Dark Spirituality: Encyclopedia II - Dark Spirituality - Defining Dark Spirituality

Dark Spirituality - Defining Dark Spirituality

Defining dark spirituality in the western world is difficult, because of its reliance on the individual to define their own spirituality. Dark spiritualists believe that each individual should be responsible for defining their own morality and spirituality. A person who goes to a God or authority figure to define their spirituality is often considered to be involved in light spirituality. This means even left hand religions can be considered a light spirituality if they worship some form of God or Goddess. For this reason even Theistic Satanist are considered a light religion by some. Reliance on the philosophies of a single man will often cause a dark spiritulist to name a left hand path a light spirituality as well. This has caused some dark spiritualists to critisize those that follow the teachings of any man including Anton Lavey.

Dark spiritualist are also divided on their belief of how one becomes dark. Some believe that dark versus light spirituality is not a choice, but is an inherent part of a person's nature from birth. Others argue that anyone can choose their spiritual path. The first school of thought believes that people discover they are dark after years of frustration in light religions. Some even claim they can sense a dark nature within others. The second school of thought sees dark spirituality more as a philosophy that is learned.

There is also a debate about whether there is a true dichotomy at all. Many will consider themselves in grey spirituality or shadow spirituality claiming that they have found a balance between both dark and light spirituality. This tends to be more popular among those who have adopted eastern philosophies along with dark spirituality. Most western practitioners believe that there can be no middle ground, however. Many that oppose the concept of a middle ground ironically claim to have chosen a patron. A patron is believed to be a higher entity that assists the dark spiritualists in exchange for some service the dark spiritualist will provide for the patron. Many that claim to have patrons argue that their relationship with the patron is a mentor/apprentice relationship and not a God/worshiper relationship.

The meaning of dark as a symbol in other religions also causes people to define dark spirituality with various different meanings. Christianity often views the dark as a symbol for evil. The Wiccan religion has a tendency to view dark magick as a selfish or harmful practice. Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism view dark as something that must come into balance with light. Taoism also holds many meanings for the symbolism of darkness that do not relate to the western version of dark spirituality. Not only do these other religions change the way society as a whole views dark spirituality, but they have caused those describing themselves as dark to have very differing views of the meaning of the word dark. One group may call itself dark to intentionally imply they are an evil group, while another may be implying that they are approaching eastern philosophy on a dark path. Those in the west specifically calling themselves dark spiritualists tend to discard these meanings and use it more for the purpose of creating the light/dark dichotomy.

Perhaps the one thing all sides agree on is that dark spirituality represents non-conventional spirituality. The precise meaning of the path will change for every individual, however most who use dark spirituality as the name of their religion tend to have common beliefs. .

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Defining Dark Spirituality", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki