Enlightening Endarkenment: selected web resources on the challenge to comprehension

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Introduction

This is an exercise in detecting web resources referring in some way to "endarkenment" ("ensombrement" in French, or "Verfinsterung" in German). These are marked below with ##. Within the quoted phrases containing such a reference, "endarkenment" is placed in bold font for convenience -- even though this was not done in the original version. The resources were selected because of the insights into usage rather than because they formed part of a comprehensive study of the question by a recognized authority. The length of any quotation included is such as to give a sense of context for the particular understanding of endarkenment.

The items selected are tentatively clustered into 10 different "modes" of understanding of "endarkenment" as contrasted with "enlightenment". These modes are further clustered into 4 "groups". The clustering, discussed below, is also tentatively associated with the insights into enlightenment and endarkenment offered by the 10 Zen Ox-herding pictures. It is also tentatively related to the insights from depth psychology regarding the alchemical process, notably that of the nigredo.