Understanding Incubus, Succubus, and Sexual Bondage Through Scripture
Many people struggle in silence due to the shame surrounding sexual sin and the fear of rejection that often accompanies it. Issues such as pornography, personal sexual gratification, sexual fantasy, and ungodly habits connected to sex are difficult and uncomfortable to talk about, and the enemy knows this. What remains hidden in darkness is where bondage thrives (John 3:19–20).
This teaching is not written to condemn, but to bring light, truth, and understanding, because “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
An incubus or succubus spirit is a demonic spirit that comes to lie upon a person in order to have sexual interaction with them. These encounters usually occur at night. Many people experience sexually arousing dreams and dismiss them as nothing more than imagination or subconscious thought. Others believe they merely imagined something that was not real. However, Scripture teaches us that spiritual encounters can and do occur during sleep and night visions (Job 4:13–16; Matthew 13:25).
Though incubus spirits are often reported to target males and succubus spirits females, many believe the spirit involved can be one and the same. These spirits are often associated with what is commonly referred to as Lilith. Their “children” or offspring are known by many different names across cultures and languages, and accounts of these entities span thousands of years.
The Bible does make reference to such spirits. Lilith is mentioned in Isaiah 34:11–15, often translated as a screech owl, an unclean night spirit associated with fear and terror. Some Bible translations directly use the name Lilith. This spirit brings terror by night (Psalm 91:5), yet it can also produce feelings of sexual pleasure, creating deep confusion and guilt within the individual. The enemy relies on this conflict, the shame of knowing something is wrong, combined with the pleasure that keeps the door open to continued bondage.
Scripture repeatedly warns of spirits that tempt, seduce, entice, and lure people into sin (Proverbs 7; James 1:14–15; 2 Corinthians 11:14).
These spirits, sometimes referred to as mare spirits, can cause a person to feel a heavy weight on their chest, paralysis, or the inability to move or speak. They may sexually touch, rape, or violate individuals. In some cases, they are reported to affect fertility, miscarriage, childbearing, and even cause childhood trauma or infant death. These spirits can also wreak havoc in marriages and relationships, bringing division, jealousy, and destruction. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).
They are sometimes called “spirit husbands” or “spirit wives” because they form a counterfeit covenant with their victims. These spirits are extremely jealous and controlling, which can manifest in relationships as jealousy, domination, and control.
These spirits are also able to operate through witchcraft and occult practices, and not only through dream-state encounters. In some cases, real people who practice witchcraft, sorcery, or astral projection knowingly or unknowingly cooperate with demonic spirits to visit others spiritually. Scripture warns that sorcery is a work of the flesh and brings people into partnership with demons (Galatians 5:20; Deuteronomy 18:10–12).
These visitations are not always imaginary or subconscious. The spiritual realm is real, and demonic spirits are able to move through willing vessels. This is one reason Scripture strongly forbids all forms of witchcraft, divination, and occult practices. Those who engage in these things open doors not only for themselves, but for demonic activity that affects others as well (1 Samuel 15:23; Acts 19:18–19).
It is important to recognize the open doors through which these spirits gain access. Lust, sexual fantasy, pornography, and personal gratification are common entry points. Romance novels, explicit media, and anything that defiles the mind corrupts the eye gate and thought life (Matthew 6:22–23). The mind becomes a screen replaying what it has consumed. Scripture tells us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), because what is planted in the mind does not remain without consequence.
Demonic spirits observe human behavior. They recognize patterns, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. They know exactly what bait to use to entice someone to open a door. Over time, as a person repeatedly engages in certain sins, demonic influence grows stronger. Though a person believes they are acting in free will, Scripture tells us that “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). Eventually, the chains become too strong to break without divine intervention.
Deliverance is necessary, but deliverance requires surrender. Often, people are not ready to be free because they still enjoy the pleasure sin provides. Demons recognize when they have been given permission to stay, and God, in His mercy, waits until a person truly desires truth and righteousness. As Psalm 107:13–16 declares, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses… He broke their chains in pieces.”
The Holy Spirit calls believers to purity: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14). We are commanded to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16). When someone willingly engages in sexual sin, they grant the enemy legal access to their life.
Another common doorway is abuse and trauma, emotional, sexual, or physical. Molestation, rape, incest, and generational sin can open doors to familiar spirits, lust, witchcraft, and defilement. Being abused is not the same as choosing sin, yet trauma can still create spiritual vulnerability. Even a single sexual partner carrying these spirits can transfer them to another (1 Corinthians 6:16).
Familiar spirits often operate through generational sin and iniquitous patterns. These spirits attach themselves to family bloodlines in order to reproduce the same behaviors, addictions, and perversions from one generation to the next (Exodus 20:5–6). In some families, these patterns may appear to skip a generation and then resurface later, making the source difficult to identify.
This is one reason some individuals sincerely believe they were “born this way.” What appears natural may in fact be spiritual bondage that has existed long before a person was born. These familiar spirits influence thoughts, desires, and identity, especially when reinforced through trauma, abuse, or authority dysfunction within the home.
Perverse spirits are also able to bring confusion regarding sexual identity and orientation. When God’s created order is rejected or overturned, deception takes root (Romans 1:21–27). Scripture teaches that God created male and female with divine purpose and order (Genesis 1:27), and when that order is disrupted, spiritual confusion often follows.
These spirits enslave those under their control. This is not merely an issue of willpower. Many pursue promiscuity because it temporarily provides validation or a false sense of power, yet afterwards leaves them feeling dirty, ashamed, and empty. Lust produces an insatiable appetite; it is never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20). At the root is a longing for love, acceptance, and belonging, desires only God can truly fulfill (Psalm 68:6).
Darkness attracts darkness. Unclean spirits are drawn to one another. Isaiah 26:13 states, “O LORD our God, other masters besides You have ruled us.” There is no freedom apart from the authority of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
When incubus, succubus, or perverse spirits operate in a person’s life, they assume a counterfeit marital role. This ungodly covenant must be renounced and broken. These spirits despise purity and will seek to defile even Christian marriages through fantasy and perversion, because Satan despises God’s order (Ephesians 5:31–32).
Secrecy is one of the enemy’s greatest weapons. What remains hidden remains empowered (Proverbs 28:13). Secrecy erodes trust, honesty, and intimacy, both in marriage and in one’s relationship with God. When areas of the heart remain unsubmitted to God, it becomes a form of spiritual adultery (James 4:4). Confession brings healing, and light exposes darkness (James 5:16; Ephesians 5:11–13).
In households where godly authority is absent, reversed, or severely distorted, perverse spirits often gain greater access. When male leadership is passive, absent, or suppressed, and control or domination replaces God’s design, spiritual disorder follows. God established order within the family not for oppression, but for protection and covering (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23).
Incubus and succubus spirits exploit rebellion and authority dysfunction because their nature is rooted in perversion and opposition to God’s order. These spirits present themselves as covenant partners, spirit husbands or spirit wives, creating an ungodly soul tie that must be renounced and spiritually divorced. God does not recognize these counterfeit covenants, but they must be broken through repentance and the authority of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 28:18).
Any covenant made outside of God’s will is ultimately a covenant with darkness. Scripture warns that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Freedom requires choosing loyalty to Christ alone.
A perverse spirit turns God’s order upside down. What is good becomes undesirable. Disappointment turns into bitterness, which leads to rebellion and rejection of godly standards (Hebrews 12:15). God is a God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33). He established male and female roles within the family, with the man called to represent Christ’s headship through love, protection, and sacrifice (Ephesians 5:22–33).
Where authority is reversed, absent, or dysfunctional, perverse spirits often thrive. God’s design is not oppressive , it is protective and life-giving. Sin never comes without consequence, but God has provided redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).
Scripture is clear:
- “Do not be deceived… the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).
- “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19–21).
Truth matters. Accountability matters. Salvation and freedom come only through Jesus Christ, who disarmed principalities and powers at the cross (Colossians 2:14–15). The truth you know is the truth by which you are judged, and also the truth by which you can be set free.
Connect with Us
Follow Us
Prayer Requests
Should you require prayer, kindly send your prayer request to prayers@hopeandhealing.co.za
Testimonies
Should you want to share a testimony, kindly send your testimony to testimonies@hopeandhealing.co.za
General Enquiries
For any general enquiries, kindly send an email to info@hopeandhealing.co.za