The term "HAG RIDDEN",
comes from this which is what
one refers to another as looking
“Sleep deprived" would
mean that they look like they
are exhausted and tired. That
was what the victims of this would
feel the following day, exhaustion,
depending on how long it took
place. The HAG, is still called
that though many do not see a
hag or any entity whatsoever,
but when they do it commonly even
today fits this description of
an OLD HAG.
The Nightmare, by
Henry Fuseli (1781) is thought to
be one of the classic depictions of
sleep paralysis perceived as a demonic
visitation.
This was copied from the Beaufort
County Public Library web site on
the subject: (Folklore and the myth
is stated here)"When night falls,
the hag is free to leave her body
(or to shed her skin, depending on
who is telling the story) to wander
unseen on land, underground or through
the air. The hag is invisible, but
her presence is warm to the touch,
and feels like raw meat.When a hag
chooses to ride to her victim’s
house, she will choose a horse and
almost never a mule. The hag drives
the horse nearly to death, and tangles
the poor 'beast’s tail into
impossible knots. In the morning,
the owner finds his horse in a heavy
lather, all but crippled from the
ghastly ride.What does a hag do when
she gets to her victim? She "rides"
that person as well! The hag sits
on a sleeping person’s chest
and face, weighing the sleeper down
and meaning to choke or smother her
victim. The victims struggle, never
fully awake, as the hag "swallows"
their voices so that not even the
screamers themselves can hear their
calls for help. The hag’s flesh
is said to have the bounce of rubber
whenever her victim strikes out at
her in the dark."This is the
folklore/legend of one part, the problem
with folklore is that it gets distorted
from the truth over time, like with
the legend of Werewolves, Vampires,
it's hard to tell what was the original
root of the lore. Much like gossip
takes on some new proportions and
details as it is passed on. So we
will have to try to take from the
old what we may see today. The older
vampire lore is more similar to the
description of the OLD HAG visitations.
Originally, it was thought to be a
spirit one deceased who would feed
off ones ‘life-force’
as they slept. Often the victim would
awake in the same way, paralyzed,
unable to speak, and they find they
have a visitor in a dark sprit which
comes to their side from the darkness
of the room and them sits on the chest
of that victim. Each morning the person
would awake more drained of energy
and a depletion of health for no reason
known. Usually after the 3rd or 4th
attack they were found dead that next
morning. At times blamed on the restless
spirit of a recently deceased relative
for example. It was thought that driving
a wood steak through the heart of
the body through the Coffin base,
and into the earth would keep the
restless spirit 'pinned down'. No
doubt a solution based on superstition.
Legends, Lore and superstitions besides,
let us look at some more recent testimony
from people who have experienced the
OLD HAG visitation
John Anster Fitzgerald:
The Nightmare, (1857-58), private
collection
TESTIMONY #1
(Recorded cases of vampire attacks
in Eastern Europe sometimes feature
Old Hag characteristics. For example,
a case cited by both Montague Summers
and Dr. Franz Hartmann features, as
Summers notes, "typical instances
of vampirism" and strongly resembles
the Old Hag encounter:
A miller had a healthy servant-boy,
who soon after entering his service
began to fail. He acquired a ravenous
appetite, but nevertheless grew daily
more feeble and emaciated. Being interrogated,
he at last confessed that a thing
which he could no see, but which he
could plainly feel, came to him every
night about twelve o'clock and settled
upon his chest, drawing all the life
out of him, so that he became paralyzed
for the time being, and neither could
move nor cry out. Thereupon the miller
agreed to share the bed with the boy,
and made him promise that he should
give a certain sign when the vampire
arrived. This was done, and when the
signal was made the miller putting
out his hands grasped an invisible
but very tangible substance that rested
upon the boy's chest. He described
it as apparently elliptical in shape,
and to the touch feeling like gelatin,
properties which suggest an ectoplasmic
formation. The thing writhed and fiercely
struggled to escape, but he gripped
it firmly and threw it on the fire.
After that the boy recovered, and
there was an end of these visits.
MY COMMENTS:
Nothing compares to witnessing the
attack, of course such accounts of
witnesses like the victims spouse
and so on are not considered with
the ‘white coats’ babble
on again how it was all SP and some
hallucination.
TESTIMONY #2
When I was a freshman in college,
I had just moved into a large apartment
in a rehabbed Victorian building that
had been vacant for about twenty years
following a fire. The sound of the
Beatles' Abbey Road album or the Moody
Blues could be heard wafting out of
our windows day and night. One night
during my first week there I went
to bed in a fine mood. I should mention
that I hadn't been drinking and despite
the times, I didn't do drugs. I turned
out the light and settled down to
go to sleep. As I was lying in bed
thinking, I became aware of a rustling
sound emanating from the turret .
I focused on the sound, trying to
determine its origins. A breeze over
papers? A mouse? As soon as I dismissed
these possibilities the rustling sound
stopped and was replaced by the sound
of stealthy, shuffling footsteps that
were headed in my direction. The sense
of a presence was suddenly so strong
that it filled the room. I was terrified.
The critical detail here is that I
clearly remember pulling the blanket
over my head (I was lying on my back.)
The next thing I knew I was paralyzed--I
couldn't move a finger. The footsteps
continued their approach and the next
thing I knew, a tremendous weight
settled on my chest, forcing me into
the mattress. I felt that there was
a menacing presence, a personality
at work that wanted to meddle with
me in particular. It was nasty! The
intense, dreadful weight continued
to press down on me, almost like a
large animal settling itself on my
body. I thought I would go through
the mattress. I knew that I was awake,
I was not dreaming, and that something
evil was in the room with me. Somehow,
my childhood years of Sunday School
paid off and I prayed to be released.
In that instant, it was over. The
following morning, I tried to tell
myself that it had been just a dream.To
this day, twenty-odd years later,
I don't believe I was dreaming.. After
that, I slept with the light on and
my bedroom door open. Months later,
one of my roommates was sick with
the flu. Her room was cold so I offered
to switch with her until she felt
better. That night, she stayed in
my room and closed the pocket doors.
The rest of us were watching TV. elsewhere
in the apartment. A number of friends
were there. Sometime after midnight,
we heard the doors of my room screech
open on their runners and slam into
their recesses in the wall. My roommate
came screaming down the hall, saying
that something had sat on the bed.
She felt the bed sag beneath the weight,
though in her case, it wasn't on top
of her. She also felt and heard something
clawing and scraping at the bedspread.
After my roommate's experience, we
two scaredy-cats decided to share
a room and kept the hall light on.
Though nothing like that ever happened
again, we did have some exciting times
with a Ouija board in that apartment.
We left that place at the end of the
school year and found another old
apartment that proved to be just fine.
The students who moved into our former
place reportedly had problems there,
too. Unfortunately, we never compared
stories. I should mention that my
fascination with the subject of ghosts
led to my getting a Masters degree
in Folklore at the University of Pennsylvania.
While there I studied with Dr. David
Hufford, who wrote The Terror That
Comes In The Night. I wrote a thesis
entitled "The Old Hag Experience
Within A Haunted House Tradition."
I found people who claimed that more
than one member of their family experienced
variations of the Old Hag within the
same house. They only discovered much
later that they had shared similar
experiences while living there. I
also interviewed two people whose
Old Hag attacks precipitated out-of-body
experiences. IMHO Old Hag attacks
occur, or at least are reported more
frequently in settings that are considered
"haunted." This may be a
case of "Which comes first, the
chicken or the egg?" Does a house
with a reputation of being haunted
encourage someone to interpret the
experience as supernatural or does
the experience itself promote the
house to be called haunted? In poring
over collections of both contemporary
and past ghost folklore from around
the world, I noticed that Old Hag
attacks accompany other manifestations
with startling frequency. I also found
that elements of a typical "Old
Hag," like the rustling sound,
the sound of footsteps or the percipient
suffering temporary paralysis, are
elements commonly mentioned by people
who report seeing an apparition, even
in broad daylight. Hufford's book
should be read by anyone interested
in the Old Hag. Although riveting
to read, it is scholarly and gives
medical science its due. No conclusions
are drawn. If you do read it, however,
you may choose never to sleep on your
back again.
Fuseli: L'incubo abbandona
il giaciglio di due fanciulle dormienti,
1793, Zurigo, Muraltengut
MY COMMENTS:
We see Prayers either are an instant
cure for SP, or do as they usually
do in warding off real ‘night
terrors’ that attack one in
the night. This also reminds me that
those who experienced the OLD HAG
are the ones best to analysis and
research the phenomenon.
TESTIMONY #3
Ben Tabb* is a student at the University
of Montana. I met him in Neil Kettlewell's
class on ESP. It was late fall of
1985. Ben was sharing an apartment
with a buddy out in the Target Range
area of Missoula. The deep chill of
winter was in the air and the air
was filled with wood smoke. On the
last Thursday in November, he looked
at the clock by his bedside and saw
that it was 11:57. He turned over
and went to sleep. About a half hour
later Ben awoke. Dazed from sleep,
he wasn't sure why he had awakened
but he felt there was someone in the
room with him. He opened his eyes
fully, and, in the dim street light
that filtered in through the window
at the foot of the bed saw something
gray and mist like hovering over him.
Whatever it was just a foot from his
face. Ben felt that it was slowly
moving toward him. Afraid of suffocation,
he threw his blankets at it. It disappeared
as soon as he began moving. Ben turned
on the light but found nothing but
his thrown blankets. A half-hour had
passed since he had last looked at
the clock. Two weeks later, on a Wednesday
night, Ben again went to bed about
midnight. Approximately a half hour
later, he again awoke feeling there
was a presence in the room. He looked
around in the dim light. By the dresser,
directly down from the bed, were two
small animate objects. As Ben looked
at them, they appeared to be children.
They seemed to be aware of him, in
that they made eye contact, but made
no effort to move from where they
were. As Ben watched, they simply
faded and were gone. Ben saw nothing
for two full months after that. But
he did begin to awaken in the morning
from time to time, conscious, but
entirely unable to move. When he did
finally move he would be sluggish
for the rest of the day. Ben's roommate,
having never seen, nor heard, anything
in the house, was a little concerned
about his friend. Then on a Monday
night, Ben retired close to midnight
again. About 45 minutes later, Ben
awoke to the feeling of a presence
in the room. He opened his eyes, and
at the corner of the bed stooped an
old man with a wrinkled face and a
long beard. The man was entirely white
and seemed solid. As Ben rose from
the bed, the figure retreated to a
far corner and seemed to shrink but
remained in the room. Ben threw his
pillow at the man. It hit the closet.
The door to the room suddenly slammed
and the figure was gone. Ben's roommate
came in to see what had happened.
There didn't seem any way the door
could have slammed unless Ben had
accidentally and unknowingly hit it
with such force it bounced against
the closet and then slammed shut.
But then, Ben wonders, why wasn't
the pillow in front of the door. This
is like many legends and folklore,
most people are too afraid to admit
there may be truth in this as a paranormal
experience with an actual ‘evil
entity’. It’s a fact that
most ‘Regular folks’ can't
deal with the idea of ghosts in any
form and simply dismiss it all as
superstitious non-sense. Too easy
to say. If you really listen to the
people who tell of these experiences.
I mean REALLY listen, you will know
that the experiences aren't a simple
case of "temp. sleep paralysis".
Blinded by Science, the ‘white
coats’ often never listen to
the truth even when it is right before
them. Like when Ebenezer Scrooge claiming
his ghostly visitor was due to "an
undigested piece of chip beef”.
Remember the movie "The entity"?
Watch it again as this moronic psychiatrist,
tries to explain what happens to this
women as a mental problem she is having
even after he himself sees this entity,
and the attacks happening, ignoring
her boyfriend who witnessed all. You
will see what kind of approach they
have against the supernatural. To
get a scientist involved to help with
something paranormal, is simply worse
than hiring an amateur ghost buster
to solve your problem. They are even
more so in the dark it seems on the
reality of it all because of their
bias of ‘science only’
and atheistic approach to finding
answers.
MY COMMENTS:
First note How Ben didn’t awake
to find he was paralyzed, it happened
after this figure moved over him.
Second I agree with the frustration
in letting Science and psychologist
make one feel like it was all a hallucination
or simply SP. It goes to show again,
that such things are a matter of the
spirit, not a matter of science.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON SLEEP PARALYSIS:
HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SP
and an ATTACK:
Medical “Sleep
paralysis”, (cataleptic somnambulism)
I feel is more clearly defined from
what is a demonic attack. First realize
this is ALWAYS the scientific explanation
for what they used to call an OLD
HAG, vampire, Succubus, Incubus visitation.
You must consider the source of the
explanation as they are in a ‘humanistic’
‘atheistic’ theory, from
people who believe that everything
supernatural in origin is not an intelligent
ghost or spirit, but has a natural
explanation.
Logically, I thought my first thought
if I would wake up paralyzed in bed.
Would be OH MY GOD! I AM PARALIZED!
“There’s something evil
ion the room, it’s coming out
of the darkness, oh! It’s sitting
on my chest I can’t breath!”
See the difference?
Le démon d'homme
qui vous baise la nuit
A Testimony related to this:
Frank, 40, awoke late one and was
unable to move his body .I cite this
example, since it can compare with
what a person is thinking, feeling,
experiencing as they awake paralyzed.
This should NOT stray far from any
other persons account of waking up
paralysis by any means. His first
thought was: "Oh my God, I can't
move!" It wasn't a fear of something
beyond being paralyzed, he didn't
sense an evil presence, hear disembodied
footsteps walking towards his bedside,
view an OLD HAG, creature, ghost or
anything. Such thought were the furthest
from his mind. Like all humans the
experience had him fearing of things
related to being paralyzed, nothing
more. He was only focused on the helpless
feeling of being disabled, especially
since this took him by surprise, as
he didn't find out until later after
a trip to the hospital , that he had
a stroke. He thought of how is he
going to work? What about the family?
Will he be in a wheel chair the rest
of his life? "Will I die next?"
All of this in the first 5 minutes.Note
how the reaction of waking up simply
paralyzed is different, from experiencing
the OLD HAG attack.Tell me where one
suddenly gets diverted form the thought
of being paralyzed to that of a paranormal
encounter considered a physical attack?A
thing learned here is as an investigator,
listen to your witness closely and
you can tell if it was ‘medical’
or in fact ‘paranormal.’
It is beyond normal to fabricate a
night terror from the thought of being
incapacitated the rest of ones life.
Science always goes with science,
as we know all paranormal can’t
be explained with science, we also
must refrain from relying upon it
for every case of so called Sleep
paralysis, and maybe accept the fact
the one who experienced this phenomenon
could have indeed had a dark visitor
that night and not simply SP.The thinking
in that persons mind greatly differs
from the one who feel there is something
paranormal about the whole thing,
as opposed to just a stroke or medical
condition. Witnesses are insulted,
flat out in disbelief as to an explanation
of sleep paralysis for the experience.
Bottom line if you had it happen to
you, you know it was unquestionably
more than SP. This apply to all paranormal
experience science even goes to say
was our imagination, or with multiple
witnesses, some mass hallucination.Keep
in mind those who didn't actually
experience this phenomenon are the
ones telling us it is ‘sleep
paralysis’. When you have had
it happen to yourself, you know Sleep
paralysis’ is much harder to
believe than a paranormal explanation
in something that compares to the
stories of the ‘OLD HAG’.
As a child, you parents tell you "It
was only the wind"; "There
are no monsters in your closet",
this is when we are children. So as
Adults these people of science patronize
us like children. We don’t want
to do this to Clients.
Another Notable quote:
Cindy A. writes:
Now, years later, after learning more
about it, [After my own OLD HAG encounter],
I was shocked to discover that science
says it’s a brain disorder.
How can that be the case when we both
experienced the same thing at the
same time? When thousands of people
from all over the world have actually
seen the old hag, and the descriptions
are the same. Call me crazy but I
disagree. Unfortunately, I have no
way to prove my theories, except that
I have experienced it first hand,
and it is terrifying.
MY COMMENTS:
I agree with Cindy a more logical
mind would actually go with the OLD
HAG not simply being common hallucinations
while having a sleep paralysis. and
most have never even heard of it before
the experience, then find many other
share the same experience. Again be
leary of 'science alone' when it requires
physically proof and validation, this
is one reason many consider Parapsychology
a pseudo-science.
This is from an article on Sleep
paralysis: (Shadowlands.com)Surprisingly,
though, is the consistency of such
reports made by societies and cultures
with no previous knowledge of each
other or their lore.[Such as the ‘OLD
HAG’] The main details remain
constant. A man or woman is attacked
during the night, usually lying on
their back, when an evil entity sits
upon their body, causes paralysis,
and even sometimes chokes or smothers
it's victim. Though their motivation
may differ, (possession, revenge,
or just wanting to upset the living)
the attack remains strikingly similar.
And these stories are not limited
to Western cultures, in fact, quite
the contrary. In Thailand people refer
to being Phi um (ghost covered) and
phi kau (ghost possessed), and these
experiences include a feeling of pressure,
paralysis, and something black covering
the body. In Japan, kanashibara ("to
tie with an iron rope") is a
common known and accepted experience.
In the Far North one speaks of agumangia
(Inupik) or ukomiarik (Yupik) in which
"a soul" tries to take possession
of the paralyzed victim. In Laos,
da chor is described as follows: "You
want to listen, you can't hear; you
want to speak, you are dumb; you want
to call out, you cannot; you feel
you are dying, dying; you want to
run away. You urine with fear in your
sleep.
MY COMMENTS:
This was from an article I felt leaned
to saying all OLD HAG AND night terrors
were SP related. Then they go onto
say the above statement which should
help make one rethink this SP only
theory, in that many different culture
experience it as more of a paranormal
experience or attack.Keep in mind
most of us never read about this before
the first hand encounter. It’s
not so widely shown in movies that
one already makes up an image in their
mind then experiences it.The encounter
is demonic in nature, That suffocation
and strangulation is a common attack
in the night by a demonic. So see
a black shadowy figure do this in
the same way, as another witness says
the lurking black figure hunched over
his paralyzed body, then moved swiftly
over him like a crushing weight. Others
see the ‘Old Hag’. These
same encounters often begin the same
way and end with sexual assault. (Succubus/Incubus).This
is one reason one should say a protection
prayer before bed, and to wear the
proper protection symbols and medals
on oneself as you sleep. My (undisclosed)
encounter was the only time I was
physically attacked, later that day
I found my Saint Benedict medal had
fallen off during the night before
I went to bed on the bathroom floor.
La
reine de toutes les sorcières
de nuit
Lillth the
creature of the primordial
days, created from the same
dust as Adam, the Forefather
of Mankind, Lilith might have
been the ideal mother of the
human race, because she predated
Eve. Instead, knowing her
creation at the same moment
as her husband made her equal
to him in every way made Lilith
haughty and headstrong; when
submitting to her husband
meant denying her equality,
Lilith fled Eden’s marriage
bed. Despite this, she would
return to tempt the father
of man again and again, becoming
his demon wife and the first
great temptress of the human
race.
She is now said to seduce
men in their sleep to steal
their sperm for her unholy
purposes alone. Known as The
Queen of All the Night Hags.
TESTIMONY #5
NANCY W. WRITES:
In 1973 we bought a small house in
a nice section of a small town in
western Kentucky. The house wasn't
that old—it was built in 1934—and
we were only the second owners (we
bought it from the second wife of
the man who built the house). The
things that occurred there happened
only occasionally, and different things
happened to different members of the
family. We were not aware of all of
each other's experiences until after
we moved, some thirteen years later.
My own experience left me shaken for
a long time. At approximately two
o'clock one morning, I was awakened
from a sound sleep. No apparent reason.
I had not been dreaming. The bed faced
a doorway into the hall, and the door
was open. In the doorway I saw a figure
dressed in a long robe, possibly with
a hood. All I could see, other than
the black outline, was a shining glow
where a face would be.I was petrified
and found myself unable to move. I
seemed to be paralyzed. I kept telling
myself I had to be dreaming and, if
I could just awaken my husband lying
next to me, everything would be all
right. All I can say is that there
was a feeling of extreme evil that
seemed to be coming from the figure.
After several attempts to speak my
husband's name—my voice seemed
to be paralyzed, too—I finally
croaked out "John." I managed
to say my husband's name a second
time, and finally a third time. Each
time I said "John" the figure
became smaller, and it disappeared
completely when my husband woke up
.I was shaking from head to toe, my
paralysis disappearing with the vision.
My teeth were chattering so badly
that I was unable to speak coherently
for many minutes. My husband is a
realist and kept trying to find a
logical reason for the apparition—the
streetlight, headlights, neighbors'
lights—but he never could convince
me that what I had seen was a normal
phenomenon. I used to get peeved at
my son Ed because when I went to his
room to awaken him for school or work
he was never there. Usually I would
find him on the couch in the den.
About a year after we moved he told
me the reason he would never sleep
in his own room: he was terrified
in there. He had been awakened on
many occasions, usually in the early
morning hours, with the feeling that
someone was in the room, even though
he could see no one. During these
times he would be paralyzed, unable
to move a finger, for many terrifying
minutes. On several occasions he was
awakened by being lifted bodily from
the bed and dropped. He never saw
anything. He just had the feeling
of a presence in his room, and the
only good night's sleep he ever had
was on the couch in the den. After
hearing this, I began to quiz my other
children to see whether, anything
had ever happened to them in this
house. My son Mike, before I going
into the navy, had had the same bedroom
that Ed had his experiences in. He
told me that on one occasion he was
awakened from a sound sleep early
in the morning to see a figure at
the end of his bed, just I looking
at him. He describes it as an old
lady in a gown and bathrobe. After
several seconds he turned on the lamp
by the side of the bed.
MY COMMENTS:
A case of a 'black shadowy figure'
being the 'NIGHT TERROR
DEMONOLOGY TODAY is
a radio show designed to provide an
educational resource for those who
want to learn and understand "Haunting's",
and Demonic Infestation, Oppression
and possession, as well as Spiritual
Warfare. Our topics of discussion,
as well as our special guests in this
area of study will help to provide
a valued resource of information in
understanding and dealing with Ghost,
Demons and Haunting's in general.
Ken is a Demonologist,
Spiritual Warfare Counselor, and
Catholic faith adviser, as he has
over 28 years of research / experience
on the topics, with his first experience
occurring when he was about seven
years old. He is near completion
of his book: ”The realm of
the Demonic”: A comprehensive
guide to the Demonic haunt”,
which should be in print by 2009.
And will begin a producing an educational
documentary as a companion to his
book, after the book is completed.
I Am Haunted is a social network for
those who are interested in the paranormal.
Whether your interest is ghosts and haunting's,
UFOs, crypto zoology, psychic abilities
or anything off the beaten path, you will
find thousands of people sharing photos,
experiences and friendship.
GhostBreakers consists of present, former
and retired Police Officers, with over
50 years of combined investigative experience
and accredited investigative education
that they are adapting to Paranormal Investigation.
They are located in Southern NJ and Eastern
PA but do handle investigations in many
areas of the East Coast. They also belong
to a network of fellow investigative groups
and can recommend groups in a persons
respective area for swift response. GhostBreakers
also understands that many people are
reluctant to let strangers into their
properties regardless of their haunting
experiences. GhostBreakers also helps
others by advising them on what they can
do to help themselves. If this then proves
insufficient, GhostBreakers can then set
up a preliminary interview or contact
another group for them.
SPIRIT
AND REAL GHOST PREDICTIONS FOR 2008
Many spirits during
Necromantic rituals when they appear
often speak of times to come when
questioned. Some believe that ghosts
and otherworldly beings can step through
the fabric of time and space and bring
news of the unseen things to come.
All the predictions you will read
posted here have come to Waugh from
actual real spirits or ghost she has
contacted through Necromancy.
Please visit
here to see predictions for
the year ahead.
"I am not a psychic
nor do I make predictions of future
events." "I only post these
things that the spirits tell me as
a early warning of impending disasters
or things people should be aware of."
Says Waugh.
"The reason for Necromancy is
to question these otherworldly guest
for answers." "And I do.
"Here I have posted many of their
answers to questions I have posed
to the future. I do not ask the Spirits
for any Personal Answers To Questions
... about Acts of God (Death), Health
or Pregnancy. "
In modern time necromancy is used
as a more general term to describe
the art (or manipulation) of death,
and generally implies a magical connotation.
Modern séances, channeling
and Spiritualism verge on necromancy
when the invoked spirits are asked
to reveal future events. Necromancy
may also be dressed up as sciomancy,
a branch of theurgic magic.
Necromancy is extensively practiced
in Quimbanda and is sometimes seen
in other African traditions such as
voodoo and in santeria, though once
a person is possessed by a spirit
in the yoruba tradition he cannot
rise to a higher spiritual position
such as that of a babalawo, but this
should not be regarded as a modern
tradition, in fact it predates most
necromantic practices.
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Nightmare was the original term for the state later
known as waking dream (cf Mary Shelley and Frankenstein's
Genesis), and more currently as sleep paralysis,
associated with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
The original definition was codified by Dr Johnson
in his A Dictionary of the English Language and
was thus understood, among others by Erasmus Darwin
and Henry Fuseli, to include a "morbid oppression
in the night, resembling the pressure of weight
upon the breast."
Such nightmares were widely considered to be the
work of demons and more specifically incubi, which
were thought to sit on the chests of sleepers. In
Old English, the being in question was called a
mare or mære (from a proto-Germanic *maron,
related to Old High German and Old Norse mara),
whence comes the mare part in nightmare.
The mythology of the Sea Island people of South
Carolina and Georgia describes the negative figure
of the Hag who leaves her physical body at night,
and sits on the chest of her victim. The victim
usually wakes with a feeling of terror, has difficulty
breathing because of a perceived heavy invisible
weight on his or her chest, and is unable to move
i.e., experiences sleep paralysis. This nightmare
experience is described as being "hag ridden"
in the Gullah lore. The "Old Hag" was
a nightmare spirit in British and also Anglophone
North American folklore.
This type of waking dream is called mareridt in
Danish, nachtmerrie in Dutch, malson in Catalan,
cauchemar in French, mardraum or mareritt in Norwegian,
pesadilla in Spanish, Albdruck, Albtraum (from Álf,
Old Norse for Elf) or Nachtmahr (older) in German,
incubo in Italian, mardröm in Swedish, painajainen
in Finnish, luupainaja in Estonian, pesadelo in
Portuguese, èmèng in Mandarin, gawi
in Korean, karabasan in Turkish , kanashibari in
Japanese and bakhtak in Persian.
The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli, 1802 (Frankfurter
Goethe-Museum, Frankfurt)Various forms of magic
and spiritual possession were also advanced as causes.
In nineteenth century Europe, the vagaries of diet
were thought to be responsible. For example, in
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge
attributes the ghost he sees to "... an undigested
bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese,
a fragment of an underdone potatoe...".
A mara, or a mare is a kind of malignant female
wraith in Scandinavian folklore believed to cause
nightmares. She appears as early as in the Norse
Ynglinga saga, but the belief itself is probably
even older (see below). "Mara" is the
Old Norse, Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic name,
"mare" is Norwegian and Danish.
"Lillith, La reine de toutes
les sorcières de nuit."
The mara was thought of as an immaterial being
– capable of moving through a keyhole or the
opening under a door – who seated herself
at the chest of a sleeping person and "rode"
him or her, thus causing nightmares. In Norwegian/Danish,
the word for nightmare is mareritt/mareridt, meaning
"mareride". The Icelandic word martröð
has the same meaning, whereas the Swedish mardröm
translates as "maredream". The weight
of the mara could also result in breathing difficulties
or feeling of suffocation (an experience now known
as sleep paralysis).
The mara was also believed to "ride"
horses, which left them exhausted and covered in
sweat by the morning. She could also entangle the
hair of the sleeping man or beast, resulting in
"marelocks", a belief probably originating
as an explanation for polish plait – a hair
disease. Even trees could be ridden by the mara,
resulting in branches being entangled. The undersized,
twisted pine-trees growing on coastal rocks and
on wet grounds are known in Sweden as martallar
(marepines).
According to a common belief, the free-roaming
spirit of sleeping women could become maras, either
out of wickedness or as a form of curse. In the
latter case, finding out who the cursed person was
and repeating "you are a mara" three times
was often enough to release her from this condition.
The concept of the mara has very old roots in the
folklore of the Germanic peoples, possibly the belief
was shaped as early as in proto-Indo-European religion.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the
word can be traced back to an Indo-European root
*mer, meaning to rub away or to harm.
Identifying one's dream signs, clues that one is dreaming.
Dream signs are often categorized as follows:
Action — The dreamer, another dream character,
or a thing does something unusual or impossible
in waking life, such as photos in a magazine or
newspaper becoming 3-dimensional with full movement.
Context — The place or situation in the dream
is strange.
Form — The dreamer, another character, or
a thing changes shape, is oddly formed, or transforms.
This may include the presence of unusual clothing
or hair, or a third person view of the dreamer.
Awareness — A peculiar thought, a strong emotion,
an unusual sensation, or altered perceptions. In
some cases when moving one's head from side to side,
one may notice a strange stuttering or 'strobing'
of the image.
Cohesion — Sometimes the dreamer may seem
to "teleport" to a completely different
location in a dream, with no transition whatsoever.
The Night Hag is almost certainly linked to the
common apparition seen during the hypnagogic state
of sleep. The night-hag of Russian, Polish, Serbian,
and Slovak folklore. She torments children at night.
In some regions, the mothers place a knife in the
cradle or draw a circle around it with a knife.
Hiding an ax or a doll under the floor beneath
the cradle also prevents her from getting at the
child (possible based on the belief that supernatural
beings cannot touch iron). Other names for the hag
include kriksy and plaksy. Her Bulgarian equivalent
is the gorska makva, a hideous wood-hag.
Lindemans, Micha (2004).
Sleep paralysis is a common condition characterized
by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal
muscles and areflexia that occurs upon awakening
from sleep or less often while falling asleep. Stimuli
such as touch or sound may terminate the episode,
which usually has a duration of seconds to minutes.
This condition may occur in normal subjects or be
associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic
hallucinations.
Physiologically, it is closely related to the paralysis
that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye
movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep
paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM
state, but the bodily paralysis persists. This leaves
the person fully conscious, but unable to move.
In addition, the state may be accompanied by terrifying
hallucinations.
Symptoms of sleep paralysis can be either one of
the following or a combination:
Paralysis: this occurs after waking up or shortly
before falling asleep. the person cannot move any
body part, cannot speak, and only has minimal control
over blinking and breathing. This paralysis is the
same paralysis that occurs when dreaming. The brain
paralyzes the muscles to prevent possible injury
during dreams, as some body parts may move during
dreaming. If the person wakes up suddenly, the brain
may still think that it is dreaming, and sustains
the paralysis.
Hallucinations: Images or speaking that appear
during the paralysis. The person may think that
someone is standing beside them or they may hear
strange sounds. These may be dreamlike, possibly
causing the person to think that they are still
dreaming. Often it is reported as feeling a weight
on one's chest, as if being underneath a person
or heavy object.
These symptoms can last from mere seconds to several
minutes (although they can feel like much longer)
and can be frightening to the person. There may
be some body movement, but it is very unlikely and
hard for a person to accomplish.
Lilith is a female Mesopotamian night demon believed
to harm male children. In Isaiah 34:14, Lilith (Hebrew
Lilit) is a kind of night-demon or animal, translated
as onokentauros; in the Septuagint, as lamia; "witch"
by Hieronymus of Cardia; and as screech owl in the
King James Version of the Bible. In the Talmud and
Midrash, Lilith appears as a night demon. She is
often identified as the first wife of Adam and sometimes
thought to be the mother of all incubi and succubi,
a legend that arose in the Middle Ages. Lilith is
also sometimes considered to be the paramour of
Satan. And Queen of S