Dark silhouette besides my bed - real or hallucination?
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 1:50 am
Ok, more out of curiosity than anything, I'd like to share something that has been happening occasionally to me ever since I was around 13 (in my 20s now). It's started to happen again recently after a long period of absence, so I felt it an opportune time to post about it. I would like opinions on whether it could be something 'real', as in a spirit or something from the astral, or whether it's simply a hallucination. Keep in mind that I do not hallucinate or hear voices or anything like that, this is the very first experience I've had where I've seen something that's not supposed to be there. But I had also read somewhere that when you first wake up, it's possible for your brain to 'mix' reality and the dream-state, that's why I also think it could be just a hallucination. Anyway...
Sometimes, immediately after I wake up at night, I see a silhouette of a hooded woman next to my bed, seemingly just staring at me. This silhouette 'blends in' with the darkness but is very distinctly visible. The first time I saw her (this was when I was around 13), I felt extremely scared, covered myself with my blanket and turned around to the other side, then I went back to sleep a few minutes later. This is generally my reaction - I see her, feel scared, hide (lol) and then a few minutes later I fall back asleep. I am also definitely not paralyzed (as in sleep paralysis), hence why I'm able to cover myself with my sheets and turn around. But I have always been too fearful to try and look at the figure directly or try to interact with it.
This probably happens about several times a year. I'm now in a different country to where it always happened before and a few days ago it happened again here. Although this time, I seemed to be more annoyed than scared and remember thinking "fuck off, I'm sleeping" or something like that. However I attribute this over-confidence to the fact that my bedroom door was partly open, and I had the lights completely on in my lounge, therefore my bedroom wasn't as dark as usual. [happy]
So, that's it. Would love to hear your thoughts.
EDIT: I just thought about it and remembered it wasn't actually my first experience of seeing things that aren't there. When I was 6 or 7, I drove my mother crazy one night because I was seeing snakes moving around all over my bed and I couldn't sleep. I had to go to the lounge and sit on the couch, I felt better there because the snakes were staying on the floor and not coming on the couch, lol! However, this was a one time experience I believe, it was only one night I saw them, therefore I had almost forgotten about it.
Sometimes, immediately after I wake up at night, I see a silhouette of a hooded woman next to my bed, seemingly just staring at me. This silhouette 'blends in' with the darkness but is very distinctly visible. The first time I saw her (this was when I was around 13), I felt extremely scared, covered myself with my blanket and turned around to the other side, then I went back to sleep a few minutes later. This is generally my reaction - I see her, feel scared, hide (lol) and then a few minutes later I fall back asleep. I am also definitely not paralyzed (as in sleep paralysis), hence why I'm able to cover myself with my sheets and turn around. But I have always been too fearful to try and look at the figure directly or try to interact with it.
This probably happens about several times a year. I'm now in a different country to where it always happened before and a few days ago it happened again here. Although this time, I seemed to be more annoyed than scared and remember thinking "fuck off, I'm sleeping" or something like that. However I attribute this over-confidence to the fact that my bedroom door was partly open, and I had the lights completely on in my lounge, therefore my bedroom wasn't as dark as usual. [happy]
So, that's it. Would love to hear your thoughts.
EDIT: I just thought about it and remembered it wasn't actually my first experience of seeing things that aren't there. When I was 6 or 7, I drove my mother crazy one night because I was seeing snakes moving around all over my bed and I couldn't sleep. I had to go to the lounge and sit on the couch, I felt better there because the snakes were staying on the floor and not coming on the couch, lol! However, this was a one time experience I believe, it was only one night I saw them, therefore I had almost forgotten about it.