Shadesmar Sun

[ScadrianTank he/him]

Is it an actual object, or is it some sort of unreachable backdrop thing? Is it a star or some natural Invested lightbulb that provides illumination?  Could you go to it on a plane or a rocket?

[+Oltux72 he/him]

2 hours ago, ScadrianTank said:

Is it an actual object, or is it some sort of unreachable backdrop thing? Is it a star or some natural Invested lightbulb that provides illumination?  Could you go to it on a plane or a rocket?

As it does not change its angle for different observers, the likeliest explanation is that it is no real object. But we know very littl about it and the anti-shadows it casts.

[Malim he/him]

My headcanon is that it's the point where the Spiritual Realm touches the Cognitive.  In Mistborn, it seems to be the point that souls are drawn towards, and in Shadesmar it draws light and shadows towards it.

No real evidence for this, but it's my crackpot theory.

[Honorless he/him]

I think it's a representation of the Spiritual Realm as well, mostly because of Khriss' analogy for explaining the Three Realms: the Spiritual Realm as the source of the light, the Cognitive Realm as the beam of light and the Physical Realm where the light pools. Not the exact words.

[Jondesu he/him]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:59 PM, Malim said:

My headcanon is that it's the point where the Spiritual Realm touches the Cognitive.  In Mistborn, it seems to be the point that souls are drawn towards, and in Shadesmar it draws light and shadows towards it.

No real evidence for this, but it's my crackpot theory.

Souls are drawn toward the Beyond, not the Spiritual Realm, which are different things and changes up that whole theory.

On 7/16/2021 at 1:20 PM, Honorless said:

I think it's a representation of the Spiritual Realm as well, mostly because of Khriss' analogy for explaining the Three Realms: the Spiritual Realm as the source of the light, the Cognitive Realm as the beam of light and the Physical Realm where the light pools. Not the exact words.

I do like that theory.

[Meg]

On 7/11/2021 at 0:43 PM, Oltux72 said:

 But we know very littl about it and the anti-shadows it casts.

The only quote I remembered -- though it's rather old already -- is this from 2016:

Quote

Blightsong

Last year I asked you if shadows turn the wrong way in the cognitive realm for a reason, you said to basically think of it like important flavor text. Is this happening because people are being drawn towards the Beyond?

Brandon Sanderson

Um, yea that's part of it. Definitely.

(source)

This would bring the Beyond again into this. It doesn't help with the initial question, though, but would hint more at it the "sun" in the Cognitive Realm being a "sort of unreachable backdrop thing".

[Zoey she/her]

We don't know for certain, it is either a representation of the Beyond, or of the Spiritual Realm. You can make arguments for both. I don't really know where I lean on the issue. I might be leaning more towards it being a sort of representation of the Spiritual Realm, due to the whole metaphor of the Spiritual Realm being like a sun emanating light. 

And yes, I see it as an unreachable backdrop of sorts, but somewhat more like a pantheistic form of unreachability moreso than a transcendent form. Not exactly sure, just spitballing here.