We take light for granted. Truth be known, without it, our physiology goes wonky. Our sense of time becomes warped and we can even begin to hallucinate on a grandiose scale. Though it seems divinely decreed that we experience both light and darkness, today I will explore the effects of diminished light. Make no mistake, darkness has a profound effect on our body and mind. In the absence of light, images distort, perception alters, and colors fade away.
In 1962, a French geologist, Michael Siffre, did experiments of placing humans in deep, dark caves for long periods of isolation, months at a time. There were no clocks, calendars, or contact with others permitted. In this total darkness, the most notable development was the subjects' biological clock fell completely out of sync with the 24-hour cycle. Some of the participants fell into a 48-hour cycle, staying awake for 36 hours and sleeping for 12 hours.
“Darkness is like a mirror: it shows you what you don’t want to see.”
We have entered that time of year where in the cold and darker days of fall and winter, the increased darkness outside can correspond to a darker mood within each of us. Anciently, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, believed this also to be true. He called it melancholia. The modern version of this might be comparable to what has come to be known as seasonal affective disorder which can cause poor concentration, oversleeping, weight gain, and feelings of worthlessness. Also noteworthy, is there have been scientific studies done in which diminished light has shown a direct correlation with an increased tendency to lie and cheat, make mistakes at work, and even see things we don’t normally see.
Before looking into these correspondences, my own life experiences as well as my work as an astrologer and shaman have led me to the conclusion that when we have increased exposure to light, our souls respond with an immediate and salient reaction. Metaphorically, we can see things more clearly and our energies shift appreciably to a higher level. There is an alchemical response within us that seems to open to a greater mental accessibility to those aspects of the human experience that are commonly acknowledged as being of a positive nature. More desire toward kindness, sharing, honesty, and enhanced well-being of ourselves and others are a few among many unmistakable results.
“Everything is made of energy . . . We are all light beings.” Albert Einstein
In my early studies of astrology, I found it truly stunning that the moon phase that was occurring at the time you are born has a profound impact on your emotional nature. The moon goes through eight different phases over the course of a twenty-nine and a half day period. These moon phases are determined by the interplay of light being reflected off its surface from the Sun. Four of these phases represent periods of increasing light (waxing) and four represent periods of decreasing light (waning).
The fascination with this cycle goes back perhaps as early as 40,000 years to paleolithic caves of the hunter/shamans. Within one particular cave in northern Spain, there resides on a painted wall a human silhouette surrounded by a curious series of symbols and markings, precisely positioned to measure not the passage of linear time, rather, the ever-returning cyclic time of eternity (as they saw it). What were the symbols and markings? The eight phases of the moon.
As we journey through the upcoming months of diminished light, I encourage each of us to make a plan to adjust our minds and hearts to this change. It is so important to continue to feed our souls with “light” even as the darkness around us increases. In the shamanic heritage I am trained in, which has its origins with the ancient Inca, creating light in the heart of darkness was the ultimate act of divinity. In fact, you could not serve as the king unless you were able to do so. Placed in total darkness in front of a mirror, a future king needed to generate enough light within his own being to create a reflection in this mirror. May we strive to be generators of light within our lives and for those around us. In conclusion I leave you with a mantra known as the Asatoma Sadgamaya:
Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Lead me from the darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.
Om Peace Peace Peace.
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