Boo Hags or Shadow Witches

First off, I, like many of you on here, am on a quest that questions the unexplained and will not settle until I am satisfied with answers and proof. Second, I am not crazy and am going out on a huge limb by asking/sharing this information with you guys. At any rate, here goes...

It first happened when I was 5 years old, I remember this because it was the night before my 6th birthday and nothing like this had ever happened to me before that is as scary since. In the middle of the night I woke in a cold sweat from a dream that with all my might I cannot remember was about. A moment later a dark figure that was completely black, had long fingers and dark hair was hovering over me, I think that it was a woman, but I couldn't see its face. I felt its breath on my clammy face and it began hissing and squeezing my ribs, it felt like it was tickling me very very hard and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't take a breath in, only out. As soon as it came it was gone, it lasted for probably 30 seconds the entire ordeal but I have no explanation of what it was or why it did what it did. It happened again when I was 8, and then 12. I felt completely helpless when it was doing it, but my eyes were open the entire time. I felt it's hair in my face and its icy fingers digging into my sides. I've never been baptized bc my parents said that doing so was up to me, I am not religious but believe that there is something out there that deserves our utmost respect. One thing that I never could fathom were the bruises that appeared on my sides the day after it occurred. It hasnt happened since, but when I cough really deep and hard I can seriously feel whatever it was grip on my lungs. It scares me even talking about this subject because I have never understood what it could have been, but the vulnerability I felt in its presence was infantile to its forceful squeeze on my body.

Any explanations...or anyone out there that it's happened to other than me? Please feel free to share because i would love knowing that I am not some total psycho.

Do you think it was a dream because people wake up and are in another dream.

im positive that i was awake, i tell you that on my life, believe me i know when i am dreaming and when i am not...this experience is supremely unclear to me

Well, I believe you... At least 90%, going on a hunch. It sounds a lot like the sleep paralysis/ shadow people experiences that quite a few ATSers, including myself, have described in a few other threads... only yours sounds far more extreme, since I've never heard of anyone actually being harmed in the end, only scared...

Just a few questions:

- When was the last time this happened?
- Do you have any photographs of bruises from when this happened, or if you have bruises now, would you be willing to take photos to show?
- How long did it take for the bruises to fully heal?
- What time of night was it?
- How much time elapsed between your waking up and the appearance of the figure?
- About how long would you say this experience lasted?
- Were you able to see any details, such as color of the hair you felt, or color of the hands?
- When it grabbed you, did you feel any kind of texture from it's hands (i.e. scaley, wrinkly, smooth, etc.)?
- Did it feel like claws or just fingers? Or did it feel like a hand at all?
- Was it a fully proportioned figure? Did it have legs, arms, head?
- Did you check for anything that could have been left behind, such as strands of hair?

Just curious. I've never heard of anything quite like this, but you might want to check out these threads:

www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

EDIT: I'm another one of those "crazies" that isn't yet convinced this is all in our heads.

[edit on 7-5-2005 by CloudlessKnight]

Yea it def. prolly was sleep paralysis. I viewed the threads you linked and it was exactly the description. As the answers to your questions go...

The last time this happened was when I was 12 years old, and the only time I received any bruises was from the first occurance. The bruises healed at a normal rate, being totally gone in about a week maybe a day or two longer, nothing unusual. The shape of the bruises werent of a hand and were mild if you looked at them, even as they were fresh. But the shape just looked like I had been slugged or something on both sides, in the almost exact same place on both sides. I can't remember what time of night it was, probably some time around 2 or 3 in the morning, long enough for me to fall into a deep dreamstate of sleep. I would guess that the time from me waking up from the dream to having whatever it was hovering over me was in 20 seconds time. It was like I never saw it enter the room, I only saw it as it began leaning over me. I was in total shock to what it was. I didn't feel its skin or touch it, if I did I don't remember doing so any of the time as my hands were balled into fists as I was trying to sit up and get a breath of air. The shape of this thing was slender, and completely covered in shadows not allowing me to get a good look at whatever it was. I didnt see its face, or musculature, only its outline and its hands completely around my chest. It was completely black, and graceful, almost elegant in the way it vanished. It turned away and left in less than a second almost like it vanished while still hovering over me, just turned, like something was calling for it and was needed elsewhere in a hurry. All three times it left like that. I never checked for any evidence of left behind hairs or clothing fragments bc I dont think that it would have left anything behind. It wasnt of this world you must understand. It had a force and seriousness to it, the velocity and pressure of its squeeze was numbing, and the hissing/cackling sounds it made were like you walking through dead dry leaves. Put it this way, I am a boxer and I fear no man, been in numerous fights and have been beaten to a pulp a fair share as well. Pain is my aquantaince, but the fear that this figure brings back when talking to you about it makes me get chills on the back of my neck like it is standing right behind me. I felt totally helpless to this thing, I don't know what it was. And why did it come back two more times? and not ever again? It could be just a subconcious phenomena, but how I could explain the bruises will forever be a mystery to me.

WTF, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE!?!? How is this thing actually real?

www.anomalies-unlimited.com...

[edit on 7-5-2005 by anthromagnonadonis85]

Originally posted by anthromagnonadonis85
WTF, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE!?!? How is this thing actually real?

www.anomalies-unlimited.com...

[edit on 7-5-2005 by anthromagnonadonis85]

sweet.

I once had an experience with an `old woman` and sleep paralysis. I guess i was around 13 or 14 years old at the time and i was home alone. Anyway i slept in my parents bedroom wich has a double-bed, the bedroom itself is large and naked. I fell asleep with my eyes open and regained conscience, in the back of my head i instantly knew i was asleep. The world began shifting as though i could see things normally hidden. It was at that point the fantasy just lept insane and i saw things i think were creatures that looked like skulls flying everywere around the bed but suddenly they disappeared and it was at that time i heard a faint knock on the window and there was this old woman in gray rags with long fingers and grayish white hair just standing there - i never knew whether she was looking at me because her eyes were hidden and pale. Without warning she disappeared and instantly i looked forward to the wall and it seemed it was transparent and i could see through the wall into the next room and from it to the living room and she was there walking around crooked over a walking stick perhaps. More surpisingly is that i shook of the imagination of darkness as soon as my cat jumped up onto the bed - he slept beside my pillow the rest of the night.

Now in later years my rational thought sayes it was an hallucination caused by the fear of being alone sleeping in a dark and large bedroom. But i`m an honest believer nontheless.

Sounds like a classic case of SP, although several other people have beaten me to it.

Shadow- That sounds more like an astral being than SP, and you just saw that being during a lucid dream/projection. If it was an astral being, it was a figment of your imagination and nothing to worry about. If it was sleep paralysis...well I dont know too much about that because im 14 and I have never experienced SP (thank god) although I hear it is caused by lack of sleep/ too much stress.