The beliefs regarding the shadow among the Eastern Slavs and the Komi people in Western Siberia: a comparative analysis of the fieldwork data

The shadow was perceived as a substance inhabiting two realms at the same time and was associated with the soul- doppelganger of a person. The author’s field research demonstrates that Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Komi people living in Western Siberia retain the belief that the shadow-soul appears before a person’s death in the form of the doppelganger, an animal, a bird or an invisible substance. This doppelganger makes sounds and bruises on the body. The reflected image of a person, along with the shadow, was perceived as a doppelganger from afterlife. Reflective surfaces like water and mirror were perceived as open gate to another world. In the 19th century, with the advent of photography, other variations of doppelgangers appeared - people believed that a person could be influenced through his photopicture, and picture of the dead person could be harmful. The Komi-Zyryans people believe in two souls in a person: the inner soul-breath - “lav” and the outer soul-shadow - “ort”. The beliefs about the duality of the soul and spirit are greatly reduced among the Eastern Slavs - after death, the soul can be reincarnated and the soul exists simultaneously in different realms. The soul of the deceased person was identified with the shadow. The souls of the ancestors could appear to relatives on memorial days and the souls of the person who died a “bad death” wandered between the realms in the form of ghostly shadows. The shadow was perceived as a marker of a being from the Other World, a witch and a sorcerer. At the moment of magical transformation, the shadow of a sorcerer (or a witch) could assume the form of an animal, bird, or object, while the body was elsewhere at the same time. Influencing on the sorcerer’s (witch’s) shadow could catch and punish him/ her. Magical manipulation with a person’s and animal’s shadow could affect them. In this mythological context, the shadow is like a shadow-soul. This correlates to beliefs about person having two (or more) souls. These beliefs were superseded by Christianity, but survived partially through transformation into the demonic, anti-Christian part of the folk worldview.