From: pieterf@wsinfo01.win.tue.nl (Pieter C Filius)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
Subject: Re: Demons at night.
Date: 21 Jan 93 19:56:47 GMT
Reply-To: pieterf@win.tue.nl


  I've read all threads wrt 'Old Hag' / morning paralysis
  until now with great interest, since I've experienced it
  myself a lot of times.
  Because it recently popped up again I've decided I'd tell about
  my experiences with it, since they don't match the marginal
  'Old Hag' experience and I'd finally love to hear an 'Old Hagger'
  matching mine - surely I'm not the only one !
 
  The main features in a nutshell:
  * NO FEAR - Not ment heroically at all (present me a fat sinkspider for
              proof :) yet this seems to be an emotion felt in almost all
              experiences. Being immobile without an explanation should
              be ofcourse be terrifying, but I always was too busy with:
  * MY HANDS..This is actually the most distinct sensation from start to
              end (although it hasnt stopped yet - I doubt whether it can)
              My hands were the only parts of my body I could move freely, 
              holding eachother, touching the blanket or whatever, 
              feeling the texture etcetera; yet my actual/physical hands
              were (visibly) immobile ! This is what fascinated me from
             the beginning. The sensation is 100% real. I've tried and
             tested it over and over again. It's a perfect illusion.
             Illusion I say, for hands having an out of body experience
             while other limbs/parts don't sounds very unlikely to me.
             Also an illusion, because upon pressing against my blanket
             or skull etc, I can move them 'through' 'em - again a sensation
             as real as possible. Rather than thinking I've got haunting
             hands I believe the state of mind during Old Hag allows 
             a type of very vivid and clear
 * HALLUCI-
   NATIONS.  When speaking about my early experiences, 
             I only spoke about the immobility, my perfect sight and
             hearing, and always left out the hands-thing - the most
             important feature personally, but I'd rather be believed
             about the paralysis than being told I was just dreaming
             or nuts. Even doctors aren't all familiar with Old Hag. 
             A fellowstudent having it was told he was lacking sleep -
             which he wasn't.
             Having read all Old Hag postings, I wonder why no-one
             mentioned having hallucianations? I've had other hands
             grabbing mine, sometimes pinching quite hard, a small painting
             'turn into' a lobster and part of my stool seemingly turn
             into a small head - all three scaring me to some extend     
             but were solved by not believing in the mind-trick I think it
             is or 'getting myself out of' Old Hag, which can be done
             deliberately although I try to hang on to it as long as possible
             to feel and explore it. (By now, though, there isnt much to it
             than what I told I'm afraid.) 
  * FEELING OLD HAG 'COME' FROM THE DREAMSTATE
             On several occasions I 'knew' during a dream that I'd wake
             up in old hag. On three occasions, this realization was
             accompanied by an intense visual picture of
             'zooming in on a texture'. They were: a rough black (plastic?)
             surface, a grey fine pattern, and a texture of black and 
             white squares. The zooming in went like this: First I'd be
             dreaming happily, then all of a sudden the surface appeared
             and filled my view and immediately the picture zoomed in
             VERY FAST and quite close. It was like being slapped in the face,
             breathtaking and again, very fast. Like some undefinable
             aha-erlebnis or some realization. (I'm trying to describe
             the related emotion). Then I'd feel light, floating, and
             knowing I'd wake up with old hag, which then I did.
             As I said: this only happened three times of the, I dont know, 
             somewhere up to 30 times I had old hag. 
 
              
  Sofar my version of old hag. 
  Some QUESTIONS:
 
  * Who experienced some of the features I have out there?
  * What is the longest reported period one had old hags?
    Mine started a few years ago, becoming more frequent as I got
    interested in them (up to 3 times a week but mostly per month)
    and now they're just occasional - I never think about them that much.
    Nevertheless I've more than once wished I'd wake up with one
    and also got it. A simple form of self-hypnosis before falling asleep
    can initiate one I believe.
  * Is there a complete report on this accessible via the Net?
 
  Please mail responses only to
  at073@cleveland.freenet.edu 
  or,          
  if you want to go public, 
  post them here AS WELL AS mail them to my mail-address?
  The newsreader on my site doesn't keep those groups too long
  and I haveirregular net.access ..
 
  Thanks in advance!
  With kind regards, 
  Rowdy Blokland.  
  The Netherlands