Description: Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon wherein a dreamer awakens temporarily unable to move or speak. The feeling of a maleficent presence accompanies the experience and "hallucinations" of baleful entities pressing their chest or bedside are common. It is believed that the phenomenon occurs with 20% to 60% of people, depending on the population inspected. Sleep paralysis is peculiar from night terrors as the subject is completely conscious during the event.
Despite it's sterile rationalization by the medical community, the mechanisms behind sleep paralysis remain largely unexplained. Folk traditions worldwide acknowledge sleep paralysis as having supernatural origins and refer to it under less clinical terminology:
* In African culture, isolated sleep paralysis is commonly referred to as "the witch riding your back.
* In Hmong culture, sleep paralysis describes an experience called "dab tsog" or "crushing demon.
* In Vietnamese culture, sleep paralysis is referred to as "ma đè", meaning "held down by a ghost" or "bóng đè", meaning "held down by a shadow".
* In Chinese culture, sleep paralysis is widely known as (pinyin: guǐ yā shēn) or (pinyin: guǐ yā chuáng), which literally translate into "ghost pressing on body" or "ghost pressing on bed."
* In Japanese culture, sleep paralysis is referred to as kanashibari literally "bound or fastened in metal," from kane "metal" and shibaru" to bind, to tie, to fasten").
* In Hungarian folk culture sleep paralysis is called "lidércnyomás" ("lidérc pressing") and can be attributed to a number of supernatural entities like "lidérc" (wraith), "boszorkány" (witch), "tündér" (fairy) or "ördögszerető" (demon lover).[24] The word "boszorkány" itself stems from the Turkish root "bas-", meaning "to press.
* In Iceland folk culture sleep paralysis is generally called having a "Mara". A goblin or a succubus.
Throughout my life I have experienced permutations sleep paralysis hundreds of times, often multiple times a night.
The bizarre content of these episodes has often lead me to wonder on the nature of our world.
Congratulations! I chose your work for feature in the BLUE FRIDAY LOUNGE… It is my pleasure to invite you to go to this link, at http://groups.bluecanvas.com/BLUE/forum/post/2692 And post your work, and then make your own selection, and notify the Artist of their Feature!! While also inviting them to keep the ball rolling… and pay-it-forward…
Amazing information,my goodness, you must feel exhausted when you wake up in the morning. Love your illustrations, wonderful detail and such an amazing mind :o)x
Posted by ninja_smoke_bomb on August 02, 2012
great art and information gathering. I love this subject.
Posted by jethro61 on May 24, 2012
Congratulations! I chose your work for feature in the BLUE FRIDAY LOUNGE… It is my pleasure to invite you to go to this link, at http://groups.bluecanvas.com/BLUE/forum/post/2692 And post your work, and then make your own selection, and notify the Artist of their Feature!! While also inviting them to keep the ball rolling… and pay-it-forward…
Posted by josiejackson on March 27, 2012
Amazing information,my goodness, you must feel exhausted when you wake up in the morning. Love your illustrations, wonderful detail and such an amazing mind :o)x
Posted by rodeorose on March 27, 2012
Beautiful description and brilliant work!!
Posted by jethro61 on January 05, 2012
Awesome artwork and gallery!
Posted by jeffro on December 26, 2011
every now and then this will happen to me, it feels so intense. I feel like it extraterrestrial.
Posted by morraha on December 20, 2011
Very intriguing information. I have not heard of sleep paralysis before. Well done imagery.