What's your opinion on stories like this? (Demons)

[JonathanClement]

" And once when I was a child there was this Green dragon that kind of looked like petey the dragon from the movie and it was talking to me all sweet at first and then started to get violent, but it disappeared, it didn't hurt me. Well, I found out later in my life when I was 20 that the same green dragon appeared to my sister as a child and she said that the green dragon was trying to get her to deny Jesus Christ. Hmmm? trying to get her to deny Jesus.....strange isn't? not really, Demonic spirits always attack children. My sister was even kept from sleeping as a child by little flying demons with red eyes that would never let her sleep, I mean what is that! I wasn't dreaming and neither was my sister. And I have still been attacked and tormented by demonic spirits even as an Adult. My aunt was attacked by the same demonic spirit that tried to choke me except she was asleep and she felt something choking her and when she woke up there was this dark figure with huge hands around her neck physically choking her and she barely said " I rubuke you in the name of Jesus" and the spirit screamed and disappeared."

What's with these stories of "demons" from Christians all the time?

Is there an explanation for this? How is it that two people have experienced the same hallucination?

[badnewsBH]

My first thought is, why does there need to be an explanation? This is a story with no corroborating evidence, so we have no reason to believe it happened.

To answer the original question, though, you could go with basic hallucinations, dreams, sleep paralysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis), and a host of others, I imagine.

Or, you could say the guy made it up and leave it at that. :p

[Safe-Keeper]

Yes - this is what skipping English classes do to a soul... oh, you mean the anecdote itself?

Seeing at least some of all this weird stuff happened while the girl was trying to sleep, I say it's a case of sleep paralysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis), coupled with a child's imagination and perhaps a generous dose of making stuff up out of whole cloth.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

How is it that two people have experienced the same hallucination?
Because they are brother and sister and they talk to each other.

~~ Paul

[JonathanClement]

Because they are brother and sister and they talk to each other.

~~ Paul

But he said he didn't find it out until he was 20.

[Kevin_Lowe]

It wouldn't surprise me if they were both exposed to some scary picture of a green dragon, possibly on the cover of a book in their house or in a place they visited.

[Safe-Keeper]

It wouldn't surprise me if they were both exposed to some scary picture of a green dragon, possibly on the cover of a book in their house or in a place they visited.Exactly. Take two little children to a screening of Alien. There's a chance they'll both have nightmares about... aliens.

[thought_fugitive]

But he said he didn't find it out until he was 20.

The human brain isn't perfect, if they were really young they might not have a very strong memory of what they said to each other, especially considering this might have been a psychologically confusing moment.

Also, since they were both young and they both apparently experienced this thing that "kind of looked like petey the dragon from the movie" it's possible they saw a movie that gave them nightmares.

[SezMe]

It wouldn't surprise me if they were both exposed to some scary picture of a green dragon, possibly on the cover of a book in their house or in a place they visited.
First line of the quote mentions a movie.

ETA: fugitive beat me to it.

[Dancing David]

" And once when I was a child there was this Green dragon that kind of looked like petey the dragon from the movie and it was talking to me all sweet at first and then started to get violent, but it disappeared, it didn't hurt me. Well, I found out later in my life when I was 20 that the same green dragon appeared to my sister as a child and she said that the green dragon was trying to get her to deny Jesus Christ. Hmmm? trying to get her to deny Jesus.....strange isn't? not really, Demonic spirits always attack children. My sister was even kept from sleeping as a child by little flying demons with red eyes that would never let her sleep, I mean what is that! I wasn't dreaming and neither was my sister. And I have still been attacked and tormented by demonic spirits even as an Adult. My aunt was attacked by the same demonic spirit that tried to choke me except she was asleep and she felt something choking her and when she woke up there was this dark figure with huge hands around her neck physically choking her and she barely said " I rubuke you in the name of Jesus" and the spirit screamed and disappeared."

What's with these stories of "demons" from Christians all the time?

Is there an explanation for this? How is it that two people have experienced the same hallucination?

two crazy people say similar things but have different experiences.

one crazy person uses cherry picking to support the argument.

[kedo1981]

They make up lies and nonsense as a way of self aggrandizing, which is of course all that Christianity really is “my best friend is the creator of the universe”.

[Pure Argent]

" And once when I was a child there was this Green dragon that kind of looked like petey the dragon from the movie and it was talking to me all sweet at first and then started to get violent, but it disappeared, it didn't hurt me. Well, I found out later in my life when I was 20 that the same green dragon appeared to my sister as a child and she said that the green dragon was trying to get her to deny Jesus Christ. Hmmm? trying to get her to deny Jesus.....strange isn't? not really, Demonic spirits always attack children. My sister was even kept from sleeping as a child by little flying demons with red eyes that would never let her sleep, I mean what is that! I wasn't dreaming and neither was my sister. And I have still been attacked and tormented by demonic spirits even as an Adult. My aunt was attacked by the same demonic spirit that tried to choke me except she was asleep and she felt something choking her and when she woke up there was this dark figure with huge hands around her neck physically choking her and she barely said " I rubuke you in the name of Jesus" and the spirit screamed and disappeared."

What's with these stories of "demons" from Christians all the time?

Is there an explanation for this? How is it that two people have experienced the same hallucination?

Both were exposed to nightmare-inducing pictures, movies, stories, etc. They later had nightmares that this thing was attacking them. Maybe one or two of the nightmares had this thing cast in the role of Satan. Later on, they talked about their somewhat-similar nightmares, failed to realize what had actually happened, and took it as proof that Satan was real and, by proxy, so was Jesus. Then they started seeing this everywhere as a way of self-affirming their childish theory.

That, or it's just bunk. The aunt part supports this option. She was being choked and still managed to say a complete sentence? Come on, people.

[Elizabeth I]

That, or it's just bunk. The aunt part supports this option. She was being choked and still managed to say a complete sentence? Come on, people.

Hey, Desdemona was suffocated and still managed to deliver a deathbed speech. :p

[Pure Argent]

Hey, Desdemona was suffocated and still managed to deliver a deathbed speech. :p

Point taken. :cs:

[SusanB-M1]

It wouldn't surprise me if they were both exposed to some scary picture of a green dragon, possibly on the cover of a book in their house or in a place they visited.
And had probably heard (or overheard) the Aunt's story.

[Fiona]

Whole family is suffering witches to live: Heretics, the lot of them!!

[Moss]

This whole episode is a somewhat indirect argument for the fragility of the psyche of children. not that that is shocking news, but hey... ;)

[Brian-M]

" And once when I was a child there was this Green dragon that kind of looked like petey the dragon from the movie and it was talking to me all sweet at first and then started to get violent, but it disappeared, it didn't hurt me.


My aunt was attacked by the same demonic spirit that tried to choke me except she was asleep and she felt something choking her and when she woke up there was this dark figure with huge hands around her neck physically choking her and she barely said " I rubuke you in the name of Jesus" and the spirit screamed and disappeared."


So... the kid was pestered by a green dragon, and the aunt was choked by a dark figure. Why assume they're the same "demon"?

[Soapy Sam]

Sleep is not an all-or-nothing state. It is impossible for anyone to know for certain that he is asleep. The sort of dreams which occur when one is just falling asleep or just waking are easily confused with reality.
There have been several threads on the subject of sleep paralysis in the past here, other googlable topics are "hypnogogic or hypnopompic dreams"
A huge percentage of ghost / bogle/ monster apparitions are explicable by this sort of part-conscious dreaming. The similarity of the experience merely underlines the point that most human brains are built along very similar lines- and so, it seems are most human minds.
Similar content probably reflects similar experience- shared book or tv programs. I was regularly chased in childhood dreams by one of the locomotives from the "Thomas the Tank Engine" stories, which I suppose I saw illustrated on a book. The first time I recall being sure I dreamed in colour , was in a dream featuring a green dragon breathing red and yellow fire. Straight out of a comic.

[Epok]

I had a hypnopompic dream before. It seemed like some little kid run running back and forth at me screaming and it seemed very real. I could actually hear it. If it wasn't for this website I would have thought it was real and not even realized that I could just shake my head and snap myself out of it. If I had been less informed then I might have thought it was a ghost or a demon.

[Beerina]

two crazy people say similar things but have different experiences.

one crazy person uses cherry picking to support the argument.


What are the odds that any two random people had a nasty dragon dream, and that the dragons were "green"? Not many other types aside from the famed Red Dragon.

One dreams of some cartoony dragon from childhood who's all bright green, the other of some more realistic one that had a dark taupe-ish patch that might be considered green-esque. Assuming he really agreed it was green.

[Cainkane1]

" And once when I was a child there was this Green dragon that kind of looked like petey the dragon from the movie and it was talking to me all sweet at first and then started to get violent, but it disappeared, it didn't hurt me. Well, I found out later in my life when I was 20 that the same green dragon appeared to my sister as a child and she said that the green dragon was trying to get her to deny Jesus Christ. Hmmm? trying to get her to deny Jesus.....strange isn't? not really, Demonic spirits always attack children. My sister was even kept from sleeping as a child by little flying demons with red eyes that would never let her sleep, I mean what is that! I wasn't dreaming and neither was my sister. And I have still been attacked and tormented by demonic spirits even as an Adult. My aunt was attacked by the same demonic spirit that tried to choke me except she was asleep and she felt something choking her and when she woke up there was this dark figure with huge hands around her neck physically choking her and she barely said " I rubuke you in the name of Jesus" and the spirit screamed and disappeared."

What's with these stories of "demons" from Christians all the time?

Is there an explanation for this? How is it that two people have experienced the same hallucination?
You and your sister heard the same stories and since the tendency to hallucinate may be genetic this may explain why both you and your sister shared a similar hallucination.

[joobz]

I remember when I was a kid, we had a halloween party at school (1st grade). A woman came dressed as the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz. She freaked me out and I remember (quite vividly) dreaming she came back to my house to "get me". I was convinced for several years that it wasn't a dream.

Until, later when I was 8-9, I had a terrible fever and dreamt that I was a helicopter being shot down. I could feel the bullets hitting my hull. I realized then that "Wow, dreams can really fell real"...

[MG1962]

You see a very similar phenomena with UFO encounters. In the 60's ET came in every shape form and colour. However once Close Encounters came out, the greys are by far the dominate description

[kedo1981]

There is a funny segment in the Bill Maher movie “Religioles (sic)” where he’s interviewing the truckers at the mobile church, one guy tells Maher “I was a pimp and drug dealer before Jebus turn me around”
You hear these stories from the thumpers and they are never just normal people who decide to embrace Christianity but must be baby killers and prostitutes and thieves and the worst “evolutionist”.
It’s just self aggrandizing, more proof that religion in general and Christianity in particular is only a way for small minds to massage their own egos .

[Marduk]

clearly both the brother and sister saw this
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076538/
and then connected it to christian mythology

so I'm guessing they both went to sunday school and the teacher told them that dragons were not funny like the movie they saw but were satan spawn and would try to steal their souls, obviously the teacher didnt tell them that dragons are supposed to be red, she also didn't tell them that dragons being described as red was originally a description of their temperment and not their colour

seems pretty simple to explain
;)

[MG1962]

There is a funny segment in the Bill Maher movie “Religioles (sic)” where he’s interviewing the truckers at the mobile church, one guy tells Maher “I was a pimp and drug dealer before Jebus turn me around”
You hear these stories from the thumpers and they are never just normal people who decide to embrace Christianity but must be baby killers and prostitutes and thieves and the worst “evolutionist”.
It’s just self aggrandizing, more proof that religion in general and Christianity in particular is only a way for small minds to massage their own egos .

Or maybe it is someone trying to find something entertaining to film. Would you watch a film about people who have no story to tell. I also find it interesting that because the media does not show them, you assume they must not exist

[MG1962]

clearly both the brother and sister saw this
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076538/
and then connected it to christian mythology

so I'm guessing they both went to sunday school and the teacher told them that dragons were not funny like the movie they saw but were satan spawn and would try to steal their souls, obviously the teacher didnt tell them that dragons are supposed to be red, she also didn't tell them that dragons being described as red was originally a description of their temperment and not their colour

seems pretty simple to explain
;)

Yeah just add enough guesses and assumptions to any problem and they are easy to explain

[Marduk]

Yeah just add enough guesses and assumptions to any problem and they are easy to explain

how is any of that an assumption
1. they described the dragon as looking like petes dragon from the film
2. they had been subjected to religious education as children

not rocket science is it
:rolleyes:

[MG1962]

how is any of that an assumption
1. they described the dragon as looking like petes dragon from the film
2. they had been subjected to religious education as children

not rocket science is it
:rolleyes:

From your post

so I'm guessing they both went to sunday school and the teacher told them that dragons were not funny like the movie they saw but were satan spawn and would try to steal their souls, obviously the teacher didnt tell them that dragons are supposed to be red, she also didn't tell them that dragons being described as red was originally a description of their temperment and not their colour

I highlighted the section based purely on your guesses and assumptions. You have no knowledge of these people, no knowledge of their history, yet presume to stitch together a whole senario of why they think what they do. Then declare you have the answer

[FreshHat]

clearly both the brother and sister saw this
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076538/


Wow, that's one flabby dragon!

[Marduk]

green dragon appeared to my sister as a child and she said that the green dragon was trying to get her to deny Jesus Christ
so youre saying that children are born with a knowledge of jesus now

[Vortigern99]

Hallucination, sleep paralysis including hypnagogic hallucinations, confirmation bias, and shared delusions are all known, documented and studied phenomena of the human mind.

Two siblings, with shared, lifelong exposure to the same imagery, theology and iconography from a young age, report having similar hallucinations based on these stimuli.

Where exactly is the mystery? :confused:

[MG1962]

Hallucination, sleep paralysis including hypnagogic hallucinations, confirmation bias, and shared delusions are all known, documented and studied phenomena of the human mind.

Two siblings, with shared, lifelong exposure to the same imagery, theology and iconography from a young age, report having similar hallucinations based on these stimuli.

Where exactly is the mystery? :confused:

There can be other issues as well. My ex along with two of her sisters were haunted by such images. A further 2 brothers and sister never had such visions. The root cause was unresolved issues from their childhood, specifically the death of three brothers, one with extreme mental health issues. None of the girls knew the others were suffering this until years after the episodes ended. In my ex wifes case, a visit to her GP and counciling eased the emotional stress to the point that they no longer appear.

She was interesting because she saw the image (A goats head with burning eyes) Both awake and asleep. I was present for one of those momments, and I can assure you it is nothing you want to ever experience.

[MikeSun5]

Both were exposed to nightmare-inducing pictures, movies, stories, etc. They later had nightmares that this thing was attacking them. Maybe one or two of the nightmares had this thing cast in the role of Satan. Later on, they talked about their somewhat-similar nightmares, failed to realize what had actually happened, and took it as proof that Satan was real and, by proxy, so was Jesus. Then they started seeing this everywhere as a way of self-affirming their childish theory.

I'm going with this theory. The OP people already admit the dragon looked like the one from the kids story, so there you go. The rest was probably just "remembered" experiences after plenty of conversation between the two.

My kid brother was tormented by a boogey man or some zombie thing when he was young. This thing would show up here and there and scare the hell out of him. To my brother, this monster was very real. It wasn't until he was out of high school when we wound up rewatching Ghostbusters. Remember the scene when all the ghosts get out and there was a shot of some decomposing skeleton dude driving a cab? That was the monster that had scared him for so long. Somehow after seeing the movie, his conscious mind had forgotten about it, but his subconscious remained fixated on the only thing he found scary. That fear obviously manifested itself later. (he says that part still gives him the creeps)

I'm pretty sure that's what happened in the OP story. Give us two people being tormented by the same demon simultaneously in different buildings. If their descriptions are identical, then we might have something...

[Dancing David]

What are the odds that any two random people had a nasty dragon dream, and that the dragons were "green"? Not many other types aside from the famed Red Dragon.

One dreams of some cartoony dragon from childhood who's all bright green, the other of some more realistic one that had a dark taupe-ish patch that might be considered green-esque. Assuming he really agreed it was green.

The second person does not state that the other person was attacked by a green dragon... they assume it is the same spirit.


My aunt was attacked by the same demonic spirit that tried to choke me except she was asleep and she felt something choking her and when she woke up there was this dark figure with huge hands around her neck physically