athough understandably frightening & often described as an "evil attack", what you've described sounds like sleep paralysis:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
www.radionetherlands.nl/featur...41119vh
www.wikihow.com/Cope-With-...p-Paralysis
www.metafilter.com/37264/Sleep-paralysis

So, although I haven't personally experienced this, it does seem to be one of the more commonly reported & studied sleep phenomena. I have never heard of these attacks getting any worse or causing any lasting physical harm.

Although I do think the scientific explainations are valid & helpful, I have also heard that this type of thing happens more to people who are just starting to astral travel during sleep & explore some of their own latent psychic awareness. The unpleasant feelings being a result of the awkward un/subconscious experimentation with something new & as one gets more experienced with things like astral travel & expanded awareness/consciousness, the transitions get easier & smoother. This is just a theory that I've heard, but it does make sense that as with anything new, gracefulness take practice.

I do have personal experience with my own unexpected *psychic awakening* that disrupted my daily life with strange, uncontrollable sensations that were often shocking & disturbing until I adjusted/settled into these new perceptions. I see now that most of my frightening visions were more a result of my unease & discomfort with a psychic reality that I had previously suppressed & ignored, rather than actual warnings of danger.

I do think that prayer to your deity of choice is helpful & I don't doubt that we are all constantly surrounded by many entities of all persuasions, but I doubt that these attacks can harm you, unless you allow the fear to overwhelm you & rule your life, which is never recommended.

hope this helps!

love all-ways,
mem

I am so sorry you went through that. I am not there so it is hard to say what actually happened but what I can say is praying is a good thing because you believe in it...no matter what the cause is if you are in a scary situation and you believe in what you are doing will free you (so to speak) then it will. What the first responder to your post said could be the case. So check into it and see if it resonates with you. I find in my work and I have some clients that tell me about feeling negative energies....what I tell them is they only have the power you give them. They can scare but once you stand in your faith/your power which is light they cannot hang out. If you are nothing but light and project light then shadow has no where to go. Don't imagine barriers or walls...things can stick to that just picture yourself being light and the room filling with light with your prayers as pure light and you will be safe and feel peace.

Hope this helps...Peace and Light...Gabriela

hi there--
i hear ya with those night attacks, i've been attacked like that too.....for me it was an agenda of a very pissed off spirit....very pissed off, and i was open....sleeping can leave a person vulnerable.....
perhaps you did or said something to someone....or not---it's hard to say---there are also wandering spirits...........i've experienced this kind of stuff many times.....
praying helps some--but the spirit world can be stronger than just that.....
our ancestors are supposed to protect us while awake and asleep, but if they (which also means you) are in a weakened state, they may not be strong enough to fend off certain dark spirits....
it's important to do some form of energy training that strengthens one's spirit/mind, but also some form of work with the ancestors so that they are not vulnerable either
perhaps it sounds wacky, but i know no other way to address it. the spirit world is powerful and we in the modern world have lost (but are regaining slowly) the importance of respecting the ancestors---our own as well as others'---we've also lost the importance (but are regaining) the importance of self cultivation/self awareness. these 2 things will help to brighten onesself and one's ancestral energy so that the frequency of one's spirit becomes untouchable by the kind of dark spirits yo're talking about.
I hope you are able to be free of this kind of dark stuff...
that raven pic you have is telling....the raven and crow are messengers of the spirit world....i have seen them carry messages of the darker spirits...not really the bright ones....but that's my experience...
-a-

my friend told me a story similar to yours. he said he saw someone on top of him and sitting on his chest so he couldnt move his arms or get up. About a couple of months after I also experienced it. It's very tricky, I am really not sure if it was a dream or not.. but since u are still half a sleep u arent sure if there was an entity on top of u holding u down. Anyway I never experienced anything like it before or since. But I have to say sleep paralysis sounds like a possiblity as well. I can't tell u if this stuff is real or not. I want to believe in ghosts but I also am skeptical. BUT my friend also said his brother was next to him when this happened and he described the person on top of my friend to him years later. His description matched what he saw. His brother didnt do anything cause he said he was too scared at the time.

i feel your terror i had the same kind of experience.it was a nite terror,but something made it happen,with me i was wracked with guilt over something i did.so what state of mind are you in?try and resolve your feelings.good luck.

I have had an attachment removed which was on its way to taking me over!! Have you got one!! A Shaman will be the best.It did it for me and I work as a medium in a paranormal group but the Attachment had been with me for over 17YRS AND IS BROUGHT ON BY LOWERING OF OUR DEFENCES IN A TIME OF GREAT STRESS OR ILLNESS. Mine was attached to me as I moved into the house .
I cant begin to say how I feel now. JOY JOY AND A LIFE TO LIVE. Good Luck ands get in contact if personal help needed. AMY XXXX