Mirror Gazer
“Through a glass darkly”
When I started to write this, I couldn’t remember where the phrase originated (It’s been used frequently in titles of movies, books and TV episodes, even slightly altered for the animated film “A Scanner Darkly”). Oddly enough it turns out to be from 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly.” (KJV). (Funny ol’ thing, the Bible. Always sneaking up on you when you least expect it.) To me this is odd because for me the phrase brings to mind a dark mirror, a scrying glass used in magical meditation by Wiccans and other such practitioners.
The verse refers to how those of us living in the physical world have a bit of trouble interpreting the spiritual realm with our relatively limited gray matter, having to rely heavily on the unconscious mind and the collective unconscious (or whatever you wish to call it, Oversoul, God(s)(dess) or who/whatever, it’s all the same to me. No really, I believe it is all the same.)
This meaning is relevant to my subject, as I’ve found the words to describe and communicate the meaning of Higher Dark rather elusive.
But let me come back to the idea of the dark glass. Scrying is not meant to show you the future, but more so to look inside yourself (you can only get an idea where you’re going if you know where you truly are–Mapquest only gives directions with a starting address). The Higher Dark is within us all. Don’t be afraid! Yes, each of us has the potential for good and evil, but that’s not what I mean. Inside of you, me, everyone is the Higher Dark and the Greater Light.
Strive to bring these into balance in your life. To do so, you will have to look into your Dark Side, find out what s/he wants and more importantly why it is wanted.
I am a writer/illustrator of various types of speculative fiction but mostly modern fantasy. I have loved magic, and the people and creatures who live with it and use it, all my life, and writing and drawing these people in modern environments makes it all the more real to me. I also like to add an element of Darkness and horror, as well as science fiction, for “flavor”. I am fascinated with everything from unicorns and dragons to vampires and demons.
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A thought to help in your quest to explain the “higher dark”. In the book “Thud” by Terry Pratchett, he turns the term “enlightened” on it’s head for the dwarves (who, of course, like the dark). Here’s an excerpt from a dwarvish myth:
The first thing Tak did, he wrote himself.
The second thing Tak did, he wrote the Laws.
The third thing Tak did, he wrote the World.
The fourth thing Tak did, he wrote a cave.
The fifth thing Tak did, he wrote a geode, an egg of stone.
And in the twilight of the mouth of the cave, the geode hatched and the Brothers were born. The first Brother walked towards the light, and stood under the open sky. Thus he became too tall. He was the first Man. He found no Laws, and he was enlightened. The second Brother walked towards the darkness, and stood under a roof of stone. Thus he achieved the correct height. He was the first Dwarf. He found the Laws Tak had written, and he was endarkened.
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Oh yes, luv Thud! Pratchett is wonderful for taking the gray areas and serious topics and making them easier to explore through humor. I love his Death books and in Good Omens (written with Gaiman, also wonderful) the character Crowley, the angel who not so much fell as “sauntered vaguely downwards”
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