[UA] Would you like gas with those fries?...was Ears, nostrils, mouth, eyes . . . hm, needs one more hole . . .

[cpl1 at midway.uchicago.edu]

>From: Greg Stolze <holycrow at mindspring.com>
>
>>Which makes me realize the whole deal was probably just an example of
>>Sleep >Paralysis, aka Old Hag Syndrome. (I'm not certain where, but I
>>remember reading >about the hallucinations associated with said event
>>mainly being of women, >which is what reminded me, but now I can't find a
>>source to back that up.)
>
>Yeah, I remember hearing/reading somewhere that some substantial percentage
>of the population has hallucinated waking up with someone sitting on their
>chest -- the full bore thing, visual and somatic sensations.  Any of y'all
>had this?

Well, not exactly...  

I started having hag dreams when I was in high school; for a long time I had
one or two a year, usually during high-stress periods.  The form they usually
take is for me to "wake up" in whatever room I'm sleeping in, lying on my
back, able to see the ceiling very clearly (unusual since I really can't see
detail more than a foot or two away without my glasses; it's also interesting
to note that the light is always correct -- if it happens while I'm napping
during the day, then it's daylight, etc.).  I lay there a while, gradually
becoming aware of a vague physical discomfort; eventually I try to shift
position -- and discover I can't.  At this point, I begin to perceive another
presence in the room, off to one side, somewhere beyond my peripheral vision
-- if I'm near a window, it's often right outside; otherwise it's usually
to my right and behind.  It then becomes very important for me to *look*
towards the presence; there's a feeling that I'm in some danger if I can't
look at it -- only of course I can't move.  Eventually this develops into a
full-fledged panic atttack, as I desperately try to move to dispel the growing
Evil Presence before it can Get Me; usually I end up making enough noise
to make myself wake up, though sometimes I'm also awakened by a loud noise
nearby.  (I still feel a karmic debt to the person who bounced a basketball
off my wall and woke me up once in high school.)  Curious thing, here -- 
when I wake up, I open my eyes; the room loses detail as I do
(glasses, remember?) but otherwise is the same as the "dream",
including the lighting.  I've never been able to properly rectify this
with the standard explanations of sleep paralysis.

Anyway.  The "peak" of my hag dreams came the year after I graduated from
college.  By that point, I'd learned to recognize them for what they were
within the dream, and knew to consciously try and make noise, rather than
just trying to move.  So when I started having a hag dream, I tried to take
to control; I started trying to speak, while thinking to myself over and over
"It's only a dream.  I just need to wake myself up.  The Evil Presence is just
my own panic.  Stay in control.  There's no one else in the room..."

Then a voice spoke:  "That's exactly what I want you to think."  And I felt
a hand suddenly laid on my chest -- It's been nine years but I can still
remember distinctly feeling each finger on the hand, and the scrape of the
long fingernails as they slid across my ribs...

I was afraid to go back to sleep for a good 24-36 hours after that one.

I've had hag dreams since, though they're much less frequent; but I make a
point to let myself be scared now.  It feels... safer, somehow.


-Corey
cpl1 at midway.uchicago.edu


_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua