Page 99 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysterious Creatures 79

Leeds was granted her angry wish of revenge. Jersey Devil, 1901
The baby was born a monster with devilish illustration. (FORTEAN
fangs, claws, tail, and cloven hoofs, but the PICTURE LIBRARY)
extremes of its viciousness soon eclipsed the bor-
ders of Leeds’s curse. The little monster ate every
one of the other Leeds children and escaped out
of the chimney to begin its reign of terror among
the farmers and villagers of the region.
For well over 200 years, terrified witnesses
have claimed to encounter the Jersey Devil.
The most famous series of sightings occurred
in January 1909 when hundreds of men and
women reporting seeing or hearing the fright-
ening creature. So many people refused to
leave the safety of their homes that local mills
were forced to shut down for lack of workers.
As with so many of its kind, local folklore
has it that the Jersey Devil serves as an omen
of tragedy and war. According to some wit-
nesses, the being was sighted just prior to the
onset of the Civil War (1861–65) and again
before the start of the Spanish-American con-
flict (1898) and World War I (1914–18).
Lilith, according to the Midrash, preys not
M Delving Deeper only on males as they lie sleeping, but also
Clark, Jerome, and Loren Coleman. The Unidentified. upon mothers who have just given birth, as
New York: Warner Paperback Library, 1975. well as their newborn babes. Amulets of pro-
Jones, Alison, ed. Larousse Dictionary of World Folk- tection against the approach of Lilith may be
lore. New York: Larousse, 1995. found in many traditional Jewish bookstores.
Keel, John A. Strange Creatures from Time and Space.
Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, 1970.
Seibert, Trent. “Scary Legend Has Roots in Wilder-
ness of New Jersey.” Denver Post, June 2, 2001.
[Online] http://www.100megsfree4. com/farshores/ SUCCUBI appear to men as beautiful, sensual

cjdevil.htm. women, but they also may be vampires thirsting for
human blood.
Succubus
According to certain mystical traditions, the
demonic sexual molesters known as the incubi
and the succubi were the children of Father The plural form of “Lilith” in Hebrew is
Adam’s consorting with a beautiful fallen angel “lilim,” which is found in Talmudic and Kab-
named Lilith, who in the view of certain Jewish balistic literature as a term for spirits of the
mystics, was Adam’s wife before the creation of night. Sometimes the word lilith is translated
Eve. Succubi appear to men as beautiful, sensual as “night-owl,” which would seem to refer to
women, tempting and promising, but they also Lilith, the succubus, having wings and being
may be vampires thirsting for human blood. capable of flight. Sometimes, according to
While those males who consort with a succubus Hebrew scholars, the term lilith represents
often meet an untimely end, on occasion their “wind-spirit,” and in Hebrew the word for
interaction with the entity brings about a horde “spirit” (ruach) also means wind. Lilith is
of demonic children, who will one day gather at often depicted as a beautiful woman with
his deathbed and hail him as their father. long, unkempt hair and large batlike wings.

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