In the ethnolinguistic dictionary Slavianskie drevnosti (Slavic Antiquities), the zmora—a supernatural being from Polish folklore whose main function is to try to suffocate people while they are asleep—is classified as double-souled. Nevertheless, the archives of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas and other Polish sources show that informants mention the double-souled nature of the zmora in the...
The author examines the concept of “sleep paralysis” from the point of view of biology and folk culture. The key components of this concept, highlighted by various authors, touches on the main problems related to this concept, including the relationship between biological and cultural in the context of sleep paralysis, are presented. In addition, the work describes possible interpretations of...