So what's with this "Old Hag" I'm reading about?

[Scarhand]

The main (only, really) reason that I am kind of afraid of inducing lucid dreams are these hallucinations I am hearing about that people can get caught in when experiencing sleep paralysis. When it comes to the night I am little more than a coward, so I want to know the rate of this happening and just how traumatic the event is.

[Sain]

I think that (hallucinations) happen every time you go to sleep, but sometimes you are already too sleepy to even know whats going on. I have had those SP sometimes and they are not scary, they are more like weird, and funny when you get sucked into your bed XD But if I think i'm going to be scared I try to think where am I, and that I will LD. It helps alot.

[Scarhand]

I think that (hallucinations) happen every time you go to sleep, but sometimes you are already too sleepy to even know whats going on. I have had those SP sometimes and they are not scary, they are more like weird, and funny when you get sucked into your bed XD But if I think i'm going to be scared I try to think where am I, and that I will LD. It helps alot. Yeah I get what you're saying now. It's kind of like a "The only thing to fear is fear itself" moment when you think about it since it can't really hurt you.

[Snowy Egypt]

It's nothing, really. I've only experienced it once, and it spooked me while it was happening, but when I woke up I was like, ".......AWESOME!!!"

[Scarhand]

It's nothing, really. I've only experienced it once, and it spooked me while it was happening, but when I woke up I was like, ".......AWESOME!!!" Haha, I guess as long as you remember that it's all in your head and it can't hurt you, you're perfectly fine, right?

[DuB]

Exactly. Another thing to consider is that while these experiences are not uncommon, they certainly aren't the norm either. And they aren't necessarily related to lucid dreaming. For example, I've been inducing lucid dreams for almost three years now and I've never experienced it myself, whereas my friend who doesn't even know what a lucid dream is has gotten this a number of times. Sometimes it just happens. Now that you know what to expect, it should be a lot less scary if you do happen to experience this (which you likely will not). I think half of the freaky aspect of it all is just the "what the hell is going on" factor.

[Scarhand]

That's what I thought. I once got sleep paralysis when I was very young and was quite traumatized. After learning this, I'll be prepared if I ever have to face this "Old Hag". Thanks guys.

[Snowy Egypt]

No problem. And for your reading pleasure, after some digging, I found a post from an Old Hag thread I made, back when I was a noob. This is the full experience. I don't really remember the dream as well, something about...something... Anywho, I woke up from the dream in some sort of a daze. I remember seeing my room for a moment, and then I closed my eyes again. Now this is the part that won't make sense to you and doesn't make sense to me. When I closed my eyes again, obviously to go back to sleep, it was as if I had a brief glimpse into my subconscious. Like some on the site, I've given a name to my subcon; Alexandra, or Alex for short. I think she was telling me to WILD, so I did. All of a sudden, I think I felt my astral body move in and out of my regular body. I've had this happen before, and the feeling is very pleasant. Anyway, after about a minute or so of this, my room becomes a dream room, and I'm still in my bed. But there's a problem; there's an arm on my chest. At first, I thought I was in a dream with a guy and he was in bed with me , but then an eerie sound came from the person. The sound an old woman would make. Then I see the outline of a person in a cloak. This startled me, so I tried to move, but couldn't. I realized I was experiencing SP!!! I tried to get out of it, but the more I struggled, the more the shrouded figure pressed his/her hand on my chest, making it very hard to breathe properly. Finally, after about 20 seconds, the SP wore off, and I came to full consciousness, semi-gasping for breath. And after all this was said and done, I was and still am, very satisfied with the whole ordeal. Good times...

[Shift]

I don't even know why people mention the damn old hag when talking about sleep paralysis, because it puts SP into such a negative light. I experienced it a lot before ever LDing, and it was always scary because I had no clue what it was, and of course in my panic I would think scary thoughts and materialize them. It's all about what you expect the experience to be. Ever since learning about LDing and how SP can be used to get into a lucid dream, I have looked forward to them! Whenever I feel it, I think positive thoughts and just keep thinking about how I would like the dream to materialize and begin, and what fun I'm going to have. This has worked, knowledge about it has made it a VERY cool experience, and also ironically (probably since this is how my lding works too ) the more I want to experience SP the less often it happens. Now keep in mind that there is a difference between lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis. If all you do is have DILDs, you'll have already unconsciously gone through SP and will simply realize it is a lucid dream and start having a blast. Not to mention LDing is so damn cool that it far outweighs that infinitesimal chance of a scary SP experience. And this is coming from the 20 year old who can't watch horror movies, can't look at pictures of horror movie badguys, and who still sleeps with a light on. Sometimes all lights on. I wouldn't be caught dead in the dark, I have flashlights all over my house. But now in the back of my mind I hope for scary monsters to appear, because it means I'm in a dream! You could try to think of some cute cuddly creature or something that makes you happy every time you think about, hear about, read about, or write about SP and then maybe when you experience it that association will dominate and/or materialize, making it less scary. Just a thought. I really don't think you should even be concerned about SP though! And just in case you find yourself in SP and want to get out, I've read that wiggling (particularly your toes) is the best way to get out of it. So, no worries!

[Scarhand]

That was an interesting, and somewhat funny story, Snowy. And thank you for that, Shift! That really calmed my nerves about SP. And when you put it into perspective, a minute of confusion compared to the infinite possibilities of Lucid dreaming seems like a pretty good deal to me.

[Snowy Egypt]

I don't even know why people mention the damn old hag when talking about sleep paralysis, because it puts SP into such a negative light. I experienced it a lot before ever LDing, and it was always scary because I had no clue what it was, and of course in my panic I would think scary thoughts and materialize them. It's all about what you expect the experience to be. Ever since learning about LDing and how SP can be used to get into a lucid dream, I have looked forward to them! Whenever I feel it, I think positive thoughts and just keep thinking about how I would like the dream to materialize and begin, and what fun I'm going to have. This has worked, knowledge about it has made it a VERY cool experience, and also ironically (probably since this is how my lding works too ) the more I want to experience SP the less often it happens. Now keep in mind that there is a difference between lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis. If all you do is have DILDs, you'll have already unconsciously gone through SP and will simply realize it is a lucid dream and start having a blast. Not to mention LDing is so damn cool that it far outweighs that infinitesimal chance of a scary SP experience. And this is coming from the 20 year old who can't watch horror movies, can't look at pictures of horror movie badguys, and who still sleeps with a light on. Sometimes all lights on. I wouldn't be caught dead in the dark, I have flashlights all over my house. But now in the back of my mind I hope for scary monsters to appear, because it means I'm in a dream! You could try to think of some cute cuddly creature or something that makes you happy every time you think about, hear about, read about, or write about SP and then maybe when you experience it that association will dominate and/or materialize, making it less scary. Just a thought. I really don't think you should even be concerned about SP though! And just in case you find yourself in SP and want to get out, I've read that wiggling is the best way to get out of it. So, no worries! Being totally honest, you should post that in EVERY "I'm scared of SP" thread, then make your own thread with that as the header. Brilliant.

[Scarhand]

Being totally honest, you should post that in EVERY "I'm scared of SP" thread, then make your own thread with that as the header. Brilliant. Absolutely agreed.

[Shift]

Being totally honest, you should post that in EVERY "I'm scared of SP" thread, then make your own thread with that as the header. Brilliant. Absolutely agreed. Thanks guys! Well I almost didn't post it, I'm always hesitant about posting my opinions but that is something about SP that has always baffled me. I was reading a post just last night and some noob asked about SP, and the first response was "Oh people also call it the OLD HAG! DUNNN DUNNNN DUNNNNNNNNNNN! *cue shriek/horror movie soundtrack*" Atleast that is how I interpreted it. Just a nightmare. Maybe I will fix it up and write either one whammo post about SP or just respond it to every single one I see about SP like you suggested. Shit, maybe I'll revamp the damn wikipedia entry with the scary picture. Good god! It turns so many people off and makes it into such an awful experience (without even occurring !!) when it is really such an amazing, positive thing! I remember the first times it happened, I was like "Whoa I'm falling through the bed!" Or "I can't move!! Oh god... oh no wait now I can. That was weird." After reading about SP and hags and etc. on the forums and on other webpages, they took a decidedly nasty turn until I realized how incredible they really were!

[Dash]

The main (only, really) reason that I am kind of afraid of inducing lucid dreams are these hallucinations I am hearing about that people can get caught in when experiencing sleep paralysis. When it comes to the night I am little more than a coward, so I want to know the rate of this happening and just how traumatic the event is. I had the "old hag." It was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be. It was kind of funny, actually.

[Scarhand]

All in all, Shift, I think just what happens during Sleep Paralysis depends on the mind and the fears of the one experiencing it. I really want to meet this "Old Hag" just to laugh at it, even if it will be a bit scary at first.

[Shift]

All in all, Shift, I think just what happens during Sleep Paralysis depends on the mind and the fears of the one experiencing it. I really want to meet this "Old Hag" just to laugh at it, even if it will be a bit scary at first. Well my point is that it is about your expectations of the experience and how you react to them, not your mind or your fears, unless you don't have control of them. If you expect it to be the gateway into lucid dreaming, and spend the whole thing excited, well-informed, and thinking that it's going to be cool, it will be! If all you hear is that you'll be paralyzed, feel painful vibrations, or fall miles and miles through your bed, while some bitch hag gets into your face and scares the crap out of you, well you are going to focus on that and your mind and fears will run wild. In all my years of SP I've never actually seen a hag. I guess because only recently I heard of the hag, versus just SP. I don't plan on expecting to meet her, though

[mel_noah]

I had tons of Old Hag experiences when I was much younger. Unfortunately at the time I had no idea what SP was or why I was dreaming about such a figure. So it was extremely frightening to me. Now that I am older, and wiser, I no longer experience the Hag. I suppose knowing is half the battle. Good Luck.

[Scarhand]

Well my point is that it is about your expectations of the experience and how you react to them, not your mind or your fears, unless you don't have control of them. If you expect it to be the gateway into lucid dreaming, and spend the whole thing excited, well-informed, and thinking that it's going to be cool, it will be! If all you hear is that you'll be paralyzed, feel painful vibrations, or fall miles and miles through your bed, while some bitch hag gets into your face and scares the crap out of you, well you are going to focus on that and your mind and fears will run wild. In all my years of SP I've never actually seen a hag. I guess because only recently I heard of the hag, versus just SP. I don't plan on expecting to meet her, though So as long as I stay positive and remember that it's all just the gateway to my LD it should all be fine?

[Shift]

So as long as I stay positive and remember that it's all just the gateway to my LD it should all be fine? Absolutely.

[Scarhand]

Absolutely. Thanks for all your help.

[lagunagirl]

I would say if you're still feeling a bit nervous about it, just make sure not to open your eyes, because that's when most people get a little freaked out with their hallucinations: when they imagine some creepy monster or something right in their bedroom. Plus, opening your eyes might make it harder to WILD anyway or whatever technique you're trying to to. there's nothing to worry about, but usually the most you can do is just get through it and once you've done it you probably won't be so scared anymore

[ObsidianWraith]

Not to be negative, but I've known at least two people who've experienced SP and both experienced a presence or "old hag" type of situation even though, as far as I know, they didn't even know about SP and the old hag. And one of them didn't even realize he was having a paralytic situation until after he saw the figure. So, it wasn't like they were expecting something like that. They both also said they felt they were smothering and one of them even told me she thought she was dieing. I'd say part of the reason she thought this, was because she didn't understand what was happening or why she was paralyzed. Had she known, she may not have suspected anything of the sort- BUT the smothering prob. had something to do with her feeling like she was dieing, as well. At least I think she said she was smothering. I know the man had trouble breathing or at least felt that way. Also, I believe they both said they felt a heavy pressure on their chests. The man wasn't afraid at first. He wasn't afraid of the figure. His was about the size of a cat and black. He said he thought it was one of their cats that had sneaked inside. When it got on the bed and crawled upon his chest, it caused a great heaviness in his chest and a smothering feeling. He couldn't move or speak, so he felt powerless until it left. He said after it crawled off, he still felt the same way until it left the room. So, to him the figure itself hadn't been scary, but rather the paralysis (which if you expect may not scare you as much) and the suffocation and pressure on his chest was frightening to him. The woman said she felt a presence in the room and a heaviness in her chest. I think she might have smothered some. She couldn't move or speak, but said she was trying to do so with much effort. Again, her fear may have been from lack of knowing what to expect. But I'll just tell you- even if there's no scary figure and I know the paralysis is going to pass, I imagine smothering would be scary and uncomfortable, anyway. I think people talk about old hag a lot because it is common for it to co-occur with SP (at least I think so- correct?) AND because it is one of the SP experiences that is the scariest, and therefore the one people talk about the most- Not because it happens every time. I must say, I fear SP and didn't realize there was an LD connection until the last month or so. Now that I know there is, it worries me. People say to sleep on your back to increase LD chances, but I'm afraid because I hear it also makes SP more likely and I hate the idea of smothering. Plus, I have a feeling an old hag might scare me even if I said, "It's just my imagination" 100 times, if I was lucid enough. However, on the plus side, experiencing something like this isn't necessary for LD's and anyways, Ive heard some people have positive sleep paralysis experiences and some even see entities (whether real or imagined) they believe to be positive.