Sleep Paralysis / Old hag Syndrome Various Names

[florida_gals]

Sleep Paralysis Is known under many names. Commonly called the old hag syndrome, and other names depending on the various parts of the world.

The list below is from wikipedia. This proves that this issue is a problem worldwide, and it appears the whole world seems to think there is something evil about the experience. I realize there are different stages of sleep such as REM 1 - REM 4. (Rapid eye movement) The problem is REM type 3 which is the time when most dreams occur, and your muscles are temporarily paralyzed is when you are already in a deep sleep which takes quite some time.

The evil presence people are feeling is right about the time you feel like you are going to fall a sleep. The inbetweeen stage between wake and sleep.

Whatever it is and what ever you want to call it, it has been around a long time and scientist can no longer ignore it as something natural. There are debates all over the web regarding as such, and the alarming rate of increase in reports of people experiencing these terrifying visits. I really recommend the David Hufford The Terror that comes in the night book, which is listed at the bottom of my blog from Amazon. The interviews with so many people experiencing the same black robed figure is amazing.

* In African culture, isolated sleep paralysis is commonly referred to as "the witch riding your back.

* In Cambodian, Laotian, and Thai culture, sleep paralysis is called pee umm and khmout sukkhot.

* In Hmong culture, sleep paralysis describes an experience called "dab tsog" or "crushing demon.

* In Vietnamese culture, sleep paralysis is referred to as "ma đè", meaning "held down by a ghost" or "bóng đè", meaning "held down by a shadow".

* In Chinese culture, sleep paralysis is widely known as (pinyin: guǐ yā shēn) or (pinyin: guǐ yā chuáng), which literally translate into "ghost pressing on body" or "ghost pressing on bed." A more modern term is (pinyin: mèng yǎn); notice that the character (pinyin: yǎn) is composed of(pinyin: yàn), "to detest", and (pinyin: guǐ), "ghost, demon".

* In Japanese culture, sleep paralysis is referred to as kanashibari literally "bound or fastened in metal," from kane "metal" and shibaru" to bind, to tie, to fasten"). This term is occasionally used by English speaking authors to refer to the phenomenon both in academic papers and in pop psych literature.

* In Philippine culture, "bangungut", or sudden unexplained death syndrome, has traditionally been attributed to nightmares.[23] People who have claimed to survive such nightmares have reported experiencing the symptoms of sleep paralysis.

* In Hungarian folk culture sleep paralysis is called "lidércnyomás" ("lidérc pressing") and can be attributed to a number of supernatural entities like "lidérc" (wraith), "boszorkány" (witch), "tündér" (fairy) or "ördögszerető" (demon lover).[24] The word "boszorkány" itself stems from the Turkish root "bas-", meaning "to press.

* In Iceland folk culture sleep paralysis is generally called having a "Mara". A goblin or a succubus.

* Other European cultures share variants of the same folklore, calling her under different names; Proto-Germanic: marōn; Old English: mære; German: Mahr; Dutch: nachtmerrie; Icelandic, Old Norse, Faroese, and Swedish: mara; Danish: mare; Norwegian: mare; Old Irish: morrigain; Bulgarian, Serbian, Polish: mora; French: cauchemar; Romanian: moroi; Czech: můra. The origin of the belief itself is much older and goes back to the reconstructed Proto Indo-European root mora-, an incubus, from the root mer- "to rub away" or "to harm".

* In Malta, folk culture attributes a sleep paralysis incident to an attack by the "Haddiela" who is the wife of the "Hares", the entity in Maltese folk culture which haunts the individual in similar ways as to those of a poltergeist. As believed in folk culture, to rid oneself of the Haddiela, one must place a piece of silverware or a knife under the pillow prior to sleep. I would be careful with this one.

* Kurdish people call this phenomenon a "mottaka", they believe that some one, in a form of a ghost or perhaps an evil spirit, turns up on top the of the person in the middle of the night and suffocates him/her. Apparently this happens usually when some one has done something bad.

* In New Guinea, people refer to this phenomenon as "Suk Ninmyo", believed to originate from sacred trees that use human essence to sustain its life. The trees are said to feed on human essence during night as to not disturb the human's daily life, but sometimes people wake unnaturally during the feeding, resulting in the paralysis.

* In Turkish culture, sleep paralysis is often referred to as "karabasan" ("The dark presser/assailer"). It is believed to be a creature which attacks people in their sleep, pressing on their chest and stealing their breath.

I'm about half way done, more to come next post.
source wikipedia.

* In Mexico, it's believed that sleep paralysis is in fact the spirit of a dead person getting on the person and impeding movement, calling this "se me subió el muerto" (the dead person got on me).

* Southern United States, the phenomenon is known as a "hag", and the event is said to often be a sign of an approaching tragedy or accident

* Ogun Oru is a traditional explanation for nocturnal disturbances among the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria; ogun oru (nocturnal warfare) involves an acute night-time disturbance that is culturally attributed to demonic infiltration of the body and psyche during dreaming. Ogun oru is characterized by its occurrence, a female preponderance, the perception of an underlying feud between the sufferer's earthly spouse and a 'spiritual' spouse, and the event of bewitchment through eating while dreaming. The condition is believed to be treatable through Christian prayers or elaborate traditional rituals designed to exorcise the imbibed demonic elements.
This is a strange one, a feud between the victims earthly spouse and spirtual spouse...ouch!

* In Greece and Cyprus, it is believed that sleep paralysis occurs when a ghost-like creature or Demon named Mora, Vrahnas or Varypnas tries to steal the victim's speech or sits on the victim's chest causing asphyxiation.

* In Zimbabwean Shona culture the word Madzikirira is used to refer something really pressing one down. This mostly refers to the spiritual world in which some spirit—especially an evil one—tries to use its victim for some evil purpose. The people believe that witches can only be people of close relations to be effective, and hence a witches often try to use one's spirit to bewitch one's relatives. Wow that stinks using someone's spirit to bewitch one of their relatives.

* In Ethiopian culture the word Dukak is used. Dukak is believed to be some form of evil spirit that possesses people during their sleep. This experience is also believed to be related to use of Khat. Most Khat users experience sleep paralysis when quitting after a long time of use.
****Khat (Catha edulis) is a flowering shrub native to northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Individuals chew khat leaves because of the stimulant effects, which are similar to but less intense than those caused by using cocaine or methamphetamine. Other names by which Khat is known include:
This is interesting so after stopping the use of a stimulant drug you get slammed by the Dukak evil spirit, wow you can't ask for any more motivation than that...

* In the Muslim culture of South Asia (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian Muslims), sleep paralysis is considered an encounter with evil jinns and demons. It is also assumed that it is caused by the black magic performed by enemies and jealous persons. Spells and Curses could also result in a ghoul haunting a person. Some homes and locations are also alleged to be haunted by these satanic beings.

* In Tamil and Sri Lankan Culture, this particular phenomenon is referred to as 'Amuku Be" or 'Amuku Pei' meaning "the ghost that forces one down.

* In Malay of Malay Peninsula, sleep paralysis is known as 'kena tindih' (or 'ketindihan' in Indonesia), which means "being pressed Incidents are commonly considered to be the work of a malign agency; occurring in what are explained as blind spots in the field of vision, they are reported as demonic figures.

* In Newfoundland and Labrador, it is known as the 'Old Hag' In island folklore, the Hag can be summoned to attack a third party, like a curse. It is also believed in thier local culture the way to call the Hag is to recite the Lord's Prayer backwards.

* In Persian culture it is known as 'bakhtak' which is a ghost-like creature

* In Irish culture sleep paralysis is known as being "ar muin na muice" or "on the pigs back" and is thought to be a result of lying to someone the day before, or consuming a 'bad' batch of whiskey. I guess it is safe to say not to lie to someone, or drink bad whiskey in Ireland


I have a lot of information both scientifically and supernaturally, so please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help getting through this very terrifying experience.

FLorida Gal's

[deffine]

ok you say this is scientific when you got no clear scientific evidence at all in this post, this is just bunch of experiences and unproven theories , i experienced this about 10 times, i was afraid in the first six than i got use to it. So of course people would freak out in a event that people are not use too. Sorry 4 being skectical but those were some good experieces good luck on your book though.

[Sootica]

Have you heard the theory that alian abductions are an evolution of sleep paralysis?

People would dream of old hags due to their fear of witchcraft/ the devil etc due to their devote religious beliefs. As we all know relgion no longer plays such a hardcore role within our day to day lives, so our fears have changed.
We seem to be believe in aliens more than wicked witches so our nightmares have changed.

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

I call it watching too much horror movies,reading too much horror books,reading too many ghost stories on the web, listening to too many ghost/horror stories.
Then you go to bed, and of course yer gonna have nightmares.
I had one of those strange hold me down nightmares last night,went to bed at 10pm,woke up at 10:25 pm, why did I have this weird
hoorible dream, cause I watch and read too much horror stuff

[florida_gals]

(11-14-2009 02:38 PM)Dr.Teufel Geist Wrote:  I call it watching too much horror movies,reading too much horror books,reading too many ghost stories on the web, listening to too many ghost/horror stories.
Then you go to bed, and of course yer gonna have nightmares.
I had one of those strange hold me down nightmares last night,went to bed at 10pm,woke up at 10:25 pm, why did I have this weird
hoorible dream, cause I watch and read too much horror stuff

I think if you have truly experienced sleep paralysis, you would know it was not due to a horror movie. The actual experience is something you will never forget. At first you are unable to move at all, then you feel an evil menacing presence that you may or may not see. Most people have had their blankets thrown off them, felt phantom hands touching them, all while they are flat on their back, feeling as if they are being held down. You hear voices, some very loud such as multiple radios playing, or just a menacing whisper in your ear. 20 percent of the accounted for population has suffered it at least once.

Science has stated they are not quite sure, but that is mainly due to them not given it the attention it deserves. Is it paranormal, I hope not, but 90% of the universe is still unknown to us, so who knows what is going on.

I do not really believe in the UFO theory, but I do believe in GOD and it clearly states that their are things among us that are not human spirits, but evil entities.

It is also quite strange that a person living in the jungle would have the same sleep paralysis experience as someone that lives in California. It would seem their demons would be different than ours if it was from reading books and watching horror movies, their SP experiences are almost all the same across the board.

All cultures have given it a name, but it is basically the same experience, why?

Something to think about isn't it?

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

(11-14-2009 08:47 PM)florida_gals Wrote:  

(11-14-2009 02:38 PM)Dr.Teufel Geist Wrote:  I call it watching too much horror movies,reading too much horror books,reading too many ghost stories on the web, listening to too many ghost/horror stories.
Then you go to bed, and of course yer gonna have nightmares.
I had one of those strange hold me down nightmares last night,went to bed at 10pm,woke up at 10:25 pm, why did I have this weird
hoorible dream, cause I watch and read too much horror stuff

I think if you have truly experienced sleep paralysis, you would know it was not due to a horror movie. The actual experience is something you will never forget. At first you are unable to move at all, then you feel an evil menacing presence that you may or may not see. Most people have had their blankets thrown off them, felt phantom hands touching them, all while they are flat on their back, feeling as if they are being held down. You hear voices, some very loud such as multiple radios playing, or just a menacing whisper in your ear. 20 percent of the accounted for population has suffered it at least once.

Science has stated they are not quite sure, but that is mainly due to them not given it the attention it deserves. Is it paranormal, I hope not, but 90% of the universe is still unknown to us, so who knows what is going on.

I do not really believe in the UFO theory, but I do believe in GOD and it clearly states that their are things among us that are not human spirits, but evil entities.

It is also quite strange that a person living in the jungle would have the same sleep paralysis experience as someone that lives in California. It would seem their demons would be different than ours if it was from reading books and watching horror movies, their SP experiences are almost all the same across the board.

All cultures have given it a name, but it is basically the same experience, why?

Something to think about isn't it?

Actually, I have had the expierence before,even talked about on a different thread, but I still say it is 95% Dreams and Nightmares from too much Horror,whether it be fiction or non-fiction.
There is a 5% chance that it is Demonic,or it could be God telling you to wake up and get yer life straightened out.
Of course this is my opinion,and I believe my experience with the black masses holding me down and trying to suffocate me, was God trying to knock some sense into me,cause I was walking down the wrong path.

[Bracket]

I actually agree with the scientific explanation. (shockingly )

[CareTaker]

I dont believe that the same explanation holds for all cases - that is hardly ever the case with any subject.

[Bracket]

(11-15-2009 01:25 PM)CareTaker Wrote:  I dont believe that the same explanation holds for all cases - that is hardly ever the case with any subject.

Maybe it's not sleep paralysis then.

[CareTaker]

Yeah I know what you mean but "Sleep Paralysis" is just like a catch all term which people use to describe it. Actually, you and I have talked about this before and when it comes right down to it I say that "sleep paralysis" is a natural physical thing that can happen BUT there is also something else which is very similar to sleep paralysis (or even makes use of the phenomenon) which is more than just a normal function.

I wrote about my experience with this at http://www.trueghosttales.com/paranormal...xperience/ and in my experience I was actually awake before it started. So perhaps "Sleep" paralysis wasnt the best way to describe it.