Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hyeon Een]

Do you sometimes wake up and find yourself completely unable to move for several seconds or up to a couple of minutes? I'd vaguely heard of this before I came to Korea but I haven't experiened it.

Interestingly, it seems that EVERY Korean person I've asked about this suffers or has suffered from this. I forget the Korean word but they often mistranslate it as just "nightmare" or sometimes "incubus". I was in Korea at least a couple of years before I found out that almost everyone here suffers from this from time to time.

I asked a class about it and everyone had experienced this. Was it just a freaky class, or are Koreans (Asians?) much more likely to experience this than westerners? If so, why?

And had you heard of this before? Go ask some of your students about it..

[bijjy]

There is a name for sleep paralysis in almost every culture. Interestingly enough, most people will also report seeing an 'old hag.' This old woman often sits on the sleeping person's chest, trying to suffocate them. Sleep paralysis can be scary the first time, because you are 100% certain you are awake, you can see the room around you, but you're frozen. Later on though, you may be able to combine lucid dreaming with sleep paralysis. Just keep thinking 'wiggle my toes to wake up.'

If you force yourself to sleep in the middle of the day when you're not that tired, there's more chance of sleep paralysis happening.. if you want to find out what it's like.

[normalcyispasse]

That sounds strange and not at all fun. I think I'd not like that to happen to me.

[The Hierophant]

I've experienced this at irregular intervals since early childhood. It usually happens after abruptly awakening from a nightmare. I just lie in bed with my eyes wide open, unable to move. I fall back asleep eventually.

[Beeyee]

This is incredibly unpleasant and something that i have had the misfortune of experiencing a few times. I remember my first time very vividly. I was convinced i was awake and i saw a bright red demon in the corner of my room. Naturally i panicked and tried to scream but couldnt. I tried to run but felt like i was glued to the bed. The demon approached me and started pushing heavily on my chest and making a very loud wailing noise. And then it was over.

I was convinced that i had actually seen a demon or some malignant force until i stumbled upon an article describing sleep paralysis online. I have had further experiences (including the old woman) but it has never been as terrifying as the first time.

[jessie-b]

I can't believe there's a name for this. I've had sleep paralysis since I was little. Why do we picture demons or bad things in the midst of not being able to move? Why is it never something wonderful happening while we're still?

[Cliffhanger]

wow, I had no idea that it was that common. This happened to me once about a year ago, and it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. I also experienced the woman. I didn't actually see her, but I could feel her there, and I just felt like she was pure evil. Then she tried to possess me. I remember actually mind battling with her so she couldn't take over my body. I was thinking that I had to scream to get someones attention to come and save me or else I would definitely die. I did scream somewhat, in a weird way, and thats when I felt her leaving and then the paralysis was gone.
I know it sounds ridiculous now, but for a long time I was convinced it actually happened cause it was so real. Now I just think about it as the scariest nightmare I ever had. Still not totally convinced it wasn't real though.

I was telling my friends I almost got possessed by the devil. I'm surprised they still talk to me

Anywho, I never want to experience that again.

[Keepongoing]

in Hong Kong they call it "Leih Jap Gwai" they believe it is a ghost laying on you. I have experienced it once while in HK. I woke up in a cold sweat and could hardly breathe. It felt like something heavy was laying on me and I could not move for awhile. I was quite frightening. I told someone what had happenned and it was then that they explained it to me. It happenned my first night in a new place.

[cbclark4]

[cbclark4]

In Western medieval legend, an incubus (plural incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them. They are also believed to do this in order to spawn other incubi. The incubus drains energy from the woman on whom it performs sexual intercourse in order to sustain itself, and some sources indicate that it may be identified by its unnaturally cold *beep*. Religious tradition holds that repeated intercourse with such a spirit by either males or females (the female version of the incubus is called a succubus) may result in the deterioration of health, or even death.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incubus_%28demon%29

[Cerriowen]

Yea I had a korean guy tell me about this and I thought he was totally strange, cuz I hadn't heard about it before.

[Tiger Beer]

We've had other discussions about this same thing on Daves in the past.

I had my first one in university, then I had like 30 of them or so over the next year or so. Every single one use to freak me out.

Rarely, very rarely do I get them now, but I've read so much about them to find out they are common enough to not be as alarmed.

[safeblad]

that shit is scary...well ive had a related experience sleeping back home.

I was lying in bed (asleep) and i thought i could here my parents dog scratching around on the floor beside me, I was completely unable to move. Later on (still in my dream) i eventually summoned the strength to move to go and touch the dog, there was nothing there. I could still here the scratching noises and I turned on the light. Except in my dream none of the lights would work; so I could hear these fucked up noises in my room in a dream which seemed as clear as day and none of the lights would turn on.

Just part of a night of messed up dreaming.

Eventually somehow at the end of my dream which was partly paralysis and partly messed up shit happening in the house which i shouldnt get into here; I was in the kitchen of my parents house and my dad came in and said " you had better wake up now, this is getting bad for your mental health" and I did. And turned on the Light.

This probably means i'm a deeply troubled individual.

[seoulman1]

[Beeyee]