This debate's been going on for ages and never seems to be resolved.  Sceptics insist the Hag experience is nothing more than ordinary old sleep-paralysis

Some people claim to experience the Hag phenomenon several times a month.  I don't know how they can bear to go to sleep

Others say they've experienced the Hag several times in total which is still more than anyone should have to suffer

I've only experienced it once and that was once too many

'What's this Hag thing people talk about?  Why is it supposed to be so scary?  Is it real?'

Well, there are variations, depending on who's telling their tale.  It is very scary, most people agree.  As to realness, some claim so, while others insist it's caused by sleeping on your back which in turn can cause sleep-paralysis

I didn't know much at all about the Hag.  Over the years I'd seen one or two gothic looking illustrations in books of an old crone perched on a sleeping form, but had never bothered to investigate because (1) for some reason I thought it was something from hundreds of years ago and was vaguely connected to religion and (2) as it didn't apply to me, I didn't bother about it

My own experience happened one night with no apparent cause.  No horror movies or books beforehand.  No paranormal events or discussions or preoccupations.  Life was lovely. Went to bed at sensible time, nice weather, no noise to interrupt people's rest.  Just no reason for it to happen

I awakened suddenly.  We always left a low light on in the landing and my bedroom door was open, so it wasn't pitch black - except for something I could see across the room near the wall.  It was reasonably large in size and initially was formless.  Swiftly, it moved (flowed) toward the foot of my bed then began to ooze up onto my bed - then onto me.  In the process, it turned from a formless blob into a big humanoid thing with a hump on its back, big shoulders

It was male and there was a definite sexual motive involved.  It was a sexual predator without any element of soul

I was not paralysed, although I was shocked and terrified.  Of its own accord, my mind immediately began reciting the Lord's Prayer.  I didn't have to think about or decide to pray - I was automatically praying and pleading for divine help while simultaneously resisting the thing's intentions

I inched up to the top of the bed to get away from it and it vanished, left.  Revolted, crying, I ran from my room and into my daughter's room where I spent the rest of the night

When I stumbled across threads about the Hag in online forums years later, I still didn't know the Hag is a term used for both male and female sexual predators of the paranormal kind, but it's where I discovered the Hag applied to my own experience.  And it's in the same online discussions that I saw sceptics insisting the Hag does not exist except in people's minds and is caused by 'sleep paralysis' which in turn is caused by sleeping on one's back

Many within such discussions are equally insistent they were not paralysed physically - simply shocked, scared and repulsed by something which really happened to them having nothing to do with their sleeping position

I'm one of the latter group.  I didn't have any of the symptoms attributed to sleep-paralysis. For example, sufferers of sleep paralysis say they are unable to move a muscle during the event (with or without Hag phenomenon) and have to struggle to move just a finger in order to break free of the paralysis

I believe the Hag is what it's been described as for thousands of years -- a soulless predator entity which preys upon sleeping victims.  The shock and swiftness of the attack temporarily shocks the victim into something similar to the way people freeze in horror when they encounter a wild animal in the forest or when a large, snarling dog springs forth when you're walking down the street

Interesting to me afterwards was the way my mind automatically began praying.  It was similar to a radio suddenly switching itself on.  To me, that indicates my mind knew I was in big trouble.  My mind took over without receiving conscious instruction.  I've prayed hard at other times of fear and need, but never before or since has it happened on its own, automatically

Many other people claim they've experienced the Hag (which they call sleep-paralysis) so often that they turn over and go back to sleep. It no longer troubles or shocks or frightens them.  If true, it would seem to prove that the Hag does not really exist and is simply a weird aberration resulting from a physical cause, i.e., sleeping on one's back

But why?  Why would sleeping on one's back produce an image of a black mass which morphs into either a ghastly male or female monster?  Why?  And why do those who sleep on their back experience physical paralysis which awakens them to reveal the same hideous black thug?  Why don't some people see pink unicorns and still others see a spotted duck or a sewing machine?  The sceptics have no answer

Why, throughout thousands of years, have people reported the same creature/demon?  There's no logical answer to this question, imo, other than the demon which has been described by so many, exists

But many of you may believe otherwise

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Oct 9^th, 2014 at 3:31am:



Thanks, Culture Warrior.  It takes courage to reveal personal and 'unusual' experiences

Several years ago, an interesting case which was initially published in one of the prestigious medical journals was cited in the popular press.  It involved a young boy who was being terrified at night by a 'visitor' which loomed over him as he lay in his bed.  The boy claimed the visitor was a woman

Although he'd been toilet-trained successfully in infancy, the boy, aged eight to ten when the problems began, had begun wetting the bed.  His performance at school had deteriorated and he'd become withdrawn and nervous.  He was evading going to his bedroom in the evenings and was frequently discovered to be awake late in the evenings

His parents finally took the boy to various doctors, seeking explanation for his changed behaviours which had come to include difficulties with both parents

The boy was subjected to numerous tests, but there appeared to be nothing physically wrong.  Particular attention was paid to the enuresis (bed wetting).  Again, there appeared to be no physical explanation.  Subsequent tests focused on the boy's mental and emotional development. He was averagely intelligent and prior to the commencement of the problems had been regarded as a cooperative and diligent student who'd exhibited no social or behaviour problems, etc.

As to the dark, looming figure of the woman they boy finally revealed -- this was dismissed variously by the experts consulted by the parents

The boy and his parents were sent home non the wiser and the boy's mother was exasperated by the continued bed-wetting and need to wash linens, etc.  The boy continued to lie awake long after his bed-time as discovered by the parents when they went to check on him.  The parents tried a variety of punishments but these made no difference

Again, they proceeded on the round of doctors and specialists.  One of these, whom they hadn't consulted before, sought a possible explanation within the parents' relationship.  Was their friction, perhaps, which was being picked up by the boy and which might account for his problems?

To his astonishment, the specialist concerned discovered what no other doctor had discerned, namely that the boy's mother was not his biological parent.  The boy's 'mother' was in fact his step-mother.  The parents had not revealed this to any of the other doctors they'd consulted

The specialist then interviewed each parent separately.  Finally, the step-mother revealed she'd resented the boy's presence in her marriage from the outset.  She'd wanted a husband, not a son.  She admitted she'd never revealed this to her husband, nor, she claimed, had she verbalised it to the boy.  Nevertheless, she bore the child a deep resentment.  She believed the boy was stealing attention and affection from his father which should have been directed at her.  To compensate for and disguise this, she'd made every effort to play the role of loving and concerned mother to the child

The medical journal went on to say that the specialist believed the step-mother's resentment toward the boy and her desire that he be removed from her marriage and her husband's affections, had - due to their being suppressed - assumed a form and life of their own and had stalked and terrified the boy while the mother slept

He explained this to both parents.  The step-mother was genuinely aghast.  She had not consciously stalked the boy and her genuineness was explained to the understandably upset father.  Both parents were counselled and both had considerable work to do in order to come to terms with the fact the marriage involved not only them but a young boy and his emotions concerning his father's re-marriage and the subsequent restructure of the home in which he was forced to live

The outcome was positive, according to the article and the boy's problems resolved

Some might express scepticism, but it's long been known that people are able -- spontaneously, involuntarily or through intent -- project themselves to others, often over long distances

Science is fully aware of this and in the late 60s, 70s and possibly since, the phenomenon was studied by scientists under laboratory conditions.  Ingo Swan I think was one of the test subject within the scientific experiments

Non-scientific literature contains numerous examples also, some of which are termed 'crisis aparitions' (when the dead or dying project themselves to loved-ones to say goodbye, etc.) & dopplegangers (the double or lookalike of a living person) and so on.  Goethe experienced his own double, for example and a famous case involved a female school-teacher who was witnessed by several students and staff to be in two places at once, even appearing in duplicate when she was teaching a class on one occasion

For more about 'doubles' and dopplegangers, see here:
http://listverse.com/2013/08/30/10-disturbing-tales-of-doppelgangers/

I believe there is more to sleep paralysis than a simple mental or medical condition.

While I have never encountered a "hag", I have come across something. Such an event occurred some time during Autumn, earlier this year.

I was asleep, and all of a sudden I woke up... but couldn't open my eyes? I found that I couldn't move any part of my body either. I started to panic, but the emotion of fear did not occur via my heart where it usually occurs -- rather, I felt a shiver go through my brain!

I also realised that I felt something -- like hands -- around my neck. I must have passed out because I don't remember anything that happened after.

I've heard of many experiences, where some entity has entered somebody's room, causes them to be paralysed, and usually tries to coerce that person into doing something sexual. Many people describe them as having a reptile appearance -- hence the David Icke stories 

I think there is a phenomena here that defies our physical, third dimensional reality -- "evil" spirits manifesting into our "frequency" and trying to screw with us.

Jasin wrote on Oct 9^th, 2014 at 9:30pm:


I see what you mean, but if you witnessed somebody experiencing sleep paralysis, and saw nothing there, though they claimed otherwise -- it's possible that the "being" only manifested to them, and didn't show itself to you.

I once read somewhere "all is mind". Everything we experience in our physical reality, has to pass a filter through our brain first? If that makes sense. So technically everything we see is in our mind.... our minds are all "plugged in" to this physical existence on Earth, which is why we all see the same thing. Kind of like when you have a laptop computer, and multiple USB ports. You could have several hard-drives plugged into the one computer.

As for out of body experiences... they are quite exciting. I can never seem to stick to them though, I always freak out and go back into my body 

Jasin wrote on Oct 9^th, 2014 at 9:42pm:


I do that often. A "blob" appears, and you can move it with your eyes!

It changes colour too... well, that's just me.

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Oct 9^th, 2014 at 9:51pm:


What do you do to deal with it?

Come to think of it, last year I angered an entire family by laughing at a man who ended up in hospital over a welding accident.

It was a horrible thing to do, but at the time I wasn't in a good place. It was a "tit-for-tat" thing, this man had wronged me, so I guess I wanted revenge.

So, if your theory is correct, it could have been any one of his family or even he himself 

It makes you wonder though... I have held grudges in the past, have experienced high levels of anger, could I have done something to somebody else in a similar manner without even realising it?

I don't know if you're familiar with the LaVeyan Satanism philosophy, but LaVey speaks of channelling energy (to attain love, material gain or do harm to someone) through rituals or psychodrama (acting things out like a play, through arts, etc) to achieve your ends from a distance. Of course, it's confusing because he also states that magic isn't real and it's all for show, but basically he says that if your will is strong enough by releasing energy through these rituals, you can often get what you desire.

I guess the "hag" situation is much like the UFO situation -- I cannot dispute it because so many people, over decades and even centuries -- have seen the same thing. Debunkers and sceptics like to say that people only started seeing UFOs since the Roswell incident -- this is incorrect. Funnily enough, sleep paralysis has even occurred during alleged abductions.

PZ547 wrote on Oct 9^th, 2014 at 11:11pm:


It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

There is a lot more to these "myths and stories". People often say that to every story there is a "grain of truth". I must do a bit of research into this "hag". One of the questions I ask is, is it one entity, or are there multiple "hags" operating? What do they want? Are they doing something to our minds (planting seeds, perhaps coercing us to act out in a certain manner, etc).

I've learnt not to worry too much about sceptics. Its just a waste of energy if you ask me -- they often know how to rile you up. I think the important thing really is, to focus on and worry about your own path in life. One thing that gets me is that if you've had experiences that dictate the conventional "normal" views, people think you're lying, crazy, there's a rational explanation, etc. Sure, there could very well be a rational explanation but it's something you have to think about and go through steps of ruling things out, etc. When all rational explanations are ruled out, then you are left dealing with the possibility of something that "defies logic". It doesn't matter if people (who weren't there, so really have no say in the matter) think otherwise, if you know something to be true, having witnessed it with your own eyes, then it is truth.

People take too much stock in trivial matters like politics and paperwork these days.