Shroud of darkness

At the time that I’m writing this blog, the winter solstice has just passed and we are now in the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. This ritual can be done throughout the winter months, but it can also be recreated any time of year at night or with the help of a dark room or blanket.

This ritual is done with your eyes open. It’s a practice of observing the darkness. 

Step 1: Find a place where you can experience complete darkness. 

It’s essential that you feel safe. I personally like to do this ritual under a dark night’s sky. It can be nice to step out onto a patio or yard. If that’s not an option for you, another option is to go for a drive at night, alone, somewhere without a ton of light pollution. You can also do this ritual at home by placing a blanket or cloth over your head and shoulders while sitting up in a dark room. 

Step 2: Observe the dark with ALL of your senses. 

I do this ritual with my eyes open so that I get to experience the sensation of the dark. Look with your whole being, not just your eyes. Darkness is a form of sensory deprivation. By removing light, many of your other senses will be enhanced. As you sit in the dark, eyes open and observing what you are able to see, notice what you feel. Take a deep breath and expand your awareness. Pay attention to what you hear – the dark has many messages. 

Step 3: Breathe in the sensation of darkness. 

For a lot of people, darkness has its own force field. You might feel pressure above the head or you might feel vastness that feels like an opening. Whatever the feeling is, welcome it into your body. Take a few deep breaths and let yourself become one with the feeling that darkness presents to you. 

Step 4: Let it settle.

Once you’ve allowed yourself to sit with darkness, begin to come back to your body. Make small movements, take a few deep breaths and notice where your body begins and everything else ends. 

Step 5: Write down any observations you made or messages you received.

I grew up in a desert with dirt roads and very few lights aside from the few houses that dotted the terrain. As a child, I’d stare out the window of my father’s car at the silhouette of a mountain range and the vast starry sky. The darkness was terrifying, but from the safety of the car it also made me pensive and I found it comforting like a shroud or blanket hugging me close. 

For reflection:

If you experience fears or anxieties during this ritual, these are also messages. Can you see a correlation between anxieties that arose, and areas in your life where you are afraid of the unknown? 

Kids are often afraid of the dark because they’ve been told scary, imaginative creatures exist there. What figurative “bogeymen” are you placing in your psyche? Did you experience any of them during this ritual?

Because children are dependent on something completely outside of them – their caregivers – they live in a world of unknowns. They are so saturated with the unknown that they don’t worry about how their life will turn out. Were you able to become saturated enough in the darkness that you began to feel comfortable with it, essentially replacing some of your fear about life’s unknowns? 

My grandfather had a favorite saying: “Man plans, god laughs.” While it’s important to have goals, it’s equally important to find peace in the unknown so that fear doesn’t run your life. 

You can repeat this ritual as many times as you want until you begin to enjoy the company of a dark night’s sky.