We need not fear acknowledging the darkness within us. If you have read Dante’s Divine Comedy, you will remember that Dante described himself as being lost in the dark woods. After a while, he looked up and saw Paradise brilliantly crowning the crest of a nearby mountain. As you and I might have done, he set out to make the climb, but he was stopped by three ferocious beasts, who wouldn’t allow him to go further. Then he learned that, in order to make his way to Paradise, he would have to go through the gloomiest regions of hell. In other words, he would have to face the darkness within himself first.