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Old Hag Syndrome

#1
Magical Realist Offline
I once awoke in a paralysis state sensing a demonic presence in my room. After yelling "get out" a few times and coming to full consciousness, I heard the bush outside my bedroom window thrash about for a few seconds and it was gone. Strange...I now sleep better with a polished snowflake obsidian stone on my window sill. It absorbs negative energies supposedly..
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"It happens when all dark and evil things happen — the middle of the night.

What had been a peaceful sleep turns into a waking nightmare as you find yourself pinned and unable to move, shocked awake and paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of evil.

The old hag has paid you visit.

While this sounds like a run-of-the-mill urban legend, the curious thing about the “Old Hag Syndrome” is that it is a highly reported phenomenon.

People around the world have claimed, at one time or another, to have woken up in terror, paralyzed.

But this isn’t simply sleep paralysis, they say — they often report seeing or hearing strange things, such as eyes in the darkness or the heavy sound of footsteps. A dark figure looming over their bodies.

Just Doing What A Wicked Witch Does

The story of the Old Hag finds its origins in folklore, particularly in Newfoundland, though variations of the story are present throughout the world.
Tales told of an old witch maliciously sitting on the chests of her victims while they lay in bed, or curses placed upon unsuspecting individuals
causing them to meet this terror in the night.

The global pervasiveness of these experiences, however, has elevated the Old Hag Syndrome to something beyond urban legend.
Of course, the “Old Hag” could still be a case of sleep paralysis, which typically occurs when entering or coming out of REM sleep. A person may become “caught” in a state between sleep and consciousness, during which they remain aware of their surroundings, but are unable to move.
The sense of evil, or the noises, that accompany the “Old Hag” could be nothing more than hallucinations occurring in that state of half-dreaming.

But then, how do you explain the people who have reported similar experiences without the paralysis? The commonality of every reporting? And why, of all the possible hallucinations we could experience, do we sense evil?

Scientists and paranormal enthusiasts may be at odds about what causes the Old Hag Syndrome, but one simple truth may be enough to keep you up at night:

Whatever the cause, it does exist."====http://www.strangerdimensions.com/2011/1...-syndrome/


[Image: Sleep_Paralysis.jpg]
[Image: Sleep_Paralysis.jpg]

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#2
lapis lazuli Offline
(May 14, 2015 07:23 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: I once awoke in a paralysis state sensing a demonic presence in my room. After yelling "get out" a few times and coming to full consciousness, I heard the bush outside my bedroom window thrash about for a few seconds and it was gone. Strange...I now sleep better with a polished snowflake obsidian stone on my window sill. It absorbs negative energies supposedly..
==================================================================================
"It happens when all dark and evil things happen — the middle of the night.

What had been a peaceful sleep turns into a waking nightmare as you find yourself pinned and unable to move, shocked awake and paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of evil.

The old hag has paid you visit.

While this sounds like a run-of-the-mill urban legend, the curious thing about the “Old Hag Syndrome” is that it is a highly reported phenomenon.

People around the world have claimed, at one time or another, to have woken up in terror, paralyzed.

But this isn’t simply sleep paralysis, they say — they often report seeing or hearing strange things, such as eyes in the darkness or the heavy sound of footsteps. A dark figure looming over their bodies.

Just Doing What A Wicked Witch Does

The story of the Old Hag finds its origins in folklore, particularly in Newfoundland, though variations of the story are present throughout the world.
Tales told of an old witch maliciously sitting on the chests of her victims while they lay in bed, or curses placed upon unsuspecting individuals
causing them to meet this terror in the night.

The global pervasiveness of these experiences, however, has elevated the Old Hag Syndrome to something beyond urban legend.
Of course, the “Old Hag” could still be a case of sleep paralysis, which typically occurs when entering or coming out of REM sleep. A person may become “caught” in a state between sleep and consciousness, during which they remain aware of their surroundings, but are unable to move.
The sense of evil, or the noises, that accompany the “Old Hag” could be nothing more than hallucinations occurring in that state of half-dreaming.

But then, how do you explain the people who have reported similar experiences without the paralysis? The commonality of every reporting? And why, of all the possible hallucinations we could experience, do we sense evil?

Scientists and paranormal enthusiasts may be at odds about what causes the Old Hag Syndrome, but one simple truth may be enough to keep you up at night:

Whatever the cause, it does exist."====http://www.strangerdimensions.com/2011/1...-syndrome/


[Image: Sleep_Paralysis.jpg]
[Image: Sleep_Paralysis.jpg]


I would prefer my 'night visits' to be referred to as old git Syndrome not being hideously sexist about my sleep apnea 

I would also prefer not to have lengthy quotes in my replies but I haven't quite got the hang yet ;-D.
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#3
Magical Realist Offline
I was staying at a hotel right on Cannon Beach last year one night and was in that hypnagogic state of being awake and asleep at the same time. Something tapped me on my back while I was lying in bed and when I turned to look it was what I can only describe as a crow-grim reaper. It was the size of a raven, had folded up black wings, but wore a little death robe with a hood. Amazingly I was not scared about this. But I instantly came to full consciousness to see there was nothing there in bed with me. Strange...
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"Conveying the surreal power of dreams is nearly impossible, whether onscreen or in conversation. They have their own logic, of course, plus inexplicable time and hazy details that are difficult to recall, let alone relay. Rodney Ascher confronts this challenge in The Nightmare, his new documentary about sleep paralysis. Several interviewees recount their experiences with the condition, which is hard to diagnose and harder to treat.

Every story in the film describes a phenomenon far more unsettling than just the temporary inability to move upon waking up; The Nightmare’s subjects describe feeling as if there’s a malevolent presence in the room with them. It’s like a personal ghost, demon or alien who haunts them and them alone. Whether that’s selection bias or an effect of the condition as a whole, there’s no denying the trauma of being so afflicted.

As in Room 237, Ascher’s film about wild interpretations of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the filmmaker displays a talent for inventive visualizations. He shows shadowy figures drifting into bedrooms as half-awake dreamers sit paralyzed, unable to stop or comprehend what’s happening to them. Describing these occurrences seems therapeutic for several interviewees, as though they’ve been searching for just such an outlet for years, or even decades. But it slowly becomes clear that few of them expect to be cured.

More experiential than insightful, the film at its worst feels like a series of poorly staged re-enactments. Ascher never succeeds in creating a fully immersive experience. Too often he cuts to footage of his subjects talking instead of committing to said re-enactments. “You can’t apply logic to a liminal situation,” one interviewee says, which is advice that Ascher might have taken to heart. His approach is too literal, and there’s something lost in the telling.

It was easy, if inaccurate, to peg Room 237 as merely a soapbox for obsessives to share their over-the-top analyses of a cult horror movie; it was really about the power of art and our own responses to it. It takes longer for The Nightmare’s larger point to emerge. When it does, it’s chilling: A man says that something actually happening to him—even something horrific, like a demonic entity breathing down his neck as he lays motionless in bed—would be preferable to being crazy. Perhaps there’s nothing in the real world as terrifying as the monsters we’re capable of imagining."

Critic’s Grade: B-
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24...ovie_.html
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