Draining spirits?

December 19, 2012 5:28 AM

FolkloreFilter: What entities (?) do I need to read up more about that are like the gebbeth in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy? I want something that occupies (or can) the same physical space as a person but which freerides, parasitises, occupies, drains or otherwise has negative effects on a person.
posted by cromagnon to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

In Jewish folklore and popular belief an evil spirit which enters into a living person, cleaves to his soul, causes mental illness, talks through his mouth, and represents a separate and alien personality is called a dibbuk.
posted by jammy at 5:39 AM on December 19, 2012

Also, wikipedia also has a pretty good listing of various traditions around spirit possession (though, not all are necessarily harmful).
posted by jammy at 5:43 AM on December 19, 2012

Are more examples in fiction ok? In Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell, there's a "noncorpum" that travels from person to person though (possible spoiler) its effects are not by nature negative.
posted by cocoagirl at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2012

Just happened to be reading about Wendigos earlier today.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 1:35 PM on December 19, 2012

From a Buddhist perspective, egocentric karmic conditioning. (Zen teacher Cheri Huber talks/writes a lot about EKC.)
posted by Lexica at 8:17 PM on December 19, 2012

Changelings. Hungry ghosts.

Heinlein's Puppet Masters is a totally different SF take on a similar premise.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Sockpuppetry at 11:40 PM on December 19, 2012

Lemures are malevolant spirits who torment the living and can be portrayed as draining their victims. Sluagh steal souls. Some people believe cats steal the breath of people. I think most folk traditions have this idea, so maybe narrowing down by the culture you want to inhabit/explore? It's a common theme in Neopaganism, but neopaganism doesn't tend to do taxonomies.
posted by Deoridhe at 8:01 PM on December 20, 2012