Growing up, each summer our family would visit Howe Caverns in upstate New York, where you descend 156 feet by elevator into a cave system to be explored by foot and boat. The high point of the tour was the few moments when the guide lights were turned off so we could experience absolute darkness. What arose in me and my brother then was not our expected fear but instead awe and a wild anticipation of what the darkness might reveal. Still, when the lights turned back on, it felt like coming home.

In this new issue, an array of thinkers, artists, and teachers join us on a memorable journey into the profound mysteries of both Darkness and Light. We begin with a celebration of the presence and powers of darkness from former Buddhist monk Deborah Eden Tull. A visit deep within a Mayan cave follows. Light bursts forth with memories of Neem Karoli Baba, guru to many including Ram Dass, and with Parabola editorial director Tracy Cochran’s meditation on the Buddha’s Fire Sermon—followed by a return to the dark in an essay on how we can work with Shadow.

Within the many essays on Darkness and Light are surprises—among them, exercises from renowned Qigong master Robert Peng on renewing energy and increasing awareness; two wonderful stories, one from the Haida tradition, about how Raven brought light to the world, the other Hindu, recounting the drama of the twenty-seven wives of the Moon. There is an interview with Kabbalah expert Stephen Pope; a visit to famed art historian and nun Sister Wendy Beckett; a book review by Cynthia Bourgeault on What Happens in Mindfulness, our annual presentation of the Poetry of the Sacred winners, and much more. The issue closes with Light, as bestselling author Whitley Strieber reconsiders Jesus as The Light of The World.

May this issue guide you well on your own daily journey into light, and darkness, and light again.

—Jeff Zaleski