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[Access Forum]

A few moments pass, you see nothing, but the feeling that there is another with you is growing even stronger. Random thoughts begin to race through your mind as you lie there in a frozen state. "Did I forget to lock the door?"..then you begin to hear movement..a sound that can be familiarizing with someone wearing a nylon/satin type jacket..the movements sound very slow, as if someone were taking very cautious, slow steps to catch you off guard.

Your eyes are now fixed in the direction of the movement, it's coming from the hall, just right outside your opened bedroom door. Your heart begins to painfully race and your stomach goes into knots as you await for your assailant to make his appearance in the doorway. You finally muster enough courage to muffle out a stern "Who's there?!" "Hello?", Your thinking that maybe your voiceful acknowledgment of their presence will make them leave. Instead, you hear nothing but silence, then, you hear that sound of the material of the jacket again. The feeling of this invisible presence intensifies immensely, and terror begins to grip within you, then when you are at your most heightened fear, your invisible presence manifests visually in your bedroom doorway.

He resembles a male, but his eyes are a glowing red, at that moment you realize you are dealing with something beyond your average cat burglar. This "thing" begins to move closer to you as you feel you are being pulled to "it" at the same time, it is as if you are both afloat. As this "thing" gets closer to you, it suddenly dissipate from it's male figure to a shadowy black mist of nothing, like a billowing black smoke of a fire or a dark ugly storm cloud hovering above you. You try to scream out with everything from within, but you can not. You find that you are only successful with a faint gasp or at most a whisper, You try to try to flee from this thing , but you find yourself completely immobile.

As you lie there like a insect caught in the web of a spider, you feel a weight suppressing your chest, as if you are being pushed into the inner cores of your mattress, breathing becomes difficult, and you feel as if though this is your final moment of life.. right at that moment, the dark cloud that was hovering above you completely vanishes, it's finally over as well as your sleep for the night.

The passage above was not a fictitious tale taken from some horror book, but rather a brief description of what I have personally experienced with "Sleep Paralysis" or what is also known as "Hag Attacks" or “Night Terrors”. The purpose of this article is give more details of my experiences with this phenomena and to offer my proposal of what I believe to be behind these occurrences and why.

Disclaimer: I am not a physician, nor am I an expert on Sleep Paralysis. I am merely one speaking on behalf of my own observations and my experiences with this condition. If youfrequently experience these attacks, I highly advise that you seek attention from your physician before grasping alternative concepts such as mine. Every case is different, and it is possible that your encounters may be caused by a legitimate medical condition that can be brought under reticence through medication or other methods directed by your physician. But, if you have exhausted all means of the medical aspect to no avail in dealing with sleep paralysis and you have a open mind, then perhaps this article will serve to be beneficial to you.

From a medical perspective, there are two classifications that Sleep Paralysis currently falls under. The first is what is called Common Sleep Paralysis, which is the most typical type, and the second one is Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis (most often affiliated with night terrors, hag attacks, etc.). The distinction between the two is the hypnagogic state. The Hypnagogic State in term, is the state between being awake and falling asleep. For some individuals, this is a time when auditory and visual hallucinations can take place. Also, another term to briefly mention is the opposite of the hypnagogic state, the hypnopompic state. The Hypnopompic State is the stage between being asleep and waking up. With that said, let’s look at the two classifications a little further in Depth.

Common Sleep Paralysis - Occurs, for most individuals, during R.E.M. state, the body releases hormones that paralyze the body to keep it from acting out dreams, thereby acting as a natural safety net to keep ourselves contained from doing any physical harm to ourselves during slumber. These hormones normally wear off before our dreams come to a final conclusion and we wake up with full utilization of all of our body functions. With Common Sleep Paralysis, a individual will awaken before these hormones have fully retreated, and they will experience a paralyzing sensation that will last from anywhere between a second to a minute in total, however, there have been instances where individuals have experienced Common Sleep Paralysis for a little longer than a minute.

Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis - Occurs mostly during the hpynopompic state and the individual may experience hallucinations after they are awakened from sleep to find themselves paralyzed. Individuals undergoing this will at times also have the sense of a evil or fearful presence in the room with them. Some will even further experience the sensation of someone or something sitting on them and they will feel as though they are suffocating or dying. Experiencing this can cause a person much anxiety and fear, but there is no physical harm involved. These attacks can last up to 8 minutes long, and sometimes even longer, and due to the nightmarish hallucinations, it is usually an extremely frightening experience. To the person caught in this state, it is extremely realistic and intense.

Sleep Paralysis is a fairly new observation taken on by researchers roughly over the past decade. However, although researchers can now explain what occurs on the physical level during an episode of sleep paralysis, to date, there is no substantial or conclusive evidence as to why or what is behind this strange phenomenon.

Then there is the Mara, or the Slavic Mora, a terrible night visitor that crushes or oppresses it’s victims, normally taking the shape of a beautiful woman or a truly hideous old hag. Mara comes from the Anglo-Saxon neaht (or nicht) and the verb merran (to crush), which also provides root for nightmare (the nicht mara) and mara (a succubus or incubus); the word was widely used in Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden. The mara was feared from ancient times, known to enter the room of sleepers and to bring them dreadful dreams. At times, the creature appeared as a horse, placing it’s forehoofs on the sleeper’s chest, glaring at the poor soul with gleaming red eyes. As with the Alp, the mara has close associations with vampires through it’s nocturnal predations and, in some areas, it’s fondness for blood. According to the southern slavs, once the mara drinks the blood of a man, she will fall in love with him and forever plaguing his slumbers. She is also fond of sucking the breasts of children. [Matthew Bunson, The Vampire Encyclopedia. Pg. 168-169]

In Greece and Rome, the incubus was identified with gods of the forest and woodland, such as Pan, whose attacks were affiliated with panic. Pan was also known as an instigator of dreams and visions.In Newfoundland there is the tradition of Ag Rog, the Old Hag, who sits on her sleeping victim’’s chest to crush out their breath. In the West Indies, the Kokma are spirits of dead babies that also come to sit on a person’’s chest and clutch at their throat. The victim is paralyzed with fear and attempts to cry out to attract someone who will scare away the malevolent spirit. Many similar myths have been present in Western culture for 2000 years and seem to be built around a common set of experiences. [Simon A. J. Winder]In addition, the Greeks also had their version: pnigalion (the choker) and the barychnas (the heavy breather) troubling would-be sleepers (Coren, 1996). The sensations brought about by these entities are shared among every culture's explanation for the phenomenon, which include: pressure on the upper chest area, the inability to neither move nor speak, and overwhelming anxiety. In Japan, Kanashibara ("to tie with an iron rope") is a common and widely known experience with an experienced rate of 39.8% out of a population of 635 university students (Olgivie & Harsh, 1994)[satjdadham.org]

In ancient Egypt, Ka was the name for the astral being, the spiritual double which continued to exist after death among the living.One example of this belief was taught by lecturer, Vincent Hillyer. Vincent Hillyer’’s theory of vampirism was based upon the existence of the astral body, a subtle duplicate of the physical body, or Ka, as used by the ancient Egyptians. The literature of psychic research has documented the travels of the astral body normally while a person is asleep. The astral body needs the physical body as it’’s home, and after death of the physical body, the astral body tried to feed the body to keep it from decaying. The food source being living humans. Another Ancient Assyrian myth was the Ekimmu The Sumerians described the Ekimmu as demonic, phantom-like entities that roamed the earth, unable to obtain solace, searching for victims. They were also referenced as ““evil wind gusts”” and according to Sumerian mythology, wind is often shown as a expression of psychic or apparitional power. Many similar myths have been present in Western culture for 2000 years and seem to be built around a common set of experiences.