Editing Shadow (section)

== Cultural aspects ==
Shadows often appear in mythical or cultural contexts. Sometimes in a malevolent light, other times not.
An unattended [[Shade (mythology)|shade]] was thought by some cultures to be similar to that of a ghost. The name for the fear of shadows is "sciophobia" or "sciaphobia".{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

[[Chhaya]] is the Hindu goddess of shadows.

In [[heraldry]], when a charge is supposedly shown "in the shadow" (the appearance is of the charge merely being outlined in a neutral tint rather than being of one or more [[tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]] different from the field on which it is placed), it is technically described as "umbrated". Supposedly, only a limited number of specific charges can be so depicted.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

Shadows are often linked with darkness and evil; in common folklore, like shadows who come to life, are often evil beings trying to control the people they reflect. The film [[Upside-Down Magic (film)|Upside-Down Magic]] features an antagonistic shadow spirit who possesses people.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

Ancient Egyptians surmised that a shadow, which they called [[Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul#Shut (shadow)|šwt]] (shut), contains something of the person it represents because it is always present. Through this association, statues of people and deities were sometimes referred to as shadows.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

In [[Islam]], shadows are a sign of submission to [[God in Islam|God]]. The [[Quran]] emphasizes that everything in the heavens and the earth, including shadows, prostrates to the Almighty in awe and obedience: "Do they not see how everything that Allah has created casts its shadow, inclining to the right and to the left, prostrating to Allah while they are humble?" (Quran 16:48). Similarly, the Quran states, "And to Allah prostrates whoever is within the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion, and their shadows [as well] in the mornings and the afternoons" (Quran 13:15). Shadows, in this context, are a testament to the divine order and unity of creation.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

In a commentary to The Egyptian Book of the Dead (BD), Egyptologist Ogden Goelet, Jr. discusses the forms of the shadow: "In many BD papyri and tombs the deceased is depicted emerging from the tomb by day in shadow form, a thin, black, featureless silhouette of a person. The person in this form is, as we would put it, a mere shadow of his former existence, yet nonetheless still existing. Another form the shadow assumes in the BD, especially in connection with gods, is an ostrich-feather sun-shade, an object which would create a shadow."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goelet |first1=Ogden Jr. |title=The Egyptian Book of the dead: the Book of going forth by day: being the Papyrus of Ani (royal scribe of the divine offerings), written and illustrated circa 1250 B.C.E., by scribes and artists unknown, including the balance of chapters of the books of the dead known as the Theban recension, compiled from ancient texts, dating back to the roots of Egyptian civilization |date=1994 |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=0811807673 |page=152 |edition=1st |ref=Commentary}}</ref>