Embracing Darkness
Can you feel it? It’s finally in the air. Harvest, and then rest. As the earth begins to shed her summer clothes I’m sitting in front of a fan and AC thinking finally. It’s not because of the heat and I’m hoping for snow, the Arizona desert doesn’t get snow-no tricks Mama Pacha (Earth) I wouldn’t put it past her this year to bury us in snow -she knows we could use that melted snow or rain. I’m always ready for the harvest season and winter. I’m always ready to rest. I guess my ancestral DNA kicks in.
Millennium ago, our ancestors knew the changing of Mama Pacha’s mood. We’re told they feared the winter, and the dark season that came with it. We’re told that the within the dark monsters and dangers lurked waiting to prey on them. The story of fear and the unknown continues down our human bloodlines for centuries. There was no protection given by our modern homes, or electricity to illuminate the dark.
We’re told the dark is bad and we should avoid it. Within the past week I have gotten so many emails from spiritual leaders and teachers stating this. There is no reason for the dark to be accepted, one email stated.
If you know me, you know I had a lot of choice words to say to my screen after reading that.
Before I continue, I want to ask you a very deep question. If you aren’t ready for it, you can always come back when you are ready.
If we aren’t to acknowledge negative emotions and fear is negative, why should we fear the dark so much we want to avoid it completely? Going out of our way to avoid things is keeping our focus on them.
The Universe, however, you like to see it -god, deity, goddess, Mother Nature, etc.- repeats its patterns. It is very much “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This means darkness isn’t broke, it’s not to be feared. Our bodies need the dark, it is when they rest, repair, recover, it’s when we sleep. Don’t come act me with ‘But Maria, some sleep during the day.’ Some do, they usually wear a sleeping mask or have darkened out their rooms. Don’t come act me with ‘Maria, I don’t sleep.’ Your Pineal gland hasn’t had enough dark. You have trained it to believe it’s daytime all the time. But I regress.
If we look at nature, we see the dark in winter when the sun moves further away from the earth. We see plants resting -yes some of them die because they have completed their life cycle. We see trees resting. We see animals hibernating. Nature intends for some life to really truly rest during these dark days.
If we look at seeds, we plant them deep in the dirt. There is no light near the seed, the seed isn’t feeling negative emotions. Neither do the hibernating animals or the hibernating plants.
Why do we fear the dark when they don’t?
Let’s look at an embryo as it journeys through the days of fetus hood. More often than not it is in the dark depths of the womb even as the womb consumes the mother’s abdomen. The fetus doesn’t fear. If the expecting mother lifts her shirt, or a light is shined on her rotund belly the fetus often reacts with dislike, an elbow or knee to the ribs, a kick to the bladder. Expectant moms often learn to slowly adjust the light shined at their bellies. The unborn child and newborn baby don’t fear the dark. they grow within the dark. Hell, even the universe is dark.
The darkness isn’t a place to be fearful. It is a place to rest, to recover, and to grow.
Unless that is where the fear lies, growth. For growth to really occur we must face changes and then endure the work and hurt that they need. Remember when you were a kid and your body hurt -growing pains. If your bones didn’t grow because you feared the hurt, you’d be very vertically challenged. If your bones stopped growing because you didn’t want to be taller than your friends you’d be vertically challenged. I find it interesting that spiritual teachers/ leaders encourage a misconception of the dark. However, if they can keep you from growth while they change you will never surpass them. You will be spiritually challenged.
If you’re new to my little world you know I don’t play the spiritual bypassing game. Nature is balanced, we don’t have just black and white, we also have grey. Honestly, we have a whole spectrum with white on one side, various shades of grey in the middle, and black on the other side. We have negative emotions that need expression not avoidance. It is the refusal to see, acknowledge, and work through our negativity that creates our problems, not the the other way around.
And can I ask how do you know you’re positive if you never experience negative. How do you know you’re happy if you never experience sadness? Every positive has an equal negative. Without one are you really the other? This will make you always need them.
As 2020 enters the season of harvest, reap what is ready to be harvested. As you harvest acknowledge the difficult, the icky, the negative. It’s been a fucked-up year. If things aren’t ready to harvest, tenderly put them into hibernation for the coming spring. If you realize you have no desire to continue giving something your energy, pull it out and have that space for something you do want to give your energy. Take stock of what you’ve accomplished. Make some plans or ideas for next growing season, plant now if need be.
Then rest, you deserve it.
