In Praise of the Dark

Darkness is not just the absence of light. Darkness has its own presence. It is an invitation to withdraw from outer things, people, activities, attachments, and ideas. This means to turn toward the mysterious inner landscape that exists beneath all our thoughts and actions. It’s mysterious, unpredictable, often unruly, and does not necessarily follow our social and personal expectations.

I suspect it’s that unpredictable mystery that inclines our culture to grasp for ideas and activities that emphasize light – candles, tree lights, rituals, lawn and house decorations – and to focus on the turning season that promises new light. I also suspect that any new light doesn’t come to most of us because we do not really give up the old light that dwelling adequately in the darkness would allow us to do.

We are often apprehensive In the dark, we don’t know what might move inside us or around us, what might confront us, what unresolved issues might present themselves. These things don’t come to torment us. They invite us to digest them fully and take the power out of them in any way we might have at our disposal – contemplation, therapy, journaling bodywork, a new study or discipline, shamanic healing, or spiritual or energetic healing.

The darkness is an invitation to a world of greater light, healing, and revelation.