The following article is from Wikipedia. This article in particular states that incubus and succubus are often confused with the old hag syndrome due to some experiences while under the influence of sleep paralysis are of sexual nature. I have had many reports of sexual advances while experiencing sleep paralysis. Please remember some believe that sleep paralysis is used as a doorway, an opening of somekind to let in the visitors that are often felt. That is why there is some confusion as to normal sleep paralysis and then a more supernatural sleep paralysis. Could supernatural beings be using the state of sleep paralysis to enter our realm? Hopefully we will find out as much as possible by taking all accounts into consideration, all sides and see what we end up with.
Here is the link for the article, as well as pasted below for your convenience.
Incubus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Incubus, 1870
An incubus (plural incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions. Its female counterpart is the succubus. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin.[1] Some sources indicate that it may be identified by its unnaturally cold penis.[2] Religious tradition holds that repeated intercourse with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, or even death.[3]
Medieval legend claims that demons, both male and female, sexually prey on human beings. They generally prey upon the victim when they are sleeping, though it has been reported that females have been attacked while fully lucid.
The incubus is sometimes confused with the legendary "Old Hag" syndrome. The Old Hag episode, however, is usually restricted to an unpleasant feeling of great pressure on the chest and not a ghostly sexual encounter.
Contents[hide]
1 Origins
1.1 Ancient and religious descriptions
1.2 Regional variations
2 See also
3 Notes
//
[edit] Origins
A number of secular explanations have been offered for the origin of the incubus legends. They involve the medieval preoccupation with sin, especially sexual sins of women. Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. Also, nocturnal arousal, orgasm or nocturnal emission could be explained by the idea of creatures causing an otherwise guilt-producing and self-conscious behavior.[4] Alternately, the influence of incubi could also have been invoked to explain otherwise "unexplainable" pregnancies out of wedlock.
Purported victims of incubi could have been the victims of sexual assault by a real person. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative may have assaulted the victim in her sleep. The victims and, in some cases the clergy,[5] may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than confront the idea that the attack came from someone in a position of trust.
[edit] Ancient and religious descriptions
One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian kings' list, ca. 2400, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu (Lila).[6] It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams.[7] Two other corresponding demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons due to mistaken etymology.[8] Also considered to be vampires which is another form of a demon that is said to drink blood from its victims.
Incubi and succubi were said by some not to be different sexes, but the same demons able to change their sex.[9] A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Their offspring were thought to be supernatural in many cases, even if the actual genetic material originally came from humans.[4]
Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual,[10] others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental.[11] There are also numerous stories involving the attempted exorcism of incubi or succubi who have taken refuge in, respectively, the bodies of men or women.
Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion. The most famous legend of such a case includes that of Merlin, the famous wizard from Arthurian legend.[5]
According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of Incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism." [12] On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Maria Sinistrari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."[5]
[edit] Regional variations
There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors.[13] El Trauco, according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. El Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women.[14] Perhaps another variation of this conception is el "Tintín" in Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of abundant haired women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their windows; a myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends[15]. In Hungary, a lidérc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.[16]
In Brazil and the rain forests of the Amazon Basin, the Boto is a combination of siren and incubus, a very charming and beautiful man who seduces young women and takes them into the river.[17] It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies,[18] and it can never be seen by daylight, because it metamorphoses into that kind of river dolphin during those hours. According to legend the boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.[19]
The Southern African incubus demon is the Tikoloshe. Chaste women place their beds upon bricks to deter the rather short fellows from attaining their sleeping forms. They also share the hole in the head detail and water dwelling habits of the Boto
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello Sherry!
ReplyDeleteI recently signed up to follow your blog as I too suffer from SP & also am working on researching it (much research is needed!).
Unfortunately, it looks as though I have jinxed you because you haven't posted anything in a couple weeks ;-)
I hope all is well. Drop by my blog when you get a chance to check out my thoughts & shared experiences with SP.
Take care & sleep well,
~ Jacqui (AKA Jayequeue)
Welcome Jacqui,
ReplyDeleteYes I had to take a couple weeks off, but am back on the saddle again. Please visit our web site at www.old-hag.com for more information and our forum. I will be sure to check out your blog as well.
Sweet Dreams!
Sherry
This is an interesting phenomenon indeed. I have experienced on several occasions (x5's)in the last few years what appears to be sleep paralysis, where I wake up unable to move or scream; I understand that when the brain wakes from REM, the body is still back in the REM state and so a communication problem b/ween body & mind occurs. But check this out - ALL my experiences have included disturbing hallucinations of a DARK/SPIRITUAL presence that torments me with a barrage of personal insults about my past and present along with threats of death. The last encounter I had (18/3/10) this 'thing' or hallucination was laying beside me with a scalpal firmly nestled in my thigh, spitting its torment into my ear. I could not move/shout ANYTHING and whilst it was happening my heart beat so fast that I honestly believed I was going to have a cardiac arrest. But when I pleaded to GOD to help me as a last resort (Im not religious) - I was released. THE MOST TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE IVE EVER KNOWN! Getting chills just writing about it! So my argument is this! WHY ARE THE SAME HALLUCINATIONS INVOLVED EVERY TIME I HAVE THIS PARALYSIS? coincidental? CANT BE! On two occasions my room has stunk post dream, but no one else can smell it? The smell goes after 32hrs. THis is LIFE CHANGING FOR ME. I am persuaded that it is happening for a reason. Maybe there are channels in our mind that open up in REM state? Channels that invite things we do not understand? Im thinking about seeing a psychiatrist over this. If it happens again I'm seriously afraid s/thong could happen to my heart. You don't understand how fast it was beating! ANYWAY - GIVE ME S/THING PLEASE.
ReplyDeleteINCUBIS's and SLEEP DEMONS - I'm not convinced this is some condition of the brain where the body becomes paralyzed and we are mute, because I've had this stuff happen to me. It is too real! It is a subjective experience and unless you experience it yourself, its difficult to fathom. Why is EVERY one of my experiences linked to a DARK TORMENTING PRESENCE and not butterfly's or tea parties? I wish I could have got it all on film to show you. I'm not a religious person, but can anyone give me a reasonable, natural explanation? keeping in mind the dark presence... what's the link and why?
ReplyDeleteThe same thing happened to me! I was overwhelmed by a feeling of absolute evil and I couldn't move. It took my face and smashed it against the wall. I could feel my broken teeth in my mouth. I thought, "This is the devil. And if there is a devil then there has to be a God!" I was immediately released. This happened to me 20 years ago and hasn't happened since.
ReplyDeleteI have a theory as to why everyone with SP senses such an overwhelmingly negative/evil presence, but first some background: I too have had SP throughout my life. In many of my episodes, I have encountered what (at the time), I believe to be a malicious being intent on harming me. I have been smothered, suffocated and violated in other ways too embarrassing to share.
ReplyDeleteMy theory is this:
a) Paralysis sucks: The negativity comes from paralysis. Realizing that you are paralyzed is one of the most horrific things imaginable. It instantly triggers feelings of horror and despair.
b) It is JUST A DREAM. Yes, the definition of SP is that you are "conscious", but from my experience this is not the same as being awake. I know this because after the fact, I recall thoughts and perceptions that make no sense at all even though they felt logical at the time just like a dream. (For example, I recall a great fear when my alarm clock made an evil face at me. At the time, I did not question the fact that a digital display had come to life...)
So, given that you are in an anxious state (due to paralysis) and that your mind is still in a sort-of dream state, doesn't it make sense that your mind might start conjuring up some really negative, disturbing images. Except for being partially awake, isn't this exactly how dreams and nightmares work?