Sunday, September 04, 2005
Dark versus Light
This was a question posed on a group I belong to, because of some deities being called "dark" and others being called "light". I'm posting my response here, as well as to that group...
Question: What features/gifts/abilities do you feel are dark and what are light?
I think that dark and light are two sides of a coin, but sometimes they meet in the middle and become grey, depending on the situation. In otherwords, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Someone or something may be made up of dark and light aspects, and not be wholly listed to one side.
For me, darkness can be that which is hidden, as in mystery. Darkness can be that which is considered negative or undesirable. Darkness can be a cloak of protection. It depends upon the context of the subject you are referring to.
Consequently, lightness can be that which is open, above-board, unhidden, in plain-sight. It may also be something desirable, positive, uninhibited. Lightness can also obscure, wash-out, cause something to glare so harshly as to block or prevent clear vision.
We usually refer to dark and light as "good and bad" but that is subjective and often carries connotations aluded to by other definitions.
As for dark magick versus light magick, you will find interpretations and definitions abound and sometimes misconstrued to suit the purpose of the author of those statements.
I have worked dark magick in the sense that I have worked on hidden, inner mysteries. Dark magick may mean working with decreasing, negative, banishing, binding actions. It may simply refer to workings done during the dark-of-the-moon.
In our society we often confuse darkness with evil, though this may not be the case at all. It is the "popular" opinion spread through people's beliefs in other dogma. The need to associate darkness with evil to gain validity for their own views and beliefs.
In regards to light magick, we think of this as magick done to achieve desirable goals, usually good and acceptable. We equate light with goodness because it is the opposite of darkness and evil. Why? Because we are trained from early on that what is done in the light is done openly without fear, whereas what is done in the darkness is shameful and undesirable.
So, we assign such characteristics to things, beings, subjects. We talk about dark and light deities because of their associations, their energies, their attributes. Dark in that they wield or support skills and events that our society equates with the undesirable--death, destruction, war. Light deities because they are associated with peace, love, guidance.
This does not mean, however, that we cannot be taught nor guided by the dark deities. In fact, many dark Goddesses are great teachers--we learn to face our fears, challenges, wander down the dark path of the unknown, and thereby gain strength, knowledge, understanding.
The light deities teach love and healing, but this does not mean it is an easy lesson. In fact, many times we travel a hard road to realize we are loved, that we are healed, that pain is the way toward pleasure.
These are just some thoughts off the top of my head, but I think you get what I mean. Perhaps it is something I should delve into further.
I know my thoughts are not complete and only touch on some of the ideas and things I have suggested, but it is a start--and I'm sure it is longer than you expected. I do love a long story! Think I'll add this to my blog and perhaps return to it again at a later date.
Question: What features/gifts/abilities do you feel are dark and what are light?
I think that dark and light are two sides of a coin, but sometimes they meet in the middle and become grey, depending on the situation. In otherwords, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Someone or something may be made up of dark and light aspects, and not be wholly listed to one side.
For me, darkness can be that which is hidden, as in mystery. Darkness can be that which is considered negative or undesirable. Darkness can be a cloak of protection. It depends upon the context of the subject you are referring to.
Consequently, lightness can be that which is open, above-board, unhidden, in plain-sight. It may also be something desirable, positive, uninhibited. Lightness can also obscure, wash-out, cause something to glare so harshly as to block or prevent clear vision.
We usually refer to dark and light as "good and bad" but that is subjective and often carries connotations aluded to by other definitions.
As for dark magick versus light magick, you will find interpretations and definitions abound and sometimes misconstrued to suit the purpose of the author of those statements.
I have worked dark magick in the sense that I have worked on hidden, inner mysteries. Dark magick may mean working with decreasing, negative, banishing, binding actions. It may simply refer to workings done during the dark-of-the-moon.
In our society we often confuse darkness with evil, though this may not be the case at all. It is the "popular" opinion spread through people's beliefs in other dogma. The need to associate darkness with evil to gain validity for their own views and beliefs.
In regards to light magick, we think of this as magick done to achieve desirable goals, usually good and acceptable. We equate light with goodness because it is the opposite of darkness and evil. Why? Because we are trained from early on that what is done in the light is done openly without fear, whereas what is done in the darkness is shameful and undesirable.
So, we assign such characteristics to things, beings, subjects. We talk about dark and light deities because of their associations, their energies, their attributes. Dark in that they wield or support skills and events that our society equates with the undesirable--death, destruction, war. Light deities because they are associated with peace, love, guidance.
This does not mean, however, that we cannot be taught nor guided by the dark deities. In fact, many dark Goddesses are great teachers--we learn to face our fears, challenges, wander down the dark path of the unknown, and thereby gain strength, knowledge, understanding.
The light deities teach love and healing, but this does not mean it is an easy lesson. In fact, many times we travel a hard road to realize we are loved, that we are healed, that pain is the way toward pleasure.
These are just some thoughts off the top of my head, but I think you get what I mean. Perhaps it is something I should delve into further.
I know my thoughts are not complete and only touch on some of the ideas and things I have suggested, but it is a start--and I'm sure it is longer than you expected. I do love a long story! Think I'll add this to my blog and perhaps return to it again at a later date.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
The Goddess and me...
A question was posed on my hearthway group:
Sisters, what about you? Have the Gods and Goddesses you revered and
worked with changed over time, as you traveled your path journey?
How did you deal with that? Are they still a part of your life and
practice? How? (For instance, I still light Brighid's flame as her
flamekeeper, and I always will. Hers and Modron's and Cerridwen's
images still grace my main altar. Frigga and Freya are on my tool
altar.) Please share.
For me, I began with the Great Goddess, the Mother Goddess, and she is with me still. I saw her in Isis, in Brigid, in Diana. Different forms, but always herself... I have never "abandoned" her, and never "felt" that she thought so, even in my despairing days. I perhaps have never worked with her in the way you have, as an ordained priestess, yet I am a priestess in my own right--dedicated to Her. I talk with her still. I found Her in nature, as Gaia, as the gentle fairy woman of the Earth, and again in Hecate, the strength, the guidance, the teachings of wisdom. I see her gentleness in Danu, her inspiration in Brigid, her mystery in Cerridwen. I feel her compassion in Kuan Yin, her love in Green Tara. Now I find her again as Brigid, and then spreading outward in a new direction, I see her at home in Frigga...
Yet, all the while she has been with me, she listens to me, she fills me with hope, strength, love, compassion. She teaches me to listen to myself, to face my own challenges, to be brave in the face of the unknown.
Though my experience with the Goddess is varied, it is still true to my own self, because she is within. She is part of me, my blood, my spirit. Whether we distinguish between the Celtic ancestry, the Germanic ancestry, the Italian ancestry...the Goddess is still there in one guise or another. I feel that she accepts however I see her as needed for that time. For the lesson I can learn from her in whichever face she puts forward to me.
So for me, though I know not where I shall go from here, I feel that learning all the different ways, however deep or however shallow, I shall be learning from Her what I need to learn, to grow, gain wisdom, learn my lessons, and learn to share those gifts with others.
She is she, and I am me, but together we are limitless...
Sisters, what about you? Have the Gods and Goddesses you revered and
worked with changed over time, as you traveled your path journey?
How did you deal with that? Are they still a part of your life and
practice? How? (For instance, I still light Brighid's flame as her
flamekeeper, and I always will. Hers and Modron's and Cerridwen's
images still grace my main altar. Frigga and Freya are on my tool
altar.) Please share.
For me, I began with the Great Goddess, the Mother Goddess, and she is with me still. I saw her in Isis, in Brigid, in Diana. Different forms, but always herself... I have never "abandoned" her, and never "felt" that she thought so, even in my despairing days. I perhaps have never worked with her in the way you have, as an ordained priestess, yet I am a priestess in my own right--dedicated to Her. I talk with her still. I found Her in nature, as Gaia, as the gentle fairy woman of the Earth, and again in Hecate, the strength, the guidance, the teachings of wisdom. I see her gentleness in Danu, her inspiration in Brigid, her mystery in Cerridwen. I feel her compassion in Kuan Yin, her love in Green Tara. Now I find her again as Brigid, and then spreading outward in a new direction, I see her at home in Frigga...
Yet, all the while she has been with me, she listens to me, she fills me with hope, strength, love, compassion. She teaches me to listen to myself, to face my own challenges, to be brave in the face of the unknown.
Though my experience with the Goddess is varied, it is still true to my own self, because she is within. She is part of me, my blood, my spirit. Whether we distinguish between the Celtic ancestry, the Germanic ancestry, the Italian ancestry...the Goddess is still there in one guise or another. I feel that she accepts however I see her as needed for that time. For the lesson I can learn from her in whichever face she puts forward to me.
So for me, though I know not where I shall go from here, I feel that learning all the different ways, however deep or however shallow, I shall be learning from Her what I need to learn, to grow, gain wisdom, learn my lessons, and learn to share those gifts with others.
She is she, and I am me, but together we are limitless...
