Alright, in order to
begin, I believe I must first define "succubus" for you.
Fortunately, I have several.
There is Webster's
Standard definition...(flipping pages)let's see....siren, sniffle,
spearmint, spellbound, strychnine...okay....(thumbing page)
succulent, succumb, suck, sucker, suckle, suckling...whoa. It's
not in there. (Tossing dictionary...followed by loud thud and cat
squealing) No succubus. Ah well. Moving on.
Well, I have other
sources, FAR more reliable than Mr. Webster.
"Succubus: In medieval
European folklore, a female demon (or evil spirit) who visits men
in their sleep to lie with them in ghostly sexual intercourse.
The man who falls victim to a succubus will not awaken, although
may experience it in a dream. The male counterpart is the incubus."
www.daemonlatria.com
"Incubus and Succubus: In medieval lore,
a succubus was a female spirit that would lay with men to steal
their seed: it was given as an explanation of night arrousal and
wet dreams. It was also paired with the incubus, the male form,
sometimes transforming between the two forms to pass along the
stolen seed to unknowing women. In later stories, especially in
contemporary horror writing, both would be given hypnotic powers
that would give them the ability to command and compell members
of the opposite sex." www.hypnosisinmedia.com
That's the basics, right there in
Times New Roman. Nothing TOO God-awful, right? By the way, if you
follow that last paragraph correctly, it presents an interesting
situation...
"paired with the incubus, the
male form, sometimes transforming between the two forms to pass
along the stolen seed to unknowing women." Chomper would
like to point out a theory of hers. Perhaps an incubus
impregnated Mary, and Jesus is actually an incubus as well. Which
in turn, leads to the possibility that Jesus, since they can
transform between the two forms, may also be a succubus. "God
is a succubae!" -direct quote from Chomper. While I may not
totally believe in this theory, I am bound by rank to print it.
Succubae are also closely related to the Lamaie,
a group of female Vampires. Use the link above to learn more
about them.
We also see examples and parallels to
succubae in Ancient Greek mythology, as in the article below.
"The moon-goddess, or Aphrodite,
of the ancient Germans, was called Horsel, or Ursula, who figures
in Christian mediaeval mythology as a persecuted saint, attended
by a troop of eleven thousand virgins, who all suffer martyrdom
as they journey from England to Cologne. The meaning of the myth
is obvious. In German mythology, England is the Phaiakian land of
clouds and phantoms; the succubus, leaving her lover before
daybreak, excuses herself on the plea that "her mother is
calling her in England."[15] The companions of Ursula are
the pure stars, who leave the cloudland and suffer martyrdom as
they approach the regions of day. In the Christian tradition,
Ursula is the pure Artemis; but, in accordance with her ancient
character, she is likewise the sensual Aphrodite, who haunts the
Venusberg." www.mythologymakers.com
Succubae have also filtered all the
way into the 21st century, freqenting art work,
poetry, and even television.
"MULDER: So you think that
Skinner may have killed the victim in his sleep?
SCULLY: Defending himself against
this imaginary old woman. A lot of these patients have no
recollection of their nocturnal activities, which might explain
Skinner's amnesia.
MULDER: And it's not such a strange
story. SCULLY: It isn't? (Mulder starts looking for a book in the
office.)
MULDER: It's ancient, actually. You
may have heard it, although not in such clinical terms. In the
middle ages, a visitation like the one Skinner described would
have been attributed to a succubus. It's a spirit that visits men
in the night, usually in the form of an old woman. (He finds the
book on a shelf above the "I want to believe" poster
and starts leafing through it.)
SCULLY: Visits them for sex?
MULDER: Usually. Though sometimes the
succubus becomes so attached to the man that she would kill any
woman competing for his affection. Here. (He has pointed to a
picture of a man sleeping with a naked woman standing over him.
She has her outstretched hands on the man's chest, where there is
a glow.)
SCULLY: (pointing to the glow) What's
that?
MULDER: Reports of residual luminous
phenomena have been associated with some succubus encounters, at
least according to the mythology."
