When the Darkness Comes Disguised as the Light

One thing that’s always true about the darkness: It deceives.

I have seen it wear my brother’s face to try and trick me. I’ve seen it twist beauty into horror. I’ve seen it lie and beg and pretend to love in order to stay inside someone’s heart.

I’ve even seen the darkness use good intentions to smother someone in a quicksand of their own choosing. Of course, they thought they were navigating a path, but they were actually inside a maze that they were eventually mired in and could no longer see a way out of. Not that they wanted a way out. This trap was so clever that the person in the middle was utterly convinced they were on the path of Light, and around each corner was another tidbit of knowledge, and another, and another, so that the maze became the path itself. The more they walked, the more knowledgeable they felt they were, and the more they rejected those on the outside trying to help.

And the knowledge they found there? Some of it was valid, but some of it was worthless, and by the time they’d been around the maze a few times, it all blended together into newage quicksand. The original goal of fixing issues became a never-ending quest for ideas on how to fix them, until the quest was all that remained.

The things that are out there are very tempting, especially if there is no one to help guide you and give you reality checks. Especially if you flat out reject help or even any discussion. There is a universe of information out there about colors and crystals and spirits and hypnosis and chakras and thousands more techniques for self-improvement. However, some of this information is horseshit.

A very long time ago, people figured out that they could invent something amazing-sounding and charge money for it, as if it had value. This is called perceived value. If someone charges $1000 for a two-hour class on how eating dryer lint can give you telepathy, that makes it sound valuable no matter how ridiculous the class is. This is not to say that anybody charging for their time and effort is a scam artist, or that free classes are worthless. I’m just saying to think about what you’re buying. Just because someone is charging you for knowledge, that doesn’t automatically make it worthwhile knowledge.

In hard times, there are always people who profit from the pain of others. There are people who will lie to you about their amazing new “discovery” that will supposedly heal your mind, body and soul. They used to call them snake oil salesmen. These days, especially with the internet, there are more than ever. And the darkness knows this. It’s very clever, and finds sneaky ways to ensnare unsuspecting people.

The darkness deceives. Never forget this.