The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1910-08-13
SHADOW LEGENDS
Iuias S-iieye he Scd'iy Sha3s Is
the Future Spirit.
TAKING AWAY ONES SHADOW.
Why Some Races Are Forbidden to
Look into Dark Pool OF WsteF
The Way Donald Mckay Managed 10
Escape the Clutches OF tho Devil.


That mysterious counterpart Of
human being which lengihcns WITH
the day and disappears with the sun.
to rcappear more family with the
rising of the moon which we call
shadow, has always struck the imagi-
nation of man. 1t has played pruui
nent part in primitive superstition and
In later folklore. Shadows or shades
was the classical name or figure fer
the spirits of the departed which stu
remains in use
This idea is not confined to civilized
races. Among the Zulus the spirit is
the shade Bishop Galway, whose
knowledge OF Zulu beliefs and MODES
of thought was unrivaied, says chat
the Zulus connect the bodily shade
with the future disembodied spirit
They believe that the shadow cast by
the body will ultimately become tie
"itongo.' or spirit. when the body dies.
and they say that the long SHADOW
shortens "as a man approaches his end
and contracts into a very little thing
When they see the shadow of man
thus contracting. they know be will
die The long shadow goes away
when man is dead. and it is tt9i
which is meant when it is said. The
shadow has departed" There is. hyw
ever short shadow which remains
with the body and is buried with II
The long shadow becomes an ancev
trail spirit
Identification of the shadow in ans
mysterious or spiritual way with Tie
person whose body casts it, naturally
leads TO respect for the strange seceu&
self To tread Oh the shadow of
chief is 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 Il
natural or spiritual father, of king.
of Brahmin who keeps house. or OF
any reverend parsonage, nor of one
who has just performed Il sacrifice.
There are traces of the survival Of
these primitive ways of regarding a
mans shadow in the English country
feeling that it is uniucky to cross the
path of newly married man rs be
leaves the altar, and in another rur.l
belief that it is unlucky to cross the
path of horses ploughing when the sun
is shining behind them.
Association between shadows aud
mirrored representations Of the human
form is obviously natural. so it Is not
surprising to find superstitonS 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 it 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 not 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 II
primitive state of civilization. The
Melanesians of the Pacific. says a
learned observer, say: There Is
stream in Saddle island. or. rather. Il
pool in a stream. into which if any
one looks he dies; the malignant spirit
takes hold upon his life by means Of
his reelection in the water" Some
such idea as this was probably the
root of the Narcissus legend.
The Zulus explain why tits Ill TO
look into the water Of pool by story
OF great beast in the water which
can seize the shadow of man and
when his shadow is gone a man ne
longer wishes to turn back, but de
sires to enter the pool He goes In.
dies. and is eaten by the great beast
which inhabits it. SO. says Bishol,
Galloway. men are forbidden TO leau
over and look into dark pool. it be
ing feared that their shadow should be
taken away
There are other ways in which
man may lose his shadow. There was
a temple of..Iupiter 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 are
some quaint legends of folk who lost
THIS usual attendant In Sutherland
they tell more than one story of a
wizard named Donald-Dulval Mckay
Donald went to 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 his
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 MS 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
escapes. and after his return 70 scot
lnnd was never seen to have
shadow!
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