Aquilus Vampire and Pagan Forum

Hello all,

For years and years, Western literature has often portrayed "darkness" as a malicious force, and not necessarily just the 'night,' 'shadows,' or 'lack of light.'  However, in this new day and age, this does not always seem like the case.  The more we get exposed to the Eastern cultures, and the more we get exposed to the findings of older traditions that were originally kept from our eyes, it does not seem that "darkness" has been able to keep as a force of evil - at least not for everyone. 

So, what is your definition of darkness?  Is it always evil?  Do you see a difference between darkness and evil, in the same way that some see a difference between death and murder? 

Tell the world what your definition of "darkness" is!   

...And feel free to corrupt our minds by exposing us to literature that you find relevant to the topic of "darkness."  Mwahahahaha...   >:D

Sincerely,
ResplendentSeraphim

When you say darkness to me I think of night time. I think of peacefulness and a time of rest. I don't think of evil or anything negative that usually tends to go with the word. This may be in part because when the sun goes down I wake up! I have always been a night owl so I have worked during the night, done my shopping at night and everything else that others do during the day. So the word darkness to me is friendly. Not to philosophical, sorry  :rolleyes:

True but I think all that negative things about the darkness are coming from so much horror movies, as it seems nothing is scarier than having a corpse jump at you in the dark when your alone!
Darkness is like a combination of negative and positive, though I think its about the chance you have within the darkness. Where you can't see very well. For example the owl is able to feed at night, in the dark you won't know either or not your alone, and there is those times when a friend/family member that would want to scare you in the dark, to spook you for the laugh.
When I think of darkness I could only imagine what lurks in the darkness where I can't see.....

Hmm..well I don't see "Darkness" as evil.  It's my opinion that anyone that claims to surround themselves in either dark or light can be good or evil.  Depending on how they live their life.  Take a fundamental Christian for example. They claim they live in the "Light" but do they really? Most fundamental Christians I have come in contact with have quite a bit of hate within them. Wouldn't hate in this context be "Darkness" within them or evil? What about the average goth, who is seen to the outside world as dark or evil, but take this same average goth and look at them closely, a lot of Goths, are animal lovers, they are concerned about the world around them, they recycle, they give to charities, or volunteer at animal rescues, for example. Who's to say darkness always refer to evil?

For me darkness has always been about beauty, the secret place inside where we keep secrets, where we tend to keep a small portion of ourselves hidden from others. On a clear night, look up into the sky, at the moon or the stars, I definitely see beauty there as well. And for me my darkness has always been some kind of creative outlet. My "Darkness" allows me to really be me. Without worrying of being judged by others.  It's a side of me, that I rarely show to a lot of people in my life.

When I think of darkness, I just think of another aspect of the "natural balance," which is not aligned to any sort of morality. I think of it as: yin, night, shadow, death, entropy, secrecy, mystery, dissolution, absence of light, and etc.  It is a rather simpleton definition on the surface, but refers to one side of a coin of what simply, naturally exists. 

Evil, I believe does exist, but not in the general Western sense; evil for me is just complete, complete selfishness...and a small bit of it might exist in all of us.  However, it is not the 'source of darkness.'  Just as death has no 'morality' behind it on itself, darkness does not, either. 


Sincerely,
ResplendentSeraphim

:bump

I think of darkness...mostly as everything that brings me closer to nothingness. Like, the things you fear are dark. I guess my ideas come from things that I've experienced as dark to me. Like insanity is sort of like darkness for me.
I fear darkness, as the cultural aspect of all things that are dark and disturbing, that don't belong in this world. It is darkness to be an outcast- because you are treated like nothing...and nothing is darkness.

I believe I am dark, because I don't have enough emotions or empathy to others. I don't dress in dark, to me that is just silly or depressing. Dark music Like a lot of industrial songs I've listened to bring much scattered emotions, a lot of pain and agony to me. I feel like that sort of darkness is like brainwashing...it seems the repetative screaming and use of distortion really just dissasociates and pulls you away from yourself towards this empty absolution where nothing gets in and nothing gets out.

Darkness, is like the absence of any form of notion or social comforts...to be like a zombie. A tool to other's malicious or ideals, comformity. I don't know, this is darkness as a sort of abstract sort of term for what I feel it is...society's darkness...that's my definition of darkness- really lack of understanding....destruction. Destruction of knowledge or insights. Killing your instincts. But maybe I am right.

Probably this isn't the same sort of dark or darkness you meant. I mean, the darkness I see often is a darkness...turning the blind eye towards uniqueness indivuality and sometimes even just hatred for what is expression at its finest....normality- twisted and warped into some kind of malformation of what is right and wrong...

I think I am just reading too much into things...but I have felt my personal darkness to be as such, of being stifled...
by "Dark" and what dark is supposedly supposed to be?

Then, darkness is fear, anything that makes you sick or weak that sends you into some sort of paranoid state like in horror movies. That's all darkness...but not really my type of dark.

My type of dark is not a control, it doesn't make you afraid or freaked out...that's just movies...just Hollywood and mostly for fun or just whatever...

The sort of darkness I enjoy are the melancholy stories, darkness that stirs your imagination without crippling the senses or leaving you overly shocked beyond comprehension...
I enjoy things that have intelligence. Dark-Intelligence...songs which have love, empathy, AND darkness.
Because darkness is NOT a lack of love...that's just another branch of a highly inventive idea...

Another long post of philosophical thoughts.

but to some this up I think that dark is not just dark clothes, an atmosphere of foreboding and melancholy, negativity which I find is especially prominant with young people. Dark is...well...just a word or umbrella term for many different ideas about it.

I need to step out of my shell a little though, because I think I've had the wrong impression on things so far as darkness is concerned. It's not evil anymore than the night is evil...and I actually don't consider much to be "evil" that's just another silly word if you think about it.

 I can't really blame it on catholicism...but it may have something to do with my fears on being dark.
Someday I think culture will evolve enough so that the darkness will no longer be such an archetype for "Evil".
Witchcraft has been much more accepted in certain areas of the country and around the world but there I know is lots of conflict over whether or not we should be allowed to be Witches, or wear Pagan Symbols.

I kind of have a witchy-style. I would like to say that just like any other religion Witchcraft is not perfect, and has it's own downfalls and discrimination even within witchcraft communities. Though, I don't consider myself entirely a witch. I feel drawn to witchcraft. I don't know if I will ever fully figure things out though.

I brought Witchcraft into this, not sure why, but there is a lot of bias towards Witches who are perceived as dark, or Satanic.

One of my old teachers (a Tibetan) always said that in order for their to be light there must be darkness. He also said that the brighter the light, the darker the darkness.

In that case darkness is a form of balance-as in the Yin/Yang symbol.

I don't always see darkness as "evil".
I think the word is often used to describe something that a person doesn't understand, or fears.

I am drawn to all sorts of different philosophies. I still like reading about them, without getting too overwhelmed as I don't make up my mind easily... I like saying that "For there to be light there must also be darkness"

And that dark is not really bad or evil but just the opposite of light. My mother has said this...and I think when I was into Buddhism and Taoism I read about this.

But how can you define darkness or light? A few years ago I actually went into a semi-spiritual trance where I felt I had been Called to the Tao, Taosim. I bought a book Autobiography of a Yogi, and enjoyed it a lot...but I haven't fully grasped a lot of its concepts. This man wanted to be a Yogi, and was trained by a spiritual teacher through meditation to reach a sort of spiritual perfection. Some of it seems highly exaggerated. I have also occasionally read the Tao Te Ching but can't wrap my mind around it too much...the sayings are simple but nothing I really make much sense out of. More like advice for daily life than any sort of any real insight or depth..

It has been said that Taoism can't really be explained.
I have read (and I agree with this personally) that the Tao Te Ching is exactly what you said...a way of living your life. Both Buddhism and Taoism can be described as more of a philosophy than a religion. :)

When I think of darkness I think of balance.  Without darkness there would be no light.  To me darkness isn't evil.

Darkness to me is comfort. I think everyone has comfort in different things, to me, the light is something I cannot seem to grasp. So when I am confused with others idea of darkness I just look at my own confusion with the light!

(I didn't want to go too in depth, because I would just really be repeating what others have already said.  ;D)

Darkness is comfort to me also, it brings peace and serenity to me (usually). I don't think of darkness as evil, but in some religions it can be considered a sign of power.