Yakut Prayer By Yakut (Anonymous) My words are tied in one
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Monday, 31 March 2008
Yakut Prayer
A wonderful poem from the Poetry Chaikhana --
Thursday, 6 March 2008
ethics
My ethics most closely match those of the Epicureans (though for many of the questions I ticked "Dislike all answer choices").
Find out what philosophical viewpoint matches your ethics.
Via Methodius
 | 1. | Epicureans (100%) Information link |
| 2. | John Stuart Mill (90%) Information link |
| 3. | Aquinas (86%) Information link |
| 4. | Jeremy Bentham (82%) Information link |
| 5. | Aristotle (76%) Information link |
| 6. | Nietzsche (64%) Information link |
| 7. | Thomas Hobbes (61%) Information link |
| 8. | Ayn Rand (59%) Information link |
| 9. | Nel Noddings (59%) Information link |
| 10. | Spinoza (59%) Information link |
| 11. | Jean-Paul Sartre (49%) Information link |
| 12. | Prescriptivism (49%) Information link |
| 13. | Cynics (46%) Information link |
| 14. | Kant (46%) Information link |
| 15. | Stoics (43%) Information link |
| 16. | Ockham (41%) Information link |
| 17. | David Hume (35%) Information link |
| 18. | St. Augustine (35%) Information link |
| 19. | Plato (25%) Information link |
Find out what philosophical viewpoint matches your ethics.
Via Methodius
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
this week I arr bin mostly...
... Unitarian Universalist! That's the first time that I have done the Belief-O-Matic and come out as 100% UU and 94% Pagan (previously I came out as 100% Pagan and 86% UU). I wonder what I answered differently...
Either way, I was so obviously not Orthodox (what was I thinking???)
Here's the quiz questions, and my answers are in bold:
1. What is the number and nature of the deity (God, gods, higher power)? Choose one.
Medium
2. Are there human incarnation(s) of God (or of gods/goddesses)? Choose one.
God is (or gods/goddesses are) supreme, and no incarnations.
One incarnation.
Many (or countless) incarnations.
No particular incarnations because God is all and all are God (or God is in all).
No incarnations as there is no God. Or not sure. Or not important.
None of the above.
What priority do you place on this selection?
Medium
(hmm, I think I may have ticked "many or countless incarnations" on previous occasions, which is more Pagan than UU)
3. What are the origins of the physical universe and life on earth? Choose one.
High
4. What happens to humans after death? Choose one.
High
5. Why is there terrible wrongdoing in the world? Choose one.
High
6. Satan's presence results in much suffering.
Medium
7. Why is there so much suffering in the world?
Choose ALL that apply.
Medium (ah, I think I ticked "spiritual or cosmic imbalance or disharmony" before - so hanging out with Unitarians is clearly making me more rational...)
Respond to the following (Questions 8-12) based on how you believe a person attains salvation, exaltation, eternal reward, spiritual liberation/enlightenment, spiritual harmony, merger with God, etc.
8. Worship:
Medium
10. Regularly confess or repent:
Medium
11. Doing good works (deeds) and acting compassionately is:
High
12. Choose ALL statements below that represent your beliefs.
High
Respond to the following moral statements (Questions 13-20) based on how you would want your religion or faith category to address them.
13. Elective abortion should be accepted (not proclaimed or treated as immoral).
Medium
14. Homosexual behavior should be regarded as immoral or out of harmony.
High -- if there had been a "strongly disagree" option, I would have ticked it
15. Roles for women and men should be prescribed.
High -- if there had been a "strongly disagree" option, I would have ticked it
16. Divorce and/or remarriage should be restricted or punished or condemned.
High -- if there had been a "strongly disagree" option, I would have ticked it
17. Social betterment programs (e.g., equality, anti-poverty, education) should be fundamental.
High
18. Nonviolence (e.g., pacifism, conscientious objector) should be fundamental.
Low - it should be a matter of personal conscience.
19. Prayer, meditation, or spiritual healing practices should be favored to the exclusion of conventional health treatment (for all serious conditions or certain types of serious conditions).
Medium (they should supplement conventional treatment)
20. Revering nature or the environment should be fundamental.
High
The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.
Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (94%)
3. Secular Humanism (93%)
4. Liberal Quakers (83%)
5. New Age (81%)
6. Theravada Buddhism (75%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
8. Mahayana Buddhism (67%)
9. Nontheist (64%)
10. Reform Judaism (60%)
11. New Thought (56%)
12. Taoism (56%)
13. Jainism (56%)
14. Scientology (53%)
15. Orthodox Quaker (50%)
16. Sikhism (49%)
17. Bahá'í Faith (41%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (37%)
19. Hinduism (36%)
20. Orthodox Judaism (35%)
21. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (25%)
23. Islam (24%)
24. Seventh Day Adventist (19%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (16%)
26. Roman Catholic (16%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (9%)
I hereby tag Steve Hayes and Cat Chapin-Bishop to do this quiz and post your results on your blogs (and maybe your answers too, if you feel like it).
Either way, I was so obviously not Orthodox (what was I thinking???)
Here's the quiz questions, and my answers are in bold:
1. What is the number and nature of the deity (God, gods, higher power)? Choose one.
- Only one God--a corporeal spirit (has a body), supreme, personal God Almighty, the Creator.
- Only one God--an incorporeal (no body) spirit, supreme, personal God Almighty, the Creator.
- Multiple personal gods (or goddesses) regarded as facets of one God, and/or as separate gods.
- The supreme force is the impersonal Ultimate Reality (or life force, ultimate truth, cosmic order, absolute bliss, universal soul), which resides within and/or beyond all.
- The supreme existence is both the eternal, impersonal, formless Ultimate Reality, and personal God (or gods).
- No God or supreme force. Or not sure. Or not important.
- None of the above.
Medium
2. Are there human incarnation(s) of God (or of gods/goddesses)? Choose one.
God is (or gods/goddesses are) supreme, and no incarnations.
One incarnation.
Many (or countless) incarnations.
No particular incarnations because God is all and all are God (or God is in all).
No incarnations as there is no God. Or not sure. Or not important.
None of the above.
What priority do you place on this selection?
Medium
(hmm, I think I may have ticked "many or countless incarnations" on previous occasions, which is more Pagan than UU)
3. What are the origins of the physical universe and life on earth? Choose one.
- As in the book of Genesis, God created a mature universe and mature life forms from nothing in less than 7 days, less than 10,000 years ago.
- As in the book of Genesis, but "day" is not 24 hours, possibly refers to thousands (or even millions) of years, or to creation phases.
- God is creating and controlling the phenomena uncovered by scientists. Or there are other spiritual explanations, but not in conflict with scientific discovery.
- All matter and life forms are manifestations (or illusions) of the eternal Absolute (Ultimate Truth, Universal Soul or Mind, etc.).
- Only natural forces (like evolution) and no Creator or spiritual forces. Or not sure. Or not important.
- None of the above.
High
4. What happens to humans after death? Choose one.
- Souls are judged immediately for a foretaste of heaven or hell. At the final judgment, God (or Christ) will resurrect and judge all for heaven or hell. (Or souls may also be judged for punishment and/or purification before heaven.)
- Death results in unconsciousness until, at the final judgment, God (or Christ) will raise the living righteous to heaven; resurrect and destroy the wicked on earth; return the righteous to a paradisal earth for eternity.
- Souls don't survive death. God (or Christ) will resurrect the righteous at the final judgment for eternity in heaven or on a paradisal earth; the wicked will remain dead.
- The soul's spiritual development continues after death so that all may eventually experience the indescribable joy of closeness to God. Hell is not a place but the tormented state of remoteness from God.
- Rebirths occur (continually, or until all life's lessons are learned and one merges with the life force, or until complete enlightenment and eternal bliss are attained).
- There is definitely an afterlife, but the specifics cannot be known or are unimportant--most important is one's conduct in life.
- No afterlife; no spiritual existence beyond life; no literal heaven and hell. Or not sure. Or not important.
- None of the above.
High
5. Why is there terrible wrongdoing in the world? Choose one.
- Humans inherited sinfulness, or a damaged nature, or tendency to yield to Satan's temptations from Adam and Eve, who committed the original sin against God.
- Wrongdoing results from God-given free will plus a weak side, or a drive to satisfy personal needs, which sometimes results in wrongful choices (and/or vulnerability to Satan's temptations).
- Ignorance of one's true existence as pure spirit and as one with the Universal Truth (or soul, mind, etc.) can lead to wrongdoing.
- Not listening to the voice of God, who resides within all, can lead to wrongdoing.
- Egoism (self-importance) leads to desire, craving, and attachments, which can lead to unwholesome thoughts and behavior, i.e., greed, hate, and violence.
- No supernatural or spiritual reasons. Human nature, psychology, sociology, criminology, etc., explain wrongdoing. Or not sure. Or not important.
- None of the above.
High
6. Satan's presence results in much suffering.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not applicable. I don't believe in Satan.
Medium
7. Why is there so much suffering in the world?
Choose ALL that apply.
- The original disobedience of Adam and Eve caused all mankind to inherit mortality, which includes bodily imperfection, illness, and decay.
- Suffering is part of God's divine will, plan, or design (to discipline, test, challenge, strengthen faith, strengthen character, promote moral growth, or for reasons that we cannot or may not know).
- Suffering is a state of mind (or illusion); only our spiritual nature is real.
- Spiritual or cosmic imbalance and disharmony may result in suffering.
- Unwholesome thoughts and/or deeds (greed, hatred, and violence) in this or prior lives return as suffering (karma).
- None of the above; human suffering has nothing to do with the supernatural or karma.
Medium (ah, I think I ticked "spiritual or cosmic imbalance or disharmony" before - so hanging out with Unitarians is clearly making me more rational...)
Respond to the following (Questions 8-12) based on how you believe a person attains salvation, exaltation, eternal reward, spiritual liberation/enlightenment, spiritual harmony, merger with God, etc.
8. Worship:
- The Supreme Power, God, or Gods.
- God--three persons of one essence.
- God the Father, His Son, the Holy Spirit--each a distinct essence.
- Not Applicable.
- Required.
- Not required.
- Not Applicable.
Medium
10. Regularly confess or repent:
- All sins/wrongs to a cleric.
- All sins/wrongs, but not necessarily to a cleric.
- Not Applicable.
Medium
11. Doing good works (deeds) and acting compassionately is:
- Necessary.
- Not necessary.
- Not Applicable.
High
12. Choose ALL statements below that represent your beliefs.
- Adhere strictly to the rites, practices, precepts, commandments, prohibitions, laws, sacraments, or ordinances of the faith to be rewarded after life.
- All, even the wicked, are rewarded after life (e.g., go to heaven, merge with God) as God(s) is infinitely good and forgiving.
- Extinguish all cravings, attachments, and ignorance, or rid oneself of all impurities, to become fully enlightened.
- Learn all life's lessons through rebirths.
- Realize your true nature as purely spirit (or soul) and not body, as one with the Absolute, Universal Soul.
- Live very simply; renounce worldly goals and possessions.
- Tap the power of the Ultimate (God, or the divine) through intercessory methods such as psychics, channeling, tarot cards, crystals, magic.
- Humankind is "saved" through human effort rather than through religious or spiritual means.
High
Respond to the following moral statements (Questions 13-20) based on how you would want your religion or faith category to address them.
13. Elective abortion should be accepted (not proclaimed or treated as immoral).
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
Medium
14. Homosexual behavior should be regarded as immoral or out of harmony.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
High -- if there had been a "strongly disagree" option, I would have ticked it
15. Roles for women and men should be prescribed.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
High -- if there had been a "strongly disagree" option, I would have ticked it
16. Divorce and/or remarriage should be restricted or punished or condemned.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
High -- if there had been a "strongly disagree" option, I would have ticked it
17. Social betterment programs (e.g., equality, anti-poverty, education) should be fundamental.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
High
18. Nonviolence (e.g., pacifism, conscientious objector) should be fundamental.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
Low - it should be a matter of personal conscience.
19. Prayer, meditation, or spiritual healing practices should be favored to the exclusion of conventional health treatment (for all serious conditions or certain types of serious conditions).
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
Medium (they should supplement conventional treatment)
20. Revering nature or the environment should be fundamental.
- Agree.
- Disagree.
- Not Applicable.
High
The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.
Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (94%)
3. Secular Humanism (93%)
4. Liberal Quakers (83%)
5. New Age (81%)
6. Theravada Buddhism (75%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
8. Mahayana Buddhism (67%)
9. Nontheist (64%)
10. Reform Judaism (60%)
11. New Thought (56%)
12. Taoism (56%)
13. Jainism (56%)
14. Scientology (53%)
15. Orthodox Quaker (50%)
16. Sikhism (49%)
17. Bahá'í Faith (41%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (37%)
19. Hinduism (36%)
20. Orthodox Judaism (35%)
21. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (25%)
23. Islam (24%)
24. Seventh Day Adventist (19%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (16%)
26. Roman Catholic (16%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (9%)
I hereby tag Steve Hayes and Cat Chapin-Bishop to do this quiz and post your results on your blogs (and maybe your answers too, if you feel like it).
Monday, 25 February 2008
landscape and mythology
The word 'landscape' is derived from painting, and originally meant a painting of an idyllic scene (with no inharmonious elements, of course). Its meaning has become extended to mean the land itself.
When I think of landscape, I think of rolling hills and woods and rocks and rivers, and all the history and mythology that have shaped the land, making a palimpsest of layers of meaning. In a way, a landscape seems to me a place that has been shaped by human interaction as well as by wind and water and geology; a wilderness is a place that has been mostly shaped by wind and water and geology.
The mythology and folklore of landscape endures when its pagan significance has been almost forgotten. Just off the shore of the Greek island of Kos, there's a rock which is said to look like the face of Zeus in profile. In Scotland, there's a hill by Loch Leven which is said to be a sleeping giant, who will awake when Scotland has need of him. Near Dunster in Somerset, there's a hill associated with a giant. And of course Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the ancient Celtic kingdom of Rheged are chock full of sites associated with King Arthur. Tolkien wrote about the mythopoeic significance of the land and trees, and the archetypal truth of the mythopoeic worldview.
Sometimes I like to just look at the land without an intervening layer of mythology; and sometimes the mythology seems so fitted to that particular land that it enhances it. It certainly seems odd to think that some people have no mythic associations to their local landscape, or that they find one place on Earth so sacred that they are prepared to kill for access to it.
Of course, there's always the possibility of attaching new mythology to the land, as you develop your personal relationship with it.
[Part of a Synchroblog on landscape and mythology]
When I think of landscape, I think of rolling hills and woods and rocks and rivers, and all the history and mythology that have shaped the land, making a palimpsest of layers of meaning. In a way, a landscape seems to me a place that has been shaped by human interaction as well as by wind and water and geology; a wilderness is a place that has been mostly shaped by wind and water and geology.
The mythology and folklore of landscape endures when its pagan significance has been almost forgotten. Just off the shore of the Greek island of Kos, there's a rock which is said to look like the face of Zeus in profile. In Scotland, there's a hill by Loch Leven which is said to be a sleeping giant, who will awake when Scotland has need of him. Near Dunster in Somerset, there's a hill associated with a giant. And of course Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the ancient Celtic kingdom of Rheged are chock full of sites associated with King Arthur. Tolkien wrote about the mythopoeic significance of the land and trees, and the archetypal truth of the mythopoeic worldview.
Sometimes I like to just look at the land without an intervening layer of mythology; and sometimes the mythology seems so fitted to that particular land that it enhances it. It certainly seems odd to think that some people have no mythic associations to their local landscape, or that they find one place on Earth so sacred that they are prepared to kill for access to it.
Of course, there's always the possibility of attaching new mythology to the land, as you develop your personal relationship with it.
[Part of a Synchroblog on landscape and mythology]
Friday, 1 February 2008
diversity
The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth. ~ Harry Emerson Fosdick, The Living of These Days, 1956
We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. ~ Jimmy Carter
Thursday, 10 January 2008
well done that man!
- I'm Off - Namaste for today
- The deconversion of a clergyman - forms most beautiful
- Leaving home - New Christianity
Pretty much all the reasons I left Christianity some 25 years ago, and why it didn't work for me second time around, either.
That said, Rev. Keighley would make an excellent Unitarian, or maybe a Quaker...
LEAVING HOME
I'm off!
I must leave the political and ethical compromises that have corrupted the faith of my Jesus.
I must leave the stifling theology, the patriarchal structures.
I must leave the enduring prejudices based on our God-given humanity, the colour of my skin, my gender or how my sexual orientation is practiced.
I must leave the mentality that encourages anyone to think that our doctrines are unchangeable.
I must leave the belief of those who insist that our sacred texts are without error.
I must leave the God of miracle and magic.
I must leave the promises of certainty, the illusion of possessing the true faith.
I must leave behind the claims of being the recipient of an unchallengeable revelation.
I must leave the neurotic religious desire to know that I am right, and to play at being God.
I must leave the claim that every other pathway to God is second-rate, that fellow Hindu
searchers in India, Buddhists in China and Tibet, Muslims in the Middle East and the Jews of Israel are inadequate.
I must leave the pathway that tells me that all other directions will get me lost.
I must leave the certain claim that my Jesus is the only way to God for everyone.
I must leave the ultimate act of human folly that says it is.
I must leave the Church, my home.
I must leave behind my familiar creeds and faith-symbols.
I can no longer stay in an unliveable place.
I must move to a place where I can once again sing the Lord's song.
I must move to where my faith-tradition can be revived and live on.
I must move to a place where children don't tell me what I believe is unbelievable but tell me they can believe what I believe.
I must move to a place where they are not playing at moving the deck chairs on the decks of an ecclesiastical Titanic.
I can never leave the God experience.
I can never walk away from the doorway into the divine that I believe I have found in the one I call the Christ and acknowledge as "my Lord."
I must move to dangerous and religiously threatening places.
I must move to where there is no theism, but still God.
I'm off! But to where, God only knows.
David Keighley, An English Anglican Priest
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
Darkness and Epiphany
Fear of the dark is civilisation's fear of the forest and the wilderness. The denigration of the dark is one of the foundation stones of Western civilisation and even the Enlightenment – so it is difficult to unravel it, to find out where it came from.
It is the connection of darkness with the feminine, nature, and wilderness that gives us the key to explain why it is so denigrated for most of Christian history. In patriarchal culture, the assertive female is regarded as dark, dangerous and malevolent, and characterised as a witch. The passive female is elevated as the model for how women should be: quiet, virginal, and modest. And yet, in the Torah, there are many strong women: the Shulamite in the Song of Songs, Esther, Naomi and Ruth, and many more. But Judaism is kinder to women. Perhaps it was the Romans who bequeathed their patriarchal atttitudes to Christianity. In order for patriarchy to function, female sexuality must be suppressed and controlled, and men must be taught to fear it and abuse it; and the wilderness must be conquered and tamed.
In Taoism, the darkness is seen as yin: passive, dark, feminine, negative, downward-seeking, consuming and corresponds to the night.
Yáng is active, light, masculine, positive, upward-seeking, producing and corresponds to the daytime.
Yin and yang together produce constant movement in the universe.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (a famous Unitarian) wrote:
The point of all this is that darkness is a part of the ebb and flow of life on the planet; it is necessary for life, for rest, for the germination of seeds, and for the renewal of the spirit.
In De Profundis, Oscar Wilde speaks of the nurturing and non-judgmental qualities of Nature and darkness:
When we say that darkness is evil, we create a split in ourselves, for we consist of both light and dark aspects. Carl Gustav Jung (the psychoanalyst) said that the psyche consists of Anima, Animus, and Shadow – the Shadow being the unconscious aspect, the parts of ourselves that we fear and repress. We need to bring these into the light in order to transform them into healthy aspects of ourselves – not slaying the monsters, but harnessing their power to work for good.
When we say that darkness is evil, we project that idea onto others – the terrorist, the witch, the deviant, the stranger. Racism and sexism and homophobia have their roots in this fear of the other, the fear of our own unconscious impulses that we project onto others.
In English, Scottish and Greek folk tradition, the dark stranger was welcomed into the house at New Year in the ceremony of first-footing, when he brings a piece of coal for luck. Similarly Befana, the witch of Epiphany in Italy, brings a piece of coal to naughty children – but nowadays it is a piece of candy. Perhaps this could serve to remind us of the blessed silence and sweetness of the darkness.
Jung derived many of his ideas from alchemy, the mystical process of transformation of the soul, which was itself derived ultimately from Taoist thought. Darkness was the first stage of alchemical transformation, and was represented by the Raven. We descend into the darkness to find the lost treasure – creativity, and memory, and dreams.
Epiphany is traditionally the time at which Jesus's baptism is celebrated, and in Eastern Orthodoxy it is therefore the time of the Blessing of the Waters, one of the signs that Orthodoxy believes that God is in all, and all are in God. The feast generally represents the Divine light in the world, and is held to be the time when the three Magi arrived from the East, bearing gifts of gold (for his kingship), frankincense (for his priestliness), and myrrh (for his role as the Divine physician). But the holy birth, and the visit of the Magi, take place at night, in a stable, or possibly a cave, perhaps to dramatically highlight the guiding star and the holy babe, and the quality of mystery that hangs over the “silent night, holy night”.
Only in traditions where the Divine is not seen as present in Nature is darkness feared – for if the Divine is in everything, it must also be in the darkness, and it must also contain darkness. In Paganism, the dark mother is seen as
The Song of Songs says: “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.”
According to the Poetry Chaikhana website:
It is the connection of darkness with the feminine, nature, and wilderness that gives us the key to explain why it is so denigrated for most of Christian history. In patriarchal culture, the assertive female is regarded as dark, dangerous and malevolent, and characterised as a witch. The passive female is elevated as the model for how women should be: quiet, virginal, and modest. And yet, in the Torah, there are many strong women: the Shulamite in the Song of Songs, Esther, Naomi and Ruth, and many more. But Judaism is kinder to women. Perhaps it was the Romans who bequeathed their patriarchal atttitudes to Christianity. In order for patriarchy to function, female sexuality must be suppressed and controlled, and men must be taught to fear it and abuse it; and the wilderness must be conquered and tamed.
In Taoism, the darkness is seen as yin: passive, dark, feminine, negative, downward-seeking, consuming and corresponds to the night.
Yáng is active, light, masculine, positive, upward-seeking, producing and corresponds to the daytime.
Yin and yang together produce constant movement in the universe.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (a famous Unitarian) wrote:
POLARITY, or action and reaction, we meet in every part of nature; in darkness and light; in heat and cold; in the ebb and flow of waters; in male and female; in the inspiration and expiration of plants and animals; ... An inevitable dualism bisects nature, so that each thing is a half, and suggests another thing to make it whole.And there was me thinking that polarity was a Pagan concept! Polarity is expressed in the cycle of the seasons, the interplay of dark and light in the solstices and equinoxes, and we find this cyclicity repeated everywhere; indeed the Mayan calendar was an endless series of interlocking cycles, both great and small.
The point of all this is that darkness is a part of the ebb and flow of life on the planet; it is necessary for life, for rest, for the germination of seeds, and for the renewal of the spirit.
In De Profundis, Oscar Wilde speaks of the nurturing and non-judgmental qualities of Nature and darkness:
“Society, as we have constituted it, will have no place for me, has none to offer; but Nature, whose sweet rains fall on just and unjust alike, will have clefts in the rock where I may hide, and secret valleys in whose silence I may weep undisturbed. She will hang the night with stars so that I may walk abroad in the darkness without stumbling, and send the wind over my footprints so that none may track me to my hurt: she will cleanse me in great waters, and with bitter herbs make me whole.”Darkness is not evil. Darkness is glamourous and seductive -- if one associates darkness with evil, it will attract people to evil. Evil should be represented by beige, grey or fog, to represent the idea that ordinary, mundane, boring people can commit atrocities, it is not the special prerogative of the psychopath.
When we say that darkness is evil, we create a split in ourselves, for we consist of both light and dark aspects. Carl Gustav Jung (the psychoanalyst) said that the psyche consists of Anima, Animus, and Shadow – the Shadow being the unconscious aspect, the parts of ourselves that we fear and repress. We need to bring these into the light in order to transform them into healthy aspects of ourselves – not slaying the monsters, but harnessing their power to work for good.
When we say that darkness is evil, we project that idea onto others – the terrorist, the witch, the deviant, the stranger. Racism and sexism and homophobia have their roots in this fear of the other, the fear of our own unconscious impulses that we project onto others.
In English, Scottish and Greek folk tradition, the dark stranger was welcomed into the house at New Year in the ceremony of first-footing, when he brings a piece of coal for luck. Similarly Befana, the witch of Epiphany in Italy, brings a piece of coal to naughty children – but nowadays it is a piece of candy. Perhaps this could serve to remind us of the blessed silence and sweetness of the darkness.
Jung derived many of his ideas from alchemy, the mystical process of transformation of the soul, which was itself derived ultimately from Taoist thought. Darkness was the first stage of alchemical transformation, and was represented by the Raven. We descend into the darkness to find the lost treasure – creativity, and memory, and dreams.
Epiphany is traditionally the time at which Jesus's baptism is celebrated, and in Eastern Orthodoxy it is therefore the time of the Blessing of the Waters, one of the signs that Orthodoxy believes that God is in all, and all are in God. The feast generally represents the Divine light in the world, and is held to be the time when the three Magi arrived from the East, bearing gifts of gold (for his kingship), frankincense (for his priestliness), and myrrh (for his role as the Divine physician). But the holy birth, and the visit of the Magi, take place at night, in a stable, or possibly a cave, perhaps to dramatically highlight the guiding star and the holy babe, and the quality of mystery that hangs over the “silent night, holy night”.
Only in traditions where the Divine is not seen as present in Nature is darkness feared – for if the Divine is in everything, it must also be in the darkness, and it must also contain darkness. In Paganism, the dark mother is seen as
the bringer of peace. When the unthinkable happens, she is there with open arms, comforting and soothing the wounds. When life has gone on too long, and friends are all gone, she is there to take us home. She is not unfeeling.In Christianity, the darkness of God is seen as that which is unknowable, the depths which cannot be plumbed. As the book of Genesis so poetically puts it: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.”
But she is not a coddling mother, either. She expects us to be strong. She expects us to take ownership for our lives... she expects us to be able to stand; alone if necessary. And when the test comes, she expects us to be able to look in Her eyes.
The Song of Songs says: “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.”
According to the Poetry Chaikhana website:
Night is the time when lovers meet, when the soul meets its Divine Beloved.So it seems that, if we are to embrace the Divine Beloved, we must also embrace the night, and its gifts of sacred sexuality, silence, prayer, coolness and fragrance. And in embracing the Divine Beloved, we also embrace each other, for each of us has a spark of the Divine within us.
Darkness, like God, envelops everything in its embrace. It is in the darkness of night that all things become one, losing their individuality as they disappear into that mystery. ...
In Sufi poetry, night-time has an added dimension in that many Sufis engage in a special midnight prayer.... Because of this, the night is eagerly anticipated as the holiest of times for many devout Sufis.
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