Spiritual meaning of darkness

Even the smallest child thinks that darkness hides monsters and other horrors better left unseen.

The absence of light can have a profound effect on many of us, it is certainly not surprising that darkness is linked symbolically with evil, mystery, chaos and even death. Most of us inherently fear the “dead of night”, “creatures of the night” and of course the “prince of darkness”. While darkness can surely be emblematic of malevolence and secrecy as well as ignorance, bad luck and poor judgment it is, at its core, a complementary opposite of light in a fundamental duality" (Biedermann, 90).

In many cultures darkness has been regarded as being symbolic of mysteries and evils. Even without the cultural beliefs and superstitions, darkness in reality is like a monster that is about to swallow you whole. It is a state in which there is no light, however, as for scientists it is not possible to eliminate light completely but that it can be reduced drastically to levels that cannot be detected by human eyes or cameras and other detectors. How our emotions respond to lack of light is what has brought about various metaphors in literature, art symbolism’s as well as emphasis. In poetry, darkness may be used to symbolize the presence of shadows in a person’s life, depression, as well as evil.

Darkness has been associated with a strong psychological impact. It is believed to be the cause of depression in people , a lot of fear in narcoleptic, comfort in lygophobics, or even attraction as in the Gothic fashions.

All these emotions are used to increase the powers that are used to increase the power to the literary imagery. In various religious texts darkness has been used to make some visual point. In the Bible, darkness was among the plagues that the lord inflicted upon the Egyptians in attempt to force the Pharaoh allow the Israelite get back home from Egypt, this is found in the book of Exodus 10:21 and in Mathew 8:12, we have the location of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

On making an interpretation of the Qumran, we find that all that deliberately do what is wrong will be doomed to burning despair as well as ice cold darkness for everlasting tormenting, we get this in Naba 78:25. Among the Greeks, there is a Mythology that the three layers of night are said to surround Tartars, which is a place which has been reserved for the sinners and that the place is far below the earth and far above the planet we live in. Anciently, the Romans wore a charm around the neck to prevent being captured by a darkness monster.

Among the Hindus, their goddess who is known as Kali which implies black or dark colored has been closely linked to darkness as well as violence. However, she is also equally associated with benevolence and motherhood. Among the Chinese, there is a philosophy that Yin is the female of the Taijitu and the representative of this is a dark lobe. The use of darkness has also been common in literature where it has been commonly used as a rhetorical device.