The dark figure in sleep poralysis

kismetie · Dec 23, 2013

I've dealt with sleep paralysis since I was like 6 or 7 years on, off and on in my life. But it wasn't until 3 years ago that I ever encountered a dark figure while experiencing sleep paralysis. It's only happened three times, but that was seriously enough. Two of them were minor and one was so intense I slept with the lights on for two days afterwards. The two lesser occasions I was lying in bed and woke up in the middle of the night and there would be a dark figure standing/hovering over me. One time I felt the pressure on my chest that many people claim to experience and it felt the figure had placed a large pillow over my head and chest area. The other time the figure grabbed hold of m wrist above my head.

But the most intense and terrifying experience I had was the first run in with the dark figure. I was asleep and woke up and for some reason my door was cracked slightly open so the light from the hallway kind of came into my room. But there in the doorway was this tall dark figure and it had glowing yellow eyes. But the weird thing was that the outline of the figure was unfocused and fuzzy like it's whole body was buzzing. I quickly realized I was in sleep paralysis when I tried to move and immediately tried to wake myself up because I had never encountered a figure before so I was freaking out. The figure then sudden rushed up on me and I felt fingers curl around my neck and begin to choke me! By this point I'm super panicky and really start trying to move some part of my body. But when I do this all of a sudden I hear all these loud and harsh whispers in my ear but I can't understand anything and the grip on my neck gets tighter the more I struggle. So I force myself to calm down as much as possible and then the whispers kind of subdue but don't completely stop and I'm no longer being choked but I can still feel firm hands wrapped around my neck. Then I feel numerous hands roaming all over my body as the whispering kind of picks up again and then I finally wake up.

VeraH · Dec 23, 2013

Has anyone tried closing their eyes? IF the shadow figures are merely hallucinations stemming from the mind, could closing your eyes physically, to then control the projected imagined figure away until paralysis is passed, help?

After reading these stories I'm getting quited spooked out! I've only experienced the SP episodes but have never opened my eyes until I can move my body. I often feel weirded out for some reason after an episode. But it's a rare experience thankfully.

Empty · Dec 23, 2013

I think some people's description of sleep paralysis is very strange. Maybe there is a dark entity for some, but never for me. I've experienced sleep paralysis since I was 4-5 years old, all the way up until a few years ago. I think the last time I experienced it was in 2010. Anyhow...

Let me describe my particular experience to you. Every time, it feels more or less the same.

I'm lying in bed, and all of a sudden I feel heavy, dense. If I remember correctly (and know my memories of these events are rather phantasmagorical in nature and not the most trustworthy), this sensation has also occurred upon waking.

When sleep paralysis first gripped me at a young age I felt tinges of panic, because my conscious mind is still present, but my body is not. There is a particular and intense dissonance between the conscious mind and the unconscious body, and all control over the body is gone. You can see how this is very disturbing.

However, I started to experience sleep paralysis on a very frequent basis. I don't know why. Maybe it's the ghost of my father. Maybe it's just my brain chemistry - who knows? And very quickly, I basically got over the fear of it. I embraced it as something normal, not precisely within my control (because it was definitely not within my conscious control as far as moving my body is concerned), but not unmanageable either.

I never saw dark spectres or haunting images. The phenomena I experienced were purely physical.

After a certain time (maybe a few months or years - I cannot be certain), I learned how to either "combat" or "alleviate" the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. The first method involved mustering as much willpower as possible to "shake" my body - usually around the shoulders or the torso as a whole. This method I found very psychologically taxing - upon fully waking, I would always feel like I was involved in an epic struggle. The second method involved simply letting go of any feelings of discomfort or fear and instead of fighting against the lack of control, I would just relax and fall back asleep. I ended up pursuing option two most of the time, except in rare occasions.

The times sleep paralysis felt most terrifying is the moment between consciousness and unconsciousness. I think this is actually reminiscent of dying, and my body's natural reaction when I am actually consciously aware of my falling into unconsciousness (and the subsequent loss of control over my physical body) to "jerk myself to consciousness violently" is actually a natural reaction against the body/mind's false interpretation of death.

Just a theory, but it's better than nothing.

As you know, most of the time we fall asleep without actually realizing it. So when we do realize we're going into darkness, it can be rather frightening.

When I experience such a feeling again, I'll try to not fight it and just let go.

Curiously · Dec 24, 2013

My dad's told me he was attacked a few times in the night by some dark entity during his sleep. This thing was on top of him, choking him, but thankfully, my dad fought that thing off and resumed sleep soon after. The thing is, my dad is a really stoic and rational guy who doesn't get scared of stuff pertaining to paranormal phenomena and the like. He nonchalantly retells that story and thinks nothing of it. So in other words, he doesn't deny the existence of dark entities or ghosts, but he also doesn't harbor the weird fascination others seem to invest in such things. He'd much rather talk history or baseball to be honest. Guess it doesn't hurt he's a true Te-dom and doesn't give a fuck about this stuff.

Chances are, some people are just imagining this because they're in between dream-and-wake states, plus it's dark or not bright enough to get a really clear look at what is, or isn't, present. Our fears can lead us to imagine the worst. I also think some reports of people seeing an actual entity are true because I for one do believe ghosts and demons or some malevolent spirits exist in this world. What if some people are being attacked by an incubus or a succubus? Ugh, that would be horrible.

koalaroo · Dec 24, 2013

When I experience it, I don't see a figure. I can't see anything. I do, however, feel a malevolent presence that laughs maliciously, breathes heavily (I think it's me perceiving my own heavy breathing while my brain can't associate the feeling of breathing with the sound of breathing) and chokes me. I know it's sleep paralysis now, so it's not a big deal.

Scootaloo · Dec 24, 2013

I used to hallucinate 100% of the time, and during sleep paralysis I still see a dark figure standing at the foot of my bed, his fingers reaching for me. But I'm trapped.

It's terrifying, to say the least...

Noelle · Jan 5, 2014

Ugh, sleep paralysis...I've had a huge problem with it all my life.

Weirdly, the hallucinations I got from it always seemed to kind of connect with what I was interested in my life at the time. When I was a little kid I remember a cartoon vulture coming out of the wall at me really menacingly. I thought he was going to kill me but then he just stared at me, then turned around and walked back into the wall, periodically staring evilly back at me.

When I was in college I got the 'dark figure' hallucination three times. The first time was in my boyfriends house. I was sleeping on the couch and it came out of the hallway. It looked like a hooded figure with bright red eyes, with two shorter shadowy friends behind him. The second time I got it it was in my house, I got the same hooded figure and then one more the same size with no eyes, and it attacked my dog and chased it around the house while I was paralyzed. The third time I was in my dorm room and it walked up to me and grabbed my arm, causing a lot of pain. I ended up pretty freaked out for a while, thinking demons were after me.

When I moved into my apartment I had a freaky ones where police burst into my room and were questioning me about my neighbors. Which, in hindsight, was pretty funny because we were having a really hard time with loud parties and my other neighbors were constantly calling the police on them.

When I read about sleep paralysis, it was a huge relief. Weirdly now when I get it, I don't hallucinate at all because I know what it is, but I still get a really panicky feeling. I have found sleeping on my stomach or side really helps, I never get it when I sleep on my stomach.

FakeLefty · Jan 5, 2014

I've had very slight sleep paralysis. Only to the point where I had trouble moving my head and limbs, but not to the point where I would hallucinate.

pretense · Jan 5, 2014

Welp, I am never going to sleep again, ever.

snail · Jan 5, 2014

Demons are attracted to fear. Sleep paralysis can cause intense fear, and when it does, the demons come to take advantage of it. I have seen them, and others have described seeing the same things (even in this very thread). Most of my romantic partners saw them at some point while dating me. They are real.

Shadowboxing · Jan 5, 2014

I only experienced this when I had a significant amount of unprocessed trauma. I think they're real, and that they're attracted to the energy of the unconscious parts of ourselves which are unconscious due to self hate and have become toxic due to their lack of exposure to consciousnesses, the shadow as jung would call it.

The greater the shadow the greater the possibility and extent of possession and things like these happening. But i guess it could and does happen to people without the aforementioned stuff, I think they're real but they exist in a strange sort of way that I'm not sure I really understand. Imo they exist in the same substance form as dreams exist, but I believe dreams to be a part of physical reality though a as of yet hidden mysterious part of reality to modern science.

dotbf · Jan 5, 2014

Happened to me quite a bit growing up. Over time I realized it was just a creation of my half dreamlike state and the paralysis is just a natural occurrence in the body to prevent injury during sleep. Once I trained my mind to accept death, therefore feel no fear, my illusions started to become ridiculous. One time a red demon thing climbed on me and I ate him because I wanted my sleep. I haven't seen anything crazy in a while during SP (sadly), but I occasionally see hexagon and swirl patterns on my walls and ceilings when I wake up, not to mention a stick like figure with tentacles flailing around as it recedes to the back wall of whatever I look at. Or I could be wrong and I'm just being experimented on by aliens, who knows. I don't really care I have life insurance and current preoccupations are more of a hassle than threats on my life by the unknown.

braided pain · Jan 9, 2014

I've never seen the figure; the few times it's happened to me I was sleeping on my stomach, and felt an evil presence at my back. Malice and hatred and contempt... it was terrifying. I've been brutally tortured in my nightmares, and I'd prefer that to those experiences again.

The fear of harm and the figure I assume are both projections that may or may not come together, apparently. I wish I knew exactly how they're triggered and how to control them.

PaladinX · Jan 9, 2014

I have only ever experienced this once. Though I did not see a demon sitting on me, it did feel like something was holding me down and had me by the throat. I felt as if I was in the process of being possessed. I tried to scream but nothing came out. It took every ounce of energy that I had just to try and raise my arm by a couple of inches. I somehow just went back to sleep.

My take on it is that the body is in part or wholly paralyzed when sleeping to prevent the dreamer from acting out their dreams. This dark figure experience, in my opinion, is the result of being partially awake and asleep. To the conscious mind, waking up to paralysis is unnatural. The brain naturally tries to fill in the blanks (which is probably what is so trippy about visual illusions) ie, fill in what doesn't make sense with something that does. Given the mostly unconscious current state, the subconscious tries to fill in the blanks with these apparent hallucinations/dream symbols.

If you were to experience this normally, for example waking up fully and being paralyzed for whatever reason, then rather than a demon or some other hallucination, reason kicks in to try and figure it out. It is because at this point we are mostly or fully conscious and can process information more coherently, rather than letting the unconscious mind do all the talking.

Demons is not something that ever bothered me or seem possible, but ghosts on the other hand.... Which is why I think I experienced this phenomenon as a possession rather than a demon or some other form.

Biracial · Jan 9, 2014

can you explain more fully how sleep paralysis accounts for your sensing of the "malevolent presence"?

Biracial · Jan 9, 2014

Sleep apnea and paralysis are harmful!!! Go to the damn doctor and get those breathing machines people! It's not really cool to starve your organs of oxygen.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Now, I think this is what you really want to know about...

Well. You're brother sounds like a "two spirits" (maybe more)to me. astral projection (eww yuck) isn't what you are looking for at all.

Anyway, there are tales in my culture about what you and others have mentioned or hinted at in this thread. I gotta say though it's supposed to be rare for this to happen with just an individual, but more common in groups of ("spiritually"?) intertwined people. Like a really really really super bonded family. Some would argue you have indeed had similar experiences as your brother, but for some reason do not want to (for coping sake) admit it.

Uhm, the fear is really not a projection more like a beacon. Sounds like too many fearful people living together!

Oh and those entities are generational. You can get ride of them and they will disappear for long periods of time. Eventually, these ting's will be back though.

I'm tired of typing about this. Long story short. Allegedly, you can conjure/summon/bring forth (?) your ancestors and do other types of magically delicious stuff. I mean why not, the gates are already open! You're shamans.

gestalt · Jan 9, 2014

If you get stronger they'll leave you alone. They are fairly cowardly and very lower order. Learn, meditate, focus and work on your connection with the universe.

Astral projecting with that thing in the room is a terrible idea.

If it asks you anything, refuse. Especially if it asks you to let it in somewhere (this is a good rule to follow in general... )

gaffloda · Jan 14, 2014

So, I woke up probably around thirty or so minutes ago. I think I either woke up and realized I was paralyzed or, and this kind of sucks if this is what actually happened, I had a false awakening wherein I dreamt about waking up and being in sleep paralysis. I think I just suddenly realized I was in sleep paralysis and there was this shadow figure to the far right of my peripheral vision, and it would come up to me and terrify me, and once when it did this, I screamed, "f*** you!," and it went back to where it was before, and then I think I actually somehow called it back over to me and pretty much told it to leave again. I don't think I was fully aware that it wasn't real. Also, my entire body was tingling. The main reason I think this might have been a weird false awakening is that I remember I moved my legs a couple of times; at one point my leg was hanging over the side of my bed and it was touching the floor, and so, the thing is, my bed is far too wide for me to be capable of doing this and I simply wouldn't be capable of moving my legs if I was actually in sleep paralysis and I also don't think I would be capable of seeing that my leg was like that if my head were faced upwards. Also, I wouldn't be capable of screaming anything like I did, but I suppose it's possible to hallucinate that you're screaming when you're actually not? And I want to say that I was also moving my head around, looking for the shadow figure, but I'm not entirely certain. At one point, I think I had forgotten about the shadow figure, and I was just trying to keep myself focused and aware so that I could somehow transition into a lucid dream. I also vaguely remember thinking about this thread and how I would come here and describe what happened. :laughing: There's another kind of odd thing that happened and that is that I, I'm pretty sure, had fallen asleep and was dreaming and then I woke up and realized I was in sleep paralysis again. I don't remember waking up directly from having been in sleep paralysis, though, so maybe I just had that dream right before I woke up or something; I can't remember. And the reason I said it would suck if I actually had a false awakening is that I could've just gotten up and been in a dream. :sad:

kismetie · Jan 14, 2014

Emptiness said:
I think some people's description of sleep paralysis is very strange. Maybe there is a dark entity for some, but never for me. I've experienced sleep paralysis since I was 4-5 years old, all the way up until a few years ago. I think the last time I experienced it was in 2010. Anyhow...

Let me describe my particular experience to you. Every time, it feels more or less the same.

I'm lying in bed, and all of a sudden I feel heavy, dense. If I remember correctly (and know my memories of these events are rather phantasmagorical in nature and not the most trustworthy), this sensation has also occurred upon waking.

When sleep paralysis first gripped me at a young age I felt tinges of panic, because my conscious mind is still present, but my body is not. There is a particular and intense dissonance between the conscious mind and the unconscious body, and all control over the body is gone. You can see how this is very disturbing.

However, I started to experience sleep paralysis on a very frequent basis. I don't know why. Maybe it's the ghost of my father. Maybe it's just my brain chemistry - who knows? And very quickly, I basically got over the fear of it. I embraced it as something normal, not precisely within my control (because it was definitely not within my conscious control as far as moving my body is concerned), but not unmanageable either.

I never saw dark spectres or haunting images. The phenomena I experienced were purely physical.

After a certain time (maybe a few months or years - I cannot be certain), I learned how to either "combat" or "alleviate" the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. The first method involved mustering as much willpower as possible to "shake" my body - usually around the shoulders or the torso as a whole. This method I found very psychologically taxing - upon fully waking, I would always feel like I was involved in an epic struggle. The second method involved simply letting go of any feelings of discomfort or fear and instead of fighting against the lack of control, I would just relax and fall back asleep. I ended up pursuing option two most of the time, except in rare occasions.

The times sleep paralysis felt most terrifying is the moment between consciousness and unconsciousness. I think this is actually reminiscent of dying, and my body's natural reaction when I am actually consciously aware of my falling into unconsciousness (and the subsequent loss of control over my physical body) to "jerk myself to consciousness violently" is actually a natural reaction against the body/mind's false interpretation of death.

Just a theory, but it's better than nothing.

As you know, most of the time we fall asleep without actually realizing it. So when we do realize we're going into darkness, it can be rather frightening.

When I experience such a feeling again, I'll try to not fight it and just let go.

This was kind of how I dealt with sleep paralysis too. I've had in come and go in and out of my life since age 6 or 7. And at first I was afraid because I couldn't move my body, but it started to happen so much that I became used to it and rationalized it as me just dreaming and it became common.

I used the relaxing method and just going back to sleep a lot when I was in my first two years of high school. I was also like you as far as my sleep paralysis being purely physical, aside from the three encounters I mentioned earlier. It wasn't until then that I ever experienced a dark figure and felt myself being harmed or in some kind of immediate danger. I really haven't had sleep paralysis happen to me a lot, since maybe around April of 2013. And the last six months or so before they stopped were the strangest experiences with sleep paralysis I had ever ran into, because I began to feel vibrations travel throughout my body, starting at the base of my spine.

Now I'll get it maybe once or twice every few months and I'm fully dreaming when they happen now (as opposed to how I'd usually just be on the edge of sleep or waking up) and are usually paired with at least one false awakening. There's no dark figure anymore and all the experiences are rather short and mild now.

Dyslexicon · Jan 15, 2014

I've had shadowy hands trying to drag and stretch my arm to come to "their side" (as I perceived it). Usually turns out I've been laying on my arm or something. It can make me get scared for my life, but I usually find it quite interesting when I wake up.

One time I had someone that looked exactly like my boyfriend come home, and up to the bed where I was laying (you have to climb up a latter and ...never mind...) Anyway, I was sure it wasn't really him, and I knew he was there watching me sleep. When I finally got myself to wake up he came home for real just after. Made for some good paranoia, heheh.

The dark figure in sleep poralysis

kismetie

VeraH

Empty

Curiously

koalaroo

Scootaloo

Noelle

FakeLefty

pretense

snail

Shadowboxing

dotbf

braided pain

PaladinX

Biracial

Biracial

gestalt

gaffloda

kismetie

Dyslexicon

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