Light has a physical source in the sun, which can readily be envisioned as a divinity.
But darkness, the absence of light, has no similarly specific source.
Darkness as a qual ity, then, is less often imagined embodied as a goddess, although India provides one in the form of kindly Ratri, sister to the dawn goddess Usas, representing restful night.
The Greeks, too, had a goddess of night, Nyx, a primordial figure who gave birth to the early gods and represented a time before the creation of light.
A similar figure, No¨tt, appears in Scandinavian myth.
Many goddesses are described as having dark skin, usually to emphasize their con nection to the dark fertile soil rather than to indicate their connection to nighttime.
This appears to be the case with the so-called Black Madonnas (see Mary, Eastern Mediterranean), found in an area predominantly occupied by light-skinned people.
Some goddesses of death, such as Sumerian Erishkegal (see Eastern Mediterranean) are described as powers of darkness, apparently because they are associated with the physical inability to see light after death.
Goddesses associated with darkness could be associated with magic, as with Greek Hecate who appeared at the dark of the moon accompanied by black dogs.
Finally, darkness sometimes indicates a peoples natural complexion and has no special symbolic meaning.
Racism is occasionally found in mythology, reflecting soci etal divisions and injustices.
For example, the Indian goddess Parvati, originally dark skinned like many of her worshipers, underwent an initiatory experience in order to attain a presumably more beautiful light skin.
The presumption that ‘‘dark indicates negative forces or even evil is unfounded in most mythologies.
Even when a goddess is connected with death, that does not necessarily indicate that her powers are negative, as death is a natural part of life.
You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.