dark night

Know that you are both intelligent and stupid, often in the same moment. Admit to what you desire and what you fear.

Kali is black or midnight blue. All colors blend together in the dark. Kali unifies duality; all manifestation disappears in the black. “Just as all colors disappear in black, all names and all forms disappear in her,” says the Mahanirvana Tantra. Kali is the final fusion of appearances in the reality of the Self. She transcends all form.

This is one of the constants in tantric thought: the solution to a problem lies in the problem. Moving outside it will not set things straight. On the contrary, you must have the courage to penetrate to the heart of the darkness and stop constructing an idealized being who has all the trouble in the world coexisting with deeply human reality.

In archetypal psychology we ask: What does the soul want? Answer that one and you are well on your way toward healing. Note that the question is not, what do you want, but rather, what is wanted at a level beyond and beneath your consciousness.

While “in solution” you may recover your innocence, which is an essential ingredient in every tranquil human life. Without innocence you are too burdened with the guilt of past mistakes. This is why many religions have rituals of forgiveness and absolution, to prepare people for the holy mysteries, which require a clean heart. If you want to

IN YOUR DARK NIGHT of the soul you need not give up your intelligence, but you may have to change your idea of what it means to be wise in the conduct of your life. You may have to adopt a different kind of knowing, one that is suited to the darkness and not in conflict with it. Nicolas of Cusa, the fifteenth-century theologian, said you need the

Hekate’s torch illuminates the pervading darkness with a dim lunar light. In ancient classical literature she was known as one of the Daughters of the Night, and with her dogs she guards the gates of the underworld. If she is your angel, you have to learn how to think, speak, and act without countering the darkness that has hold of you. Hekate is

The Greeks and Romans worshipped a goddess of the dark, Hekate (Roman Hecate), who had night vision and is a perfect teacher for being in the dark.

Psychology tends to be solar, wanting to bring all things to light, to overcome the darkness and make everything manageable. It wants to banish darkness with any means at its disposal. But no one needs such a harsh cleansing and brightening. It would be better to be deepened and darkened by an experience of the night. You would then become more