Dark
deorc = to hide
It makes absolutely no sense to me that humans are afraid of the dark. What’s to fear? We’re created in the dark; we grow our precious bodies in the dark. In fact, all things grow in the dark.
This word originated from Old English roots and came to mean characterized by absolute or relative absence of light. The OED adds said especially of night. Ah, but is dark the absence of light? That’s one way to look at it. Or is dark the space in which light comes to be? This is another way.
Many years ago a homiletics student of mine gave me a magical book by Cooper Edens called If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow. Hawaiian mythos also includes the idea of a night rainbow. How could there be a night rainbow if there is no light?
Here’s how: the night rainbow is what we create when we cast our own inner light into the darkness of our dreams. No one else can see our night rainbows. Only we can. What happens in the dark is indescribable growth, change, healing, magic, wonder . . . if we’ll allow ourselves to be still within the dark, and not fear it. Ask: Where in the dark am I shining my inner light today?
Infinition: When I am afraid of what I can’t see happening, I remember my inner spark, and cast it bravely into the dark. Behold, a night rainbow!
From Dr. Susan Corso’s blog God’s Dictionary
Hi Dr. Corso,
I don't care for the dark, myself. It's because in several of the apartments or houses I've rented since my divorce, I've experienced some frightening psychic phenomena: fists pounding on the bottom of my bed, being slapped awake night after night, the continuous feeling of being watched, explosions going off with the force of a shotgun blast. All these things happened at night.
I talked to the landlords after I moved on and they confirmed that the apartments were reputedly haunted. I went to a psychotherapist and had myself checked out–I didn't know if my brain was playing tricks on me. But I wasn't feeling or hearing things.
The place I'm in now is clean–no nasty business. I can finally sleep with the lights off.
Bob
Milady Doctor,
Humans are just afraid of what they don't know. Also, it's been my experience that metaphysically/magickally speaking darkness comes on a range just like light can, and Dark beings *can* be Negatives though they are not necessarily so.
Also, I've noticed that humans by and large are also afraid of magick/the occult/the so-called "paranormal." This may be related to their fear of the darkdark–magick thrives in darkness/the Veil between the worlds/dimensions is thinner at night. And most humans worship the illusion they call "Normality"–anything that is outside of the norm is suspect. Darkness and illusion go together.
Also, have you ever noticed how much in the Western language darkness is used as a metaphor for ignorance or stupidity?
Love,
Brigit
Brigit,
I'm curious–have you ever been physically assaulted by a "negative?" And what type of "magick" do you practice that's given you a superiority complex regarding most other humans?
I practice standing post meditation–it got me through four bouts of bone cancer. The pineal gland meditation I practice has no doubt made me sensitive to the paranormal, because for most of my life I wasn't. It took years of work to gain this sensitivity, and it's a double-edged sword, like many things in life.
Bob
Bob,
I'm not sure how to respond to this right now. I don't feel I have a superiority complex–I can be arrogant at times and I've begun to come to a slow acceptance that the best I can do with regard to anything approaching humility seems to be just being honest about not having much–but I do not find myself to have a superiority complex. If I did, I would not have such a strong relationship with animals–many of those I've met in this plane look down on animals as inferior creatures and if anything I do the opposite–I almost, though not quite, worship their innocence and that of small children.
With regard to magick, this is the formula I have accepted as the definition I use for magick:
Focused will and awareness plus deed, and being aware of universal energy and using it with awareness to effect changes in a conscious way.
And yes I have had encounters with Negatives–those incarnate and those not. And what makes you think I was referring, by Negatives, only to those incarnate or only to physical assault? There are many ways of being attacked that are not limited to physical experiences in the Earth-world though they can be inclusive of them.
I do not self-identify as human–I recognize that my form is human, but I self-identify more strongly with other species–some of them Otherworldly, some not. This is simply an awakening I've had over the years–I'm what might be referred to as "trans-species-d." If you are willing to open your mind to this, a good site to start would be: http://www.otherkin.net
There are different kinds of Otherkin–one of the species I most strongly align with in my psychological orientation is cat–an incarnate animal spirit is called a "therianthrope" or "therian" for short.
Thank you for sharing with me about your meditation practice. I'm glad you've found something that works for you.
And yes, heightened sensitivity can be a double-edged sword, but I'm finding that it's worth it.
Love,
Brigit
Also…
I do not believe in the concept of "paranormal" or "supernatural." I've come slowly to accept that everything is natural–it might be more natural in a dimension other than this one, but it is all "natural," simply not physical to the Earth-world.
I have accepted that psi phenomena etc. occur all the time–I've had enough experiences of them such through observing those who were psychically and/or intuitively gifted and used their gifts regularly to show me evidence, if you will, of such things.
And here's a thought–why do you react with hostility to the idea of magick if you're sensitive to the "paranormal?" Is it possible that some of that might be from not being as consciously awake to beyond-physical phenomena that you suspect such concepts and those who work with them?
You mistake me if you believe I have a superiority complex–I'm not saying this in a defensive tone, but a factual one. I know myself fairly well and have done my best to be as aware of myself as I can. I have if anything had to labor hard at having *any* self-esteem and I'm not as healed from my own bouts with inner negativity as I'd like to be, though I've gotten much better in this last year than I have been for most of my life, I'd say. And yes, I can be impatient with humans at times. As I've said, I do not feel identified as human in my psychological orientation–the closest I've gotten to that in terms of identify with Earth-world species is to identify as feline. I was for all intents and purposes nurtured and truly "mothered" in that sense by one of my cats–I was her two-legged "kitten" for much of my life. My two-legged mom was my best friend for many years and at times, in a way, my patient–I was a bit of a confidant to her and to my dad–for their marriage and family problems. I wasn't the *only* one they had–I know they went to a counselor once to try to work things out without much success–but I was there, and my ears were available, so I listened to them and did my best to support them as kindly as I could and as objectively as I could. I was not, other than biologically speaking, their "child." I was their caretaker and in the case of my dad, I remember him telling me that I was his "only hope" and his closest friend.
And yes, I've had encounters with both incarnate and discarnate Negatives. You may accept that or not as you wish. To be quite frank I am not (consciously) attached to your opinion that I am aware of and I'm saying that as kindly but firmly as I can.
Love,
Brigit
Hi Brigit,
I was a little harsh. I apologize. But that's my style–fire then aim. Then apologize. I suppose that comes a bit from arrogance–you beat death four times and it does breed a feeling of being special. Because of the thousands of hours of work it took. And it shouldn't.
As far as magick, I believe a certain percentage of the population–it may be as low as two percent from a study I read–are sensitive to the paranormal naturally. I also know from my practice of the Eastern arts that you can develop these abilities through drawing energy into the pineal gland.
My ex-wife embraced Wicca in the declining years of our marriage; one day the leader of her coven was over for tea. She showed me the ritual "Drawing Down the Moon," and I could tell immediately that it was a pineal gland meditation–the moon is a metaphor for the third eye in Taoist arts. I advised her to stop at a certain point, hold her hands to frame her third eye, and spend 20 minutes meditating. Then she would develop power to augment her intent. But she would have none of it. Hers was the cult of Diana, peopled by divorced women, and she would take no advice from a man. It's too bad–I think there was a commonality in meditation practice across the Eurasion continent at one point. It was lost in the West, frowned on by the Church.
One of my long-term goals is to write a book about these ancient, shared practices that have been lost.
Best regards,
Bob
Bob, maybe it's just a bad neighborhood.
That was a cogent comment. How many hours did it take you to craft it?
Dr. Susan Corso
http://www.susancorso.com http://www.susancorso.com/seedsforsanctuary
"You must do the things you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Blessed ones, I write because I've read your comments. Amazing. I think there is a larger context in which to consider the "dark," which is whether one believes the universe, as Einstein questioned, is a friendly place or not. When we make the assumption that everything here is for our good, the things we deem "dark" become a little less scary, a little more curious and a lot more productive. Be blest with peace, Susan
Dr. Susan Corso
http://www.susancorso.com http://www.susancorso.com/seedsforsanctuary
"You must do the things you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Bob,
I'm sorry your wife wasn't open enough to hear you out. That was very interesting to learn that the moon was symbolic of the pineal gland. I appreciate your sharing with me. I try to stay open to learning new things
Laughs–you know, I can be a bit blunt at times so I can appreciate your honesty but I have learned–maybe because I'm a bit "childlike" and in my willingness to do my best to embrace others as far as I can–to be mostly harmless in how I phrase things. It's been my experience that most of the time I have actually managed to amuse people without meaning to because it's fairly obvious that I don't mean any harm and I do my very best to be a stickler for self-honesty as well as honesty in relating to people–it's not always easy but I'm a literalist in my approach due to a disability so that actually helps me give myself as far as I can my own kick in the butt. Grins
I'm sorry if I seemed a little arrogant–in my writings, since it's often an extension of how I talk when I'm being open and most truly myself–and yes I've had to get over (mostly) a tendency towards arrogance, though in the past actually part of the time that was from insecurity, contrary to what many might think. And I was raised by two academics, one of them born in 1938 just as Eastern Europe entered into World War II by a dad in his case who was by English time-frames late Victorian (1898–and he lived til about 1983 which was a miracle for his day) and by age 12 I was an incarnate Victorian prude and snob, I fear. I still have trouble relating to some people at times, but I do my best to stay kind, honest, and as humble–mostly through being as completely aware of myself and my thoughts and attitudes and admitting it to self and others when I goof–grins–as I can. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to grow more aware and kind. Love, Brigit
Milady doctor,
I've been learning as I grow more consciously aware of the Universe and practice consciously creating my reality that the Universe/Cosmos is as friendly to me as I allow it and/or consciously choose for it to be, so yes I do believe that by and large it's friendly–because now, I am. Smiles
I wasn't always this way–in fact when I was younger for a while I was paralyzed with shyness and afraid of almost everyone two-legged. Part of that was from having grown up in an emotionally violent and kind of abusive (verbal, not generally physical abuse, which for me has actually been harder to get over since I'm a walking set of ears in how I relate to the world and words matter to me more than average) environment at home. My parents were kind of abusive to each other and, in different ways, to me (though they were not consciously aware of what they were doing, and while some of it I'm still healing from at my conscious level, I'm not mad at them or usually afraid of them anymore, especially since I no longer live with them–which helps–grins). But as I began opening up to people and getting over my fears, the friendlier and kinder people in my reality got. I have experienced that you're right–that when one is open to believing that the universe is kind, the experience one is more likely to have in one's reality, is that it is. But it can be really hard for people to get there–especially if they're not consciously aware of how to create their reality. I've come to accept that we create or attract realities at numerous levels–which I try to keep aware of in my intentions and spirit-practice–and do my best not even to pray for someone else without intending for something to happen to the degree that at some level of themselves they're open to. I've set my intentions/affirmations up in such a way that if someone's not willing at any level to experience something, then my experience is that the channel for sending them the prayer, energy, or intention isn't open.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I appreciate the chance to grow from your kindness and views.
Love,
Brigit