Holy crap! How'd I miss this thread? (probly was on vacation...) I have so much to say.. to everyone. Bear with me. i'm gonna go thru the list, so Golden I might respond to you twice....
Golden & Z: I am addressing both, as they kinda blend together, my answer does at least. Yes I have had experiences in my dreams. I dream as if I were awake. I see in full color, think like normal, smell, taste, feel, and anything else i may have left out here. Heck in my dreams I can also breathe underwater.
(ALWAYS can breathe underwater) I have had my experiences with the devil.. tho that particular experience I wasn't sleeping, I was fulling awake when I entered another plane of existance.. one that parrallels ours. (isn't funny how even in D&D, that the Astral plane parrallels ours in time and space?
) But thru that experience, My entire body was shaking, and most violently I might add. A friend explained to me that that is an evil spirit trying to get inside of you... to control you. As for your humanoid dark shapes? I'll get to that soon, as someone elses post is most similar to an experience of mine.
Also
Sleep Paralysis, this is the distrubing part. It takes a shitload of analyzation to figure out when it hits you or not. I remember checking out a site that held its symptoms, and I didn't exactly fit. The only one that fit well was me not knowing if I was awake or not, and that well.. i couldn't move my body. But there was a LOT more to it. First off, I remember the WHOLE episode, thats not common, some people will, but it simply isn't a common thing. Past that, It only happened to me when I rolled onto my back... I still don't know the significance, but when I wake up on my back, my hands are crossed over my chest EVERY time. Much like what you see when someone is in a coffin... freaky eh? There are a few other things, and I'll get to that soon.
Z: Oh I almost forgot to add! The paralysis and another reality.. Yeah perhaps its just a way for our spirit to wander a bit.. our body is in place, but our spirit wanders. I mean what is our body with out our spirit/mind (they are one in the same .. in not they are forever linked)? Nothing but a shell.. an empty shell. Our body is what a space suit is to astronauts. So maybe its not moving, because our spirit is kinda leaving to go forth. I mean, in the other plane of reality.. out body isn't something that is needed, only our spirit.. So think about that.. and paralysis kinda makes some sense. sometimes when we still are "dreaming" in bed and are paralyzed.. we're merely looking intothe realm, or our room has become the doorway, so we're kinda there but kinda not, which adds to our confusion. Lots to think about. And again like you said Z, you gotta figure out what is real and what is fake. Its tough, but fun for me to analyze.
MacGnG: Heh heh, personally I think you've just read WAY too much Calvin & Hobbes, and you can't disagree with that much.
But past that I mean, look at your dream. you were brushing your teeth, then you ate some fruit... (sounds like calvin).. then you hopping around on one foot.. (CalvinBall Anyone?
) I just thought I'd give you my two cents
Iktoweya!!!: Amazing how much you said with such a little post. See, remember what I was talking bout earlier? My sleep paralysis dream? yeah... See what it was.. is a Dark Humoin entered my room. It was a HUGE BULKY(as in muscles) monster/human thing, it was black, but translucent.. and it had obvious red eyes. Althought my room was dark.. I could see fine, as if my contacts were in. (looking into another plane of reality are we?) I am a firm believe in God, angels.. both good and bad. Oh and to point out, This dream happened to me continously for over at least a month.. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT (not common for PS).. It probably went on for more than a month.. I just lost count after it happened that many times.
Also, I was in a bad depression (as I later found out).. I had lost my entire identity and no longer even knew who I was.. I started to doubt everything.. me, my life, God.... I could NOT scream.. I'd try but nothing happened. Now this kinda sounds like some sort of demon attacked me doesn't it? Sure sounds like the prime time to attack. Well then went of for a long time. "He" would enter my room and laugh at me and make fun of me (pertaining to that which started my depression) and overall making me feel more and more helpless, putting me into a bigger and bigger depression. I still went the church, and learned a few things from my preist (born and raised catholic) that helped me through my depression. But whats the final part to this 'dream'? What happened to finally make them stop? One night I just gave up on trying to yell for help, rather I looked right into its eyes and spoke back! I professed my faith to that demon better than I ever could do again. I saw fear in its eyes, and it ran away, never to haunt me again. I remember saying something about "no matter what happens, God will always be at my side..." and then kinda pointing out that if he tries to do anything he'll have to go through both of us, and that since God was there.. I really had nothing to fear. Amazing huh?
Patrenka: Yeah speaking about and to god for help are great ways to help. But I don't believe he is the only help. He is the Nuke in the arsenal.
But friends with a high faith can help you to pounce them. In fact, some individuals have the spiritual fighting prowess in them.. and can take demons down on their own. Risky Business, but some spirits just have the make up of warriors.... one man armies, even. (imagine a group of those people.. WOW!) They didn't really destroy them, as when you think about it.. Destroying doesn't help.. he needs the corrupted soul to succeed. If you still follow God and the devil kills you... you go to heaven.. this is why you don't see satan killing people left and right.. it doesn't help him one bit. But if you mean he was trying to corrupt him with evil.. if thats what you kinda meant with the destroying (seeing how he didn't die) then yeah I gotta agree with you.
No the other plan isn't really seperated. I believe it is in the same space as our plane, they kinda... co-exist on eachother. This would also help to explain why some of us can see spirits,.. or in my case feel them. I've never become one with my gaurdian, but I've faught along side her before. (a friend can see.. found out my gaurdian is a she, and very intellectual at that... and cunning). When you say you've experienced life as your spirit, do you mean in the spirit world? or what? I see our spirit as our mind.. so we're never really away from it. But our Guardian, they are beside us.. or at least somewhere near us.
I think i've had and Out of Body Experience, but it was really short. Its when I was (accidentally) Thwacked with an aluminum baseball bat knocking me out cold. I don't remember the events that lead up to when I wake up.. those memories are lies (thats another story), but I DO remember looking at myself about 15 feet away from my body... in the sky.... I feel that for that brief instance I was knocked from my body. Also when I fell.. I remember specifically being CAUGHT, before I hit the ground. My mind some reason says taht my sister caught me.. but she pitched the ball.... so how could she be behind me? I think thats just what my mind could make of it at the time. I saw my sister last as I fell, and I saw someone catch me....
GoldenOuroboros: Outside of dreams I've actually WALKED into the other plane. Specifically the area that holds HELL. Obviously this isn't something easily to believe.. I had problems believing myself,... and I went though it!!! But the whole experience... deserves its own topic, for now though... I did have the armour. MASSIVE armor.. I prayed for a solid 10 minutes... i think for armour armour armour. I say I think, because time simply does not EXIST in the other plane. Eternity... is when time is passing but not ending... and its terrible.. thats hell. But its not an eternity, as time passes (unless your in hell).. it just passes but it doesn't bother you a bit. I still had partial conciousness of THIS plane... and thats why it was confusing.. I was trying to relate the time of our world to that one.. where this really isn't any. So how long my whole experience was.. I simply cannot say... too confusing. But oh yeah, So I has the armour. I didn't need a sword or shield, as that wasn't my part in the battle. I prayed for half a dozen angels or so to help me out with that part. What I was doing was was freeing a friend from hell. Again.. I'll explain later at a later date. But After I had that armour.. I focused ALL of my energy upon him... Amazing stuff. The feeling of many angels around you.. guarding you..thats a cool feeling too. But I also have to agree, after having that.. I kinda fell in my faith too, and I'm still struggling to get back where I was.
Demons... I come across the all the time, but they are not inherently evil. I mean a demon is still an angel... a fallen angel.. but then again if they can breed, some would be born in hell wouldn't they? There are some I encounter a lot, either they live in my house, or its just a hangout. But Its funny, Once i stopped being scared of them, and treated them with the same respect as I give anyone else.... I got the same in return. They don't just scare me anymore or anything.. They just say "Hi" back to me. Its pretty cool. Though, on occation, they'll do something to freak me out... as a prank. this goes to my being able to "hear" spirits through "cold chills", and other types of feelings. (one time they did something, and i said back "Thats not funny guys" as I was overwhelmed with a feeling of "Oh yes it was!!" and tons of laughter after that... Again you don't have to believe me, but I'm not here to make stuff up.)
Also Golden, as i stated before i believe the Soul and the Mind are intertwined. I mean.. how much does your mind weigh? Your brain isn't your mind.. if it were, I'd be asking how much your brain weighed...
[k, upon preview this is long.. I'm not in the mood to proofread.. so just disregard any typoes I may have had.]