Dark Night of the Soul
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Dark Night of the Soul is a term used to describe a specific phase in a person's spiritual life. It is used as a metaphor to describe the experience of loneliness and desolation that can occur during psychic or spiritual growth.
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The term and metaphysicality of the phrase "dark night of the soul" are taken from the writings of the Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross, a Carmelite priest in the 16th century. Dark Night of the Soul is the name of both a poem, and a commentary on that poem, and are among the Carmelite priest's most famous writings. They tell of his mystic development and the stages he went through on his quest for holiness.
The "dark night" could generally be described as a letting go of our ego's hold on the psyche, making room for change that can bring about a complete transformation of a person's way of defining his/her self and their relationship to God. The interim period can be frightening, hence the perceived "darkness". In the Christian tradition, during the "dark night" one who has developed a strong prayer life and consistent devotion to God suddenly finds traditional prayer extremely difficult and unrewarding for an extended period of time. The individual may feel as though God has suddenly abandoned them, or that their prayer life has collapsed.
Rather than being a negative event, the dark night is believed by mystics and others to be a blessing in disguise where the individual is trained to grow from vocal and mental prayer, to a deeper contemplative prayer of the soul. Particularly in Christianity, it is seen as a severe test of one's faith. The Dark Night comes in two phases: a first "Night of the Senses," and a second "Night of the Spirit."
[edit] In popular culture
Singer/songwriter Loreena McKennitt used "Dark Night of The Soul" as inspiration for the song of the same name on her 1994 LP The Mask and Mirror.
Author and humorist, Douglas Adams satirized the phrase with the title of his 1988 Science Fiction novel, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.
"The Dark Night of the Soul" is the eleventh track on the album "Guilt Show" by The Get Up Kids
"In the real dark night of the soul, it is always 3 o'clock in the morning." The Crack Up, F. Scott Fitzgerald
[edit] See also
- Religious experience
- Christian Meditation
- Psychology of religion
- Kohlberg's stages of moral development
- Loevinger's stages of ego development
[edit] References
- The chapter entitled "The Dark Night of the Soul" from Evelyn Underhill's Mysticism at Gnostic.org.
- Underhill, Evelyn. (re-issue 1999). Mysticism Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-196-5.
[edit] Further reading
- May, Gerald G. (2004). The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-055423-1.
[edit] External links
- Text of Dark Night of the Soul from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- Poem and text of Dark Night of the Soul From The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, revised edition (1991), ICS Publications.
- Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals. Book by Thomas Moore (2004) Gotham Press
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
- Online verson of Dark Night of the Soul
