The Colorful Life of the Dark

My friend Magaly over at Pagan Culture is having a blog party called So Good, So Dark! Everyday from October 13th until October 21st, several bloggers will be posting things to show why darkness is not necessarily evil. This will be my contribution to that party.

Today, I want to talk about facing the darkness. In her introduction post for the blog party Magaly mentioned light being recognized as the default for good and dark being the default for evil. But, I argue that people just don't see that the dark has a life of it's own. It's completely neutral, as is light. There are just as many evil things that take place in the light as there are in the dark. Of course, we have some very dark, very evil people in this world. But, I don't think darkness gets it's fair shake.

Think about the bat. No, not the baseball bat, the flying, furry bat. Bats are nocturnal animals. While you sleep, he's up eating your mosquitoes. I'd say that's a good thing. Owls are also nocturnal. Probably up keeping the rodents at bay. Also a good thing. The physical darkness has quite a colorful life if you were to light it up with infrared and look at it. Watch it all happen.

But, on a personal note, facing the darkness within ourselves should not be seen as a bad thing or evil. At some of the very darkest times in my life, facing what was actually going on allowed me to see the light there. Think of an addict in rehab, going through the withdrawls from his addiction, dealing with the anxiety and physical implications of that. Is that evil? Certainly not. Going through this time will most likely save his life! There are scores of people, right now, in therapy for something. That can be a pretty dark time for people. But, it's in no way evil.

Inside everyone is a dark side. I've noticed that many people try to shun that side of themselves and I've also noticed that those same people are also the most fake. They haven't gone through the process of self-acceptance and facing their own inner dark. It usually shows in their language.

We can't overcome any of our own fears or flaws without going into the dark and actually seeing them. It's a hard process, but that doesn't make it evil.

There is also a lot of connection with the dark and the supernatural. Like no hauntings ever take place in the daylight, amirite?? Afterall, the witching hour is at 3am. In the dark. However, even a ghost in the middle of the night doesn't have to be evil. Obviously, I have a lot of internal struggle over whether or not I believe in the supernatural. I have personally experienced some things I can't explain. But, I still would not classify those things as evil, or bad in any way. None of my family has ever been hurt by these things. Why does everyone assume that there will be some sort of supernatural killing at 3am. They've been watching too many horror movies.

Finally, facing death. Probably our darkest moment on this planet. There is so much fear surrounding death that some people feel they can't face it without an afterlife attached to it. But, were we all miserable being dead before we were born? Can you remember any pain associated with not being here? I can't. Death will be exactly like it was before we were alive. We were perfectly content. I think facing the fear of death is probably one of the most significant things we will do as human beings. Whether it's facing the death of a loved one, or of a precious pet, or maybe of that animal you just had to kill to sustain your own life. And, facing our own demise. Certainly, none of those things I just mentioned are evil. But, they are certainly dark.

In closing, if there is light, there has to be dark. You can not have one without the other. A life with no dark, would be a life with an absence of light because there would be no concept for it to exist. If you love one, you should love and embrace the other, as well.