Sleep Paralysis and the Zohar

As I was reading the Zohar I came across this portion of text from Genesis, Chapter 3: 
 

When King Solomon went down into the garden of nuts, as saith the scripture: "I went down into the garden of nuts" (Cant. vi. 11) he took up a nutshell, that gave rise to reflections and ideas that enabled him to understand the reason and cause why anything that is pure and holy becomes environed by what is evil, as the nut enclosed within a shell. He perceived that evil spirits attach themselves to the pure and good, environing them similar to shells by exciting and producing certain kinds of pleasing emotions and feelings, the tending of which is to defile and corrupt, as it is written: "The pleasures of man produce and bring forth evil spirits" (sadah and sadoth) (Eccle. ii. 8) which occurs during the hours of sleep. It was necessary that the Holy One should create them in the world in order that it might be complete. 

 

The idea here resonates strongly with many episodes of sleep paralysis I've had.  The last time it happened, I woke up and felt something moving around inside me.  It didn't feel like my own body, or the astral body that separates itself from the physical one during dreams.  It felt like a foreign entity feeding off my energy, which might sound creepy to most people but is completely harmless.  When I read this passage, it immediately occurred to me that King Solomon, or the Jewish mystic who wrote it, might have also experienced being surrounded by evil entities trying to occupy his or her body.  If evil spirits really attach themselves to the "pure and good", then it proves that I am more benevolent than most- though some would argue otherwise!  I've also been able to sustain tremendous suffering, which is something shamans describe evil beings as being attracted to.  Shamans themselves must be able to withstand the suffering of spiritual attacks in order to practice Chod- a form of meditation that has its origins in Tibetan Buddhism. 

The connection here between sleep paralysis, Chod and the Zohar is admittedly loose; I just find it interesting that “Solomon” knew about evil spirits trying to attach to good ones during the night, when people are asleep.  It sounds remarkably like Chod, which is more of a conscious act than an unconscious one.  In Chod the shamans consciously enter a meditative state in between sleep and awake to offer their bodies to discarnate entities as "food".  This helps the entities regain the energy they need to rise through higher astral planes and become light.  Shamans also use conscious sleep paralysis to ward off "demons" from people in their community, fearlessly lending themselves to the darkness knowing that they are strong enough to fight if anything attacks them.  I stand in awe of their courage because I have not had the strength or willingness to lend my body to evil spirits, much less consciously project myself onto the astral plane in order to help others.  I'm always afraid of the darkness clouding my light, or worse, possession.  I know it seems impossible, but when you're as vulnerable as you are during sleep paralysis, you have no choice but to believe that demons are trying to steal your body.  That's what makes it one of the scariest feelings in the world.