Demoniality: Incubi and Succubi: A Book of Demonology

by Ludovico Maria Sinistrari, Isidore Liseux (Translation), Tarl Warwick (Editor)

"Demoniality: Incubi and Succubi," is one of several Latin works penned by a Father Sinistrari of Ameno during the twilight of the Renaissance. Rendered into English in the late 1800s, it speaks of demons, their composition, their mannerisms, and relates numerous tales of copulation with the same. Perhaps one of the strangest works of Demonology, this work claims that it is possible for demons to father literal offspring with humans through the use of a corpse as a vehicle, and although it is a technically Catholic work, Sinistrari even makes the claim that incubi are, in some ways, perhaps superior even to man.

Genres: Occult, Nonfiction, Horror, History, Magic, Philosophy

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1875

About the author

Sinistrari was an advisor to the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition in Rome. He was considered an expert on exorcism and wrote of the effects (during excorsicms) of various plants and other substances including cubeb, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. He was also considered an expert on demonology, sins relating to sexuality and all combinations thereof including investigations of those individuals accused of sexual relations with demonkind. Allegations along these lines became staples of later Inquisition investigations of those accused of witchcraft.
Not surprisingly, his advice was, at various time, directed against enemies of the Roman Catholic Church, including his references to Martin Luther as a "devil-begotten man".

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theology based apologetic work on the evidence for demons, specifically incubi and Sucubi. Written by 17th century theologian Father Ludovico Sinistrari, the work draws from the Bible and Church Fathers to argue for the "existence on earth" of demons. This particular version was aggrivating to read on my Kindle. The original Latin text and the English translation run together, necissitating a seek-and-find approach to locating where you are in the text. As well, the editing of this translation is very poor. Most of the errors are caused by the text being transcribed from print to digital (it would seem), but, along with the mess of Latin/English paragraphs to decipher, this edition makes for a daunting read.

[Jesse Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes an odd position on sleeping with a demon. Compares it to bestiality, but with the human as the beast. After all, the demon is a fallen angel and therefor a higher being than man.

Except one interpretation I remember was that God created man as the higher being and Lucifer fell because he refused to accept he was less than mankind. Still, interesting enough

[W · Rating 1 out of 5]

nonsensical lies told by lying men with the sole purpose of controlling women. I'd love to meet this fool, maybe introduce him to the fires of torture he recommends; see if his burning flesh reminds him of the truth value of statements. if church sanctioned torture is good enough for a "witch," then a lying church father should be the recipient of brutality the likes of which are not even repeatable or allowed to be spoken of.
this is pure garbage.
the stories in here are lies told by liars and believed by idiots and propogated by fools.
most of the premises are false and you can't argue from a false premise. the "logic" is trash and no reasonable person without an agenda would be swayed or would support this.
this catholic charlantry has caused enough suffering in the world.

[Leon Adeyemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting reading a book from the point of view of a very well educated Italian priest from the 16 hundreds, the author is clearly very well and highly educated individual at the time. and clearly a very well read person. it's fair to say there has been so much books and Infomation to do with demons, theology, occultism, laws to do with history and ancient history that we will sadly never recover. But having books such as these really give a true insight into the thought processes of someone from that age in time. Thought provoking to say the least

[Steven Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not often I abandon a book; this one I did. Sigh. I *know* it's a historical work. I know it's written by a Catholic and was written, seriously, about Demons, Incubi and Succubi. But *deeper sigh*. Ye gods. The tedium therein *rolls eyes*. However. It does offer potential in what can be done with short works; with the potential for other monsters/creatures/ spirits ...

[Francesca Giardiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro che per ora è invecchiato non troppo bene, ma che conserva tutto il suo fascino di genere come manuale della Demonialità.

[Frank Pernett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just the curiosity of reading a book from the 17th century, nothing else

[fallenruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice tutorial

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes you look at demons in a different light.

[Signor Mambrino · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Let’s just take a moment to acknowledge then that Demoniality is actually a book about sexual intercourse with Satanic demons, the Great God Pan, leprechauns, genies, fairies, aliens and sasquatches."

Read my full review of Demoniality here

[Sam Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly eccentric discourse on the finer points of demon wrangling. Centuars and goblins make an appearance too - and they're actually quite amenable fellows if you just give them a chance.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very modern sounding for a book of this period. It is in the "how many angels could dance on the head of a pin" genre of intense concentrated reasoning based on theological premises. It discusses various questions about demons, angels, incubi, or the variety of non-human but rational beings which Christians suppose to exist. What they eat, where they live, what their bodies might be like. And of course, how they seduce humans, the nature of the crime of having sex with them, means of dispelling them, etc. There are some surprising conclusions which Sinistrari comes to in the course of the text. Its almost like an ancient form of hard science fiction except that the author seems to believe what he is writing. He describes a series of beings composed of "subtle" matter, meaning gasses or liquids. Yet the liquids and gasses somehow congeal into bodies and organs, like other animal bodies made out of solid matter. He also reasons that having sex with non-humans is actually less of a crime than beastiality, as these beings are in fact rational, except for the fact that doing so usually entails some sort of demonic communication, which is really the source of the sin.

[Steven Wendell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look into the more obscure parts of the Catholic religion.

The translation seems to be well done, but some words don't have a English definition so you have to be familiar with some Latin or Canon terminology. Definitely written by a priest who took his work quite seriously and was writing all of this in a very literal sense. There are several instances where he share with us his own eye-witness accounts of dealings with the supernatural. Makes a good read for someone interested in Catholic Demonology. Found it it hilarious when Ameno called Martin Luther the offspring of an Incubus but given the schism in the church at the time due to Luther it makes sense he would refer to him as the son of a demon.

[5uccubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

bro so deep into gooning to sex demons that he actually wrote a whole guidebook that somewhat influenced our idea of modern succubi and incubi, and honestly he's so real for that.