From working the path of smoke I see it this way.
Ahriman / Angra Mainyu - The Black Sun, the adversary, the black dragon of chaos, he is the actual darkness eternal.
Then we have the creation of Ahura Mazda, which is weak and holds limitation and stasis. The light of Ahura Mazda is the false spectrum of light, when we harness the powers of darkness as Zanda, we are becoming a vortex.
The vortex we become is very much like the vortex of Arezura and the five hell realms, within the circle of countercreation.
We stand as a nexus of darkness, a forever growing furious and consuming vortex, we then syphon the false light of Ahura Mazda and of creation. Through the forbidden alchemy we perform, we essentially take the light and purify it within the blackened fire of self / Blackened fire of Zohak.
Thereby we are left with real light which is stripped from Ahura Mazdaās influence, that light then fuels us and the darkness. Thereby we are darkness eating the light, the light also fuels the darkness within us.
The Zanda stands in the circle of counter creation, as a nexus of darkness eternal the emotions of the black sun are the divs which live deep within the sorcerer as well as externally.
The Zanda through the power of backward understanding, can understand that darkness is the reason light exists and the light can act as fuel for the blackened fire of spirit.
We thereby harness the true spectrum of light, then we consume that within the darkness.
The mandala / circle of counter-creation, is essentially a vortex for the powers of hell and darkness. The particles of light within this world are consumed and pulled into the vortex, to fuel its growth.
As the Zanda we understand yes the darkness is indeed the greatest catalyst for empowerment upon the path of smoke, however if light is there we strip it of weakness and limitation and use it to fuel us.
So I sort of see a balance, thereby we the Zandaās act like the black sun as darkness shining light and light shining darkness.