Attacked in my dreams?

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This may not be the forum for this, but here goes–

Last night I was sleeping on my belly and was close to waking up.

I dreamt of a young woman, not many years out of high school. She was fairly well-to-do, short, petite, with short hair. She had attended a private high school and had been asked to organize the school’s next dance.

She asked me if I would accompany her to the dance and also serve as a chaperone. The implication was that we were going as more than just friends but less than as a couple.

I also had some pre-dance responsibilities I was supposed to attend to as well.

A few days before the dance I was in a huge room–maybe a ballroom–trying to grab a nap. I was on a narrow bed on one side of the room, sleeping on my belly, though I was actually about half-awake. The band that had been hired for the dance was rehearsing across the room. I had met these guys and they seemed to like me okay. But I heard them talking, and for some reason these guys were speaking ill of Christians. They got really worked up and angry and one of them said I was a Christian.

Next I hear them crossing the room and three fists slam into the middle of my back simultaneously. It was very loud and the sound was quite realistic.

I woke up immediately, feeling I had indeed been hit in my back, and for a few seconds looked around the room, convinced someone had broken into my apartment and assaulted me. I immediately prayed for St. Michael, the Virgin, and Christ to come to my protection.

A friends’s interpretation was that I must feel I’m undergoing religious persecution (possibly from him, since he’s vocally anti-Catholic with me), or failing that, that my lousy diet is making chemical imbalances which are making for nightmares.

Last week I was drifting off in the morning and was almost fully asleep when I was awakened by the loud and clear voice of a man in his 20s or 30s saying, “Hmm.” I woke up and sat bolt upright, sure the apartment management had let themselves in and someone was commenting on the mess in my apartment. But no one was there.

And two nights ago I had all sorts of odd dreams. In one I was in a bedroom formerly occupied by my parents and felt I was under attack by demons. I heard all these spooky “Omen”-like chants in the background, and called for the protection of St.Michael. (I’m not one to think too much about demonic attack. I try not to be paranoid.)

I hope I don’t sound like a wacko here. I went through a long period of deep depression, stress, and anxiety and just got back into serious religious practice again recently, though I’ve still not shaken off certain habitual sins and am at this writing in a state of mortal sin. But I’ve been devoting about two to three hours or more a day to my prayers, devotions, Bible reading, rosary, Divine Mercy chaplet, etc.

Anyone care to weigh on on this?
 
It could be from natural causes (stress, active imagination, etc.), or it could be spiritual. It’s hard to tell.

What I would suggest is to immediately go to confession to a priest you trust (I would not want to spend any time at all in the state of mortal sin; also, the state of sin makes you an easy target for spiritual attacks). Share with your priest confessor what you’ve written in your post; he might have some wisdom for you.
 
This may not be the forum for this, but here goes–

Last night I was sleeping on my belly and was close to waking up.

I dreamt of a young woman, not many years out of high school. She was fairly well-to-do, short, petite, with short hair. She had attended a private high school and had been asked to organize the school’s next dance.

She asked me if I would accompany her to the dance and also serve as a chaperone. The implication was that we were going as more than just friends but less than as a couple.

I also had some pre-dance responsibilities I was supposed to attend to as well.

A few days before the dance I was in a huge room–maybe a ballroom–trying to grab a nap. I was on a narrow bed on one side of the room, sleeping on my belly, though I was actually about half-awake. The band that had been hired for the dance was rehearsing across the room. I had met these guys and they seemed to like me okay. But I heard them talking, and for some reason these guys were speaking ill of Christians. They got really worked up and angry and one of them said I was a Christian.

Next I hear them crossing the room and three fists slam into the middle of my back simultaneously. It was very loud and the sound was quite realistic.

I woke up immediately, feeling I had indeed been hit in my back, and for a few seconds looked around the room, convinced someone had broken into my apartment and assaulted me. I immediately prayed for St. Michael, the Virgin, and Christ to come to my protection.

A friends’s interpretation was that I must feel I’m undergoing religious persecution (possibly from him, since he’s vocally anti-Catholic with me), or failing that, that my lousy diet is making chemical imbalances which are making for nightmares.

Last week I was drifting off in the morning and was almost fully asleep when I was awakened by the loud and clear voice of a man in his 20s or 30s saying, “Hmm.” I woke up and sat bolt upright, sure the apartment management had let themselves in and someone was commenting on the mess in my apartment. But no one was there.

And two nights ago I had all sorts of odd dreams. In one I was in a bedroom formerly occupied by my parents and felt I was under attack by demons. I heard all these spooky “Omen”-like chants in the background, and called for the protection of St.Michael. (I’m not one to think too much about demonic attack. I try not to be paranoid.)

I hope I don’t sound like a wacko here. I went through a long period of deep depression, stress, and anxiety and just got back into serious religious practice again recently, though I’ve still not shaken off certain habitual sins and am at this writing in a state of mortal sin. But I’ve been devoting about two to three hours or more a day to my prayers, devotions, Bible reading, rosary, Divine Mercy chaplet, etc.

Anyone care to weigh on on this?
 
Dreams of being attacked, persecuted, accused are common during or immediately after a period of depression and anxiety. I am undergoing a similar period - my latest nightmare was being humiliated and accused by a professor in front of a classful of students. Let’s not talk about the rest…
I usually wake up bathed in sweat, with aching limbs and a dizzy head after such a dream.
Do you see a doctor about this? It may also be a side-effect of your medication.
 
Not currently on any meds. The side effects were often worse than the conditions they were supposed to prevent. I also have no insurance.
 
I don’t know what is causing your situation, but I had similar freaky experiences at night when I was in RCIA. As a sponsor I have since heard from other people who felt “attacked” by something evil as they tried to draw closer to Christ.

I had some horribly scary nightmares. I have not had any dreams like that as an adult at any other time. I felt like something evil was in my bedroom a couple of nights when I awakened suddenly. I got some holy water and dedicated my apartment to God. I prayeed for the protection of St. Michael. I starting praying the rosary each night at bedtime and the nighttime “attacks” ceased! I still had a few weird incidents where strange circumstances seemed to pop up when I was trying to get to church. (Isolated torrential downpour during the “dry season” in Texas, bizarre car problems, etc.) Everything ceased once I made my 1st confession.

When I sought some spiritual direction, I was told that Satan has no worries while we are firmly in his camp. He starts to fight the closer we draw to Christ. Perhaps this is something similar to what you are experiencing even if you are already Catholic?
 
For some reason, my answer to this thread has disappeared, I hope it was not deleted since there was nothing bad in it to the best of my knowledge.
But what I wanted to say is that bad dreams of persecution, accusation, threats, danger etc. are a common side-effect of medications and a common symptom of depression and anxiety or stress (you wrote in your post you suffer from these). The subject of these dreams (religious persecution or whatever) touches on what you are involved in in your everyday life.
Don’t be frightened by this. It may be useful to ask a doctor’s opinion, especially if you are taking medication. I am, and I usually wake up bathed in sweat after such dreams. Not pleasant, but not necessarily supernatural!
 
For some reason, my answer to this thread has disappeared, I hope it was not deleted since there was nothing bad in it to the best of my knowledge.
There were two identical threads started which are now merged together. You responded to both, so both responses now appear in this thread.
 
For, me I am usually too tired to remember dreams, but I remember one, I was about to leave somewhere (maybe church) and I looked out the backdoor window. There was a black crow waiting for mean and sit made a loud sound. It scared me awake and felt like a bad omen. The day was fine though.

Confession is the best thing to do. Also don’t eat pizza before bed (I have that problem 🙂 )
 
My primary reaction is that this is not supernatural in nature. I believe that because you were asleep and the imagination is unleashed when we are asleep and for good reason as it allows the mind to resolve issues that happen in the hours that we are awake.

I believe that because you state you are in mortal sin and only you can be the judge of that then I would say that this dream has more to do with the state of your soul as you state it.

Go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and you will find that dreams of this nature will cease after a good confession.

In my Living Prayer of life
 
Just to be on the safe side, I’d get some holy water and blessed salt.

The holy water you can get from your parish. The salt you might have to ask a priest to bless (any kind of salt is ok).

Several months ago, I experienced something horrible (while fully awake) that scared the bejebeers out of me. A very good, devout friend of mine suggested that I tape blessed salt over all windows and doors in the house, and sprinkle holy water in all the corners, while praying, “Jesus, I love you, save souls”. I did just this, and have since experienced no repeat of the incident (thank God, I don’t think I could have handled it again).

Interesting side note: the night my friend gave me her holy water and blessed salt (since I didn’t have any at the time), she suffered terrible nightmares. She woke in the morning knowing that she’d ticked something off by giving me the advice and the sacramentals, which she took as a good sign. 👍

There’s no use in seeing demons behind every unpleasant thing. But it’s more dangerous to see them in nothing.

If nothing else, you’ll have a nice blessed apartment when you’re done.
 
I must admit I’m totally unfamiliar with blessed salt. I’m not even sure if I’ve heard of it.

I squirted some holy water on my pillow before retiring Tuesday. I had no nightmares, but I did have lots of sexual dreams.

I tend not to see demons behind everything, but these experiences were so odd and scary I took notice. But I do have an extremely active imagination and have always spooked easily.
 
It could be nothing. But in the future if you do find yourself having a bad dream, say the name of Jesus over and over again. I’ve had bad dreams, and when I call out to Jesus over and over again, the evil stops.

In real life, stay away from things such as dark art (yes, the occult, but also art- drawings/paintings and such- that have a dark or demonic theme). Remove anything from your home that is not of God, especially if received during the time you began to have bad dreams. Stay away from porn, and stay away from music that has undertones of sadness, dispair, anger, or anything else that’s disturbing.In otherwords, don’t feed the beast. These are just general suggestions, I’m not suggesting that you’re doing these things, I’m just warning against them. Oh, and don’t eat pizza after midnight 👍. It wouldn’t hurt to wear a St. Benedict medal. But anyway, good luck, and call out to Jesus in your dreams when you find yourself in trouble.
 
I must admit I’m totally unfamiliar with blessed salt. I’m not even sure if I’ve heard of it.
It’s another sacramental. You can take some regular table salt to your priest and ask him to bless it for you. If he doesn’t know the prayer, you can find it here: spiritdaily.com/blesswatersalt.htm
I squirted some holy water on my pillow before retiring Tuesday. I had no nightmares, but I did have lots of sexual dreams.
Could be nothing. Could be the enemy changing tactics on you. 🤷 To be safe, I’d still use the holy water liberally. Bless yourself before bed, too.
I tend not to see demons behind everything, but these experiences were so odd and scary I took notice. But I do have an extremely active imagination and have always spooked easily.
I’m easily spooked, too. However, there is, in my experience, an obvious and immediate difference between fear of my own creation and nurturing and the fear I experienced during the incident mentioned in my previous post.

I look at it this way: if it’s nothing, then it’s nothing. But at least I come out of it with a great appreciation for yet another treasury of our Catholic faith, because those sacramentals were given to us for a purpose.
 
As for artwork, I have pictures of my parents, grandfather, dog, and cat, some old postcards in stand-up Lucite frames, some Dore Bible engravings, a portrait of Pope St.Pius X that’s bigger than my TV, other images of Popes John Paul II, Benedict XV and XVI, Leo XIII, Pius XI, and lots of Pius XII, and lots of old school Catholic prints in color. It looks like an Italian grandmother lives here.

But if I got rid of my sad songs I wouldn’t have much of a music collection left.😃

I haven’t learned how to do anything while I’m sleeping, such as call out to Jesus or anybody else. Dreams are pretty much just the movie that plays in my head when I’m asleep.
 
Cari, I would be really surprised if the priest in my parish knew about blessed salt–or at least how to bless it. The pastor said he only did one Latin mass in his life and was going through it very slowly and deliberately because he wasn’t familiar with it and didn’t know Latin.

In RCIA the teachers were telling us how to behave with the Bishop at our confirmation and I asked if I was to kiss the Bishop’s ring and call him “Your Eminence”, and they all laughed at me.
 
Dore Bible engravings, a portrait of Pope St.Pius X that’s bigger than my TV, other images of Popes John Paul II, Benedict XV and XVI, Leo XIII, Pius XI, and lots of Pius XII, and lots of old school Catholic prints in color.
OMG, no wonder you have dreams… 😃

As for movies: I 've read somewhere that depressed people often feel like taking a bag of popcorn to bed, their dreams are so much like films…
 
Cari, I would be really surprised if the priest in my parish knew about blessed salt–or at least how to bless it. The pastor said he only did one Latin mass in his life and was going through it very slowly and deliberately because he wasn’t familiar with it and didn’t know Latin.
Yeah, mine would roll his eyes at me (like he does when I ask him to bless anything of mine 😃 ). Is there a parish in your area that does the TLM? If so, a priest over there could do it. But you could always take the prayer at the end of the link I provided last post to your priest and see what he says. Who knows? Otherwise, PM me and I’ll send you some of mine. I’m telling you, it’s a powerful channel for grace.
 
Actually Cari, I just learned they’ve moved the TLM in my diocese from a church that was hard for me to get to to the Cathedral downtown. I hope to go Sunday.

Would I just bring along a big container of Morton’s Salt or a salt shaker?
 
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