Recently, I continued my reading of the “Demon-Haunted World”. Carl Sagan, author of the book, describes the phenomenon of sleep paralysis as he explains the alternative and more reasonable natural explanations to supernatural reports of demons, angels, and visions of extra-terrestrials during human history. In simple terms, sleep paralysis is when a person becomes conscious after waking from deep sleep, but is not able to move since their body is still in a paralyzed state. Many individuals throughout the ages have seen and experienced glimpses into the so-called mystical world during these incidents and it gave them "evidence" of demons, angels, and other worldly beings.
I experienced this phenomenon starting in my early 20’s, which at the time I attributed to Satan or a demon messing with me. My personal experience with this phenomenon included an assortment of audio, visual and tactile sensations. I would hear a loud static noise like a television left on a channel which was not airing anything (before cable TV). At times, I felt like I was floating above my bed, but at the same time being held down by some invisible force. I could see the room around me in a very distorted way, but never saw any other beings. During my first couple of experiences, I attempted to scream for help but was unable to open my mouth. I would call out to Jesus to rescue me from the grips of the demon world. There were times I felt that I could not breathe. It was beyond frightening. These experiences were utterly terrifying and I had a hard time going back to sleep after them. It was not until my late 20’s that I discovered the naturalistic explanation of those experiences as sleep paralysis. I don’t recall how I came across the description of sleep paralysis, but I knew right away that it explained my mysterious and chilling nighttime occurrences. Here was the real reason I had those scary experiences! It made sense to me and more importantly there was evidence obtained by medical professionals to back it up. After discovering this natural explanation, I still had multiple sleep paralysis episodes but it was a different experience. The first couple episodes after acquiring this new knowledge were still scary, and I still panicked when they started, but eventually I learned to just relax and tell myself that I just had to wait until my body catches up to mind. The episodes became shorter and now they rarely return. Now when it happens I say a silent “Come on, not again” and wait until it passes.
The following video captures the eerie and horrifying experience of sleep paralysis very well. I would have really freaked out if I saw a bear decked out in a BDSM outfit or any other apparition shown in this video!
I was still a believer in the supernatural when I first encountered this terrifying phenomenon, but this was definitely one of the first cracks in my supernatural belief system and the beginning of a different approach to evaluating my own and other’s personal experiences. If this type of experience which felt so alien and unnatural could be explained by the use of scientific thinking, then why not other mysteries. Also, I learned that if I could not conceive of a natural explanation to something, then it was best to be honest and put it in the category of an unknown instead of jumping to a supernatural or hasty conclusion. I experienced this phenomenon starting in my early 20’s, which at the time I attributed to Satan or a demon messing with me. My personal experience with this phenomenon included an assortment of audio, visual and tactile sensations. I would hear a loud static noise like a television left on a channel which was not airing anything (before cable TV). At times, I felt like I was floating above my bed, but at the same time being held down by some invisible force. I could see the room around me in a very distorted way, but never saw any other beings. During my first couple of experiences, I attempted to scream for help but was unable to open my mouth. I would call out to Jesus to rescue me from the grips of the demon world. There were times I felt that I could not breathe. It was beyond frightening. These experiences were utterly terrifying and I had a hard time going back to sleep after them. It was not until my late 20’s that I discovered the naturalistic explanation of those experiences as sleep paralysis. I don’t recall how I came across the description of sleep paralysis, but I knew right away that it explained my mysterious and chilling nighttime occurrences. Here was the real reason I had those scary experiences! It made sense to me and more importantly there was evidence obtained by medical professionals to back it up. After discovering this natural explanation, I still had multiple sleep paralysis episodes but it was a different experience. The first couple episodes after acquiring this new knowledge were still scary, and I still panicked when they started, but eventually I learned to just relax and tell myself that I just had to wait until my body catches up to mind. The episodes became shorter and now they rarely return. Now when it happens I say a silent “Come on, not again” and wait until it passes.
The following video captures the eerie and horrifying experience of sleep paralysis very well. I would have really freaked out if I saw a bear decked out in a BDSM outfit or any other apparition shown in this video!
It is crucial that we carefully scrutinize our experiences and the beliefs that spring from them with a rational, logical and evidence based method. This is the Humanist approach to the world. There have been so many mystifying and unexplained phenomenon in human history which we have quickly and quite understandably labeled as other worldly, magical or beyond the natural world. Yet, after careful examination, many have been found to be just another part of this fabulous and always interesting natural universe.
“Men think epilepsy divine, merely because they do not understand it. But if they called everything divine which they do not understand, why, there would be no end of divine things.”- Hippocrates
