mirror of light, dark

I came across an interesting concept in a novel I am reading, Kushiel's Scion, that struck a chord for me. It talked about a group or person being a mirror of the light or of the dark for a person. That someone can even be both. It would take an awareness of self to look and a courageous heart to keep looking into that mirror. It reminds me of the path to growth where resistance must be confronted and allowed to move through it. What also got my attention was the group part of that mirror concept. Who mirrors groups I belong to? How about on a large scale, my country? How about for religious groups? An example I see of that comes from a blog, Quaker-Pagan Reflections, and its writers' interactions with more typical Quakers. I see the two groups, Quakers and Pagans, being mirrors of both the light and the dark for each other. Pagans can unabashedly embrace the ecstatic connection to the divine which Quakers appear to struggle to keep quiet. Quakers are much more willing to put the "leadings" of the divine to the community to test their truth whereas Pagans can go with individual "spirit told me" ideas and not test their truth within community. I think Zen has something to say about these kinds of mirrors and I just picked up a book last night that speaks to it, The Zen of Creativity, thanks wife for bringing it home. I will continue reading both and see what I find. Also I will look in the mirror.

Peace, Jim