Hypnagogia

Alex H. asked me to write a bit about my experiences with hypnagogia. I will write quite little about them since I experimented with that state some years ago and have not been able to find my notes. I will however provide some information and some useful links. Enjoy

First, hypnagogia refers to a state between wakefulness and sleep during which one may experience a variety of hallucinations. The psychologist Wilson van Dusen noted that some psychologists do not know of this state despite that experiences during this state are very common. People may however be unwilling to talk about their experiences and most likely few give the phenomena much thought and soon forget their experiences. One psychologist that thought that it was fascinating was Peter McKellar, I am going to quote a short section from his book Abnormal Psychology which due to his interest includes unusually much about hypnagogia. (Several psychology books include little about it or nothing at all).

"The imagery, when visual, has often been likened to a display of lantern-slides. This is the commonest kind. Voices, music and other sounds are also frequently reported. Like the visual type they enjoy a life of their own, erupting without warning from some seemingly dissociated part of the personality. There are also, less often, images of touch, movement, temperature, smell, and pain, and even on occastion hypnagogic electric shocks. Such phenomena may be likened to an invason of drowsy consciousness by anticipatory dreamlike imagery. These pre-sleep eruptions may be distinguished from rather similar experiences that has been labelled 'hypnopompic imagery'. Andreas Mavromatis (1987) uses the generic term 'hypnagogia' to cover both" (McKellar, 1989, 91-92).

Examples of experiences are easy to find, for example, the parapsychologist Eric Dingwall mentioned two of his own experiences in Very Peculiar People (p. 22-23) and the parapsychologist Arthur Ellision provided several examples of his own experiences in Science and the Paranormal (p. 59-61). A great introduction is Gary Lachman's freely available article which also includes several references. Mavromatis' book, Hypnagogia was reprinted (but not updated) in 2010 and has not yet been surpassed as the standard work, but it's dated. Readers interested in more recent research are recommeded to consult googlescholar, among the contemporary researchers that have written about hypnagogia are one parapsychologist, Simon Sherwood.  

My own experiences of hypnagogia has been quite varied and to me the expression mysterium tremendum et fascinans seems appropriate to describe my reactions to the phenomena - this despite that I regard them all as generated by my own mind. I don't find it easy to get into hypnagogia and have to force myself to remain in the twillight between wakefulness and sleep for a long time before something interesting occurs. I have experienced visual imagery several times, but most often it has been quite faint, in my case the imagery have often consisted of geometric shapes and more of less demonic faces. The most interesting visual phenomenon during this state has been an uncomfortable very bright flickering light that made it difficult to keep the eyes shut. To me auditory hallucinations have been more common, these have included meaningless phrases, the sound of paper being crumbled up, the sound of small stones or similar objects being thrown on the floor and the sound of breathing. During hypnagogia I have also heard how someone with bare feet walks around in the apartment. Somatic experiences have often included a sense of having a cat or a small dog moving around in bed. Needless to say this can become a bit unpleasant sometimes. During the period when I experimented with the state I often had a fitful sleep and a few times I also experienced hypnopompic hallucinations (whispering) which I have never experienced before or after the period of experimentation.    

Prior to trying to get into hypnagogia I recommend that one first reads a bit about sleep-paralysis since one may slip into it and that experience can be quite unpleasant in particular if one does not understand what is happening, thus, for example, read Julia Santomauro and Chris French's article.

In order to get into hypnagogia one needs to remain in the twillight zone and preferable without losing too much sleep. A bit of suggestion and progressive muscle relaxation after a hot shower can make one get into hypnagogia faster but in my experience particulary the latter also makes it more difficult to remain awake. I used to count from 10 to 1 again and again, as one gets closer to hypnagogia the mistakes increase. Arthur Ellison used another trick: "Lift your right forearm ... and hold it vertically upwards, the weight being supported by the bed. If you find the point of balance you will be able to do this with no strain. However, if you fall asleep your forearm will drop to the bed and wake you up again" (p. 67). The painter Salvador Dali used to hold a key in his hand that would clatter to the floor when he fell asleep in a chair and the inventor Thomas Edison held steel balls that fell into a pan. One can come across other tricks in books about lucid dreaming and out-of-body experiences. I suspect that it is easier to get into hypnagogia when dozing in a comfortable armchair.

I am not going to provide a long list of articles that few will bother to read, instead I will just mention two:

Leaing, F. E. (1925). An introductory study of hypnagogic phenomena. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 35, 289-412. Available through Lexscien

Schacter, D. L. (1976). The hypnagogic state: A critical review of the literature.