sleep paralysis and shadow things

I started having sleep paralysis my senior year of high school when I turned 18, I am 21 now. It went on for 2 years constantly happening every other night, if not every night, until I moved away to college. It still happens from time to time, but not every night like it used to when I lived back home. It always happened between 2-4am, when you are in REM sleep. It’s funny how it hardly ever happens anymore but when I go home it starts back up again, really weird. Anyways I have always fought it and could feel a presence but was never brave enough to open my eyes; I have always kept them closed up until recently. Lucid_dream_tricks, I came across the videos you posted about a year ago and started to really get into the whole astral projection thing, trying several methods of inducing sleep paralysis. Anyways one night at the beginning of this new semester I had sleep paralysis kick in, but this time it was at about 75% so there wasn’t as much fear as there usually is when it happens. So, I start to fight and try several techniques, mainly the rope climbing method, and I can’t believe it, it actually worked. For about 20secs I was actually floating up above my body in my room. Then I saw something move near my door and got scared and basically came out of it. Now, recently the other night I had sleep paralysis kick in on me again and this time, by accident, I opened my eyes and saw a shadow on top of me holding my arms down, which really scared me, and confirmed my fears that shadow man is a very real thing. Now, I have other strange encounters with the shadow man as well. One time sleep paralysis happened and I felt the whole pressure on my chest but I felt like a hand rub down my stomach and grab my stuff lol, it wasn’t funny at the time. However, that might relate to the whole incubus/succubus topic. Now on another note, there is an interesting book, the name escapes me, about a man who is abducted by a church/sec/group and is turned into an old man. The group then sends the old man down into earth on a journey to the center of it. As he gets deeper and deeper he starts to see these shadow men traveling around, and it is stated that they may be interdimensional travelers I believe. Anyways as he goes deeper and deeper everything starts to become pure energy, the life force of the planet. I haven’t read it but marked it so I could get it eventually. The title is something to the effect of ‘journey to the center of the earth’ but it actually came out before the well known book ‘journey to the center of the earth’ in 1953. Im going to look for it, maybe someone can find it and post it on here.


-Over and out chhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


**I just wanted to add that several times during sp when I wake up my pineal gland is going crazy, vibrating like no other. This was the case when I to profect.


[edit on 4-5-2010 by keyboard warrior]

reply to post by keyboard warrior


I hope you don't mind me asking but how long does sleep paralysis happen (lets say on average) to you?

If your willing to share that piece of information I'll explain a little bit furter about why i ask as it's a fairly important to what I'm going to share.

[edit on 4-5-2010 by Rising Against]

Thought I'd share my experiences with shadow men, as they're really the only 'paranormal' events that left me questioning my reality.

I was 19, however the memory still hasn't faded. I woke up - completely paralyzed and thinking 'oh God what's going on,' as you probably would, if you had never experienced sleep paralysis... anyway, the door started to open in the room i was sleeping in. I tried to shout (or scream) 'mum', who was the only person who would have entered my room at night. Nothing came out of my lungs except air, and maybe a little fear. So the Door opened and standing there is a shadowy entity, humanoid in appearance, however he seemed as though he was 7 foot tall. He definitely had a hat on and what seemed like a cape, but the entity was kind of misty, like it wasn't solid. He 'walked' closer to me (I say walked however he could have been hovering; i was sh***** my pants so i really don't know), knelt down beside me, then started jabbing me with something. He then disappears and shortly after my body becomes free.

My second experience happened a few weeks later. Now, I thought I had hallucinated the first time - I hadn't researched other people's experiences, and i really didn't think i needed to. So, door swings open again, same guy standing there. However, this time around I 'knew' (or thought I knew) that I was hallucinating. I closed my eyes and relaxed, then I was back asleep - nothing happened.

Now from what I understand this could still be a hallucination, although I have researched it and from what i can tell, a lot of people see 'Hat Man'.

My feelings about it being paranormal? If whatever was in my room was an entity, he was feeding off my fear. No doubt about it he was trying to scare the absolute crap out of me, and it worked the first time. Maybe that's why he came back? Maybe when he came back and realized I wasn't taking him seriously anymore (pretty much laughing in his face (in my head anyway)), he realized I wasn't easy prey anymore and went on never to be seen again? I haven't seen him since, but if I do, I'm gonna kick his ass, for all those people he's out to scare!

I have a question, how do you know if your having an obe or a lucid dream. Lastnight after I got off here I went to bed and after a few hours of being asleep i felt the typical sp coming on and my body was vibrating and i was totally awake. I told myself to leave my bobdy and tried standing up, then i was floating and wanted to walk around in my house. Heres the thing, it was the same layout of my house, I actually could move instead of just float. I ran down then room into my roommates room and looked down at his bed but he wasnt there. I just saw strings of paper hanging everywhere and blowing. Was that just a lucid dream? Also, when you have an obe does everything look like this world, this reality, or is it different, like a spirit world?

I've had SP for 30+ years, hundreds of times.

One thing I've never seen explained is the loud hum that happens seconds before going into a SP episode. Sometimes the humming is so loud it registers as a moderate to severe headache.

I'm not asleep when that happens or paralyzed. I can break the humming simply by concentrated movement although I'm generally very tired. The humming then fades quickly away.

SP doesn't scare me much now. A couple times I've controlled it and floated around. But my wife will wake me up because my breathing pattern changes.

Had the shadow things only a couple times. Bad stuff.

hey guys im back i havent been on recently cuz i gotz darksiders and hhave been preocupied

so anyway i had an expierience the other night, or morning really i had a dream that i was in this house talking to a freind and they warned me that the house was haunted. and i said by what?
they replied
"by horrid beings from between here and the nightmare rift of death"
i was laying down on the floor of the house relaxing then i look in front of me and see a small black figure with a white face, strangley no facial features. i scream well i sort of croak trying to scream and i cant get up but then i thought o # sleep paralysis
and decided it wasnt gunna scare me this time
so i fumbled around on the floor and found a whip or a belt i dont recall what it was and i started beating the creature mercilessley
it just stood there like nothing was happening, then i woke up and i was still paralysed and he little monster was still there! it disapeared when i woke up all the way.
i was still scared but im over it
any thoughts?

It seems you took control of it and manifested a whip/belt. When the scare factor doesn't affect you anymore, things change.

Not sure about the second part of it though. Very interesting.

Star/Flag OP for the discussion... Below is a copy-pasted comment from my thread here in the Gray Area ('Hands up if you're a little confused') which deals entirely with a particularly nasty sleep paralysis episode I had (and its after-effects):




Thought I'd share a key aspect of the more surreal and terrifying events that occurred when I was a bit younger. This is one of those things that I didn't really want to confront before, and even now, the potential meaning of the event scares the living **** out of me.

Bit of background to the event:

I was in hostels aged around 17/18. I was being kicked from place to place for minor reasons bordering on the ridiculous (such as being unable, for two weeks, to pay the £22 per week service charge - as a result of delays in claiming a benefit I was entitled to).

Anyway, eventually (after three stays at three different hostels, each span ending for equally silly reasons beyond my control), I was put in a bail hostel. Effectively a halfway house for violent adult criminals and sex offenders who had just been released from prison. Certainly not the place that a mentally anxious and vulnerable young man should be dispensed to by a local authority with a duty of care.

Various events took place in the hostel; none of which were pleasant. Assault, theft, incitement to criminal activity, incitement to hard drug use - mental abuse in the form of deliberate fear-inducement being employed by other tenants 'for fun'.

One night, while suffering the effects of a combination of 'delusional' and real fears caused by various events, I eventually managed to get to sleep. I awoke early in the morning - around 4am. I sensed a presence in the room with me; a female presence, though there was no-one visible. I tried to move, but was under a form of hypnopompic paralysis. The room around me was blurred to my vision, but as with a former 'out of body' experience, I was very much conscious of the fact that I was not dreaming in the normal sense.

The female figure lay down on top of my paralysed form. At first, it seemed quite 'arousing', and there was a dark sensuality about her presence. She leaned in to kiss me, and my response was to kiss back (naturally red-blooded man that I am). Despite the fact that the experience was completely surreal, I was in full charge of my mental faculties. As the kiss tool place, an entirely unexpected thing occurred. A ball of jelly-like material was passed from her mouth to mine. It felt like what I imagine the texture of 'frogspawn' would feel like if one were odd enough to want to ingest it, but was about the size of a golf ball.

The moment that the 'thing' had gone into my mouth, it made its way down my throat - how, I don't know - it seemed somehow self-propelled.

As soon as that had occurred, the presence vanished, the room cleared in my vision and I transitioned to full control of my body within seconds. I was obviously shocked, scared, and very confused about what had just happened. I tried to shake off the experience as some kind of dream, but was confident that something very real had just taken place.

The next day, things got worse. I started to experience strong pains in my stomach - accompanied by a movement, akin to that of a wriggling worm or snake (the sensation was equivalent to the movements such creatures make when they are observed in ordinary environments). To explain the pain, it was of a similar intensity to the pain I experienced the following summer when I suffered pancreatitis due to over-consumption of alcohol. To those who have no idea what that feels like, it literally stops you from breathing - morphine is needed to prevent you from passing out due to oxygen starvation. It makes you feel as though someone has jabbed a knife into your insides, and is pushing and twisting it about. I am not kidding - the pain was beyond any other pain I have ever experienced. The movement sensations continued for weeks afterwards - accompanied on occasion by visible movement under the surface of the skin at the front and sides of my abdomen.

A few days after the initial event, I started to fear that a living creature had been implanted into me. I was reading the local free newspaper, and saw a cartoon which had a pigeon, looking very confused, and a speech bubble coming out from its stomach, saying 'hello..?' An hour or so later, one of the key 'abusers' living in the hostel walked into the common sitting room I was in and said - "How're you feeling pigeon..?" His grin was nothing short of demonic - I kid you not. He then laughed (manically) and said "It's beejebub".

Now what the **** does that mean..? I associated it at the time with the idea that each of us has a 'personal devil' ('be-e-jebub' sounds similar to 'be-el-zebub').

Much later on (a year or so later) I was taken on a group outing to watch a new film that had been much-hyped by the industry and media. It was called 'The Matrix'. And you'll understand that the scene wherein the agents implant the character Neo (Keanu Reeves) with a worm-like electronic device, scared the living **** out of me.

Now, over time, I got used to the fact that there seemed to be some kind of creature/device living inside me. That can only be understood if you live through such a thing for yourself. Intermittently, it has crippled me for up to an hour, preventing me from doing whatever I was doing; it's impossible to try and explain to people that there's no point going to a hospital. Even now, ten years later, the damn thing still wakes me at night, wriggling round in my abdomen, spiking my insides and causing the same intense and insufferable pain, visible movements observable under my skin.

If anyone has heard of a precedent for such things, I would like to know about it. I have never told anyone of any of the things I've just covered in this post.

To be honest, one of the most scary aspects of this experience is that once, years after, while reading the Bible, I came across the following passage in the book of Isaiah (Old Testament), describing the fate that would befall those that had rebelled against God at the 'End of Time':

"And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." (Isaiah 66:24)



Please help me out if you know anything about these things - it's scary stuff to live with.


Noah.

I have had experiences of this 2 or 3 times , once when i woke up to find i was seriosly ill, and rushed to hospital , I have never been able to say anything whilst it has been going on, akthough I wouldnt say it was a dark experience as such , I felt no malice just I just felt sort of stunned,but not scared as such ,nightmares seem more scary for instance

though I was more scared the first time it happened
, I was tehn diagnosed with sleep apneoa(SP) and wonder if this may have caused it

Sry forgot to say it was the classic dark figure sitting on the bed , with my self feeling pushed down , or really well tucked in ...

I've experienced sleep paralysis once, and hopefully don't go through it again. Atleast, if I do, I hope I can remind myself that I'm going through it and jump back to reality. I have a friend that goes through normal sleep paralysis and wakes up and just can't move, I wish that was my case.

Originally posted by The Cusp

Now not being able to move is scary, and strong emotions have a powerful influence over dreams. When experiencing sleep paralysis, the mind is desperate to rationalize it and find a reason Unfortunately that panic and fear create negative scenarios to answer that burning question of why this is happening.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, but this is what I feel is the case as well. I had SP many times and only a few were negative oriented as most were positive. Negative being an alien or "demon" type presence with positive being golden aura beings, etc.

I can only relay what I was told via an OBE about SP. I asked a benevolant being while I was out of body why the negative beings existed some rare occasions and why so many others saw them (people like those here and on other boards). I was told it was a 2 fold mechanism. One, it was produced by our fears. Fear of the unknown and what was happening to us as our bodies went to sleep. The fear subconsciously generated the negative type beings. He said "do any of them ever attack? no! they simply leave or fade as you find some reassurance that you will be ok ( I took this as calling on Christ, sending light, saying you don't scare me, etc.). He said secondly that this state was the precursor to OBEs and that everyone left their bodies and went on "journeys". Some are not mentally able to handle higher dimensions, astral travel and meeting entities .."good" or "bad". For this reason, it is a deterrent to keep people from going where they shouldn't be going at that particular stage of their conscious development.

Ever since then, I understood it. Now, whether or not this was MY subconscious telling me this, it wasn't something I had ever thought about. Like, I said, I can only relay what I was told and to me it makes sense. The other theory I have even though I was told that is this:

That these are, in fact, some type of negative astral being who lives/feeds on fear. They know that we leave our bodies at night so the natural place to "camp out" would be at the bedside of unsuspecting victims. You awake paralyzed on occasion, have great fear, they feed and as we see in most cases, they fade away after a few moments.

I recall awakening in SP and at the time I knew what I knew above. I saw a dark creature type standing there and I just laughed in my mind. I sent the thought "uhm..you know you don't scare me, right?" it recoiled and vanished. On another occasion, there was a physical change in the room so it had to be real. I was in a hotel and upon arriving at hotels, I immediately turn the AC down as cold as it will go. I turned the AC down, got ready for bed and went to sleep taking off my ring and placing next to the clock on the nightstand. I had a SP and OBE. I turned to look at the window where the AC was and there was this shadow of a man, pure black like you would draw a human on paper with a black marker. Thing is, he was only visible from just below the shoulders all the way to the top of his head. He was just floating there right over the AC. I jumped back in my body.

I was immediately back out in another OBE and a beautiful woman with a golden aura was there. She looked EXACTLY like the Shiva of the India culture minus all the arms (only 2) she had a small pointed hat and the traditional dress (I should say I never had any attraction to this culture but recognized the look). She said she wanted to take me on a journey and I asked who she was. She said it wasn't important but that she had never been incarnate in a body. We floated thru the wall and down to a large console full of large buttons with symbols on them. (Like Stargate Atlantis console, sort of) She asked me to select my destination. I punched symbols like I knew what I was doing. A large cargo bay door type door (like on Star Trek or large space vehicle we see in movies) opened up and bright blinding light poured out

[edit on 10-6-2010 by dreampsi]

continued story...

I don't remember anything after that. I woke up and it was morning and it was SOO freakin' hot in the room. I got up went over to the AC and the knob was turned all the way to the hottest setting. This was right where the dark entity was floating. I was a little freaked. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth thinking that maybe somehow I turned it the wrong way..that is until I stepped on my ring in the middle of the floor. The same ring I placed on my nightstand. Then I knew that something had happened.

I mentioned to some folks at the hotel what happened and they said " yeah, people have all kinds of weird instances and see ghosts here" which I thought was cool. Don't recall the hotel but it was in Atlanta.

One other time I had a SP episode and I heard footsteps like many do. Only these sounded more like horse trotting sounds on pavement (I lived in remote countryside not near any pavement). I heard them coming from my right side and got closer and crossed right behind my head. I smelled the god awfullest stench and I have no idea what brimestone smells like but that is what I called it in my mind. I felt a hot heat cross behind my head and down to my left ear. I heard a growling horrible voice like it was a mouth right next to my left ear said "I'm gonna F*** you!!!" I tried to scream but couldn't, lol. I closed my eyes and just stayed calm. The SP subsided and I could move again. That is the worst SP experience and happened probably 15-20 years ago.



[edit on 10-6-2010 by dreampsi]

[edit on 10-6-2010 by dreampsi]

back after an extended absence. had some bad sp recently, shadow figure standing next to me and the unbrideled fear that come with it....man its rough. i was able to snap out of it rather quick as my wife noticed something was up with me and placed her hands on my chest and the whole episode stopped. in regards to the hum that signals the sp episode, i too would like to know more about it. happens almost every time, accompanied by the vibrations thru my body. our mind is an awesome display of power when it chooses to be.

Hello

Im not sure it was a sp or anything but i remember it very good.
It was 1 year ago, and I was sick and i stayed home. I laid there in bed and relaxed and such till i heard a noise down stairs.

I heard the bathroom door being opened and closed. And then i heard like someone went slowly up the stairs... With heavy steps. I remember the sound today.I remember I was so scared.
I called my dad and whispered that it was someone outside my door and waiting. After that he came up to my room and followed me down, Im still shaken. He stayed there

First off, thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.

I began having SP at 18, when I moved into my own apartment. I have 1-2 nights of it per month.

The most intense part for me is the rush/noise/electric charge I feel. It feels as though my ears are right next to a tornado, or a swarm of swirling leaves. Or just imagine being surrounded by 1000's of bats flapping their wings furiously. This rushing noise/sensation is very frightening. It sounds like, if there was someone making that noise, they are very evil and enraged.

When the SP begins, I feel as though briefly wake up, feel conscious, and then suddenly start hearing that rush and feel a charge in my body, signaling I am about to start. I mentally resist it, and try to move and stop it, of course that's always futile.

As far as seeing things, my experiences are not as vivid. I have seen the shadows darting across my room, usually towards the end. I have also seen my body laying on my bed getting smaller, as if I'm floating away. My door has also slammed (or I heard it slam) really loudly. Once again, if someone was slamming the door as it sounded I would expect them to be pretty pissed off about something.

The one consistent part of my SP (before I found out what it was), was the thought "I'm dying, this is it". I'm not religious, but when these began I was thinking "oh #", God's getting me.

It is important that SP does have a scientific hypothesis that explains it but there is no real scientific proof of it as it has not been directly induced in anyone. THere is no scientific explanation for the content of the images that are explained during sleep paralysis.

Repeating the hypothesis like some damn mantra does not achieve much as the information has been out there for over 20 years. Why are the entities so bizarre looking?

Why is the content so menacing? Should we link sleep paralysis with all expereince of entities?

Why do some see shadow people when walking down the high street? Are they having sleep paralysis episodes when walking?

I believe that we can slip into Alternate Mental states of Awareness anywhere. However, the content of these episodes is worthy of study and not just being shut down by human parrots (most sceptics).

Our universities study all manner of dead languages, dead people and even dead concepts so why not study this- PROPERLY.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I have tried so hard over the years to try an make sense of sleep paralysis. What i don't understand is how so many peple from all over the world, who are not remotely related get similar symptoms???
I for one get the intence buzzing in my head, the bright white light or energy....whatever it is?
Only once did i have an OOBE and it just blew me away! What i saw will stay with me forever! I had just got into bed. Just got comfy and then bosh! the sp kicked in. At this point knowing full well i was still awake and had all my faculties, i quickly closed my eyes and refused to open them. Bad move! For one thing my eye sockets were hurtinglike mad, but i refused to give in, all the time thinking, 'just ride the storm!'
Then i heard this loud click and my head started to juddder backwards, very slowly, then forwards as if in some kind of mechanical motion.
I was totally powerless to do anything. My eye sockets were killing me, but i would not give in. Next thing i know my teeth started to chatter as if i was cold. The next thing i know i'm on the ceiling looking down on myself in bed. Well, you've never seen anything like it. Nor have i and it takes alot to shock me when it comes to sp!
Sorry i can't bring myself to describe what i witnessed next. I know i have probably posted it on here before. It was like something out of the x-files is all i can say. Any questions, please ask. I can't just write about it without a prompt or i will start to get a bit emotional and start asking 'why me?' Nothing has ever hurt me, it is just the bizarrness of it all,if that makes sense?
I don't care what anyone say's that was no dream or halucination!!! xxx

reply to post by ashanu90


Hi,

I'm not too sure on this sleep paralysis thing... i've had experiences in the past and was told 'sleep paralysis'... i useed to get punched and sat on with my hands held and this was no way 'sleep paralysis'... i looked up what it could be and came to the conclusion that it was Succubus having her wicked way with me...

I've managed to escape her clutches however and now live in relative peace.

Good Luck to you.

I had posted about the oobe, i've just found it.
I haven't had sp for over 2 years. This has happened before, so i'm not going to hold my breath! lol It is not funny, i know, but i have to say i'm getting a bit cynical as i get older to all this. I have been to psyciatrists, psychologists, you name it and they say it's all in the mind! They haven't got a bloody clue! All these so called sleep experts have popped up over the last three years. Strange that? Where did they get all this so called knowledge from? I had never heard of sp and now everyone claims to know all the answers. I find it all very odd. When i first found out i was not alone, so to speak, there was only one study i found and that was going on in Italy on sp! That was about 3 years ago, now it seems there are more sleep experts than anything else.
I get a feeling there is money to made in all this and that is why all these high felluting names, no one can pronounce have surfaced!
It's a form of brainwashing as far as i'm concerned.
All this rubbish about your body shutting down, so you can't act out your dreams is utter bollocks!

I am a social scientist and trust me i had never heard of all this before when i was at Uni. Not once did a lecturer mention hynogogic sleep states, when discussing sleep disorders, not once! Sorry folks, but i'm not convinced. I can't say i think i know what it is, because i don't.

All i now is that it is very real to me and i have every sympathy with anyone, who gets it bad! Fortunately for me it's just the paranormal aspect that doe's my head in! I'm not scared though. I left that bit behind years ago!