Shadow People

Several times when I was sleeping and just about to wake up, there would be two shadows next to my bed. I'd hear them say: "C'mon, let’s go. She's about to wake up. We have to go." Moments later, I'd be fully awake and there would be no one but me inside of the bedroom.

Source: pixabay.com

Shadow people are known as shadowy apparitions of a humanoid figure usually encountered either during the night often in a state of sleep paralysis or in the peripheries of our vision. They are described as humanoid shadows without any facial features whose height varies from a shadow of a child to them being as tall as the ceiling. Encounters with these apparitions probably exist since there were people and there have been numerous reports about them thought the history. However, they seem to be more talked about today. The reason for it might be simple; we live in a lot more open-minded age with the access to the internet which are two basic factors for talking about the unknown and quickly sharing it.

GOOD OR BAD?

While some report shadow people seemed to be friendly and even describe them as a type of a guardian others claim that these creatures are not friendly at all but rather quite sinister. Furthermore, some believe that the taller the shadow, the more sinister it is. However, there are reports of child-like shadows described as equally terrifying. From my experience, shadow person didn't cause me to think it was friendly nor it frightened me; it seemed to just be there.  Therefore, I believe our feelings are our best guides when it comes to shadow people. 

THE HAT MAN

Source: http://www.micahackerman.com/

The Hat Man is believed to be a type of a shadow person who can be recognized by wearing a hat. Unlike other shadowy apparition, this one seems to always be of a sinister nature (if anyone had a positive encounter with the Hat Man, I'd really like to hear so feel free to let me know!) Sometimes, the Hat Man is described to have eyes; often their eyes seem to glow in reddish or bluish tone. The Hat Man usually appears when a person is going through a very stressful time. Therefore, positive mindset is very important when it comes to paranormal (and probably every other aspect of life). 

SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS

Science explains this phenomenon as "the old hag syndrome" or sometimes called "the night hag syndrome".  In the state between sleeping and waking up, people experience sleep paralysis and powerful hallucinations. Sleep paralysis is the result of a mechanism in which our body is unable to move during sleep to avoid possible injuries. Sometimes our mind wakes up before our body which causes us to be unable to move. Moreover, it is believed that during that period, a part of our mind still continues to dream while our consciousness is awake therefore resulting in consciously seeing different apparitions. Many of the experiences don't necessarily fit under the old hag syndrome therefore still leaving it open for an interpretation. Like with the majority of paranormal phenomena, science just stops at one point. However, fortunately, in modern dy and age scientists are at least trying to figure it out instead of just labeling it as a lie, evil or crazy. 

PARANORMAL PHENOMENA

So, what could it be from the paranormal perspective? Well, the internet is full of different theories. Some believe shadow people could be ghosts. I believe theshadow person I encountered at one point in my life was a spirit; you can read about it here. Others argue that the shadow people are completely different entities from ghosts or, for that matter, that they are separate from any other paranormal entities. There are theories they could be of a demonic nature because of the terror or fear one could experience during the encounter. However, others claim that the spirit might have the ability to cause these feelings as well. Another theory proposes shadow people could be extra terrestrials considering that the majority of the alleged abductions happen during the hypogognic state. Some even claim shadow people are what people look like while astral traveling. An interesting theory is the one suggesting these shadowy apparitions are thought forms. If we were to invest a good amount of energy into a certain taught, some believe it could take a form of its own. While this is very often the reason for hauntings, many believe shadow people don’t fit under that category. As with majority of paranormal phenomenon, there are many different suggestions and theories of which none are firm and solid. As I said before, we should follow our intuition when it comes to paranormal and shadow people are not an exception. Therefore, try to come up with your own conclusion to you own specific situation. What do you think what the thing you saw was?

Thanks for a read!

SOURCES:

http://liparanormalinvestigators.com/lipi_shadows.shtml

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_person

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis