WakingUp Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 People dream of demons, see ghosts in their house, are "possessed" by evil spirits, have really scarey stuff happen to them. When I was involved in the American Family Association, we picketed places that sold porn. This was back in my extremely zealous day when I was trying to protect everyone and be a witness. At that time I had some very scarey dreams...in one I literally felt a claw liike hand on my arm and opened my eyes to see a scarey face. What causes these types of nightmares and the evil in the world? Is there really evil abroad? Can there be evil if there is no good God? I don't know. Sometimes it's easier for me to discount the "miracles" and "answered prayers" tham it is the evil stuff that happens. What do you think? WakingUp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnceConvinced Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Most evil in people can be explained away by either some kind of mental problem or simply just man's nature. To say that the devil is behind every bad thing that people do, I found rather absurd even as a committed Christian. As for the supposed more supernatural type of evil. Dreams are just dreams. I don't see why people would think that it was the devil just because they have a bad dream. As for seeing ghosts and things, I liken that to people seeing aliens. Either all in their mind or there is some other rational explanation. I can remember one dream I had once. I dreamt the devil was chasing me. Then I woke up and realised it was a dream. Then suddenly something grabbed by leg at the foot of my bed. The devil was there! He was still attacking me. Then I really woke up. Yep, it was a dream within a dream and I tell you I was sweating and breathing heavily. It's amazing what a dream can do to you. But dreams do fool us into thinking things are real. Even if you are half asleep, still a little conscious, but snoozing you can dream. I've experienced that quite a lot, dreaming, but being aware of what is going on in the room. A classic example I've found is my current partner. She sleep talks. Often she will sit up and point at things she is seeing in the room, but she is asleep. And you can hold a conversation with her, but she is rather nonsensical most of the time. But then suddenly she becomes aware that she is sleep talking and fully wakes up. It's really strange, because you know she was asleep but then she becomes conscious and realises she is babbling. It illustrates how a subconscious mind and a conscious mind can become confused. So I think that would explain a lot of scarey things people think they see and hear, especially at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All Gods Fail Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Well, the human mind is an amazing thing - it can play tricks on itself, can see things that aren't there, feel things that don't exist, etc. I suffer from occasional bouts of sleep paralysis, and it's no picnic. Luckily, I have a very mild case of it and don't get the horrific hallucinations that some poor bastards do. I only experience slight auditory hallucinations, and now I'm grateful because it means I'm about to fall asleep. I don't claim this is the explanations for everyone's experiences, but it points towards what's really behind a lot of it. The fact that most of this kind of phenomena revolves around sleep/dreams should tell you even more. Sleep paralysis, or more properly, sleep paralysis with hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations have been singled out as a particularly likely source of beliefs concerning not only alien abductions, but all manner of beliefs in alternative realities and otherworldly creatures. Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine position, about to drop off to sleep, or just upon waking from sleep realizes that s/he is unable to move, or speak, or cry out. This may last a few seconds or several moments, occasionally longer. People frequently report feeling a "presence" that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on, the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lola Getz Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Sleep paralysis, or more properly, sleep paralysis with hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations have been singled out as a particularly likely source of beliefs concerning not only alien abductions, but all manner of beliefs in alternative realities and otherworldly creatures. Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine position, about to drop off to sleep, or just upon waking from sleep realizes that s/he is unable to move, or speak, or cry out. This may last a few seconds or several moments, occasionally longer. People frequently report feeling a "presence" that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on, the bed. You're definitely right about that. I have severe sleep paralysis and have ever since I was a child. It always happens when I have a nightmare, but I don't know whether the nightmare causes the sleep paralysis or the sleep paralysis causes the nightmares. Either way, it's awful. It always entails, as your description noted, the sense that a malevolent presence trying to harm me but I can't move or cry out. Just when it feels my heart is about to burst from fear, I find that I can make a feeble sound and when that happens, I fully wake up and the episode is over. I had night terrors as a child as well. Jus in case anyone wonders, no I've never believed I was abducted by aliens or that a demon is trying to harm me. Sleep paralysis is bad enough without trying to shoehorn all that crap in with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WakingUp Posted August 7, 2006 Author Share Posted August 7, 2006 Wow, I'd never heardof sleep paralysis, thanks for sharing that information. As Im letting go of the idea of a protective God, Guiding Angels and all the lovely parts of christianity, I find the evil side(HEll, demons, sin) must be dealt with too. WakingUp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 I believe my belief in the Christian God MADE the Devil real Taking God seriously made me have to worry about the Devil etc and that was true scarey I had a dream i was walking down a street I knew well and suddenly the second coming happened and i was left. I took this a premonition that I was destined for hell no matter what i did and at that time i was a committed christian! I spoke to e church leader about it and he said it depends where you think the dream came from... er Ok so it might be true! Shit it took me ages to get over that and have confidence that there was no hell and the dream was a symptom of my over worrying mind. Now I think there is good and bad .. but demons chasing your soul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunk Bishop Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 i think that the reason demon and devils are often depicted as reptiles is because ancient river people were scared of crocodiles. a throwback to ancient fears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprus Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 I haven't had a dream about devils or demons since I stopped believing in their existence, and that has been a long time. There are plenty of natural hazards and pitfalls in the world to have bad dreams about, so who needs the supernatural? Now that you're "wide awake", and you know there's no boogeyman under your bed, sleep in peace...(ZZZZ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgnosticBob AtheistPants Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 I never had sleep paralysis, but had, and still have on occasion, night terrors. I wake up terrified, believing that I am dead and in hell. I can look around me and see the stone walls of the cell I'm sitting in and yet I am awake. Then thirty seconds to a minute or so later, everything fades, I realize where I am and that I am very much alive (my heart pounding in my throat tells me so), and I go back to sleep. Don't know why it happens. Used to happen a LOT while I was a Christian. It died down and went away completely for a while after deconverting, but here lately, I've begun to have them again. May just be stress over my situation with my kids and my ex. Can't wait til that crap is over. I never really was afraid of "demons" or the "devil", but of what would happen to me in hell. The persecutors weren't what I was afraid of, the persecution and torture itself was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnceConvinced Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 I think nightmares tend to focus around your fears. Your subconscious dredges up stuff that you think would be horrible. Hopefully once you over come a fear (like the fear of the devil and going to hell) you will cease to have nightmares about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaura Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 The Celtic Driods were fond of dragon-like or serpent-like forms, and the Christian missionaries may have picked up on that. This is also true of the adherents to the ancient Lillith religion. So there was plenty of room in the ancient Christian mind to equate "snake" with "evil" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampyre Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I used to have bad dreams about the boogey man, skeletons, and once I was even chased by a giant pink bunney. Dreams are just subconcious fears put into action by your sleeping mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I dream of the living dead. I really can't say they are nightmares anymore, when you dream of something scary that often, it really does stop being quite as scary. It's more adventure-like now. Though I have to watch them pretty carefully in my dreams now. Thanks oh so much to that cinematic abortion of a film that dares to call itself a remake of Romero's classic. Please. The Dawn of the Dead remake featured a mall. That is the ONLY similarity it has to Romero's classic DOTD. How can you even call something a remake when you don't even have the same characters? Did the Psycho remake a few years ago center around a guy named Terry Coleman who killed girls at the local YMCA because his dead mother told him to? FUCK no! So where do those pricks get off calling that DOTD film a "remake"!!! RAAAAAAGH!! Oops sorry....anyway thanks to that recent "Living Dead at the Mall" (I'll call it that....*wipes angry froth from lips") movie....I have to watch the living dead in my dreams because now they sometimes sprint after me. Hey! There's an even better title! "The Olympic Dead" or how about "Marathon Corpses"? Anywhoo. Despite my fear of the living dead, I do love that shit. Weird little Fear/love thing going there (and no, I don't "get it on" with the dream dead. Eww. Don't go there. I may be wired funny....but I'm not wired that funny). And I occasionally get something like sleep paralysis. Only I find the inability to move intensely erotic instead of terrifying. But then, I've never experienced that sensation along with a nightmare. I'm sure my feelings would change if I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampyre Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Don't be afraid of us white raven... it is so delicious to die! MUAHAHAHAHA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkcollins Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 This is a interesting topic..it reminds me of a christian talk show that I was watching the other day. I believe it was the Jim Bakker show on TCT..( I know, but I am working on it) He (Jim) was interviewing some pastor and the topic was about sin and evil, you know the same old fear crap. Suddenly the pastor starting waving a fly away and Jim got real excited and said that satan was the prince of the flies and that he was attacking the pastor to distract him. Yes he really said this..no wonder people have bad dreams satan is everywhere..next time you see a fly..forget about the Raid get yourself a priest. This maybe off topic but I just had to share. I also saw part of a sermon this morning (Sunday) and the topic was curses, seem like every terrible thing that happens in life is cause by a curse..heck, you can't win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Freestate Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 Hey Vampyre, love the drawing, she looks like my ex. Bit of a vamp myself. As for the whole demon. spirit. ghost thing I don't know yet. I mean it obviously cann't be proven or disproven either way. One thing is for sure though. Christians are not the only ones who have performed exorcisms. Which of course blows huge holes in the theory that they are the only true faith now doesn't it ? I mean, how can a witchdoctor cast out a demon, or as Christian would say "How can Satan cast out Satan". Hmm, I guess those Hindus and Muslims and animists and Navajo hand tremblers might be right too huh? then again, maybe it's just all delusional. Oh well, whatever, I'm going to watch "interview with the vampire" again. Pick me Lestat! I want to live forever too!... The Celtic Driods were fond of dragon-like or serpent-like forms, and the Christian missionaries may have picked up on that. This is also true of the adherents to the ancient Lillith religion. So there was plenty of room in the ancient Christian mind to equate "snake" with "evil" Yeah, funny how snakes and dragons are a positive thing in Eastern cultures like China. Really gave the missionaries a bit of a conundrum there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megara Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 This thread seems to deal mostly with things that happen at night with not much mention of things that happen in broad daylight. I used to believe that all of the things I saw/heard/felt/smelt/et cetera were real. I swore that God spoke to me... But then I had an interesting episode a couple years ago... heh. I'm not saying that everyone has hallucinations, however I do agree with the statement that the human brain likes to play tricks on its owner and that there usually is a rational explination for the "occurances"... Have you ever seen the show "House" (if you haven't, I recommend it)? There's an episode of House vs. God in which, at the end, there was a logical explination for the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Don't be afraid of us white raven... it is so delicious to die! MUAHAHAHAHA! haha. Vampires aren't 'living dead', they are undead. Not scared of vamps. Vamps are cool! Thirsty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampyre Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Nah, I just have a good meal. I love mexican food. And yes, vampires can be considered the living dead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Nah, I just have a good meal. I love mexican food. And yes, vampires can be considered the living dead! Same ocean, different boat. Vampires don't give me a feeling of dread the way the 'living dead' does. Vampires are still "who's". The 'living dead' are merely "what's". Hungry "what's". I guess it's the thought of having my flesh ripped off and eaten while I'm still alive that frightens me more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All Gods Fail Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I'm not saying that everyone has hallucinations, however I do agree with the statement that the human brain likes to play tricks on its owner and that there usually is a rational explination for the "occurances" Actually, humans do hallucinate much more often than we realize. Everybody will experience them at least a few times in their life - the brain just works like that. It's like the optical illusion of films: if our brains didn't 'fill in the blanks' in between frames, all we'd see is a series of rapid-fire still pictures. It's our brains that convince us the pictures are actually moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Just ask any college student who has forced themselves to stay awake way tooooo loooong. You definitely start seeing odd stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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