M.J. Rose

Have you experienced sleep paralysis? If so, imagine for a moment that you are living in ancient times, with no scientific explanation for such terror. To what or whom would you attribute the experience? Demons? Witches? Angry souls of the dead? The hallucinations are often accompanied by a distinct sense of impending doom – a dread so palpable that you are absolutely positive you are about to die.

Could it be possible that the science we have now is merely attempting to explain the more sinister or paranormal nature of these experiences?  Do scientists really know the answer?

If you’ve ever had sleep paralysis, one thing is for certain, it feels as real as real can get.

Here is one of the best articles we’ve seen on the phenomenon in terms of offering a scientific explanation:

Understanding Sleep Paralysis: A Terrifying But Unique State Of Consciousness
by Dan Denis (ifls)

“I awake in bed … In the corner of the room there are two men. I cannot see them but I know that they are there, and what they look like. I can hear them talking. They are talking about murder. I cannot move. One of the men comes and stands directly above me … He spits, and his spit lands in the socket of my closed eye. I can feel the impact, the wetness, the trail of slime.”

This may sound like a scene from the X-Files, but it is actually a personal account of a real experience – told as part of a project on sleep paralysis. This is an unusual condition where one wakes up in the night, unable to move, and often experiences a wide range of bizarre and terrifying hallucinations.

On October 9 a new documentary, The Nightmare, directed by Rodney Ascher, is being released in the UK. The film tracks eight people’s experiences of sleep paralysis, brilliantly recreating their terrifying visions on screen. However, it does not touch on the increasing amount of scientific study into the condition. This is a shame, as researchers are slowly getting closer to unravelling its mystery….”

For the rest, click here.

Click here for a very fascinating video on the subject.

We’re always excited when science investigates the stuff of legends.  Sometimes the feeling we are left with after these investigations is that some mysteries are just not possible to unlock, and some of the greatest mysteries of all are found in the pages of our most ancient texts…

On NOVA: Secrets of Noah’s Ark

Aired: 10/07/2015

A team attempts to build the flood boat using inscriptions from an ancient clay tablet.

For the complete episode, click here to go to PBS.

Hear ye! Did you catch this news when it was first announced? This one seems to have slipped through our fingers!

Shakespeare’s Curtain theatre unearthed in east London

Theatre where Romeo and Juliet was first performed is rediscovered in Shoreditch centuries after it was dismantled

(The Guardian)

“Well preserved remains of Shakespeare’s original “wooden O” stage, the Curtain theatre where Henry V and Romeo and Juliet were first performed, have been discovered in a yard in east London.

The Curtain theatre in Shoreditch preceded the Globe on the Thames, showcasing several of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. But it was dismantled in the 17th century and its precise location lost.

Now part of the gravelled yard in Shoreditch where the groundlings stood, ate, gossiped and watched the plays, and foundation walls on which the tiers of wooden galleries were built have been uncovered in what was open ground for 500 years while the surrounding district became one of the most densely built in London.

Experts from Museum of London Archaeology (MoLA) have found two sections of exterior wall, crucial for giving the dimensions of the theatre, and are confident of revealing more as the site is cleared for redevelopment. An outer yard paved with sheep knuckle bones could date from the theatre or slightly later housing….”

For the rest click here.