Light and Dark/Good and Evil

It is typical to conflate light with good and dark with evil, and I occasionally hear someone talk about them as if there is no other spiritual/metaphysical meaning to light and dark. I think that that's not necessarily true, and, in fact, I think it would be good to separate or unconflate them (if there is such a word).

One good reason I can think of to separate the concept of good and evil from light and dark is that it is easy to think of light as white and dark as black because they are visually that. But, then it becomes too easy to unconsciously (and maybe even consciously) think of white as good and black as evil. Just think about where that leads. The other issue for me is that the uterus can be seen as a dark place, so women are dark, which leads to will women being evil and hence needing to be controlled, etc.


Now if we separate these concepts out from each other, what then are light and dark? I don't think we need to ask the same of good and evil.

One of the things that I believe about dark and light is that, metaphysically, they exist at the center of creation. The dark to me is the fecund, the seed place, the time and space from which, when sparked, creativity flows outward. Light is the spark that sets the seed growing.

They existed at the time of the creation. Light inseminated dark, and, et voila, the universe was created. Or, so I believe. There are so few animate things on the earth that self-generate the next generation. So, why would we think that the universe was created by only one force? You can designate them as god and goddess if you so choose. Or merely feminine and masculine energies.

And, if we free up light and dark, does that mean that we also cleanse good and evil of some of the associations that have tainted light and dark. Then good and evil could be seen as purely acts and thoughts that help or harm, and not necessarily somehow tied to races or sexes. Maybe then one less thing would be in place to keep white patriarchal supremacy would disappear. 

(I also believe that patriarchy exists in other cultures and places, but I really can only write of the United States and not those other cultures and places.)


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The photographs, in order, are by Adrien Olichon, Nathan Dumlao, and Jerin J. I found all of them on unsplash.com.


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