Asrapa

(AS-rap-ah)

Variations: Asurkpa

The creation of this VAMPIRIC WITCH or demonic vampiric being from India is uncertain. Some lore says that it was born the offspring of Kasyapa the sage and his wife Muni, daughter of Daksha, while other stories say that the asrapa, whose name translates to mean "blood drinker," was a thought form that came into being when the Brahma was angry. No matter how it came to be, the asrapa is usually depicted as a naked woman. It is a shape-shifter who can raise the dead through a boon given to it by the goddess KALI. It can usually be found wandering in a cemetery. It prefers to consume human flesh: man, woman, or child, living or deceased—it does not matter.

Source: Gandhi, Penguin Book of Hindu Names, 40; Klostermaier, A Concise Encyclopedia, 53; Saletore, In-dian Witchcraft, 120; Turner, Dictionary of Ancient Deities, 74, 140