Saint Augustine, most revered of Church Doctors, was convinced that devils were fornicating with wanton women:
There is … a very general rumour, which many have verified by their own experience, or which trustworthy persons who have heard the experience of others corroborate, that sylvans and fauns, who are commonly called ‘incubi,’ had often made wicked assaults upon women, and satisfied their lust upon them …
The sacred texts of Hermeticism, the Corpus Hermeticum, were a key component of the renaissance occult tradition. They were authored by Hermes Trismegistus, a mythical figure who was supposedly an Egyptian priest and coeval of Moses. As such, the Corpus Hermeticum was considered by renaissance scholar-magicians to be as significant and authoritative as any ancient religious texts, including the Bible. This story, however, did not hold up …