the way, sometimes admitting the sinfulness of the union, did not seek to get rid of demonic worshiper. Another version says that demons and spirits of nature, envious of the immortality of the human soul, seek to transfer this property of the soul to their offspring through an alliance with people.
Be that as it may, the relationship with an incubus was considered a much more serious sin than adultery, since it was equated with bestiality, and relationships with succubi were considered a sin of sodomy, because a succubus is the same devil, only in female form. With the heyday of the Inquisition and the Witch Trials, descriptions of incubi and succubus became more intimidating. If in the early reports women and men confessed to the incredible pleasures that demonic lovers gave them, then later women claimed that sexual intercourse caused them incredible pain.
In our time, when the most diverse versions of the psychology of the unconscious have become widespread, the phenomenon of the succubus and incubus is becoming more understandable and explainable. Probably, these essences most often came to religious people who, among other things, deliberately suppressed their sexuality. Thus, such obsessions and phenomena, from the point of view of the psychology of the unconscious, are a clear manifestation of the harmonizing, balancing component of the psyche. Against the background of denial and suppression of sexual desires and fantasies, such an element could not manifest itself except in a frightening demonic form. The deliberate prohibition of this area of life forces the unconscious to endow the incubus with a passion for violence, because only in this way an extremely religious nun, tormenting herself for any sinful thoughts, could afford to have sexual intercourse. However, this is only a version.
There are many opinions about the appearance of the incubus. They say that in addition to the appearance of a satyr with goat legs, he is able to appear as a man with a head crowned with horns, a disgusting animal, and sometimes in the form of a mysterious stranger. And yet this is not the main point, since an incubus does not need to have a sexually attractive appearance. He plays on the deeper strings of the human soul. It is not only sexual energy that serves as food. He also feeds on the moral suffering that the victim experiences during the sinful act. In addition, the incubus was often summoned by witches to satisfy their desires, paying them off with the bodies of righteous women or virgins.
At the same time, experienced witches did not require special rituals, it was enough just to call him. Less sophisticated sorceresses used some simple techniques: they smeared the eastern corner of the dwelling with honey, scattered shiny objects, or used a simple summoning spell. But even witches with experience remembered that the incubus would require payment for its call, and they thought in advance how it could be satisfied.
Until the 12th century, the concept of the night demon-seducer existed mainly in the form of folk tales, to which theology was very skeptical. Actually, the famous Cicero spoke of the incubus exactly as a widespread popular belief: “A vision descends on us at the moment between wakefulness and sleep, in the so-called first cloud of sleep. In this drowsy state, a person thinks that he is still awake, and imagines that he sees ghosts rushing at him or wandering around … The incubus belongs to this type: according to popular beliefs, he jumps on people in a dream and presses them with the weight that they may well actually feel."
One of the first theorists of the "incubat" was the Parisian bishop Guillaume of Auverne (1180–1249), and it is no coincidence: it was in those centuries that interest in this topic rose sharply. Some researchers associated this with the Crusades, since legends of this kind were especially popular in the East. So, Guillaume argued that demons are not capable of full-fledged sexual relations, but skillfully create the illusion of such, and at the same time steal sperm on the side. The stolen seed of the incubus is then "blown into the womb." In support of his version, the bishop refers to some Portuguese witches who, as he claimed, became pregnant "from the wind."
One of the descriptions of a night visit to an incubus is set forth in the "Golden Legend" by the 13th century Italian spiritual writer Jacob Voraginsky. When Saint Edmund, after long night studies, “suddenly fell asleep, forgetting to cross himself and think about the Passion of our Lord, the devil leaned on him. And it was so hard that he could not cross himself with one hand and did not know what to do - however, by the grace of God, he remembered his blessed Passion, and then the enemy lost all his strength and fell from him."
By the 16th century, the doctrine of the incubat is enriched with additional details. Suggestions are made about the nature of sexual intercourse with the incubus: it proceeds "with the highest pleasure" (Grillandus, "Treatise on the Witches"), "unusually sensual" (Jacquier), or, on the contrary, "it does not bring any pleasure, but only horror" (M Guazzo, The Compendium of the Witches), he is "cold and unpleasant" (Remy); after such an act, its participants feel "upset and weakened", and a certain man, whom the succubus did not let go for a whole month, even died (Kissling).
The idea of the extreme aggressiveness of the incubus is growing. Thus, it is claimed that they attack women even in the confessional. According to Martin Luther, the favorite place of the incubus ambush is water, where they, having taken the form of aquatic, copulate with their victims and conceive offspring, exposing everyone to mortal danger. The English monk Thomas Walsingham says that a girl died of a terrible disease that swelled her body like a barrel, three days after "the devil desecrated her." The German writer and theologian Caesar Heisterbach tells about women, one of whom paid with her life for a devil's kiss, and the other just for shaking the hand of an invisible incubus.
The Middle Ages also left numerous legends about temptress succubus, attacking both hermit saints and valiant knights. Sometimes succubi showed a tendency to werewolf.
But the relationship with the female demon was somewhat different. As already mentioned, the connection with him could last for decades (which cannot be said about the ties with the incubi) and, in general, in peace and harmony.
For example, the priest Benoit Byrne, who became a witcher and was burned at the stake at the age of eighty, admitted during interrogations that he had a connection with a succubus named Hermione for forty years, while the demon remained invisible to others.
In stories of married life with succubi since the early Middle Ages, the legend of the fairy succubus Melusine often varies. Its plot is as follows: the hero meets a girl of extraordinary beauty, who becomes his wife and gives wonderful offspring. But then, tormented by curiosity, the spouse violates the prohibition imposed by his wife, which can be very diverse - not to spy on the bathing wife, not to look at her on a certain day of the week, etc. The husband still looks and - oh, horror! - sees his beauty in the form of a dragon, a snake or a siren, a half-bird, half-woman. After that, she disappears, and a single father with many children sheds bitter tears.
The 14th century English hermit Richard Rollie himself described a visit to the succubus: one night a very beautiful woman came to his bed, whom he had seen before and who, in his words, "loved me with the noblest love." Rollie, fearing that she would make him sin, was ready to jump out of bed, cross himself and ask the blessings of the Holy Trinity for both of them, but she held him so tightly that he could neither move nor speak. Rollie realized that the night visitor was "not a woman, but a devil in the guise of a woman," and then he said to himself: "Oh Jesus, how precious is your blood!" - and made the sign of the cross on his chest with his finger, after which the demon immediately disappeared.
A similar action saves at the last moment and Sir Percival of Wales - the hero of the novels about King Arthur. At noon, a ship with a "woman of great beauty" arrives at the island where Sir Percival is staying. She treats the knight to food, wine in excessive quantities and invites him to accompany her to bed. When they lay on the bed of love, the knight's gaze accidentally falls on the red cross that appears on the hilt of his sword. This brings him to his senses, he makes the sign of the cross, and the succubus disappears.
Incubi and succubi often take on the appearance of the dead. In a story told in the 13th century by Walter Mep, and later repeated by Martin Luther in "Table Talks" (16th century), his dead wife, recently buried by him, returned to a certain knight; she offered to stay with him until he uttered some kind of curse. They lived quite happily for several years, and the succubus even bore him children. However, one fine day, out of forgetfulness, the knight uttered a fatal curse, and the incarnate devil instantly disappeared.
Despite the fact that most of the myths about the incubus presented them as extremely dangerous creatures, there are also legends with the opposite characteristic of these spirits. In the story of the 17th century Polish author Adrian Regenwols, which allegedly took place in 1597 in Vilna, a certain young man Zachariya, having received a refusal in her hand from the parents of his beloved girl named Bietka, fell into melancholy and hanged himself. However, after a while he appeared to his beloved with the words: "I have come to fulfill my promise and marry you." Bietka, despite the fact that she perfectly understood who she was dealing with, agreed. The marriage took place, but without witnesses: after all, all the close girls knew that Zachariah had died.
Despite the precautions taken, word soon spread that Bieta was married to a spirit, and the people gathered to see the newlyweds. This popularity brought Bietca a lot of money, since the spirit knew how to prophesy very successfully and willingly did it for a bribe. However, he answered questions only with the preliminary consent of his wife. Three years later, a certain Italian magician, whose domestic demon escaped from the magic ring where he was imprisoned, recognized Bieta's husband as a fugitive, imprisoned him again in his ring and took him to Italy.
In another story, the English feudal lord Edric Wilde stumbled upon a brightly lit house at night, in which he discovered a company of female succubus. One of them was so good that the knight, realizing all the danger of such a connection, nevertheless kidnapped her, took her home, and later married her. But then one day Edric broke the taboo imposed on him by his wife - never to mention her "sisters" in whose company he met her. After that, the demon spouse vanished into thin air, leaving, however, to her husband the beautiful son of Elfnot, who became a pious Christian.
Many extraordinary personalities of the Middle Ages and Renaissance were considered the offspring of incubi and women. Scientists-theologians of the 15th century Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Institoris summarized this statement in a kind of physiological basis. Children supposedly born of demons (but in fact using someone else's seed) are often stronger and better than ordinary children. This is due to the fact that “demons can know the power of the poured seed”, choose the most favorable time for intercourse and select the most suitable woman.
Meanwhile, as mentioned in other sources, monsters are born from the connection of witches and incubi. For example, the child of a certain Angela de la Barthes had the head of a wolf and the tail of a snake. The legendary Attila was also considered the son of the devil. And the famous Robert the Devil, Duke of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror, famous for his cruelty, in French medieval literature turned into a mythical offspring of the demon and the Duchess of Normandy. Having lived a life full of atrocities, he repented and became a holy hermit, from which it follows that, according to medieval beliefs, the demon's son “does not answer for his father” and can, unlike his father, count on atonement and salvation.
A variation of the story about Robert the Devil can be considered an English novel of the 15th century "Sir Gowther", in which a young woman has a connection with a demon that appeared to her under a hazel bush in the guise of a "noble lord". He himself warns his victim that the child conceived from him will be wild and cruel. And the child does show a ferocious disposition: he drains the breasts of all his nurses, so that nine nurses die in nine months. As an adult, he commits many atrocities, including burning nuns in the church. One day, in a moment of reflection, Gauter asks his mother who he really is, and she tells him the whole truth, after which the son of the incubus repents and receives forgiveness from the Pope himself.
The stories of incubi and succubus run through the entire Middle Ages. In the 15th-17th centuries, they can be found in numerous prosecution records. Accusations have been around since about 1430, but it was only in the following centuries that copulation with the devil took on a definite shape. This is the story a Dominican told. He writes that many prostitutes offered their services to those who gathered for the Cathedral in Constanta, but most of these girls were succubi who even boasted of their money. In 1468, a man from Bologna was sentenced to death for visiting a brothel run by succubi. Two centuries later, information about the execution in 1655 in Scotland of William Barton was leaked. He confessed that he was reclining with the devil in the guise of a noblewoman, and she gave him fifteen pounds in gold.
Contrary to most beliefs, according to some legends, the special danger of the incubus / succubus was that it was impossible to defend against it with the help of prayer or other religious symbols. He did not react to the "Our Father", or to the crucifixion, or to the sign of the cross. True, one could try to find out on their own what he wants. It was recommended to do this in a dream, although this advice seemed not the easiest to an inexperienced person. Therefore, it was believed that it is best if the appropriate exorcism ritual is performed by a qualified black magician: the creation and disincarnation of energy entities is the sphere of exclusively dark magic. White magicians did not do this, and if they tried to expel the incubus in a gentle way, it only angered him, and the consequences could be unpredictable.
And yet, some means were offered. For example, experts in Anglo-Saxon medicine recommended to all respectable matrons a rather reliable remedy for incubus - a balm that should be used when visiting the "night monster". For the preparation of grinding, one should take wormwood, lupine, henbane, garlic, wild cherry, fennel, as well as sheep hops and "viper tongue". Place all this in a vessel, place it under the altar and celebrate nine masses over it. Then boil the contents of the vessel in butter and sheep fat. Add blessed salt and place the balm on the dressing table. If any incubus dares to cross the threshold of the bedroom, it is necessary to dip your fingers in balm and anoint the forehead and eyes of the tempter with them. After all this, all that remains is to fumigate the spirit with incense and cross it many times.
Of course, all these "miracles" are in the relatively distant past. According to experts in demonology, over the past hundred years of their activity, the inquisitors managed to destroy a huge number of people who confessed to lustful otherworldly entities. Now cases of attacks by incubi and succubi are rare and caused by their accidental entry into our world through holes in the so-called temporal layer of the Earth.
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