Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

We have lost what once ruled us

Photo by Altınay Dinç on Unsplash

For most of our time, we have lived half of it in darkness. Only during the 19th century did gas lighting begin to illuminate our streets, cities and towns, finally driving back the darkness. Today, with our world in total artificial illumination, driving a social and work industry that never sleeps, we have little conception of darkness and how it once ruled our lives.

Until that time arrived, our system for finding our way through the night really was by the light of the silvery moon. The phases of the moon were essential knowledge, particularly in rural areas, when the strength of moonlight on any particular day was crucial to finding your way home. Any significant travel after dark was often dependent on the available amount of moonlight.

And when the moon wasn’t coming out to play then we had to rely on the stars. Although starlight was not as strong, it was, at least, more reliable.

But both the celestial light from moon and stars were equally regulated and compromised by the amount of cloud formation. The darkest nights were due to low lying clouds, blanketing the sky and giving rise to expressions such as ‘pit mirk,’ ‘lowry,’ ‘darkling,’ and ‘pitch dark.’ The latter is attributed to the tarry resin of pine trees. In January 1666, returning home at 2.00 am…