Courting the Darkness
“To know the dark, go dark.”
—Wendell Berry
The darkness grows as we venture deeper into autumn here in the northern hemisphere.
Shadows lengthen. Cold creeps in. Trees shed leaves and sink down into dark roots.
Although street lights, house lights, and the ever-blazing lights of our screened devices chase away the dark, there is wisdom to be found in the gathering darkness… if only we dare to listen.
How does the darkness call you?
Poet Wendell Berry reminds us that “to go into the dark with a light is to know the light/ To know the dark, go dark.”
I love this invitation.
In order to experience the wisdom of the dark, we have to go dark. We must allow the darkness to envelop us. Let it move close in. Feel it breathing against the curve of our neck.
Ours is a culture addicted to the light, and yet as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, there are “treasures hidden in the darkness.”
This weekend brought us ample invitation to enter the dark. In addition to the darkening days of autumn, we had a new moon, a solar eclipse, and Friday the 13th—thirteen being the number of mystery, of the dark unknown. It’s as though the darkness is begging us to spend some time in her sweet embrace.
As we move towards the darkest day of the year, we have a choice…fill the dark with light and bustle, as our society is wont to do, or sink like the trees into the rest and muddle of the darkness and allow it to shape us as only darkness can.
How might you make space to listen to the dark this season?
What treasures might you uncover as you do?
“To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.”
Invitations to Go Dark:
Here are a few ways to make yourself available to the gifts of the darkness:
Spend a few minutes each evening sitting in the dark. Turn off the lights. Put away the devices. And allow yourself to simply be in the dark.
Go on a walk or a hike in the dark. Lose the headlamp. Notice the shift in your experience as you move in, move with, and even move as the darkness.
Make a list of the creatures who come alive in the night. Pay attention to who shows up for you in the darkness of your dreams or around you in this season. Choose one wild one to investigate more closely. What dark wisdom might they offer you?
Create a list called “Treasures of Darkness.” What are the treasures found in the dark? Add to your list over the next few weeks as you apprentice yourself to the growing dark.
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Hello, dear one. I’m Stephanie.
As a Soul Companion, educator, and sacred space holder, I am passionate about deepening our connection to the earth, our bodies, and the divine mystery that dances in all that is.
Let’s journey together into the sacred wild!
