Shadow People
By Karen Hollis
Alternative Theories on Shadow People: Holograms of our “Dark Side” or a Lost Piece of the Soul?
Shadow People…Who are they? What do they want with us?
Shadow People, paranormal phenomena that are also known as Shadow Beings are said to be shadow-like creatures of supernatural origin which appear as dark forms and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed. There are many different theories about the Shadow People and, depending upon what culture a person comes from, there are many different spiritual beliefs about them. For example, the American Indians, more specifically the Choctaw tribe, believed that every person had a “shilombish” or an outside shadow that followed them, and when they died it would wander on the earth. They also believed that every person had an inside shadow called a “shilup” that would go to the “land of shadows” when they died. These two shadows made up a part of every human soul. In Asian culture, the Shadow Beings go by different names and many say that when they see a Shadow Person there is sleep paralysis! In the Philippines, Shadow Beings are called “Batibats,” in Laos they are the “Dab Tsog,” and in Thailand they are referred to as the “Lai Tai.”
On one ghost hunting encounter with G.O.N.E.R.S. (Ghosts of New England Research Society) our team encountered multiple shadow figures in one haunted location. One of these figures glided up a stairwell and seemingly melted into the wall and disappeared. Another figure was found wrapping itself around corners in a basement and morphing into a grotesque figure that appeared leprechaun-like. Our investigator screamed as it came at him and passed right through him. He said that it felt as if he was a “screen door” and “the shadow being felt like sand being pressed and sifted through the screen door as it passed through his body.”
No two experiences with the Shadow Folk are said to be alike. Some investigators will describe the Shadow Beings as having wide brimmed hats. I have observed the “hat man” shadow figure in what looked like a doorway. At a distance, this figure is foreboding and unsettling because his lack of facial features and dark body leads one to believe that he is pure evil. Others have seen shadow figures with glowing red eyes. Those that glided away from our team of investigators did not have such discernable facial features.
In general, what makes these shadowy figures so unsettling is how they glide without a sound-you never know if they are likely to show up behind you or in front of you at any moment. No matter who you are or how experienced you are with paranormal activity the one thing that I can tell you about the Shadow Being encounter is every experience is unique, and don’t expect concrete answers as to why the encounter happens or what it may mean.
Where do Shadow People fit on the “Paranormal Activity Spectrum?”
Typically, hauntings fall into distinct categories such as “repeated, but not intelligent,” which means that the paranormal activity will re-occur under certain set conditions but it will not interact with any known intelligence that would lead you to believe it was once a living person. Another type of haunting is the “intelligent haunting” in which the phenomena will repeat as if in response to a command or as if in response to a command or a question. If it is “intelligent,” it could be a discarnate Spirit simply trying to communicate in some way.
Shadow People, as they have been reported in paranormal circles, do not easily fit into either of these two categories. Although these entities do not interact in any intelligent way, they also do not repeat based on a set of fixed criteria like barometric pressure changes, time of year, day or night, or an anniversary of some kind. As a paranormal researcher and psychic/medium, I have formed two theories on the Shadow People – who or what they might be and what they may want from the living.
Shadow People as Reflections of the Human Shadow/Dark Side
My first theory is that Shadow People may be collection of condensed negative thought forms that mimic the human “shadow side” or “dark side.” These thought forms seem capable of taking on a life of their own by feeding on the fears, negative thinking, and negative life patterns of the living. In my mediumship practice, one constant I have observed among people from all cultures, religious backgrounds and belief systems, and socio-economic levels is that those who appear to be “haunted” by Shadow People are filled with fear.
Additionally, they have experienced a specific negative event in their lives that they have been unable to let go of emotionally. Let me be clear in saying that I am not placing blame, or casting aspersions on those who experience this frightening phenomenon. I am only stating that which I have observed in the course of paranormal research and mediumship work. Everyone has a “shadow side” and therefore everyone can, at one time or another be “haunted” by their own “shadow person.”
The Law of Attraction & Shadow People
If Shadow People are nothing more than a “life-like” manifestation of our own negative thoughts, why or how would such things haunt the living? To help you better understand this, I first want to provide you with the context for the just how powerful thoughts really are. In 2006, the best-selling novel The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, sold millions of copies worldwide. It was based on the Law of Attraction and the claim that positive thinking could increase wealth, health and happiness. This “old wisdom” presented within the slickly marketed book was valuable, but it fell short: The book did not address what happens when people fail to keep their negative thought patterns and fears out of their “personal law of attraction.”
How does this apply to the Shadow People? If the Law of Attraction works for the positive on the premise that “like attracts like,” then it would stand to reason that negativity will seek out fear and negative thinking. Take a moment, right now, and think about your own thoughts as living, breathing “things,” capable of taking on a life of their own if fed by your energy (that is, your “wanting” or “desiring”). If the universe is neutral in its judgment about whether you want good or bad for yourself, and therefore will give you more of whatever you are directing your attention toward, then it makes sense that you could literally create a “shadow side of yourself.”
To recap, with this first theory I am suggesting that Shadow People are nothing more than condensed thought forms that drift toward other negative thought forms and grow in accordance with negative thinking, fear and anxiety. The fact that a thought cannot have the intelligence to communicate of its own volition might suggest that Shadow People are nothing more than a figment of our negative imagination, a hologram of ourselves in the negative, therefore, our “shadow side.”
Are Shadow People a “Lost Piece” of the Soul?
My second theory about the Shadow People is that they may be part of a “trinity of Spirits” (for lack of a better phrase,) that constitutes the human soul. Many Christian religions teach of a holy trinity, among them Roman Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, and Lutheran. The trinity consists of the God/Father, the Son/Jesus, and the Holy Ghost/the great regenerating power. It is interesting to note that all are three distinct entities but are one substance. They constitute the Godhead and are one in purpose.
In forming my theories about what the Shadow People might be, I remembered having read the book Kahuna Magic by Brad Steiger. The book focuses on the practices of the Kahuna Priests in Hawaii and a man named Max Freedom-Long who devoted years of study to their ancient religion had called “Huna.” According to this source, Kahuna medicine men believed there were three separate Spirits that resided in each human being and each needed to cooperate with the other in order to rise to a higher level of spiritual awareness in successive lifetimes. The three Spirits are: “Parental Spirit” or High Self (God-Self); “Conscious Spirit” (Son/Middle-Self); and the “Sub-Conscious Spirit” (Child-Self). It was believed that if the “Conscious Spirit” suddenly got cut off from its companion the “Sub-conscious Spirit” it could become wraith-like and would act as a “shadow” of its former self. A lost soul-or at least, a piece lost from the soul!
The kahuna’s believed that the three spirits within a person could be separated by accident and in some cases intentionally, or by mental illness. In the case of mental disorders such as multiple-personality cases or schizophrenia, the Kahuna’s believed that the patient remained sane while obsessed or controlled by a “ghostly intruder” with distinct subconscious and conscious selves or spirits, and could use reason and remember. In an accident, where the “conscious spirit” had vacated a body and another invading “shadow spirit” or “sub-conscious spirit” had taken over the body cases of insanity were common. The Kahunas suggested that there was only one remedy that would work to bring a person back into spiritual and emotional health: One would have to send in a “conscious spirit” to retrieve the “sub-conscious spirit” and bring it back to its “high-self or Parental Spirit,” thus bringing the trinity back into balance.
It is my belief that through our actions and our words we are in control of our environment inside and out. Spiritually, emotionally, and physically we reap what we sow. Anger, Fear, hatred, depression, loathing, sloth, envy, greed, and addiction, all weaken the spiritual trinity, thereby, inviting and allowing negative thoughts and inner fears to condense in our outer world. It is at those times that we need to recognize that it is through our own intention that we have somehow invited the “trinity” of our spiritual soul to somehow split, giving negativity the opportunity to condense into a shadow entity we have inadvertently created.
Whether the Shadow People are entities that we create through the magnetic power of our own fears and negative thoughts, or if they are a “lost piece” of the soul that somehow got cut-off from the owner’s spiritual trinity, one thing does remain certain: Shadow People are truly frightening-and, as far as who they really are and what they want from us…perhaps only the Shadow knows…
Where do you think Shadow People come from? I’d love to hear from you about the ideas presented in this article. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Recommended Reading: Kahuna Magic. (1981) Brad Steiger. ParaResearch, Inc.
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About the Author
Psychic/Medium Karen Hollis has used her abilities for more than 30 years, helping her clients acquire wisdom from Spirit about their soul lessons and how karmic patterns manifest in their life choices. Her private readings are highly regarded for their accuracy, integrity, and compassion. Karen teaches seminars and has worked with law enforcement finding missing persons both in the United States and Canada.
Karen has been featured on Discovery Channel’s “A Haunting,” and will be featured in the new television show “Paranormal Survivor” (Fall 2014). As the lead psychic/medium investigator with Ghosts of New England Research Society (G.O.N.E.R.S.), Karen is “the bridge between evidence and explanation.”
http://www.readingsbykaren.com
