Thread: Sleep Paralysis is Nothing to Fear

I am with you on this one. I have yet to actively get into SP, but when I have had it on accident it was quite the experience. I am looking forward to learning how to WILD, partially for the SP part.
Once when I had SP, I had a variation of the Old Hag, but it was this Golem like thing that popped out of my closet and jumped on me. Sometimes my nightmares turn out to be some of my favorite dreams.

When you say DMT I am thinking of the salvia like drug. Is that what you are talking about?

It's a bit unsettling for some people, they get disturbing hallucinations. Most of the time I don't find it scary at all - I just get this strange buzzing and vibrating sensation that takes a while to go away, even when I'm already dreaming... it's more annoying than scary really. Any idea how I can get rid of this?

Sometimes my nightmares turn out to be some of my favorite dreams.

-x-

I really can't agree on that one, sadly. I'm not easily scared in waking life (besides one thing I'm particularly averse to) and my nightmares are few and far between (and they're more negative emotions than monsters), but when I do have very scary nightmares I don't find them enjoyable at all. I just don't like things and weird creatures jumping out of my closet to get me. Even when I'm fully lucid, I prefer to keep horrific imagery to a minimum.

(says the fan of that uber creepy film Coraline)

Yeah I get what you are saying. Most of my nightmares turn out to be more adventurous, sneaky, and very vivid, thats why I enjoy them sometimes. When I lucid I don't really provoke scary imagery, but I don't avoid it. For example there is this wraith that is in some of my dreams and it popped up in this cave during one of my first lucids. I went after it but it grabbed me and pulled me into the darkness.

I was a little scared at first, but having experienced SP lately, I can tell you it is nothing to fear. I find it rather relaxing. Too bad my mind wandered and I fell asleep unconsciously during that WILD.

I'm honestly not gonna lie to you...when I read of others' SP experiences, I imagine having them myself and a lot of them are down right fucking horrifying. Like above, that Golem popping out of the closet and jumping on that guy; that'd scare the shit right out of almost anything. But until I learn to experience it myself, I'm just gonna have to speculate.

DMT and salvia are both very powerful hallucinegons. DMT is the dream chemical stored in your pineal gland, also known as your "third eye." Most parts of your brain have an identical part, but the pineal gland rests in the middle of your brain and it has no identical structure in the brain. It releases the chemical DMT when you meditate and dream. It causes extreme hallucinations and time distortions, which make up our dreams.

Even though DMT is a natural chemical found in our brains, it also comes in many other forms, such as extracted crystals from various plants and frog poisons. When taken as a "drug," such as when it is smoked in it's crystal form, it causes you to release massive ammounts of DMT in your head which creates an extremely powerful mind high which resembles a dream when you are awake. The ironic thing is, it is completely and utterly harmless, and it is found in every human brain, but in it's crystal form it is illegal. The government basically banned a part of our brain which we use every night.

When in sleep paralysis, DMT is being released while awake, causing hallucinations. However, this is nothing like smoking DMT or lucid dreaming, which are completely immersive DMT "highs."

I have not done salvia or crystal DMT, and I don't recomeend that anyone use them unless they have matured mentally and spirtually as well as physically. They are not for the weak, and honestly, one can easily release DMT by astral projecting or lucid dreaming without doing a drug.


I have had the "old hag" numerous times, one time where I opened my eyes to sleep paralysis from a nightmare and saw my completely dark room lit bright orange and red with a screaming ghost-like entity beside my bed, with pitch black eyes that scared me to death the few seconds I glanced at them. Of course this was just an hallucination, and though scary none the less, it was incredibly cool.

Man, does SP feel weird, though. It's the whole numbness thing...we assume that because we only feel numbness when something is critically wrong, it is bad in all aspects. Definitely takes some getting used to.

Hmm what IS the old hag anyway, and WHY exactly does it happen?
I think I've seen one before - It was a woman with completely empty red eye sockets.

I don't want anything to do with old hag. Not me. No way. No. Freakin. Way.

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

I don't want anything to do with old hag. Not me. No way. No. Freakin. Way.

*laughs at your avatar*

Now THAT is an old hag.
I wish she would appear in my nightmares as that cartoon version though. For me she's usually a very real, very scary creature... more like the illustrations in the original book than the movie. :c

Old hag is an common occurring hallucination during SP. I think it used to be more common due to the fact that the image of a scary old woman was more prevalent in culture. The goblin creature is pretty common to I believe.

I also saw/read something about the "new old hag" being alien abduction. The theory is that aliens and abduction have become so immersed in our culture that people will manifest this happening to them during SP. Also, abductees sometimes describe not being able to move.

To Atrixknight:
I fully agree with you about warning about salvia. I have done it a couple of times and the hallucinations are indescribable. It's a roller coaster for your mind. I have had some friends try it too, some were ready, and others were not.

Here is something that i experienced about 3 days ago. I copied and pasted it because i didn't feel like retyping Let me tell you it was crazy.

I think this happened because i just recently started to really pursue the WILD technique. Anyway, this morning i woke up (it was still early enough that it was dark in my room). I couldn't move, so i knew that it was SP; so i thought why not go for a WILD. Just before i really got into trying to WILD, the hypnagogic hallucinations grabbed my attention. I say hypnagogic hallucinations because they involved all of my senses except for taste and smell. My closet door opened and a zombie-like asian woman walked out. She then dived under the covers at the foot of my bed and began to crawl towards where my head was. The hallucinations were beginning to get more intense than i could just ignore. The strange part about this was that i saw the covers on my bed raise up as she made her way towards my head. I also felt her brush up against me as she crawled over me and felt her hand on my leg and stomach as she crawled. I could even hear her as she moved under the covers. At this point i was starting to freak out a little. I was still unable to move and my head was turned towards my left side. She popped her head out from under the covers on my right side. I couldn't really see her head that well except there was a dark looking pit where her eyes and mouth was supposed to be. All of this only took about 3 or 4 seconds. When i noticed the head i really freaked out. I tried to turn my head towards her head so i could see if all of this was real. When i was finally able to turn my head, everything went back to normal. My closet door was shut and there was nothing beside me.

I'm not trying to scare anybody who is fearful of SP, but i wanted to share my unusual experience so that people would not be as surprised as i was if their hypnagogic hallucinations were as strong as mine were. Looking back at this experience now, i should have toughed it out, but the hallucinations were just too intense. I think if it happens again; i'll be prepared. I'm wondering if anyone else has ever had hypnagogic hallucinations as strong and intense as this before? Have your hallucinations ever combined so many of your senses?

I get SP a few times a month ever since I was 13-14. Up until recently I didnt know what it was or if anybody else ever got it, but after about a year I decided that it was normal for me and stopped being scared. luckily for me i never got HI or anything except once.
This is the scariest episode of SP I've ever had:
I was in school during a free period, and decided to take a nap. I woke up in SP, fell back asleep, woke up in SP, fell back asleep, this happened a few times until I woke up, again in SP, and felt as if my entire body was on fire. My legs were burning, my head was burning, I was in a very uncomfortable position and couldn't move, and to top it off I was in school, surrounded by other students. i was afraid that I would stay paralyzed, and not be able to move when the bell rang. I was like this for quite some time, trying to break free. I could hear everyone talking, but couldnt make out what they were saying, until I heard my friends voice say "I dont think Christine is ok." I was so glad that someone had notcied and could maybe help me, so I replied "No, I'm not ok." I swear I said those words, I felt my mouth move, I heard my voice, but no one responded and I couldnt do anything or say anything else. Finally I drifted off to sleep again, and woke up normal. Afterwards I asked my friend if she had said or noticed anything, and she promised me that she hadn't said anything and that I hadn't said anything. This scared the hell out of me because at the time I didn't know that hallucinations were common during SP.

Other than that, SP has never scared me. Now when it happens I'm just like "Sweet, I'm paralysed and uncomfortable. WTF." and fall back asleep. Lol.