Shadows

"The Shadow" is a psychological concept created by the psychologist Carl Jung. It is the defining concept behind the Shadowbook novels. Umbragardians call themselves "Shadows" because they live according to this concept.

The Archetypical Shadow
In Jungian psychology, the Shadow is the unconscious part of the self that has been repressed, the "dark side" of the psyche. It consists of uncontrollable emotions, unacceptable desires, animal instincts and impulses, etc., any part of the psyche that the individual has denied. According to Jung, the individual must learn to accept and come to terms with the Shadow self, however scary or difficult it is to confront. The Shadow contains many positive qualities as well as negative ones, such as wildness, sexuality, and freedom. Integration beings with the person recognizing and accepting their Shadow traits.

It takes great courage and maturity to integrate with the Shadow, but it must be done. Continued repression causes the Shadow to be projected onto other people, which means that the person starts perceiving their own Shadow qualities in other people. Projection makes a person prone to hypocrisy and, in the worst cases, can even make them evil.

The Shadow People of Umbragard
"Shadows" are also a race of Otherworld people that live according to this concept. Similar to vampires, they are nocturnal with pale skin and bright, unusually colored eyes. Instead of clothing, they wear folds, which are a substance somewhere between mist and fabric that represent the hidden aspects of their personalities. Most live in Umbragard, the kingdom of Shadows.

Umbragardians live and breathe the Shadow Complex. They believe that acceptance of one's darker qualities is the way to live a happy life. They avoid repressing themselves in any way, so their society has few rules and loose social structure. They believe that if people know their dark sides well enough, they will choose to be good because they have no reason to be evil. Umbragardians spend their lives accepting and integrating parts of themselves that they feel ashamed of, and exist as a response to the real world, which they call the "Conscious world". They send their children to live for several months in the Conscious world so that they understand their philosophy and lifestyle.

Shadows could be considered "psychic vampires," because they feed on the life force or "Elixir" of regular humans or "Conscious people." This strengthens the Shadow by thickening its folds, and helps to prevent the human from projecting their own negative qualities. Shadows usually suck out enough life force to knock out their prey. Theoretically, a powerful Shadow could suck enough to kill the person, but Shadows are only ever powerful enough to make a person sick. Because Shadows accept and revel in their dark sides, most enjoy pretending to be evil by scaring, teasing, or otherwise toying with their prey. It gives them a convenient outlet for their "evil" nature without actually causing any serious, lasting harm.

Shadows have nocturnal adaptations such as better night vision, better hearing, and a better sense of smell than regular humans. Almost all Shadows can also do magic to some degree, and most have a "Nightsense," or inborn magical ability, such as telepathy (Astor), invisibility, shapeshifting, or even unusual ones like echolocation.