Hypnagogic States

One Day at a Time

I’ve been having a quite a number of these lately. Hypnagogia is sometimes called "sleep paralysis, waking dreams, lucid dreams, etc. I have them very often actually . . . ever since I was in high school (late teens), with the exception (oddly enough) of when I was heavily drinking (for some reason I was not having them then). Narcoleptics commonly have these experiences. As far as I know, I don’t have narcolepsy (in fact, my problem is the opposite-one of not being able to sleep, rather than one of needing to sleep too much). In non-narcoleptics, it is commonly experienced by about 6% of the population, although up to 60% of the population has experienced them at least once in their lifetime (according to Wikipedia). Basically, these "dreams" occur in that period between true sleep and true wakefulness. During them, one is aware, conscious, much like during wakefulness, but yet dreaming (hallucinating). I don’t know why I have them, but I have theories. I’ve heard that they are caused by several things. Poor sleep hygiene, for one (napping during the day, sleeping in an uncomfortable position, sleeping with lights on, etc). But I’ve had plenty such experiences during normal night time sleep when it’s dark, quiet, etc. Also, I’ve heard that what is happening is the brain is actually rushing to REM sleep so quickly that it puts one in that state before the brain becomes fully asleep. A cause of this may be that one is not getting enough sleep. REM sleep is one of the most important parts of sleep, so the brain copes with a lack of sleep by rushing to REM sleep faster when one does fall sleep. I do tend to have more of these on nights when I didn’t sleep very many hours the previous night. One such night was last night (I had only had 3 hrs the night before, and a 45 minute nap later the evening before). Also, I stay in a state of perpetual sleep deprivation so no wonder . . . go figure, right?

These "dreams" have recurring themes. When I was younger, they generally consisted of my cat, my sister, my mom or dad, walking into my room (experiencing a "presence" of another entity in the room with you is common in such dreams). These dreams made me fearful just by their very weird nature (and newness to me), though their content was not very fearful. As I got older, they became more nightmarish (involving someone breaking into my house or room, banging loudly on my door, or a strange person sitting on my bed . . . feelings of being "watched", etc). I educated myself on what these experiences actually were (gained a scientific knowledge of what was going on), and I became less fearful. For a time (about a year or two period after I got sober), I had a number of these "dreams" and they were sometimes frightening, but very often they were experiences I looked forward to. I began to realize that I had the power (in my own mind) to shape the events of these "dreams" (lucid dreaming). Also, I’ve heard the most beautiful music one could ever hear during lucid dreaming . . . I’ve been able to fly, and I’ve the most amazing out of body experiences (astral projection). I loved astral projection because it meant freedom for me . . . it’s really cool to be able to move through walls and to will yourself from one place to another. It is kind of creepy though, to look down at yourself though, to look down at your own body. I began to enjoy these lucid dreaming experiences though.

But lately, there has been a new recurring theme . . . DEMONS. Quite scary. They generally bang at the door. Last night they banged at the window, and finally shattered it. One demon, but many (I could hear footsteps of many, marching, like a legion). I’ve had one get into the bed with me and grab me from behind, constrict my neck. I get the feeling they are male, and it does not feel good for another male to be that close to me in bed . . . disgusting really. They haven’t tried to rape me yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did (shudder to think). Anyhow, last night’s demon did not get into my bed, just tormented me from across the room (usually they try to get up in my face and scare the hell out of me). The images of them are generally fuzzy, and their words to me are generally unintelligible, but the kinesthetics are very real (feeling of the bed being depressed as if a heavy object or person were sitting on it, feeling of hands around my neck, and also there is a heightened perception beyond the five senses . . . a sixth sense, if you will. It’s like knowing their intentions, knowing their presence, and knowing what they are thinking of you. This goes for the lucid dreaming state in general . . . rather poor on the visual acuity of the images, and generally poor on sound (except when it comes to music and loud pops, bangs, tones, etc, which are actually very clear, in fact I’ve heard full orchestral music, every note, every instrument). Also, as I said, the heightened kinesthetics (touch sensations), and heightened "sixth sense". It’s strange how music and touch can be so acute, real, and quite advanced, while visual images are so rudimentary and primal. This is only for me though. Others might experience the senses differently during lucid dreaming.

So yes, it’s gotten quite scary lately. The demon crashed through my window last night and hovered a good 10 feet from my bed, over by the wall. Large, gray and black in colour. Ugly head. Seemed to be wearing armour. That’s all I could say really. Eyes weren’t memorable (as in red or demonic looking). I can only say it was a demon based on my "sixth sense". It wasn’t ghost. It wasn’t an alien. I haven’t been abducted by aliens yet. It hasn’t happened yet. I hope it doesn’t get to that stage. I think that would be even scarier.

An interesting article on this subject I found online. I’m not alone, thank God. Not that I thought I was.

All in the Mind?

by Paul Chambers

This article originally appeared in Anomaly 25

(for a research update on some of these topics, see near sleep experiences)

The human brain is a far more extraordinary organ than most of us imagine. It is quite capable of manufacturing ‘experiences’ that have no basis in consensus reality. Sadly, for paranormal researchers, some of these effects resemble the kind of phenomena we are attempting to study. Unless we are aware of this possibility our effort may be wasted on purely natural phenomena.

The degree to which the human brain assists in the generation and understanding of paranormal experience has been a hotly debated topic for over a century now.

Sceptics would argue that all paranormal experiences are generated by the scientific workings of the brain and are therefore not ‘paranormal’ but simply cases of misinterpretation. Parapsychologists generally believe that the brain is capable

of producing completely unknown powers, such as extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis, which may be involved in a range of paranormal phenomena such as crisis apparitions and poltergeists. Those of a religious or Spiritualist nature will more commonly believe that many paranormal phenomena are generated totally outside the brain through the intervention of discarnate entities such as spirits of the dead, angels or demons. It was partly to try and understand where the seat of such paranormal experience lay that organisations like the Society for Psychical Research and, more recently, ASSAP were founded.

The Common Causes

Sleep Paralysis (The Old Hag)

Symptoms: This disorder is probably responsible for more mistaken reports of the paranormal than any other and it is the most likely to be encountered by ASSAP investigators.

During an episode of sleep paralysis a person will wake to find themselves unable to move any part of the body except, sometimes, their head. This can be accompanied by the feeling that there is somebody else in the room. In extreme cases the person will actually see, hear, smell or even feel a bedroom intruder which normally takes on the form of a supernatural entity from the culture of the victim. Thus sleep paralysis victims in Africa will see demons, those in Europe will see ghosts and Americans will see aliens. The bedroom invader, which is a form of hypnopompic hallucination, can seem very real indeed and may even get into bed with the victim or, more rarely, be reported even to assault them. In conjunction with these hallucinations can come a feeling of immense tightness in the chest area that is commonly described as being like having a heavy weight pressing down on them or like being strangled. It is this description of being pinned to the bed by a weight that is most readily recognisable in supernatural reports that can be attributed to sleep paralysis. After a few minutes the feeling of paralysis, and the supernatural entity, disappear.

Causes: Sleep paralysis was first identified at the end of the last century and has since been induced and studied numerous times under laboratory conditions. Between 15 and 18% of the population have had an attack of sleep paralysis (myself included), normally in their teenage years or in periods of stress, although not always with the associated ‘presence in the room’.

The condition is caused by disruptions to the normal sleep patterns, most particularly the shortening of dream sleep cycles. During dream cycles the body’s muscles are paralysed by the brain to stop people from damaging themselves by acting out their dreams in bed. In the case of sleep paralysis the brain becomes conscious but the paralysis mechanism has not been turned off. The associated feelings of a presence in the room stem from the intrusion of dream sleep into waking consciousness (see Hypnagogic Hallucinations below).

Paranormal Phenomena it Resembles: The symptoms of sleep paralysis can commonly be seen in cases of supernatural assault (including sexual assault), OOBE (out-of-body experience) and alien abduction.

Historically, cases of nocturnal assault by demons (succubi and incubi), vampires, ghosts and witches can all be seen to be derived from sleep paralysis. Some psychologists call sleep paralysis ‘the Old Hag’ after the medieval and Newfoundland traditions of a witch who would paralyse people and sit on their chest during the night. The modern term ‘nightmare’ is derived from the old Germanic word mare meaning incubus.

In the modern world the supernatural entity said to assault the sleep paralysis victim is derived directly from their cultural traditions. Americans get assaulted by aliens, Africans by demons, Europeans by ghosts, south-east Asians by spirits and Newfoundlanders by the Old Hag itself.

See the rest of this article HERE. It continues, and it’s way too long to post here. If I did post it all, I probably wouldn’t get any readers for this entry because they would see how long it is and say "fuck it, I’m not reading", LOL.

Have any of you dear readers experienced "lucid dreaming" or "sleep paralysis before?

-AR

PS:  I think these experience simply underscore (and stem from) the fact that I am often highly stressed and very fearful (subconsciously).  You know . . . Generalized Anxiety Disorder.