Shadow People – Ghosts, Daemons, or
Inter-Dimensional Beings?
By: EDWARD O'TOOLE
By: Author and Phenomena's Esotericist-at-Large
Dateline: Monday, September 11, 2006
“Show his eyes, and grieve his heart;
Come like shadows, so depart!”
(Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1)
Look on any ghost hunting or paranormal site, or ask any investigator, and
alongside ‘traditional’ ghosts and dust-orbs, there is another, far more unusual
and much creepier facet of paranormal research – Shadow Figures.
According to Ghost Study dot com (http://www.ghoststudy.com/) , there are three
types of Shadow entity:
Type A - Appear as a small dark misty cloud and are almost always under two feet
in length, but can hover or float up to 8 feet high.
Type B - Appear as a huge glob of thick cloudy mass. They typically range from 2
to 8 feet in height.
Type C - Appear in human form and some may be seen wearing a hat. They typically
appear up to 8 feet in height.
One major difference between recorded cases of 'Shadow People' and 'ghosts' is
that whereas ghosts usually haunt one particular location and somehow repeat
their former existence there, Shadow People have been known to 'interact' in as
much as they observe and then disappear when noticed.
Possibilities of just what these Shadow Figures might be are:
a) Daemonic (given my hobbies, it's plausible :)
b) Paranormal, e.g. ghost
c) Alien
d) Dimensional Seepage
e) Inter-dimensional beings
f) Spirit (as in domovoi)
g) Astral entities
h) Time travellers
i) Echoes of the Self
For reasons that will be explained momentarily, c, d, e, g, h, and i are the
most probable explanations.
Judging by the extremely brief nature of encounters and experiences with Shadow
People it is apparent that these episodes are limited heavily in time factor -
for what reason is unclear.
The lack of synchronicity of reproduced sound occasionally associated with their
visitation and the indistinct, yet clearly human/hominid appearance of Type C
Shadow People suggests that either only the projected aura can travel or that in
order to travel through time/interdimensionally, the frequency of what we call
reality must be increased massively causing poor reception at the destination
point.
The innumerable sightings of beings and entities throughout history described
variously as angels, demons, spirits, etc (not to be confused with the ‘Man in
Black’ of the Black Goat of Le Messe Niger fame) - along with a whole plethora
of modern cryptozoological specimens - do hint towards the abovementioned
possibilities.
Lack of interaction on any concrete level and for any extended period (excluding
the observation, 'babble' and then disappearance that is the hallmark of these
types of paranormal occurance) suggests that SPs perhaps do not originate from
the Demonic Planes or the Astral Planes of our own Reality/Time (unless the work
of amateur astral Travellers).
Skeptics generally brush ShadowPeople and Shadow Animals aside as 'microsleep'.
Driving home through the Carpathian hills I've had many occasions when I've had
to swerve because of a 'Microsleep' running in front of my car. I've also had
these Microsleeps standing in the hallway and then going around corners.
One of the best means of testing if a Shadow Entity is 'real' or not is if it
crosses an open doorway and still retains shape. This implies that it is not the
sleepy mind distorting ordinary shadows because in an open doorway the shadow
has no place to form.
The Shadows (mostly animals but also a few people) I have seen on the road have
always started running across my path when there was zero chance of me avoiding
them. Because I drive so much - approximately 4 hours per day - and in some of
the worst weather imaginable and on very bad roads - I am careful to keep
conscious and focused. These Microsleeps (and their non-hitting of my Mitsubishi
at N kilomteres per hour which would be fatal otherwise) whack my heart out of
rhythm and it takes a good while to calm down and establish normal breathing
again after the shock of the Non-Collision.
I'm not talking blurs but fully formed, shadowy versions of animals such as
deer. The entire road network is dotted with roadside memorials and huge
roadsigns saying how many people have been killed and injured on that stretch in
the last few years. It doesn't take a great leap of imagination to predict that
there will be a few hauntings but Shadow People do NOT repeat these pointless
actions of running into a road and dying ad infinitum. These I would count as
ghosts.
The Shadow People who could qualify as inter-dimensional entities are renowned
for lurking - you know the sensation you get when your neck hairs stand on end
and you just KNOW someone is standing behind you and watching you and when you
turn around you see a blurred movement which your sanity dismisses as a trick of
the light?
These peripheral vision Shadow Figures are brushed away in psychiatric terms as
an aspect of Peripheral Vision Psychosis.
According to the Center for Paranormal Research and Investigation, low sound
waves can even be the cause.
However, in the case of Shadow figures seen standing at the bottom or top of
staircases (a common form of sighting) or the figure watching you in the
bathroom, these cannot qualify as they are not peripheral. I, even though long
exposed to psychology and its attempt to demystify the world, still don't
believe that every single phenomenon can be dismissed as a psychosis (or, in the
case of Saintly visions, the consumption of mouldy rye bread).
The fact that these shadow Figures are often noticed BECAUSE they are observing
(the human mind and body has many in-built self defence mechanisms stemming from
our days as prey rather than predator). We KNOW when we're being watched or
talked about (warm earlobe as a superstitious example). These figures are often
recorded because the object of their study notices them and turns around, and
THEN sees them in peripheral vision - but the sensation of being watched
precedes this, therefore negating the psychosis in many cases.
It's not a pleasant occurrence - especially if it's a lone female loading
clothes into her basement washer and begins to feel prickles on the back of her
neck because she FEELS someone watching her. She turns around and sees a blurred
movement in her peripheral vision and her heart leaps.
How can she explain it (as I've never encountered one with red glowing eyes like
Mothman I can't comment)? She'd say "I saw something out of the corner of my eye
- like a blur - and then it was gone."
Unless she kept going on and on about it and started wearing tinfoil hats, it's
unlikely that she'd be shipped off for Electro Shock Therapy and instead would
be offered a number of mundane explanations, which she would accept as,
culturally, Shadow People have no place in suburban 21st century reality.
An example of a Shadow Figure watching from Ghost Study dot com (http://ghoststudy.com/new6/shadowpics/page114.htm):
Shadow Figures are often reported by magic users following a ritual. It's
extremely important before and after any ritual to 'cleanse' both the environs
and oneself - not only from what was deliberately invoked/evoked but what may
have also been attracted by Reality Frequency Disturbances.
“Some there be that shadows kiss;
Such have but a shadow's bliss”
(The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene IX)
To use an example: You're trying to raise a daemon (whether or not the ritual is
successful is irrelevant). What you're basically doing is calling out (or down,
if that's your hypothesis) in such a manner that you'll attract its attention.
The same goes for Ouija and other means of Clairvoyance (except they go upwards
in traditional Belief systems, unless you're Vodun...then I still haven't worked
it out and haven't had chance to ask Baron Samedi yet). You're basically opening
up a means of communication or, much worse, a door.
One reason why the Simon Necronomicon was so terrifying (and the entire
principle of Lovecraft's Mythos) was that doors could be opened but not closed
again. It doesn't matter, on principle, if - in the case of the Simon - you're
just spouting quasi Sumerian gobbledygook - you are 'opening doors' from your
location and your reality to ‘others’. It is the experienced practitioner who
knows how to open a door, do the deed and close it again and go to bed at night
not wondering if he or she left the light on...
The Sixth Sense covers an immense area of pseudo-science (as psychology was
known until recently); ESP and precognition are just two of many documented
aspects that do not fit within the strict structure of the scientific 5 senses
yet are clearly seen in some animals. Who knows what else is in our
capabilities? After all, we managed to attain sentience.
To go back to the doors, imagine if you will that within our 'mind' (or soul,
etc) we have the ability during ritual to create a harmonic that breaches the
boundaries of this reality and probes others. We have no way of knowing if this
opens a direct line to our intended summonee or contactee, or if it threads its
way through countless other planes and realms, attracting the attention of
whatever denizens might overhear it.
As I have oft stated, Daemonology is similar to primitive psychology - much of
magic is - in that it is isolating and focusing one aspect of our minds using
symbols, chants, metals, times and dates (which is where astrology comes in
handy). We set the scene to put out a call to a daemon listed in some ancient
tome or - and this is one reason I heartily recommend against this method for
beginners, e.g. the Chaos Magick version - one of our own creation. Not only do
we open ourselves up to whatever is listening in but in the case of 'Homemade
Daemons' there is no direct end to the link. The practitioner has no idea
whatsoever what will answer the call - or how to deal with it when it arrives
(if...if....)
Shadow People, as can be seen in the various personal experiences that have been
recorded, appear to be attracted to environs and people that have been involved
with magic. It is eerily like sharks smelling blood in the water. The fact that
these Shadow People apparently do nothing once they arrive - apart from lurk and
watch - does not label them as either harmless or harmful.
I've never heard of anyone summoning them directly. Even mediums don't count
them as successful contact with the Afterlife - they're more of an unwanted
side-effect.
Quite often when communicating with various entities, one realises that their
speech is somehow distorted as if coming through a filter; eg too fast, too
metallic, too 'bubbly'. This really leads me to believe that in order to cross
planes/time-space, there has to be frequency adjustment. Anomalous Voices, such
as that which inspired me to begin research intro EVPs and Reversed Speech, are
often associated with the appearance of Shadow People – and both are clearly
‘out-of-sync with this reality.
One theory I formulated many years ago concerning déjà vu, but which applies
equally well to the appearance of Shadow People (I get really scary-arsed
episodes of déjà vu, usually prior to something bad happening to me) was the Lag
Theory. This is a bit Acid-esque but is basically based upon the theory that
each decision has a number of possibilities, each of which creates another
number of possibilities with different consequences, and so on virtually ad
infinitum (the reason why it's not possible to travel to the future and return
again as you'd never find your way back through the 'choice-labyrinth'); an
extension of this is the parallel universe theory whereby at the point of each
decision a new universe/reality is created in order to fulfil the possibility
chosen by Self A, Self B, Self C, etc.
In the Lag Theory, Alpha Self (e.g. the you reading this) chooses the reality
that I am currently in tune with, however, Alpha Self is still Beta Self and
Gamma Self up to the point where their choice-route takes them on an utterly
divergent course than that chosen by Alpha Self (we'll just ignore the even more
Leary-esque type thinking whereby 'Am I Alpha Self or Beta Self, etc'? as that
argument goes on forever). For the sake of argument, we are Alpha Self.
Okay, Alpha Self is in Reality 1, Beta Self is in Reality 2 (until the next
branching of possibilities - over simplified I know, and not taking into account
the innumerable realities caused from birth onwards). Let's say that Beta Self
(who diverged from Reality 1 several years back but has followed a similar
course with only minor differences) encounters a personal disaster after
choosing one possibility in his/her own Reality. Example - Beta Self's friends
ask him to come for a drink. Beta Self says he feels tired so declines the offer
and goes home instead. On the way home he has a car crash and dies. This (either
deliberately or as a Reality Impulse) sends a shock wave back along the branches
and interacts with whichever other Self is currently in a near-identical
situation. On a minor scale, this is like Gut instinct or Female Intuition -
where the Self knows instinctively, although for no quantifiable reason, why
something 'feels right or wrong'.
In the case of Shadow People, it's possible that they are either emanations of
Delta or Epsilon Selves whose Reality has somehow crosswired with Alpha Self's,
or - and this is where it gets scary - something else entirely that has come
along to watch just which possibility your Alpha Self chooses at a particular
moment, knowing that the consequences of this choice (and it could be something
as simple as eating an apple or not eating an apple) will create a Butterfly
Effect further down the Time Line. In this sense, they could be construed as
'Monitors'. When they appear after a magical ceremony (remembering that the
limit of their interaction is usually running off when noticed - or, perhaps
giving a grin and then running off), it's possible they're there merely as
spectators waiting to see just what mess Alpha Self has caused throughout the
planes and what the consequences will be.
Whatever they are, they show intelligence that is unknown in ghosts; they do not
fit the criteria of the plethora of recorded daemons, they do not appear as
fully formed entities swaying me against the alien argument. That leaves two
main possibilities : Time and Dimensions.
Edward O’Toole, Slovakia, September 2006, Non Serviam
