I am new here, having just found this site last night---but already I have read many posts from people who have had the same strange occurances as I have had!!! So, I can be honest with y'all I think!!!!

This is one that I haven't seen anyone write about yet; so if anyone has had this happen, please reply. Especially if you know what it is. Or what causes it.....I only know it's not me who causes it!!

It's just this: Ever since I was little, every now and then (enough that i would call it frequently) I notice these thin scratches in different places . They appear to be old scratches, a dark red color. But they wern't there when I went to sleep the night before. There is never any bleeding, but they are definitely scratches, always exactly the same stage of healing--they look like they were made with a needle---but they are of varying lengths.

You may think "hangnail", or "she does it to herself in her sleep" and that's what I would think if I were reading this. But I don't have hangnails, ever. And they appear on areas I can't reach, like the middle of my back. Usually it will be a long scratch across my stomach, but sometimes on my face or arms. The strange thing is they always look the same and it has happened all my life.

wow....
I used to have this to when I was little. I got the nickname in my school as injury boy becuase I would have little cuts that I would wake up with. As I got older though they just kinda stopped. I would also be interested in what causes this.

Thank you for your response--how cool is this?! So glad I'm not the only one. Mine have never stopped. They don't hurt or anything. It just wierds me out that it happens. I notice one at some point in the day, I know I haven't scratched myself on anything, but there it is. That same kind of slightly-scabbed needle scratch.

Interesting. Mine stopped some time around age 7-9 (I think).

this form of phenomenon is really wierd, there are a lot of theories about it. mine is that somehow, people do this to themselves subconciously when they sleep.

Which is the most likely explanation

when the cause is unexplained and you rule out inadvertently doing it to yourself, I have read two scenarios as a possible cause... sometimes these type of strange marks and scratches can be caused by some astral or etheric negative enitites/ discarnates.,, and a second possible cause is from some cellular manifestation of a subconscious pastlife injury that keeps working its way to the surface, this scenario is more common in marks thats are always look the same and are always in the same spots....

Wow. I have always thought it was something otherworldly; you have given me something new about which to learn. (Like, what is an etherical negative discarnate?)

I used to think I simply MUST be doing it somehow in my sleep, but they are ALWAYS exactly alike, like someone took a sharp needle and raked it over my skin;but the wierdest characteristic is that they always look like they are about a day or two old but they are new.

Thanks again for your onstructive reply![COLOR=blue]

i don't get scratches on my face and body but i do know what you are talking about when i was little i used to go to bed and then wake up in the morning with bruises all ove rmy back but it was weird as my bed is in the middle of my room well it was we have moved house now anyways there is no explanation for this well i think there isn't

You already answered yourself:

Um... Could be stretch marks?

I guess stretch marks could be a guess...except that I am one of those fortunate women who has no stretchmarks---

that was kind of a mean thing to say, but if you really thought it was funny then I forgive you

Assuming they are paranormal phenomena, I need to ask: Do have any paranormal activity in your home? If so, then is it what you would consider menacing, or ominous? You say you live in the Smokies? I'm only an hour away. Have you seen one of those black bears? Man are they cool.
Do these scratches hurt when you wake up? If so, and they are paranormally caused, this could turn into a case of demonic possession....

Hi Sky---Thanks for asking! Yes, we have had quite a bit of paranormal activity in our house--it has all been quite interesting and I don't think any of us ha been afraid, except once when a beautiful but troubled young man (a good friend) had committed suicide (not at my house), and he came to me 2 nights after he died. His face was grotesquely distorted inasmuch as he had shot himself in the head, There was a very odd smell. I know he meant only to be in the house with us because he loved our home and the way he felt here in life. But somehow i was frightened anyway. i felt guilty about this although he seemed to understand. No words were spoken. Also, there has been alot of poltergeist activity, usually when there is a child or teenagers in the house, there have been many sounds also but very cool and actually welcome. And yes! I have seen quite a few black bears!! They are lovely.

Another interesting thing is that some guys used to have a band and I let them use my living room for a place to practice; the lead guitar player was really talented, and he always warmed up the same way. the guys were always welcome here, and sometimes they would just come in and start playing, even if they didn't see me right away. Well, several times I heard Jeff in there warming up in his usual distinctive style. I have gone in there to say hello to him only to fing that Jeff is nowhere in the house. And it was a matter of a few seconds between when I heard him and when i lokked in. This has happened to my husband too; it really freaked him out because he has no psychic tendencies like I do. He never doubts anything i tell him now. Statues have fallen to the floor from the backs of shelves, pictures rearranged, items lost then found in rediculous places, etc, the usual stuff. Another interesting thing is the couple (a man and a woman) who carry on lively, animated conversations with each other in some really beautiful foreign language, perhaps French, I can't tell because it is always coming from another room and is always muffled. They won't speak to me but they sound like they like each other alot. This couple has followed me to three different homes. Then of course there is the music that comes from the air vent in the bathroom. There is the mist in the guest bedroom that disappears almost as soon as you go in. None of this has ever scared me except my friend who died, and that was my fault not his. I have NEVER told people about this stuff except those who are open to believe; I know it sounds schizophrenic as hell. I think i am a normal, intelligent average American female--I have a Bachelor of Science degree and work professionally in my career with no strange occurance anywhere except my home. These are not the only occurances, but you get the point. I don't know what this stuff is, but so far it's really quite ok with me. I feel sort of honored.
Oh, another cool thing was the dark man who came to see me when I was little--I have heard them called shadowpeople on this website (first time I ever heard that term), but my understanding is that shadowpeople are malevolent usually. This man was much blacker and more dense than a silhouette, like what I would think a black hole would look like in space. But he didn't scare me either; I was absolutely wide awake without a doubt, I felt someone watching me, turned over in bed to my right and he was standing about 4 feet away. He then came right up to the side of the bed in a smoothe sort of "walk(?)" and bent over me very close. I just kept looking at him. I couldn't see any details even close up, except that I could see a detailed outline of his hair (short and sorta wavy), but he remained that same dense solid deep pitch black. then he was gone without even standing back up. Why wasn't I scared? He seemed to be just checking to see if i was OK. (And it was not my father, Daddy was working night shift at the time--I was actually in the bedroom with my mother at the time.) She was asleep, I had just come in her room and climbed in bed with her to snuggle her feet with mine. I wish he would come back.

That sounds pretty serious! There is no explanation that makes any sense in the normal kind of way. Did you ever wake up in any pain, I mean, did you ever wake up BECAUSE of the bruises? So it only happened in that one house? Did you tell your parents or anyone? I'm sure you asked yourself the usual questions like do you bruise easily anyhow, were you taking any kind of medication then. Were you a sleep walker then?

Skeptical answer:
As the body sleeps it regenerates. Skin cells regenerate. There could be a condition with the way your new skin cells generate on the surface that is causing the marks. I suggest visiting the doctor for a plausible explanation.

Supernatural answer:
This is usually attributed to a spirit that is in a house, if angry it is known to cause scratches on its inhabitants as they sleep!

You choose....

Thanks for your reply---I have always just sorta viewed this as a curiosity---didn't think about skin regeneration, as it is not a continuous occurance; happens maybe every month or so. I will indeed ask my doctor next time i go for a check-up what he thinks. There are never any signs of infection, no rash, no overt sign of allergy (no itching, no swelling,etc). Interesting possibility....worth a follow-up! Thanks...As for the supernatural possibility, I don't want to think that any of my ghosts are angry with me. They have never shown any indication of this and these scratches have come periodically since i was a very small girl......let's hope thy aren't mad anyhow!

I used to get scratches a few years back. I would get one, and as soon as it healed I would get a new one. They usually looked exactly the same. They wouldnt always have to be in my sleep either, sometimes I would get them when I was sitting down talking to people. I would feel a sharp pain and I would look and see that I had a cut. They were always on my hands and they never looked new.. you know there was already a scab. I think I know why I got mine, somthing to do with witchcraft wich I took an interest in*rolls eyes* (not really actively) when I was young *rolls eyes again* I had a friend who did it. So who knows it happend when all that stuff was happening. So yeah who knows.

If you have a video camera, maybe you should try to tape yourself sleeping, then see if you've been scratching yourself, or if it's something else. The tape will be long and boring, but at least you'll have an answer.

wow...the similarities are pretty striking. I mean with the way the cuts look. I don't think I ever felt mine when they happened...I just notice one and when I look at it, it already has a scab on it (just like yours). I assume it occurs in my sleep because Like I said, I haven't felt it when it happens and I usually notice them in the morning. I have always been curious about witchcraft cuz, you know, it's the closest thing to magic and so it's fascinating. But I've never learned much about it and don't think I have any witch friends. That could be the source of yours though from the little I do know. Hmmm, like you said, who knows? I just think it is weird. It's not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me though and I really don't worry about it. I just wanted to see if anyone else ever has this specific experience, and (not surprisingly) there seem to be a few that have. And as you can see they describe theirs alot like mine. So, the interesting thing to me is, how is it that people share the same exact thing--I mean come on, it's got to be more than coincidence that our scratches look old and they are new. Thanks for your reply!!

Scarlett

Hi misspixie--thanks for your reply--cute name! That's a good idea; that would be funny to watch yourself sleep and toss and turn and talk in your sleep! I should do it. I really don't think I am doing it in my sleep, for one thing because there is no instrument with which to make these kinds of scratches--they are very small in width, like a sharp needle being dragged across your skin and I don't ever have hangnails (that was my first guess as to what they are). I've never slept with sharp things in my bed. Also, they are always exactly the same, except sometimes longer, sometimes shorter but always the same like they have been healing for a day or so. And it has happened periodically all my life. It doesn't happen every night either, so I may have to make lots of boring tapes!

When my son was 1 1/2 he was put on cephalosporin antibiotics. A few weeks later hives started appearing on his body as well as strange scratch like marks. I took him to see a pediatric athsma / allergy specialist. What I learned was that he was suffering from a serum sickness like reaction to the cephalosporin antibiotics.

These scratches were called dermography, from the greek words meaning skin writing. I am not talking about a psychic phenomenon, but a real documented medical condition. To demonstrate the doctor ran his nail gently up my arm, then using the same (lack of) force he ran his nail up my young son's arm. Guess what appeared? A red welt or scratch.

My advice is go see a dermatologist or allergist. I am not saying that you have the same condition that my son did, but there is probably a medical explanation for your skin condition.

edited for spelling

That is a good suggestion; I will ask my doctor next time I go for a check-up. I wonder however, if it is a medical condition, why it is not more pronounced, or more frequent, or more noticeable, or more serious....it is not hives ( I am a nurse with a Bachelor of Science degree myself and years of working experience), and I have not been consistently on any antibiotics. Most childhood allergies are outgrown by adolesence, or certainly by young adulthood. I am not allergic to anything that I know of. I don't know ! But I will ask my doc for sure! Thanks for your reply! It really is not a problem, you wouldn't even see it. It is just ONE small, healing scratch somewhere at sporadic, unpredicatable times.

Hmm.... I most have just grown out of it then. Now I wish my dame allergy to pollen would go away .

So you were vistied by a shdow person... I see things running out of the corner of my eye sometimes... I'm how pitch black was he? was he like a black thing or did he seem to suck the light out of what ever space he was occuping, like a kinda black that instead of reflecting light, takes it away? btw what did he or se do exactly?

My son had antibiotics once, the reaction lasted for many months. The specialist, not my family doctor, recognised the reaction for what it was. The hives were not common either. He never had more than about 12 on his body (torso primarily) at one time. Allergies don't always behave as we expect them to. Not all childhood allergies are outgrown either. Can I ask, do you have asthma or related conditions? Allergies are closely related to asthma. Also, antibiotics aren't the only cause of this type of reaction, other medications and insect stings as well are known to cause this response.

Another thought is this might be a birth mark. Not all birthmarks are visible at all times. Particularly if they are connected to the veins. (can't remember the proper name) These are things that you might wish to investigate before attributing this to any supernatural phenomenon.

Yeah, that pollen thing is pretty bad I hear.....actually, allergies to pollen, mold, animal dander, bee stings...those kinds of allergies usually stay for friggin ever! The ones that kids grow out of are usually food allergies, some reactions to meds (although these can stay too sometimes so don't go on what i say too much--I am not an allergist. I am only a nurse and was sharing my experience.) My son was allergic to cheese and other dairy products for a short time when he was little....he'd had milk,etc since he was an infant, then at about age 2, he suddenly broke out in hives while eating a piece of cheese.....surprise and panic on my part.....so i kept him far away from milk products . His doc told me months later to try them again, I did and he had no further problems.
I am having a helluvatime with people who think I haven't thought of natural, physiologic reasons for this phenomen. I guess they think I have nothing better to do than sit around and dream up spooky stuff to tell my friends!haha I know they mean well and are for the most part sincere, so I just keep responding in kind.
Perhaps one of them will come up with something I haven't thought of....I think, though, that I have been more than acceptably descriptive of the thing; and most reasonable people can hopefully surmise that I am not a fruitcake hanging around in a long flowing gown with moons and stars on it, burning incense and listening to eery music while fiddling endlessly with artifacts of the arcane and muttering to myself about the end of time. Ya think?

At no time did I ever call you a fruitcake and I did not mean to imply that.

My disbelief occurs when people are prepared to ignore the everyday mundane answers for a fantastical one. I believe you have marks on your body, I just disagree with the cause.

Well, my goodness. A birthmark. OK, look. Yes dear, I have much experience with people who have asthma...i don't have it myself, but my son went through a short stint with it, treated with theophylline taken by mouth (called Slo bid--which is short for Solohpylline taken BID--meaning twice a day). I have cared for many kids with airway reactions; this often being associated with eczema or prematurity requiring oxygenation intervention through various means (especially if they were on a ventilator for any length of time). Someone else who lives in my home has severe asthma ---I can see an asthma manifestation from a mile away and know quite a bit about its pathophysiolgy and its treatment.
I have no reaction to beestings other than the usual localized sting, transient redness and mild swelling that goes away using ice or Benedryl--I haven't been stung by a bee since I was little and used to feel through clover looking for 4-leafs or flowers to make necklaces (remember doing that? haha--Fond memories of childhood).
I do thank you for your interest and replies, they were useful for possibilities to consider and that they ruled themselves out quite quickly after not having to invest alot of thought. Of course you had no idea that you weren't telling me anything I didn't already know or hadn't thought of. So I do appreciate it! Please refer to my last reply to Jenk. If you respond again (and you are cordially invited ), please try to give me some information I can use. I must admit that if it weren't so laughable,you would be bordering on being insulting. A birthmark. My goodness.

I gave you some advice you can use.

I know you didn't explicitly call me a fruitcake....surely you're not that quick to get testy...look what I've had to listen to!! haha
My point is simply that OF COURSE most people consider the "mundane", as well as more obscure, physical causes. It's just that it is even MORE obnoxious when folks automatically assume that these possible causes are ignored. If you'll notice, I have not once given a cause, with which you say you disagree. I have merely wondered about it and thought I'd ask on this forum.......don't turn it into a skeptic issue. That is nonproductive. I am willing and curious to consider any original suggestion anyone has
to offer; it is just interesting to see the responses. And who knows, someone truly may be able to explain it in natural "mundane" terms. I only ask for the same level of respect with which I consider others. My mama taught me the golden rule and it is indeed a good one.

I'm not sure what it is, but I did have a friend who said she woke up with scratches. But with hers, she was dreaming about being attacked by something and then she woke up with them. It was sort of a bruise with a burn inside it, which I donèt think she could have done herself. I think that it isn' always a good idea to try to rationalize everything. Some things have unexpected causes. Well, I don't know if that helped, but I hope you figure it out soon.

This is probably totally off topic, but for a paranormal board, there are alot of misconceptions about wicca. Witchcraft is a nature based, life-affirming religion that follows a moral code and seeks to build harmony amoung people, and empower the self and others. Someone can not cause harm just by being wiccan unless they intend to cause harm in the first place. Wiccans are not satan worshippers, they believe in god just like everyone else just in their own way. The idea of a female diety doesn't make wiccans or their religion harmful in anyway. I happen to be wiccan, and have a friend who's wiccan, and neither of us have ever harmed anyone else or ourselves in any way. We go to school like everyone else, and dress like everyone else, we don't wear long gowns with moons and stars on them and neither of us really care about the end of time. You probably couldn't pick us out of a crowd of people because we're no different than anyone else. We just have a different religion as many people do. I know that I, and probably alot of wiccans, get really tired of being ridiculed all the time just for being myself. It's not that I care all that much what people think of me...it just bugs me a little that people are so close minded to anything that disrupts the balance of their perfect normal little world.

He didn't seem like a thing of substance, is that what you mean? Your description of "black like he was taking away light" is a pretty good description because it was a very dense blackness, moreso than a shadow or a sihouette even. The purest black and most total black you can think of. I've never seen anything else that thickly black since then. But he was NOT aggressive at all. It felt much more like he was a protector and what I have read so far about shadowpeople is that they are attackers, negative energies, they frighten people and try to hurt them. But he sure LOOKED like what I've read that they look like. And he never came back that I saw. All he did was stand there at the foot of the bed, to the right, then he came up to the side (still on the right), he bent over me for about 10 seconds (seemed longer but that's about all the time it probably was). I could see his profile when he was at the foot of the bed, but not when he was bending over me, down to me. He got very close to my face but not uncomfortably so, even to a child. Not once was I afraid. He stood back up and was gone. That's it...not very exciting, but that was it. And it was real, I will know that until the day I die and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

When I was a teen, I used to get scratches on me at night on my face, neck, shoulders and arms. It didn't happen every night, but frequently enough to make me worry.

One night, I put my head down on my pillow and felt something sharp scratch me. It was the fine, sharp end of a feather sticking through my pillow covering. (We had feather pillows.) So, I had my answer! Mom bought me a new pillow with fiberfill, and the scratches disappeared.

I suggest you first rule out all natural possibilities before going on the assumption that this may be supernatural. Wear gloves at night to make sure you're not scratching yourself. Replace all your bedding materials and see if that makes a difference. Then see a doctor if it continues. If he gives you a clean bill of health, then I'd say you have a ghostly visitor!

Let us know what happens! I've heard of several happenings involving people getting scratches as a result of a haunting.

i sware she liked me at first!!!! Yes!
Coyote is my witness: we were like this: &

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Hi, this is my first visit to this forum. I would like to hear more

feedback about scratching and shadow ghosts. I have heard scratching

and have had a couple of paranormal experiences as well. It is hard to

get the right answers and I understand how you might feel.

I forgot to add, the type of birthmark you are referring to (connected to veins) is called a hemangioma---totally different thing than what I am describing. Some hemangiomas are small and go away on their own, usually by the time a child is around two years old or so. These are nothing to be concerned about. Others get bigger and can present quite a problem; especially if they are on the face because they can eventually involve the brain in rare instances. They do not, however, appear and disappear. And they look nothing like tiny healing scratches that come one at a time months apart.
Again, thanks for your replies.

WOW im not alone

I am getting the EXACT same scratch marks on my back that you are refering to

it seems to happen over night, once every few months. Just last night it was more servere as i had about 20 scratches on my lower back. I dont know what causes it, its like ive been scratched with a thin needle.

any ideas or theorys?

im sorta getting freaked out

Sometimes that still happens to me

I started having these scratches too. This is my second one that matters because these two looked exactly the same. One was on my back and now on my hip. They each seem to be mirror images of a loved one's problem. My grandma died from congestive heart failure (my back scratch) and now a friend is having a hip replacement soon. I just got this scratch yeasterday and found out about the surgery today. Has anyone else connected their scratches with anything. I hope I'm wrong. My scratches are super thin and never bled (to my knowledge). I think I woke up with them, because I felt them at a point in the day, but I only noticed them when I was changing for the night. They both were about 5 or 6 inches long and have another shorter line coming out from the long one. So if anyone has any explainations (or skeptisism) that would be very appreciated! Thank you

get a priest in asap it does sound like a shadow person, i have 3 of them in my house and the scratches one of the early stages, you also seen one in your home and this makes me feel that you chould, i am going to get a priest into mine but i doubt it will much good as mine are extremely powerful and their attacks are.

any others who have seen them keep a light source in your room.

ScarlettPony i have sent u a pm but i really suggest getting a priest or vaicar in before it gets worse

my scratches use to be thin but scabbed like and come in bands of 3 or 4 and about a half a inch apart. the wounds also werent deep

I woke up a few months ago with strange scabs on my shin. There was no blood on my finger or toe nails. There was no way I could have kicked something the day before as I had been wearing long-undies and boots. No way I could have kicked something hard enough to remove that much skin without remembering. Also I found tiny red marks on the back of each thumb, one on each, in the same place. All of these marks took a long to heal, about 2 weeks. I can still see the scars on my thumbs. Like all the other strange things that happen in my sleep (Rocks in my undies, bright lights when my eyes are closed, strange "sounds" that go through my head) I tend to blame . Yeah, I know, they get blamed for everything but this has gone on so long I'm really at a loss for other explainations.
Believe me I've thought of everything but I'm still open minded.

I swear all of the above ststements to be true and NOT exaggerated.

V.T.

Hi there, I just found this forum today after I remembered to finally look for something on the net about my scratches, hehe. I get them a little more frequently than most of you folk seem to get, I generally seem to acquire new 'sets' or singulars or scratches once or twice a week, I've been getting them since I can remember, my most recent two are from last night, just under my right eye on my cheek bone, most of mine seem to occur under my eyes on the cheek bones, the nose or my forehead, although I do occasionally get some on my back, arms and chest.
Now I've tested the finger scratching thing, I've woken up with the little scabbed scratches, then tried to scratch myself with my finger nails, I have a habbit of biting my nails back a little too far, and I barely manage to make even the smallest of marks on my skin with my nails.
I have heard of cases where people get scratches and bruises while sleeping, one documentary I saw had one such person, but his condition worsened until he was losing memory and his motor functions were suffering, it turns out he had some sort of parasitic worm cyst thing in his brain, they nutralised the cyst and he returned to normal, I'd like to think I had something like this, but this fellow acquired the cyst and then started losing his memory and such within a few months, so I'm fairly sure that's not it.
I'm also pretty confident that it's nothing to do with my bedding or clothes, I've moved house and changed beds/bedding etc a few times within the past couple years, and I've been getting the scratches for at least 5 years or so, maybe more.
I've been involved fairly heavily in the astral side of things for the past 2 years or so, but since these scratches started appearing way before that, I'm fairly sure that's nothing to do with it.
So ScarlettPony I guess there's quite a few of us out there with this 'thing' and we may not figure out how or why it happens

Yeah I'd LOVE to think I had something like that, sounds lovely.

Any of you people own a cat or ...oh forget it, it's probably a shadow person.

Yep, mine exactly.

I used to get an injure about, sometimes more than once a month when I was young. Sometimes I would get cuts on my legs while I slept, probably from long toe nails or something. Sometimes though I would get them on my arms, and I think I got some on my torso a few times. They were also in a certain stage of healing -- scabbed over and nearly healed, yet they had appeared just overnight. I used to have a lot of nightmares when I was young too, maybe this had something to do with it?

I have found two ways to stop generally bad dreams though: Dream catchers work, and so does an old tale I heard. Before you go to bed, get a glass of water, fill it, and put it over your head on next to your bed. Refill it each night before you go to bed and the negative dreams will stay away -- it really works.

Ive heard of the water thing before... does indeed work... but, i like having dreams, regardless if their bad or not... And no, I'm not some sadistic person who enjoys fear and pain and whatnot.. I like having good and bad dreams because that is how some of the greatest songwriters get their lyrics from. When you go to bed and dream, whether it is good or bad, you wake up in the morning and write down what you remember of the dream. If the dream was bad, its better for songs... That is supposedly how the Smashing Pumpkins lyricist and lead singer/guitarist Billy Corgan came up with a good portion of his lyrics.