This is a very intriguing thread! So many reports of "entity" sightings!
According to magical tradition, our world is often visited by a whole host of various non-physical beings, and they're often hard to identify and distinguish. Angels, demons, ghosts, elementals, thought forms...the list goes on and on.
Generally speaking, dark figures are either ghosts, astral vampires, evil demons--they get a bad rap in occult literature. Figures of light are usually thought of as benevolent. But there are exceptions. The name "Lucifer" means "light bearer," and Lucifer is almost universally considered evil in spite of his associations with light.
Are all dark figures evil? I don't think so. Often, a dark, shadowy figure is a projection of some unconsicious content that is just beginning to become conscious. The Jungian interpretation here is that an aspect of the personality that has been repressed is starting to "come out," but can't yet express itself in a form that is completely recognizable to the conscious Self.
"Demons" usually turn out to be such repressions: unacceptable parts of oneself that have been rejected by the conscious personality, such as your desire to boink your brother or sister or kill your neighbors. If you're a really uptight person who can't accept the fact that you harbor such socially unacceptable desires, you might tend to become anxious whenever such thoughts start to percolate in your mind, and, in order to eliminate them, you might "project" them outside of yourself in the form of shadowy, sinister figures. They are actually parts of yourself that you need to consciously absorb and creatively assimilate into you personality.
However, I believe there could be other beings which do possess an objective existence which sometimes appear to people in very special circumstances. The rule of thumb when dealing with such entities is "By their fruits shall you know them." If they inspire you to do self-destructive things or to harm others, then you're probably dealing with something that's trying to con you. Use the various pentagram rituals perfected by the Golden Dawn to banish them.
Try to dialogue a little bit with the shadowy, dark figures. Talk to them in your imagination and see who they might be. Don't be gullible and believe everything they say without really thinking it over for awhile.
I was attacked in 1975 by a black shadow on the stairway of my mother's house. The whole experience lasted probably two seconds, but the impression of a large man raising his hand to strike me was so vividly real that I threw my arms in front of my face to shield myself from the sucker punch I was certain was being delivered! I did a pentagram ritual, and never encountered the figure again.
