Warp Strings: The Shadow String
In my new fiction novel, the Weave of Realms, the Weave, the underlayment of all reality, is composed of 3 broadly recognized Warp Strings. Light, Word and Spirit. However there is a fourth Warp String, the Shadow. It’s not often considered a String because of it’s nature, the nature of nothingness, a harbinger of the dark, of chaos and disorder.
What is Shadow?
We all have a shadow because we are all exposed to light. Gods light. Divine light. We are born into a cosmos that was begun in Him, in Truth (Logos); brimming with light- reality. Whatever we turn toward him is basked in light and whatever we hide from him is in shadow. Day one: light is separated from darkness. Day and night. And it is good. So are shadows are good or is having a shadow good? In darkness, what is true is hidden; what is real is hidden. Details are imperceivable and only shapes, outlines, suggestions can be seen, sensed. Hidden things aren’t bad by nature. Hidden gold and gems. Treasures. Rarities. Made more desirable by the difficulty of obtaining them.
In a perfect world, shadows still exist. In the beginning they were there and in the end they are still there…outside the walls of the city where the Lamb is the light (Revelation 21:23) and the gates are always open. Wherever there is world, there is shadow and light. The Creator’s light shining on creation casts shadows as a result…unless light hits creation from every angle and consumes it. Unless creation exudes light from itself. Unless creation becomes reflective of his light, illuminating the shadows.
Shadows were allowed as half of the story, or less. Not more. I say “allowed” because the darkness pre-exists the light. When the Word spoke light it let the shadows remain but put boundaries on it, contained it, Instituted a law: shadow must recede from light. Day chases away night. Corresponding to where humans live on the planet, day exceeds night for part of the year and night exceeds day for part of the year, but there is always someplace on the plant that is covered in light for at least half of the rotation.
Rulers of Day and Night
Day, or light hours, are ruled by sky lights as well as night, or shadow hours, which are also ruled by sky lights. The bible says that in these sky lights had important roles to play.
Distinguish between light and dark, and be signs for time, serve as lights to earth, ruling the day and the night
Different words are used in Genesis 1:14-18 for darkness, rule and separate.
Or: Lights to be a light physical, metaphorical, and spiritual sense. It is used to describe the natural light of day, the light of heavenly bodies, and the light of life and prosperity. Metaphorically, it represents truth, guidance, and the presence of God. In the spiritual context, 'or is often associated with divine revelation and the moral and ethical illumination provided by God's word
Badal : seperate/divide between This can refer to physical separation, such as dividing waters, or more abstract separations, such as distinguishing between holy and profane…The act of separating or distinguishing was a way to maintain purity and holiness, reflecting God's own nature as holy and distinct from creation
Oth: signs, signals, pledge,
memshalah: Noun. a ruler, a rule, a domain, a realm
Moed: appointed meetings, sacred meetings
Mashal: Verb. to rule
Choshek: the dark, darkness, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness
Yom: day
Layil: night
14And God said, “Let there be lights(or) in the expanse of the heavens to separate (badal) the day from the night. And let them be for signs (oth) and for seasons (Moed), and for days and years, 15and let them be lights (or) in the expanse of the heavens to give light (or) upon the earth.” And it was so. 16And God made the two great lights (or)—the greater light to rule (memshalah) the day and the lesser light to rule(memshalah) the night—and the stars.17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light (or) on the earth, 18to rule (mashal) over the day (Yom) and over the night (layil), and to separate(badal) between the light (or) between the darkness (chosek) . And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)
To give light to earth, to rule the day and night, to divide between the light and darkness
How Else is Shadow to be Understood?
Hebrews 8:5 tells us the “tabernacle/temple is a copy and shadow of a heavenly one”
Colossians 2:17 says “food, drink, festivals, sabbaths , new moons…these are shadows of things to come, the substance belongs to Christ”
Hebrews 10:1 says the law is the shadow of the good things coming
Psalm 17:8 “there is favor in God’s eye and safety in the shadow of his wings”
Our lives are fleeting and “thin as shadows” according to Job 8:9 and Psalm 144:4
There’s a “valley of the shadow of death” in Psalm 23:4, “the shadow of death” in Luke 1:79, Psalm 107:10 and Matt 4:16 and Isaiah 9:2 speaks of the “land of the shadow of death”
Tsel: The Hebrew word "tsel" primarily denotes a shadow or shade, often used metaphorically to describe protection, transience, or the fleeting nature of life. In the Hebrew Bible, "tsel" can refer to the literal shadow cast by an object or person, as well as a figurative shadow representing God's protective presence or the ephemeral nature of human existence. So, "tsel" symbolizes protection and relief as well as the fleeting nature of a shadow stands as a great metaphor for the transient and temporary nature of life.
Tsalal: The Hebrew verb "tsalal" primarily conveys the idea of a tingling or quivering sensation, often associated with a physical or emotional response. In the context of the Bible, it is used to describe a reaction to a significant or startling event, often as a divine sign or judgment. The term can imply a sense of awe, fear, or anticipation.
Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Hebrew culture, physical sensations were often seen as manifestations of spiritual or emotional states. The tingling or quivering described by "tsalal" could be understood as a visceral reaction to the presence or actions of God, reflecting the deep connection between the physical and spiritual realms in biblical thought. Such sensations were sometimes interpreted as omens or signs, indicating the seriousness of a divine message or event. (Strong’s Lexicon)
So in one sense it means “To tingle, quiver, or vibrate” and yet also “to shade, as twilight, an opaque object; to be or grow dark”
Tsalal and tsel closest word neighbor is tselem… interesting.
Tselem is the thing we are to God, his image. His vessel. The very thing that borders Antichrist, the idol of anti god worship. (this deserves its own post in the future ;)
So, what do shadowing and tingling-vibration have in common?**
Shadow does not have a bad connotation, it’s carries instead the implication of a sadness or being lesser, if not neutral, as much as it carries a positive one. You see, my point is proven again, Shadow is not the thing, just the byproduct of the thing. For example…
Gods wing produces a good shadow.
Life is likened to a fleeting shadow.
The law and temple are described as lesser shadows.
What of the Shadow of death? That certainly sounds like the forboding, evil darkness we are familiar with. The term "tsalmaveth" is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe a state of deep darkness or extreme danger, often associated with death or the threat of death. It conveys a sense of profound gloom and peril, akin to being in the shadow cast by death itself. This term is frequently used metaphorically to describe situations of severe distress or fear, where the presence of death looms large.
The place of Job’s grief, the place of chaos, the place of oppression, the place of chains, the place of prison or terrors are all undesirable shadows.
Life and Death Shadows
So, life and death cast shadows, but the substance belongs to the thing. Life’s shadow is a reminder of time and space, brevity and span. Death’s shadow is a reminder of pre-creation, the unlimited potential of terrible possibilities. However, after Christ’s death and resurrection, Life’s shadow is no longer a reminder of the past but of the future. Death is no longer unlimited, eternal and terrible possibility, but a leashed and finite thing, doomed to its own destruction. After Christ, the substance of things belongs to him (Colossians 2:17). All shadows are cast by his life and light, wherever he is, and in time, he will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
“5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:5-10)
Is Shadow Equal to Sin?
According to the Apostle John, fellowship with God is walking in the Light. Walking in truth, honest, transparent light. Fellowship is alignment, unity. If we believe rightly we will practice walking in light and live in righteousness.
When we sin, we walk in darkness. Sin is a misalignment of beliefs away from truth. When we lie, we do not practice truth. When we believe a lie, we do not believe the truth. When we believe wrongly it leads to wrong actions. If we do not practice truth, we practice walking in darkness. Walking in darkness and practicing wrong belief is unrighteousness. Unrighteousness condemns us, taints us, profanes us. Therefore, sin leads to unrighteousness, because beliefs lead to behaviors.
the illumination of objects in light
Let’s look at the picture above. The Light can be a metaphor for God and the Scroll can be metaphor for the Word, the aspect of God he wishes for us to know him by with our mind. We can know God by his light, and warmth and benefit (He enables us to see the world around us, to see in color, to see and order our steps to walk without falling or getting lost. He also enables us to see exactly who he is by what he created, his law and ultimately who Christ is.) He illuminates so we can see clearly and live easily. However, His light “creates” shadows. Look at the edges of the papers, look at the places that are blocked by books or objects in the room. The darkness that preceded the candle light fled when the candle was lit. It was consumed by light.
If you could imagine, the space beaneath the table is still consumed by darkness. The candle light hits the walls and ceiling but the floor beneath the table is stuck in the candle’s shadow. Now imagine if you were to take the Scroll and try to read it let alone see it’s form under the table. You could feel the shape of it’s paper but your eyes would be useless, you wouldn’t be able to read it’s Words in the dark. Perhaps those words you are trying to read in the dark are the instructions you need to find a hidden treasure in the room as well as the password to access the exit. In the dark you are lost and without understanding and without coming out from beneath the table and into the light, you will subject yourself to all sorts of imaginations of where the treasure is and what the password could be. In your efforts to guess and try the way you think is best, you’d most likely make a wreck of the place, tearing the room apart to find what is securely protected and then yourself be consumed with anger and exhaustion when your every attempt to exit has come to nothing.
It’s a silly analogy but its very much like how we operate. We refuse God’s Light and Word, still wanting the treasures of creation and inheritance but wanting them in our way, on our time, by our means. We get angry at God like he’s witholding from us when we refuse to come into the light and see the path he’s already laid out for us to follow. We refuse his Word, because it seems too simple, like a trap, because we don’t trust God and because we fear being seen in the Light. We fear judgement. We fear exposure.
The Gospel tells us that, while God is Light and in him we are seen and known, we do not have to be afraid. Fear has to do with punishment but Perfect Love casts out all fear. And God is Perfect Love. His Word, Jesus Christ, entered into our darkness to light it from the inside out. When we trust God as Loving and Good, when we believe the Word and when we step into the Light willingly as one who judges themselves honestly and humbly, God’s light purifies us and we have fellowship with God and creation, we get the treasure after all and the freedom to explore the cosmos!
You see, Jesus’ blood covers/ cleanses us from all sin and all unrighteousness. Confession of wrong belief and our participation in the lie, acknowledging our shadows, pinpointing the error of our beliefs, all this done in humility enacts the forgiveness of God and the cleansing of Christ’s blood on the source (sin) and resulting unrighteousness. When we admit our failure to believe rightly and bring our shadows into the light, he is faithful and just with us. He illuminates and heals. He turns whatever we give him into light and walks with us in them.
Pride keeps us in the shadows. Pride keeps him and the revelation of him away from us, outside of us.
He’s not afraid of the shadows. He’s not tainted by them.
The shadows in us are only the casting of something else. My shadows aren’t the thing, their source is.By seeking the source of my shadows and seeing them, handing them over to Him, whether I know their names or not, and letting him right them, reshape them, destroy them or remove them, I participate in confession and he enacts the blood-rite of forgiveness and cleansing.
What Shadows Do I Feel Lingering in Me and What Should I Do About Them?
Anger, fear, shame, guilt, disappointment, death, immobility, coldness, distance? That’s all very vague and daunting. I can’t forget mistrust and skepticism, profanity, deception. It’s all so gross! These are the sources of Shadow I’m aware of and they find their source ultimately in my turning from God ever so slightly here and there, not walking with him, not resting in him, doubting his goodness, even doubting his existence some days. I’m only human and so are you. God does not love us any less for being human and seemingly incapable of consistent unrelenting faith and belief. After all, we only see things as through a shadow (wink, wink) or as Paul says
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12)
In my fiction work, The Weave of Realms, there are some who deny the Shadow string, some who revere it and others still who manipulate it and work dark magic through it. It’s a complicated and nuanced subject that can’t be written off or obsessed over, but held in the balance of all things.
If you find yourself in a place where you see the effects of shadow in your life and have even seen the sources in your heart, body and mind, let my prayer below be your prayer. (Now, my prayer that I wrote down in this journal entry at the same time as this musing on shadow is personal regarding things I was seeking illumination in, but I share them none the less. You could fill in your own “great things” that you hope to do with your life.)
Lord,
It’s obvious I’m flawed. I’m broken. I’m self deceived.
I’m sorry.
I want to know rightly.
I want to practice walking rightly.
I need help to do that.
I want to do so much more than just think rightly and exist rightly.
I want to change the world for the better.
I want to do great things.
I want to do at least a great thing.
I have a story to tell but I don’t know what it is, I don’t know who the characters are.
I have a picture to paint, an image to show, but I don’t know what it is.
I don’t know how to do these things or where to start
Or have the courage or strength or hows to start.
I need help.
Stay tuned for more posts that expound upon the realm of my fiction work and how they tie in theologically with my faith. Thanks for reading!