J.D.

31.05.2010

Thoughts on Sleep Paralysis and "visitations" (Note)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I can't remember my dreams from last night in any great detail (apart from one part where I fell in the lake and soaked mah phone!), but I felt like rambling out some thoughts anyway. Maybe I need a blog.

I was watching "Derren Brown Investigates" earlier, a show where famous illusion/hypnosis/trickster-guy Derren Brown investigates different paranormal phenomena. Each week he goes in with an open mind, but nothing has yet shown itself to be anything more than bullshit. Anyway, this week it was the turn of ghosts/demons, and he spent some time with a "ghost hunter". The woman whom he was supposed to be helping with her demonic infestation described how she had woken up in bed at night unable to move, and had malevolent figures standing over her. She also said one time she was screaming, but no-one was hearing her, and the bed was shaking. All the time she was explaining this, I was thinking, "Surely, someone here has heard of sleep paralysis. This is textbook!" In the context it was presented by her (as a ghostly visitation, told to a ghost hunter), it seemed almost plausible that it was a ghost. But a rudimentary grasp of sleep paralysis would tell you otherwise. I found it really strange to hear it from the perspective of someone who believes in ghosts, and it made me think. I wonder how many (otherwise rational) people believe in the supernatural purely based on experiences like these. Same goes for alien abductions. Personally, I don't rule out the possibility of the existence of aliens, but I no longer give any credence to the paralysed, float out of bed, classic alien abduction stories.

The ghost hunter himself seemed to believe in what he was doing though. But from what I saw, everything he based his belief on was a combination of wishful thinking, poor-quality gadgets, and his own sleep paralysis experiences as a kid. At the end, Derren adressed this, and talked about sleep paralysis as a medical condition. The way he described it made it sound like quite a serious subject- a medical condition, I mean. I did a little bit of wider reading on sleep paralysis and found more of the same. Accounts of terrifying sights and monsters invading bedrooms while the victim is unable to move. Is it weird that we intentionally induce this state? I say yeah! But what lucid dreamers have done is proved that sleep paralysis can effectively be harnessed, directed and used as a platform for lucid dreams, which are awesome.

Me? I love sleep paralysis. It's a great ride. The realism of the sensations I've experienced have opened my eyes to the power of the nearly-sleeping brain, and have shown me a way to access greater levels of creativity. Some examples: levitation, sliding around the bed (as if being thrown around by a poltergeist), spinning like on the head of a giant drill, loomed over by a witch-monster, and thrown onto the floor. All stuff which could potentially have made me a believer in ghosts (and think I was haunted) in another day and age. Thank god for the internet! Thanks to the internet (and Dreamviews in particular), I've been able to recognise these occurences for what they are, and go into them with a positive attitude, even seek them out. It's given me some great times too. Listening to and manipulating my own personal soundtrack- without earphones, OBEs and of course, lucid dreams.

Anyway I think I've rambled enough for one night, I'm getting sleepy. Here's hoping for some demonic visitations tonight!

If you have anything to add, thoughts, or you watched the show as well, feel free to share!