Who Or What Are The Shadow People?

By: Jeffry R. Palmer ...... Shadow People, also known as Shadow Folk, or Shadow Beings, are usually attracted to one person or location for unknown reasons. Often they are seen as dark silhouettes of human-shape, generally male, that prefer to watch someone unseen and flee the moment they are noticed. Still this doesn't always fit the experience. While some people distinctly see a shadowy human form others have dexcribed shapeless wispy black blobs and swirling columns of dark smoke.

The personalities or characteristics of shadow people range greatly from shy and skittish to downright nasty and malevelent, with a few witnesses describing them as the ultimate essence of pure evil. Accounts of shadow people have been reported all over the world. There has been an increase of reported sightings of these creatures within the last five to ten years, though there is anectdotal evidence of these creatures appearing before human witnesses through out our history. Reports of shadow people are in many respects different from accounts of ghosts. Ghosts are said to be the disembodied spirits of deceased people and are usually said to take on the appearance and characteristics of human beings. Orbs of light, ectoplasm and glowing mists have also been associated with ghost sightings. None of which is common he occurance of shadow people. Although many accounts describe shadow beings as having human-like form, they are generally not described as resembling actual individuals , living or deceased. It is unheard of in my experience that shadow people ever communicate verbally with witnesses. Feelings of dread, intense fear or panic and paralysis have been ascribed to the expereince of wtnessing a shadow person.

The more consistent accounts of shadow people typically describe a feeling of dread associated with the presence of this phenomena, and animals are said to react to the phenomena with fear and hostility. Shadow Beings are said to move extremely fast and travel through solid matter. They typically are said to have no discernible features such as mouths, noses, or eyes. Their forms are usually described as somewhat thin or smoke-like
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Direct visual contact is rarely reported by most eye witnesses of shadow people; they are said to usually disappear before they can be seen clearly, and are seen "in the corner of one's eye. These beings are said to often appear in mirrors.

There are many proposed explanations of this phenomena. Some of these explanations are outlined below,

One of the more creative theories is that shadow beings are manifest thought forms, meaning that they are collections of negative psychic energy from areas where traumatic events have taken place and evil people frequent. The negative psychic energy begins to manifest and takes on form and motive, thriving on fear and negative emotions for sustenance.

Shadow beings have also been described as forms of ghosts, demons, inter-dimensional beings.The most popular explanation seems to be that they are some sort of other-dimensional beings whose dimension of origin occasionally overlaps with ours, which is said to explain their ethereal appearance and fleeting nature.

As with most supernatural phenomena there is usually a proposed logical, scientifically valid explanation for credible experiences that neither vilify eyewitnesses, nor require violation of generally accepted scientific principles. Several probable rational explanations for illusions resulting in the believed perception of shadow beings are outlined below.

There is a condition known as hypnoagagia (waking sleep) which amounts to a state of semi-consciousness in which a person can be thinking clearly and yet perceiving images that are being dreamed. This state is probably responsible for most so-called supernatural experiences by honest, rational people.

It has also been proven recently that areas with erratic or powerful electromagnetic fields can interfere with the electrical impulses or firing synapses of the human mind, thus influencing people subjected to such environments over time to believe that they are hearing or seeing ghosts, aliens, or perhaps shadow beings. Such environments include old buildings with substandard wiring, power plants, and areas with naturally occurring strong magnetic fields.

Perhaps the only aspect of alleged eye witness accounts of shadow people that remains difficult to explain in objective scientific terms is the similarity of the beings being seen in these alleged accounts, especially the tall man with a hat that is reported as often by 4 year old children as with adults.
However, this could simply be a result of common archetypes (note similarities between many shadow people reports and the grim reaper) shared in the subconscious of all people, just as people all over the world report dreams of flying and falling.
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Sleep Paralysis and Shadow People

Some of the conditions reported in shadow people expereinces are similar to occurances in episodes of sleep paralysis. Many witnesses to shadow people have reported that the experiences occurs just before falling asleep and just after waking. Sleep paralysis may also cause halucinations. While there is some evidence that shadow people expereinces may be related to sleep disturbances it is important to note that many shadow people encounters occur durring times of wakefulness.

Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up this is also known as hypnopompic paralysis and less often, shortly before falling asleep which is known as hypnagogic paralysis.

Physiologically, it is closely related to the normal paralysis that occurs during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is awakened from an REM state into essentially a normal fully awake state, but the bodily paralysis is still occurring. This causes the person to be fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, this state is usually accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations.
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More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be a dream. This is the reason why there are many dream recountings which describe the person lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream.

The primary symptom of sleep paralysis is conscious partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis during the hypnopompic or hypnagogic states. In other words, it is the sense of being aware that one is unable to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis is often accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations. These hallucinations can be auditory, tactile, and / or visual. If a polysomnography is taken, at least one of the following will be shown: skeletal muscle tone suppression, REM sleep at sleep onset, or dissociated REM sleep. The sleep paralysis persists anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes before the person is able to either return to normal sleep or to become fully awake and aware. However, the sense of how much time has gone by is often distorted during sleep paralysis. People who are fortunate enough to be facing a clock while having an episode may often be surprised to see how little time has gone by during an episode that seems to last a long time.

Little is known about the physiology of sleep paralysis. However, some have suggested that it may be linked to post-synaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the pons region of the brain. In particular, low levels of melatonin may stop the depolarization current in the nerves, which prevents the stimulation of the muscles.
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There is also a significant positive correlation between those experiencing this disorder frequently and those suffering from narcolepsy. However, various studies suggest that many or most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once or twice in their lives.

Some report that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:

• * Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
• * Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
• * Increased stress
• * Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
• * A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode
• * Medium to long-term imagining of involuntary movements with your eyes closed before sleep.

Shadow People Theories

Theories surrounding the nature and origin of shadow people abound. Some believe that they are interdimensional beings which exist in a parallel universe to our own. Others hold to the notion of demonic forces an explanation for these strange experiences. Still others feel that they are thought forms created by the living and manifested as shadow figures.

I am especially interested in the subconscious aspect of these experiences. I wonder if these experiences may be an attempt by the subconscious mind to convey a message to our conscious selves, if so, what is the content of that message? The shadow has long been associated with the mysterious aspect of the subconscious mind, an archetype of a hidden and secretive area of human existence. I believe that these experiences are truly trying to tell us something important about ourselves, our environment and the times we live in. It is interesting to note that shadow people experiences as described in the pages of this web site are a largely recent human experience. Perhaps there is a connection to sociological or psychological changes in society which are occurring at present or have which have occured in recent history.

In Jungian Psychology the archetype of the shadow deals with primal survival instincts. The shadow self derives from our pre-human, animal past, when our most important concerns were limited to survival and reproduction. It is the dark side of the ego, the evil that all men are capable of is under the right circumstances is stored there. Perhaps it wrong to use such a loaded word as evil, the shadow is amoral, neither good nor bad, just like animals. An animal is capable of tender care for its young and vicious killing for food and defense, but it doesn't consciuosly choose to do either. It reacts on instinct. just as human beings once did. But from our so called civilized perspective, the animal world seems rather bruta..The shadow, is the dark side of the person, characterized by inferior, uncivilized or animal qualities which the human ego wishes to hide from others.

When I have questioned witnesses about their encounters with shadow people. I have discoverd that many, if not most of these people were under a good deal of stress when the phenomena occured. Sleep patterns were also disturbed as a result of stress, many shadow people witnesses have reported suffering from insomnia at the time of the shadow experience.
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Types of Shadow People

One of the most popular pages on this web site deals with the topic of shadow people. Each week I receive emails from people from every part of the world describing encounters with these strange and sometimes frightening creatures or entities. While it is unknown with any real certainty what the shadow people are, it is interesting to note the variety of shadow people types that witnesses havereported. The six most common types of shadow people are described in this article.


Human Shaped Shadow People
The first and most common type of shadow people are the human figure shadow people. These entities are described as generally humanoid in shape and size. Anatomical details such as ears, eyes, nose, hair and hands are missing from the descriptionvof these experences.When asked, witnesses ususally attribute a male characteristic to these figures. The shadow form is semi-transparent and dark. The duration of the sighting of this type of shadow person varies among reports but is usually stated as between two and five seconds. In many cases witnesses decribe the sense of being watced, looking up to see if someone is in the room and discovering the shadow person observing them. Once noticed, the shadow person seems to flee quite rapidly, sometimes traveling through walls or closed doors.


The Black Smoke or Black Mist Shadow Person
The second most common type of shadow person reported is that of the black smoke-like or black mist experience. At first it may seem odd to label these entities as "people" but in manycases witnessnes that have encountered these beings have described them as having intelligent characteristics and reactions to events. Strangely, many of the encounters with the black smoke shadow beings have been associated with overwhelming feelings of dread and malevelonce, much more so than the expereinces arelated to the human shaped variety.


The Hat Man
The Hat Man shadow person is a variation of the human-like being described earlier. While the experiences and description of this type of entity closely matches that of the plain shadow person there are noticable differences. The most notable and obvious being the inclusion of a wide brimmed hat in witness descriptions. The hat worn by this type of shadow person is described variably as a having a brim the width of the creatures shoulders. In most other instances the description of this creature mimcs that of the human shaped variety. The Hat Man seems to exhibit a certain degree of curiosity towards the witnesses involved in sighting it or him, whichever the case may be.There have been occasional reports of dread and paralysis associated with this creature, but to a much lesser degree than the black smoke shadow being.


The Shadow Animals
This type of shadow creature is much less common than the human shaped or smoke variety. Sightings of these creatures have discribed vaguely animal like creatures of a dark and semi transparent appearnace. Many witnesses have described these beings as being roughly rabbit or guinea pig sized. These creatures have been witnessed indoors and outside equally and exhibit some of the otherwordly qualities of other types of shadow beings.Travel through solid matter and unatural speed are some of the traits ascribed to these beings.


The Peeking Shadow
This phenomena has been described as a vaguely child sized, shadowy, human form which appears to peek arround corners and quickly vanishes when noticed. Many who have witnessed these mysterious shadow forms describe seeing them through peripheral vision, out of the corner of the eye. Like other shadow people, a sense of curiosity has been attached to these creatures.


The Red Eyed Shadow
Perhaps the most frightening of all shadow people experiences is that of the red eyed shadow. This form of shadow person is described as having glowing red eyes which cause the viewer to feel paralysis and extreme terror. They have been described as the embodiment of pure evil.
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