Sleep Paralysis
08/03/2009 by: eyepriestessSLEEP PARALYSIS
IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
Regardless of whether one accepts the medical explanation, or the paranormal theory for this surprisingly common condition, there is no escaping the fact that it is a terrifying experience for the sufferer.
Sleep paralysis is closely related to the natural paralysis occurring in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state of sleep. The victim is fully conscious and alert, yet the body remains paralysed. In this state, the brain is capable of manifesting intensely vivid hallucinations, which the body cannot react to. The understandable reaction to this scenario is fear and panic. To the sufferer, the experience is horrifyingly real. All the natural senses of the individual remain fully functioning, i.e. smell, taste, touch, hearing, and sight are all present and only add to the horror.
During REM sleep the body’s metabolism is slowed down, the heart rate is lowered, as too is blood pressure and respiratory rate. Along with this comes muscle paralysis; all these adaptations are a safety mechanism to prevent injury during the dreaming state. Without this natural defence, the individual could thrash out with limbs and enact their dreams.
With a reduced heart beat and respiratory rate the victim will experience the feeling of pressure on the chest wall and a difficulty in breathing. In this natural state of fear and panic, the victim may well interpret this sensation as some kind of weight on his/her chest.
Some victims of this horrifying condition are able to convince themselves that the experience was no more than a dream – a nightmare at worst. Others remain convinced they have been attacked by some kind of supernatural entity. The latter are adamant their assailant is an external reality and not a product of their subconscious. However, sleep specialists and psychologists dismiss this by explaining that thoughts, images, and sensations released from an individual’s subconscious are all ultimately alien to the individual. This area is a vast storeroom for random psychological phenomena, which the conscious brain either cannot, or will not analyse and accept as reality. Hence, the victim concludes that all the hallucinatory elements of a sleep paralysis attack are received from an external source.
Throughout the world and the passing of time, the above physiological aspects of sleep paralysis have been and remain the same, regardless of the victim’s race, religion, or culture. It is the almost countless interpretations of these symptoms, which make sleep paralysis one of, if not the most common and feared paranormal phenomena.
It is beyond the scope and capability of this article and its author to cover all the physiological and psychological aspects of sleep paralysis. Therefore, I have elected to turn my attention to offering the reader a brief overview of the many variations and interpretations of the occult aspects of this fascinating and terrifying phenomenon.
THE DARKER SIDE OF THE NIGHT
Frank De Felitta’s novel, ‘The Entity’ which was subsequently made into a very successful horror movie was in fact based on the alleged true story of Carlotta Moran, a young Californian woman. Her terrifying ordeal from the 1970s is supported by psychiatric reports and physical evidence in the form of bruises to her body. Some researchers claim that Carlotta was attacked by a non-physical male entity known as an Incubus, (female counterpart, Succubus).
There are several excellent books and papers available on sleep paralysis. ‘Creatures from Inner Space’ (Stan Gooch) and ‘The Flying Cow’ (Guy Lyon Playfair), and ‘The Terror that comes in the Night’ (David J. Hufford) are just three examples.
SLEEP PARALYSIS IN FOLKLORE:
The following list is a brief summary of various perceptions of sleep paralysis in some cultures throughout the world:
African culture describes sleep paralysis as ‘The Witch Riding Your Back’.
Cabbodian, Laitian, and Thai culture believe sleep paralysis to be ‘Pee Umm’ and Khmout Sukkhot’. These describe dreams of ghostly figures holding down their victims, or merely being nearby. Both terms should not be confused with ‘Pee Khao’ and ‘Khamout Jool’ which refers to a ghost possession.
Hmong culture refers to sleep paralysis as ‘Dab Tsog’ or ‘Crushing demon’ In this instance the victim claims to see small child-sized entities sitting on their chests.
Many Americam Hmong, (mainly male) have died in their sleep, prompting the Centres for Disease Control to adopt the term, ‘Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome’, or (SUNDS).
Viatnamese culture refer to sleep paralysis as ‘Ma De’, meaning (held down by a ghost or, ‘Bong De’, (held down by a shadow’.
Chinese culture believes it to be, ‘Pinyin; gui y ashen’ or ‘Pinyin gui ya chan’. Translated: ‘Ghost pressing on bed’.
Japanese culture, as ‘Kanashibari’, meaning (bound or fastened in metal).
Hungarian culture folklore refers to sleep paralysis as ‘Lidercnymias’. (Lideric pressing). Here the term can relate to a number of supernatural entities like ‘Lideric’ (Wraith). ‘Boszorkany’ (Witch). ‘Tunder’ (Fairy) or ‘Ordogszereto’ (Demon Lover). The word ‘Boszorkany’ stems from the Turkish root ‘Bas’ meaning (to press).
Icelandic culture refers to sleep paralysis as having a ‘Mara’ (Devil that sits on one’s chest at night).
Malta culture attributes sleep paralysis to an attack by the ‘Haddiela’ who is the wife of ‘Hares’. To help prevent such an attack Maltese people believe to rid themselves of Haddeila, they must place a piece of silverware or a knife under the pillow prior to sleep.
Kurdish culture believes it to be ‘Mattaka’. Kurdish people believe the form of a ghost or evil spirit visits them in the night and suffocates them if they have done something bad.
New Guinnea culture, as ‘Suk Ninmyo’. Here the origin is from sacred trees that use human essence to sustain their lives. These trees feed on human essence during the night so as not to disturb the human’s daily life.
Turkish culture, as ‘Karabasan’, (The dark presser/assailer).
Mexican culture refer to sleep paralysis as ‘Se me Subio el Mureto’ (The dead person got on me).
Southern American culture refers to the phenomenon as a ‘hag’ and it is believed to be a sign of an approaching tragedy or accident.
Southwest Nigeria culture describes sleep paralysis as ‘Ogun Oru’ (Nocturnal Warfare).
Pakistani culture refers to the phenomenon as encounters with evil jinns and demons. They believe the experience to be the result of enemies performing black magic.
Korean culture, as ‘Ga-ui-nool-lim’ menaing (pressed by a nightmare).
Tamail and Sri Lankan cultures refer to sleep paralysis as ‘Amuku Be’ or Amuku Pei’ meaning (the ghost that forces one down).
Malay culture, as ‘Kena Tindih’ meaning (being pressed).
Newfoundland culture refers to the phenomenon as the ‘Old Hag’. It is believed that the Hag can be summoned to attack a third party, like a curse. Daviv J. Hufford stated in his 1982 book, ‘The Terror That Comes in the Night’ that believers call up the Hag by reciting the Lords Prayer backwards.
Because of the complexity and the profound effect this phenomenon can have on many peoples lives I intend to return to this topic in future articles when information from reliable sources becomes available.
Wikipedia on sleep paralysis click on this
More from Wayne – Paranormal Psychology – click on this
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(Copyright, Wayne Ridsdel, 2009 @ World Mysteries And True Ghost Tales).
Pic by, Wayne Ridsdel, (Copyright, Wayne Ridsdel, 2009 @ World Mysteries And True Ghost Tales).
Anna.
Someone very wise recently suggested I place the picture of a close relative (now deceased) in the bedroom where I sleep. This deceased relative will show the ‘still’ lingering spirits (ghosts) the way to the light. Things have slowed down a lot @ my home. This same person also told me “You have so much power because you still have the 3 (SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY). Talk to Jesus Christ requesting to keep your soul safe until you wake up and do an imaginary golden ribbon wrap around your body for protection”.
It might be psychological to some…….to me IS POWER THROUGH MY MIND. TRY IT and tell me if it works for you.
Sorry it took so long to let this through, i have been away for a while.
Good advice Mina!
I know what you mean about the power of the mind and it is scientifically recognised now that thought affects matter. I’ve healed myself through thought alone, i had tennis elbow so bad and one day i lay down and imagined the negative energy in my elbow as a mass of dark energy… i pulled it down my arm and through my hand, it worked straight away…never had pain again in my elbow!
You must dread going to sleep, i had it once and it is absolutely terryfying. Then i had a brief one, but that wasn’t bad. Not had SP since.
Do what Mina suggests, you have alot of power with your mind, if you can control it by meditating you can get that power working for you…it’s very real and when you get that control, it’s like riding a bike, you never lose it and forget how to do it.
Praying is your first option though, there is immense power in prayer…i can vouch for that!… it worked for me in a horrible situation with an evil presence that was not a dream or SP, this was when i was awake and before i got in bed.
Pls don’t worry, I just want to remind you this is your universe, do not let anybody or anything think otherwise. You have your free will, USE IT. I am using my free will to let you know about this because I live in a universe of my own, just like you live in yours. It may seem both universes are one so to speak but they are not, they just touch each other without melting with each other. The division is subtle yet unbroken unless you want otherwise. But we both have to agree on that, both of us have free will and we both have the right to use it.
You have 5 doors that open to this universe of yours, your five senses. Just close the doors by doing this (you can say it out loud or think it, it is very powerful it will work every time):
I don’t want to see anything I don’t want
I don’t want to hear anything I don’t want
I don’t want to smell anything I don’t want
I don’t want to touch or be touched by anything I don’t want
I don’t want to taste anything I don’t want.
I have my free will and I am using it now. Obey, this is my universe, you are not welcome.
Simple, but it works. If you believe in God(Allah, Jeovah, Budha, etc) it is great, also think no one can take your soul but your creator, if that is what you want to say, if that is what you want to allow; but bear this in mind, your creation was based on love, good, not evil.
Your free will was a gift from him/it contemplating all possibilities. Also remember you are responsible of it.
When I was younger I used to do a lot of research about paranormal stuff, never played with those things though. But I study a lot about them.
I have sleep disorders since I was a child, I could keep myself awake all night, I used to watch lots of sunrises through my window. LOL
One night I had this dream, I was on my bed and a “thing” (call it whatever you want, to me it has no name and I won’t give it power with a name) was behind my door. What I knew was it was evil and was there for me. I got completely scared and terrified then another entity came (man-shaped), this was more shocking because it had huge round purple eyes swirling and staring at me, he sat on my bed then with a man’s voice that revealed he was truly disappointed he asked me: Barbara, why do you do this to me?, I remain silent, and I was so embarrassed because I had never prayed to him or anything. I knew it was Uriel, he didn’t say I am Uriel, I just knew it. I even forgot “the other one”, when I looked to the door, it was gone and all bad evil energy with it. Then there is little I can recall after that, but in the instant he said that to me I promised to him I wouldn’t look or do any research about “the evil ones”. I kept my promise.
I have also read that if you have this feeling of paralysis, not to be afraid. You are having an OBE, but if you have this evil-not right-feeling, follow your instinct, this is not good. Close the doors and don’t let them in.
Again, this is your universe, you have free will. Once I read that the most dangerous thing is to allow whoever or whatever to make us think we don’t have it. So be careful and trust yourself. YOU DO HAVE FREE WILL AND THIS IS YOUR UNIVERSE, REMEMBER THIS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
Que Dios (tu creador) te bendiga./ God bless you.
Sleep paralysis? I think it’s more of a physiological and mental occurrence, induced by lack of sleep,fatigue, bad sleeping position and others. I used to have this several times a year, and though I very much want to link it to the supernatural, an objective assessment led me to conclude that sleep paralysis occurred due to explainable reasons.
How did I get out of it? I deduced that sleep paralysis is a state of being subconscious and being temporarily paralyzed due to exertion of pressures on certain muscle points (that’s what the Chinese call), so the only reasonable thing to do is to remain calm and breathe, and not to let fear overtake, because any trained paramedics would know that wounds don’t kill, it’s the state of shock/fear that accelerate the deterioration. I learned to relax the body, and let the mind take control by trying to move from side to side. It’s quite like being in the state of cramp, learn how to manipulate your body parts, and soon you can get out of it. With enough experience, I began to see sleep paralysis as another unfortunate but curable muscle problem. Of course, I began to experience this less and less as I learn to cultivate healthy practices like avoiding caffeine and finishing work early so I don’t have to burn midnight oil. Often, the solution to problems like these are the simplest.
What you can’t see often scares you, but once you learn to take control of fear, all those hocus pocus belief in unseen things will look ridiculous. Remember, the mind does wonders, but it can do terrible things to the body too if not brought under control with reasoning.
Alright so, I haven’t been on this website in a long time, but something happened to me recently that scared me out of my mind. Hopefully I could share it with you all sometime. It happened to have something to do with Sleep Paralysis, and after my experience, I don’t think it’s hallucinations.
Hi Abby, will you tell us what happened?
Well it’s a long story but I’ll tell it as best as I can.
First I have to explain that there’s this girl I talk to, her name is Katie, and Katie and I Skype every night. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Skype but if you’re not it’s basically a messenger that supports internet phone calls and video conferences. I’d also like to add that I’m bi and I have feelings for Katie. I’m gonna move up to MD to even be with her. (I know that part’s irrelevant but I swear it’s not) So one night, as usual Katie and I are Skyping, she falls asleep. Earlier that day I had taken a nap so I was wide awake. When she fell asleep 2 or 3 hours later her Skype hung up. I didn’t think anything of it because it’s happened before. So I’m tossing and turning and finally I start getting sleepy. and I’m going in and out of sleep, and dreaming in between. So I start dreaming that I’m skyping with another friend and she’s showing me video clips of that movie The Exorcist (She knows that movie terrifies me) with her webcam, and I remember dreaming this and turning face up, since I was sleeping face down. When I turned there was know doubt in my mind I knew I was dreaming. I knew it because I knew I hadn’t skyped with that other friend. So, right as I’m drifting to sleep again. I feel tingles running down my arms and a light pushing on me, like someone was gently holding me in place. So then I feel cold on my left ear and some whispering that sounds like it’s in another language, the whisper was creepy, I refused to open my eyes at that point, so I did what I was taught to do, I was about to say, “In the name of Jesus Christ” but the only part I got up to was, “In the name of- ” So, internally I started panicking I couldn’t say, Jesus Christ, and I still refused to open my eyes. I then thought, fine if I can’t say it then I’ll think it. Slowly the pressure went away and I sat up, I even said “In the name of Jesus Christ” to test that I could say it again.
Now, that’s nothing out of the ordinary for a person who suffers sleep paralysis…but this is when it really gets creepy.
When that passed, I freaked the hell out. So I picked up my phone and called Katie. Katie didn’t answer. So I throw the phone on the bed and then it rang. I answered it and Katie was panicked, She said, “I thank God you’re up” quickly I asked her what was wrong, she then told me this. She said, “Abby, I was asleep and I felt an arm wrap around me, and I placed my arm over that one, and I thought that was you. Then my eyes shot open and I screamed and tossed the arm off me and sat there screaming and then you called.” Now when she said that I got even more scared because first of all I live 25 hours away from the girl and the girl lives alone. So I thought it was a weird coincidence that we both experienced weird things at almost the same time. So I told her what happened to me and she flipped out. I then told her that I was gonna go check on my family to make sure everyone was okay. I have a tendency to do that whenever I get nervous. I make sure everyone’s safe and sound. So I checked both my brother and sisters room. I then went downstairs to get some water and to check my parents room. As I went in my parents room, my dad woke up and he asked me if I was okay. I told him yes, and went to go get some water. He called me into the room again and my mom was awake, so I told them what happened, they even offered me to stay the night in their room. Now I’m a 22 yr old so I declined politely, my mom told me to go to my room then, pray and try to get some sleep. I nodded and went back upstairs. I called Katie again and we talked until we both fell asleep again.
Now at this point I don’t know about you but these events were creepy beyond belief…what’s weird is that there’s more.
The next day I was helping my Mom with dinner, she looked at me dead serious and told me, something happened to me last night. I asked her what and she said that, a half hour after I went back upstairs my dad stayed up kind of worried about me so he went upstairs to check on me. She said that when he was gone, the fan was hitting her because it was hot, she just had a sheet over her, she said the sheet flew up and she started feeling tingles on her ankles like someone was pinning her, she started waking up and all of a sudden she started feeling like someone or more like something was choking her, she said when her eyes shot open she just saw this shadow figure shaped like a very muscular man but there was no head, and when it was choking her she could just hear it growling in her ear angrily. She said that when my dad had come back to bed she clung to him the rest of the night and refused to go back to sleep.
This sounds bizarre it, but I swear on everything I hold dear that everything I just typed here is the absolute 100% truth. I’ve always been a sensitive, able to hear things, and see glimses, but never had I experienced anything like this. Not only did it happen to me though, but to people I care about and I’m connected to, all in the same night.
Abby, i doubt this is SP, as two others had this happen like you said, I don’t know what others think about all this, but it would be good to ask for advice. I know what i would do, i would pray about this, which you did at the time, but keep doing and ask for whatevetr is causing this to leave you all alone.
Further comments on this would be appreciated.
Oh it’s happened to me once since, what I was trying to say is, I know what happened to me like, personally was SP because I had all the symptoms…what I’m saying about the hallucinations? I don’t think that’s what they are. Only because I think it’s crazy that in the same night I experience SP two others happen to have weird experiences, that’s to much of a coincidence for me ya know?