The human shadow has always been endowed with something ancient and mysterious. In Russia, and in other countries, people believed that the shadow is a double of the person himself, his second "I", a reflection of his soul.
The Slavs considered the shadow a mythological character, as they believed that the shadow could separate from a person and harm him, up to death. If the enemy steps on the shadow and utters curses or just bad words in a fit of anger, he can harm the owner himself and even kill him, since the shadow is a substance that is inextricably linked with its owner.
An interesting fact is that among the Poles the human shadow appears in the guise of Mor; among the Slavs - in the guise of a vampire, as well as the souls of the dead. According to the Bulgarian legend, God created the devil from his shadow. Based on this, there is a belief that if you hit the sorcerer or witch himself, they will not feel pain. And if you hit their shadow with an aspen log, you can thereby neutralize their magical gift. A Serbian sign is considered a more mystical superstition, which says that a human shadow can penetrate his head and cause clouding of reason. Therefore, Serbian children were strictly forbidden to play with their shadow with their hands; as well as stepping and jumping on a human shadow. This superstition is also firmly entrenched among the Irish: if you step on a shadow, you will bring bad luck to a person. Young children often report that they feel bad and uncomfortable when they see a child or adult step on their shadow. Slavic mythology You can find many beliefs about the shadow of a person. So, the Russians believed that the shadow, shortly before death, leaves a person. If you pierce the shadow of an enemy with a spear or sword, he will die. After death, the shadow can wander around the world and not find peace for itself. On Christmas Eve, the future was predicted from the shadow: they went out into the courtyard and looked out the window if one of those sitting festive table did not cast a shadow, or his shadow was headless, then death will certainly take him next year. Belarusians still believe to this day: if you measure a human wall shadow, circle it with chalk or prick it with pins, then you can “take out” all the sickness, disease from a person In the Russian north, when laying a new dwelling, the owner should not stand against the sun, it was believed that the shadow that fell on the foundation of the house could take the very soul of a person as a construction sacrifice, after a while a person fell ill and died after 40 days, and his soul became the main patron of the house.
Mystical stories about shadows.
"My husband is a visitor and it so happened that we now live separately with him. Last year he came to me for 10 days, I rented an apartment 5 days in advance, moved some things for life and took a note book computer with me so that I would not have The first night I watched TV, played a game, put out the lights everywhere, went to bed late.
I lie and hear knocks in the kitchen, as if someone is hitting the table with a stick, and so every day. She left food on the table for the brownie, well, nothing stopped these knocks every night during the day, the main thing is quiet and calm. Out of fear, I left the light on in the kitchen and went to bed.
On another day in the evening, the TV was turned on, the light was on, I was playing a game, and the background on the computer was dark, which I could see how the objects that were in the room were shining and suddenly I saw through the computer a shadow approaching me behind me, first a small one, then more and more, which is interesting, a shadow in the form man's head shoulders, I turned around sharply naturally did not see.
Somehow I lived these 15 days, leaving my husband, I immediately rented the apartment back to the owners. I talked with the owner, it turns out half a year ago, their grandfather died in this apartment. Why do I believe in ghosts and spirits because I myself saw this is not the first story that happened to me."
“It was around 6:00 in the morning. I was still lying in bed. It seemed like I was sleeping, but I didn’t seem to be. Suddenly I heard some voices in my head. I opened my eyes and saw that someone was approaching me from another room some kind of shadow with raised hands (as if he was going to choke me) I was very scared and when he came up to my bed, I tried to scare him away and tried to kick him, he dodged my leg and when I came to, he disappeared "When I told this to my mother, she was very scared for me and the next night she sprinkled the corners of my room with holy water. That night I slept peacefully. The next day the same situation happened again, only a little differently. I'm still before wake up heard some voices. I knew if I open my eyes, I will see this shadow again. I opened my eyes and really, I look, this shadow is moving at me again. Only not from the room, as that time. It was right in front of me I tried to scream, to call one of the parents, but nothing worked for me. as if paralyzed. This shadow seemed to cover me. I felt that my body became heavier, as if this shadow entered me. I tried to wake up. But I was moving like that in slow motion (jerks). And when I finally woke up, my body was shaking."
"It happened in the spring of 2011. It was already nighttime at 23:00. I was walking from a friend through the park. All the way I felt like I was being followed and quickened my step. Then I heard that someone was behind me .. ...I turned around and saw only the light of lanterns.Well, then I thought that someone was playing a trick on me and went further without paying attention.Well, I went to my entrance and some old man came across me on the road and said - "Granddaughter, be careful you never know," he smiled so and went on, I stood still thinking "who is he? it seems that we don’t have people in this house who would go for a walk at such a late hour "and I turned around to ask what exactly he had in mind ??? But when I turned around there was no one like this old man wiped off the face of the earth. But I stood I thought that maybe I drank a lot of cognac, and that’s glitches .... well, I stood for one more minute and went into the entrance. Unfortunately, the elevator didn’t work for us again (the elevator often didn’t work for us because it was already old), and I without hesitation, I went on foot.I live on the 7th floor, and it all started from the 4th floor.
Well, I’m starting to walk along the fourth floor and as if someone invisible pushed me and I fell, breaking my knee. I got up, dusted myself off, stood and thought, “I definitely drank a lot, even if my legs couldn’t hold it” and went on. On the fifth floor, I almost fell, but the railing helped me to stay on it. But on the 6th floor, I heard what seemed to be the gnashing of nails on a metal door. That's when I got really scared and ran to my apartment. And just as I wanted to open the door, I turned around and saw a terrible thing. There was a shadow there. This shadow's eyes glowed red... I couldn't open the lock in horror. He got stuck ...... and that creature smiled maliciously and disappeared ... and the door immediately opened. If anyone had this, write me in the comments or know who or what it was ...... just a lot of time has passed, but I still live in fear. Sincerely, Maria."
According to the network
If all phenomena in this world had exclusively materialistic explanations, then the world, firstly, would be significantly impoverished from an artistic and aesthetic point of view, because many masterpieces would simply not be created, and, secondly, all the secrets of the universe would be revealed a long time ago.
0:512 0:517
However, this world is not as simple as it seems to materialists, and often its secrets are much deeper than one can imagine. And some of the secrets that emerge in our world have connections with other worlds, parallel or otherwise. This also applies to the shadow phenomenon.
1:15011:4
HISTORICAL ASPECT
1:55From the point of view of materialism, everything is very simple. A shadow is a sign of a blocked light. Or, speaking in a completely scientific language, a spatial optical phenomenon, which is expressed by a visually perceptible silhouette that appears on any surface due to the presence of an object between it and a light source. All in all.
1:663 1:668However, mainstream science is unable to explain why the shadow in many cultures causes awe and why there are so many rituals associated with shadows, and why they exist in almost all cultures throughout human civilization.
1:1145 1:1150
2:4
Probably because for many peoples shadows are dark entities that have their own nature.
2:189 2:194The shadow is often considered a double of a person and even a soul.. In a number of languages, shadow and soul are denoted by the same word. Not without reason, in ancient Greek culture, hell was inhabited precisely by the shadows of the dead. In the Egyptian tombs of the New Kingdom there are many images in which black shadow the deceased, accompanied by a bird-soul, leaves the grave.
2:787 2:792And in the "Book of the Dead" the following words are written:"Let the way be open for my shadow, for my soul, so that on the day of judgment in other world saw the great god. And the sanctuary of the sun god in Amarna was called “Shadow of Ra”.
2:1200 2:1205There are also curious rock carvings from very archaic times, where people have strange elongated silhouette-like outlines. Scientists have suggested that in fact these are not people, but their shadows, while the very image of a person was forbidden.
2:16652:4
Shadow-souls lead a semi-material existence and are able to interfere in the affairs of the living. It is from here that many funeral rites originate, designed, on the one hand, to help the dead, and on the other, to propitiate them.
3:933 3:938The absence of a shadow is a sign that the person is dead. That is why vampires do not have a shadow, and the devil himself is deprived of it, for he is an enemy of light in every sense. By the way, whoever makes a deal with him also loses his shadow.
3:1314 3:1319Witches, like vampires, have no shadow of their own. If, however, no ungodly deals were “formed”, but the person does not see his own shadow, he must die soon.
3:1621 3:4
SUPERSTITATION OR...?
4:554Until now, there are signs that have come to us from hoary antiquity. A lot of people try not to step into their own shadow, or they are careful not to fall into the shadow of another person. In some tribes, stepping on someone else's shadow is tantamount to a deadly insult. In ancient times, if a slave stepped on the shadow of his master, he was executed immediately, as they say - on the spot. And under the pharaohs, there was even a special person who made sure that the pharaoh did not step on his own shadow.
4:1472 4:1477Serbs the participants of ritual detours walked facing the sun, so as not to accidentally trample their shadows. And in general, they distinguished between the shadow-soul (sen) and the shadow-double of objects (senka). Not only a person has a shadow-soul, but also trees, stones, animals, this is what gives them a special magical power.
4:20084:4
Serbian mythology is also rich in legends about the shadow. Serbian legends say that a shadow can separate from a person’s body and penetrate into his head, which will subsequently cause clouding of reason. Serbian children were strictly forbidden to play with the shadow and jump over it.
4:504 4:509Irish a number of superstitions associated with the shadow also entrenched. It was believed that if you step on someone's shadow, then you can bring huge misfortunes to this person. There are cases in history when children complained of feeling unwell and weak when someone stepped on their shadow.
4:1019 4:1024Bulgarians observed their shadows at the first rays of the sun on Ivan Kupala: if the shadow was intact, then the whole year would be healthy.
4:1257Bulgarian legends The shadow is said to be the devil that God created from his own shadow. It is believed that if you inflict a physical blow on the body of a sorcerer or witch, they will not feel any pain, but if you hit their shadow with an aspen stake or log, you can deprive them of their witchcraft gift.
4:17874:4
long time ago Slavs represented the shadow as a separate mythical character that can separate from a person and harm him. The shadow has an inseparable bond with its owner.If an aggressive person steps on the shadow of his enemy and casts spells, then the shadow can destroy a person. Also, in Slavic mythology, you can find many references to the fact that the shadow, shortly before the death of a person, leaves him. If the shadow of the enemy was pierced by something sharp, then he soon left the world of the living. If a person was killed in this way, then his shadow was forced to wander the earth for eternity in search of peace.
5:16415:4
Also, foretelling the future by the shadows (the most favorable time for this is Christmas Eve) The fortune-tellers went out into the courtyard and looked at the shadows of those sitting at the festive table. If there was no shadow from some guest, or the shadow was decapitated, then it was believed that death would soon follow the life of this person.
5:569 5:574In Russia believed that the shadow can become a source of illness, due to which a person dries and withers, and in this case the shadow must be removed and destroyed. To do this, they put the patient against the wall, circled his shadow with chalk or chipped it with pins and measured it with a thread. Then the thread was burned, and the pins were placed under the threshold, asking the shadow to take away the disease.
5:1175 5:1180In Russia when laying the foundation for a new home, the owner should not be against the sun. If the shadow falls on the foundation of the house, then it will not be difficult for her, as a sacrifice, to take the soul of this person. If the owner was not attentive and made such a mistake, then he fell ill and died after 40 days. His soul remained the patroness of the house forever.
5:1818 5:4Approximately the same Belarusians: on a sunny day they carried the patient out into the yard, laid him on a board, circled him, and then burned the board.
5:269
There is one more terrible rite coming from antiquity
6:894We wonder why many ancient buildings are not destroyed. Yes, because then some living creature or its shadow was necessarily laid in the foundation. By the way, there was only one effect - the victim died, and the house became strong, and the disturbed spirit of the earth, receiving the victim, was appeased.
6:1411 6:1416Sometimes builders specially lured an unsuspecting person to the construction site, secretly measured his shadow with a rope, and then walled up the measure with the first stone. The person whose soul-shadow was caught in this way died within 40 days, and his spirit settled in a new house as a guardian, next to the rope. And in order not to accidentally wall up their own shadow, the ancient masons never worked against the sun.
6:21696:4
In Romania stealing shadows is "practiced" to this day. And not so long ago, there was even a trial about the fact that one neighbor accused another of stealing his father's shadow. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant, when building his new house, "removed the shadow" from his father with a rope and laid it in the foundation of the dwelling, as a result of which the man, strong and not ill, died unexpectedly. Eyewitnesses in court also claimed that the ghost of the deceased now roams around the house where his captured soul is buried.
6:904 6:909church shadow was considered very good, which is why burials under the shadow of temples were the most honorable, because the deceased was under the highest patronage.
6:1220 6:1225
7:4
SHADOW TRAPS
7:50Nowadays, many magical rites have leaked to the masses, where leading role shadow plays.
7:213 7:218So, if you do not want to part with your loved one - pin his shadow with a pin to the curtain or to your clothes. You can also scrape the dust in the place where the shadow of the faithful fell, collect it in a bottle and wear it near the heart, or you can simply circle the shadow of a loved one in order to avoid separation.
7:735 7:740Do you want to win an argument? - Step on the throat of your opponent's shadow.
7:875 7:880Want to get rid of the evil enemy in the office - catch his shadow: glue or seal it with wax, then sweep the floor, “noticing” the shadow on the scoop, and then throw the garbage away, after spitting on it.
7:1265 7:1270Just contacting the world of shadows, remember that they are insidious creatures, and you can expect anything from them. They do not forgive games with themselves. And if the shadow begins to affect you, say the ancient spell: "Shadow, know your place!"
7:16897:4
SCIENCE AND SHADOWS
8:549As for science, a curious experiment was recently conducted by British and Italian scientists: they acted with a wide variety of stimuli on ... .the shadows of the subjects' hands. And a curious picture emerged: the participants in the experiments reacted to the stimuli of the shadows of the hands in exactly the same way as if these stimuli acted on the hand itself.
8:1163 8:1168"The results confirm the intuitive connection that people feel in relation to their shadow contour," Professor Margaret Livingston summed up the experiment. - All of us in childhood experienced a reluctance to step on our shadow. This means that the brain, in determining the position of the body in space, uses the visual cues that it receives not only from the limbs, but also from the shadow.
8:1880 8:4Or, perhaps, the brain stores information that our ancestors knew about the mystical properties of the shadow and how to behave with it correctly? In psychology, the term "shadow" refers to the intuitive part of the soul, which is often suppressed.
8:433 8:438Psychologists say that the shadow is a projection reverse side personality, and if you are good, your shadow is terrible, and vice versa. In dreams, the shadow hides under the guise of monsters or defective characters. Especially often they appear during the formation of personality or serve as a sign that it is necessary to change one's own behavior.
8:1024 8:1029 9:15369:4
MYSTICITY AND PHYSICS
9:48And then there are the so-called shadows of Hiroshima. This, on the one hand, is precisely explained from the point of view of physics. The shadows of Hiroshima are an effect that occurs due to the action of light radiation when nuclear explosion, and represents silhouettes on a burnt out background in places where the propagation of radiation was hindered by the body of a person or animal.
9:670 9:675Shadows of Hiroshima
The shadow of a man who was sitting on the steps of the stairs in front of the bank entrance at the time of the explosion, 250 meters from the epicenter.
9:910 9:915
Shadows on the bridge
10:1462
11:4
The shadow of a standing man on the steps
11:82
In Hiroshima, the epicenter of the explosion fell on the Aion Bridge, where the shadows of nine people remained. But it may turn out that the intense radiation not only imprinted the silhouettes of people to the surface, but also caught their shadows, and even their souls, like the same pin or adhesive tape, chaining them forever to the damned city.
12:1112 12:1117Another case defies rational explanation, also related to the war . In Germany, there is a small town of Bietigheim, where terrible things happen: once every ten years, human shadows appear on the walls of houses, moving as if they were alive.
12:160312:4
This happened in 2001, in 1991, and possibly earlier. These shadows appear on the anniversary of a terrible event - the mass execution of Jews in 1941, when thousands of people were taken out of the city and destroyed. What is this - an otherworldly reminder to the living, a city curse or a place of shadows?
12:522 12:527 Man's eternal companion seems to be silent and bound to us by strong threads of the laws of optics. But despite this, the shadow is able to tell an attentive observer about modern environmental problems, and help in the work of a detective, and in no time prove that, contrary to NASA assurances, a human foot has not yet set foot on the surface of the Moon. Let's have an "interview" with her, shall we?Shadow as evidence
Here legendary photo The "flag ceremony" that took place in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin flaunt next to the flag, and the shallow topography is clearly visible thanks to the fortunate angle of sunlight. All this, according to the Americans, was carefully thought out ... However, the picture immediately shows that astronauts with almost the same height cast shadows of completely different lengths, which, moreover, converge together - although they should be parallel. Armstrong holding the hilt of the flag casts a shadow 45% shorter than Aldrin's - which is not possible with only one light source (supposedly the Sun). In addition, the picture clearly lacks such a trifle as the shadow of the flag: the lower part of the pole rests against Armstrong's leg, and the upper one sticks out alone above the astronaut's head. Obviously, in fact, our "superhero" was not holding a flag, but a mop - and then with the help of computer graphics or poor editing, the picture was fabricated.
This photo was allegedly taken in April 1972 during the Apollo 16 lunar landing. Astronaut John Young salutes the camera next to the US flag, which for some reason is fluttering in the wind - even though there is no atmosphere on the moon. But that's not even the point: it seems that Yang was by definition a vampire, because no matter how hard you try, you can't see his shadow! Meanwhile, on the left of the sandy hill in the background of the image, a diffuse shadow is approaching, which only a cloud can cast, but ... again, there is no atmosphere, no wind, no water on the Moon to form clouds.
This picture also looks funny, which even schoolchildren laugh at: despite the fact that the sun shines directly on the astronaut's back, the shadow from the lunar module and pebbles scattered everywhere clearly leans to the left. And in coal black starry sky the Big Dipper looks so good!.. It's a joke. The stars are not visible at all. But if the picture is fake, why not just draw some white dots? Probably, NASA employees were simply too lazy to calculate the view of the constellations from the surface of the moon.
But this trace, according to the Americans, can be seen on the moon even today with the help of a powerful telescope. However, there are two problems: firstly, they lie, and secondly, they don’t know how to lie. The fact is that the mechanical properties of the lunar soil - density, looseness, stickiness, crushing, shedding angle, etc. were studied in detail by the Soviet automatic devices "Luna-16", "Luna-20" and "Luna-24". After the samples were delivered to Earth, the information was carefully rechecked in the laboratories. Therefore, scientists say: taking into account the fact that lunar gravity is six times weaker than earthly, a person in a spacesuit weighs about 27 kg there and therefore can leave traces only 5-6 millimeters deep. In the images presented by NASA, their depth is as much as 2 centimeters, which corresponds to the appearance of the footprints of the same astronauts on Earth.
Shadow as an alibi
Agatha Christie, in one of her novels about the talented detective Hercule Poirot, talks about a young woman artist who decided to commit murder. When the detective arrives to investigate the crime, the lady informs him of her weighty alibi: during the murder, she allegedly painted a landscape, which means she could not be anywhere else. But Poirot, looking at the results of her labors, declares: the picture clearly could not have been painted that morning, because the shadows clearly indicate the time after noon. The artist was free at the time of the crime and also lied. Case open!
Shadow in contemporary art
Do you also think that pencils, paints or, at worst, crayons are required to create a picture? contemporary painting proves that it is possible to draw and even show deeper illustrations with the help of a shadow. In the creative arsenal, the most useful miscellaneous items, liquid nails and a light bulb to create a directional beam of light.
The real shadow theater is born in the hands of Tim Noble and Sue Webster - they call it "garbage creativity." And it tells about the well-known problems of our time - two billion tons of waste that humanity annually produces. The vast majority of this rubbish is not even recyclable, and it will take hundreds of years before plastic bottles, plastic bags and building materials will cease to exist. The number and scale of landfills are growing, capturing more and more territories ... Therefore, who, if not the same garbage, is able to tell about this?
"An increase in the population of the Earth by 1.5-2% is accompanied by an increase in landfill volumes by 6%." The photo shows a whole "food still life": from gulls rummaging through the garbage to a couple of shadows, thoughtfully drinking cocktails and defiantly ignoring the mountain of waste.
“Skyscrapers of garbage. Every year, a large metropolis produces five million tons of waste.” Such a view from the outside: the city is garbage ...
Japanese artist Kumi Yamashita is also passionate about the play of light and shadow, thanks to which she creates interesting patterns. contemporary art. She randomly “scatters” numbers and letters on the wall, then hangs it with crumpled sheets of paper, or places a single metal plate that has undergone artistic deformation. Under certain lighting, this trash turns into portraits and other images. “Shadows are a wonderful way of self-expression for people who believe more in the variability of the world around them than in its constancy,” says the artist.
By the way, the shadow can also be useful in advertising! An example is the Newcastle beer billboard, which was created using three thousand beer caps. In the evening, when the appropriate lighting is turned on, a shadow appears on the shield in the form of a man reaching for a glass of drink. Here is such a shadow talker!
