What Exactly Is—The Dark Night Of The Soul?
The Dark Night Of The Soul is the space between who you were and who you will become; it is the becoming. At this time in your personal journey you are being asked to completely let go of your old self. To step into the darkness to develop, embrace and masticate the shadow into light; to experience a more enlightened sense of self. In letting go of your old self; you will enter the darkness where the “old you” will be stripped away and no longer exist. This can feel excruciating and scary; but during this process the “new you” will be constructed. Though it may not feel like it at the time, you will come together again. But, first – you must surrender and simply allow yourself to fall pieces..
During a Dark Night Of The Soul the individual stays intact, even though the hurt and pain feel unbearable and unending. The soul knows on some level that their is purpose to the pain and that they must navigate their way through it to move along. It is a kind of initiation, a rite of passage taking you from one phase of life into another. You may experience several dark nights in the course of your life because you are always evolving as a human; experiencing life more fully. At least, that is the hope. This initiation—or rite of passage is the evolution of the soul; a stage in personal development when a person undergoes a difficult and significant transition to a deeper perception of life and takes their place within it.
It creates a spiritual depression, a kind of existential crisis, that requires a deep and often painful dive into oneself and ones life that must be experienced before the advancement along the path towards enlightenment can be made.
How To Know If You Are Going Through The Dark Night Of The Soul—
(these are just a few examples but many more signs and symptoms exist)
Extreme sadness with no explanation as to why you are sad.
Uncontrollable crying.
A feeling of emptiness.
Loss of motivation in activities you once enjoyed.
A loss of appetite or a need to binge-eat.
Insomnia or sleeping too much.
No desire for sex.
Withdrawn from loved ones/community.
Feelings of despair + destruction.
Feeling lost and alone.
Insomnia.
Behaviours of addiction and dependency.
You become aware of your own powerlessness – both over the world around you and your innermost self.
You feel a need to “purge” yourself of material possessions and downsize your life.
You feel completely helpless to change your situation and you are totally hopeless that it will ever change.
During your journey through the unknown you will feel as though you have been abandoned by The Great Spirit. Even if you don’t consider yourself a believer, you will feel a wretched emptiness that leaves you feeling as if you have been cut off from your own life force. This is what the darkness is all about. It is the souls work at one of its purest forms. In the darkness, you will feel as if you are going absolutely insane. Everything you ever thought you knew about life will be called into question and be up for review. The very building blocks of who you are as a human being will tumble and fall and need to be rebuilt. You will question humanity and your place in it. You will question your purpose and seek belonging in all the ways.
You will feel confused, bewildered, angry, desperate, helpless, hopeless and lost. And, although it is difficult to understand, it is in this all-consuming darkness that things will begin to make sense to you for the first time. No logical sense can be made of what happens during The Dark Night Of The Soul; it is the unfolding of a great infinite mystery that is imparted upon a chosen few. You are simply learning to be in the darkness, the unknown and the uncomfortable. There is nothing for you to do there; you are only required to be and the rest will innately be done unto you.
“It's always darkest before the dawn” —Thomas Fuller
When your Dark Night Of The Soul gives way to the Light of Tomorrow, this will all make sense. You will have experienced a healing that transcends all understanding and has transformed you on every level. There is no real way for me to share with you the understanding I have since moving through that time in my life, it’s experiential and something one can only truly know for them self once they have gone through it. Leaning in and lighting up my own darkness is where I found inner peace, freedom and unconditional love. It is here where I confronted my rage, my grief, my suffering and myself. It was in this darkness that I learned that I am never alone. My Higher Power, my guides are always with me, and I am part of a greater collective whole, part of humanity. Life makes sense to me now in a whole new and exciting way. I can tell you that, today, my life has never been better. I know who I am. I am filled with passion and purpose; dedicated, awake and consciously creating my life.
I am awake. I am in constant flow with spirit. I have the sacred opportunity to share my story in hopes of igniting light within the lives of those around me that are willing to plunge into the depths of darkness in the quest for inner light. It was here in my Dark Night Of The Soul that my darkness was morphed into a message of hope and my pain turned into purpose.I would not trade one minute of my agonizing Dark Night experience. Every single moment had value and meaning – even though I may not have seen it at the time. The darkness propelled me into a new dimension of living – one that I never thought was possible.
Today, I am grateful for everything that experience taught me.
