Love and Light
Seems that everyone who writes to me signs their letters "love
and light." It has such a bright uplifting sound to it.
Lightworkers are being taught to hold the energy of the light
and to equate love with a warm white light that heals and
protects. After what feels like an age of suppression and
darkness, it all sounds like such a refreshing change, much like
the first bits of sunlight after a long harsh winter. And so the
pendulum swings. Still we do not find balance.
Years ago a man came to speak at our church. Forgive me for my
lousy memory, but I cannot recall which indigenous tribe or
belief system he taught. What I remember is that he had an
amazingly calm and soothing presence and that he ran us through
a chanting meditation that had the entire room spell bound with
love and healing energy. What he taught is what stuck with me.
He said that his people do not assume anything when sending each
other healing energy. They do not predetermine that the person
needs white light, or green light, or physical healing, or
mental healing or anything else. They imagine darkness warm and
secure like a mother's womb protecting and embracing the person
who appears to need help. They send them energy that is void of
all color or emotion so that the person and his spirit can do as
they will with it. It's the ultimate in detachment. They simply
send the darkness and allow it to become whatever it needs to
become in order to heal the persons body or soul. I imagined it
as pure unrefined energy rather than as highly tuned and
polished energy that the Lightworkers have so beautifully
crafted. The concept stuck with me. Among his people there is no
battle between the light and the darkness. All energy is of the
original source and all is holy and sacred.
I look to nature for reassurance that this is indeed the natural
way of things. The sun and the seasons have their natural
perfect cycles of light and darkness, of growth and of death. If
the summer lasted forever, the grass and trees would all shrivel
up and die. If the darkness lasted forever, the seeds would
never sprout anew. We can love each for its gift and even have a
favorite that touches us a bit more then the other, but the
balance is perfect and runs along beautifully with or without
our loving it. The cycles of life and death, light and darkness
do not require our help nor our approval. Such is healing and
religion. All that is, is.... with or without our comprehension
or approval.
Light and darkness need each other as a yin yang reveals.
Without the other to reflect itself off of, they cease to exist.
Remember the cool shade under the trees on a hot summer day.
Remember the cool dark room for healing a migraine headache.
Remember the restorative sleep that is best done in the dark.
The caveman inside of us may still be afraid of the dark, but it
does not mean that the darkness and its energy is bad or evil.
Much evil has been done in the light of day. Much evil has been
done in the name of God and every other holy label we give to
the light. And goodness can also come of the shadows.
The dark night of the soul is perhaps the most pivotal moment in
every healer's life. Until you embrace that which is deeply
hidden within yourself, you can not take your full and complete
self into your sacred work. If you deny the darkness within, you
deny yourself the chance for real healing, real balance, real
peace, and real change. It is in our darkness that we lick the
wounds we've been dealt and its in the darkness that we find
fortitude and strength to carry on regardless of other people's
opinions of us. It's in the darkness that the angels come and
show us that we are not alone. The shaman's journey is into the
darkness where man keeps his secrets and his power.
The battle between light and dark is a cruel lie that was taught
to us just like the battle between men and women. One is not
better than the other. One is not more important or more holy
then the other. Masculine energy versus feminine energy is not a
battle to be fought, but the comparison of two gifts held within
each of us. The light and darkness are the same way. Do not turn
your backs on each other over gender and do not turn your back
on the gift of darkness just because some leaders long ago told
you things that were not quite true. The darkness is no more
evil then women are. The darkness is simply another piece of the
game of life to be explored and experienced.
Do not think that I am advocating evil behaviors or that I'm
saying you should worship Satan. I believe that karma will kick
you in the head if you are mean or hateful towards others. I
believe that the boomerang always comes back and you get
whatever you dished out. I'm simply advocating the exploration
and appreciation of the darkness. Remember that the stars sit in
a black night sky. There is so much more darkness up there then
there is light. Remember laying out under those stars on a warm
summer night and contemplating humanity's place in the universe.
Beautiful amazing inner reflection happens in the dark. Find
balance between the two and learn to be whole within both. Do
not assume that you know enough to judge any one color or shade
as superior or inferior to another. It is the same with the
colors of energy as it is with the souls of men. Love them all
for they are all pieces of yourself.
Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow's Edge