The down side of the enlightenment is the loss of darkness. Electricity and the light bulb provide us with light 24/7. The bright lights of Walmart burn all the time. Walmart looks the same at 2AM as it does at 2PM. As products of the enlightenment we are drawn and addicted to the light. We stare at the flashing lights of our TVs and computer screens like zombies. The flashing lights of Vegas draw millions of visitors willing to lay down the big bucks.
The metaphysical result of our loss of darkness is a loss of balance and rhythm. We've lost touch with mystery and the wild. We have become shallow, because without darkness we become superficial and lack depth; we have become sterile. We are now afraid of the dark, and as a result, we demonize darkness. The phrase "darkness" is now synonymous with "evil".
I love the dark. I crave the dark. I love a cave. The dark is rich, romantic, and sensual. The darkness is magical and potent. Meister Eckhart said, "the ground of the soul is dark". He went on to say that, "for the will to be free it needs to return to its prime origin". I think what Eckhart is speaking about is a returning to that place before the original flaring forth; a returning to the place before light. Returning to the place before God; returning to the Godhead; returning to the darkness and to the place of total freedom. Will someone please turn the lights off?
Psalm 139:11-12
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
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