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| Dark vs Light by fostic popcorn |
I don't ascribe to the light=good, dark=evil philosophy. I realize it's both religious and literary (although I would argue that the literary took on the religious tenet and made it so) but I think it's a real disservice and inaccurate.
Let's look at the dark for a moment. Dark is where creation takes place. You'll notice even in the bible that the Sun and Moon are not created until the 4th day. Creation takes place in the dark. We humans are formed (created) in the dark of the womb.. we don't see light until we're born. It takes us awhile to adjust to the light after birth.
Light is invasive. Dark is comforting. As a migraine sufferer, I know how much light can hurt and dark can heal.
I associate with what is considered a "Dark Goddess"- The MorRhiogan (pronounced Mor-ee-uhn or where we get the name Maureen). She gets a bad rap a lot. Because she is known as "The Washer at the Ford" and let's a warrior know it's his/her time to depart this plane of existence prior to battle. I see this as a sign of comfort and preparation. To know it's your time gives you the ability to prepare and to go out in a blaze of glory. To know She'll be there to see you safely through to the other side is also a comfort.
There's so much more to her than that, though. She teaches lessons to Cuchulain. She is also a representative of the Land itself. She is a shape-shifter, adapting to whatever life throws her way. There is nothing evil at all about her.
Evil is not bound by light. Many evil things take place in broad daylight. Evil is about our own intent and not dark or light.
This mislabeling has created some serious repercussions in our history of humanity. People of color have been thought of as "less-than" or evil , and that those of light skin, eyes, and hair were considered good. In some religious beliefs even today, those beliefs are prevalent ( I actually had an African American gentleman in one of the churches I attended tell me that he and other black people were descendants of Cain and that being black was their mark). I know of one religion in particular that believes black people are fallen angels. It is ridiculous.
As an experiment in Diversity Awareness Class, I grabbed a piece of white construction paper and a piece of black construction paper. I asked the class to choose the whitest person in the room and the blackest. I was chosen as the whitest, and a very dark-skinned girl from Jamaica was chosen as the blackest. I put my skin up against the white piece of paper and asked them to tell me what color I am. They said, light brown. I asked my Jamaican friend to put her arm up against the black paper and asked the class to tell me what color her skin was.. they said, "dark brown". So, in fact, neither of us was black or white- simply different shades of brown.
I hear a lot of people talk about "shades of gray" (and no, I'm not talking about those trashy novels, either) as well. I understand that intent, but life isn't black, white and shades of gray. There is a whole spectrum of color involved... that is where the light comes in. We get to see things in the brilliance of color and our experience is enhanced.
When it's truly dark, there is no color to be seen. However, other senses take over and are heightened. Our sense of touch, taste, smell and hearing are all enhanced when our sight is not reliable. This helps us to experience life more fully.
When we meditate, we do so with our eyes closed, shutting out the invasion of the light. The light brings with it a beauty, but also a bombardment. We need the dark to help us ground, center, and look inward.
As many of us have seen the movie, "The Craft" and know that so much of that is crap, I do love this one line, which really speaks truth: "True magic is neither black nor white. It's both because nature is both, loving and cruel, all at the same time. The only good or bad is in the heart of the witch. life gives a balance of it's own."
We need both dark and light for many different reasons. Evil and Good are subjective terms. What I may think is evil, someone else may call good. Those perceptions are also very societal in nature. At one time, pedophilia was the norm (ancient Greece and Roman societies, for example). Young boys and girls were sex-slaves, and no one thought anything of it. Slavery itself has been considered a good thing by many societies.. ours considers both of these evil now. As I've mentioned several times, I believe Christianity as it stands today (generally speaking) and for many centuries, is evil in its practices. Many would disagree with me.
Calling Light good and Dark evil is nonsensical to me. They are neither. They both bring us lessons and experiences that enhance our learning and teach us things we need to know.
We should welcome them both and be glad we can experience both perspectives and the gifts they bring.