Making Friends with the Dark

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

Sweet Darkness

...Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

~ David Whyte, excerpt

PRACTICE

• Dress appropriately for the weather so that you can remain comfortable in the out-of-doors for the entire night.
• Bring a flashlight for safety; adequate supply of water; a cushion or chair to sit on if you so choose; a pen and journal for recording your observations; a drum, rattle, or other percussion instrument(s); and a hand trowel and biodegradable or removable amenities should you need to use the “bathroom.”  Depending on the weather, you might also want to bring a sleeping bag and/or tarp and cords.
• Go to a safe, outside location soon after sunset.  Choose a location that is, or at least seems to be, miles away from other human activity (e.g., it is absent street and building lights and traffic sounds, and you are unlikely to come across anyone else during your all night vigil).
• Choose a specific location to sit in for the night and set up your temporary “camp” as necessary so as to secure your comfort and safety. 
• Sit down, turn off your flashlight, and allow your thoughts to become still (give yourself at least a few minutes to calm your mind).
• Recommendation: Practice “Connecting with Nature” (published January 8, 2013).
• Listen to the sounds of the night   sounds made by the natural elements (wind, for example) and their interactions with the land, those made by animals, and the sounds generated by human activity.  Notice the sound of your own breath.
• Explore your response to these sounds: What images form in your mind’s eye?  What stories does your mind create about the sounds?  What emotions do they stir?  How are you affected by the direction, distance, volume, and presumed source of the sound?
• If particular, pay attention to any sounds that stir fear or anxiety within you.  What is the nature of these sounds   what are their characteristics? 
• Invite these sounds to be a guide for you.  Notice what images and memories they stir.  Notice where in your body your experience your reactions and place a hand on this location while applying light pressure. 
• Do the sounds bring up fears or anxieties   ones formed as a child or an adult?  What beliefs do they bring up about yourself and the world?
• Allow yourself to look at these fears/anxieties/beliefs as if you were watching them in front of your like a movie.  Notice how certain sounds change the movie.
• Journal your observations.
• Pick up your percussion instrument and make your own sound (refrain from playing a song that you know, but rather let your feelings in the moment guide your beat)   thus introducing yourself to all that is in the night.
• Notice how you feel letting the night creatures know of your presence.
• With your percussion instrument, communicate to the darkness (and in particular any of the “dark emotions” that it has evoked) that you wish to befriend it.
• Journal your observations.
• Repeat the process of listening, exploring your reactions, and setting the intent to befriend the darkness until sunrise.
• At sunrise, make an offering to the place for supporting your work there.  You might offer some water, a song, a poem, personal story, prayer ties, etc.
• Repeat this practice regularly and in different locations, inviting the night to take you deeper and deeper through layers of “internal darkness.”
• Notice how your experiences change with time of night, location, and the associated characteristics of the sounds.

This practice was first published in "Courting the Wild: Love Affairs with the Land," edited by Jamie K. Reaser and Susan Chernak McElroy and published by Hiraeth Press (2008; www.hiraethpress.com). (c) Jamie K. Reaser. All rights reserved.