From: Renee
To: The Official Shadow People Archives
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 1:28:03 PM
Subject: Me and my Shadow...

Me and My Shadow

When I was 12, my bedroom was in the basement of our home. We lived on a county road back then, in Quincy, IL. It was a residential road in the middle of farmland without any other side roads but one to our swimming lake.

My story took place in 1981, during the holidays. I was alone, jamming and pretending to be a rock star in front of my mirror, when I heard this huge **BANG!**. Since I knew I was alone in the house, I ran out to see what it was.

basementOur basement back then was roughly set up this way. (See image at right.) I ran out through the hall from my bedroom and stopped in front of our sauna, looking straight at the laundry room. I have a lame version of what I saw, but that was where my shadow figure was standing in full view. He stood about 7 feet tall, and the figure had a look of a thin human with an oblong head. His hand was up against the door jam as if he was leaning on it. If I could see his face (later in life, I became able to see it), he would have had a smirk.

Since spirits never scared me, I asked him if he was the friendly spirit that I called "Bob," whom had been taking my pictures off the walls at night. I guess that pissed him off (since he was not "Casper," as he said to me one day). On the wall to my right, which was a solid cement foundation, this three-dimensional decoration of Santa's head, which I hated all my life due to his green glitter face, fell down. I went to pick it up and re-hang it when I noticed the nail was not only driven in the wall, it was about 2 inches deep inside the cement!

I told him I was busy and went back in my room (yep, I am that nonchalant about spirits. In fact, live people scare me more!).

A week or so later, I woke up in my bed and was amazed because my entire room of furniture surrounded me in the center of my bedroom with my bed in the middle!

This was not sleepwalking, my friends, believe me. Every single piece of furniture, my oak desk, a large dresser, my dressing table with mirror and chair, and two long couch-like pieces that were rectangles with upholstery (used for sleepovers). The oak desk and dresser were much too heavy for even a grown man to move alone.

HOWEVER, my first reaction to it was seeing a black furry spider, which crawled under my bed! I stood up on the bed screaming bloody murder for my Daddy to come save me. My father came darting downstairs into my room, first he was in shock about the furniture and said, "WTF is this?" then I was screaming, "Kill it! Kill the spider under my bed!" Therefore, Dad said, "That must be one hell of a spider to move all of your furniture to the center of your room!"

Well, he killed it and it was just a normal spider. He was not mad at me, however, he did tell me that the furniture "gag" was not funny and to move it all back before I could play. I needed both my brother and sister to help me, it was all too heavy. *I* knew what moved the furniture, told my siblings who said that must be what happened, but my parents did not buy it.

I then asked my sister to spend a night or so with me in my room because that pissed me off, loosing time to hang with my friends. She did. We both used the extra beds and in the middle of the first night, I heard my sister screaming at the top of her lungs, "RENEE! COME GET ME! I'M IN THE GREEN CHAIR AND CAN'T MOVE!" I just told her to get up and come back to the bedroom, but she said she couldn't move and the "TV was glowing."

Sure enough, she was sitting straight up, arms on the chair and could not move; in addition, the TV had that glow which a television with a tube has before it turns all the way off. She would not stay downstairs again and so I went up with her to sleep in her room for a week or so.

Since that encounter, my shadow man has followed me wherever we lived (Dad's job moved us around a lot from house to house). Looking back into my earlier years, I remember seeing him glide by my room, never paid much attention.

NOW, I am 43. We bought our home in 1998, when I was 29. I have been watching him intently for so many years now that I can see that he has features that are more distinct. An attempt to frighten me more, maybe? In addition, most people seeing any apparitions tend to run and be much more afraid than I am, so I stare at him, unafraid. He looks like a man with "ancient" knowledge behind his eyes (which happen to be blue, of all things!), his face is pock marked and he has an oblong head, with gangly arms and legs. Defiantly sinister; a demon in my opinion. He seems to capture "good" souls in each place we have lived if they wander his way, searching for the light. They are like cattle in a way, corralled in a dark circle. It keeps them from ascending to a better place (I am Christian, so that would be Heaven.). Therefore, when I am able, I will show them the light as he is not looking (which does not seem to please him much, LOL).

I know that he cannot enter this house for two reasons:

1. The moment we moved in, I performed a protection blessing with clergy. We walked along the borders of my property, speaking blessings with holy water to scatter. At the end of our land blessing, we used wooden stakes, made of Ash trees, to mark each corner of the land. Inside of our home, I continued the blessing ritual by smudging each room with sage bundles. Now that we have renovated our upstairs and kitchen areas, I will bless our home again that way. I also have to add permanent markers indoors in each corner of the basement (the foundation) as well.

2. Our house spirit (mentioned in my other story, which makes me look crazy but I'll tell it anyway) has kicked him out to the yard without his being able to do anything but knock on the door for entry. NOW, the stupid shadow knocks for entry into the home all the time. Every person in the house has heard it, including neighbors, friends, etc. It is every hour of the day and night too. The rules here are not to ever invite the knocker inside, since we all have opened the doors and nobody is around or could have pranked us.

I would absolutely advise every new homeowner, haunted or not, to bless their land as we did and bless their home as well. Remember, you have to be a part of that blessing and you need to speak the words since it is your home. Alone, with family or with clergy, it does not matter. Reciting "The Lord's Prayer" over and over works great for Christians.

He awaits my own death and I just know he plans to attempt to kick my butt when I am in spirit form. I think my lack of fear of him really makes him angry, and he just gets increasingly angry with me about how non-responsive I am to his presence. I have to banish him soon, I know, although I rather like pissing him off in a way, LOL! If I die before banishing the shadow man, there will be help for me on both this side and within the spiritual world, so I feel confident yet cautious too.

There you go! My shadow man story! Honest and true, witness' to verify, and on I go about my life as he sits on my fence, walks around my gardens, and waits for me.

Renée