How pagans see the duality of light/dark is not the same as is traditional in Western society. The Western view is based on dualism where duality is broken down into two very separate and distinct irreducible parts. These parts are independent of each other and can be either complimentary or in conflict. In the case of traditional Western thought, the symbolism of light and dark is deeply rooted in the Christian ethical dualism symbolised as the battle of good (light) versus evil (dark).

Paganism on the other hand has adopted a worldview where duality is often perceived as aspects of an encompassing whole. Dualities such as light/dark thus exist as polarities - two opposite yet complementing aspects of a whole. This polarity of light/dark in Pagan thought is not the same as the dualism of good/evil, but rather associated with complimenting principles such as creative/destructive, external/internal, attracting/repelling, clarity/mystery, active/passive, masculine/feminine, order/chaos, etc.

However, what I want to talk about is not so much duality, but about how people have taken its symbolism and mysteries out of context for purely self-serving reasons.

As humans we have a tendency to create “Divine reflections”, creating deities in our own images. We make it what we need it to be to suit our personal situation. While it is true that spirituality is a personal experience, and many times personifying Deity can be a valued way to connect, therein also lies a problem for we tend to forget that nothing is ever really that cut and dry.

There is a tendency to use Divinity (Goddess or God) as a crutch. There are those who, for example, choose to work exclusively with personal interpretations of “dark” goddesses or gods as a way of justifying their own actions - a deity they believe that will carry their banner of anger and fear.

I understand that it is easy to get lost in a theology that seems to have no hard and fast rules. In contemporary Paganism morality is a very touchy and hotly debated subject most often left to the individual. Self responsibility is the key lesson. We should also remember, and accept, that all of us are going to cause some amount of harm in our lives and that the ability to deal with the consequences and learn from our experiences is not always easy – nor should it be. And, for many, it is much easier to create a personal image of Deity that makes one feel better about choices made. But it is not, and can never be, acceptable to cause harm simply because we have manufactured an image of Goddess/God that will support our indulgences.

It is true that some moral concepts are open to debate, with various shades of grey perceptions, while others are more or less black and white. It is difficult to discuss morality without falling back into the concepts of “right” (light) and “wrong” (dark). While many of us might be trying to escape such polarities, it is almost impossible to function in modern society without identifying what is considered right and what is considered wrong. Within Paganism, however, these ideas are not determined by society, and the oneness of Divinity which is inherently balanced calls for everything in nature to be in equilibrium as well, including us.

I am not saying that we should sit around feeling bad for the harm we have caused throughout the course of our lives as it is pretty much useless to dwell on the past. Neither should we assume we are bad people as mistakes, accidents, poor choices, etc. are a part of life. Without them what would there be to learn from? The point is to accept full responsibility as opposed to using Divinity to justify ourselves.

We simply cannot bypass the qualities of the Divine that we find unpleasant or useless, be they of the light or dark variety, for the Divine is a packaged deal and stripping it of any one of its inherent qualities not only robs us of its full power but it also robs us of our own full potential.

Those who are healing from emotional wounds may choose to construe an image of Divinity who supports their feelings of being wronged. In those cases a dark Goddess/God (created as a being who detests who/what we despise) may be a comforting shoulder to lean on. But is embracing a solely vengeful image of Divinity really the road to becoming a whole person?

The reality of the “Dark Goddess/God” is that she/he is not there to fuel our anger or justify the harm we cause, but to teach us of those things that are at times unknowable and that we are not always willing to embrace.

In order to pursue an earth-based religion of any kind, we have to acknowledge that we all possess a dark side, a light side, and all the grey areas between them. Divinity beckons us to look within ourselves, see those dark, scary shadows … and love them, for these shadows are not a tool to perpetuate our own secret darkness but rather the destroyers of ego.

We must realise that there is a difference between “claiming the darkness” and “reclaiming the darkness”.

(SOURCES: The Pagan Library; circleofhekate.wordpress.com)