What i am about to say, I know some people living outside Nigeria and those who see science as a solution in everything will hardly believe it, but it do happened, could you believe that my cousin was pressed this last week end, if you say she is not taking good care of her health, then i bit you are wrong, she is having pain all over her body after that incident, mine is not an exception, as i was once a victim of it, when i was at the age of 12, but thank God will have to moved from that particular area,

Not until yesterday i went to visit my elder brother who live far from us, to spend the last holiday (Monday) to my suprise i was pressed, i hardly bend down, and i am feeling pain over my body,even as at the time i am typing this topic

My fellow Nairaland members please pray for me, and i would also like ask too, have you been pressed at any time in your life, how did you by-pass it.

Please help me, as i seek your advice on what to do next, to me, i am not going back to sleep with my elder brother, it will either be visit and nothing more than that.

Awaiting your respond

Should we answer your question in a religious manner,or why did you post this here?

The general belief here is that scary dreams and funny feelings experienced at night are due to the actions of evil witches and wizards performing 'operations'.

I don't think we should just explain this phenomenon away like that. This is certainly more than scary dreams and nightmares - if you've not experienced it you won't know how to talk about it.

In my final year in the university, I was both "pressed" and "re-arranged". This is not funny. After lectures one afternoon, my roommate had just stepped out to fetch some water. He had asked me to bolt the doors incase I'd be drowsy before he was back - which I did (he had some money in his bag, and students could zap into your room and steal things). Within a few minutes of trying to lay back on the single spring bed, I was fast asleep. I woke up some minutes later to his banging at the door, calling for me to come open up. But wonder of wonders, I was wide awake, but could not move!! Second thing I noticed was that I had been "re-arranged" so that my head was now where my feet were when I initial relaxed on the bed. Worse of all, I was unable to move a limb, respond in some way, or even squeak!

Then it hit me - I remembered what my mum used to say: "I know you're just a young fella now and want to flex up, especially now that you're in university. But if you ever need help that no man can give you, call out loud to Jesus: I guarantee you He will deliver you!" Yada-yada, I used to think about her 'motherly advice'. . . until that day. Not able to squeak, I started yelling in my mind "Jesus! Jesus! Save me!" - you know, that kind of thing more aptly describing a matter of life and death. Needless to say, I didn't even think of my sweet girlfriend at the time (which incidentally was more precious to me than my whole four year degree programme in the university! Stupid? Yeah, I was that stupid!).

Anyway, the moment I started calling on Jesus and confessing, a sinister, low-gruff laughter that chills the spine floated from one corner of the room. In desperation, I cried the more, only my vocal cords were seized. Meanwhile, my pally intermittently banged on the door, unaware of the drama in the room, and just supposing I was fast alseep.

I called yet again in my mind "Jesus!" and this time, remembering one more thing my mum told me, I screamed "The Blood of Jesus!" Believe it or not, my vocal cords were loosened, the sinister laughter ceased and a dark vague figure flew off/was thrown off of me! Set free, I was at the door in a flash, and told my pal all about the drama that had occured. Trust us students in those days: he just looked at me and shrugged it off with an understanding smile. He said he didn't hear any laughter or anything else. A few days later, I was rushed to the university teaching hospital almost at the point of death. But thank God today that I'm alive and well.

How did I get out of it? I confess that up until now, I don't understand a jot of what happened. But when I told my mum about it, she was the only one that took me seriously - and gave me good advice: "Give your life to Christ totally, because if you don't, they will come back with a fight to the finish!" I did - received Jesus Christ and got baptized. Indeed, my troubles were not over. Several times I narrowly escaped death - by road accident, by armed robbery attack with gun pointed at my forehead. The robber actually pulled the triger, but I can't explain up until now why it did not go off!

In 2002, I had a similar incidence, but it was not a difficult one to deal with, because I had learned to pray - best of all, my roommate who was a skeptic had been coverted a year before! During that experience, I was up enjoying my Bible reading late at night (2:43am to be precise) when I began to feel faint. I passed out and woke up a few hours later in the hospital. The doctors sent me home after a few days to . . . well, . . die!! But I didn't give up hope. I kept praying and singing at night that friends said I was making good preparations for heaven - but I knew I was praying for healing. Long and short of the story, I was healed at the same hour of the night as when the illness struck!!

Next morning, I rushed to my sister's and prayed for my nephew who had a terminal disease affecting his blood. Instantly he got up from bed! Since then, I have not had a single attack. I come from a very poor family; but something dramatic happened in 2003: I applied for visas to Canada, Sweden, and Ireland - you know, just for the fun of it because some of my friends were "fooling around" (as we called it then). Of the four of use that applied, just two of us were given visas - I got all three visas (Canada, Sweden and Ireland) and the other got just Ireland. I could go on and on and on, but this is something that I want people to know about:

- the world of supernatural is real. . . and the power of Jesus to heal and bless is very real!!

- my situation cannot be explained as a mere coincidence - the healings, the visas, and the deliverance from armed robbers, etc.

- Jesus can and is willing to heal anyone who calls on Him no matter how low they may have sunk in life

- if you have ever been "pressed" or "re-arranged" or anything else, Jesus can break the power of such from your life.

- @charlisco, your pains will be healed in Jesus' Name - I am definitely putting you on my prayer list!


God bless.

Jagunlabi,u be correct guy, d bros needs spiritual orientation, maybe he must have offended someone in his villiage.
start reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation jare,u will get healed along d ine, laughssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

He offended someone and the worst the person could do was to "press" him at night?

What you are describing is known to science as sleep paralysis:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro00/web1/Takahashi.html

@ Nwoke,

Thank you for your recommendation. One thing is that, while not trying to disparage the scientific research of the article on the website, I offer that it does not bear any substance in explaining this phenomenon. Sleep paralysis or not, this phenomenon is very real and no scientific research of neurosis that I know of has sufficiently explicated the experience we are dealing with in this topic.

In the second paragraph of the article it says:

A Sleep Paralysis is possibly a hereditary disorder in which one experiences very frightening seconds or minutes of total body paralysis with little respiration and eye movements

True, a sleep paralysis may possibly be a hereditary disorder; but the experience I had is not hereditary - no one in my family has suffered any semblance of it until I did.

I find it interesting, though, that the article comes to the conclusion that:

Although the explanation is not complete yet, for there are many unclear processes about Sleep Paralysis, the current hypothesis appears to reject the possibility of ghosts on this matter. Of course, it is impossible to completely disprove the existence of "spirits", "minds", or "God" affecting one's behavior. Nevertheless, like Sleep Paralysis and SUNDS, many or the mysterious conditions and behaviors which are only explained in supernatural terms probably result from brain.

What I find interesting in that last paragraph on the website is that Sleep Paralysis is an insufficient analytical method of measuring the phenomenon we're here concerned with ("there are many unclear processes about Sleep Paralysis". Indeed, from an objective point of reference, it is not coincidental that my experience was clearly supernatural at best, even though I confess that certain aspects remain unfathomable to me until this day. I know that whatever happened is not just brain work. I felt the real presence of an evil figure, and it wasn't hallucinations, but rather I both felt a presence leave me and saw it with my own eyes. Not only so, could it be at all coincidental that my deliverance was effected by praying? If so by any chance, could it also be coincidental to have witnessed instantaneous healing after praying for my nephew? I certainly don't think so. Thankfully, the author sensibly did not try to 'disprove the existence of "spirits", "minds", or "God" affecting one's behavior'.

An interesting article though; but my experience was clearly different from Sleep Paralysis.

Don't mind Seun my brother. People like him try to think that science can explain everything but the truth of the matter is that some things can only be spiritually discerned. I had a similar experience a few years ago. I dreamt that someone shot an arrow at me and i woke up with a piercing pain in my side where i had been shot in the dream. Thankfully, i was already born again then. I told my room mate (also a christian) about my experience and she prayed with me. The next morning, she also suddenly starts throwing up - and she wasn't sick previously. With prayers, we were both able to overcome those attacks.

@ Charlisco, may the Lord heal you and keep you from all harm in the name of Jesus. Please stay close to God. He is well able to heal and protect you.

@ Seun, this is beside the point of this post but you seem to be very grouchy in your posts in the last few days. Is everything okay with you? If you need someone to talk to you can shoot me an email o. We may have our differences but i still care about my one and only nairaland site major-general ( ehm, i mean moderator)

It's a demonic case. Whenever you have such experiences, take authority over every evil spirit and plead the blood of Jesus.

Stop eating cheese before you go to bed

Mmmmm, "Sleep paralysis", so that's what its called?  

Regardless of all the scientific theories, the mountains of detailed analysis and the most laborious foresensic research, what can trump the empirical?

Call it what you will, I had it bad.
As soon as I repented towards God and placed my faith in Jesus Christ. It left.
No prayer, no fasting, no sacrifice. Gone like a shot! Not an incidence in 7 years.

Glory to God (always!)

@ Reverend

@ Babymine

Eating any dairy produce before you go to sleep can give you terrible nightmares!

Cheese is the worst 

My name is Nwoke.

There was a time when malaria was seen as a curse inflicted upon hapless people by evil spirits. Now it's known to be transmitted by infected mosquitos.

There was a time when sicklers were seen as "ogbanjes". Evil spirits in human form who want to die young so they can return to their spiritual homes after tormenting their parents. Now we know it's genetically transmitted.

There was a time when advanced schizophrenia ("madness" was sysnonymous with demon possession. Now it's known to be a treatable disease that responds well to certain drugs. Do demons respond to drugs?

In the same way, as science grows to understand the brain better, sleep paralysis will be better understood than it is now. The brain is complicated; what you think you're experiencing may simply be a form of neurosis.

A patient in my friend's hospital in Lagos had similar experience. He swore he he was wide awake but saw the black robed being. He being a Muslim said he sent the being away by proclaiming Lailaa ila Lau. The nurses testified they heared when the man was shouting Lailaa ila lau but were too afraid as it was in the middle of the night to go to his ward.

I had a dream that i have narrated on another thread before somehow similar. Science my coin a name for such things but the fact is that they do happen. Malaria is a fact, so also sickle cell and all the others that have been fully diagnosed but that did not mean they are not real to the sufferer.

Even highly diagnosed diseases have been known to be cured by prayers or what you may call natural healing even in the face of resignation by medical experts.

Nwoke:

My name is Nwoke.

has nairaland been sold? where is nwoke then or why the change in name.
because your profile and post is seu.nwoke's
so the

diz strnge ins hv hpend to me in mo diensions than i can undestnd.hv had it bad and hrd in almst all dinsions.bt thnkfulli hv stpd ryin 2 undrstnd. now ijst pray.

diyobdw:

Nwoke link=topic=10840.msg300305#msg300305 date=1145456388:

My name is Nwoke.

has nairaland been sold? where is seun then or why the change in name.
because your profile and post is seun's
so the

I hope no one thinks I'm holding a political or advertizer's romance with the administrator, but if he wishes to be called Nwoke, that shouldn't be strange enough to generate another thread on its own ké.

He's made it clear - he's not selling anything: he wants to be called Nwoke which is a very patriotic one for that matter - so shall it be.

As 4 mi, i remain yours truly,
4get_me.

hmmm,

4get_me:

I hope no one thinks I'm holding a political or advertizer's romance with the administrator, but if he wishes to be called Nwoke,

do i hear some , Conscience?
Whateva!!
S.eun nwoke _{your followership seem strong}
back to the topic please,

conscience? hmmmmn! i wonder. could it be him?

These things might sound fony to someone who hasnt been 'pressed' before but i tell you, they do happen.

I remember as a child my sister once found long scars on my back like those of finger nails ( I did not keep long nails).

Later on, even when i just recieved Christ i experienced this pressing thing a few times.

But now, no demon in his right mind will come near my room. I will even be offended to hear it happened to someone in my environment.

I remember one night while serving (NYSC) in the Northern part if Nigeria, a dark figure, like a shadow approached my window. As it did, you could actually sense a very evil presence approaching.

All i did was sit up on my bed and say, "GET OUT!!" with a loud voice and it disappeared immediately.

You know, these spirit beings can't press you when you are on fire for God and when the light of God's Word shines in your spirit.

Ensure that you are not cold. Ensure that you are in the army, doing the work of the kingdom.

Ensure that your life is a burning fire at all times. Be full of the Spirit.

Study God's Word, speak it aloud to yourself and pray in tongues always.

Do not give devils undue attention, for they have been defeated. Do not even spend time at night praying against them either for they have been paralysed.

The bible says you are seated with christ far above all principality and power and every name that is named. In heaven, on earth and under the earth.

All you need do is say, "Get out!" knowing who you are and your position in Christ and satan will flee. No need for sleepless nights of prayer against demons.

Through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

@ Donnie Darko

You should really go to Hollywood writing horror movie scripts You are wasted here on this forum!

It amazes me that even in the year 2006 people still beleive in this mumbo Jumbo, Oh well, that's Africa I suppose. I have to go now and drink my cup of powdered Rhino horn!

Cases of people feeling as if they are being pressed can't be explained through scientifica research. I wish those scientists can explain why people, on waking up will find marks on their body. The most annoying ones are the Nigerian scientists whose mind vacillates between oyinbo medicine and African medicine. Some of them are hypocrites, they will try to explain that these phenomena is as a result of too much thinking, but under the darkness of the night, they are flocking to babalawos and other inglorious places for protection.

If that evil spirit attempts to press you, rebuke it in the Blood of Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus Christ died for you and me and the Human race, so satan and his angels have no dominion over you.

People with bad dreams waking up with injuries on their bodies? Alas, I am not a doctor, but I assume that someone who is having a bad dream might be thrashing about on the bed and get injured that way. In a hostel situation, it might be a cruel prank played upon that person at night by fellow students in the same room.

It's called Night time paralysis.

During your sleep at one point your muscles completely still so if you wake up at that time-you can't move. if you do-go back to sleep and you'll be fine in the morning. it's not religious.

What about those who went to bed and woke up to find that they are paralysed, or even those who never lived afterwards to tell the story

Oh humans, do you know that there are those who claim that Lazurus who was dead for 4 days, whom Jesus raised from the dead according to the scriptures, did not really die and that he was in a state of coma?

If you this post had come sometime before I personally experienced it,It could have been explained away by some o the very 'intellectual' respose we have seen so far.I think all these non aknowledgement of spiritual reality is at the heart of some of the conflicts we have on this forum.There are people who will gladly scoff and ridicule the entire concept of a Spiritual God and in addition try to explain everything away with the closest semblance to science.'Paralysis' 'eating too much cheese'(Na wa O!) Even people who are African,who know and see the fact that there is a spirital in our midst!!Oh,it is so very modern to deny all this as the rantings of uninformed people.

Well, I have had this same experience too.I had several times over.For me,I knew from those who had beem deleivered fro such problems and from redaing the Bible that it was the name of Jesus that I had to call.But it was always so difficult to call that name.It was like a struggl;e but when i managed to call it,the 'holding down' stopped.

It was a book y Derek Prince that helped.It was on Spiritual warfare.And it thought that I had to meditate on the word of Bible to get into my spirit(yes, man has a spirit).I did that for days;meditating on Colossians 2:15.When next the experience happened in my dream,I had total and full control and I 'knew' that I would not have problems calling the name of Jesus.Since then,I have not had that experience again.I am totrally free of fear of spiritual attack of any kind.

If you are redaing this, I do not want to get to a point of arguing an encounterv i had with you bt listen to me:THERE IS A SPIRITUAL.It is the reason why I stopped pretending to be an atheist!

You can laugh this off! But if there comes a time in your life when you come face to face wity any nof this challenges,remember that there wont be time for you joke around looking for the opinion that best suits a forum's poplarity ratings or the moist academically astute presentations.It is a matter of life and death!!Why do you think that there is sudden interest in New age religions?A fad? Your heart creaves for your spiritual identity.What Christ talked about is that I understand this dimension,let me walk you through it.

If you do not remember anything I have written here,remember this:when the time comes for you to confront a spiritual experience-and everyone of us will at some point- you had better be connected to the highest power out there.There is aname that is known by all powers and all beings that we cant see and it is the name of Jesus.

For further reading, go throgh the book of Ephesians.If you find the language of the KJV Bible too old, read any of the contemporary version like the message Bible.I dont mean to sacre you but your life may depend on this!

So sorry for the typos.Had to type in such state to respond;forgot to check my spellings!

Hi Charlisco, what you've  experienced is called CA-TAPLEXY

http://www.narcolepsy.org.uk/narcolepsy/cataplexy/attacks/show_page

A friend of mine has an attack once a month or twice.She fell at work one day and co-workers taught she was dead because they couldn't detect any pulse.She gets the feeling of something or someone been in her bedroom and pressing her down as she sleeps.Its quite scary.

@ Gidig

you had better be connected to the highest power out there.

I have called the Electricity company and they have agreed to connect my bedroom to the National Electricity grid. I will have 350,000 Volts of power. That is the highest available. Now if I am compressed in my sleep, I am going to fry the person who is compressing me

@ Reverend

You stated an inconsistency again. The highest power available is actually 873 000 volts. You can contact either the Russian utility company for that, or some states in the US. In the UK unfortunatel, it seems to be just 330 000 volts.

As for being Pressed, I have experienced it, and like Nuru said, I screamed Authubillah minash shaitani Rajeem and the episode seemed to disappear. But I do not disbelieve that it is sleep paralysis. I actually concur with those who have carried out research on the topic. My screaming 'I seek refuge in God against the accursed Satan'only helped trigger the conscious part of my brain into action, and thus it restored my muscular movements. But I guess I was still in a state of half-sleep, as I relapsed back to sleep,. But when I woke up, I could see it all vividly. Now being religious, the tendency would be to think that I was under attack spiritually. But having done research on it, I have concluded that it can only be sleep paralysis. But it is good to be religious so that whatever you say will bring your brain back to life. Some people become paralysed or even die from it because they didn't have the correct signals to wake the part of the brain responsible.

However, I got advice for all those people who are deeply religious, as one of my facilitators at Lagos Business School said, believe that only intraeneous factors are responsible for your success as a human being. The moment you start believing that extraeneous  factors play a part in your success, you would have been held captive as a victim of your own circumstances.

Dont believe in it.