Some days ago I had a really strange experiences about my soul being pulled out of my body by a dark shadow/being.

I woke up early in the morning but I did not really woke up. It felt like trance-like state. (I am sure that I was not dreaming!)

I could see through my eyes (but everything was kind of blurred) and I couldn´t move my body. I noticed a dark shadow or being sitting or flying over me. (couldn´t really figure it out)

Anyway. It felt like that this "dark shadow" or being was pulling me out of my body. I really was shocked and frightened about this and had a fear of death. It felt like I would die if I allow it.

I instantly repeated "no! ...no! ....no!" in my mind but it didn´t work.... I got even more frightened and tried to say "NO" very loud and strictly. Somehow this worked and I was pushed back to my body. The shadow/being disappeared and I was really relaxed and fell to sleep again. I didn´t even wondered what it was in that trance-like state. It was really really strange... but I am sure that it was not a dream... everything that happened was so clear in my eyes and it seemed so real.

Has someone here experienced similar things or heard of something analogical? This experience still freaks me out. :/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

Seriously, don't they have Die Wikipedia where you live in Germany? ;)

I had very similar experiences many times. It's called "lucid dream". The "sleep paralysis" is a common occurrence during a lucid dream.

Ha, of course we have Wikipedia but the german article about sleep paralysis is quite different as I can see now.^^ The english one is way more extensive and better. It really sounds similar to my experience there...so...thank you!

Found a interesting quote there:
"In Old English the name for these beings was mare or mære (from a proto-Germanic*marōn, cf. Old Norsemara), hence comes the mare part in nightmare. The word might be etymologically cognate to GreekMarōn (in the Odyssey) and SanskritMāra."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_hag

... looks like Mara visited me at night.^^ But seriously... I kind of doubt the scientifical explanation. (also as a spiritual person) It felt really really real. It was definitely not a dream (they are different in my experience) or just imagination. Hm....

You should check this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream

Lucid dream can feel very real.

Hi Fabian,
I have had a couple of experiences similar to yours. Have a listen to this interview with Tom Campbell - he addresses your experience around minute 30. He has a youtube channel with lots of related material - Check for example his talks given at the Monroe Institute - this is a place dedicated to exploring the out of body experience. I have been there - they do good work.

If you're ever stuck in sleep paralysis again and feel you absolutely must wake up, remember to do this: wiggle your big toes. That will pull you back into your body faster than anything else (in my experience).

However, if you find yourself in sleep paralysis and don't detect any frightening beings, it can be a great opportunity to explore some interesting states, for instance, see if you can expand your awareness to the walls of the room, then maybe the room next to where you're sleeping, then maybe farther than that. You could also try focusing on the place in your consciousness where it seems dreams are conceived (thus entering a dream with the resolve to stay aware), or where it is that peacefulness is fabricated, or where it is that the life force itself abides. You also might detect non-threatening beings; try talking to them, ask them quetions. That world is much more chaotic than ours, so try not to be alarmed if their reactions seem disproportionate. If you get comfortable with that state, then potentially frightening beings might not hold so much weight in terms of fear as much as of curiosity. Remember, in that world your fear has the capability of projecting much more strongly. Whatever being you encountered was probably simply feeding on that energy.

In any case, remember: big toes

HT for that etymology lesson. Interesting stuff.

I was being a bit cheeky earlier, but I haven't had night terrors like this, either in your description of soul suck or a demon sitting on my chest. What I have experienced was a lot of energetics within the body, waking me up at odd hours of the night. Sometimes it would feel incredibly pleasurable (might be how myths about succubi evolved?), and at other times, it was very annoying, with lots of sensory distortions (higher pitched whining noises than my usual tinnitus, vertigo, etc). It left me sleeping only 2-4 hours a night at some point. Thankfully, it all seemed to resolve itself over time. Also metta, I think I started doing a lot of metta to acknowledge the sleep deprivation and that I should take extra care with self and others.

As others have said, you described a very common sleep paralysis type event.  Sometimes it's called old hag syndrome because it can feel like some kind of evil thing is sitting on your chest and making it hard to breath.  I've had some of these experiences.  IME and from what I've heard from others, the 'demon' or 'evil' appears to be basically your own personal fears sort of projected into your dream state as thought forms.  IME, if you can get a grip on your fear (which admittedly is difficult), then the whole experience will alter quickly, the evil thing will be gone etc.  There's much to be learned and gained by seeing your own fears projected out in front of you so you could consider it a learning opportunity to explore your own inner self.  
-Eva 

howdy,
some people have this regularly.  i've had it twice in my life,  while brain hacking via binaural beats.  the phenomena has occurred in virtually every culture from the sumarians to our own.  old hag is the irish / english version.  there are the succubus and incubbus sexualized versions of it.  the character 'merlin' of the king arthur tales was the result of a union between a male incubbus and his physical mother in the mythology.

they can be terrifying or pleasant and do have a connection to lucid dreaming.  some people "use" the recognition of the start of the experience as a "portal" to lucid dreaming.

what helped me from allowing it to be a frightful experience was to try to face the "demon" fearlessly and with curiosity.  the experience can be extremly real, and whos to say it aint?  the "demon" in my experience matched those of so many accounts (including horns and sharp chinned pixieish face) that a random coincidence was immediately eliminated from my list of possibilities.

check out youtube.  there are so many accounts of it you will soon be an expert.

I've had this happen many times. The most drastic ones where when I began practicing Buddhism. One was when I was preparing for my first vipassana retreat (it was in Goenka tradition). At night in bed I felt myself pulled out of the body and then saw Goenka asking me quite seriously: do you REALLY want liberation? I felt terrified. One interpretation is that perhaps some shadow material was feeling threatened by the prospect of doing a practice that brings one deep inside oneself.

Most times I've felt an evil presence in those experiences, but that was years ago. Lately, I get an experience during what I would call lucid sleep (I can't more, sleep but know I am sleeping) and get very fast and furious vibrations in my body, and I've learned to surrender to it despite it being "scary."


For many of these experiences I noticed I would get them when I was really tired. I have no clue what they are but one can learn to be with these experiences.

If you want to avoid another event like that, please:

-Sleep on your side, never facing the roof (otherwise your chest may be higher than your head, and that could block the energy going down the torso/abdomen).
-Don't do energetic stuff before going to bed. 
-Doing some Metta practice in bed won't hurt

If it happens again:

-watch any detail of the sleep paralysis and try to connect to any event in your past, ugly or not.
-be aware of any energetic stuff running through your back, so you can link it to the psychological event connected to.

I have had this my entire life started in 5th grade I'm almost forty. Sleeping on side doesn't help at all. As time has gone on I can notice if they are around well before bedime.  Sleeping with lights on won't help.  We agree that there is a spiritual war or at least aspect right I say simply call it evil. You can look into it some ppl say just go with it it's obe others say don't because once your out your fair game.  The best I've heard is think of yourself as a 10 year old retard in south Compton those demons want your fresh energy and you will not be able to fend them off alone.  So call on Jesus right.. yes but only as much as you know him.  Like if you accept the whole man can control this future through his 3rd eye type stuff then you dont know Jesus and how can you be mad at evil for being evil.   Seriously rather you realize it or not everytime you are not careful with your spirit entities can an will attach, they are like leeches and very hard to remove.  There's a lot to it  but another wrote they love your fear very true learn how to wake yourself and try to remain calm they may come right back as soon as you start to drift off just wake yourself again.   Xoxo they are scarey but greater is he in me then in the world.    

I've had similar experiences. 3-4 times I've sensed something dark and nebulous sitting on my face or chest, suffocating me; 2 times I've seen some apparently non-malevolent alien beings tinkering with my body or brain. I've always reacted in anger and moved my hands to intercept, and every time those things immediately disappeared. Maybe anger wasn't the most skillful reaction in some or any of these events, maybe the beings or my subconscious was trying to teach me something, but regardless, that's how it went.

By far the scariest (sleep paralysis) event was when I was sleeping in the woods, and at night heard a mountain lion growling close by. Mountain lions did live in the area, and I was aware of that. Anyway, I tried to move to attack it, but could move either almost imperceptively slowly, or not at all. What a helpless feeling. This experience felt like it lasted a long time. I don't remember how it ended.

What is real?  In all of the above cases, the environment looked the same as it had been before I had gone to sleep: My dark bedroom, or the tent and nearby terrain of the woods. This is in contrast to my usual dreams, where the environments don't seem to have much to do with my daytime world. But maybe the beings and the animal were still imagined, just superimposed on the usual visual field. Who knows?

Similarly to what Pablo said, I've also noticed that all of these events, as well as almost all other energetic/weird phenomena that I've had while sleeping, have occurred while laying on my back.

Apropos ... In a traditional mythic story, told by a guy (forget name) who was a main student of Joseph Campbell:

Sir (forget his name too) -- one of the Knights of the Round Table -- was underway on a quest to find the "Lady of the Lake"; came up to fork in the road, where stood a huge fearsome dragon, threateningly huffing and puffing fire, etc. So, the knight goes right up to the dragon and simply asks him for directions -- which fork to take to get to the Lady of the Lake. The dragon calms down and gives him directions, and they both go their merry ways.

in that case, I hope to be referred to as Sir Thomas from now on.