RCG-I Seasonal Salon

Endarkenment: The Celebration of Being with the Dark

By Deborah Hoffman-Wade

I searched for a word forever that would speak to me of my love of the dark of the year. Although I am not fond of snow and ice, I do like the shorter days. When the shadows come early and the trees sleep bare and quiet.

If I look up dark in the thesaurus, I get the following: dim, shady, shadowy, murky, gloomy, sinister, threatening, evil, gloomy, depressing, bleak, sad, and unhappy. Being in the shadow, darkness, and wearing black are a traditionally seen as representing bad, evil and immorality. I have read in so many articles equating the winter or darkness of winter to be a time of uncertainty and danger.

Language and Culture
Language creates reality. How we define words reflects in some ways our belief systems. I struggle always with my privilege as a white woman in our society and our language. Instead of learning about living with the beauty of the dark, we are always struggling to reach for enlightenment. Light being good, beaming, illuminating, buoyant, wispy, gentle, delicate, luminous, and glowing, reflects the racism of language in our culture.

American culture, which I equate with Judeo-Christian values and mores, sees dark as bad. Several years ago a study was done with pre-school children. Three and four year olds of different cultures (Hispanic, Asian, European and African Americans) were given dolls. One doll was white the other black. They were asked to show the “good” baby. Almost all of them chose the white doll, stating that the black doll was “bad”. Most of us were raised within the white European Judeo-Christian culture that teaches us about darkness through biblical messages:

Psalm 74
20 Have regard for your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. (NIV)

Proverbs 4
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. (NIV)

Isaiah 5
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (NIV)

Luke 11
34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. (NIV)

John 3
19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (NIV)

1 Thessalonians 5
5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. (NIV)

So it only makes sense that whiteness and light have become the icon of most of us in this culture. I began to think about the continued need for balance and an understanding of how we use language around the word dark. I began to thing about the beauty of the dark and the wonder of the night. I began to think about endarkenment.

Endarkenment is the immersion of self into the earth to rest, ground and heal. To me endarkenment is the wounded healer, the time of soul healing. Reaching deep into Her body and finding the rich darkness of Her mass. She who is the Earth is dark, mysterious and wallows in the deep rich shadows of winter.

Celebration of Rest
Earth is at rest, She has laid down Her head to a much deserved sleep. She is dreaming. She is not to be banished but to be celebrated. Endarkenment is the celebration of sleep. It is the wonder of dreaming in the dark. She speaks to us of the sweetness of reprieve. We celebrate the boldness of being WITH rather than a time of action.

It is the frozen time waiting with no anticipation but to be with the wonder of the dark. For those of us action gals, it becomes a continuous struggle just to be, to just hang, to just breathe. Endarkenment is breathing in the dark with no purpose other than to be conscious of our breath.

Mystery and Reflection
Endarkenment is the mystery of inner reflection and renewal. This is the time we spend becoming one with our shadow. Again we equate our shadow sides as those parts of us we keep hidden or are afraid of. Instead I look to find those parts of my self that are essential for the development of my inner self. Learning to balance the things that have not been part of my life which could contribute to my development is part of inner reflection.

Mystery is unclear. Mystery is just that, unexplainable, obscure, ambiguous, vague, and deeply spiritual. We, as a people, are constantly trying to solve the mystery, make clear the unclear and explain every detail. Endarkenment revels in the mystery. In contemplation of the sweetness of not ever knowing, endarkenment is celebration. It is taking some things on faith. It is resting in the presence of not knowing. It is mystery. It is the time for endarkenment.