Voices in the Dark

By Dr. Alex Scully:

The darkness has an allure. Taken at face value, this is just a phrase scrolling across your average gothic board. Reach beneath the surface, however, and you will find something lurking there. Scholarship, academia, and intellectualism seem anything but dark. Reach beneath the surface, however, and you will find something lurking there…

For millennia, human beings have had an intense intellectual curiosity about the “dark side.” The question is…why? In spite of the Inquisition, alchemists continued their search for the elixir of life. Italian scholars read the ancient Greek and Roman texts in the 1100s and 1200s in spite of the threat of death. Conjuring, magic, mysticism, and what in the 1800s became known as the occult, have fascinated humanity for eons.

I do not claim to have an answer, but I do have a speculative discussion point. Most people enter this world, and live and die in contentment. They do not ask substantive questions and they are happy with their existence as it is presented to them. Then there are those who question, challenge, and seek. Those seekers look into every nook and cranny for answers that refuse to be found, in the eloquent words of Nick Cave. They seek answers to the questions that have plagued humanity for ages.

These questions are of the sort that rock the foundation of the soul. What happens when we die? What makes us living creatures? What is evil? The very questions hint at a darker path, but seeking the answers opens the gate. Those of us compelled down the path begin exploring the intellectual darkness. We look for like minds and discuss the questions. We read the literature, fiction and non-fiction, for the author that touches upon…something. We examine the ancient texts and read the dark poetry. And still we search…

We search for the key…that single…thing…that will unlock the mysteries of the universe. Scientists smash atoms and break down DNA. Scholars break down words and ideas. Philosophies are turned over and torn apart. Belief systems are debated. We even examine science and meld it with philosophy. But at the core…the center…sits the darkness.

Why? Because the questions are dark…