Editing Black (section)

===Religion===
In [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Christian theology|theology]], black was the color of the universe before God created light. In many religious cultures, from [[Mesoamerica]] to [[Oceania]] to India and Japan, the world was created out of a primordial darkness.<ref>Stefano Zuppi, ''Color in Art'', pp.&nbsp;268–69.</ref> In the [[Bible]] the light of faith and Christianity is often contrasted with the darkness of ignorance and paganism.

[[File:BenedictineVespers.jpg|thumb|Modern-day monks of the [[Order of Saint Benedict]] in New Jersey]]
In Christianity, the [[Devil in Christianity|devil]] is often called the "prince of darkness". The term was used in [[John Milton]]'s poem ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', published in 1667, referring to [[Satan]], who is viewed as the embodiment of evil. It is an English translation of the Latin phrase ''princeps tenebrarum'', which occurs in the ''[[Acts of Pilate]]'', written in the fourth century, in the 11th-century [[hymn]] ''Rhythmus de die mortis'' by [[Pietro Damiani]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/(testiID)/9941C91390B5688BC125709F002D7C68!opendocument |title=Petrus Damiani: Opera poetica Pag 89 |publisher=Uan.it |date=19 October 2005 |access-date=7 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215011404/http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/(testiID)/9941C91390B5688BC125709F002D7C68!opendocument |archive-date=15 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in a sermon by [[Bernard of Clairvaux]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.binetti.ru/bernardus/86_1.shtml |title="Sermones in Cantica canticorum, I–XVII" – Bernardus Claraevallensis |publisher=Binetti.ru |access-date=7 November 2012 |archive-date=3 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103040140/http://www.binetti.ru/bernardus/86_1.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> from the 12th century. The phrase also occurs in ''[[King Lear]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]] ({{Circa|1606}}), Act III, Scene IV, l. 14:
'The prince of darkness is a gentleman."

Priests and pastors of the Roman Catholic, [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Protestant]] churches commonly wear black, as do [[monks]] of the [[Benedictine Order]], who consider it the color of humility and penitence.
* In [[Islam]], black, along with green, plays an important symbolic role. It is the color of the [[Black Standard]], the banner that is said to have been carried by the soldiers of [[Muhammad]]. It is also used as a symbol in [[Shi'a Islam]] (heralding the advent of the [[Mahdi]]), and the flag of followers of [[Islamism]] and [[Jihadism]].
* In [[Hinduism]], the goddess [[Kali]], goddess of time and change, is portrayed with black or dark blue skin. wearing a necklace adorned with severed heads and hands. Her name means "The black one". She destroys anger and passion according to Hindu mythology and her devotees are supposed to abstain from meat or intoxication.<ref>{{cite web|title=Goddess Kali never accepts nonvegetarian food because she is the chaste wife of Lord Siva|url=http://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Goddess_Kali_never_accepts_nonvegetarian_food_because_she_is_the_chaste_wife_of_Lord_Siva|publisher=Vani Quotes|access-date=7 December 2014|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305121455/http://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Goddess_Kali_never_accepts_nonvegetarian_food_because_she_is_the_chaste_wife_of_Lord_Siva|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kali FAQ|url=http://www.shreemaa.org/questions-answers-goddess-kali/|access-date=7 December 2014|archive-date=9 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209162730/http://www.shreemaa.org/questions-answers-goddess-kali/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Stefano Zuffi, ''Color in Art'', p. 275.</ref> Kali does not eat meat, but it is the śāstra's injunction that those who are unable to give up meat-eating, they may sacrifice one goat, not cow, one small animal before the goddess Kali, on amāvāsya (new moon) day, night, not day, and they can eat it.
* In [[Paganism]], black represents dignity, force, stability, and protection. The color is often used to banish and release negative energies,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magical Properties of Colors|url=https://wiccaliving.com/magical-properties-colors/|access-date=28 January 2021|website=Wicca Living|language=en-US}}</ref> or binding. An [[athame]] is a ceremonial blade often having a black handle, which is used in some forms of [[witchcraft]].<ref>Farrar, Janet and Farrar, Stewart. ''The Witches' Way'' (1984) (published as Part 2 of ''A Witches' Bible'', 1996) Custer, Washington, US: Phoenix Publishing Inc. {{ISBN|0-919345-92-1}} p.253</ref>