Do you believe in dark entities?

[Acelius]

I made the conscious decision not to move and hide under my duvet to wait out the entity.

Why would a dark entity be discouraged by a duvet?

OT though, sounds like you experienced some form of sleep paralysis. Even though you weren't physically paralysed your mind might have been in the hallucination state.

[Calfredd]

Why would a dark entity be discouraged by a duvet?

OT though, sounds like you experienced some form of sleep paralysis. Even though you weren't physically paralysed your mind might have been in the hallucination state.

[Yunru]

This things can happen when you overdose on drugs.
Alcohol for example. Even coffie.
http://www.healthline.com/symptom/hallucinations

[Deleted]

Is this about skidmarks in your undies?

[Shinra1]

Why would a dark entity be discouraged by a duvet?

OT though, sounds like you experienced some form of sleep paralysis. Even though you weren't physically paralysed your mind might have been in the hallucination state.

In hindsight it was a dumb choice however fight or flight were not an option so I chose to hide, yes hide, perhaps if I waited it out it'd be gone and I know it wasn't real. But it was there for an almost 30minutes. I was helpless for 30minutes. I live alone.

[Deleted]

In hindsight it was a dumb choice however fight or flight were not an option so I chose to hide, yes hide, perhaps if I waited it out it'd be gone and I know it wasn't real. But it was there for an almost 30minutes. I was helpless for 30minutes. I live alone.

there's reasons for that.

[Imnick]

It's far more reasonable to believe you imagined it because there is no scenario in which a supernatural being manifesting in your room for the purposes of doing absolutely nothing at all makes sense, and there are many documented cases of such things having medical explanations, but if you insist on believing that there really was something in the room with you then examine it in these terms instead:

If there was an evil presence in your room why would it stand staring at you from the side of your bed, then proceed to do absolutely nothing? Why would it be stopped by the incredible protective powers of a duvet?
Even if there really was something in your room, why would you count a being that you couldn't see and which did nothing as "evil", don't you think that's a little judgemental? Surely if it were evil, it would actually have harmed you in some fashion rather than simply watching over you while you slept. Isn't that generally something that benevolent spectral entities do?
There's a reason angels told the shepherds "do not fear", when they arrived, it's because they're supposed to be terrifying to behold. You look at something you don't understand and immediately call it evil despite it demonstrating no harmful desire towards you, why?

[Shinra1]

Probably not. But you can't be sure so don't forget to seal your entrance with salt. Just grab a good handfull of salt and draw a straight line in front of every door. This should keep the devil out for good.

If you have some holy water around the house, use it as a devil repellent as well. Just put it into a spray bottle and spray it on your furniture, kitchen and bed... This works 100%

This made me laugh. At least I didn't lose my sense of humour.

OT: I am deadly serious. I am not joking.

[Deleted]

...except many people report seeing exactly the same things (for example the old hag). So unless we all have these things coded in our brains for no other reasons than to scare us, there might be something more to this.

[Santti]

I kinda guessed from your title this was going to be sleep paralysis or something like that. Sleep related either way. I have never experienced it myself, but I've heard and read it feels very real.

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

[Shinra1]

there's reasons for that.

I am living away from home to complete my studies together with the fact that I can afford to pay for an apartment in lieu of sharing with housemates. Yes, there's most definitely a reason for me living alone.


Then again you're from Rugby what do you know.



Edit: 1000th post.

[StayTuned]

This made me laugh. At least I didn't lose my sense of humour.

OT: I am deadly serious. I am not joking.

Ke. Serious answer then. Your brain tricked you. Couple of days ago a dream I had kind of flowed into reality, making me see a ghost for sure. And obviously it wasn't one of the nice ghosts... it's always a bad killer ghost who wants to eat your sould. Damn brain...

But in the end I knew it was just a hallucination. Usually this happens when your REM sleep gets disrupted. It's not a sleep paralysis per se, because you are able to move after a second or two. Still, a pretty awful encounter nonetheless.

Important to know is that your brain is powerful enough to make you see things that are not there just because you are totally sure that "this is what it is". Once I interpreted my jacket holder as a 2.50m tall monster because in the dark the jacket sort of resembled a human. I was 25 at that time, an adult I might say. Still, this stuff happens.

The brain really is a funny thing.

[Permatree]

I was not paralyzed. I moved to the right side of the bed (away from the dark entity). The opinion appears to be that the paralysis led to my hallucination however I was never paralyzed. But all my searches come up with paralysis on Google (the wiki link above). I made the conscious decision not to move and hide under my duvet to wait out the entity.

If you were able to move while experience this, I wouldn't attribute this to sleep paralysis, but rather a false awakening. In this instance, you would have felt that you were awake, even though you were actually sleeping, making you think what you saw was real. As an infrequent lucid dreamer, and a semi-frequent false-awakener (that's a word now, bitches) this seems like the most likely explanation.

To give some additional perspective into how I perceive things, the two times I experienced sleep paralysis I knew I was conscious but, I was unable to move. I logically concluded that I was experiencing sleep paralysis, and with this realization I experienced no hallucinations of any sort. I just chilled until I was able to move again. A person who believes in supernatural experiences is more likely to interpret this as a supernatural event than someone who doesn't believe in such events.

TLDR; Don't trip, it's just your mind playing tricks on you.

[Idoru]

I don't get why you're dismissing the idea that I experienced a supernatural prescense entirely. I'm aware that it perhaps may be less rational than chalking it down to something so ordinary as sleep paralysis but there's no proof for the latter beyond anecdotes. Perhaps if there was actual testable science behind your explanation I would be convinced. However my personal beliefs have made me consider a supernatural explanation where science has failed me.

And there's no proof of (or testable science behind) your "dark entity" beyond your own anecdotes. Yet you chose to believe it was real.

[Kerath]

Hmm, sorry, seems my mention of sleep paralysis might have moved things off on a tangent a bit. I wanted to draw the comparisons to the hallucinations I experience then - and the hallucinations do sometimes persist once the paralysis has worn off for me. I know it can be very frightening. especially if you've never experienced anything like it before.
I recall one experience when I woke, the paralysis was brief, but when I looked across to the other side of the bed to where my partner sleeps, he appeared to be sitting up in bed, looking at me, but I *knew* it wasn't him. It was like something was wearing his face. I sat up and reached across the bed, and my hand went right through it (because I was hallucinating). I clearly wasn't paralysed at that point though.
Even though I knew that what happened wasn't real, it left me feeling very shaken. You still have that visceral reaction to "seeing" something frightening.

Have you experienced much broken or disturbed sleep lately? Feeling extremely tired or exhausted? I know those factors can be triggers for me.

There is some interesting reading to be found on the subject here: http://www.thesleepparalysisproject....eep-paralysis/
including documentaries and links to research conducted into sleep paralysis, hallucinations etc.

Ultimately, I won't denounce your personal beliefs and if that's how you choose to interpret what happened to you, there's not much I can do to convince you otherwise.

[Ryme]

Having seen absolutely no evidence for a 'dark entity' I would have to say no.

OT: Sleep paralysis is one of the scariest things I've ever experienced, though this was because I had no idea it was a thing before it happened.

[Shinra1]

It's far more reasonable to believe you imagined it because there is no scenario in which a supernatural being manifesting in your room for the purposes of doing absolutely nothing at all makes sense, and there are many documented cases of such things having medical explanations, but if you insist on believing that there really was something in the room with you then examine it in these terms instead:

If there was an evil presence in your room why would it stand staring at you from the side of your bed, then proceed to do absolutely nothing? Why would it be stopped by the incredible protective powers of a duvet?
Even if there really was something in your room, why would you count a being that you couldn't see and which did nothing as "evil", don't you think that's a little judgemental? Surely if it were evil, it would actually have harmed you in some fashion rather than simply watching over you while you slept. Isn't that generally something that benevolent spectral entities do?
There's a reason angels told the shepherds "do not fear", when they arrived, it's because they're supposed to be terrifying to behold. You look at something you don't understand and immediately call it evil despite it demonstrating no harmful desire towards you, why?

First of all the most simplest expanation is not always the right one yes it may be the most rational explanation however when considering the existence of creatures that we cannot see and touch you have to suspend you skepticism and try to entertain the idea.

Secondly documented medical records of sleep paralysis do not prove that there's sleep paralysis. Just because a group of doctors named a particular sleep related symptom based on the anecdotes of sufferers does not mean the medical explanation is more real than the supernatural one.



Believe me I would rather shrug it off as sleep paralysis however my heart is telling me that it was something supernatural and all the signs point to that right now.


What could I do against a supernatural entity? Run? Fight? What damage could I do to something of that power, something that dark? It probably could outrun me too. And anyway people do irrational things when they're scared plenty of people freeze when they hear gunshots or faced with real danger. It's a normal Human response. I would have rather died in that moment without seeing it's face at least I'd be at peace this is why I took comfort under my duvet.



Finally I believe it was evil because it had a distinctively dark prescense. It was malevolent. I'm not saying all supernatural entities are evil but this one was definitely bad.

And you say it did nothing to me. But you don't know that.

[Kerath]

If you were able to move while experience this, I wouldn't attribute this to sleep paralysis, but rather a false awakening. In this instance, you would have felt that you were awake, even though you were actually sleeping, making you think what you saw was real. As an infrequent lucid dreamer, and a semi-frequent false-awakener (that's a word now, bitches) this seems like the most likely explanation.

To give some additional perspective into how I perceive things, the two times I experienced sleep paralysis I knew I was conscious but, I was unable to move. I logically concluded that I was experiencing sleep paralysis, and with this realization I experienced no hallucinations of any sort. I just chilled until I was able to move again. A person who believes in supernatural experiences is more likely to interpret this as a supernatural event than someone who doesn't believe in such events.

TLDR; Don't trip, it's just your mind playing tricks on you.

I also experience the false awakening. This is then usually followed by a bout of sleep paralysis when I do actually force myself awake, not always though.
My brain gets really funky when I'm overtired :P

[Santti]

First of all the most simplest expanation is not always the right one yes it may be the most rational explanation however when considering the existence of creatures that we cannot see and touch you have to suspend you skepticism and try to entertain the idea.

You talk how medical records don't quite agree with sleep paralysis and yet you say this?

If this dark entity is real and has deemed you important enough to harass, then you can't do much I'm afraid.

[Imnick]

It clearly did do nothing to you because you are here now telling us about it, the fact that something is frightening does not mean that it is bad. I would also be scared if a three foot tall creature was stood where it was not supposed to be, but as it demonstrably did not actually do anything then it appears that if it happens again you are in no actual danger, thus do not need to fear the possible recurrence of this event.
Malevolence is not something you can "detect". Humans do not have any inherent ability to sense good or evil. It would be very useful if we did, because most things which want to cause you harm come in disguise rather than broadcasting their presence! Being scared is a natural response, and it is easy to take that and then deduce that it must have been a "force of evil" but whatever you saw did not do anything to you. It was standing over you, but did nothing more. It could even have been protecting you.

The fact that something is frightening does not mean that it actually does mean you any harm! You are asking us to provide you proof for things, but then saying "I just know this", it is a pointless and circular line of reasoning to follow. All the evidence here says that this alleged creature was not evil, as it did nothing to harm you (it did not do anything at all).

I know you're not in any danger because there is no such thing as an evil living shadow, but as that is not something you are prepared to abandon your belief in, take solace in the fact that you emerged unharmed, un-threatened, and un-communicated-with.
If this happens again then trying to sit up and confront it would be a good idea, to prove that it is not real (attempting to speak to it is the best thing to do, as the inability is a common symptom of sleep paralysis), but even if you cannot bring yourself to do this then take comfort in the fact that whatever it is clearly did not mean to hurt you.

In the case of this being sleep paralysis (this is very likely, you speak as if there is some uncertainty about its existence, but I must point out that we have managed to discover the exact mechanism by which it can occur), you are in no danger because what you are seeing is frightening but not real.
In the unlikely case of there really being some kind of presence in your room, you are still in no danger because it did not express any desire to harm you (nor did it even move, apparently), merely watching over you as you slept.

You will be safe. There is no need to fear.