# Shadow (adj.) >[!info] >The corrosive form of a good thing, the opposite of [[Divine]]. In the Ancestor Culture we believe all things are sacred. However, we also believe in the [[The Optimal Path|Optimal Path]], which means there is a time and place for everything, and so things that are healthy in one circumstance can be damaging in others. The shadow references this misalignment. > >It often practically refers to where parts of the [[Self]] have become disassociated from its main mass, leading to discordant behavior, a war of internal selves. This can happen in any of the [[4 Elements]]: certain [[Archetypes]] or [[Intelligences]] can become hyper-dominant or averse to any use, and certain [[Evolutionary Drives]] and [[States]] can become addictions and dominate the others pathologically. > >It is also the stand-in term for any of the 4 Elements at their lower stages of development — low Level, low State, low Type development, low Line development — which by itself often causes problems for the individual and their relations. >[!warning]+ >Not to be confused with [[Dark|Dark]], which refers to one of the Western of the four primordial [[Directions]] of the psyche's [[Archetypes|identities or emotional realms]]. As with all [[4 Elements|Elements]] of the system, this emotional Direction is not inherently healthy or unhealthy — it just is — and can be expressed in a Shadow or [[Divine]] form.