Old Hag Syndrome

Have you heard of the old hag syndrome? Some professionals call it sleep paralysis, and perhaps it is. The old myth is that a traveling spirit in the shape of the old hag will pass through your house on some given night and sit on your chest and keep you from moving or breathing.

This happened to me before I even knew about any of this.

I was around twenty years of age and had to move back to my folk's house for a while as I broke up with the girl I was living with in the year of 1980. It was spring of the year and I was stressed out, but went to bed and enjoyed listening to my mystery theater on the radio, when I went to bed. I had my old bedroom back; across the hall was my other bedroom for a time. My folk's bedroom was around the corner, and they were in bed as well for they had to get up for work. I was laid off of my job, so I could sleep in.

I fell asleep listening to my radio show and staring at my Right Guard deodorant can in the street light coming in through the window. My shades were pulled, yet there was some light that still filtered in.

I fell asleep at some point and my radio went off after the hour timer. That is when I got my visitor. I woke up around three in the morning and noticed a red light flashing out the window, and to this day I am not sure what that was.

But now awake I sat up and saw my door open enough to see into my other bedroom. What I saw was evil and scary. There was just enough light to slightly lighten up the room, but in the middle was a deep black swirling cloud. To me that is what it appeared. Just swirling in a circle, it felt real and had a consciousness. Then I saw two small red eyes peering out form the middle of it.

I just stared, and when it felt the fear in me it rushed so fast in my direction it took me by surprise. It knocked me back in bed and I felt this heavy weight on my chest, like something was sitting on my holding me down. I could not breath, scream or move anything.

It had me completely paralyzed, what seemed for along tome. I tried to wrestle with it, but got no where. When I screamed for my dad, it just came out like a soft muffle that no one could hear. I could turn my head slightly and see my clock and saw time slipping away during my battle with the old hag.

Suddenly it was gone. I could breathe. I sat up and felt myself breathing heavy and I was dripping with sweat. This was for real, I thought. What was it? I did not see it on me; just felt the pressure and its presents.

Then I looked at the door again and saw the swirling list, back in the other bedroom. Then round two happened. It rushed at me again and I went through the same scary event. This went on again for awhile, and then it let off. Before I could get out of bed, I was dead tired, but I knew I was awake.

The third time happened as well and most of the night had passed. I did manage to turn the radio on again for an hour between events, and when the last one occurred it left for good. Soon after I just stared into space, trying to calm down and get a grasp at just what happened.

My dad soon got up to get ready for work and the sun was just coming up. I felt it was safe to get some sleep. I noticed the can of deodorant was on the floor, something was in my room. The radio was just tuning off and I could still feel the dampness of my sweat on the sheets.

I went to sleep and when I got up around noon, I told my mom of this and said I would never sleep in that room again. She though I was being silly and just had a bad dream. I do not have nor ever had a dream like that. That was real.

It was years later when I read the book Communion about alien intervention. The authors experience told of aliens coming into his house and could not move, much like my experience. But with the alien encounter you usually don't remember what they do to you when they take you. I had to wonder if that happened to me. It was explained so closely to my experience.

I was considering hypnosis, but never did. Then a couple years later I heard of professionals calling it sleep paralysis. You are caught in-between sleeping and awake stage. You are awake and yet you can't move, and it feels like the old hag syndrome.

This may be, but I believe mine was real. I do believe in entities and they do roam, they just passed my way that night. Some people have reoccurrences over their life time. I have never experienced it since and God willing, I never will. It was my worst nightmare. I thought I was going to die that night.