(11-30-2022, 03:29 PM)Michigan Swamp Buck Wrote: That word phobophagus, I understood it's meaning although I hadn't heard of it before now. A fear eating spirit, I've encountered these before and they are quite common in dreams.
A phobophagus could assume the likeness of a dead person and use that to provoke a fear reaction in the victim. Also, there is the possibility that the dead person left behind a spiritual shell of their worst characteristics, something that continues it's existence by intruding on your dreams. It is fading into a shade as the energy of the person's life is used up, so it needs to recharge with your life force to continue to exist.
I've never heard of a "phobophagus" either, but I'm familiar with the concept. To my understanding, it's not just fear they feed on, but also the emotional energy of ANY strong emotional reaction - it's just that fear is easiest to provoke in most people. They feed just as well on anger as they do fear.
So if you confront them with anger instead, they get just as much out of it as they do fear, and they'll keep coming back for more. Same for "joy" or any other strong emotion.
Once upon a time, I had occasion to have untoward interactions with some truly mean, nasty, and vicious people in the "real" world. Those folks occasionally come to visit in my dreams. At first, they'd come after me, I'd say "how's this? you're DEAD, yet here you are again!" and get spooked, and run and spend the entire night being chased and running for my life in fear. Somewhat later, when they'd come into my dreams, I'd run for a bit to see if I could outrun them (protip - you can't), and after a bit I'd get mad, turn on them and start shooting - "how 'bout chasin' THIS, ya bastards!" sort of thing. But that didn't work, either. No matter how many times I'd "kill" them, they'd just come back again.
What I found to work best, for me, was to just run for a couple minutes, then turn on them calm as hell, fold my arms across my chest, and say something like "ya know what? I'm bored with this shit. No matter how many times I kill ya, yer not gonna stay dead, and no matter how many times you kill me, I'm not gonna stay dead, either. Wanna go for a beer or something? Beats the hell out of exhausting ourselves". They don't seem to know what to do with that.
SO - if you can keep yourself calm, realize it's only a dream and nothing in it matters, deny them their emotional vampirism - no fear, no anger, no joy, no strong emotions at all... just calm..., then it all works out. The sun comes back out, the flowers bloom again, and all is well in the dream world. Sure, they'll still occasionally return to see if they can spook ya or piss ya off again yet, but YOU are in control - YOU have the ability to send them to bed without supper.
It may be that the video Selbiene Raveren posted assists in that - if it can keep YOU, the hearer, calm, then it helps YOU the experiencer control the experience..
Now, when I say "realize it's only a dream and nothing in it matters", I don't actually believe that. I believe, and have believed since around 2008 or so, that dreams are a reality - "you" actually travel to Elsewhere, the Otherworld or A Otherworld, in your sleep. It's a sort of neutral ground where other beings or spirits or whatever you want to call them can also visit, and interact with you. You don't always know WHY they are interacting or WHO they are, but it is, in essence, a "neutral ground", and remains neutral so long as one or the other of you don't get the upper hand - then it becomes YOUR ground, or THEIRS, just as in the "real" world
Make it yours if you have to, but in any event, if there is confrontation, don't let it become THEIRS. Better to keep the confrontation from happening to begin with and keep it cool and light, but if they insist, own them as hard as you can... and a light touch is the way to go in most cases. Calm and emotionless in the case of these emotionally vampiric types. If they are trying to provoke an emotional reaction, and you don't allow that to happen, you just "owned" them - and made it your world, not theirs. They lose.
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