Greetings to you, dear Rouds, I’ve sweated out a little something here for the other participants :)))!
A dark retreat
As soon as I first heard about darkness therapy, I was immediately drawn to living through an experience like that. On YouTube I listened to a few other people’s experiences – the documentary ” V objetí tmy” is reeeally lovely – and I also read Jaroslav Dušek’s book “Tvarytmy”. Trained up like this, one Saturday I set off on my own journey through the dark to the Roud family, whose website had convinced me I would be in the very best care.
After a warm welcome from the family and their beautiful doggies, I carefully looked over my future sanctuary ( all my fears of spiders lurking in some corner melted away – everything was spotlessly clean, bright and easy to find your way around in the dark) and my week-long journey through the dark began with switching off the light.
Uncompromising darkness
The darkness was total, one hundred per cent and uncompromising, the kind we can never experience in the city. I asked it to be friendly to me, to be my companion and to protect me all week, and it really did…..no fears, no unpleasant experiences and no worries about such a long time in the dark came over me the whole time. Instead I had strange light experiences – I called them 3D wallpapers – when various patterns formed on the walls and ceiling, for example stone walls like in a cave, or ornate grilles, also various bits of furniture and pictures, floral wallpaper….and it all seemed to stand out from the walls and tilt the walls and the ceiling, which might slope downwards….it was incredibly interesting, and a trip to the toilet, for example, was sometimes a great adventure – but it all happened only in grey, not very sharp shades. I suppose everyone experiences the dark differently, though; for me it was a calming, thoughtful, meditative time that you just can’t find in the ordinary hustle and bustle of daily life.
Tomáš and Lenka took wonderful care of the three of us (in three cabins). Their arrival, at a different time each day, was an anchor point for me telling me that another day had passed, and the second half of the stay, for me at least, began to go by faster.
The end of the dark retreat
Suddenly the morning came when once again….very, very slowly…I saw the immense beauty of being in the light, which anyone who hasn’t spent a longer time in the dark takes completely for granted. The darkness gave me great humility, awareness and a feeling of happiness that I can be a small part of this beauty, which we are given the chance to experience again and again every day.
Thank you, Tomáš and Lenka, for this unique and wonderful experience. I recommend a dark retreat to everyone, because when you come out into the light, life’s values get shuffled a little differently :)))!
With a smile, love and humility, greetings to you all, Věra.
