one recurring theme that i hear in discussions on paganism is ‘the balance’ and the duality of light and dark. it seems many folks believe it is important to maintain ‘the balance’, but i’m having a hard time pinning down exactly what it is and why its so important. so i’m curious to know what it is you think ‘the balance’ is, how do you measure it, how does it relate to the light/dark polarity and what are some concrete examples of how ‘the balance’ plays out in our lives?

personally, i prefer balance as a verb, rather than a noun. its something you do, not something you are. and it must be engaged on multiple fronts simultaneously. if you focus on one balancing act at a time, you run the risk of kicking previous acts out of whack.  balance is not an endgame in and of itself, its a methodology; a framework to most efficiently get to the endgame.  as symbolized by the yin-yang, individual components of ‘the balance’ are meaningless by themselves, it is only when taken in totality and contrasted to one another can we find the relationships between lightness and darkness – and that each carries a seed of the other.

i’m also curious to know (which may or may not relate to the idea of balance), since it seems that many people feel its important to experience both the dark and light sides of their craft, what determines ‘lightness’ or ‘darkness’? what does one do to get in touch with either their light or dark sides?

-justin