Healing with the Night: Investigations into Experiences of Natural Darkness in Overnight Recollective Practices

Modern Western society currently privileges aspects of light over dark, which is apparent in issues such as light pollution and human's declining relationship with the darkness of night. This article begins the inquiry into possible healing aspects of individual's lived experiences of Natural Darkness (ND) in overnight recollective practices. Recollective practices aim to heal the dualism of the nature/psyche divide through processes that reintegrate the human psyche with the natural world. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight participants who described their memories with ND during overnight recollective practices. Participants reported that ND contributed to conditions for rest and reprieve, interconnection with something greater, and processing of psychological material. The variety of experiences of ND reveal that this phenomenon cannot be considered essentially good or bad; healthy or unhealthy. For some, ND provided conditions for psychological healing. For others it induced fear; fear that was potentially overwhelming, as well as fear that contributed to interconnection.