Are you " SCURD" of the Dark??? Part 2 of 3

In part one of the “Scared of the Dark” series; we explored the physiological aspects of fear. What happens when something scares us sets off a cascade of activities in our bodies with the end resulting in running, hiding, screaming or maybe…fighting?

In part two of the series we will discuss some factors that make us so afraid of the dark. Some of these factors are beliefs and practices that have been handed down from generation to generation and are still as formidable today as they were thousands of years ago.

First let’s determine the degrees of darkness. On a scale of 1-9, where class 1 is the darkest night possible (the Australian outback would be considered a class 1), and a class 9 would be the skyline of NYC at night (well lit). In the continental United States, there is no class of darkness lower than a class 2. In order to get to a class 1 area, you would have to sail 300 miles into the ocean past the curvature of the earth and maybe, just maybe, you will be surrounded by a class 1 night. Even in the middle of the ocean, engulfed in utter darkness, you would still only be able to observe 1% of the stars Galileo had seen when he roamed the earth.

What are some of the fears and worries about darkness that haunted our ancestors so long ago and still threaten us today? To answer this question we are going to have to take a virtual trip across time and seas to strange and exotic lands. Ready, close your eyes, here we go. The following are eight origins to reasons we are afraid of the dark:

East Africa – 10,000 years ago, darkness of night = class 2 (one of the darkest regions on earth). What fear plague the people of East Africa when darkness falls??

1. FEAR OF BEING EATEN ALIVE – 10,000 years ago, lions, hyenas and leopards could be found in abundance in Eastern Africa. Being these predatory animals hunt at night and there were and are few places to hide in the African terrain, it is no wonder that more than 100 Africans a year are killed by lions. In early times, 6-10% of humans became food to these predators.

Jerusalem – 100 AD, darkness of night = class 4. What goes bump to the Israelis when the sun goes down??

2. Could it be…SATAN – Before 100 AD the idea of Satan was as abstract the Easter Bunny, but something changed and Satan became a physical being…a physical being that was most active at night. People of this time believed that Satan stalked the night. This was a problem because artificial lighting i.e. lanterns and candles were items only the rich could afford, so only the rich were safe from Satan’s presence. The poor improvised with rags soaked in bacon fat, then lit for a make shift, short lived means of light. It was this solution or shaking in the dark waiting to hear Satan’s hooves scraping on the dirt floors of their cottages.

To be continued…

The History Channel “Afraid of the Dark,” aired 2010

Image of Satan: forbiddenplanet.co.uk