Estries Strix Succubus Demon

Sefer Hasidim

Estries are female vampires of Jewish folklore that were believed to prey on Hebrew citizens. The name derives from the French strix, a term for a night owl. In some accounts they are considered identical with succubi: both were portrayed as beautiful, blood-thirsty female demons, with succubi thought to favor babies and young children as prey. Estries, like other vampires, needed to feed on blood to survive and were more indiscriminate in their choice of victims.

Succubi were said to kill pregnant women and babies out of jealousy or spite, and to seduce (or in some cases rape) men. Estries and succubi were both said to be able to appear as humans or in spirit form at will, but Estries were also described as able to turn into birds or cats and various other animals.

Sefer Hasidim account

The Sefer Hasidim, a book on Jewish piety, stated:

1465 There are women that are called estrie... They were created at sunset [before the first Sabbath before creation]. As a result of this, they are able to change form. There was one woman who was a estrie and she was very sick and there were two women with her at night; one was sleeping and one was awake. And the sick woman stood up and loosened her hair and she was about to fly and suck the blood of the sleeping woman. And the woman who was awake screamed and woke her friend and they grabbed the sick estrie, and after this she slept.

And moreover, if she had been able to grab the other woman, then she, the estrie, would have lived. Since she was not able to hurt the other woman, the estrie died, because she needs to drink the blood of living flesh. The same is true of the werewolf. And since....the estrie need to loosen their hair before they fly, one must adjure her to come with her hair bound so that she cannot go anywhere without permission. And if a estrie is injured or seen by someone, she cannot live unless she eats of the bread and salt of the one who struck her. Then her soul will return to the way it was before.

1466 There was a woman who was suspected of being a estrie, and she was injured when she appeared to a Jew as a cat and he hit her. The next day she asked him to give her some of his bread and salt, and he wanted to give it to her. An old man said to him (Ecc. 7:16) "Be not overly righteous." When others have sinned one must not show kindness, for if she lives, she will harm people. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He created her for you [as a test].

Estries were believed able to fly if their hair was unbound, while binding an estrie's hair would keep it grounded.

Succubus

A succubus (pl. succubi) is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, and ultimately sexual intercourse, as she requires semen to survive.

The establishment and perpetuation of such a relationship enables the production of a hybrid offspring known as a cambion, but at the expense of the man, whose mental and physical health will deteriorate rapidly, eventually resulting in his death if the succubus continues courting him for a protracted period.

In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a beautiful seductress or enchantress, rather than as demonic or frightening, to attract people instead of repulsing them. The male counterpart to the succubus is the incubus. Historically, folkloric belief in succubi was motivated by distressing nighttime phenomena, chiefly wet dreams and sleep paralysis.

Etymology

The term derives from Late Latin succuba "paramour" from succubare "to lie beneath" (sub- "under" and cubare "to lie"), used to describe this being's implied sexual position relative to the sleeper's position. The English word "succubus" dates from the late 14th century. The succubus is also known as the earth wanderer.

In folklore

As depicted in the Jewish mystical treatise Zohar and the medieval Jewish satirical text Alphabet of Ben Sira, Lilith was Adam's first wife, who later became a succubus. She left Adam and refused to return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with the archangel Samael. In Zoharistic Kabbalah, there were four succubi who mated with the archangel Samael. The four original queens of the demons were Lilith, Eisheth Zenunim, Agrat bat Mahlat, and Naamah.