The Darkening of the Light

In this blog post, I am expanding on a post from January of 2017, when Donald Trump began his first tenure as the president of the United States. The original post is still relevant to the times we live in, so I felt the need to revisit it in this post. 

In January of 2017, I consulted the I Ching in order to gain some insight into the dire situation of our planet. The I Ching is an ancient Chinese text and divination system which counsels appropriate action in the moment for a given set of circumstances. Each moment has a pattern to it and everything that happens in that moment is interconnected. Based on the synchronicity of the universe and the laws of probability, the I Ching responds to an inquiry in the form of a hexagram. By evaluating the hexagram that describes your current pattern of relationship, you can divine the outcome and act accordingly. The oracle serves as a gauge--a precise means for placing oneself in relation to the pattern or way of cyclical change, and that way is known as Tao (the core principle underlying the Universe).

The I Ching is a microcosm of all possible human situations. It serves as a dynamic map, whose function is to reveal one's relative position in the cosmos of events. The hexagram texts address the 64 archetypal human situations. The commentary of each hexagram reveals the optimal strategy for integrating or harmonizing with the inevitable for a given condition. It provides the appropriate response to your inquiry. It affords a holistic perspective of your current condition and discusses the proper or correct way to address the situation.

The Dark Night of the Soul

When I consulted the I Ching regarding our current situation on the planet, I received Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light. This hexagram symbolizes the sun sinking into the earth and is often associated with the "dark night of the soul." The dark night of the soul is a kind of initiation, taking you from one phase of life into another. Since modern man has lost the ritual of initiation into the dark underworld of the unconscious, the soul precipitates this experience. Descent into the realm of the shadow (humanity's repressed dark side) is most often precipitated by physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual events that force the surrender of our ego. For those who have entered this phase of the inner work, it is good to remember that no one is given a test that they can't pass if they sincerely want to. 

The dark night of the soul denotes a time of darkness when oppressive forces obscure the beauty and clarity of light. As stated in the I Ching, "Here a man of dark nature is in a position of authority and brings harm to the wise and able man." It is a time of maximum darkness and ignorance; a time when the dark forces of the unconscious are at their peak. It isn't hard to see that even though we live on a planet that surrounds us with beauty, that there is a lot of darkness manifesting within humanity.

Humanity as a whole is currently undergoing a dark night of the collective soul. It's characterized by global challenges like ecological collapse, social fragmentation, and a sense of spiritual emptiness. Some ancient philosophies suggest that this period involves a "clearing of the karma of the collective consciousness." The collective dark night also involves a shift in consciousness, a questioning of societal structures, and a search for deeper meaning. In essence, the dark night of the collective soul is a call to awaken to a new way of being, both individually and collectively, in the face of unprecedented global challenges.

Hiding One's Light

According to the I Ching, when the darkness of stupidity reigns in human affairs, it is best that you keep your brilliance "hidden under a bushel basket." The oracle counsels us to show our intelligence by concealing it. In other words, let your thoughts and efforts be quiet, self-contained, and protected, as much as possible, from harmful influences. The time to assert yourself will come. 

Lao Tzu, the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, gives us the best paraphrase of the idea in his famous proverb: "He who knows does not speak; He who speaks does not know." The proverb suggests that true knowledge is often quiet and unpretentious, while those who speak the loudest may lack genuine understanding. It implies that deep wisdom is earned through experience and contemplation, not through constant chatter. 

Conversely, those who talk a lot may be trying to compensate for a lack of real knowledge or may be insecure about their understanding. The "superior man" manages the situation by subduing his need to speculate, meddle, or call attention to himself. In dealing with the masses, true leaders act unobtrusively while in fact being illuminated. What sages learn is to become daily more illuminated unbeknownst to others.

Navigating the Collective Dark Night

The journey through the collective dark night is not passive; it requires conscious effort and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths. It is considered a phase of internal purification where the collective ego, is "stripped away" and attachments are dissolved, allowing for a deeper understanding of reality to emerge. It involves questioning our beliefs, identity, and the meaning of existence itself. It demands that we let go of old, outdated ways of thinking and being, and embrace a new perspective. This process may involve grief, anxiety, and a sense of disorientation, but ultimately leads to greater self-awareness and a more authentic connection to ourself and the world. 

According to Hinduism, time speeds up or, more precisely, karma speeds up in the dark age of humanity. In Sanskrit, karma is the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Due to the rapid pace of life and the prevalence of moral and ethical challenges, the consequences of actions are often experienced more quickly. 

But the truth is, according to Vajrayana Buddhist teachings, this intensification makes this an exceptional time for spiritual practice, because the fruits of such practice are now more magnified and immediate. Even in the worst of times, the possibility to be well above it is always there for an individual human being. This is a time filled with unparalleled opportunities for spiritual growth and inner transformation.

Cultivating Our Inner Light

For the time being, it is in our best interests to accept our collective situation. Like the winter time, circumstances require that we turn within to stoke our inner fire with spiritual practice. A spiritual practice is a deliberate and regular activity undertaken to foster spiritual growth, deepen connection with the divine or something greater than oneself, and cultivate a more meaningful life. A spiritual activity might be dancing, drumming, chanting, meditating, praying, doing yoga or tai chi. Regular spiritual practice fosters deeper self-awareness, inner peace, insight, compassion, empathy, non-attachment, integration and a sense of unity. 

So we must tend to our inner light and maintain a low profile. So long as we conceal our inner glow, it cannot be extinguished. Until conditions are more favorable, remain yielding and compliant externally, while maintaining your inner vision, convictions, and principles. Such an attitude will sustain your inner light in even the darkest of times. Try not to become too depressed or anxious; this period will pass. The darkness that is now showing itself everywhere will eventually consume itself and perish, for it has no inner light to sustain it. The dark times will pass, and the light will return. The sun will rise again. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the world will be reborn.

Music as a Political Act

Cree singer Sandy Scofield sees her music as a pathway for raising awareness and celebrating culture.
 

It's a long way from playing Cajun party music to acapella vocal arrangements of First Nations songs to composing music and sound design for theatre, including Vancouver Opera's "Missing" about the ongoing tragedy of Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women. Sandy Scofield is a multi-award winning composer, musician, musical director, singer, songwriter and performer. She has studied classical, jazz, African, Indonesian gamelan and electro-acoustic music. She hails from four generations of fiddlers, singers and musicians. Among her five recordings to date, she has won five Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, a Canadian Folk Music Award, an Indian Summer Music Award (U.S.A.), a Western Canadian Music Award and received three consecutive Juno nominations.

Leader of the all female Cree band of singers, Iskwew, Sandy started making music before she can even remember and has played and sung in many bands over the years. From Cajun to rock, classical and folk, the foundation she had before coming into Cree Aboriginal music incorporated a wide variety of sounds and instruments. She plays piano and guitar in addition to being a singer.

Scofield came to Aboriginal music later in life, embracing her heritage through song. She says, "I went to the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1995 and did a ten-week intensive with Sadie Buck from Six Nations in Canada -- she had this residency for urban women who grew up without oral tradition and she brought in women elders from all around Turtle Island (North America) to teach them their traditions, songs, and song traditions."
 

When asked whether she feels that what Iskwew does is political, Sandy said, "We have many educated people holding their PhDs and working as doctors and this and that who are changing how society views First Nations people, but largely people still think of them as the drunks down on Skid Road, and that's all part of… So, in answer to your question -- Yeah."
 

What we're doing is politically showing people the pride in our culture. The fact that we come out and wear regalia, just to show very basic cultural teachings, we're trying to present through the songs. I have a floating group of women based on who's available that comes with me, but some of the other women who've gigged with me are just as vocal as I am onstage. It isn't like I'm leading every song and I'm talking all the time. Some of the other women get in there and talk and talk about teachings and talk about what we're wearing and talk about our role as women in our culture and how we're esteemed.
 

So that's what we do, and when we get to go play international festivals it's really important because, you know, one of the girls that sings with me, she went to Italy and some guy said to her, 'Where are you from?' and she said, 'Well, I'm Cree Indian from Canada,' and he was just aghast, he was saying, 'No. They were all extinct. They don't exist,' and she's going 'You're crazy!' You know?
 

But there's crazy ideas out there, so especially if we're on the international stage, we're trying to show the very best of who we are. And in Canada, half of our work is in what we call Indian Country, which is all of the country except dominant society doesn't see us. So we perform for other native people or we perform for dominant society, and so when we perform for dominant society, it's the same thing again. We're trying to show the really fantastic things about our cultures, our collective culture which really concerns community, egalitarianism to a certain extent, just pride, culture, the interconnectedness of all life and that we're interconnected with one another -- things like that."