nightcraft.
by Lilah Wild @ freestylewitchcraft.com
I loathe the "one-size-fits-all" attitude that many practitioners who really ought to know better have taken towards the idea of "white light." The primary reason I embrace nightcraft is because sunshine makes me sick. Literally. Ever since the baby stroller, sunlight has given me headaches and made me nauseous. It's why the whole principle of "white light" doesn't work for me, because to me it's not safe, comforting, and benevolent - it's harsh, sharp, and blinding.
I prefer cool dark, the soft light of the moon, the landscape shrouded in shadows. There's a beautiful cast of silver over everything, and this is when the cats come out to court and play. It's peaceful, and less populated, a lot less tension in the air now that most of the 9-to-5 energy drains are safely tucked in their beds. There are less people around to disrupt things.
When night falls, the atmosphere changes from work to intoxication - the offices are closed and the clubs are open. The surrounding energies are full of dancing, drinking, and seducing - good companionship to a spirituality whose nature is wild and free.
4am has also been shown to be the most powerful - or emotionally vulnerable - hour in the day, where castings are most effective, and the most suicides take place.
The prejudice against night seems to come from the same dictotomy of "black" vs. "white" magick, as in, the sun is good and the moon is evil. Light reveals the hidden - heliotrope, the "sun flower," is a good aid in truth spells - and darkness is seen as camouflage to nefarious deeds, but I think that's making it too simplistic. Darkness has helped frantic wives escape abusive husbands, allowed practitioners of the Old Ways to continue their rites away from the torches of zealots, provided cover for those whose lifestyles are targets for harassment and violence by modern-day "moral guardians." It's not the tool that's "evil" or not, it's how you use it.
