Written by Suricata Saturday, 23 January 2010 15:30
The division between light and darkness has been engraved in the collective mind since time immemorial. It’s believed in most ancient philosophies and mythologies that the universe consists of three large realms with various subdivisions: heaven, earth and the underworld. Before mankind’s decadence, these three were united in harmony, but a discrepancy between the highest and lowest powers caused the worlds to split, and our world became the middle ground.
With these primitive ideas most societies in our world were formed. Ideals split into good and bad; that which is accepted and that which is not. The whole underworld idea became related to evil, while the world above came to represent the good side, to be pursued by the righteous. The division isn’t nonsensical, as darkness prevents seeing objects clearly for what they are. When there’s shadow, imagination is excited, and the subject’s fears are maximized, creating a closet monster effect, or projection. Darkness frightens us because anything could be hiding in it; and the first things that come to your mind when you think of the word “anything” is what you fear the most.
A hero’s most outstanding attribute is courage. He may be human and vulnerable, but that doesn’t stop him from confronting any evils he may find along his quest, regardless of how powerful they may be. The hero is able to reach apotheosis or simply victory because he’s brave, unlike his fellow humans, who run and hide at the mere thought of a hungry dragon. The quest necessarily implies descending into the underworld, slaying the foes that dwell there and attaining the hidden treasures.
In human terms, every person’s life is a hero’s quest. All of us are given the chance to conquer our personal monsters, but success isn’t easy to reach. It takes courage to admit one’s own frailties and bring them to light, and a great deal of strength to resist the power they have over the psyche. Needless to say, few people are able to dive deep enough in their personal underworld to even have an idea of what may dwell there.
Metal music often takes us to dark and scary places. Every image, feeling, situation or thought common people want to avoid can be found somewhere in the vast territories of metal. It’s the metal artist’s privilege to gently (or not so gently) lead the listener down to where his shadow lies and transforming his fears into talents and knowledge.
A true metalhead is special due to the fact that he can see beyond the barrier of negativity, and enjoys what he finds there. Common folks shun this genre because it reminds them that despite all their attempts at superficiality, there lies a whole universe of opposites that would drive them to insanity thanks to their natural cowardice.
The gifts of the shadow are a reward reserved only for the brave. Once you have integrated the dark side, you stop being the prey to become forever the hunter.
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Subscribe to this comment's feed Ace Warloch said: 
 | A book you may be interested in. Ken Wilber theorizes quite a bit on duality in his book Spectrum of Consciousness. I highly recommend it.  |
Liebre de Marzo said:
 | ... Two swords up! Wow, this was fantastic. You're my favorite writer in the whole wide world. Perfect content, perfect form. Suricata has been indeed blessed by Apollo and shadow. |
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