Light and Dark

‘Darkness’ was on the face of the deep … God said, “Let there be light,” and there was ‘light’

Light	Dark
Clarity, Meaning	Obscurity, Confusion

It is important to differentiate the scientific concept of light from its archaic symbolic counterpart. The first is composed of material particles called photons while the second is the purest expression of higher meaning. Accordingly, the biblical version of light is directly linked to meaning and language, which is why it was created through God’s first spoken word. On the other side of the equation, the primordial earth is described as dark, meaningless, and confounding.

There is a causal link between ‘darkness’ and corporeal reality or ‘earth,’ just as there is a link between ‘light’ and spiritual reality or ‘heaven.’

In traditional cosmology, material reality is considered obscure or ‘dark’ when disconnected from a heavenly principle. Conversely, the principle itself is seen as the invisible source of ‘light’ that implicitly contains the answer to the enigma. When these components are finally brought together, the ‘light’ becomes explicit to reveal a unifying truth.

In this manner, corporeal reality acts as a question with the power to host spiritual meaning when properly answered. Therefore, even though matter is inherently ‘dark’ (as in meaningless), it is also considered a cause of revelation and manifestation. Indeed, without the contribution of material reality, certain spiritual principles would be too abstract and simple to understand.

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Footnotes

1. Pageau, Matthieu (May 29, 2018). The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis: A Commentary (“LoC”). ch 10 ↩