Dark Nights of the Soul

I want to include this section for anyone who may be suffering through a period of spiritual confusion, severe doubt, or dark & oppressive heaviness. If that feels like you, I realize that some of the other sharings on this page may not resonate right now—and that's understandable. I hope these next few paragraphs bring you a glimmer of hope & light, and remind you that your dark night will not last forever. Nor is it without purpose, wisdom, and meaning. 

What is a Dark Night of the Soul?
A dark night of the soul is very different from ordinary depression, cerebral anxiety, or circumstantial grief. A spiritual dark night can be thought of as a form of soul guidance, there to let you know it's time to break free from beliefs, perceptions, and identities that are no longer serving your highest becoming. Soul guidance doesn't always arrive as peaceful messages and angelic visions; it may also come through upheaval—through stress, illness, despair, confusion, or any other route to get our attention. Sometimes this dark night comes because we haven't been listening to our soul's more subtle nudges; other times, this period of confusion is entirely out of our control, and nothing we could have done differently would have changed the dark night we are destined to travel through.
 
During a spiritual dark night, which could actually be many long nights, you may confront the deep contents of your inner world while confronting your fears, integrating your shadow, and challenging false 'gods' you've clung to (who often do not give up their hold without a fight.) This requires great faith and stamina, but the perseverance is worth it because you are clearing space to allow more truth, grace, and Divinity to move through you.

True spiritual expansion begins when we release our tendencies toward fantasy, attachment, domination, trauma-identification, greed, manipulation, egoic desires, and false perceptions of self & world. When these fall away, clarity arrives. And with clarity comes healing—not only for yourself, but for others. You become a vessel for love, faith, and service. 
 
For many people, a dark night of the soul is not just a crises; it's an initiation along their spiritual journey. Mystics, shamans, healers—those called to deep spiritual work—often pass through it. As Caroline Myss says: the path of the mystic involves an enormous capacity to bear the truth, as the mystic must be detached from the illusions of the physical world, in order to see symbolically.

Myss explains that lessons on the path of the mystic are lessons in physical, emotional, and spiritual loss & disempowerment, followed by rebirth to a new relationship to power. Through anguish and ecstasy, mystics gain access to Spirit that is so profound, they become capable of breathing divine energy into ordinary words and acts—and they become able to heal others through acts of genuine love and faith. She says that before this can occur, crossing to the underworld is necessary so that the mystic can understand, from an experiential vantage point, the madness, darkness, sickness, disillusionment, and pain of humankind; for it is only from truly understanding an illness that the antidote is revealed.

The 16th-century Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross, was the first to refer to a spiritual crisis as a "dark night of the soul." He knew that because so few people can endure direct contact with heaven, God intended to strengthen them before offering them the ultimate gift: experiencing heaven on Earth.
 
If you are experiencing a period of spiritual confusion that feels like a dark night of the soul, I'm here to help guide you across those trenches, through the dark, and toward the awaiting dawn.

Until then, remember: this too shall pass. And when it does, you'll emerge feeling more alive than ever before, with newfound wisdom, capacity, strength, clarity, and peace.

The dark night of the soul is transient, as all of existence is.