We have all heard of the witching hour or the devil’s hour. It is steeped in folklore from centuries ago with many different meanings and explanations – but what does it mean to us today? Do you experience anything during witching hour at night and not know it?
The witching hour is the time of the night that people associate with supernatural events.
In the old days, this was thought to be because of the lack of prayers in the canonical hours during this period at night.
It is thought that during the hours of 3 am to 4 am, spirits and the paranormal are at their strongest.
Women caught outside during this period were thought to be witches and were often executed for this reason alone.
More recently, people have started to accept the hours of 2 am to 4 am being witching hour.
Whatever the official or accepted times for witching hours are, many people have reported strange events happening during this window at night, and often find themselves awake at this time for no apparent reason.
If you find yourself waking up during the hours of 3 am and 4 am, you aren’t losing your mind.
There might be a very supernatural reason for it. There might be a spirit trying to reach you, wanting to pass a message on to you.
Those gifted with psychic powers believe that the veil between our world and the spirit world is weakened or lifted between those hours, and it is also the time of night that our minds are most relaxed and open to outside influence from spirits.
If you are experiencing this often, there might be more to it than just a bad sleeping pattern. Do not ignore it, and rather look into the reason why it might be happening.
If you wake up around this time, and realize you were dreaming, make sure you have a dream dictionary next to you (this is the one I use), as the meanings of these dreams can be especially important.
What to do if you wake up at 3 am
For some people, waking up at the same time each night and having an eerie feeling can be quite scary.
You do not know what is happening, if someone is actually trying to contact you, or if there is something sinister at play.
Preparing yourself for waking up at this time will help you properly experience and understand what is occurring, and hopefully will give you some insight into the message that is trying to be sent, and even who might be attempting to contact you.
If you are hoping to be woken up at 3 am to have contact with some supernatural being, the same steps should be followed.
Stay calm – There have been so many reports of people being woken up at 3 am and feeling paralyzed, being unable to move with a feeling of something pushing down on their chest.
This can be put down to sleep paralysis most of the time, but it could also be your mind shutting itself down out of fear.
If you find yourself awake at 3 am, just stay calm.
Lie on your back and take in deep breaths. Think positive thoughts and surround yourself with good energy.
Being negative or afraid could attract some unwanted and unsavory spirits.
Having a calm mind also makes it easier for the spirit to make contact with you, and to send you the message they are trying to get across.
Any fear or overthinking causes disruptions for the spirit, and they will not be able to send clear messages as they would have to fight too hard to quiet your mind.
Remaining calm also allows you to listen better. You can pay more attention to the signs and symbols you are seeing, making them easier to remember and decipher.
Be open to contact – If you are willing, let yourself be open to receiving messages from spirits or ghosts.
Giving them this ease of passage means they will be able to more effectively pass a message through, not having to fight any unwillingness on your side.
Your openness and willingness to receive a message will probably see you receiving more messages than you initially did.
This is obviously only for those who seek to make contact and wish to keep the lines of communication open between yourself and the contacting spirit.
Closing your mind off to receiving these messages or visits will probably see them ending if that is what you want. Remember that ghosts and spirits don’t want to hurt you, they may just have a message.
That is why having a reliable dream dictionary is so unbelievably important.
Keep a journal – While you might find that you are quite awake during these witching periods, your mind might not be functioning at 100%.
Having just woken up, as well as receiving confusing messages, signs, and symbols, could cause you to forget a lot of your experience.
Keep a journal next to your bed and record any signs, symbols or words that pop into your mind sent by the spirit.
My favorite journal is this one from Amazon.
Even if it lands up being a bunch of scribbles on a page, you can look back in the morning and remind yourself of how you were feeling, and possibly decipher what the message might be.
It would also be interesting to look back weekly or monthly on the various messages or symbols and see if there is a pattern or even a bigger picture to them all.
These notes and scribbles will be priceless to deciphering the messages being sent to you.
There are also many people who specialize in reading signs from the dead, so you could even send your notes off to them to read over.
There are also some great sites online that could help you understand the signs and symbols used.
Thank your spirit guide – Most people who dabble in all things psychic, and those who seek to communicate with spirits, have a personal spirit guide.
It is a presence they feel around them when entering unknown realms and the spirit guide is there to protect them from any unwanted spirits or experiences.
Before opening yourself up to these visits during the witching hour, ask your spirit guide to protect you and to help the message be passed onto you more clearly.
Once the session has ended, thank your spirit guide for their help and protection.
Keeping this good energy and light around you using your spirit guide will protect you from any evil or demonic spirits – which are very often associated with witching hour.
Is the witching hour evil?
There is a big divide on whether or not the witching hour is evil. It is also called the devils hour, by those who support the feeling that it is more demonic.
In the past, it was believed that this was the time of night when demons would pass through the veil and possess the innocent.
It was also believed that it was the time of night when black magic was at its strongest, and when witches would practice evil at full power.
It was also said that the time of 3 am is a direct mockery of the time when Jesus Christ was crucified – 3 pm. The belief that anything supernatural is evil is a very old-fashioned way of thinking.
People are now much more open to the idea that spiritual connection and communication with the dead can be enlightening and safe.
If you protect yourself and ensure that your intentions are good, there should be no harm done.
Many people have had very good experiences of spirit contact during the witching hour, and have reported no evil.
The experiences you have also come down to your mindset. If you are troubled, negative and surrounded by bad energy, you are more than likely to have a bad experience.
Surrounding yourself with positivity, good energy, and white light will help guide you through a safe experience when contacting spirits.
Beware the witching hour!
Whether or not you believe in witching hour is a time for spirits to make contact, or you are on the other side of the fence that believes that it is all to do with sleep patterns and the state of REM, you cannot deny that waking up at 3 am is a phenomenon experienced by people all over the world.
If you are wanting to use these hours to make contact with spirits, or believe you are being contacted by a lost loved one, remember to keep things peaceful and safe.
Never dive in deeper than you can handle, and don’t look to make contact with beings that aren’t as forthcoming about their intentions than they should be.
There is always a risk of evil spirits trying to escape through the veil when it is weak, don’t leave yourself open to being that vessel that allows them to pass through into our realm.
Keeping a diary or journal of your witching hour experiences could prove to be really fruitful.
You might find some important messages hidden among the smaller ones, and it might be quite a beautiful story to look back on.
Being visited by a lost loved one or a spirit looking to reconcile can be a beautiful gift if you are willing and ready to let them talk to you.
They might just need that last bit of human contact before moving on into the light. The witching hour is the easiest time for them to contact you, let them in and hopefully help give them some peace.
