Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-4441317-20190212041013/@comment-4441317-20190213003737

MJM1035 wrote: well firstly let me just say that it's refreshing to have someone ask for others help in such a civil manner so I thank you for that. As for shadows having a connection to the spiritual and mystical well that is a somewhat hairy problem (mostly because it is determined by a level of choice on the part of the spirit and what exactly one means by spirit). Well the most basic and well type of spirit is a ghost (which in this context means a soul that, for some reason, cannot or has not cross or crossed, respectively, over to the afterlife) which because it no longer has a physical body (unless it should choose to inhabit, i.e. possess, one for some reason) light just passes right through it (thus the appearance of ghosts as being both present and yet being transparent). this would (in theory at least) be the case with all spirits. Now this does not mean that ghosts and spirits in general (and other disembodied soul creatures by extension) cannot have shadows themselves but it does mean that if one sees a shadow and a spirit together that something is either amiss or that the shadow is itself mystical in nature. Another meaning of spirit is something in the natural world given physical form. For example nymphs (not referring to beings obsessed with physical intercourse) and other nature spirit do have physical forms (albeit they can change how they appear at will or as needed in their day to day life) and thus would cast a shadow (unless the weather or surroundings obscure the sun enough to make casting a shadow unlikely). There is also the purely mystical aspect here. spells and mysticism in general are conveniently thought of as being beyond the laws of nature but they are still subject to said laws (most importantly the law of conservation of mass and energy, equivalent exchange to use a term from Fullmetal Alchemist). Spells and magic circles have no physical matter to them and thus do not normally cast a shadow. If they are used to summon something than that something would cast a shadow if it had any physical substance to it. Now if one is talking about the combination of light and dark as a shadow than I can see why one would think that. I myself thought that too for a time and while it is true in nature in any other field of thought (beyond the physical world) such a combination could lead to any number of things but that is a discussion for another time. Such a combination could produce spirits and perhaps even have mystical repercussions but those would both depend on (among much else) the depth of the combination in question. For example fusing the light aspect with an existing spirit might result in something akin to an exorcism (i.e. the removal of malefic influences at a spiritual level) or purification of the spirit in question. On other hand fusing the dark aspect with an existing would amplify any darkness the spirit already carried (thus making its dark side stronger and possibly making the spirit more violent thereafter). If one fuses light and dark together and then fuses an existing spirit with the results than the balance within the spirit will have been disrupted by one’s own hands and that could be harmful to the spirit and possibly dangerous to oneself as well. If one fuses the essence of light and dark together you would have chaos (wild, all but uncontrollable, and all but inseparable thereafter) and that fused with an existing spirit would be disastrous. Such a spirit would be the definition of instability. If one is careful to balance the light and dark before fusing them together you could have just created balance which is one adds a piece of oneself to it could result in creating a new spirit (one’s spirit child if you will). But if the light and dark are not balanced upon fusing than the predominant one will dominate and the imbalance will result in an increased presence of whichever aspect was stronger before their fusion. I could go on but I think I’ve provided enough information for you to figure out most of what I would say hereafter were I to continue. Thank you for your take but I think I may have been too confusing. When I asked if it had any ties to mysticism or spirits, i meant if they any mythological or esoteric associations to them like in the other elemental articles. If you look in the Associations section of one of them, youll see that they are associated to concepts like emotions, different elements or other powers entirely. I was trying to find if Shadow has any associations like that and i was theorizing if it was tied to anything related to Mysticism or the realm of Spirits.