You might first want to google “Old Hag Syndrome” to get some perspective on what I’ll be talking about - there’s a wealth of information on the net..

I decided to write about this because it happened to me recently. In fact, it’s something I’ve consistently experienced much of my life, perhaps 3 or 4 times a year (sometimes more, sometimes less, largely depending on where I’m living).

Old Hag Syndrome includes 2 distinct but related phenomena that have been lumped together by modern neuroscience to push a certain agenda. The first is Sleep Paralysis: some people, if they wake up at an odd time or are disturbed while falling asleep, will regain consciousness but will be momentarily unable to move. The brain disconnects itself from the body during sleep to keep the sleeper from acting out their dreams (when this doesn’t happen we end up sleepwalking). If someone wakes up at an odd time, the brain may not reconnect to the body right away, leaving the victim paralyzed for up to a minute.

The second phenomenon doesn’t have a scientific name, but I would call it demonic attack. People sometimes wake up and feel they are being pinned to the bed or choked by an evil entity, which they may or may not be able to see. They might feel like their body is being taken over, or that they are being somehow violated spiritually. This is where the name, “Old Hag Syndrome” comes from. In ancient times it was thought a hag (witch) was trying to kill the victim by sitting on their chest and suffocating them.

Modern science tells us these are both the same thing, and that the second is simply the brain making up a reason for why the body can’t move.

I’ve experienced both, and they are absolutely different and distinct. There is no mistaking the reality of the presence, which I have occasionly seen or felt hours before going to bed. This is not unusual - often the victim of the second sort of experience hasn’t fallen asleep yet, or they see or sense the evil entity before they are pinned down, which plainly gives lie to the current explanation. Sleep paralysis does sometimes occur as a prelude to an attack - I believe this is because the entity in question is taking advantage of the situation, i.e. the body is not under the brain’s control and is thus vulnerable.

This sort of thing is almost universally known in every culture across the world, both modern and ancient, and every culture but ours has attributed it to some kind of spiritual assault. I am all for modern science, but the foundation of science is empirical evidence, and in this case the facts point to a spiritual explanation. Non-believers often tell me there is no evidence for a spiritual reality, which is certainly not the case. This may in fact be some of the most convincing evidence. You must either attribute it to mass hallucinations, which have been consistently similar among different, isolated, cultures, or you must accept the reality of the experience.

I saw this jewelry I like and want to try something similar, maybe for my grandmother.  I’m pretty sure it was brass with lines engraved, then oxidized and polished to leave the lines dark.  So I found an old doorknob, going to cut to shape then oxidize with a torch / rub out the surface, but I’m wondering 1) Is there an issue with fire scale like in sterling? 2) Is the lead going to vaporize and poison me?  I know it would if it was neat, but is it sufficiently bound up in the alloy to prevent this?  Any of you take Materials Science?  John (you should know this, what with the smithing.  I want answers!!!)?  Brian?

Hello All,

I’m transferring here from MySpace, so you’ll be getting about a year’s worth of blogs all in one go. Enjoy!

-Matt