Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-08-23
SHADOWS.
The Superstition and Folklore OF
Shades.


Shades.
The mysterious counterpart of n
human being which lengthens with
the day and disappears with the sun
to reappear more family with the riS-
| ing of the moon, which we call a
shadow. has always struck the imag-
| ination of man. 1t has played a
prominent part in primitive supersti-
| ton and in later folklore. 1t has en-
tered largely into the imaginery of
many races. What shadows we are;
what shadows we pursue" was the
memorable exclamation of dying
statesman. Shadows or shades was
! the classical name or figure for the
| spirits of the departed which still re-
mains in use This idea is not con-
fined to civilized races. Among the
Zulus the spirit is the shade. Bishop
Galloway, whose knowledge of Zulu
beliefs and modes of thought was un-
rivalled, says that the ZuluS connect
the bodily shade with the future dis
embodied spirit They believe that
the shadow cast by the body will ul-
timately become the 'itongo," or
spirit, when the body dies. and they
say that the long shadow shortens 'as
man approaches his end and con-
tracts into a very little thing. When
contracting they know he will die.
The long shadow goes away when a
man is dead, and it is that which Is
meant when it is said. The shadow
has departed'" There is, however,
short shadow which remains with
the body and is buried with it. The
long shadow becomes an ancestral
spirit. Another Zulu idea is exem-
plified when a friend has gone out
to fight and those who remain be-
hind are anxious about him. They
take his sleeping mat and stand 1t
upright in the sun. If it throws a
long shadow he is still living. If a
short one or none at all he is dead.
The mortality about the hour or noon
must be very heavy!
Identification of the shadow in any
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 is an insult to the chief himself.
In the institutes of Manu-, the ancient
Hindu lawgiver, the law runs: Let
him not Intentionally pass over the
shadow of sacred images, of natural
or spiritual father, of a king. OF n
Brahmin who keeps house or of any
reverend parsonage, nor of red
ndlTeu OF COpptl IpiOitu i'''
of one who has just performed a sac
rifice." The red haired man is for
once in excellent company. There
are traces of the survival of these
primitive ways of regarding a mans
shadow in the English country feel
ing 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 Is
shining behind them.
Association between shadows and
mirrored representations of the hu-
man forms is obviously natural, so 1t
is not surprising to find superstitions
about the shadow mingled with wide
" scattered 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 thereaf-
ter till he died has its origin in the
belief that trouble follows from be-
holding the watery image. DO not
look at your face in a river" says
Pythagoras. Let him not look at
his own image in water; that is a
settled rule" commands Manu-, the
Hindu lawgiver. The reason for the
prohibition is to be found in the be-
liefs of a man in 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 a stream, into
which If any one looks he dies; the
malignant spirit takes hold upon his
life by means of his reflection III the
water" Some such idea as this was
probably the root Of the NarcissuS le-
gend The Zulus explain why it is Ill
to look into the water Of pool by
story Of a great beast in the water
which can seize the shadow OF a man,
and when his shadow is gone a man
no longer wishes to turn back, but
desires to enter the pool. He goes in,
dies and is eaten by the great beast
which inhabits it. SO says Bishop
Galloway. "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 a
man may lose his shadow. There was
Temple of Jupiter in Arcadia which
if entered by those who were forbid
den to do so robbed them OF their
shadows. In the north of Scotland
there are some quaint legends OF lolk
who lost their usual attendant. In
Sutherland they tell more than one
story or WlIafu ndIneu DoiidIu ~
val 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 or
each term claimed as his own the last
scholar to depart. Breaking up at
this academy was naturally scram-
BILE. 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
hindmost." Accordingly, his shadow
was seized while he himself escaped
and after his return to Scotland ne
was never seen to have shadow! A
companion illustration of dell tax
the hinmost." from Aberdeenshire, is
a story of witch helped laird watch
ing his reapers whose shadow was
seized by Satan and who was ever al
ter shadowless. In literature ChamlS-
SOS famous tale of Peter Schlemlhl
is we'll known example Of the stories
of the ShadowleSS.-London GLOBE.