Lesson 2 – Allegory: Light and Darkness
In this lesson we start in the beginning – Genesis – with the allegorical meaning of Light – and by extension, its opposite – Darkness.
Transcript, Exercise and Homework
Genesis – the first book of Moses and the first book of the Bible – starts as follows:
“In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.
God saw the light, and saw that it was good.
God divided the light from the darkness.
God called the light ‘day’ and the darkness He called ‘night’.
So the evening and the morning where the first day.”– The Bible, Genesis 1:1-5
Light is a key topic that comes up over and over again in scripture and it is the subject we will unpack in this episode today. We will revisit other elements, such as earth, waters, day and so forth another time.
I am a Swedenborgian and although, as Christian I will primarily focus on the Word in the Bible, which is used or referenced by all mono-theistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, at times I will also use examples from other sacred texts to illustrate the universality of the ancient Word and its allegorical nature, as provided through the infinite love and wisdom of our Creator.
As it is so fitting, let me, by way of introduction, give you a few bible passages from the Old Testament, a couple of examples from other sacred texts and a section from the New Testament to introduce our topic today: Light
From Psalm 119, we read the following two beautiful verses:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105
“The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” – Psalm 119:130
from the Bhagavad-Gita, which is an English translation from the Sanskrit:
“He is the source of light in all luminaries, and is entirely beyond the darkness of ignorance. He is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge. He dwells within the hearts of all living beings.” – Bhagavad-Gita 13:18 (Swami Mukundananda)
From the Qu’ran:
“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. … Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.” – Qu’ran Sirah 24:35 (part) (Sahih International)
And from my favourite Gospel: John, chapter 1:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” – John 1:1,4,5 and 9
I started with this topic, not only because it is in essence the beginning of all others, but also because this topic is possibly an easy one to unpack first and for our viewer to recognise the symbolism.
In today’s world we still use sayings like;”I see” or “Shining a light on something” to describe some element of clarification and understanding.
We also say things like;”being kept in the dark” to describe the lack of knowledge or understanding.
It will therefore come as no surprise that our current use of these symbols to describe some deeper, more profound, meaning, has ancient roots.
In our sacred scriptures this allegory and parabolic meaning holds true also:
I think it is clear that our outer (or worldly) experience forms the foundation of our thoughts, language and so our sacred scripture.
However, the principle behind the allegorical nature of divine revelation captured in the inspired sacred scriptures, is ultimately derived from, or comes as a result of, the infinite creator and universal principles of creation itself.
It is therefore not bound by our limited capability to express it. All we need to do is to look for these spiritual principles by discounting the finite (or natural) elements, such as space and time.
I think it is pretty clear, with what we’ve discussed so far, that Light is used as a parable that equates to truth, guiding knowledge (or faith) and in its highest sense the Word (Divine Truth) itself.
Darkness is nothing else but the lack of light. Ie falsity (lack of truth), self-reliance, misunderstanding and corruption of the Word.
Swedenborg uses the term Correspondence for this allegorical nature, because any visual object or element in the natural world, directly correlates (corresponds) to a spiritual antecedent – being a spiritual quality or process.
He (ES) says the following about Light and Darkness:
By “darkness” falsities are signified, because “light” signifies truth; that “darkness” signifies falsities, by which are evils, and “thick darkness,” falsities from evils, see above (n. 413). – Emanuel Swedenborg, Apocalypse Revealed 695
“seeing a great light” signifies receiving and believing the truths which are of faith. – Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia (Heavenly Secrets) 386
and
“in the Word also “light” signifies the truth which is from good, and in the supreme sense the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good.” – Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia (Heavenly Secrets) 9570
and further
“Light” signifies Divine truth; therefore the Lord is here called “the true Light, which lighteth every man,” and to “bear witness of the light” signifies an acknowledgment of His Divine Human, from which Divine truth proceeds. – Emanuel Swedenborg, Apocalypse Explained 27
Now, let us have a look at a couple of passages from scripture to highlight this, for the moment only focusing on our topic for today: Light and Darkness
Your Exercise:
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” – John 3:19
now replace light with “truth” and darkness with “falsity”:
“And this is the condemnation, that the truth has come into the world, and men loved falsity rather than truth, because their deeds were evil.”
Exercise 2
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” – Matthew 24:22-23
now replace light with “truth” and darkness with “falsity”:
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of truth. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of falsity. If therefore the truth that is in you is falsity, how great is that falsity!”
Homework:
Why don’t you test this out for yourself too? I’ll leave you with a couple of quotes from scripture.
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” – Isaiah 5:20
and
“Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.” – John 12:35-36
Other references you may like to read and practice: Luke 11:34, John 3:21, John 9:5, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 43:3 and Romans 2:19
Be sure to review this lesson and be comfortable before proceeding to the next topic.
All these verses relate to the topic of Light and Darkness and you will see that, while the literal sense may differ, the allegorical sense in the Word – when applied and understood correctly – will provide a consistent spiritual meaning.
Blessings and peace,
Cor