The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-08-30
SHADOW LEGENDS
zulus Believe the Bodily Shade 10
the Future Spirit.
TAKING AWAY ONES SHADOW.

Why Some Races Are Forbidden 10
Look Into a Dark Pool of Water.
The Way Donald Mckay Managed 20
Escape the Clutches of the Devil.
That mysterious counterpart OF q
human being which lengthens with
the day and disappears with the sun,
to reappear more family with the
rising Of the moon, which we can a
shadow, has always struck the imagi-
nation Of man. 1t has played a promi-
nent part In primitive superstition and
in later folklore. Shadows or shades
was the classical name or figure for
the spirits Of the departed which stfll
remains In usa.
This idea Is not confined to civilized
races. Among the Zulus the spirit ia
the shade. Bishop Galloway, whose
knowledge Of Zulu beliefs and modes
Of thought was unrivaled, says that
the Zulus connect the bodily shade
with the future disembodied spirit.
They believe that the shadow cast by
the body viii ultimately become the
4ttongo," or spirit, when the body dies,
and they say that the long shadow
shortens "as man approaches his end
and contracts into very little thing.
When they see the shadow Of man
thus contracting, they know he VIII
die. The long shadow goes away
when man is dead. and it Is that
which Is meant when it is said, The
shadow has departed There is, how.
ever, short shadow which remains
with the body and Is buried with 1t.
The long shadow becomes an ances-
trail spirit.
Identification Of the shadow In amy
mysterious or spiritual way with the
person whose body casts It, naturally
leads to respect for the strange second
self To tread on the shadow OF a
chief Ia an insult to the chief himself
In the Institutes of Manu-, the ancient
Hindu law giver, the law runs:
LET him not Intentionally pass over
the shadow Of sacred images, Of q
natural or spiritual father, of king,
OF Brahmin who keeps house. or Of
any reverend parsonage, nor Of one
who has just performed sacrifice"
There are traces OF the survival Of
these primitive ways Of regarding a
mans shadow In the English country
feeling that it is unlucky to cross the
path OF a newly married man as he
leaves the altar; and in another rural
belief that it is unlucky to cross the
path of horses ploughing when the sun
IL shining behind them.
Association between shadows and
mirrored representations Of the human
form is obviously natural, so it Is not
surprising to find superstitions about
the shadow mingled with widely scat
tered versions Of the Narcissus legend.
The story Of the beautiful youth who
became enamored of his own image,
as he saw 1t represented In the water,
and languished thereafter till he died.
has its origin In the belief that trouble
follows from beholding the watery
image.
@Let him-no look at his own image
In water; that Is a settled rule" COM
mands Manu-, the Hindu law giver.
The reason for the prohibition Is to
be found in the beliefs of man In q
primitive state Of civilization. The
Melanesians of the Pacific, says a
learned observer. say: There Is a
stream In Saddle island, or, rather, a
pool in stream, into which If any
one looks he dies; the malignant spirit
takes hold upon his Life by means Of
his reflection in the water" Some
such idea as this was probably the
root Of the Narcissus legend.
The Zulus explain why it 10 III TO
look into the water of pool by story
Of a great beast in the water which
can seize the shadow Of man and
when his shadow is gone man no
longer wishes to turn back, but de-
sires to enter the pool. He goes In.
dies, and Is eaten by the great beast
which tnhabits 1t. So, says Bishop
Galway, ~men are forbidden to lean
over and look into dark pool, it be-
ing feared that their shadow should be
taken away"
There are other ways In which q
man may lose his shadow. There was
a temple Of Jupiter in Arcadia which,
II entered by those who we're for
hidden to do so, robbed them Of their
shadows.
In the north OF Scotland there ana
some quaint legends of folk who lost
this usual attendant. In Sutherland
they tell more than one story Of q
wizard named Donald-Duival Mckay.
Donald went to a school In Italy where
the black art was taught by the devil,
who sat in the professors chair, and
at the end Of each term claimed as bis
own the last scholar to depart Break
ing up at this academy was naturally
a scramble, none wishing to be last
On one occasion Donald was really
the last, but just as the devil was
about to seize him, the resourceful
Donald pointed to his own shadow,
which fell behind him, saying, Take
thou the hindmostp' Accordingly, bis
shadow was seized. while he himself
escapes, and after bis return to Scot
land was never seen to have q
shadowl
A companion illustration of "de'il<aa
the hin'most, from Aberdeenshire, d
q story Of a witch helped laird watch
ing his reapers. whose shadow was
seized by Satan. and who was even
after shadowless. In literature Cha
misso's famous tale Of peter Schle
mihl' Is q well known example OF
the stories of the shadowless.-Nev
York American.