Legends of the Shadow Man Span -Legen, appear in folklore, personal encounters and even modern internet myths. Gayle Fidler examines her own encounters with a shadow man and her thoughts about the phenomenon
British and Irish Folklore has many stories about encounters with dark, shadow men. This is a being that takes on many forms. He is known under many names. The Shaduwman, the dark man, the Hoedman. His description varies. Sometimes he is described as blacker than black. A fixed mass, devoid of all the light.
It can be very long or on average in height. He can even ride a horse or wear motorcycle learning machines (Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast, 2024). Or have no observable functions at all. He appears in both the physical world and in dreams. Day and night.
The Man in Black is a global phenomenon. Psychologist Carl Jung would describe him as an archetype, collected in the collective unconscious.
Is this the resident on the threshold? Our own shadow itself, that we have to meet and overcome to continue our path of spiritual development and growth?
Or is he an independent entity? A power of nature? A forgotten God? Something that is difficult to put into words with the current human concept.
It would be impossible for me to capture everything I have learned over him over the years. Yet I know nothing. None of us does it.
We can only describe our own experiences and remember Folklore stories through history. One thing I can share is that whatever he is, his influence is important.
I had my own meeting with the dark man (as I would rather call him) when I was very young. He was on the landing in my parental home. Like so many of my paranormal peers, youth knowledge of the supernatural was founded in books by USBorne and Hamlyn Publishing. For years I believed that I had seen a spirit. Something that I identified as the spirit of a dead person, which for some reason was still lurking in the corners of my house.
Nowadays, with wider reading, research and practical experience. I no longer believe I have seen a spirit. He was something else. What, I can’t explain it completely. But whatever it was, he put me on a path of adventure that I still travel to this day.
The dark man can be initiative if you listen to him. He guides you along a dark and winding path. Where it only leads, you can find out. But be careful on your travel, what we can come across is not always necessary what we want.
Folklore paints him in many descriptions. Tell accounts about observations around old locations. He can act as a guardian, a protector.
In 2003, crypto soleogist Jon Downes, together with his team from the Center for Fortean Zoology, investigated observations of a large part at Bolam Lake in Northumberland. They saw what they described as a ‘huge man -shaped object’. (Redfern, 2012). Bolam Lake is close to a late Bronze Age funeral. Could there be a connection?
In their book, The Secret Country (1976), folklorists Janet and Colin Bord describe various encounters with guardian spirits in old locations. They even catalogs cases of accident and death for those who have been stupid enough to damage or disrupt the area. Could the dark man keep watch and punish those who misbehave?
Another remarkable folklore fee is that the Dark man has the ability to shapeshift. He does not always appear in human form. He can be seen as a bird, a deer and a dog, among other things.
Folklorist Andrew Lang (Kirk, 1933) noted that fairy -tale views could be surpassed in animals such as a black dog. Black dogs are often depicted in folklore as signs of death, but that is not always the case.
In his book ‘Mystery Animals of Britain and Ireland’, writer Graham J Mcewan has collected various reports where black dogs have acted as protectors and helpers. Guiding people to safety while they walk lonely paths at night. Often past old corpse routes or old trackways. Is there a connection between The Dark Man and the Fairy Folk?
In the Welsh Mythology, Gwyn AP Nudd is ruler of the Welsh Otherworld. King of the Tylwyth Teg or Fair Folk. He is also the leader of De Wilde Jacht. A psycho pump with a black face that leads a lot of dogs to collect human souls. It is said that he lives in Glastonbury Tor. A liminal, magical and old place.
But what about a more modern approach to the dark man?
A quick view of internet archives since 2009 are introducing us to a new player in the Dark Man Mythos.
Slender Man was made as an internet meme. A thin, unnatural long humanoid. But he was not limited to the internet. Slim observations have been reported worldwide. A shadow -like entity that steals and kidnaps people. The life that art imitates is not as unheard of as it seems.
Comic book writers and magicians Alan Moore and Grant Morrison have both reported unusual activities that take place in real life from their work.
Moore claims to have seen his fictional character, John Constantine, twice in real life. Including in a sandwich shop in London. Morrison describes their work, the invisibles as a hypersigil. A powerful, magical method for reforming reality.
It seems that our Dark Lord is not only satisfied with comics and internet memes. He has had his hand in creating music for some time. From the Beatles to Black Sabbath. His influence on the music industry has been documented by many valued researcher.
Some people who have had Dark Male observations have claimed that it was accompanied by an intense fear. An inexplicable, dark feeling of complete panic. We have a competition here.
The great god pan from the ancient Greek mythology. He is a nature god and his popularity in the UK originated from the 18one Romantic movement of the century. He was a popular figure among poets and artists. The word panic comes from his name. It was said that he was screaming when he was abruptly awakened from his afternoon devil, which caused a lot of noise and confusion.
I started this article with reference to my own dark man experience from my childhood. A few weeks ago I made a trip to Glastonbury Tor to pay my own visit to Gwyn AP Nudd. On the way back I saw a Robin that we kept an eye on, so I stopped taking his photo. My husband noticed that the Robin was in the same place when we set up the Tor. I had completely forgotten this until I started looking at information for this article.
When I went to a website to look at observations, the first to appear a story from Almondbury in Yorkshire. A figure of a man on horseback, who also takes on the shape of a Robin (paranormal database). Was the dark man in the form of the shape to my way to pay tribute? I will never know.
The shadow man stalks us. The dark man looks patiently. They are one and the same. Whispering to us from the underworld. Waiting for his time to appear.
Have you ever come across The Shadow Man? Share your story in the comments!
