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Don't Open Your Eyes At Witching Hour

 

Since I was little I've always seen out of the ordinary things, but it would only happen when I was in bed. It happens while I'm asleep then wake up and look around my room. I think it must be when I'm most vulnerable because my mind is opened and relaxed. All of them are at around 3-4 am which I believe is witching hour?

I'd always pass it off as a dream even when I know they weren't but ignorance is bliss to keep a sane mind for some of the terrorizing unexplainable things I have seen late at night when everyone is asleep. These sightings are the reason I'm 20 years old and still sleep with a light or the TV on.

I won't go into all my sightings as I'd be here for a while and probably run out of characters. But here's my most concerning story.

I was staying at my friend's house for the first time, she had a flat in the back yard of her parents house. We fell asleep watching a movie at about 10. I remember waking up at about 3.30-4.00am and looking next to my bed and seeing a man staring at me. I looked him up and down, he was wearing what looked like old dirty protective clothes, old worn boots and his face was that black and dirty that I was immediately drawn to his white eyes that were staring directly into my eyes. I couldn't seem to look away or move. I could feel something was evil about him when he was staring into my eyes and at this moment I realized, "Oh sh*#! That's a ghost!"

As I kept eye contact with him while I managed to slowly pull the blanket up over my face as I felt he was going to lunge at me at any moment if I took my eyes off him. I kept the blanket over my head for about a minute. I poked my head out slowly to see if he was gone and he was. I was so shaken up I couldn't get back to sleep so I put another movie on and after a while I passed it off as a very realistic dream and fell back to sleep.

The next day all I could think of was what happened that night. Every time I'd close my eyes I could see his face and could see every feature like it was burned into my eyes.

I still passed it off as a dream. That was until a week later in the local newspaper. My friend's neighbor had discovered a sink hole in their back yard which had been growing for a few days and under further inspection turned out to be an old mine shaft. I asked my friend about it and she told me that the whole neighborhood used to be a giant mine site and that there's old shafts being discovered everywhere so she thought nothing of it.

As soon as she told me that I got the worst case of goosebumps and felt like I was going to throw up. I just kept telling myself in complete awe that I had just seen a ghost and that what was in the neighbor's backyard couldn't of just been an extremely big coincidence.

I have the link to the news article about the discovery of the mine shaft if anyone who comments is interested in reading it.

When the sink hole formed I believe there may of been spirits trapped in the mines that were able to escape.

I would love some opinions on what you believe this is because now my sightings are getting worse. I'm seeing more and more, not of the miner but other things.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Gsnail, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

rookdygin (24 stories) (4458 posts)
+3
9 years ago (2015-09-01)
(Climbing up on my soap box, clearing my throat...)

Oh for crying out loud... THERE IS NO WITCHING HOUR!

Please take it from an OLD WITCH... The time is not midnight nor 3am... It is NOT A THING.

There are times where we may sense things more keenly, there are situations that make us more alert... Being in a strange place, being in the dark, being alone are examples of these times.

While it is true that Covens will have 'set times' to conduct rituals, such as certian times of the year... Special days and such... THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE WITCHING HOUR!

Thank you.

(Climbs off soap box)

Respectfully,

Rook
Moonkeeper (guest)
+2
9 years ago (2015-09-01)
Based on my own experience I can say that what you are experiencing is very real, as for "witching hour" being at 3:00am I have to disagree. It is said that it occurs at 12am. Maybe 3:00am-4:00am is your hour of awakening. Alot of people who are sensitive or gifted have certain times during the day or night that their gifts are more keen. As to why you may see things more then. It was a very interesting story and I wish you the the best in your experiences. Also know that being sensitive can be controlled and while we can't always help what we see, we don't have to give them the attention they want. You have to decide what is best to be involved with and when to turn away.
Haunting_Marie13 (1 stories) (15 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-04-30)
This is a very interesting encounter. You should post more of your encounters and we may know more.
sds (14 stories) (1436 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-10)
Hello Gsnail, welcome to YGS. I feel that you are sensitive to paranormal. But, there is nothing called "witching hour". My friend Val has given you a good explanation about 3 a.m. Myth. Thanks Val. I would not have put it so very elegantly. Thanks for the link Gsnail. I will go through it. But, what you saw was evil might be because of the reason that you saw that apparition or entity in the middle of the night and when you didn't expect to see anything. I feel that must be the reason.

Regards and respects to you.

SDS
Gsnail (1 stories) (2 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-10)
I don't know if he really was evil or not. It could of been because he was just so dark and he was just staring into my eyes. Or that I just felt off because there was a random man staring at me in bed at 3 in the morning. I just felt something strange about him that I can't quite explain. As for witching hour I wasn't too sure about it either, I've just heard people use the expression hence the question mark after stating it. I'm really glad I'm really glad I'm getting so much feedback, when I have the time I'll post another one of my sightings. Thank you everyone:)
Hassanisabah2 (6 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-09)
Mining sights always have a lot of energy and memories in them. Usually locations with a lot of energy have more paranormal activity but I don't think it was an evil spirit that visited you.
I am not sure why other ghosts are visiting you or you are seeing more but I do know that being stressed and concerned about it not good at all, you need to focus on what makes you happy.
The_Shadow_Broker (6 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-09)
Very interesting encounter, it sounds like he was a miner who died in the mines. Also there is no Witching hour, to my knowledge its a legend perpetuated by Hollywood movies such as The Exorcist, and The Posession of Emily Rose.

Shadow Broker out.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+3
10 years ago (2015-03-05)
Greetings, Gsnail.

I won't repeat the informative notes from Valkicry, or lady-glow's and Tweed's speculations, as many of their thoughts echo my own. However, there's a point I would like clarified. Because you were certain that this was a ghost (as opposed to a burglar, for example) and he'd vanished when you looked at him the second time, I have no reason to doubt you. Would you mind satisfying my curiosity by reviewing exactly what made you *certain* the manifestation was 'evil'? I don't believe that evil people, evil ghosts, or evil entities have a history of being intimidated by witnesses/victims cowering under their blankets: quite the opposite! Is it possible that this spectral miner merely wished to appear *hostile* or *threatening* in order to get you to leave his space?

Miners (along with a few professions like firemen & astronauts) place their health and their lives in each other's hands every working day. It doesn't matter whether or not you like the other guy, the point is can you *trust* him? Historically, miners have heard "tommyknockers": taps on the walls of mines which precede a cave-in. Though there's plenty of evidence to suggest the phenomenon is generated through shifts in pressure, the wikipedia entry http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocker_ (folklore) indicates that blaming "little people" is traditional, there is a possibility that the phenomenon is caused by miners who have died in that mine.

This theory holds that deceased knock to give living miners the warnings which could have prevented their own deaths, because looking out for the safety of the other guy is intrinsic to miners' identities. Those who believe this idea tend to be older miners who -once the knocking begins- simply head out of the mine (this may be why they ARE older miners!) telling others what they heard & where they heard it as they pass.

My thought was -since residents were unaware of the mine's existence- knocking would have been an ineffective warning. Taking an aggressive or hostile stance may have been the only option available to a frustrated spirit who was trying to do the right thing. This would lend credence to Tweed's guess, but you'll note that it is not a definitive explanation, merely corroborating analogous phenomena.

If this idea is based on a misapprehension on my part, please let me know. If the ghost could be a former resident of the flat, for example, then these data do not necessarily apply. If the terrifying manifestation caused you to hear/feel/think of self-harm, then clearly it was an overtly evil entity. Either way, thanks for the link to the article and the thought-provoking narrative. I will not take any offense at being told I'm wrong, if you would't mind providing a clarification of your use of the word "evil."

Take care,
-Biblio
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+3
10 years ago (2015-03-04)
Gsnail,
First off, there is no real 'witching hour', so you can breathe easy on that score. When I was a kid 'witching hour' was said to be midnight. But think about it for a minute: if you want to say 3AM is, then I'd have to ask which 3AM? There's time zones and daylight savings times. There's at least 31 different time zones. Which means there are 31 different 3AMs in a 24 hour period around the globe.
And can spirits/demons even tell time? Do they CARE about time at all any more?
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, Rosemary Ellen Guiley gives one of the most complete definitions of the Witching hour:
"The hour of midnight on the night of the full moon. This is a time of transformation and change and the height of witches' spell-casting powers. The roots of this notion go back to ancient times, to the worship of goddesses associated with the Moon, fertility and witchcraft. As the Moon waxes in its phases, so do the powers associated with it and its deities, until the culminate at the full moon".
So...ummm...yeah...I don't think time really matters too much when it comes to the paranormal. BUT (you knew there's be a but, didn't you?) I do believe that during the hours of 12AM - 3Am (no matter which time zone you're in) most folks are relaxed, with less distractions then in the light of day leaving us more perceptive to 'seeing' that other world.
It's totally possible that you saw the spirit of a miner, and if he was not residual, there's a possibility that he saw you too, and was leaning in to see if he really was seeing you, or imagining it.
ifihadyoux (6 stories) (607 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-04)
The witching hour is a myth and has no evidence to prove it even exists. People can have weird things happen to them at any point of the day and night time tends to be more popular because of the lack of light and propaganda that has us thinking some hour of the day/night is a bad time.
Yogg-Sothoth (3 posts)
 
10 years ago (2015-03-04)
The witching hour is midnight, 3a.m. Isn't particularly supernatural
nichole87 (1 stories) (8 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-03)
That must have been scary. But as the others said I don't think he was there to harm you. Looking forward to hear more stories from you.
VermontVampyre (2 stories) (64 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-02)
O.o that is fair creepy. And you regularly wake up to this things? Makes me glad I have both feet pretty much firmly planted to the ground. Would hate being woken up by spirits at 3am regardless of their intent...I'd probably be like 'get lost wee ghostie' XD Now the question is... Did you feel in your soul that he was evil? Or was it your typical fear reaction due to being confronted with the unknown in the middle of the night? After all just simple fear can make the most innocent of beings into the big bad wolf.
Gsnail (1 stories) (2 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-02)
I'm so glad that you're all giving me great opinions it feels good to open up and have people support my experience and give me good information. Here's the link to the news article about the mine shaft -
Http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2361454/familys-subsidence-hole-no-lizard-lair/
ladymoira (3 stories) (30 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-02)
Gsnail
I can imagine the fear you must have felt. Did you really feel that deep down the man was evil? If yes then he probably was. I believe in following your intuition as most times its right.
And you could try reading more on the mines, maybe there was some accident or something... Local old newspapers could shed more light and who knows you might come across more information.
As for the time 3am being witching hour, I think its really the negativity people give that hour that makes it "bad" also like you mentioned. Its when we are most relaxed and susceptible to experience the paranormal but one can't say these days lol. Wish you the best... Be safe
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
10 years ago (2015-03-02)
Gsnail, jeesh I'd be quaking if I woke up and saw him!
I agree with Lady Glow, that he wasn't there to harm you. I would have still been petrified though and telling myself it was a dream!

What struck me about the sink hole and the old mine is that this man may have been there to warn someone about it. But couldn't get through to them. (the neighbour perhaps) He maybe was able to sense you were sensitive to ghosts and went about enlisting your help. Saw the fright he caused and promptly cancelled his 'request'.

Inclined to believe he really was an old miner from back in the day. As for their spirits being trapped, it's just my opinion, but I find that a bit fanciful. But this is only my opinion, loads of people would probably disagree with me.

If he appeared to be leaning in toward you this could have been to whisper a message to you. Trying not to wake anyone up.

Great story, thanks for sharing it, would love to read the article too!
lady-glow (16 stories) (3186 posts)
+1
10 years ago (2015-03-02)
Gsnail: welcome to YGS and YES, please share the link to the discovery of those mine shafts.
As for the ghost, I do not think he was evil though, obviously, seen him in the middle of the night would be a frightening experience.
For what you say I think you are sensitive to the paranormal... Is this a gift or a curse? - I do not know the answer but several of the members of this site share that kind of ability and will be more than glad to give some advice to you.

Thanks for sharing your story.

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