Folklore: J. describes being asleep in bed and suddenly feeling something on top of him pressing down on his chest, trying to kill him. He said the energy of whatever it was that was pushing down on him was negative and not a friendly force. It was something that he felt had malevolent tendencies and was trying to kill him. He wiggled around and tried to get out of it until he changed his mindset and it dissipated. 

Context: J. experienced this himself while trying to sleep one night. He hasn’t forgotten it since and immediately came to mind when asked about if he had experienced any supernatural encounters.

Interpretation: This is a memorate, a personal supernatural experience, that J. went through. It felt like an external force that was trying to actively hurt him. It’s similar to the widely accepted concept of sleep paralysis, which is sometimes interpreted as a spiritual attack. There are many folkloric beliefs surrounding forces that prey on people in their sleep and reflect cultural anxieties around loss of control.