The frightened man had then taken the name “Krix,” a warlock name, and had even been provided with his own familiar, and from then on he became further and further hopelessly involved with the world of witches and their sabbats, attending black masses and often reported as riding about on a horrific flying black dog. Before his execution, he had confessed that in 1624 he had been seduced by a woman who revealed herself to be a succubus and demanded that he renounce God. In the 17th century we have the tale of a man named Johannes Junius, who was the Burgomeister of Bamberg and convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake in 1628. Legend or not? Whatever it was, it is widely said that this mysterious woman was a succubus. He would repent and die just as predicted, and to this day it is said that his grave “sweats” just before the death of a Pope. This went on until one day the woman predicted that Gerbert, who was by that time Pope, would die for his sins. Gerbert would purportedly agree to these terms, and subsequently rose quickly up the ranks of the church, all while satisfying his every carnal desire with Meridiana, quite against his vows and all kept secret, of course.
The woman called herself Meridiana, and offered him all of the sins of the flesh and lust-filled sex that he could ever want beyond his wildest dreams, as well as wealth, good fortune, and knowledge of the mystical arts, if he would only stay faithful to her and her alone. An very early supposedly real account comes from the 11th century, when Gerbert of Aurillac, who became Pope Sylvester II (999-1003), one day met a mysterious woman as a young man. Supposed encounters with real succubi go way back in time.
Considering that it is men we are talking about here, many of the legends describe the experience as rather enjoyable in the heat of the moment, but the aftermath often is said to bring exhaustion, stupor, hallucinations, insanity, and even death, but this must surely be just myths, right? Surely there can’t be anything to the idea of sex-starved demons preying on men? Well, you might be surprised to know that there are numerous accounts throughout the centuries of supposed encounters with these demonic vixens. Sex demons of this variety are represented in one form or another across geographical boundaries and religions including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, as well as the legends of myriad far-flung cultures. Most commonly called the succubus, which comes from the Latin word succuba, meaning “paramour,” these demons take on various appearances and are endowed with different powers depending on the tradition, but most generally follow the idea that they use sexual activity to target their prey, often in the realm of dreams, enticing and pulling their victims in to hold close and feed off of. Going back through the centuries and embedded within the folklore of a wide range of regions is the idea of a species of demon in female form, which appear to seduce men and steal their life energy.