could this account for the belief in demons etc?

Question

this question was asked just moments ago
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aj2GmybhBRIEml1zNokh_5ZFLxV.?qid=20070225133217AAr9UJ0
it was about night terrors
and many answered it was demons and all manner of scary stuff
yet we know now about sleep paralysis and other sleep disorders .
could it be when we were ignorant to such disorders , people simply put it all down to demons ?
why have some not moved away from this way of thinking ?

this is not the first time I have asked this ... because I see the same thing happening so often

sunman i realise it can seem very real
but with a little knowledge we erdicate fear and can even get help with something so simple

infobod
i was speaking of demons ...
we know that aliens exist ( that isnt in question )
lol

Answer 1

Pangel, you know my position on this subject.
I don't believe in demons, I never have, but I've witnessed some things that almost made me doubt myself. To the individual experiencing it, it seems very real. I understand why some people become convinced when faced with that type of occurrence. Keep up the good fight against those misconceptions.

Answer 2

Hmm...
Well yes, it's entirely possible that sleep paralysis, along with vivid nightmares and other sleep disorders could have been interpreted as demonic encounters in previous ages. Why some have not moved on from this kind of thinking is a little complex. Some are governed or guided by holy books that plainly tell them that demons exist. That's enough for some people, and many more extreme believers feel that anything that is against their belief is evidence of demonic activity in the world, and so would need little coaxing to translate negative nocturnal experiences as demonic visitations.

Also of course, demons have entered our popular culture and imagination, even severed from their faith-based origins. Plenty of horror movies and mainstream TV shows (eg Buffy, Angel etc) deal with "demons" that are nothing to do with the whole "fallen angel" concept. People understand them, and for some they are an easy explanation of something that, as you say, with a little more knowledge would have a far more prosaic explanation.

Then of course there is the fact that nobody's enitrely sure what exists and what doesn't. I call myself an atheist, but I know that some human beings have much darker or more clouded energies than others - if we believe in the continuing coherence of life-energy beyond the point of death, then it's conceivable that the darkness or brightness of that energy will transfer into a non-corporeal state, and what it does then is anyone's guess; maybe "demons" are just dead humans that are jealous of the living.

In short, there are plenty of things that help piece together why people believe in demons. Things like sleep paralysis are undoubtedly a part of the puzzle, but they're probably not the whole picture.

Answer 3

Eh, I don't klnow if this is blasphemous to Mediums, but I think that there are a few kinds of Demons. The first are the ones that don't have too much interest in humanity, unless something tickles their fancy [Such as the Goetic spirits], but can be very angry when provoked or benevolent when treated well.

The other kind are the temporal ones we create, which plague us frequently. This would be most easily explained in the poltergeist phenomenon [I'm sure you know what that is]. These can be explained in psychological terms sometimes, such as "Random depression," and the occasional burst of anger.Of course, there are other instances where it get's hard to explain, and where excorcism becomes necessary.

And Sleep paralysis is something normal. Modern medicine is taking steps to combat the physical manifestations of these "demons."

The hard part is being able to tell if your body is messed up, or if you're doing it to yourself, on accident.

Sorry, forgot quotation marks on the "Demons"

Answer 4

Ive had some experience dealing with this Pangel.

And as you would expect from me, I would say theres a %50 chance this was from sleep paralysis and %50 that it was an evil energy or being.

When I think of an evil energy, I usually remember the time my dad said he had nightmares for a couple of days in a row. One night I sat around and didnt go to sleep so I can try and sense if anything was about when he went to sleep.

I was in the other room on the PC and all of a sudden felt this horrible feeling of dread. There was nothing around me, but I made sure I prayed a good deal before going to bed. I also prayed for my father.

When morning came, he said he slept as sound as anything.

Coincidence? Perhaps...but Ive had too many coincidences with prayer working to push away negative energy from people.

Most of the time however, its not a demon.

Edit: I like Squishys outlook on the matter. It fits with some of my experiences as well.

Answer 5

It was an interesting story. I have had my fair share of partial sleep paralysis episodes but not to the extent of demonic encounters. Our brains are still and will continue to be a medical mystery. She could have watched the "Exorcist" six months prior to this particular episode and it has taken six months for her brain to sort it out. She tried to explain it the best way she could and it happened to be a demon. I also have heard that schizophrenia may be a underlying cause of demonic possession. Too many questions and not enough answers. I guess that is why I am here.

Answer 6

Well, some people probably haven't been educated on the sleep disorders. I have had many dreams about demons and the voice of God telling me that everything is going to be alright. They seemed to be so real, BUT I know it was nothing more than a nightmare. You have to remember though, before the explanation of sleep disorders it was commonly believed to be "nightmares" or demons attacking people in their sleep, which apparently this line of thought continues to this day.

Answer 7

Yeah, back in the day (medieval times) they blamed everything bad on 'evil spirits', there was no such thing as a coincidence every bad thing was caused by evil. And I don't know why some people haven't moved away from that thinking. It seems very backwards to me, they want someone to blame when weird,realistic things like night terrors happen.

Answer 8

I think that all dreams are based on our subconcious mind. We've all absorbed the image or description of many demons and bad things in life through tv and films and in other subliminal ways so they're all there dormant in your mind and they get released in the form of dreams. It's not so spooky really. Think of it this way, if some people dream of demons or scary stuff they automatically think it has some deep and maybe even terrifying prediction quality to it. But, if you dream of an old school friend that you haven't seen for 20 years you just think that it's nice and think how mad your mind is to drag them from the recesses of you subconcious. It's much the same principle.

Answer 9

Your dreams are your inner self trying to warn or connect with you. Having nightmares or good dreams are signs from it. Demons and Angels do exist, as do Good and Bad people on earth that once were, are.

Answer 10

I am sure some demonic activity happens but, mostly I think things like this are attributable to things like this.