Good Morning ATS,

I hope everyone is in good health and in high spirits,i've been reading alot your stories and life experiences in here for alittle over a year now and could'nt help but to join in recently and share some of my experiences.what i'm about to share with you has been discussed here many times before but everyones opinions and beliefs are slighty diffrent at times.
so here's my story,experience and belief on what some of you call "sleep paralysis","old witch hag",etc..
I've been experiencing "sleep paralysis" since my early childhood from the age of 7 from what i can remember.as i got older,the stronger the "sleep paralysis" became.at times i would experience it everynight for weeks even months and at times i would only get it once every other month but till this day it has'nt stopped.a typical "sleep paralysis" for me is having the sensation of a mild to powerful presence nearby or even on me, the presences i've felt have been from a mild negative one to the feeling of a demonic one which is very terrifying at times as some of you know.there's big a diffrence if some of you know what i mean.
the feeling of being pushed into my bed"like a sinking feeling" or someone sitting on your chest, the loud buzzing, humming or popping sounds in your ears, waking up and being completely paralyzed.what i've explained so far is a common "sleep paralysis" i've always experienced,from my early childhood into my late teenage years i've always been terrified of having a "sleep paralysis attack" as i like to say.
by my late teenage years i started praying whenever i had one of these experience and the attacks would stop as soon i mentioned God,Jesus or Holy Spirit.from there on i have gotten used to the attacks and had no fear of it any longer, i felt it couldnt harm me"in reality whatever it is it cant harm you, just scare and torment you".
but there have been a handful of times when the "sleep paralysis attacks" went to far or out of control you can say.
i want to share my 2 worst attacks with you guys today,so i can get some feedback,opinions,your thoughts and maybe help some people understand from my experiences.before i start i want to say i have read about people seeing shadowy figures,lights,i have'nt seen any of these while having a "sleep paralysis" and i hope i dont *lol*.

My first horrible and powerful "sleep paralysis attack" happened in my late teens 18 or 19.
that dreadful night i had the typical syptoms of a "sleep paralysis attack" as i mentioned before,at that moment i wasnt scared.i started to pray during the attack thinking it will stop or go away as usual,how wrong i was!!!as i started praying i felt the presence of something pure evil and powerful,something i've never experienced before and dont know how to explain it exactly.all i knew was that it was'nt good and i was terrified,and out of nowhere i heard a lady screaming into my ears in some weird language or tongues as some people say
my ears were hurting from whatever it was screaming at me,and she sounded pissed off.
i never felt so scared in my life till that moment,i continued to pray and it just would'nt go away so you can imagine how scared i was.the more i prayed the louder and angrier she or it got.out of pure fear i was trying to do the sign of the cross on myself,as i felt a little strength to do so.
as i started doing the sign of the cross,i felt something had like a kung fu grip on my wrist like it didnt want me to proceed.i kept trying but whatever it was,it was strong.then i felt the same kung fu grip on my left ankle and slowly dragging me off my bed,now i was really scared.
i continued to pray in my mind and nothing!!!"as some of you know for some reason u cant speak or scream having a "sleep paralysis attack"i tried to scream for my brother and mother and nothing, all i was able to do was let a moan n whine out.at that point in my life,my mother and i shared the same bedroom.i slept on the top part of a bunkbed.
whatever it was,it was dragging me off my bed,my mother told me she heard me moaning and woke up to check on me.she said she saw me sliding off my bed as half my body was hanging out off the top bunk bed.
"what a coincidence huh" dont think so!!!!from what my mother told me she said i was wide awake and not moving with my eyes wide open moaning and looking very pale.and i remember very clearly the worry look my mother had on her face and felt her shaking my body to snap me out of it.
a few seconds later,whatever what was holding me let go and the screaming in my ears stopped.i jumped off the bed and ran out the room.i explained to my mother what had happened and she claims i was having a bad dream *lol* yeah ok,who has a nightmare when they are fully awake and with eyes wide open?? *lol*

My second and scariest "sleep paralysis attack" happen in my mid 20's.
by this time i had my own bedroom thank god *lol*i must say this was the most powerful exprience i've had with "sleep paralysis".
this time as i way laying in bed alittle sleepy but not very much,but i was very aware of my surroundings in my room and for some reason i didnt feel at ease at that moment.and out of no where i felt the most powerful and quickest"sleep paralysis attack" in my life,im talking about when it happened i thought to myself this is it,i'm going to die.this time the terror and fear i felt was insane and the pure evil i felt was unreal.
i thought and still believe the devil himself got me.as all this is happening,again i heard a freagin voice right next to my ears but this time it was mans deep voice speaking perfect english.all it kept saying was "I finally got you edited profanity ,i got you and i'm never going to let you go".
i felt the tears dripping down my face from crying and i didnt even bother to pray,all i said in my mind was,jesus help me,im scared dont leave me alone and if it's my time to go please come and get me.
right there something happened that i dont even know how to explain.i never had an outter body experience an "OBE" as some of you call it and i dont know if it was that,all i remember was seeing myself crucified on a cross and seeing someone next to me which seemed and felt like jesus christ.i felt at peace and whatever had me let go n kept saying it'll come back.that whole night i didnt sleep but for the very first time in my life i really felt at peace.

I'm 27 now and still get a "sleep paralysis attack" here n there but not as often.i've never felt one of those horrible attacks again *thank god* only thing nowadays is,when im having a "sleep paralysis attack" i always snap out of it with my body shaking,trembling for some reaon.i've been to my doctors and i'm perfectly healthy and very sane.
my opinion on "sleep paralysis" is that its some sort of negative or demonic possession trying to happen.i never heard of someone getting possessed that way but you never know,all i know is on my behalf it's not a psychological problem and it's something the medical and scientific fields cant really explain and prove a 100%.
i was raised as a catholic since a baby but as i've gotten older,i've become more spiritual and kind of strayed away from the catholic teachings although i do believe "some" parts of the bible has the message from god but not all of it.i guess what im trying to say is,i dont think it matters what religion you're in but as long you believe in the one and true god, and have faith in god and yourself,you're safe from these type of things.

well people i hope ya enjoyed my lil part and im sorry if i made some grammar errors or if by any chance dont understand what i'm trying to say but please i would be glad if i could hear your thoughts on this if ya dont mind.


God Bless Everyone!

mmod edit to add spaces and paragraphs, for readability
also edited out censor circumvention

[edit on 13-12-2005 by DontTreadOnMe]

That is what Tylenol PM are for .. or Ambium or LEvitra .. or whatever ... Sleep paralysis .. can come from many different things .. Such as Anger ... Boredom ... but mainly it is caused from STRESS .. that results out of Anger or something else that causes STRESS.

sleep paralysis keeps you from injuring yourself while dreaming. Its a pretty handy thing actually. Imagine if you acted out your dreams !
I read somewhere that if it continues after you wake up, you should consult a doctor

good luck

sleep paralysis... mhmhm,... I have experienced two incidents in the last two nights.. I recently moved into a new bedroom in my house... in this room I have experienced a strong sense of someone being in there with me.. last night I felt a prescence of a woman swooping over me... I got a very relaxed feeling, I even smiled as if she was some sort of Angel looking down on me.

This case sounds like a possesion to me......It is more real than I would like it to be....I will edit this message soon I have to go....


[edit on 13-12-2005 by toraylin]

[edit on 13-12-2005 by toraylin]

There was an extremely interesting discovery episode on sleep paralysis and how it can be accounted for in most out of body and astral projection experiences.

The "paralysis" comes from a chemical that is secreted by your brain to freeze your muscles and prevent you from acting out your dreams. They have actually seen this happen in sleep labs.

I have had several sleep paralysis episodes over the years and for the longest time I thought it was either posession or OBE. After seeing the special, they explained the exact symptoms I was experiencing and the causes for them.

Some are stress, some are sleep patterns, others are unexplained. It is one of the strangest and coolest things I've ever been through. Then again mine take the form of lucid dreams though.

Good luck

This isn't a case of possession, but oppression.

In my opinion, sleep paralysis is normal. I believe the mind shuts down part of the body to keep you from acting out your dreams. Think of it as a psychic "clutch". Have you ever seen a dog dream of chasing something? You hear it whine, and see it's paws moving a little, as if running. If you wake them up at this time, they'll give you a look like "WTF?!"

However, I do believe that there are evil entities who can use this natural function for nefarious schemes.

Hi,

I've suffered from sleep paralysis a few times over the years, and I have to say, they scare the bejeebus outa me! However, I do believe that they are just, as some of the other replies have said, have a logical, rational explanation.

Take care, sleep well...

OP I don't want to scare you, but it may be demonic OPPRESSION which is almost as bad. I have experienced itg befrore but only as a child. I hope you can see through the deception that many try to spread by claiming it is just something natural...I think if you are experiencing things that are super natural like apparitions at the same time and or physical sensations of being held down it could be DO-demonic oppression. The way to definitely combat it is to remember they are subject to the name of Christ...Jesus...but you must believe in His name to do this or at least have someone who does believe in Christ as saviour to do it for you. Take control by saying in the name of Jesus leave this room now. say it as long as you feel the presence, and pray to Jesus ask him to send holy angels to combat this and he just might do it like He did for me when I was being oppressed as a boy. You must not scoff at this or it will continue.

Take control of your life by turning loose the power ofr the Almighty God...and if you believe He WILL ANSWER for He is holy and wants to help you.

I've suffered from sleep paralysis three times in the past six months. I've had milder forms of it in the past, where I'd feel an electrical feeling moving from my head to my feet and I'd be paralyzed, but it never scared me before. I just went to sleep. But one time before I went to bed I felt something put weight on my bed right next to me. At first I just thought it was one of my cats jumping onto the bed, but then I felt the electrical feeling and became paralyzed, I felt afraid, terribly afraid, and then I felt like someone was leaning over me. And I got the distinct feeling that the presence was a female with long hair, but that was just in my mind's eye. Then I heard a woman's voice talking about a field of wheat and asking me if I remembered something that happened there. And even though I felt afraid, the memory and the presence weren't malevolent. It took all my willpower to sit up and break free of the paralysis. And as a side note, my cats were nowhere in the room, so I don't know what caused the weight on my bed.
The second time it happened was more frightening and happened just on the 22nd. This one happened just as I was waking up. In a dream I pulled one of those red fire alarm handles, and a deep, loud alarm sounded. The wall it was on seemed to move away from me, and I ran away from it, but my movement was sluggish. I had a sense of urgency and after a moment I woke up, and was able to twitch my hand slightly before I felt the electrical sensation. This one was stronger, and I could barely open my eyes. I tried to yell, or speak, or just get any sound out of my mouth, but of course I couldn't. Then I heard the sound of a zipper behind me. The sound was loud enough that it seemed like the zipper was really wide, and long, since the sound started near my head and went down to my feet. I heard some music, then a crinkling sound, like someone was messing with a candy wrapper by my ear. Then I sat up, but I really didn't, since I sat up again a moment later. I felt terrified and didn't feel safe in my room.
And another time I was dreaming that I had sleep paralysis and was being dragged off of my bed by someone unknown, and I couldn't do anything about it before I woke up and realized that I hadn't moved.

Also, I did some research on it after my first episode and discovered that most who experience it are laying on their back and feel like someone is sitting on them, or feel that there's some other sort of weight on their chest. I always sleep on my side, and I've only ever felt like someone was leaning over me, not sitting on me. With the first one, I know there was something, or someone else in my room, spirit or something else. With the second one, I will admit that the sounds were tricks of the mind.

Hey there, I had a sp experience about two monts ago that really got to me for me it was my third experience, Ive had two more since then but they weren't as bad. The main reason I am posting this is because I think there are two types of sp but it can be hard to distigush between them due to the affect of the hypnagogic and hypnopompic states. Now science does a very good job of explaining most sp events but there are some that don't fit the mold in enough of a way that if you've had one you are left believing there is no way that was normal sp. I am going to copy and paste my account from a site that was dedicated to sp I went to after it happened to get info on the subject. I'm pasting it because it is fairly long because I wanted all the detail in there and also it was right after it happened so it was very clear now being two months later I might miss something. And on another note I have seen this said in posts many times where the second you start to speak about god it goes away well I had a smaller event after this one and the second I started to pray it went away. And when that one happened I was hoping it would happen again so I could try to study it but the overwhelming bad feeling became to much to try to control so I got out you could say. Anyways heres my story.

Hello all it's my first post here I was looking for people of similar experience to tell my story to and see what they have to say. Tonight I had my third experience with sp. My first happened when I was 20 and was the scariest by far but thats not the one I want to talk about all though there are some definite abnormalities I would say about it compared to other stories I have read of sp.



[edit on 30-7-2008 by 1Veritas]

My second sp happened about two months ago. That one happened when I fell asleep ->on my side<-, on my bed next to my girlfriend. She was up watching tv and felt me start shaking but couldnt wake me. Right after I fell asleep I dreamed of myself on my bed just as i was but it was pitch black and my girlfriend was gone. I soon started to hear little noises toward the end of my bed and got that overwhelming of some horrible evil presence that they say you get. I could tell I was sleeping but could not move at all. It felt as if the presence was moving in closer and finally I pulled out of it not sure if it was me trying to fight it, I was screaming in my head to wake up, or if it was my gf.

Ok this is the one I really want to talk about though. Tonight at I would say exactly 3:25am I had my third incedent. I had just recently fallen asleep but I can not tell how long I had been asleep. I started having a dream that felt real where I heard a noise in my living room and thought it was my roomate getting home. The time and everything felt right in the dream like it should have been happening. When I heard the noise in the other room it was as if it was waking me up from sleep I got out of bed and opened my door the lights were on and I walked into the living room. To my surprise one of my friends who I haven't seen or thought of even in a few months was standing next to my couch. Someone was on my back deck but couldnt see who and the front door was open and I heard someone outside saying something to my friend at one point. When I saw him I said hey Max whats up bud. he then in a sort of mumble was saying something about rolling the car. I couldnt make it fully out though, was really odd then I tried asking him what he said again to get the story but my voice was all mumbled like his was.

Then in an instant I am back in my room waking up and I promise you I was now awake there is no doubt in my mind of it, I am a very sane person with no conditions of any kind. The last thing I remember about my dream is starting to feel that something is real wrong then when I came to I was in sp. I would say the event lasted for about one minute. I had the foreboding sence of an evil presence, I could hear the buzzing in my ears that people speak of but it wasn't very loud. The most pronounced feeling that I spent a little time trying to focus on to determine what it was the sort of electrical sensation people feel. my whole body was buzzing fairly hard very similar to the feeling of a limb when it falls asleep but definitly different. I tried pushing against it by contracting muscles but it seemed to intensify when I did that. I could move my eyes just fine and I could even wobble my head to look around my room though it was a terible strain on my neck to do so and now afterwards my neck is sore from it.
At one point I tried to do something I had read about that I thought might work I focused on the energy and tried to draw it to me in an attempt use it as a block or gather it and push it away but as I started to do so it felt wrong and like it was only making it worse so I stopped that. I then tried to lift my left arm which was pointing away from my body. when I focused on my arm I couldnt move it but them with great effort and focus I was able to slowly start lifting it up towards my body. I was very hard and my arm was moving very slowly but it was moving. I felt that if I could get my hands together I could pull out of this for some reason. As my arm came up I looked towards it and it was very blurry which I find very odd. I know I was awake but the blurrieness I was seeing did not seem right. and it was only on my arm and hand. Right before I got my hands together they were very violently thrown apart and pinned back down. Now this portion with my arms is what I find the most interesting. it doesnt really seem to fit in with the other stories I have read.

[edit on 30-7-2008 by 1Veritas]

And the rest hopefully, sorry boards are being a pain tonight.

For one I was able to move and the fact that my arms were flung back into place does not seem like what the scientific explinations seem to cover.

After my arms were flung back down I felt like I was going to die I wanted to scream but I couldnt my jaw was locked tight I had an overall feeling the whole time that I couldnt describe until I saw someone elses post that put it perfectly the whole time it felt like I was going to implode on myself. I was running out of ideas so I though about the whole chanting for god thing but started saying go away. I was actually saying it I could hear it clearly my jaw was still locked but my tounge was moving and it was quiet but I was saying it. As I said go away for the third time it was all gone and I lay there in bed freaked for a few. I had an odd pain also for about ten minutes after I was able to move again right where they say your third eye is located and it continued to buzz like my body did when I was in sp. I continued to hear odd noises in my room that were not normal in anyway. So I finally got up and have been awake ever since.

Now I can't stress this enough as soon as I was back in my room awake experiencing sp I was definitly awake, after my first experience when I was 20 there was always that doubt because it was the first time and I was in such shock that this time I continually made mental checks as it was happening confirming I was awake. As fo the paranormal side of it I have had my share of things happen to me that lead myself and those around me to believe that I myself am haunted in some way. Ok I have written enough for now I could have put a lot more info in but I wanted to focus on tonights events. I really hope I hear from anyone with any thoughts on this. This is very new to me and as logical minded as I am, I am definitly a little confused and scared. Please ask any questions you wish of me. Thank you all and take care.

P.S.
Sorry I had an after thought of something I wanted to add. I have had times where I feel like what is a wave of energy giong through my body It has only happened to me during times where things that could only be paranormal were happening to me. One time It happened continuously for a good hour so I had time to try to figure out what it could be and focus in on what was happening. I started to notice when the wave would hit my head which it didn't always do, I would hear some sort of noise. It was only a fraction of a second but the more I listened to it the more I could hear what the sound was and I realzied right when it would pass through my head in that instant I would hear litterally dozens of screams all at once. It was a very unnerving discovery for me. Last night after my sp I had the wave sensation for about ten minutes as well but I tried listening for the sound and there was nothing. Dont know if thats pertinent or not so I thought I would add it.

That bit with your arms being pinned again is strange indeed. Whenever I was finally able to move anything, I'd break out of the paralysis. And the electrical wave never lasted more than a few seconds, and was a precurser to the paralysis. Hearing sounds after you've broken out of sp is also strange. I don't blame you for being scared. I had a very hard time going back to sleep after my experiences.

It seems that a lot of sleep paralysis stories start as dreams, but a sinister element in the dream occurs which brings the sleeper into an alert, frightened state, and then the paralyisis kicks in.

That's how it usually isfor me, but now I'm trying to harness the sleep paralysis state so I can reach OOBE, I can do it easily if I don't think of something that would scare me. Just the most simple thing can bring you back to your body.

I don't know if this story counts as sleep paralysis but it was very strange indeed.

My girlfriend and her mother lived in a 3 story house with a basement in our local city, our city has tons of rich history and ghost stories. One such story revolved around my g/f's mothers home. My girlfriend used to sleep on the 3rd floor in the attic and made that into her own bedroom when she moved back in with her mother after some problems. She several times used to wake up with marks on her arm like someone grabbed her and always had a general feeling of dread in the room.

Me, a open minded skeptic, kind of chalked it up to her erratic sleeping patterns being that she does tend to move, talk, and sometimes hit in her sleep it was all possible she grabbed her own arm during a dream. So I decided one night to sleep over in the attic and see what kind of phenomina could occour. Now the attic is pretty small and feels kind of closed in from everything else, does have a little weird vibe going on in it but nothing too major.

I fell asleep rather easily that night and everything was going fine. Until about halfway through the night when my girl decided to try and wake me up because apparently I was talking, moving, and crying in my sleep.

At this time all I remember is feeling very light, very AWAKE, and unable to physically move, but I pretty much chalked this up to being a weird type of dream.

Now this is all what she says happened as I don't have a full memory of the night any more really... she says she was woken up by my crying, and shook me awake. that I opened my eyes and looked right at her. She asked "Whats wrong? You were crying" and I Looked at her dead eyed and said "dont worry, I just can't move any of my limbs... dont worry -- this happens to me all the time, ever since I was a kid. I constantly have this happen were I cant control my body yet my mind is free to roam"

Again, I have NO memory of this, and apparently I went right back to sleep. As for what I said during the situation, I do remember having similar situations where I mentally in a dream control my real body and make my body speak outloud outside of the dream to wake me up from a nightmare... but honestly that could all just be a childhood fantasy that I had that kind of control.

Either way I cant explain any of it and any insight into those instances would be kind of appreciated.

While we're on the subject of sleep paralysis, I had sleep paralysis last night. I was having a fairly regular (albeit geeky!) dream about uploading something to YouTube. Apparently I'd used a clip from someone else's video and they'd somehow copy-protected it so that my uploaded video showed a picture of their face with the caption "YouTube n00b!" underneath.

It was at this point that I realised I felt frightened (sort of detached from my emotions) and I was genuinely confused - I actually tried to work out what was scaring me. At that point my vision in the dream started to tilt over and go double-vision-y and I got the traditional high-pitched electrical buzz. As well as this I got a constant "aaah" sound - like a male choir voice but more monotone - over the top. I then opened my eyes, realised immediately that it was sleep paralysis and within a few seconds managed to move and turn over.

I wanted to stay awake for a bit (usually if I fall straight alseep I drop right back into the sleep paralysis) but I was very tired. My mind started playing tricks on me and when I had my eyes closed I had the vivid impression of people walking past me, but only appearing at the edges of my vision as though there were a piece of paper in front of me blocking them from view.

I wasn't particularly afraid by this point - I think probably more amused at the weirdness of what my half-asleep brain was cooking up. I fully expected to have another "episode" of sleep paralysis but I fell asleep and the rest of the night was perfectly peaceful.

I too sympathise with the people who have shared their experiences...

I'm too tired to speak of any now, but if you search the multitude of similar threads, you will find my input.

Peace