Read more: "The night: The nocturnal journey of body and mind"
WHAT is "night"? A mundane answer is that it is the result of a planet rotating under a shining star. But for humans it has always meant much more than that. Night is a strange and special time, not only different from the day but also a place of unorthodox beliefs and behaviours.
If we look at how various cultures imagine the time before the world came into being, it is often conceptualised as a kind of night. Judeo-Christian cultures, for instance, conceive of a world that emerged out of darkness. Many cultures view darkness in negative terms, a time distinguished not only by the absence of light and often warmth, but also by chaos and fear.
But there is another side to the human relationship with the night. ...
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