Darkness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Darkness (disambiguation).
Darkness is the perceived absence of light. Contrary to popular belief, pure or total darkness does not exist, because some small amount of light particles, in the form of radiation, permeate every corner of the universe, even if undetectable to the human eye at times. So, darkness is best described as "less amounts of light," rather than "the absence of light." True darkness is only theoretically possible in conditions of absolute zero. [1] Earlier in history, it was sometimes viewed as a substance in its own right, and appears in this form in some fantasy literature. Another name for darkness in this context is shadow.
Contents |
[edit] Mythology
In Western tradition, darkness is also associated with evil, evil entities (such as demons or Satan), and Hell or, especially in Egyptian mythology, the underworld. This concept can be seen personified in the character of Darkness played by actor Tim Curry in the 1985 fantasy movie Legend, where Darkness takes the form of a 15 foot high stereotype of Satan, complete with reddened skin, long horns and cloven hooves. The darkness was also an important part of gnostic religious systems; it was usually associated with evil. According to the gnostics, the world is the result of a war between the darkness and the light.
In the Early Modern Period, the Middle Ages were named The Dark Ages as a reference to the relatively small amount of written record that survived the period, as well as what was perceived to be a lack of humanity's technical and scientific progress.
Darkness in truth represents Evil and nothingness. This in turn represents the seemingly endless war of Good vs. Evil as Light in truth is in fact a representative of Goodness.
[edit] Fiction
In fiction, darkness can symbolize undesirable happenings in various forms, often in the context of evil as mentioned above for example: dark miko. Dark tourism is the travel to sites associated with death and suffering. It should be noted that darkness isn't always evil.
[edit] See also
- lygophilia - love of darkness
- nyctophobia - fear of darkness
