7 Sleeping Beliefs and Legends from Around the World

Our world is filled with legends, myths, and beliefs about almost everything surrounding us.

Whether it’s breaking a mirror, a door left accidentally open, finding a horseshoe, a black cat crossing your path, crows or raven hanging around your house, Friday the 13^th, seeing a magpie, or even an itchy palm; there’s is an interesting story around it.

Sleep isn’t an exception!

If you suddenly wake up at 3 am, this means a spirit is intensely staring at you.

It might be standing right next to your bed!

How many of you have heard this one?

We are sure, many of you would have seen this one on social media.

What are other sleeping beliefs and legends around the world?! Let’s find out!

📎 Sleep and the Universe’s Creation
📎 Sleep Legends Around Objects
📎 Phobetor and the Oneiroi
📎 Sleep Paralysis, is it Real or Dream?
📎Brownie
📎Night Deities
📎Sandman

How do you imagine the universe was created?

According to some believers, God created heaven and earth, followed by seas and lands, then there was evening and morning, life creatures, and finally he created humans out of dust.

Most astronomers, on the other hand, believe that the universe began billions of years ago, during an event known as the Big Bang Theory.

While evolution and creationism are still highly debated topics, there is another story in which people believe it was created in a dream.

Yes, you read it correctly, the Native American Abenaki tribe believes that the universe was created when the Great Spirit “Gici Niwaskw” drifted to sleep on a Great Turtle’s back and dreamt about animals and people.

According to this Abenaki mythology, universe used to be plain, no color and no sound.

Interesting, isn’t it?!

In another side of the story, Hindu’s believed that creation relates to Vishnu sleeping.

According to their beliefs, Vishnu “the Lord of all creation” brought light from an extreme darkness, then he created the sky, brought great oceans, while he sleeps and submerged into water, he began to breath then life began to exist.

How many of you hung a dreamcatcher from your window as a teenager?

We are sure, many of you would have thought, ‘Wow! That sounds like me!’.

Dream catchers are spider-web-like handmade crafts used for decoration.

It is associated to Native American tribe or “Ojibwen people” culture and tradition, whereas they believed they protect them from nightmares and bad dreams.

According to an old legend, there was a Spider Woman named “Asibikaashi” who guarded the Ojibwen people.

She taught all of the tribe’s women how to make a spider-web-like craft that is said to catch nightmares and let good dreams pass through the holes.

Guatemalan tradition has also an interesting belief around sleeping object.

They call it worry dolls or “Muñeca quitapena”.

These small dolls are handcrafted from wire, wool, or colorful textiles.

This old legend has been passed down from generation to generation, and it is believed that those dolls can remove worries.

Guatemalan children usually express their worries to those small dolls upon waking up or before going to bed.

Similar to the Native Americans, other cultures also have beliefs and legends centered around sleep and dreams.

Greeks believe that there are two brothers, Phobetor and Morpheus, who bring dreams.

They belong to the Oneiroi, the most respected dream gods of Erebos.

Can you guess which one brings nightmares out of them?

If you guessed Phobetor, then you were spot on.

He, the son of the darkness, rises from the land of eternal darkness in the form of a winged demon and terrorises people with nightmares.

There is even a poem, Metamorphoses, about them!

“It’s 12 a.m., I’m awake, I can feel someone watching me, and I feel like my body is tied; I tried to move, I tried to scream, but I can’t – author’s personal experience.

For those of you who have experienced as if your body has frozen and you are unable to move or even speak.

Isn’t it a little frightening?

While you may have experienced the most severe symptoms, you are not alone, and a sleep expert can explain why.

According to a study co-authored by UK researchers Christopher C. French and Julia Santomauro, sleep paralysis occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage of sleep during which dreams occur.

Sleep paralysis typically lasts seconds to minutes and is more common in adults.

Furthermore, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, there are some cases where a person is unable to speak or move their other parts of the body.

This condition could be caused by a sleeping disorder such as narcolepsy.

Despite the terrifying experience, Sleep Paralysis is not a serious medical condition; however, the experience may cause distress or anxiety in some people; to date, no deaths have been reported.

There are also some cases where cultural beliefs may make it even more terrifying to witness.

A few of the major ones include:

These aren’t the chocolate-filled heavenly treats that might have crossed your mind; they are tiny household deities famous in Scottish lowland legends.

They are usually good-natured, and their sole purpose is to help you with household chores and, in most cases, to protect the entire household.

According to Scottish folklore, they only appear when everyone in the house is sleeping.

Also, many households around the world worshiped and treated them as deities or gods or small idols, and people most of the time left food for them as a reward or thank you gift.

In other European countries, they are known as Hob, Kobold, Goblin, Domonovoy, Tomte, Nisse, Tonttu, Hsvttir, and other names.

This household deity has also been adapted or appeared into some well-known children’s books, poetry, or novels including John Milton’s “L’Allegro”, Katherine Langrish’s “Troll Fell”, and my all-time favorite Grimms brothers “The Elves and The Shoemaker”.

“When the sun set for the day and the moon appeared from the other side of the corner, I gazed and wondered if there were still night deities from today.”

Most mythologies around the world have night gods or night deities.

It was transcribed from most ancient stories that were believed to be based on culture or tradition.

Here are a few night deities from around the world:

The sandman harks, I hear him! He’s coming up the stair, and everybody near him Is nodding, I declare!
He’s Peeping in door now, and first of all he spies, as he has done before now, the little children’s eyes!
Then quickly does he throw it, His golden sleepy-sand, and all before they know,

Are off for sleepy-land – The Sandman, Evergreen Tales

You may have read that poem to your children several times before putting them to bed.

While other’s may have told their children about Sandman, the mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep by sprinkling magic dust into their eyes at night, your children will believe that the grit around their eyes when they wake up is from Sandman’s magic dust.

Then there’s the other terrifying aspect of the story. In 1815, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann published the short story Der Sandmann, which depicted how frightening the character Sandman is, only visiting children who are resistant to falling asleep.

This fantasy fiction book also speaks a pattern of childish fantasies in its narrative.

Sandman has also appeared in Marvel Mystery comics, where he lives in the Land of Dreams and ruled over the realm of fairies.

Those are the few most famous beliefs and legends surrounding sleep and dreams throughout the world.

Let us know which one scared you or amazed you the most in the comment section below.

You might also be interested in our other article 15 SLEEP MYTHS DEBUNKED

Also, don’t forget to share any other myths or legends about sleep that you might have heard.

Have a peaceful sleep!