Hypnagogia, Sleep Paralysis, and Parasomnias

Dream- 12-12-10 – half moon rising

Sleep Paralysis Pills

A deceased friend of mine offered me pills that cause sleep paralysis, the effect of being awake and aware without being able to move one’s body. They were called Necro – something or other - or corpse pills. I was apprehensive about trying them as the effect did not sound desirable. An eerie feeling seemed attached to the perceived vulnerability and helplessness of such a state. I was trying to figure what could be the benefits of such a state. I woke up with that perplexed and eerie feeling-thought. My friend seemed to suggest that these pills will – fuck you up – reminding me of past questing for the magic and madness of altered states of consciousness that I had pursued in the past, but not so much now. That is All.

Since the dream though I have recalled other hypnagogic experiences where sleep paralysis was a component and the experiences were not necessarily undesirable. It makes me wonder though whether there are supplements, herbs, or pharmaceuticals that can bring on such experiences.

Having had some very interesting Hypnagogic experiences – typically accompanied by bodily sensations of vibrating chakras, strange engaging sounds, sensations of falling, and occasional words and sounds – I have become conscious in these states several times and
have done some spiritual practices in this situation – although usually short-lived as the state seems unstable.

Currently I am reading a most excellent book called – The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness by Jeff Warren (2007). There is a chapter devoted to hypnagogia with some interesting info from a researcher named Andreas Mavromatis. Apparently, Mavromatis as well as being a Ph. D. researcher is also a shaman-mystic specializing in the Ancient Greek (and Egyptian) Mystery traditions. He has 2 books that I found listed: Hypnagogia: The Unique State of Consciousness Between Wakefulness and Sleep and
Travelling Light: Glimpses of Modern Day Initiation. Mavromatis gave four stages of hypnagogia: 1) flashes of light and color, 2) floating, drifting, faces, nature scenes, 3) autosymbolic phenomena, and 4) hynagogic dreams. When I was in my upper teens I had a hypnagogic dream very similar to an astral projection experience where I became lucid and moved along the floor horizontally like a hovering serpent. I moved down the steps into the kitchen and then down the basement steps where I saw my dad there. Knowing I was in a dream/astral state I attempted to get his attention but he did not notice me. Soon after I woke up – still very early in the evening – and immediately went down to the basement where my dad was just as I saw him. I asked him if had noticed anything unusual but I he said no so I just forgot about it. Anyway, from this experience and a few others I am thinking that hypnagogic dreams, or lucid dreams associated with hypnagogia, may be synonymous with some astral projection phenomena. There is, of course, an imaginary/imagery component so that one may have astral projecting experiences without being asleep. Warren notes that the hypnagogic state can be associated with learning. He suggests it as “the ultimate paradigm-busting tool. It can be a situation where conventional wisdom and consensual reality loosen their grip – where images and metaphors wield more influence. Epiphanic learning of scientists and artistic epiphanies have also been associated with hypnagogia.

Anyway, getting back to sleep paralysis, here are some quotes from Warren’s book:

“Sleep paralysis is one of a suite of sleep disorders known as the parasomnias., and an excellent example of how brain mechanisms governing one state of consciousness can malfunction and intrude onto another. With sleep paralysis, a person wakes up out of REM sleep and tries to rise, but their brain stem is slower to make the transition and continues to inhibit muscle activity (muscle paralysis, aka “atonia,” being one of the trhee REM traits). In addition, body paralysis is often paired with what are called “hypnagogic hallucinations” – aural and visual elements from the dream world superimposed overtop of the waking world.”

Here is a quote about the physiology of sleep paralysis and its progression:

“Not being able to move your muscles can be terrifying, a condition that can trigger hyperventilation, followed by respiratory constriction, and pressure on the chest. Hyperventilation can lead, paradoxically, to a lack of oxygen in the brain, which can result in hyperacusis – a condition in which sounds in the room become amplified and distorted – and the stimulation of sexual pleasure centers of the brain, a kind of involuntary autoerotic asphyxiation.”

When I was a teen I would get these types of experiences rather frequently, typically on Sunday nights, although I never figured out why then – perhaps the transition from free time to school or work time was looming in my brain. Sometimes, and now more often if they come, I can relax into the experience and fall into the groundless space and meditate – usually with some grasp of conception though as in reciting various litanic meditations.
Perhaps being a meditator helps one in this condition as in meditation one practices disengaging from the senses and paralysis is basically a disconnection from feeling the body so there is perhaps a light that goes on in the brain connecting the sleep paralysis state with that of meditation. I think one would be less inclined to be terrified if one is accustomed to spending time in a bodily state that has some similarities to paralysis. In this condition, I have noticed that the terror quickly subsides and one can more consciously observe the sonic distortions. However, I have never personally experienced any sexual arousal or phenomena in this state. It is definitely a state of lucidity at times though.

Warren notes a few studies where the prominence of folk beliefs surrounding sleep paralysis may actually dictate whether more people have these experiences and how often. The old hag of Nova Scotia, the hag of the African Gullah people, the Japanese kanashibari demon, incubus/succubus phenomena of the Middle Ages, and alien adbuction scenarios may all be sleep paralysis phenomena or closely related to it. Night terrors of children may also fall into this category. Chronic sleep paralysis is considered a disorder but most people only experience it on occasion. I found a few other books listed one of which I ordered: Dark Intrusions: An Investigation into the Paranormal Nature of Sleep Paralysis Experiences (the one I ordered); Sleep Paralysis: A Guide to Hynagogic Visitors and Visions of the Night; Sleep Paralysis: Night-Mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Connection; Thirdeye and the Boogieman: Invisible Beings and Sleep Paralysis? – this book seems to be fiction related to real life experiences where the author equates the beings as real entities and seemingly with evil intent, where our thoughts are harvested in the night and the author says he has a thirdeye consciousness which the entities seek to remove so he hides and evades them; The Parasomnias and Other Sleep-Related Movement Disorders – this one seems to be a textbook but too expensive: The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions (American Folklore Society) – this one examines the folklore.

Finally, I wanted to point to an interesting quote from Warren about the work of Mavromatis:

“By stimulating deep subcortical structures, he says {Mavromatis}, the hypnagogic may be a way to integrate insights from all levels of the brain: the reptilian brain stem, the mammalian limbic system, the egocentric frontal cortex... Indeed at the crossroads of dreaming and waking the hypnagogic represents a kind of “doubling “ of consciousness – not a regression but a progression, a “future step in evolution” that might one day lead to an “enriched” consciousness for the whole species.”

Apparently, Mavromatis talks about loosening ego boundaries as akin to the hypnagogic state. This all sounds rather Maatian in implication.

Also of interest is this very informative blogsite of Ryan Hurd (Author of one of the above books):

http://dreamstudies.org/