Do demons have gender in the concepts we do (male/female/NB)? When they present as male is that our perception and they're gender-less or are they actually male (for example)? Can they switch genders? And lastly, do they tend to seduce people and for what purpose if they don't want to kill you or claim/take your soul or make deals?
An interesting fact I’ve come across is that the word ‘incubus’ (typically thought of as male sexual demons) actually comes from the Latin for ‘lying above’, and ‘succubus’(their stereo-typically female counterparts) is derived from ‘lying beneath’. So these terms are actually only ‘gendered’ in the realm of traditional gender roles, and these spirits seem to be classed more for their submission/ domination roles. However, from personal experience, I know that there are at least some inc/succubi don’t like the gendered assumptions that come with these words.
To my knowledge, a lot of spirits don’t generally have use for reproductive parts, and don’t really distinguish themselves by gender as we do. Of course, for our convenience, they may choose a certain set of pronouns (or not), or take the appearance of a certain gender (or not). So, theoretically, this means they could switch up which gender they present as at will, or just default to having no gender at all.
And, lastly, the spirit intimacy bit. I’ve only read about this (my main source for all this information by the way is Familiar Spirits by Donald Tyson, which contains background information on sexual relations with spirits. It isn’t the main focus of the book and I’m not sure how reliable the information is, but it’s the most in depth description of intimate relations with spirits I’ve ever found), but I can relay what I do know. One given theory for spirits’ interest in intimacy with humans is that there is a layer of spiritual pleasure or fulfillment above the physical pleasure, which humans are usually too preoccupied to notice. Which explains why erotic encounters with spirits is “prolonged, and often does not involve physical climax”. It is also mentioned that, during this contact, the focus of the spirit is not usually on the genitals - which further shows that the spirits themselves are not concerned with reproductive parts, and thus our species concept of gender.
Basically, if spirits want to seduce humans, it is most likely for the pleasure they gain from sexual contact. And such spirits probably would not want to kill/ take the souls of the humans they seduce for the same reason that they would want to hold off the human’s physical climax during intimacy: because then the spirit’s pleasurable experience would end.
> Smudge
