Posted on 05/18/2004 7:57:56 PM PDT by CurlyBill
Ping!!!
David Hufford's academic work, subtitled An Experience Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions, deals with the so-called 'Old Hag' experience, a psychologically disturbing event in which a victim claims to have encountered some form of malign entity whilst dreaming (or awake). Sufferers report feeling suffocated, held down by some 'force', paralyzed-and extremely afraid. It is an experience which is surprisingly common, with Hufford estimating that approximately 15% of people undergo it at some point in their lives. Various cultures have their own name for the phenomenon, and have constructed their own mythology around it; the supernatural tenor of many Old Hag stories is unavoidable. Hufford, as a folklorist, is well-placed to investigate this puzzling occurrence.
I experienced that when I was young, maybe 7 or 8 years old. Extremely frightening and very, very real.
I've talked to two people so far who have reported experiencing it along with some type of waking visual or tactile experience. I've talked to many more people who have reported experiencing it while asleep, which seems to be the more common experience. Sometimes the sleeping version seems to be triggered by sleeping position--I've experienced the sleeping version and woke up to find that during my sleep I had turned into a position that was twisting my neck or cutting off circulation to one of my limbs, and my dreams were reflecting that. But in other cases there are waking phenomena reported as well. It's definitely extremely frightening.
That was my experience, although it would start where I would sense a very evil presence creeping up on me. I would try to force myself awake by yelling, but I could hardly get anything out and couldn't force myself awake. It was like I was awake and aware of everything around me yet still in a deep sleep. I felt paralyzed. I remember seeing the 'old hag', or 'the witch' as I called her, on some of the occurrences, but not always.
I believe that the "old hag" is also known as a succubus and dates back at least to the middle ages. The male version is known as the incubus. Its thought that this was the cause of what we know today as sleeping disorders (and I suffer from one).
I used to suffer that often as a child, where I would awaken paralyzed and begin to see things, and have the strong feeling that if I could only move or make a sound, I would break the paralysis, but the more I would try, the stronger the paralysis would get. I had some VERY frightening episodes. It happens rarely, now that I'm in my 40s, but it happened a few weeks ago, during the day when it's not scary.
You are right! Interesting story and THANKS!
for the ping,
;-)
The succubus and the incubus are said to involve sex. That would be a different thing altogether!
I had asthma when I was a child & had some terrifying dreams connected to not being able to breathe or move but I don't recall any person in those dreams. I now get panic feelings in small close spaces where there is no fresh air even tho I rarely have asthma now. I don't think I have ever heard of the phenomenon of which you speak.
I was told that the paralysis is a natural occurrence...the body falls into a sleep paralysis to protect yourself against, well, yourself and acting out the movements you are experiecing in your dreams.
When in this state, the mind is semi-conscious but the body is still paralyzed.
Whatever it is, it sucks.
I was in my twenties.........
Thanks for the ping! ;)
Thanks for the ping. Being in Cincy, I'm familiar with this pitcher, always seemed an "average joe".
I've had that type of dream where I'm aware of everything around me but can't move. (BTW when this happens to me I usually see everything around me is dark and I try to turn the light on but it won't come on--does this happen in yours?). Sometimes in this type of dream I sense an evil presence though not always; sometimes I just sense myself panicking that I can't move (and perhaps the fear generated by this panic is what summons the evil presence?--evil seems to be drawn to strong fear and anger, in my experience). Hufford's book identifies this type of dream with a sleep state called the "hypnagogic state" that occurs during the transition between waking and sleep and vice-versa, as the mind and brain are adjusting to being in the dream state rather than the waking state:
The hypnagogic state is a state of transition in semiconsciousness between being awake and being asleep, and may be a form of sleep paralysis. Some experience visual and/or auditory hallucinations. Out of Body experiences may be experienced. See also hypnopompic state, a similar state between sleep and awakeness.
Many people have reported--and I've found this has worked for me--that when you feel paralyzed in this type of dream, you can break the paralysis by focusing your effort on moving a small part of your body, even your pinky, which breaks the hypnagogic state by reactivating your tactile awareness of your body and physical surroundings. I had a dream once where something invisible was trying to choke me, and in response in my dream I started instinctively trying to do a Kung Fu move I was studying at the time. It took me a few seconds of mentally trying to do the move before I "felt" myself doing the move in my dream, whereupon I woke up. Needless to say, I didn't want to go back to sleep for a while after that :) I had this overwhelming urge to grab a Bible, run to the church down the street, call my brother at 3 am, etc. I definitely know what you mean by a sense of evil presence, though fortunately I didn't visually see anything, which would've made it even scarier.
What kind of sleep disorder do you have? I've had insomnia myself since I was about 12, which lately is aggravated by a sinus/migraine problem.
On the incubus/succubus experience, the anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in his book Religion in Primitive Culture mentions that in addition to medieval Europe, traditions about this type of experience are also found in other cultures. The succubus/incubus experience can indeed be very similar to the Old Hag experience Hufford focuses on. He observes this and suggests for classification purposes that the succubus/incubus experience is usually described as having a sexual component whereas the Old Hag experience usually doesn't, though sometimes there are Old Hag experiences which take on a sexual element so these are overlapping categories. I'd add to what he says that sometimes there are succubus/incubus experiences which don't involve a sense of paralysis, and like the Old Hag experience the succubus/incubus experience may occur both while sleeping and while awake, though it seems to be more common in sleep.
See my Post #16 on my experience with this. I've never heard of this happening during the day before. What was that like? Did you notice anything which seemed to trigger it or break it?
Yes, though they do have some things in common--see my #17 for my thoughts on this.
I sometimes have a similar though distinct type of dream which typically involves me climbing up an increasingly narrow spiralling staircase until it gets so narrow I can't move. I woke up once from this type of dream and my neck was twisted way to the side on my pillow in a way that was putting unnatural strain on it, so I think that might be what caused it in that case. I could see how a bad case of asthma might also trigger that type of dream. I'd infer adults and children with sleep apnea might also experience this type of thing.
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