A friend of mine just told me that your shadow is your soul? Thay have such a belief in Africa
2007-11-01 04:59:56 · 35 answers · asked by selina m 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
No. That is not true. Any solid item with mass will cast a shadow (including corpses).
2007-11-01 05:02:13 · answer #1 · answered by michele 7 · 6⤊ 1⤋
I believe that is an old African belief. I understand that they see the shadow as your soul, however I do not believe this. I think they believe that once you've buried your dead, when the sun has gone down, their soul is taken away.
On a technical level, dead people have shadows just like any other living or non-living thing - depending on if there is light around. When a body is in the ground then no, they don't have a shadow because there is no light on them.
2007-11-01 05:05:21 · answer #2 · answered by Gnotknormal 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A dead person will cast a shadow. That is simple enough to check, although a tad disturbing.
If shadows are souls, then why do rocks cast shadows? The moon casts a shadow. The earth casts a shadow. Under the right circumstances, the sun can cast a shadow (if there is an object brighter than the sun behind it).
2007-11-01 05:04:24 · answer #3 · answered by A.Mercer 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The body of a dead person still will cast a shadow.
Yes, that belief exists amongst some tribes in Africa, as does the one about a photograph capturing a person's soul. And the shattering of your reflection will shatter your soul. It is, however, also believed that the body may cast a shadow but it is faded due to the absence of the soul.
2007-11-01 05:02:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I've been aware that several cultures of a primitive type believe the shadow to be the soul for a long time, but never found a person in the modern era who appears to actually believe it! In some cultures, stepping on a person's shadow was a criminal offense as you were "stepping on their soul". Pure piffle. Pure unadulterated stupidity and superstition. That's all.
Here's an experiement for you which should suffice to prove the point and answer your question. If one of your relatives should die, like say Granny, stand her corpse up in a dark room and shine a flashlight at her, or outdoors in the sun and voila! a shadow every time. Yes, indeedy, the dead do cast shadows which is a rather strong refutation of the shadow=soul hypothesis.
I'm rather fond of collecting superstitions as they are so fun to fit into my elective logic and philosophy classes at various local colleges, including superstitions born and bred in the modern era and not say like yours found among New Guinea tribesmen and Australian Aboriginees.
What is superstition? Not so easy to define, but a good ballpark estimate would be "An irrational belief usually based on a bogus understanding of cause and effect. See Magical Thinking."
I think you should tell your friend "Geh Mir in Tukhes" for trying to get you to be as big a knucklehead as he or she is!
And for this stinker, you Sir or Madam as the case may be have won "The Stupidest Question of the Week" award. Keep up the good work! You are now eligible for the Stupidest Question of the Month, and Stupidest Question of the Year, with all honors and privileges that go with it.
Mazel Tov! Bon Chance. But in your case, you don't need luck, you've got TALENT!
Oh, in case anybody was wondering. I have mentioned that I'm a freelance writer, magazine contributor and editor among other things. I'm collecting some of these lovely examples of illogic and may publish them at a later date with names, dates changed to protect the stupid!
2007-11-01 05:19:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A shadow is just a something that is created by a thing that light can't pass through. Stick a dead body in the sunlight and it will cast a shadow.
2007-11-01 09:48:13 · answer #6 · answered by Jude 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is not true but may be idiomatically true, in one or many African languages.
So some people will take it at face value and believe in it.
Shadow is cast by blockage of light and a dead person will block the rays of light casting a shadow same as any person animal or an object.
2007-11-01 05:12:14 · answer #7 · answered by minootoo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, stricktly speaking, it's not true.
However to cast a shadow there has to be a space between you and the object/surface you are casting a shadow on.
A dead person can only lie down, so the space between them and the floor is small so their shadow will be small.
Also if you have been cremated, you are dust, have no substance and can cast no shadow.
2007-11-01 05:12:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No its not. A shadow is an area in which light can not illuminate becuase theres and object blocking it, if you take a dead person and hold them up to the sun they will indeed have a shadow
2007-11-01 05:04:14 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
True
You dont cast a shadow in your grave cos its dark in there
They also say in Africa that if you throw a banana at a plane you may go to America
2007-11-01 05:08:41 · answer #10 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋