Dark, Violent Forces

 Dark, Violent Forces

Things have been darkening since 2016, or at least that’s how I see it. That was when Boris Johnson managed to get the British to vote for Brexit, by lying his head off. Then in January 2017, Donald Trump was voted in as President of the US.  Well, that would do it – because both these ‘heads of states’ make a habit of lying to suit themselves. In addition we have Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil since 2019. Austria and Bulgaria have also turned to the right. . Now, however, we have President Putin bombing the hell out of Ukraine … he was always one of those dark men whose turn to violence became more and more obvious as time went on. My own view is that he is ill (physically, as well as mentally) and is trying to make sure he has his immortality secure before he keels over. 

That can’t happen too soon for me, but it has made me think. We could say – as we have done since Star Wars and our favourite baddie – he’s just hooking into the ‘Dark Side’ … and yes. But what does that actually *mean*? 

Ask that question, and you  start getting into some really turgid, difficult philosophical / religious areas. And I’m no philosopher, nor do I believe in any religion. (Don’t get me started, though. Having just finished creating The Old Gods Tarot, I have come to the unshakeable conclusion that gods were created by man, never the other way round! And isn’t it a good thing there is no Inquisition nowadays. …..) Ok. Back to the Dark Side, and hooking into it. 

Surely this means that there must be a shadow side of creation, a side that prefers destruction to creation?

But isn’t that just the way our brains are constructed? We really can’t abide ambivalence and most people don’t even know what a paradox is. We can manage the Yin/Yang symbol … more or less, though even then people still ascribe negative connotations to its dark element. The fact that it is said to be the feminine side just means that men can look pityingly at women and say well, you know, that’s why Eve ate the apple (though that is a ridiculous myth – the XX chromosome is the underlying pattern of creation. The XY – masculine – is a mutation (and it is disappearing nowadays, too). 

I think in creation, in the universe or multi-verse, there is no negative. Yes, of course there is destruction – but it is part of the same process. Without destruction you can’t have creation, and vice versa. 

However, where man is concerned, there is a point of view that is destructive. Or to put it another way, mankind is part of the destructive force of the universe, but we use it negatively, to kill and maim and destroy for our own purposes. The bottom line here is fear and greed (shown in the images above – fear on the left, greed on the right). And mankind is a fearful, greedy animal, and we are now out of control. David Attenborough thinks we are a virus. It certainly looks like he’s right. Animals don’t behave like we do. They kill for food (cats do play with their prey, but not in the same way as we do – they play, we look at how vicious we can be to other humans and animals – witness the people who shoot dogs and cats for absolutely no reason, or tie them up in the mountains with food but no water. What???? Facebook banned me for saying I would do the same back to them. Facebook and all its employees are part of that shadow hook.

I had already seen things turning to the shadow side in 2019-20, when I was painting the Multi-Dimensional Devas. Of course, then the pandemic began … and I decided that it must be the Devas (or Gaia) deciding that enough is enough. On the other hand, most people having loving, giving sides; let’s hope that the Devas, or Gaia, or whatever, can shift the pendulum so that side begins to gain again and the Bolsonaros, Trumps and Putins of this world lose their wits and health and populations. Again, it really can’t come too soon.