Shadow People – Ghosts, Demons, or Inter-Dimensional Beings?
By: EDWARD O'TOOLEBy: Author and Phenomena's Esotericist-at-Large

"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) Demonic (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, Demonology 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
Aestheteka can be found here.
Shadow Figures and other aspects of the Occult and Paranormal may be
discussed at the Aestheteka Forum.