Light and dark. Light and dark. Day and night. Ok, let’s talk about light and dark. The series of questions and ensuing conversation at the workshop I did brought up some interesting thoughts. (And I’ve decided to write them on April Fool’s Day.)
We like to think of things in terms of light and dark, black and white. Stay in the light. It’s scary to go into the dark (ask any child). Beware the dark side of the force. Walk on the sunny side of the street. What these all have in common is the desire to stay away from dark places. Why? Well, because we’ve always associated blackness, or darkness with evil. (The good guys wear white hats and the bad guys wear black hats.) Why? What’s in the dark? Well, we really don’t know. After all, you can’t see anything in the dark. If you bring a flashlight to see in the dark well, then it really isn’t dark anymore is it?
Children fear the dark because they’re afraid that there might be monsters lurking somewhere in there. The thing is, they might be right. How many monsters did you have hiding in your closet or under your bed when you were little? I had quite a few. It is far easier for something that ‘goes bump in the night’ to have an effect on someone in the dark rather than in daylight. Let’s be real, there are entities out there. Some are good, some aren’t. When is it likely for the not so good ones to do something? In the dark, of course.
We try to make things in our world very black and white. This gives everything a definitive line, good or evil, right or wrong. The problem is that everything can’t be lumped into black and white. Some things can be good for us up until a certain point, then they become bad (ask any dieter). We basically find that there is a huge area which we define as shades of gray. The bottom line is that in everything, there exists light, and dark. This is especially true for people.
My first teacher had this war going on inside her (as we all do), this battle to do good, or do evil (and evil may be too strong a word, maybe change it to positive and negative). For the most part, she was a good person. Then she started channeling (actually trancing). She contacted an entity that she thought was Gaia, the old earth goddess. There were several of us that thought this entity was lying to her, and could not figure why Gaia would do so. The point is that once she started channeling this entity, she started doing things to hurt people rather than help. She told them she was helping, but she was doing things that would hurt them eventually. Yes, she turned to the dark side of the force. The other day, my friend told me that there are several entities out there that claim to be Gaia. Hmm, so how does one know when one has the real one? I’m clueless on that one. I guess the only way would be to look at what it wants you to do. If that goes against your moral code, then you’re probably not talking to the right entity.
So, in the war of good and evil, my teacher became mostly evil, or negative. She let the darkness… I don’t want to say overcome her… maybe… become more prevalent in her. We all fight this battle. Do good or do bad. The key word here is ‘balance’. We choose to do positive things. We choose to do negative things. Who we are, and what we strive to be depends on how we balance the dark and the light. Which do we allow to have the most space?
Remember, light defines darkness. But it also shows the large gray area where most of us reside. Remember, when we travel into darkness, always bring along some light to guide us. Darkness can not exist in light.
Take care. And may light guide your way always.