Darkness and Light: A Perspective of
Dissent from Church Doctrine
By Ahonlo Limn Defray, Dissident
Theologian of the Murean Seminary of Wisdom
Introduction
The Akenian Churches of Light and the Calianite Church of
Dark disagree on almost everything. However, there is one common dogma that
inextricably binds them both together: the belief that Light and Darkness are
absolutely exclusive and oppositional forces.
Traditional dogma holds of the two forces locked in an ever-lasting
tug-of-war for supremacy for all creation. These Twin Churches of Light and Dark are merely opposite on what force
is right; they are in effect reflections of each other.
1The true answers of the Light and Dark have long been out
there for those who have sought them. Deep communion with the forces of Light and Dark has always revealed that their eternal natures are beyond our mortal
comprehension. They exist merely to exist, not to fight each other or any other
activity we mortals can understand.
Thus, we may embrace them as we wish. True, the natures of Light and
Dark may lend them to being embraced more easily in some ways than others, but
we should not equivocate this with a total difference between Light and Dark. Darkness
is neither Chaos nor Evil incarnate; Light is certainly neither Law nor Good
incarnate. After all, whereas the Dark can obscure, only the Light can blind.
Recent events1 have called the official Church credos into question within the public sphere. Skepticism for official Church doctrine is nothing new from both the scholarly and the meditative. However, the collective public consciousness never hurts in getting that needed push for widespread, thoughtful inquiry and evaluation of what previously went unchallenged. I have written this treatise to provide a guide for those mindful enough to look past what they’ve been told about Darkness and Light.
 |
| An encounter a being of both Light and Dark (source) |
Recent events1 have called the official Church credos into question within the public sphere. Skepticism for official Church doctrine is nothing new from both the scholarly and the meditative. However, the collective public consciousness never hurts in getting that needed push for widespread, thoughtful inquiry and evaluation of what previously went unchallenged. I have written this treatise to provide a guide for those mindful enough to look past what they’ve been told about Darkness and Light.
Overview of Church Doctrine
Before I begin extracting the truths and illusions from the
official credos of the Twin Churches, I will present a basic overview of their
theologies of Light and Darkness. The
Profound Darkness, as the Dark is formally referred to, is commonly
associated with personal empowerment,
individual ambition, and entropy. The
Invincible Bright, as the Light is formally referred to, is commonly associated
with collective will, duty, and
preservation of purity. Each
respective Church venerates the concepts that “belongs” to their respective
force and sees these principles at their ultimate truths. As the Profound
Darkness and the Invincible Bright are anathema by nature in these conceptions,
the twin Churches are officially enemies. In reality, the Twin Churches
necessitate the existence of each other simply for some visible valediction of
their existences.
Within their own religions, the Twin Churches have schisms
that curiously mirror one another. Both of the Twins have an older sect that
subscribes to an orthodox set of beliefs and a newer sect that subscribes to
more reformist beliefs.
The Church of Dark is divided between:
* The Tenebralists (the orthodox sect), whom believe that mankind has a sacred duty to the (now exiled)
gods of Darkness by spreading entropy,
and
 |
| A Tenebralist (source) |
and
* The Progressive Penumbra (the reformist sect), whom belief that Darkness the vehicle for achieving individual
enlightenment through power and ambition.
Meanwhile, the Church of Light is divided between
 |
| One of the Progressive Penumbra (source) |
Meanwhile, the Church of Light is divided between
*the Dawn Orthodoxy (the orthodox sect), whom belief that the decree of Light is to eradicate Darkness and
to maintain order through the rule of the wise and the pure
and
 |
| A Knight of the Dawn Orthodoxy (source) |
and
*the Luminaires (the reformist sect), whom belief that Light is the
vehicle for achieving individual enlightenment through collective service and
common good will.
 |
| One of the Luminaires (source) |
It may appear that the Church of Light is all about selflessness and the Church of Darkness is all about selfishness; but that varies on how we define the self. We shall elucidate in the following section.
Light as Discipline; Darkness as
Harmony
Before we begin, let me bring into the conversation a couple
of terms from the discourse of your Barovanian (robo)psychiatrist Dr. Karl von Reinbach
III2
Although overly idealistic, his work has two concepts of basic motivation
that might be useful for our discussion. In terms of motivation, the Wild is our natural, unrestrained
impulses, our baser instincts as it were. On the other hand, the Chain is what we use to restrain the
Wild; the Chain is our learned inhibitions that let us see what behavior is in
accordance with the greater good. Applied
both within the individual soul and within the collective soul (even the soul
of the entire world), acceptance of the natural Wild is called Harmony; restraining with the Chain it
is called Discipline.
We can apply Harmony and Discipline to the Dark and the
Light. The Dark is a passive entity- it exists in the absence of Light. The
Light is an active presence, banishing the Dark. The Dark provides shade and
the freedom to do as one pleases without judgement. Light burns brightly and
focuses attention such that judgement may be passed. Hence, the Light may be characterized as Discipline and the Dark may be
characterized as Harmony.
The Churches of Light and Dark are both essentially selfish
(and maybe a little selfless), though they differ in how. The Church of Dark is fairly obvious- it
focus on elements that benefit the individual self and the dispersal of the
ties that bind. Yet there is an element of essential honest humility lacking in
the Church of Light- the Church of Dark focus more on being in Harmony with the
Wild of their own goals and those of their dark lords more than controlling the
lives of others. The Church of Light, on
the other hand, is all about establishing standards for “the collective good”.
In practice, this means a very hard stance on Discipline- enforcing their Chain
upon the wills other people. The Dawn Orthodoxy is particularly dangerous in
this regard- ancient documents recovered from the depths of the Tower of
Asmodal tell us the Church to have once even considered the God Kings of old as useful tools for social control.
If the Dawn Orthodoxy could have gained control of the God
Kings, the Orthodoxy would’ve had a powerful set of weapons. The Gods Kings
ruled Akenia many millennia before the Churches of Light and Darkness were even
conceived, for the God Kings were the
powers that provided divine power to their servants. Such were the Gods Kings’ power;
many of them could harness and channel both
Light and Dark magic directly from the Invincible Bright and the Profound
Darkness themselves. In order to fully understand how much things have
changed in Akenia, let us go back to the forgotten days of ancient Akenia.
 |
| Although the God Kings had innumerable appearances and personalities, they were always highly dangerous if provoked. (source) |
The True History of Light and
Darkness: The Eternal War has not always been
Perhaps the greatest myth of the Twin Churches’ doctrine is the
Eternal War of Light and Darkness. According
to traditional doctrine, the Light and the Dark have fought since the beginning
of time. Just as adventurers recently toppled the aged titan Asmodal from his
lofty tower perch, so will the information gained from their tower delves topple
the myth of the Eternal War.3
We’ve learned that Asmodal was called the Twilight Prince for a reason; he
born half of the Netherworlds and half of the Heavens. He was a master of both
Light magic and Dark magic, a so-called “Twilight Aligned” being. (Yes, there
is a whole class of users who practice a middle way of both Light and Dark
paths of magic.)
In the days of ancient Akenia, a cabal of ancient
prophet-kings dominated normal man. Their first, and perhaps greatest, was the Iron King. According to the ancient
chronicles, he raised both Calian and Akenia from the murky oceans. So definite
was the power of these enlightened sages, priesthoods and cults surrounded
these powerful figures and kinged them as gods.
Back in those heady days of yore, there was no separate
Churches of Light or Darkness. Rather, the God Kings could dispense out
channeled power of either force, essentially acting as middlemen of magic
power. There was no need for a separate understanding of Light or Dark, at
least not until the Great Wars of
Rebellion.
The End of the Age of
Gods and Kings and the Beginning of the Age of Light and Darkness
As with all dynasties since their time, somewhere down the
line the immortal God Kings lost their way. Or humanity grew proud and
rebellious. The ancient sources are unclear, but whatever the case, relations
between the God Kings and their subjects began to fray. Things became worse when Iron King had a
falling out with one of his most powerful contemporaries, the Goddess of Hope,
over the fate of humanity. Supposedly, the Goddess saw the greed and arrogance
the Iron King began to show as he claimed the Profound Darkness. Now fully a
servant of the Invincible Bright, the Goddess shed her divine mantle and simply
became the Madokami we know today,
ultimately siding with the rebellious humans.
Although the Iron King was now profoundly a servant of the
Dark and the Madokami a servant of the Light, it is important to note that
neither the mortals nor the God Kings were totally aligned with either Light or
Dark. However, with the war against the God Kings removing the “divine”
middleman, truly understanding the forces of magic became an important thing. Thus,
research into Light and Dark magic began for the first time somewhere between
the start of humanity’s dissent against the God Kings and the defeat of
Asmodal, the champion the God Kings sent as vengeance for their defeat.
The Twin Churches began simply as one church, but politics
intervened. Like the Iron King and Madokami before them, the relations between
one-time associates turned into bitter loathing. This time it was blood against
blood. Pyrus the Great, once of the
heroes who sealed away Asmodal in the Tower and the founder of the Church of Light, did something awful to provoke
the wrath of Kaius, his sister. She
disowned him and went onto become the
founder of her own church: the Church of Dark.
Conclusion
As we come to the end of this treatise, we must make sure we
look upon the past and toss aside the dogmas that would rid us of our mindfulness. We must know that regardless of whether
things become too Bright or too Dark, we will still be unable to see if we let
them get out of control.
Let us not think we can live without both Dark and Light. Let us not repeat the mistakes of far-off worlds who cast aside one for the other. Let us learn from the mistake of the brain-eating darkness-dwellers in snuffing out the hated sun. True, they were now in the total Dark of night, but without Light they destroyed themselves by wiping out the chain of life that gave them all their tasty brains. And let us not be like all those Sky-Cultists who sought to commune with the heavens only to be roasted by the Light they so stridently pulled towards. Alas, these are stories for different times, different places.
As a final message, let me speak to you of how Dark and Light can exist side by side, a new school of thought that blooms with their coexistence. I speak of that of Shadow. Shadow is neither all Dark nor all Light, neither thesis nor antithesis, but rather the synthesis of both. I urge you to explore Shadow and think upon how you might find your right balance of Light and Dark.
Notes
1 For a record of these events, I point the reader to the various Travel Guides by Valentine MacGee, especially his guides to Asmodal Tower. Sadly, MacGee is neither of sound mind nor of unbiased judgement, but he has compiled the most thorough body of work known to me.↩ <
2 Reprogramming: The Automaton's Construction of the Self; written by Dr. Karl von Reinbach III, PhD., M.D., D.D.T; published by Puella Publishing (a division of Puella's Item Emporium), unfortunately not as of yet released to the general public↩
3 Although I have consulted Valentine MacGee's Travelogue to Asmodal Tower as one of my written sources, rest assured I have verified all knowledge included in this article through the most diligent of conferences with the former inhabitants of the Tower. References available upon request.↩
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