It was a hot summer night back in 1986 in Indio California, close to Palm spring California . My apartment was located in Indio California , 20 minutes drive south of palm desert area where I used to work .
One Friday night of the month of august I was sleeping in my pajama pens only , the fan was on , and the window was opened . My apartment was new and the hall compound was just build few months earlier .
There were about 400 units, and about 50 Apartment were rented , I took one apartment at the edge of the compound , corner place facing the desert. Nobody around my place and I was the only person in that unit . At that night I felt a draft in the house something cold not like other nights , I thought may be the window was causing the draft , I felt that someone in my apartment , I had a strong feeling that someone was with me , I open my eyes and turned my head to see ,I know I wasn’t not dreaming , I saw this ugly horrifying floating figure, it was about 3 feet tall, floating with a small tail and lots of hair in its body with belly and facial hair. It is face was like a face of an old ugly Demon.
Its mouth was made of 3 circles ,the ugliest thing I ever seen in my life, It so old, and so ugly, so hairy and so scary. I though this is not happening.
I tried to move or turn my face I couldn’t at all , my eyes was moving my ear was listening and I heard this thing talking to me with strange language !!! I knew so many old languages but not this strange language . It was different. It wasn’t Aramaic, not Arabic or Hebrew, not Indian or Sanskrit, not chladanian or Greek .
I was so afraid and worried, I tried to relax and figure out what was this thing and why he / she is laying on my chest and talking this language .I couldn’t move at all after I could turn my face and see this demon flying toward my bed.
Night frights happened to me almost once every 3 months since I was 6.I see those demons, ghosts or dreams? I didn’t know what they were.
The demon spoke with words like shh, sshwa, shemmshaoo…..with it is 3 circled mouth, babbling his strange words . Why me God I was thinking I managed to use the lord name. …and I felt bit relived when I said the God name .
More I prayed more I felt better and relaxed, my tongue started to feel better and I started to recite more prayer that I knew. The Ugly demon was more angry with me when I started to pray, he started screaming in my face to scare me.But I hated IT and I was not scared FROM It. Later it floated away from my Chest and left like a white smoke far away from me and went to the hall .I never stop prating the lord name.
I pull myself together , Turned the light On , my heart was racing , I put my shirt on and run to the balcony in my room as I don’t want to go to the living room .
I jumped from my first floor to the garden which wasn’t high , it was about 3 meters and ran toward the gate of the first compound where the manger and his wife live .
I rang the bell to wake them up , after 5 minutes the manager open the door and he went to the office under his place with me , What wrong are you OK ,he said.
He let me in his office and asked me what’s going on why I was out of breath . I told him what had happened.
And I told him that I don’t smoke or do drugs, I don’t drink alcohol, and I dont suffer from stress or bipolar disorders. because I felt he wanted to ask me all that. His wife came down and she was good catholic and took us to the place and started to pray in my place.
And I told her that I can not stay in this place , so she asked me take some clothes and the pillow and took me to their guest room . I slept until morning and then They helped me to moved to new apartment close to their unit . I never saw that thing again in that area. I see many of those ugly demons In Baghdad more than dozen times. In Saudi Arabia at least 4 times. In Brunei about 6 times.In Canada at least dozen of times.Here in Calgary since 2001 until now about 9 times.Some times I pray and some times I scream loud to get them away .Thats why I hate the Dark.
When I asked a friend who was a psychologist he told me this called a wakening dream , part of fright night where the cerebellum get effected some how and where we are still between sleeping and wakening in REM period of sleep .
But in this REM period people can see beyond what regular people can see. It is like your eye lenses vibrate and can see the unseen world , science can duplicate that and they call it the frequency below 18 hz. Infra sound.But to me it was so real ,I knew I wasn’t dreaming at all. I moved my head before that thing came to the room. I researched and red about this subject of SP for so many years to make sure that it was not something else.Many books mentioned the SP.
Sleep paralysis experiences are almost certainly behind the myths of the incubus and succubus, demons thought have sex with unsuspecting humans in their sleep. You feel been violated or isolated .The feeling of suffocating or someone pushing down on the chest that often occurs during sleep paralysis may be a result of the automatic breathing pattern people fall into during sleep. When they become conscious while still in this breathing pattern, people may try to bring their breathing under voluntary control, leading to the feeling of suffocating.
My body was paralyzed during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage of sleep where dreaming occurs. If I weren’t paralyzed, I would act out my dreams, endangering myself and others. But sometimes, especially when sleep patterns are disrupted or we get exhausted, things go awry: REM extends into waking consciousness, our bodies become immobile and our alert brains fuse with the imagery of dreams. The phenomenon of waking up during REM, completely unable to move, is called sleep paralysis.
The experience can be terrifying. Trapped in your paralyzed body, you might sense the presence of a malevolent intruder in the room or a pressure on your chest, squeezing the breath out of your lungs. Hallucinations can jangle the senses: there are ominous voices, supernatural entities, strange lights. You feel as if you are being touched or dragged, bed covers seem to be snatched from you, and you are helpless to grab them back It happened so many times to me But when I was fully aware I can still see the bed cover away from me!? so when it was pulled from me by a dream how come it was pulled away when I wake up and some times the cover is so far away from my bed all the way to the washroom.Did I wake up and drag it !? I never remember I did . Things get missing from my room and then i found them in different places I dont remember I move them at all.
I have experienced the frightening imagery of sleep paralysis few dozen of times in my life, but only later did I understand that my dark journey was not unique – I share it with at least 6 per cent of people worldwide, and it has been reported for thousands of years as encounters with sexual demons, beasts, and ghosts. These reports differ by culture – but the texture and the biology is the same.
I was shy to talk about it and afraid that people think I am losing my marbles.
I was not abused, I did have poor family and bad memories from the worse country on earth. May be the childhood stress is responsible? never know? I was seen these things even before I had any stress, when my father was working and safe and we were happy. I saw them allot in Baghdad in our old house.
The history is full with these stories .In Newfoundland they call it the Old Hag, a hideous witch who pins down sleepers by sitting on their chests. Japanese folklore gives us kanashibari, the fate of the unfortunate or cursed who have been magically tied up in their sleep by evil spirits. In Old Norse, the Mara is a malevolent spirit who straddles the body of the sleeper as if riding a horse, then tries to strangle them; Mara is the origin of the English word ‘nightmare’. UFO abduction stories and alien encounters likely emerge from sleep paralysis. In Arabic they call it selaowa.
I have seen shadow figures in the corner of my bedroom, and awoken to find strange entities – by my bed. I’ve felt my hand grasped, my chest crushed by the weight of a strange beast; my body twisting and spinning , and one time I felt a strong slap in my face it was Real and painful in that time i was so scared I had to leave my apartment and sleep in a hotel room.
The psychologist Kazuhiko Fukuda at Edogawa University in Japan explains the likely involvement of the amygdala, a brain region that signals fear from threats in the environment and triggers our primal ‘fight or flight’ reactions. Waking up paralyzed constitutes an environmental threat, yet we cannot react. The amygdala is in hyperdrive, and REM physiology has invaded our consciousness. We are left stuck in a state of overwhelming terror, leaving us dreaming awake and set upon by our deepest fears.
If you ever wake up unable to move, try not to panic. Remind yourself that you stand at the threshold of a fantastical world, a strange hinterland, an exhilarating space in which you are awake. For me is to remember God and trying to pray , as soon as I started praying the Entity will disappear, vanish from the room, float away and some times It touches my shoulder so hard before it leaves.
Sleep researchers conclude that, in most cases, sleep paralysis is simply a sign that your body is not moving smoothly through the stages of sleep. Rarely is sleep paralysis linked to deep underlying psychiatric problems.Stress can be one of the reasons, depression, some medications, abuse,trauma,and many other factors.
Over the centuries, symptoms of sleep paralysis have been described in many ways and often attributed to an “evil” presence: unseen night demons in ancient times, the old hag in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and alien abductors. Almost every culture throughout history has had stories of shadowy evil creatures that terrify helpless humans at night. People have long sought explanations for this mysterious sleep-time paralysis and the accompanying feelings of terror.The Catholic and other faith used exorcisms to get rid of demons. I dont know why this entity always ugly !If she was a nice looking demon I might enjoy and dont mind to be paralyzed. LOL …..But it is always ugly and always paralyze me ,may be she a afraid of human. May be in the demon worlds this is the only way to date human
Sleep paralysis usually occurs at one of two times. If it occurs while you are falling asleep, it’s called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. If it happens as you are waking up, it’s called hypnopompic or postdoctoral sleep paralysis.
As you fall asleep, your body slowly relaxes. Usually you become less aware, so you do not notice the change. However, if you remain or become aware while falling asleep, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.
During sleep, your body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. One cycle of REM and NREM sleep lasts about 90 minutes. NREM sleep occurs first and takes up to 75% of your overall sleep time. During NREM sleep, your body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, your sleep shifts to REM. Your eyes move quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of your body remains very relaxed. Your muscles are “turned off” during REM sleep. If you become aware before the REM cycle has finished, you may notice that you cannot move or speak
10 Ways to Wake Up From Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis is the terrifying feeling of being held down after just waking up or going to sleep. You can’t move or scream, and sometimes this paralysis is accompanied with the certainty that someone –or something — is in the room.I do scream and pray loud most of the time and it goes away.
The truth is,SP is a biological event and there is nothing to be worried about. You’re not dying. It’s a hiccup in the brain’s chemical soup as we transition from sleep to wakefulness.
Recurrent SP can be prevented as doctors said, by attending to lifestyle choices, but making new habits can take time.
So how do you wake up from sleep paralysis tonight?
Note: Because this is such a personal thing, some of these tactics will work for you, and others won’t. Choose the ones that make the most sense to you intuitively. Think of these strategies as tools in a toolbox to bring out when the conditions are right. Make a plan and resolve to remember it for the next time you wake up in sleep paralysis.
1. Don’t Fight
If you feel like you are being held down and you can’t move, do not fight back. This actually will intensify the experience. Not only is fighting back likely to increase the feelings of being held down (so much that it may seem like you are being crushed), but fighting back will also increase the fear, thus triggering the emotional centers of the brain and strengthening this lucid nightmare. Controlling fear is the most important skill during these moments.For me it is difficult as it is so ugly demon.As I said if she was hot I will never fight but she is not,LOL
2. Surrender and Go with the Flow
Instead, try to relax when you notice SP starting to happen. If you feel pressure on your chest, see if you can “go with” the pressure rather than against it. Say to your self you are dreaming. How can I go with the flow with ugly demon , It is like going to a blind date and then you find her look like judge Judy .LOL
3. Wiggle your Toe
Another excellent tactic that works for many people is to try to move an extremity, such as a finger or a toe. Most of the feelings of paralysis are in the belly, chest, and throat. So focus all you attention on the toe and try to move it back and forth. In many cases, this will break the paralysis.For me it is my prayer and my mouth .I dont want this ugly thing kissing me so I scream. lol
4. Clench your Fist
This is a variation of the toe wiggle method. Clench and unclench your fist.It never work for me she always hold my hands and my shoulders.
5. Focus on your Breath
An easy way to stop these nightmares is to do some controlled breathing. Controlled breathing does several things at once. For starters, it lessens the feelings of chest pain that sometimes accompany SP. Breathing is autonomic like the heart’s beating or digestion, so it’s not paralyzed like the big muscles in our arms, chest and legs. But breath can be controlled with attention or be affected by severe fear, which may be why SP sufferers “forget” to breathe when under attack. If you can control your breath, you can control your fear. Simply draw your breath in at a normal rate, and exhale fully, using all of your lung capacity. Notice that you can breathe fully without obstruction. This technique will keep you calm as the SP runs its course and then you will wake up without any trouble. A few moments of focused breathing with a strong intention to wake up is effective.
6. Lean into Love to Find Courage
Now is also the time to lean into unconditional love. For many, the surest path is in religious or spiritual beliefs. Regardless, focus on a figure that you admire and love.
For me it work when I start remember my mom face.Think of someone who calms you down—someone who you love . This could be God , Jesus, the Dali Lama, or someone you know personally. Always scream – you are not real get out of here , you are not welcome here .I am stronger in my faith or what ever make you feel secure from this entity.
7. Getting Help from your Sleep Partner
If someone shares your bed, you can tell them about your SP attacks and what to look for when you are having a nightmare. For example,asked them to shake you whenever you began to breath heavily and irregularly in your sleep, or when you starting screaming and talking. Most partner will hit you when you snore so If you tell them you are seen things , there is a chance they will leave you , ask you what are you smoking? or ask you to go and see a physiologist.
Teach your pet ,dog or a cat to be beside you and touch you while you have these dreams , that need training and some one else have to help you with it. My cat now meow at my head when she feel I am breathing heavy or about to scream.But she scare the shit of me when I wake up then I see her beside me but she is looking at the wall and following the entity in her eyes
and some times follow them and hiss at them ,it scared the hell out of me.
8. Coughing for Help
A variation of using your voice is to try to cough into wakefulness. Like breathing, coughing can be autonomic or consciously regulated. By coughing on purpose, you can jar yourself awake.I scream or pray.
9. Write out the Plan
Not every tactic will work with you. But having too many tactics in your mind can actually be counterproductive. So it is important to make a plan, almost like the fire escape plan you may have for evacuating your family home in case of emergency. Write it out; this will cement the plan in your mind and make it easier to remember when the paralysis comes on strong. I always trick the entity by acting and looking like some behind her in my mind and the entity losing the grip and turn her face ,that give me time to pray.
10. Make a face if you can — this is the single best way to wake up from sleep paralysis and it’s really in a class of it’s own. When you realize you are in SP, scrunch up your face. In other words, make a face like you just smelled something bad. Snarl and squint. Do this two or three times in a row and the paralysis will break IMMEDIATELY.this work for me too. Just make fun of the entity.But always make my hair in the back of my neck rise.
After you wake up, get out of bed immediately and turn on a light. Wash your face with cold water. If you just stay in bed, the chance of sliding right back into sleep paralysis is pretty high.Pray. drink class of water.
So what did I see in that night? and in many of other nights ? was it the infra sound of the fan close to me that play trick on my mind ? But for me it was real , I was awake and I saw and listen to that thing who have no neck and so many old flap of skins and so old.what was it? I managed to draw a picture and kept the picture with me to this day. May be next time when I see her again I ask her for her name? who is she? why she is hunting our dreams?
Steve Ramsey, PhD. Calgary- Alberta.