What's in the Dark

I am now in Georgia, the far Eastern European practically Euro-Asian country. I have not been in this new territory long and with the limited experiences I've had I am still in the dark about the possibilities of this place. What I am clear on, however, is what I remember about my final experiences in Turkey. 

I witnessed these Whirling  Dervish men performing their sacred ceremony, Sema 

I visited, again, an ancient cave-dwelling-valley, where I spent one night in a cave that I had spent many nights before; Yet, this time I was disturbed by something....

When all alone in darkness many things appear. The immediate silence all around is a clear backdrop for the crickets, breathing, and the subtle movements of the wild. These elements are the wake-up call for the companion of the dark. Even the shifting of your own foot, making an unfamiliar noise, can arouse fear. 

In the darkness there are moments of clarity, when the empty space around one's eyes is like a blanket for the mind. With peace the silence and songs of the night are a lullaby. Always, though, the ominous blank canvas gives room for creation, and rarely in the dark are the forms of art lovely. 

In the uniform black it is so easy to become restless, anxious, and on edge. In the dark you are blind and your hearing is your only sight. One altercation to the silence or the crickets and the heart hits the bottom of the chest. Inhales are shallow and one can't release the breath. Pressure is built from the throat down, through your gut and into each toe-tip until your body is compact, full of tension. All but the head, where the mind is spinning loosely, freely fueling the fear.You close your eyes as if the blackness behind the eye-lids can be different and safer than the unknown in natures dark. 

The most dangerous thing here, in your oppressed moment is the imagination. A man with a knife comes to steal your possessions  A mad, reason-less man comes to express violent acts. A friendly curious man accidentally seeming like the other two. Powerful-reckless authority coming to twist the innocent into dangerous. Sleep strains to win over, but a woman in the mind whispers, "there is someone out there."

Then, a wild horse galloping aimlessly in the night; a stallion ridden by a veiled figure, sword in hand. They buck hooves over where you lay. The risen dead, thousands, watching  disturbed, angry, grabbing you with invisibility, blocking you from escaping, bring you torturous pain. 

Open your eyes to escape yourself. You check the reality to release the poisoned air in your lungs. With searching and straining your sight to check all the possibilities the eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. In this new found grey world the perception begins to adjust as well. Now, in the darkness the unknown turns to an absence of all things. All that is left in the night is peace. And finally dawn breaks with the first brush of light. It sweeps away the dormant companion who waits for the twig to snap, waits to leap out of the eyes where sight would normally be. When darkness begins to leave fear is swept away.  

***

I reached a mountain built around a monastery closer to the heavenly eyes looking down upon us

 In the Black Sea Mountains, I crossed the path of this little Turkish friend who told me that I traveled through Turkey quite sluggishly, but he did not hide that he was feeling blue about me leaving.

 The winter is nearly here and the mammals of the hills are growing their thick coats, and in this time of gathering layers of warmth I hope to shed some light on the shadows of Georgia.