The Demon’s Kiss: A Global History of Incubi, Succubi, and Sleep Paralysis

Have you ever felt a sinister presence in the night, unable to move or breathe… yet somehow sexually aroused? Sex demons are real – and we’ll look at the legends and truths behind Incubi and Succubi.

(As heard in the Weird Darkness episode, ALIEN ARTIFACTS: PHYSICAL EVIDENCE LEFT BY UFOS.)

Envision waking up at night out of the blue. You panic when you realize that you cannot move. It heightens your fear when you feel another presence there with you. You’re gasping for air, and the creature is getting nearer and nearer. Your lungs fill up with water, you begin to gasp. But you can do nothing, the horrible creature starts crushing you…

By a variety of names across time and geography, different cultural groups have described vampire-like demons that suck humans’ energy and assail their victims during the night. Two of the most well-known names for such actors in English are Incubus and Succubus (the plural forms are Incubi and Succubi) that attack their preferential targets by lying heavy upon them, sometimes committing their sexual assaults at the same time.

Incubus is referred to as the male version of the demon who is said to rape women. The name of this demon is derived from late Latin “Incubo” literally meaning “nightmare” but is rooted from the Latin word ‘incubare’, to “lie on”. This accounts loosely fits with what the Incubus does to its prey — it lies on (or “crushes”) them. They are supposedly exceedingly difficult to dismiss once they’ve settled on a mark.

Since these demons supposedly can shapeshift their appearance varies, though they are frequently described as appearing human-like. The Incubi may also be particularly physically alluring for the subjects. Some argue that demons do not have an actual corporeal shape and take the form of a man through the reanimation of corpses, the employment of human flesh, or through powers of a supernatural nature that allow the demons to manifest themselves in a way that haunts the victims with a form of a man that may be desirable and/or known to victims.

Many texts have written about Incubi and they were particularly popular (well, “infamous” would be a better word) in Europe in the Middle Ages. Not unexpectedly, these demons (and their victims occasionally) were linked with witchcraft too. The Church came up with the theory that the demons were fallen angels who were so overwhelmed with a desire for human women that they just couldn’t help themselves. Consequently, some sources say Incubi like to attack women of a strong religious nature, such as nuns. Medieval legend claimed there were nine times as many Incubi compared to their female counterparts the Succubi.

Succubus (meaning “spirit bride” or “lie under”) is the female incarnation of an Incubus demon. These demons feature in ancient Akkadian, Sumerian, and Greek texts.

Succubi have usually been depicted as femme fatales, with exquisite beauty phenomenally too, but with bat- or other flying animals wings on their back. Like the Incubi, the Succubi attack their victims at night and are said to favor victims who are religously inclined as well. The Succubi are not human women but demons, they were known as the ones who go out and look for sleeping men, they are said to suck its blood, its breath, its life energy and its semen – until the point that the victim could even die.

Some sources say that a Succubus doesn’t even have to be physically in the man’s room to attack. They say that Succubi can just visit men in their dreams and drain their life energies that way. These dreams are typically also of a sexual nature and lead the men into a state of deep sleep paralysis (which I’ll come back to in a moment).

According to some legends, Succubi and Incubi are actually two manifestations of the same demon. These tales imply that the “male” body is the most desirable form for the creature. That being said, the Succubus form is considered essential, as this demon cannot reproduce by itself. And so the “female” Succubi would assault human men and drain their sex energy (i.e. Sperm) before transforming into the male counterpart to breed with a human female and produce offspring.

Such nightmarish attacks are reported to be happening globally. One from Japan, where the inability to move is known as Kanashibara and is attributed to multiple causes. Many legends tell about this phenomena and differ about the reason for each one. Possession by a supernatural spirit, demon, or monster or a “curse” by priests or sorcerers are typical explanations. Sometimes the cause may be a spirit that needs to be exorcised, which can be done by a certain type of priest waving a Buddhist sutra to drive away the illness.

Another example is Trauco, a creature hailing from Chiloé, an island in the south of Chile. This creature seems to have powers to seduce any woman he wants and he frequently visits her in her sleep. According to legend, Trauco lives in the forest and has a magical attraction that makes women want to have sex with him. These same stories say that men are fearful of the being’s gaze — which can cause death. The myth of Trauco’s trysts was previously used to explain unwanted or sudden pregnancies, particularly among unmarried women. Because of Trauco’s powers, the woman would be deemed blameless.

Pori is a female supernatural being that is believed to attack men in the Indian state of Assam. The entity gets to the man in a dream cycle and slowly deteriorates his health. Pori is said to have an influence in all her power and lust that the victim may even kill himself.

Tokolosh is yet another example of a creature that preys on helpless victims while they sleep. Tokolosh is said to be an evil creature that wizards send to attack their enemies (especially woman, who the Tokolosh may sexually assault). Exorcising the entity by a witch doctor or putting a brick under each leg of one’s bed have been recommended as ways to keep horrifying apparitions at bay.

Lastly, Turkish mythology has Karabasan, an evil spirit or jinn that descends on its prey while they sleep. Like the Kanashibara, Incubi, and Succubi, Karabasan can be experienced as a dense pressure on the chest, while the victim is unable to move (or “wake up”). Karabasan attacks are triggered, they say, when a person eats in bed or is not fully covered while sleeping.

It mirrors such similar entities as the Hmong people’s pressure demons tsog tsuam, the German Hexendrücken (witch pressing), French cauchmar (trampling ogre), Newfoundland Ag Rog (Old Hag), and the Spanish pesadilla. There are just two many of these nightmare-ish beings to name here, so it is time to jump to their offspring – Cambions.

Cambion: the offspring of an Incubus and a human woman (or less frequently Succubus and a human man). They are lesser-known beings than Incubi or Succubi. The earliest examples of cambions are found in post-medieval European demonology. They were particularly suspicious of twins, who were thought to be the product of a demonic human mating. Cambions are said to show little signs of life (and are not even really “alive”) until they reach the age of seven. That belief, it seems, was enough that medieval witch hunters apparently felt no guilt if they executed a suspected Cambion before they reached that age. So, to search for Cambions in the age of witch hunting, one test would be for a holy person to touch a suspected Cambion, and the test, which seemed an odd one, was that a hybrid would shriek or cry at the touch.

But if a Cambion would reach adult age, it would become very tall and strong. They were described as very arrogant, evil, and bold; though not all Cambions were said to be evil; they were often thought to have personalities similar to their looks. All Cambions were thought to possess at least one of the powers of their infernal parent as magical abilities. Some alleged examples of Cambions are: Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Martin Luther, Romulus and Remus, Plato, Merlin (of Arthurian legends), and other notable names.

Arnald of Villanova, a 13th-century physician, penned a detailed description of what transpired to someone who thought she/he had been preyed upon by an Incubus. As such demons were widely discussed during the Medieval epoch, what he wrote is important. He said:

“They know they can neither speak nor make a noise, they try to get rid of something that prevents them, because they want to rise up, call out, and speak, and because they cannot, they try, but they cannot get loose and so they press. THEY perceive the cause of the impediment […]: And because their imagination and estimative faculty have not yet been bound by that sleep, as it is light and in the first stage, they perceive a form in the form repository of the imagination, the shape of that which most meaningfully signifies the cause of the impediment. And because the breast and the throat are withheld of expansion, they perceive with their imagination the shape of a man lying on top of them and choking them.”

According to medieval physicians, Incubi and Succubi appeared when a person was in the state of sleep when their reasoning ability ended but their imagination wasn’t shut off – thus keeping them vulnerable to demonic attack.

So what this means is, in addition to the belief in supernatural attacks of demons, fallen angels, or rage spirits, other explanations have been offered for supposed encounters with Succubi and Incubi. However, just like the experiences, these explanations have been very debated as well.

Some researchers have said that Incubus/Succubus attacks are tied to severe sexual repression. As already pointed out, stories of Incubi and Succubi were initially associated more with monks and nuns — both orders of people who have taken a vow of celibacy. Because the nature of the attacks is sexual and has been linked with erotic dreams and/or physical sensations, some believe that the victims of the attacks have sexual urgencies that they cannot admit to and therefore their unconscious processes play their sexual instincts out during the night while their body can run amok. Moreover, some believe the experiences are human hallucinations or delusions rooted in the repression of sexual needs.

Alternatively, some of the other people have drawn their attention towards the experience of one undergoing fear due to these types of attacks and said that the person who has these types of experiences is suffering through strong issues related to either anxiety or stress. Even as far back as the Medieval era, medical physicians recommended that it was beneficial for an individual to minimize their stressors in order to better eliminate the demons. For example, Bernard de Gordon wrote that the person “should live in joy and happiness and avoid all sadness,” and suggested music or conversations with friends could make the patient feel better. He also suggested that a man threatened by an Incubus “should possess a very beloved friend, who, on coming to hear him calling out and almost lamenting, he should awaken.”

On the surface, stories of both types of alien contact are similar in many respects. Both typically include “meetings” with supernatural entities (usually after dusk) and recollections of observing things one cannot explain and/or hearing unusual sounds. After meeting with either organization, the person may also report being physically drained or confused.

Moreover, certain individuals have put the case that demons as described in history and legends are actually beings from outer space who have allegedly been observed since time immemorial. Some aliens, like the supposed demons, are said to feed off of human energy — sexual or fear-based — and like the supposed demons may drain their victims to the point of near death.

Sleep paralysis is the feeling of being unable to move when a person is going into or coming out of a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep state. This is the period when people usually dream and the body’s muscles are relaxed even until the point of paralysis — which can be to prevent a person from acting out his/her dream. The “demon” is said to show themselves to the person at hypnopompic (happening as one awakens) or hypnagogic (happening as one falls asleep) junctures and are thought by some researchers to be the results of scary hallucinations.

Sleep paralysis is a common phenomenon among many people, some of whom experience the feeling of someone sitting or pushing on their chest, back or side. They occasionally experience a sensation of someone strangling, biting them or twisting their limbs around, and also frequently reporting the sensation of an “evil” presence in the same room with them during these attacks. The physiology of it occurs most vividly during REM sleep. All these factors together might explain the appearance of the dreaded demons — how the brain scrutinizes this heavy feeling and lack of movement they panic, and experience arousal at the same time. It recognizes the fact that sleep paralysis, on its own, continues to be seen as an enigmatic phenomenon.

There is also the chance that some, if not many, of those whose minds were supposedly attacked by terrorizing demons weren’t imagining their ordeal, or being assaulted by supernatural entities and got attacked by other human beings. This aligns with the general descriptions of demons being human-like in their appearance as well. Whoever attacked them may have forced them to lie about what had visited them in the night, or the victims themselves had “invented” the demons as a way to make sense of the horrific attacks.

Incubi are said to prefer strongly-religious people as their victims, however — as was mentioned before. So it is little wonder that many of the answers to battle the demons are religious in nature as well. Specifically, the Church says that the method of resisting the demons is through exorcisms, making the sign of the cross multiple times, or begging Jesus or God not to be possessed, or (as a penultimate) excommunication.

People also often try to get rid of demons by moving house – hoping the demon won’t follow. Those who think the demon established a link with its victim using “dark magic” recommended that the individual looks for and disposes of any belongings that may have supernatural powers linked with them. And that the individual should cleanse their aura or use other means to keep their energy around them positive.

For people who view the nightmarish attacks as less than supernatural, counseling and self-help techniques are reported to have played a role in easing psychological stressors and alleged disruptions of some people’s experience at night as well. Some also have been prompted to assess the “big picture” — to ask what they are feeling and seeing is even real, while they are being attacked. This may be easier said than done as the individual is going through episodes of intense fear; however practicing these techniques prior to episodes can help lower the feelings as well.

Regional differences in the mythical attacker of course lead to differences in modes of protection as well, so cultural context applies as solutions when confronted with dealing with experiences with the nightmare beings.

However, there are those who have actually pursued sex with Succubi and Incubi. One case takes the form of a brothel that was said to have operated in Bologna, Italy. The owner supposedly populated his whole business with the demons for his clients’ enjoyment.

At a much more minor level, there are reports of people using magical incantations to summon demons to themselves for sexual purposes. Many later wish they hadn’t made that request when they can’t shake the demons, or they’re brutally attacked by the creatures who visit them at night.

While these ancient demons might be seen as relics of the past, people are still afflicted with feelings – including yours truly who is bringing you this story – at night of a crushing weight on their chest, or at least nightmares every so often. Sleep and dreams, the feeling of an evil presence in the room, along with those moments before and after, remain the subject of fascination, wonder, bewilderment and terror.

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