Thread: What are the shadow people?

Oh ya...those guys...

hmmm.

Similar thing happened to me...one of those funny yet arbitary nights when you know something funky is going down in the astral plane...I was parking off on my bed, window opened...couldn't sleep for the life of me. I suppose I was just kind of gazing into the middle distance of my ceiling, maybe I drifted off to sleep...next thing there were a couple of these things standing over my bed looking down at me. 6...there were 6 of them, I've always remembered that.

Paralysis...thats what the term is, sleep paralysis...can't move, crushing sensation on the chest, can't breath. I didn't get the chest effect at first, I was just cold. I think I challenged them in some way, (probably said something stupid), one stepped forward and put its hand on my chest...Jesus Christ it was cold, really felt like my heart was being crushed.

Its weird, my rational mind was oddly detached from this...It was a strange shift in perception, I felt like I was outside the event watching objectively and somewhat impassionately and at the same time participating subjectively. I think this happens when your logic shuts down or a situation is to intense for it to process.

I still don't know whether these "shadow beings" are a manifestation of our subconscious fears that assail us from time to time or actual entities divorced of our psyches. However there does seem to be a fair amount of consistency among a variety of cultures when it comes to this phenomenon.

Sleep paralysis seems to be the worst manifestation :Sleep paralysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia however simply being aware of these folk in the corners of perception is also common

PS: mine weren't wearing hats...maybe it was summer on their side of reality.

every culture has a version of it, in the judeo christian beliefs they say its lucifer sitting on you, the Hmong believe its a Dab (a demon) that does it

Paralysis is something I attribute to extreme fear, whenever I'm unnaturally afraid, my throat closes up, I can't scream, and I can't move. I'm like that until my sense kicks back in and I react.
lol, now that I think about it. I probably look like Link in the older Zelda games when he faces a boss monster " *door slams shut* Link: =OO! *monster comes out* Link: Bwah! "
hahahaha!

Though the act of chest-sitting has been attributed to many things, succubi visiting in the night, demons that cause nightmares. Makes one wonder how they people of the old world came to such conclusions. Then it makes you not want to know...

As for the source of the shadow peoples' origin... It is quite possible they come from many different places, as I mentioned there seems to be different "races" and "classes" of them. At least one of them are a sort of "shadow" of the psyche if you've studied Carl Jung you know of who'm I am speaking lol. The darker dimensions, the inner "demon" hidden from the sight of modern society- and in sever cases. Oneself. The demon we need to calm and make peace with to achieve a state of inner balance. Possibly the most hurtful wound modern society has inflicted upon people of spirituality, is the thinking process that this part of the mind and soul should be beaten, bound, gagged and tossed into the darkest attic of our minds, labeled as wrong, bad and evil. When in fact, it is primal, strong and in most cases, neutral (though this part of us is more inclined to act with little regard towards others- hence "primal")

Just something one of you said made me think about this and I felt I should bring it up, perhaps it is this inner shadow, manifesting outwardly to point us along. Then again- perhaps not.
The reality lies in the perception, friends.

Just something one of you said made me think about this and I felt I should bring it up, perhaps it is this inner shadow, manifesting outwardly to point us along. Then again- perhaps not.
The reality lies in the perception, friends.

If we go by the good old "As above so below" concept, I've often read that as "As within, so without". We are a reflection of our environment as much as our environment is a reflection of us.

So I posit that these creatures are in fact both outside entities and part of our dark and hidden psyche at the same time...it just depends whether you are looking at it from the outside in or the inside out.

Confused?...yea...me too..its cool.

Originally Posted by S33k3R

If we go by the good old "As above so below" concept, I've often read that as "As within, so without". We are a reflection of our environment as much as our environment is a reflection of us.

So I posit that these creatures are in fact both outside entities and part of our dark and hidden psyche at the same time...it just depends whether you are looking at it from the outside in or the inside out.

Confused?...yea...me too..its cool.

Very good analysis here. When we apply the phrase as above so below to shadow people a logical conclusion might be that they may very well exist as entities both within and without us.

Most systems have a certain feel to them, an energy signature is a decent way to explain it. That energy signature, usually coupled with various techniques, helps us slip into a more etheric state of being. Before doing so we must be removed from the mundane. In theurgy, the use of robes and religious prayer serves this function as well a sense of feeling exceedingly pure, more pure than we normally feel. This allows us to work with angelic beings of a higher "vibration" than we are used to operating at during normal times. As I stated, most systems do something similiar. The Simon Necronomicon's signature is exceedingly primeval which many people have a difficult time adjusting to when first starting to work the system. They often, as did I, translate that feeling into fear. This can cause severe bouts of paranoia.

I bring all of this up because when I first began working the Necronomicon I saw shadow people for a time and have known others to do so as well when first beginning a system. A new system means new modes of being. It may very well be the case that a new mode of being, spiritually that is, would be enough to cause shifts in consciousness, especially with what we do (magick that is.) Those shifts in consciousness may having something to do with causing them to appear. S33k3R's post about sleep paralysis appears to lend some validity to this idea as during sleep paralysis a person's modes of consciousness are rapidly and radically changing. As Saeiane also mentioned, Jungian psycology playes a role here as well in so much as it may be that during those shifts of awarness, parts of our selves begin to manifest for moments at a time in front of us or even entirly outside of us as reflection or pieces of reflections of us. It seems reasonable to assume that the image the mind would put on such a thing would be that of a shadow.

-Ashnook

Originally Posted by toadbile

Mr. Bell thinks they may be the shadows of being cast from over-lapping parrallel dimensions who often may not be aware of our world, or that they may be cast across time from beings in the same space.

I think thats a good point of view (though i do not know Mr. Bell), and may i add in my own concept, that we see the only in the corner of our eyes because our minds tend to focus naturaly to what is in front of us or to what we are looking at. And because we focus, we think, and when we think, sometime we tend to oversee or negate things that are there already...

hmmmm... which makes me think, is it possible that to see them clearly or in order for us to be aware that those shadow figures are there we need to "un-focus"??

Actually I suspect that it might have something to do with the distribution of Rods and Cones within the human eye...

Rods and Cones are two different types of photoreceptors in the eye..cones are used to percieve colour and are not sensitive to light and dark. Rods are much more sensitive to light and dark but cannot perceive colour.

Further, there are only 6-7 million cones in the eye, most of which are focused in the "center of vision" i.e straight ahead of where you look. There are about 120 million Rods, mostly distributed around the periphery of vision...these are sensitive to movement and shadow. Its a survival thing, we only need to know that something is coming to attack us from the edges of our vision...we don't need to know what colour it is.

So the construction of the eye itself means that we can only perceive these "shadow beings" from the corner of our eyes...

becareful about those wearing black robes they may not be your average friendly shadow people, i know i do not need to tell you this but i hope that it was just "passing through"

like lambs to the slaughter? it would prove somewhat amusing really, but also can be somewhat of an annoyance, either way youll gain some entertainment

I've had moderate experience with shadow people, and as I can determine best, there are many different types.
There is of course the shadow of yourself (ie: Jung) which has been explained quite adequately (kudos there)

The shadow beings described by the original poster, the ones his brother sees, are most likely thralls of Thanatos, Anubis, (insert god of death of your choice). I've had extensive experience with the various gods of death, and these creatures seem to hang around a lot in areas where death is rampant, or about to happen. They're pretty harmless in and of themselves, but you should be on the lookout, as they do usually indicate death ahead, so extra protection spells and divination is definitely in order at the very least. Be mindful and cautious, and prayers for your family and friends are most likely the best way to stave them off.

As to their function, I think it has to do with preservation of the energy matrix and/or spirit, although I can't be sure, as I haven't witnessed them in action before, although I can say I was almost killed when I was younger after I saw one.

Just some thoughts,
Anonymous Knight