The Hidden Spirituality Of The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal 

So I know this series is called Hidden Spirituality but as many of you in the comments have pointed out… At some point we have to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that especially with some of these movies, we really ought to name it “Obvious Spirituality”, and the Dark Crystal is definitely one of those kinds of films. 

Also - let it be known that this episode will specifically be exploring the original film of The Dark Crystal, we are not going to be getting into the Netflix Prequel Series at this time, although I’m certain that it would make for some great content. And to that end, Spoiler Warning, but you knew that already, didn’t you? 

So in essence, The Dark Crystal is basically an hour and a half long magical adventure through a world of mysticism, alchemy, and astrology - in a world entirely different from our own, and yet a beautiful reflection of our own inner consciousness.

The story begins by describing that a thousand years ago, there was planetary conjunction that brought about great change. The narrator describes that the great Crystal cracked, and a single shard was lost, creating chaos. This is a spiritual reference to our own collective consciousness and our relationship with the eternal oneness, in the sense that we ourselves have been disconnected from the greater whole. It also seems to be subtly relating to the fall of Lucifer or the idea of a fallen consciousness. In the Bible, Lucifer was said to fall from heaven, becoming separate from the Oneness and creating evil in the world. It is when the great crystal cracks and the shard is separated, that the Oneness becomes fragmented, and two races appear, the Skeksis, and the Urru, but the film simply refers to them as Mystics.

When this happened, the evil Skeksis took control of the crystal castle, and this is also related to us today in that there are those in power today who wield it for evil or selfish purposes, which is the nature of the Skeksis. We also hear the line that the Crystal hangs above a chasm of Air and Fire, both of which are alchemical forces relating to spiritual and mental energy, there is no water or emotional energy where the Skeksis are. There are - however, Sacred Geometry and other Alchemy symbols all over the crystal castle.

Now, it is only at the end it is revealed that the Skeksis and Mystics were originally one species, the UrSkek, these wise alien superbeings, who created a symbiotic relationship with the crystal, but that in their arrogance they unwittingly caused the crystal to crack, splitting themselves into two lesser states, the Skeksis, and the Mystics. 

This is a Qabalistic lesson in the Tree of Life too - for the Urskek represent the path of harmony, aligned in the middle of the tree, and who made a mistake on the journey, causing them to polarize to an extreme on the left and right-hand path. The path of severity, and the path of mercy. 

The Skeksis become the path of severity, being cruel, intense, sharp, and violent. The Mystics become the path of Mercy, who lives in a dream of natural peace, rehearsing the old rituals with forgetfulness, and the ancient wisdom is almost lost. 

Another way of looking at these races, however, is as two aspects of our selves. The Skeksis are our lower self, the survival-based fear-driven mentality that compels us to act in selfish and cruel ways to one another, where the mystics are our higher selves, but who are often so gentle and soft that it’s nearly impossible to hear or understand what’s really going on with them. Thus, when they are harmonized as the UrSkek, they describe a unified being, the higher and lower selves united in the heart. 

However, we must also acknowledge then that since they are two sides of the greater whole, there are qualities of Skeksis that are not actually bad. Qualities like sharpness, passionate intensity, or generally being opportunists, are qualities that do value in the world, such as mental sharpness, or passionately being engaged in something meaningful - however, the challenge with the Skeksis is that these qualities are all paired with cruelty. 

And likewise with the Mystics, while we look at them as the good guys, and certainly, they are - they are slow and forgetful, they don’t care much for anything other than just doing their old rituals even though they have mostly forgotten them. There’s a beautiful lesson here is that Truth and Wisdom come when the darkness and the light dissolve into One. 

Now, The Dark Crystal also speaks to us in another way, reminding us of our place in the world and society right now, in that we are in a time of great change. The narrator explains at the beginning that the time of testing has come, for it is time for the world to heal, or to pass into a neverending realm of darkness. This is explored by the nature of prophecy, and how prophecy comes about at all.

You see, the Dark Crystal explores the idea that the astrological movements of the celestial bodies have an energetic effect on the world, just as we today understand that the gravity of the moon has an effect on our emotional states. The Dark Crystal explains that by understanding the movements of the celestial bodies, they could see patterns and cycles that reflect events that take place on the planet, and that a thousand years ago there was a conjunction of the 3 suns, and that when it happened again in another thousand years, we would either pass into a time of healing or neverending darkness, depending on the outcome of the events. 

We see this elaborated further by Aughra, who explains that the conjunction simply means a time of change, sometimes things get better, sometimes things get worse. It’s not that the Astrology determines these things, simply that it is a reflection of the times of transformation, cycles, and these changes happen in the microcosm as well. Aughra says that it’s the end of the world, or the beginning, end, and beginning - same thing. I swear, she was probably this close to saying “As Above, So Below” before the beetle-borg rush in...  That’s what they’re called, right? 

Now, on another level, this movie is just riddled with truth bombs in just the best way, and sometimes these lines are so fast that you only catch them if you’re already attentively aware of what’s going on. For example, when Jen first meets Aughra, she asks “ “Who sent you?” “My master” “where is he? Somewhere around here?” “he’s dead” “Hm could be anywhere then”. 

Honestly, it’s such a funny line, yet it really aligns with so many ancient wisdom teachings that say when we die, our consciousness, the energy of our being merges with everything, and can move freely throughout existence. 

But the best, deepest truth bomb in this movie, and honestly is in the running for the deepest truth bomb in ANY movie EVER- is this one! 

Maybe laugh about it.  

Now, of course, this movie revolves around the characters Jen and Kira, who go on the adventure to restore the shard to the dark crystal. We discover that when they touch, they engage in a telepathic connection of sharing their memories, which they call dream fasting. While their experience was very intense and visual, we do see this happening in subtle ways on earth, when two people who share a deep soul connection meet - they feel as though they have known each other all their lives, or have this deep intuitive and seemingly psychic connection with each other. 

Now, throughout the film, there’s a bunch of adventure and drama and what have you but lets a laser in on the ending for a moment. Jen restores the crystal, and the mystics and skeksis merge together. However, Kira has been killed in the process, and as she lay there fallen in Jen's arms, we have yet another deep and profound truth-bomb. 

The newly restored Urkeks say to Jen: Hold her too you, she is part of you as we are all apart of each other. BOOM! I mean, does that even need elaboration? Well, in case it does - scientifically today we actually can identify that all of us are apart of the same quantum energy field that makes up all things and that our energy is intimately intertwined and connected, and at this energetic level, there is no separation between us, even if we feel that there is. Further, this scene demonstrates the power of love to create and build those connections, because it is through the wisdom of the Urskeks and the Love of Jen that restores Kira to live. 

Finally, our last truth bomb - The urskeks leave us with the restored Crystal of Truth, and remind us clearly, to make your world in its light. This is a powerful lesson and reminder for us all, that we must learn to embody the light of truth and to make the world with the wisdom we gain from its glory.