“It is far better to learn to see in the dark than to shine a light and be blinded.”
The New Age movement has brought with it a flood of metaphysically inclined people that push for a love and light philosophy. There are very few mentions of the darker side of magick within the basic magick 101 books, and though that may be a good thing for many reasons, it also limits many people’s view of the people that do darker magick.
Dark magick, by my personal definition, is acknowledging and accessing the entire spectrum of possibilities in magick, even the dangerous and scary aspects such as demon evocation, sex magick and blood magick. This is probably not the most perfect of definitions, but it will work for my purposes.
Dark magick is not in opposition of the lighter sides of magick, and in fact works with them. They cohabitate every part of the world and cannot exist without the other side. The dark is the realm of difficulty, of temptation, and of possible failure. This is the place where strength is derived. Darkness is the natural state, and it is only through surviving and triumphing in darkness that light can be made. Therefore, every light comes from darkness and the aspiring healer must first face the darkness before he can bring the light to others.
The shamans of old were not shamans until they had faced the darkness and triumphed. They had to walk roads of shadows–deathly illnesses, “schizophrenia”, and physical trials–before they could ever do good for anyone else. Our society understands that darkness is the realm of creativity. It is more uncommon to have a true creative genius without any darkness in their life than one that is full of depression, hardship, and darkness. Women must go through the darkness of pregnancy and child birth before their bundle of light is brought into the world. The journey of bringing light to the world is always full of darkness.
The problem is not that darkness exists, or that people are unaware of it. The problem is that rather than respecting the darkness as a way to personal strength, they fear it and those that walk the darker roads. Not everyone chooses to embrace darkness, and it is understandable why people would not. It is the place of unknown, and humans by nature are fearful of the unknown. It is also the realm of danger, of destruction, of death, and of pain. All of these are necessary parts of the road to strength. It is not in comfort that we gain strength, just as the sword is not strengthened without the fires of the forge or the pounding of the hammer and anvil.
In closing this post, I must say that every magician must confront the darkness at some point. Do not be reckless when doing this, but do not be afraid to do it. It is a necessary road for all that wish to bring light to the world and to bring light to yourself.
Magick for the Real World 
September 24, 2011 at 3:32 pm
It’s true that darkness is the source of a lot of our world’s best things. You have to remember that alcohol and drugs are a self-induced pathway into darkness. Stephen King (alcohol), the Doors (peyote, LSD, mushrooms, alcohol, etc.), Jimmy Hendrix (LSD, hashish, others), Edgar Allen Poe (opium), and so many others created amazing works of art after going into the darkness.
Also, I wanted to point out that just because someone embraces darkness, it doesn’t mean that they’re bad or evil. Most of the time, no one else would even know that they are taking a darker road. Not only that, but many of the “demons” and otherworldly beings that are considered dark aren’t as dangerous as the ones that are considered “light”. Take for example the Seelie and Unseelie Court of the fey. The Seelie Court is bright and colorful and are reminiscent of spring and summer while the Unseelie Court is dark, frightening and reminiscent of winter. Yes, the Unseelie Court is dangerous, but they are very open about that. You know what you’re getting into with them. On the other hand, the Seelie Court is not that different in the way that they act, but you’d never expect a bright and shiny to be cruel and vindictive. Just because they’re the light fairies doesn’t mean that they’re any less dangerous than the Unseelie Court.
September 24, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Thank you soooooooooooooo much for your post. I had forgotten this and it brings confort to me. Reminds me why I am here……
So Thanks
Shari-Lyn
From Quebec, Canada
September 25, 2011 at 5:35 pm
So many valued things are “dark” . . . the womb, the healing cave, the depths of the ocean, the inner experience, the trials and tribulation that exercise our abilities to build personal strength . . . but somehow we forgot that not all things that are good are “light” and not all things that are painful are bad. And not all things that are dark create negative results for ourselves or for others . . .
September 26, 2011 at 9:30 am
Great post! A good follow-on to the old one about Blood Magic and a powerful reminder to those of us surrounded by fluffy cuddlebunnies and others who’d like to bring us “into the light.”
Should we be expecting a post about goetia and evocation in the near future?
September 26, 2011 at 10:21 am
I have been thinking about posting something about the Goetia and evocation, though I’m very inexperienced in dealing with them. Until just recently I’ve always considered them too dangerous to deal with when there are children in the house. Now we’ve found a place away from the house where we very possibly will be going down that path.
October 5, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Our society understands that darkness is the realm of creativity. It is more uncommon to have a true creative genius without any darkness in their life than one that is full of depression, hardship, and darkness.
so very true however there are other ways to walk down a dark road besides drugs like Jennifer mentioned
personally, sadness is a purrferred emotion of mine, I’m comfortable with it – that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy being cheerful but I always like to return to my darkness
October 5, 2011 at 6:28 pm
sorry forgot the quotation marks ><
August 25, 2012 at 1:22 am
I figured this would be as good a place as any to ask.
I’m in dire need of a mentor at this point. The woman I was studying under, my grandmother, got shipped back off to Wales.
As it is right now, my mother got a hold of the book my grandmother compiled over the course of her experiences, and she’s burned it.
All in all, some help would be appreciated.
I’ve seem to have gotten myself into some trouble.
January 21, 2014 at 2:40 pm
I have worked in the darker realms of magic and energy (I perceive pure energy as black beyond belief rather than white) and I believe that it is through darkness (which accepts and shelters all who seek solace there) that true good can be worked.
April 28, 2014 at 10:21 am
You’re all still associating anything dark with the negative and anything light with the positive. Like many in today’s Western world. You’re still clinging to this extremism that encourages bigotry.
August 25, 2015 at 7:46 am
The principle of darkness is misunderstood. I would not agree, that it is a way of the unknown. It is rather particularity/individuality, where everything exists for itself. It is anarchy and not order. Finally, it is doubt and lack of knowledge, while the light is faith and knowledge. The people, who call themselves “skeptics” actually follow the principle of the Qlipphots, no matter are they aware of this or not. This is, by the way, the reason, that the presence of a skeptic in a scientific laboratory, where psi-phenomena are explored, may disturb the experiment.The Qlipphots are a source of magickal power as well! Darkness is not Chaos – the Chaos is both Light and Darkness, which is actually the source of the creativity. You may study the way of the Kabbalistic Qlipphots or other similar systems, where the duality of Light vs Darkness is explored(the Norse tradition for example). Personally, I have never found any personal power in it, right the contrary…