The other night I was awakened by tapping on my knee. When I opened my eyes, no one was there. This is the third time in about the last five years that I have been awakened by tapping on my knee or foot. The first time it happened, I was awakened by what I thought was one of my kids tapping on my knee. I opened my eyes, saw no one was there, and started to drift back to sleep. It then occurred three more times in a row after every time I shut my eyes. I finally got out of bed and it stopped. So does anyone else ever experience that sort of thing? Maybe I'm dreaming, but I don't really think so. Could it be a purgatorial soul wanting prayers? If so, praise the Lord that I don't wake up seeing someone standing by my bed! I don't think I could handle something like that. Maybe I should do the sign of the cross if it happens again. For now I've prayed for clarity. Any thoughts? (Other than the obvious suggestion that I may be nuts?)
If you didn't sense anything malovent or demonic, it could well be a soul. I admit, that's 100% a new concept for me. Many Protestants consider souls to be demons, and any sighting of a deseaced family member as Satan playing tricks. The Catholic thought on this makes more sense, though.
I have only "felt" a dark presence at one time, thankfully, and it was years ago. Again it was the middle of the night and I woke up (not sure why), but sensed--didn't see--a very tall, dark presence standing next to my bed. So I did the sign of the cross and went back to sleep. I've reflected back on it in and wondered how I could have sensed something that I didn't see. I suppose that evil spirits can be so strong that they're palpable. I don't know, I have more questions than answers!
I've had similar experiences. Sensing the height and position of something you can't see. My step-father, raised Baptist, had a similar experience. He thought in his head "you can't touch me, I belong to God!", then promptly went back to sleep.
Could it be connected to restless leg syndrome? On the spiritual level ask protection from your Guardian Angel before you go to sleep—or maybe resolve to pray a decade of the Rosary for a soul inPurgatory? My father had some creepy stuff happen at night. My mother sprinkled Holy Water and that resolved it.
I believe I have read about things like this being experienced by others. It mostly turned out to be a Holy Soul. It might be so in your case too - whether you like it or not . However, I would first go to a doctor to rule out medical issues.
Maybe your Guardian angel was tapping you awake to pray for something or someone. Whenever I am awakened at night I figure it's for a reason so I pray.
I love stories like this. Though I must admit if a story starts off with ‘I was just falling asleep’ or ‘I was drifting off to sleep’ I usually dismiss them. The unconscious is powerful beyond belief and usually it’s in our own head. Reason I say this is I have an uncountable number of experiences of ‘Hypnagogic Hallucinations’. These are perfectly normal and are surprisingly very common. These occur on the edge of sleep, and can occur either falling asleep or when waking up. My hypnagogic experiences are usually auditory. When falling asleep I have heard random meaningless words, with no context, like passing a coffee shop on the footpath and hearing a snippet of a conversation eg ‘...but it was yellow...’ other examples I have regularly are strange music, a barking dog in the room and the doorbell ringing. Last night, I was reading my kindle when I suddenly came to my senses realizing I was drifting off to sleep, to the sound of my lawnmower. I find it very entertaining. However, tapping on a body part has never happened to me but it is a common part of hypnagogia. Just in case, better off saying a prayer. I will offer a prayer for the soul that may be calling for attention by tapping your leg. Facinating.
Good to know the name of this phenomenon. I experience this too, but it’s either bright flashes of light with a loud boom or explosion, or someone’s voice specifically calling my name. It wakes me up immediately and it’s usually not long after I’ve first fallen asleep.
Interesting. I have had the experience of hearing sounds while falling asleep, but didn't know that there is an actual medical term for it. Thanks for the prayer. After the first time it happened,I had a Mass offered for the soul of my grandfather. I was pretty close to him. Even if it's not him or any other soul, I'm sure he'd appreciate your prayers!
I've had restless leg syndrome with my pregnancies. It makes falling asleep miserable!! God bless anyone who suffers from it regularly. It felt different than RLS. The first time that the tapping occurred, I tested it by closing my eyes and waiting (after I had felt it several times and I was fully awake at that point).The tapping resumed when I closed my eyes. It felt like one of my children trying to wake me up. I know it's weird. I thank you all for your ideas and suggestions. I may never know...
My story is not directly related and I wish that I had some good advice but this morning I woke up and stretched my legs before getting out of bed and I got a nasty cramp in one of my legs. I would normally panic and get up and try to rub it etc. but this time I just laid in bed and said a Hail Mary and it quickly went away. It was quite amazing imo. So maybe I do have some advice after all and that would be to pray for the tapping to stop. You may have tried this already but keep trying. I suggest that you pray immediately when it starts and continue until it stops.
