Darkness

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

raeanne	02 Jan 2003
I have heard people talk about decks that are “dark” or “too dark”. There seems to be a couple of different ideas about what “darkness” means. So, I have some questions about “darkness”. 1. What is darkness? Is it just dark colors in the artwork? Is it evil? 2. What is/are the “dark arts”? 3. When Luke Skywalker talked about the “dark side”, what exactly is that? 4. What is the difference between “white magic” and “black magic”? 5. If the “dark side” is obviously bad, why does anyone go there? I started off thinking I knew the answers to all these questions but the more I examined them, the less I could actually define it. I know in my gut what the difference is but if I try to write it out, I find myself unable to give a definitive answer, there always seems to be some major exceptions. Anyone want to discuss this?

jamesriouxctm	02 Jan 2003
Raeanne, I'm going to leave the question of what makes a deck "dark" to the collectors and artisans, but being a Star Wars fan I figured I could at least take a crack at nos. 3 and 5. In the SW universe the "dark side" of the Force covers those aspects which deal with agression, control and pain. This can range from shooting someone with a lightning bolt, strangling him, or making him do things against his will. In any case the intent is to generally cause pain and suffering in order to further one's own will, or hamper another's. This is probably not too far off, in spirit anyway, from the modern definition of "black" magic, but I'll leave that one to the magicians. As for the question of why anyone goes there, the Lucasian explanation is that the dark side is easier to use. Its power flows faster and burns hotter, so you get quick results now instead of later. It's like super-charging an engine. The problem is that the engine also burns out quicker. "Light side" powers may take longer to master and control but they leave you in one piece. Actually the SW Extended Universe is now moving towards a view of the Force which goes beyond "light" and "dark" and is more accepting of all the shades of gray. But that's another story.

Laurel	02 Jan 2003
The concept of darkness in magic at least is an interesting one, and imo far more complex than it would seem on the surface. One simple definition is: white magic- cause no harm or do God's Will black magic- malevolent and harmful; be selfish Occultism, however, no matter how 'white magic' oriented, is often considered "dark" and suspect by non-occultists. But then come the ethical and moral questions addressed on lots of threads in this forum. Free Will, helping people who don't want help, dealing with conflict, self-protection, and so on. Quickly, it becomes obvious that "white" and "black" magic are ideals reality involves making a lot of hard choices and learning from your mistakes and triumphs. Dark is often associated with "sinister" and that's how I see it used in art. Then there is the Jungian concept of the Shadow... ..which, imo, revolutionized "black magic". Suddenly black magic didn't have to be about being villanous and malevolent. It could be about acknowledging the shadow and escaping from certain kinds of repression, and about healing. The darkness was liberated, on one level, from evil. And the light was acknowledged to not necessarily be good. Instead, magical thinking began to look at extremes of anything as being potentially destructive. So we have a new revolution going on in occultism that started somewhere around the mid '80s, where darkness is being treated with a new appreciation and losing some of its sensationalized 'evil' connotations. I think this is a very good thing. Beyond mere occultism, "Shadow Work" is taking place within spiritual paths right now and there are emerging new thinkers (or old thinkers are being revisited)-- Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan, Hermetic, etc., that are really taking a hard look at the traditional archetypal dichotomies (heaven/earth, man/woman, light/darkness) and telling us that idealizing one and repressing/demonizing the other is extremely harmful to the human spirit and the way humans treat one another. But because things are changing and being redefined, there's a lot of confusion, miscommunication, and some plain resistance to looking at the archetypes without a value judgement attached. Laurel

Fuzzmello	02 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne I know in my gut what the difference is but if I try to write it out, I find myself unable to give a definitive answer, there always seems to be some major exceptions. Anyone want to discuss this? Man, I'd stay with my gut feeling on this one. There's already a really good schematic you can use to discover just why this is so hard to get a grip on. Ever see a yin-yang? Fuzz

The Darkness thread was originally posted on 02 Jan 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.