From darkness to light. Isn't this a goal all of us strive for? In our most humbled, pained moments, when we are immersed in the darkness, we search for the light. The dichotomy of light and dark permeates the human condition. When we meet our protagonist, who operates not only as the main character of the story, but also as a metalinguistic symbol of everyman (and woman)'s struggle to break free of their own darkness, he is at the edge of dark forest consumed in his own darkness. Jospeh Campbell speaks at length about finding your bliss, but how can one find that until they recognize the darkness as well. http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php Now that darkness may not be inherent to humanity, but all humans are touched by darkness, or have the capacity to be swayed by it, just as I believe we are all capable of being engaged in bliss.
The first book of the Divine Comedy takes us straight to hell. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Inferno is the blockbuster of the trio of books. Lots of fire and brimstone, with a dash of sex as well (although one would truly have to be unique to find any sort of eroticism in the story of Paolo and Francesca, who are subject to spend eternity in perpetual coitus. Really think about that one before uttering the very dude-like 'that'd be sweet!!') .Paolo & Francesca Plenty of pyrotechnics. It's the page turner, the one all of is are exposed to in high school and college lit classes.
But Inferno is the first step on his transformational journey, and the first step of Inferno is to step in the dark forest. In Empire Strikes Back, before Luke can battle Darth Vader, he must venture in the cave in the swamp to face the Darth Vader inside of himself. He must confront his own darkness before transforming into the hero. This thematic element of humanity's journey is a vital step in so many of the sotries we tell ourselves. When I read the first part of the bible, I always wonder what the universe must have been like before God said let there be light. That's the story I really want to read, God's journey through the dark forest, because just uttering let there be light is kind of a cop out to the struggle that we humans are subjected to go thru. The stories that resonate are the stories in which illustrate the anguish and pain and finally the triumph of the darkness over the light.
There is a great book I read years ago entitled In the Dark Places of Wisdom by Peter Kingsley. In the book, Kingsley has found an ancient poem by the enigmatic pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides. The poem speaks of a place of incubation in which seekers of wisdom must go to escape the darkness in the soul. For Parmenides, one breaks thru the trappings of humanity's shortcomings by entering the dark cave of the psyche and confronting in this state the demons. It is a subconscious descent into the mystical underworld. Sound familiar? Dante did it. Luke Skywalker did it. I think I even saw an episode of the Smurfs like that (well maybe not, but how cool would that be?!?! I say do it smurfs! confront you inner gargamel!)
I guess what I am blathering about here is the idea that nothing transformative is an easy process. The dark forest is a scary place, but so is the idea of trasnformation. Most humans cannot look themselves in the mirror because the dark forest is so visible in that mirror. It certainly scares me. But whoever said that the journey would be all rainbows and unicorns?
Here's a link to Kingsley's book for purchase:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781890350017-0
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