Hypnagogia

Hypnagogia (from Greek hypnos "sleep" + agōgos "leading, inducing") is the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep (i.e., the onset of sleep), originally coined in adjectival form as "hypnagogic" by Alfred Maury.

The equivalent transition to wakefulness is termed the hypnopompic state. Mental phenomena that occur during this "threshold consciousness" phase include lucid dreaming, hallucinations, out of body experiences and sleep paralysis. The collective noun "Hypnagogia" was coined by Dr Andreas Mavromatis in his 1983 thesis (Brunel University) which was later published by Routledge (hardback 1987, paperback 1991) under the title "Hypnagogia" the Unique State of Consciousness Between Wakefulness and Sleep and reprinted in a new paperback edition in 2010 by Thyrsos Press. The term "hypnagogia" is employed by Dr Mavromatis to include both sleep onset and the transition from sleep to wakefulness; he retains, however, the adjectives "hypnagogic" and "hypnopompic" for the identification of specific experiences.