The Old Hag

A few nights ago, I had a very unsavory experience...



I was tossing and turning all night. I kept falling in and out of sleep. I just couldn't get comfortable. Well finally I had been asleep for some good amount of time, when I woke up suddenly. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't move. My eyes focused past my feet, towards the door to my bedroom, where an old woman was standing. She was fairly tall for her age (maybe 5'7" or so), had mangled gray hair, and was wearing a long tattered, brown, monk-like dress with the hood up. She had a long crooked nose (think: your typical "witch") and appeared to be in her 60s or 70s. I believe she was also carrying a large walking stick or cane.

I was terrified. I tried to move, but I was paralyzed. Even worse than that, I wanted to scream, but nothing came out. I was able to separate my lips slightly, and tried with everything in me to scream and wake up everyone around me, but nothing. I closed my eyes and when I was able to move again, she was gone.

I believe I experienced my first bout of sleep paralysis. Or perhaps it was just a very vivid dream. Most likely it had to do with my weaving in and out of consciousness as I struggled to sleep. Either way, it frightened me pretty bad.

I typed in "Sleep paralysis old hag" and there seems to be plenty of relevant sites. The only problem is, I never felt like someone was sitting on my chest. And I actually witnessed the old hag, rather than just assuming she was there. Also, contrary to being frightened, I didn't feel this woman was "out to get me". It was more of a "whoa, wtf is she doing in my room!?" combined with the terror of being unable to move.

Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone about to fall asleep, or just upon waking from sleep, realizes that they are unable to move or speak, but can still breathe and move their eyes...Your conscious mind has begun to drift into sleep but is not yet there, therefore you still retain a small amount of your waking conscious. It is a very transitory stage indeed, and one that seems to leave you "open" to certain experiences you would not otherwise be receptive to when fully conscious or fully asleep. It is also accepted by most researchers that although this can happen in any sleeping position, it most commonly occurs in the supine position (laying on your back).

Once the person realizes they are unable to move, they usually, but not always, leave this "twilight" stage and become fully awake, but still paralyzed. At this point the experience can go either way. The person may only experience a temporary paralysis, and after several seconds or up to a minute or so would then regain their movement and the event would be over. Researchers believe many people experience this at one point in their lives.

But the other scenario is much more frightening. Upon realizing one is paralyzed, a whole gamut of hallucinations may occur. Many people report hearing, seeing, and/or sensing a person or people in the room with them while they are paralyzed. There is also the common experience of a usually sensed, malevolent presence (or SMP). Note that not all sensed presences are felt as being malevolent, but very frequently they are. These SMP's usually seem to be just out of view of the person experiencing the SP, who from here on in I will refer to as the 'subject', for the sole purpose of easily identifying the one experiencing the SP. As a frequent sufferer of sleep paralysis, I know that for me its relatively rare to have an episode complete with the SMP, but it does happen, and when it does, it is terrifying. The SMP is so incredibly intimidating and I feel that this very evil, terrible "thing" is just right outside my field of vision, and if I weren't paralyzed and was able to turn my ahead just an inch or so, I would be able to see this horrid thing. At least, that's the feeling I get, and other sufferer's of SP have reported the same.

Sometimes it is reported that the subject feels crushed, smothered, or pushed into the bed. There are auditory hallucinations as well. A voice or voices may be heard, as well as footsteps. A loud buzzing noise is sometimes reported.

Also, a summary of the medical look at this:

"...it’s the exact opposite of sleep walking. Whilst you sleep the brain releases certain enzymes that paralyze the body, this is to prevent the sleeper from moving around and harming themselves whilst they sleep, in sleep walkers the body does not produce enough of these enzymes, and as such the sleeper is able to act out their dreams. In the case of sleep paralysis the brain at times produces too many of these body paralyzing enzymes and as such the mind sometimes wakes whilst the body remains asleep."

I don't know what to make of all this, or even if I was truly awake and paralyzed or not (but it sure felt like it). But at least I can find some comfort in knowing I'm not alone in this experience.