This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 9 months ago by 
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This is apropos of nothing, and just a random observation, but can we take a moment to reflect on what shadows are?
Obviously, they are a consequence of something blocking a light source. In a way, they don’t even actually exist. So why do they hold such a powerful place in our collective unconscious, and make up so much of our metaphors?
I imagine it has something to do with dimensions – specifically, the second one (using the Euclidean guidelines), where there is only width and height, but no depth. Is there anything you can think of in the physical world that is *really* two-dimensional? Even the thinnest slice of matter is made up of atoms, which are made up of quarks, and can be pared down to the level of Planck-length with the proper equipment… but they still would have to, being measurable, carry a mass, and thus possess some degree of depth.
So, shadows. They’re the only thing we can see that has two dimensions. Without something of substance, they can’t exist – and yet, how often are we frightened by the shadow while ignoring the heavier object that allows it to be cast?
Peter Pan, who had conquered physical aging and lived in a perpetual fantasy world, still feared his shadow. The one who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men: the Shadow. More daunting than Ganon to Link – his shadow. That which binds us to Plato’s cave… I think you get the idea.
I have a tendency to ramble, so I’ll get to my point, if there is one: through our shadows, we find ourselves. Without one, we may not even be alive. And most of all, there is something we mustn’t forget when we see shadows: their presence also means that a light is somewhere shining.
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@prufrock5150, what an interesting topic! I think we find shadows nefarious because they’re a blank canvas that we can project our worries onto. Without knowing the origin of the shadow (the main object), we can make all sorts of assumptions about the shadow and its intent. Often, I think because the shadow is indistinct, we project threats onto it. What is it? Why is it creeping towards me? Is it going to hurt me? Because the shadow doesn’t have a face, it is a dark mass of unknown which we know just gets people to wig out. Once the object is discovered, it is slightly less scary. Sure an ax-wielding shadow of an ax-wielding villain is still scary. But the villain has mass, weaknesses, flaws, drivers, and behavioral responses. The shadow looms just out of sight and can be coming from anywhere.
I’d like to argue that while the shadow does offer up maybe a slight concept of what we’re dealing with, it doesn’t speak to the truth of an object/subject. I think shadows have the potential to distort truth. Shadows obfuscate light and the object casting the shadow.
– In Peter Pan, his shadow did things without his permission. Messed with him. (which is fine because Peter Pan is kind of a little shit IMO)
– Ganon is Link’s enemy. I don’t think i’m familiar enough with Zelda to comment on this at all, but how much can we say that Ganon helps Link find himself? Sure he’s opposed to him and all, but did Link need a Ganon to know that the general rule of gaming is NOT to kidnap princesses?
– In the allegory of the cave, the shadows were a false image and devoid of the truth of the actual objects outside of the cave. The prisoners spent all their lives convinced that the shadows were REAL–so much so that they vehemently denied the prisoner who managed to escape and came back with knowledge of the outside world. The shadows kept the prisoners shackled to a prison of ignorance.All this rambling aside, that’s not to say that shadows are insignificant by any means. And if we take the prevailing theory that this is about uniting multiple aspects of ourselves into an actualized whole, we may yet need to confront our shadows and find truth and value in them. That said, I think shadows can also be a distraction/ruse meant to sway us from our path.
Noah can just be another one of these shadow distractions of OSDM meant to distract us from something bigger at play–likely something more nefarious.
Also, I’m with @sfire8 –there can be value in seeing what the shadow selves have had to say.
P.S. Sorry Tom, that wasn’t optimistic at all, was it?
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That worried expression on the puppy’s face is optimistic, though ;). Really, that sort of nails it: what we imagine is more real to us than what we perceive, in most cases – and where that line exists between real and imaginary can shift, bend, become permeable, and occasionally disappear altogether. The eyes of the dog aren’t looking at the shadow, but out at the world around it, wherein our fears are mostly constructed. It is when we realize what others construct us into that we become aware of our shadows, and it is when we face them directly that we learn the most. I’ve always thought realism is where pessimism and optimism meet anyway…
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Alles, was einen Schatten wirft, ist vorübergehend … immer und ewig.
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There does seem to be this insistence on Shadows being opposites when in reality they are a reflection of ourselves.
My Shadow spoke and posted in nearly the EXACT same manner that I do. Meaning that the shadow is a replicant of ourselves, perhaps without the details as you said.
I also think in order to become a whole person one must join with their shadow for true and full enlightenment. Because what are we without our shadows?
Vampires, dude.
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@kasch Good theory, so I wonder which one is going to show up on Thursday for the losers meet up…
hmmmmm…..
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@kasch Everything is fine.
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