[Bury Zenek]

This reminds me of the effects of Salvia Divinorum.

[Hades]

(07-25-2016 08:31 AM)thoughtgypsy Wrote:  

(07-25-2016 05:50 AM)Hades Wrote:  

Yeah. Another night of terrifying nightmares and I'm done with it. I'll start going to church.

While I would encourage you to continue to seek spiritual enlightenment, I'd be cautious before falling into the "You must literally believe everything in the Bible and practice blind faith otherwise you will go to hell" mentality that many churches ask of their members.

There are many conflicting parts in the Bible which I believe were placed there at some point in time (or more likely, the Bible is a largely cut and paste job from multiple religions and histories) in order to cause confusion among readers and make them question the essence of the message. It's subtle but effective.

It's due to these easily disproven logical errors that many people will confidently become atheists, and reject the entire message out of hand, throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

If you do decide to join a religious community, I'd encourage you to only accept that which does not cause greater confusion and incoherence. Some of the ritual practices of certain sects, like the drinking of Christ's blood in Catholicism also gives me pause.

I agree with St. Aquinas' view on religion and science: That the truths of science cannot contradict the truths of faith. God is the author of all truth and whatever reason discovers to be true about reality ought not to be challenged by an appeal to sacred texts.

As for cures for sleep paralysis, many people seem to find the following effective:
- Avoid sleeping on your back whenever possible.
- Sleep on your side if possible
- Remain as calm as possible

Thanks for the advice, but I am not some kind of dyed-in-the-wool True Believer. I conflict with these spiritually hardened weirdos on a regular basis. I believe Scripture lives and breathes.

The patriarchs who lived in the Bible probably saw their relationship with God as being one of great blessing and occasional hardship, but they had faith that kept their spirits uplifted even while enslaved or tortured. I respect them tremendously.

The Bible is mostly simple prose, small words, powerful persuasion, stories about men and women living their lives, undergoing trials and tribulations.

There are precious few "rules" if you're not one of God's chosen people (i.e; Jews).

I just roll with the 10 Commandments, some of Jesus's teachings on being a good neighbor and turning the other cheek (powerful stuff), the Beatitudes, St. Matthew's sermons (I tune in to the radio on a regular basis to hear this).

Only rarely do I go to church, usually I just go fishing or to the park on Sundays, but I do when seeking safe haven more or less. Maybe it's time to do confession. It has been a long while.

I do not really believe in "The Church" as such, hierarchy is anathema to faith and often idolatry to some extent (my bimbo slut religious studies teacher basically worshiped John Paul II, who she saw back in the day at a faith gathering). There should be a personal relationship between a man and God, and the Bible should exist to illuminate if such is required. I have no doubt that some of the most virtuous Christians are illiterate, but the wisest of Christians are among the smartest men alive.

Granted, many people say that faith is a private affair, but I routinely talk and listen to people's views on God on a frequent basis. Sometimes very quickly people bring up Jesus to me since there is a strong resemblance between me and (I guess) white Jesus. The hair, the beard, the tan, that sort of thing. This is without provocation.

On a side note, Jesus Christ was a complete badass, a powerful leader of men and women, and it's obvious that the Pharisees had him crucified out of envy for his unbelievable charisma and power that they felt was squandered allowing the Romans to exist. Personally I saw no reason to overthrow the Romans either, as they ran a pretty tight ship and were wise at governance.

In my honest opinion, man has always sought to know God, which is why the ancient Scriptures (Children of Odin, Greek myths, other pagan literature) draws many parallels as God being one capable of both great love and wrath. Hence polytheism. If some pagan literature made it's way into the Bible to muddy the waters, it is not a huge deal. Some of the best biblical material I have read is considered heretical.

Granted, I am not pagan whatsoever (my ancestors definitely were) but even the Vikings figured that if Odin wanted his children to be happy, healthy, and lucky, he would not be terribly offended if they converted to Christianity out of reverence of monks who wandered into their territory armed with nothing but a book.

[Wreckingball]

That happened to me twice, in the span of two weeks, during Spring 2013. I was just having a "siesta" and saw a girl like the one from the movie "The Ring" creeping from my legs into my face. I could actually feel her weight in my body. At first i thought, "Cool! I'm gonna get laid!" White dress, red-headed, then I saw her face and it was an oval shaped and dirty face, black demon eyes, sharp teeth. She kept coming slowly and I just wanted to punch her with my right arm but could not move them, my legs were also not moving, as I was trying to shake her away. Eventually I managed to move my arm and hit the wall. My heart was speeding and I was scared shitless. Two weeks after, it happened again.

Coincidence or not at the time I was banging a red-headed french girl and the reason why I was having a siesta the first time is because she bailed out on a date. I still suspect to this day that she was meeting with someother other guy, which I came to find out later that she was also banging. I'm not sure about the second time though. Anyway, I took it as a message to be careful around her. She turned out to be an emotional vampire-trainwreck.

[debeguiled]

This thread is teaching me that this phenomenon is more common than I thought. Thank you to everyone for talking about their experiences, especially the inexplicable aspects.

[Hades]

^Debeguiled, personally I am a mad scientist, physicist by art and engineer by trade, but I absolutely believe in demons. They are far craftier than men or man's instruments, and I bet they are evolving.

No doubt at one point in history they were corporeal. How else would we have legends of dragons, horned monsters, and devils? But demons, being wily and intelligent, learned to corrupt the souls of men and fight carefully from the inside. Those nagging voices that cause insecurity in men could be demonic in nature, by my reckoning. Those sudden impulses that turn an act of love into hatred or spite could also be influenced by the dark craft of Legion.
Granted, it is stupid to see demons everywhere and absolve men of all their mistakes and tomfoolery. However, my bullshit alarm stays tuned at 110% for a good reason. Constant vigilance!

[debeguiled]

(07-27-2016 10:49 AM)Hades Wrote:  

^Debeguiled, personally I am a mad scientist, physicist by art and engineer by trade, but I absolutely believe in demons. They are far craftier than men or man's instruments, and I bet they are evolving.

No doubt at one point in history they were corporeal. How else would we have legends of dragons, horned monsters, and devils? But demons, being wily and intelligent, learned to corrupt the souls of men and fight carefully from the inside. Those nagging voices that cause insecurity in men could be demonic in nature, by my reckoning. Those sudden impulses that turn an act of love into hatred or spite could also be influenced by the dark craft of Legion.
Granted, it is stupid to see demons everywhere and absolve men of all their mistakes and tomfoolery. However, my bullshit alarm stays tuned at 110% for a good reason. Constant vigilance!

I am not questioning the reality of things that we cannot understand, the problem is that talking about them can be like whispering the word Trump in a crowded university.

I am actually of the belief that a lot of people have had experiences that they cannot explain, and figure they are the only one who has, and don't want to talk about it because they are afraid of how it will be taken by their friends.

[Hades]

(07-27-2016 11:01 AM)debeguiled Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 10:49 AM)Hades Wrote:  

^Debeguiled, personally I am a mad scientist, physicist by art and engineer by trade, but I absolutely believe in demons. They are far craftier than men or man's instruments, and I bet they are evolving.

No doubt at one point in history they were corporeal. How else would we have legends of dragons, horned monsters, and devils? But demons, being wily and intelligent, learned to corrupt the souls of men and fight carefully from the inside. Those nagging voices that cause insecurity in men could be demonic in nature, by my reckoning. Those sudden impulses that turn an act of love into hatred or spite could also be influenced by the dark craft of Legion.
Granted, it is stupid to see demons everywhere and absolve men of all their mistakes and tomfoolery. However, my bullshit alarm stays tuned at 110% for a good reason. Constant vigilance!

I am not questioning the reality of things that we cannot understand, the problem is that talking about them can be like whispering the word Trump in a crowded university.

Shout Trump from the rooftops! He has heard God's calling to serve the country with his skills and powers of persuasion. Trump is by my estimation General Patton in the flesh. A great and terrible general to bring about the next Crusades, the holy war that will bathe the earth in the blood of Nephilim and the righteous alike.

I am actually of the belief that a lot of people have had experiences that they cannot explain, and figure they are the only one who has, and don't want to talk about it because they are afraid of how it will be taken by their friends.

Yes. It is an ancient fear to be exiled from one's tribe, and insanity through demonic possession is absolutely considered a "good" reason to exile even one dearly beloved.

I consider myself an exorcist of the highest order. I have sought out a fellow exorcist in Wisconsin to teach and learn alike.

[thoughtgypsy]

For those hoping to gain a better understanding of what these phenomena mean and what are behind them, I'd highly recommend you check out the book "Dark Intrusions". I'm over halfway through and I'm impressed with the quality of information provided in it so far.

The author presents a great deal of support behind his explanations for these phenomena, drawing on personal experience, testimony of those who've experienced episodes, and historically documented cases. He also does a fair job of entertaining theories that are critical to his, and addresses them satisfactorily.

His theory for what's behind sleep paralysis (SP), lucid dreaming, out of body experiences, schizophrenia, and other related conditions is the only one which provides a consistent framework that helps to explain the mechanics behind those phenomena.

If you'd rather not spend the money, there is another book in the public domain which is highly recommended in SP circles: http://www.allankardec.com/Allan_Kardec/...esp_us.pdf

[debeguiled]

I wonder how many depictions there are of sleep paralysis in fine art. Off the top of my head I remember these two:

Goya:



And even more convincingly, Fuseli:

[nomadbrah]

The word 'nightmare' refers to being ridden by a 'mare' a feminine creature of the same name found in all Germanic and Slavic languages. In Germanic languages nightmare translates to variations of mare-ridden. According to Wiki the origin of the word 'mare' is probably proto-indo-european which means it is at least 5000 years old. Icelandic sagas speak of men dying in their sleep from being ridden by the mare. I remember in Thailand there is also a myth of men dying suddenly in their sleep which the myth is also about being visited by some evil feminine spirit, in that myth the spirit only visits unmarried men.

Apparantly this is a common and REAL thing among South East Asians:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1647019/
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-24/l...n-refugees
https://kevishere.com/2010/09/26/killer-...asian-men/

" Almost a decade after the syndrome was first reported, doctors still do not know the causes of a rare affliction that kills young male Southeast Asian refugees as they sleep."

[debeguiled]

(07-31-2016 09:48 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  

I remember in Thailand there is also a myth of men dying suddenly in their sleep which the myth is also about being visited by some evil feminine spirit, in that myth the spirit only visits unmarried men.

I think I used to date that chick:

[Il Bersagliere]

(08-01-2016 11:17 AM)debeguiled Wrote:  

(07-31-2016 09:48 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  

I remember in Thailand there is also a myth of men dying suddenly in their sleep which the myth is also about being visited by some evil feminine spirit, in that myth the spirit only visits unmarried men.

I think I used to date that chick:

WB.

I used to work late hours and I would fall asleep in the office on the couch they had out there. This would be around midnight or so. At some point, my body would feel stiff/motionless. I'd open up my eyes and see a dark or bright blue light in the corner of the dark room, something appearing very sinister. I would feel petrified and open my mouth to scream, but would be unable to; all I would hear is ultrasonic noise. It was a very perplexing event that would happen every night for about a minute. Pretty frightening. I ended it by just going home and sleeping there.

[mostlykelp]

(12-18-2015 02:31 PM)MiscBrah Wrote:  

I have been reading into sleep paralysis lately and find it very interesting. I've never experienced it myself but was curious if anyone here has. I trust the accounts here more than I would elsewhere and apparently it is a relatively common occurrence. Does anyone here have any sleep paralysis stories they'd like to share?

It happened to me a lot in middle school, I'd usually take naps in science class whenever they showed a movie.

Basically you're wide awake, fully conscious, but you can't move. It's like being buried at the beach in sand, only you can't see. A few times I'd come out of it screaming and people would look at me all quizzically. One of the worst feelings in the world.

[debeguiled]

How do you get the bang on she demons crouched on your paralyzed chest? We need a succubus game datasheet ASAP.

[Mercenary]

It's pretty impressive how many different established RVF members have experienced this sleep paralysis phenomenon, and that numerous guys here claim they felt (or saw) the presence of evil entities or demons.

Yet, when I start a new semi scientific/semi religious thread about dark matter, anti matter and the the Large Hadron Collider possibly being a portal to the demon world, many of the same people dismiss my ideas immediately as nonsense.

I think there is more than enough circumstantial evidence from...

1. The sleep paralysis phenomenon
2. Experiences of those who have used drugs like DMT
3. The endless different demons depicted in all major cultures and religions around the world for thousands of years

...to now safely say, we are very naiive to think we understand all forms of reality.

[Windom Earle]

Speaking of DMT, it's interesting how users often have similar experiences, encountering entities in far flung regions of the cosmos, other dimensions etc, their consciousness "blasting off" out of their bodies. I love reading/listening to these stories - don't think I have the balls to experience it first hand however.

[Vaun]

(07-27-2016 10:49 AM)Hades Wrote:  

No doubt at one point in history they were corporeal. How else would we have legends of dragons, horned monsters, and devils?

Much like today, how we have; Orson Scot Card, JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer(Twilight), etc etc.

I know he is banned but couldn't resist.

Oh yeah, for Sleep Paralysis, once you are awake and aware its happening, simply wiggle your big toe. Or try to move a finger. I used to get SP all the time. Try this next time you get it.

[Mercenary]

Some old drawings and paintings

[Rossi]

It also happened to me few years ago. As far as I remember, I think it happened 2 or 3 times to me.

[Delta]

I'm a little appalled at some of the posts here claiming that sleep paralysis is "unexplained" and going on to discuss demons. It is scientifically explained.

During REM (dream) sleep, your body releases chemicals to paralyze your muscles, to prevent you from acting out the dream. So every single night, you spend some time paralyzed. The "sleep paralysis" phenomenon occurs when your mind suddenly becomes alert after a dream, but there's a lag in fully waking up and un-paralyzing your muscles.

I've experienced it a handful of times, typically when I'm sleeping in an unusual setting and/or awkward position. I've had some weird auditory hallucinations to go along with it, but nothing evil or demonic. I really haven't found it to be all that bad or traumatizing.

[Vaun]

I used to get this all the time. And at times it was pretty scary because I couldn't move or talk. After I read this thread, I can't remember getting it again. A simple flick of the toe now is like a reflex, but I honestly don't remember getting this after reading out about it here.

[Zep]

Sort of in agreement with Delta, I do believe sleep paralysis is the mind shutting the body down so we don't act out. Except that I found it scary as hell to be *stuck* in my body and it used to take a massive amount of will to move a finger, as soon as I could, the connection was made and I could move my body again.

I went through a period where I had about twenty of them within a year, and I'm almost certain it had to do with an old-style anti-depressant medication I was started on.

In one *lovely* episode, I was lying on my back and 'paralyzed' and I could see my sister ten feet away, she walked over and started eating my stomach, I could hear squishing sounds as she ate my flesh. Needless to say, this was kind of horrifying.

So, it seems pretty common that people have nightmares associated with this experience. My question is why nightmares? why not regular dreams? why are our psyches coded with frightening imagery? is this an evolutionary left-over from our ancestors who had no other way to explain frightening phenomena as either angels or demons?

[sterling_archer]

Because you are at the same time in subconsciousness ("over there") and consciousness (here, now). It doesn't have to be nightmares but some people experience them.

Btw, if someone is curious, sleep paralysis is great opportunity to make projection (erroneously called astral pr.) of your subtle body (called etheric or pranic). Of course, if you believe in that thing.

[Ringo]

(09-30-2017 12:15 PM)Zep Wrote:  

So, it seems pretty common that people have nightmares associated with this experience. My question is why nightmares? why not regular dreams? why are our psyches coded with frightening imagery? is this an evolutionary left-over from our ancestors who had no other way to explain frightening phenomena as either angels or demons?

[Neo]

(09-29-2017 07:28 PM)Mercenary Wrote:  

Some old drawings and paintings

This matches almost exactly with the experience I wrote about on the first page of this thread. The only difference is the hooded figure didn't seem as 'dark' both in it's attire and presence.

I hadn't read the thread in it's entirety until today. I want to add another RVF data point to the experiences of posters (thoughtgypsy and AB) who stated the occurrences of sleep paralysis seemed to increase as they were moving away from atheism.

One instance, although not the one I wrote about, happened the night after I was watching a documentary on Catholicism. I didn't see any figures that time, but woke up with sleep paralysis.

For a while now, I've been more spiritual and contemplating returning to the faith of my youth (Catholicism). I've also been meditating more intensely. I've been getting strange nightmares which I haven't gotten in years.

Just a strange coincidence.