I experience something called sleep paralysis. What happens is the brain wakes up during a cycle of sleep that paralyzes the body. I'm not truly awake, although I can see my room, but I can't move. In this state the following has happened to me:
Little devils danced in front of the television in the dark. They looked like the devil on the devilled ham can---red suits, pitchforks and horns.
I've floated above my bed and rocked.
I heard someone enter my apartment and felt my body shift as they sat on my bed.
I've seen flames on my walls.
I often sense and hear someone in my room.
because I'm unable to move, I can't get up to investigate. I didn't know what it was, but I never thought it was demons. i don't know why. Then I saw this special on sleep paralysis and learned that not only do other people experience similar phenomena, they often see the same type of hallucinations. For the religiously inclined, they define it as demons. One woman saw flames on her wall and a demon stand---apparently rising from her floor and the flames, at the bottom of her bed. Very similiar to my flames and devils vision. People that are more inclined to believe in UFO's define it as aliens. It also explains the feeling of alien abduction. Seeing lights (flames), floating sensations, human-like figures and faces, (though never truly human) and the paralysis.
There is an involved explanation that discusses the impulses in the brain and why people not only hallucinate but see simlar hallucinations to others who go through this--even though they never met. It's quite interesting, but also quite earthly. I'm not smart enough to repeat it here, but when it was explained it made total sense.
When I am under extreme stress, I often feel detached and almost floaty. When this happened during a "Christendom" funeral I thought it might be demons. The fact that it stopped when I prayed confirmed my suspicions. But the truth is that it happens in many other situations that didn't make me think of demons. And it is resolved with many positive thinking exercises---which I believed was served by prayer in that particular instance.
I think the important thing is not to stop looking for the answer and conclude demons. The brain is amazing, and sometimes the real answer is more interesting than the demon theory. I don't believe in demon encounters. However I don't believe that everyone experiencing them is ill or stressed. I believe they are experiencing something terrifying and unknown, but with further investigation the fear would be taken away. Culture has a strong impact on how these happenings are defined--and that is something to think about. Why does one person say demons and another say space aliens? Yet the experiences are somewhat similar? The fact is both experiences are valid and it's all in the interpretation. I prefer science in these instances.
NC
