Creatures of Light: The Relation of Humans to Light
By Mike Downing
September 28, 2011
I have been studying the concept of light for many years and have come to some amazing realizations. Among them, I believe that humans are “creatures of light,” and highly literate in the language of light. We transmit our collective consciousness through fiber optic cables, we interpret the light as it shines through other people’s eyes, and we obviously need sunlight to live and grow, from a biological standpoint. People are said to have auras of light surrounding them. We use light in a variety of ways, often without even being aware of it.
Until now, the study of light has fallen primarily into the realm of the physicist, who describes the physical qualities and behaviors of light. They tell us it is both particle and wave. Light is sometimes emitted by electro-chemical processes and sometimes not. The physicist mostly can tell you what light is not or, more specifically, what is not light.
But why should the study of light be restricted to physicists? My intention is to open the conversation beyond the limitations of hard science. It’s time for other disciplines to chime in on the nature and qualities of light. As you might imagine, there are thousands of references to light that fall outside the realm of hard science. How are those interpretations constructed? What do they have to say about this very important topic?
The second part of my project, as a professor of literature, is to map out the ubiquitous references to light in the worlds of literature, music, and movies and to invite others to extend this project beyond the scope of my abilities. What does the mathematician have to say about light? What about the theologian? What about the biologist, the astronomer, the artist? I would love to hear from all of these disciplines.
Now, when I tell people that I believe humans are “creatures of light,” the reaction is always the same: They wrinkle their eyebrows, study me for a moment, and ask me to repeat myself.
Did you say light…as in sunlight and moonlight?
Yes, that kind of light.
Then, after a second or two, the reaction is always the same. Always. They begin summoning their own personal examples to support my assertion.
They talk about pregnant women being “radiant” or “glowing.” They talk about being “enlightened” vs. being “in the dark.”
They point to the evil Lord Voldemort, who says to the beloved Harry Potter, "Don't you turn your back to me, Harry Potter! I want you to look at me when I kill you! I want to see the light leave your eyes!" (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
It doesn’t matter whether they are particularly religious or not. Conservative or liberal. Young or old. Male or female. They all begin offering examples, based on their experiences.
A devout Catholic said, “We supposedly to go toward the light when we die.”
A photographer friend said, “Photography is all about capturing the light, both inside and out.”
To be certain, my thesis is nothing new. I’m just trying to articulate it in plain language and point to the thousands of references that support it. I believe that if you open yourself to the possibility that human beings are literate in the language of light—and that human consciousness is actually light-based—then the light itself will make the rest of the connections.
In other words, you will see the light.
It makes perfect sense. Astronomers tell us that all matter, including light, comes from stars and our local star, the sun, has coaxed life from a planet that is amenable to supporting myriad forms of life. Therefore, if we conclude that our physical bodies emerge from the dust of the Earth (which is, itself, composed of star dust), then it’s not such a stretch to believe that our consciousness comes from the stars—more specifically the sun—directly in the form of light.
We certainly can’t live without it. We are like little batteries, resting at night when there is no daylight, and active during the day when light is plentiful. This is true for all humans at all times.
Furthermore, we bend light to our purposes all the time. Fiber optic cables are transmitting light at this moment, creating the digital pages that we call the Internet (which is actually nothing more than varying degrees of color and contrast on a monitor). We peer into the light of one another’s eyes to try to understand what dwells within. Light is used in movies all the time to signify intelligence or understanding.
None of this is accidental. It represents our collective intention to represent and connect with other forms of light.
Now, as far as I can tell, the light that drives human consciousness has several essential purposes. The first is animation. Light energy promotes growth. This is as true for photosynthesis in trees and plants as it is for human health and well-being.
In my view, the spirit, animated by light energy, wants to take advantage of its connection to the physical realm (through us) and wants to learn and experience as much as possible before it has to surrender the physical body to its natural death.
Second, light wants to find itself and connect. That’s part of the reason why human beings want and need to interact. That’s why we use light to send messages to one another all day long through our computers. The same is true for eye contact, which is simply light finding itself through the vehicle of the eyes.
The Internet is an amazing example of light—as consciousness—finding itself. If you think about it, the whole of human consciousness is currently available on the Internet. How did that happen? Did someone coordinate the event? Hardly. Instead, it’s a case of individual consciousness uniting in order to participate in collective consciousness carried on packets of light.
Think about all of the people who are peering at monitors right now, talking and texting, and you’ll see how compelling light can be when it comes to finding itself. We strive to find the light in one another. It’s irresistible. (We also strive to create heart-based connections with one another, but that’s another essay altogether).
Since I’m an English professor, I’ve long noted how the worlds of literature, music, and movies are filled with references connecting human consciousness to light. Movies, in particular, are filled with light. It signals hope, because it signals life, because it signals consciousness.
The references are so abundant that I’ve had to break my study into categories: Prose, poetry, music, drama, and movies. The references are everywhere, and once you tune into the references, you’ll chuckle at how ubiquitous they are.
Some examples from the world of literature:
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.”
~Kahlil Gibran
“When you possess light within, you see it externally.”
~Anaïs Nin
“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”
~Maya Angelou
“It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light. If you cut me I could shine”
~Billy Collins
“The light that lies
In a woman’s eyes,
Has been my heart’s undoing.”
~Thomas Moore
He was a burning and a shining light.
~John 5:35
“I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
~Abraham Lincoln
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
~Dylan Thomas
“God’s first creature, which was Light.”
~Francis Bacon, New Atlantis (1626)
“Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and then we'll need no other light.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It’s no fun being married to an electric light.”
~Joe DiMaggio (on being married to Marilyn Monroe)
These quotes barely scratch the surface. There are literally hundreds—thousands—of references to support the premise that human consciousness is light-based…that light dwells within us. I visited Washington, DC not long ago and saw how Thomas Jefferson, drawing on Enlightenment philosophy, spoke regularly about the importance of light. The references are everywhere.
Now, one misconception that I’d like to address before I close is the viewpoint that these literary references to light are “simply” metaphor. First, let’s be clear about the nature of metaphor. Metaphor asserts that two things are the same (whereas analogy implies difference). Therefore, the very use of metaphor indicates that thousands of human authors in a range of genres across time are all actively trying to link human consciousness to light. To dismiss these connections as “cheap” metaphor—some trick of language—is to deny the artistic representations that we claim to value so much.
In addition, all language is metaphor because language refers to things that are not, themselves, those actual things. That’s why we can say flora, fleur, fiore, flower. None of these words is the actual flower and none is the “correct” reference to the physical manifestation. Words, themselves, are metaphors. Therefore, for the physicist to say that literary, language-based, representations of light are metaphor while scientific, language-based, representations are somehow “the truth” is illusory. We must, therefore, take literary references to light into serious consideration and not dismiss them, out-of-hand, as somehow less valid than scientific evidence.
I am merely scratching the surface in this essay. I call upon others from other disciplines to carry forward this work and shine additional light on this subject. Also, as you return to your day, be sensitive to references to light in literature, music, movies and you will begin to see how the topic of light permeates the world around us.
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