Alukah (Hebrew: עֲלוּקָה, romanized: ‘ăluqā) is a feminine Hebrew word that means "horse-leech", a type of leech with many teeth that feeds on the throats of animals.[1] According to some biblical scholars, alukah can mean "blood-lusting monster" or vampire.[citation needed] Alukah is first referred to in Proverbs 30:15 in the Hebrew Bible.[2]
The most detailed description of the alukah appears in the Sefer Hasidim, where the creature is a living human being but can shapeshift into a wolf.[3] It can fly (by releasing its long hair) and would eventually die if prevented from feeding on blood for a long enough time. Once dead, a vampire can be prevented from becoming a demon by being buried with its mouth stuffed with earth.[4]
The claim is that Solomon refers to a female demon named Alukah in a riddle that he tells in the Book of Proverbs [citation needed]. The riddle involves Alukah's ability to curse a womb bearing seed. Historically, Alukah has been closely associated with Lilith or thought to be her direct descendant. The name Alukah may, additionally, merely be another title for Lilith.[5]
Robert Masters described the Alukah as "a Hebrew succubus and vampire derived from Babylonian demonology."[6]
References
edit- ^ Kitto, John (1851). A Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature. Edinburgh: Robert Clark. p. 131.
- ^ "Proverbs 30". Holy Bible, New International Version. Biblica, Inc. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ "Sefer Hasidim". Princeton University Sefer Hasidim Database (PUSHD). Princeton University. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ Dennis, Geoffrey W. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, And Mysticism. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 271.
- ^ Wayne Biggs, Mark (2010). The Case for Lilith: 23 Biblical Evidences Identifying the Serpent as Adam's First Failed Wife in Genesis (PDF). Samson Books. pp. 15, 97–103.
- ^ Masters, R. E. L (1962). Eros and Evil: The Sexual Psychopathology of Witchcraft. The Julian Press. p. 181.