[banditorfv]

The Dark Night of the Soul
Fra.: Apfelmann



"The Dark Night of the Soul" is the name given to that experience of spiritual desolation that all students of the Occult pass through at one time or another. It is sometimes characterized by feelings that your occult studies or practices are not taken you anywhere, that the initial success that one is sometimes granted after a few months of occult working, has suddenly dried up. There comes a desire to give up on everything, to abandon exercises and meditation, as nothing seems to be working. St.John of the Cross. a christian mystic, said of this experience, that it…

"...puts the sensory spiritual appetites to sleep, deadens them, and deprives them of the ability to find pleasure in anything. It binds the imagination, and impedes it from doing any good discursive work. It makes the memory cease, the intellect become dark and unable to understand anything, and hence it causes the will to become arid and constrained, and all the faculties empty and useless. And over this hangs a dense and burdensome cloud, which afflicts the soul, and keeps it withdrawn from the good."


Though the beginner may view the onset of such an experience with alarm (I know I did), the "Dark Night" is not something bad or destructive. In one sense it may be seen as a trial, a test by which the Gods examine our resolve to continue with occult work, and if you are not completely whole-hearted about your magical studies, it is during this period (at its beginning) that you will give up. The Dark Night of the Soul should be welcomed, once recognized for what it is (I have always received an innate "warning" just before the onset of such a period), as a person might welcome an operation that will secure health and well-being. St.John of the Cross embraced the soul`s Dark Night as a Divine Appointment, calling it a period of "sheer grace" and adding;

"O guiding Night,
O Night more lovely than Dawn,
O Night that has united the lover with his beloved
Transforming the Lover in her Beloved."


When entering the Dark Night one is overcome by a sense of spiritual dryness and depression. The notion, in some quarters, that all such experiences should be avoided, for a peaceful existence, shows up the superficiality of so much of contemporary living. The Dark Night is a way of bringing the Soul to stillness, so that deep psychic transformation may take place. All distractions must be set aside, and it is no good attempting to fight or channel the bursts of raw energy that from time to time may course through your being. This inner compulsion to set everything aside results in the outer depression, when nothing seems to excite.

The only thing to do is obey your inner voice and become still, waiting for the inner transformation, (which the "Dark Night" heralds), to take place. You may not be aware for a very long time of the results of that inner change, but when the desire to work comes again and the depression lifts, the Dark Night has (for a moment) passed. No one can help during this time, and in many cases there is hardly anyone to turn for advice. One must disregard the well-meaning advice of family and friends to "snap out of it" this is no ordinary depression, but a deep spiritual experience which only those who have passed through themselves (in other words to a magical retreat) but for many, as the routines of everyday life prohibits this, all you can do is cultivate an inner solitude, a stillness and silence of heart, and wait, (like a chrysalis waits for the inner changes that will result in a butterfly) for the Transformation to work itself out. There are many such "Dark Nights" that the occult seeker must pass through during the mysterious process of mitigation. They are all trials but experience teaches one to cope more efficiently.



With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann * http://www.tryskelion.com/essays.htm

[MaigicyuNinia]

Thank you for the post!

"The Dark Night of the Soul" is the name given to that experience of spiritual desolation that all students of the Occult pass through at one time or another. It is sometimes characterized by feelings that your occult studies or practices are not taken you anywhere, that the initial success that one is sometimes granted after a few months of occult working, has suddenly dried up. There comes a desire to give up on everything, to abandon exercises and meditation, as nothing seems to be working. St.John of the Cross. a christian mystic, said of this experience, that it… I'm wondering why this is concentrated on the students of the Occult. It seems to me that this happens with virtually every religion than anyone practices. In fact, it happens in life. I think that we all have times when we wonder to ourselves, "Is it really worth it?". And many of those thoughts are related to our spiritual selves.

[joanbertis]

I think it's because of the site that I took it from Rex...because you're correct...

[Innockcroff]

I have felt this way at times and I think I'm learning to let it go and accept that what will come will come. I realized that the alternative was to be on no spiritual path at all, and I didn't have any better ideas or replacements for the one I'd chosen. All the rituals, meditations, journeys, accessories and anything else that can be named mean nothing if what is inside isn't right.

[Dfvgthyju]

Absolutely...very profound my Love!!! I'm so proud of how clear you are in this!!!

[TheDoctor]

Very completely true, Rake. Very well said!

[JNancy46]

When we read St. John of the Cross (no easy reading, but Ii strongly recommend it), the "Cloud of Unknowing," and the teachings of mystics of different religions, we realize that the "dark night of the soul" is essential to any spiritual searc. What is important is not to become impatient. I have gone through those moments many times. As we mature in our spiritual path, those dry spells become less and less until we find rest in the spirit.

Hermano Luis
Moriviví Hermitage

[hieklyintinee]

I reopened this topic...because I know there are many going through this at this time...and I know we all go through it at one time or another...

[Hpdovoxm]

~ Yes. Thank you! You are so wise.

[LottiFurmann]

I didn't know it had a name. I always called it a spiritual crisis because that was the best that I could describe it in the fewest amount of words.

[ScosyGissiok]

Been there, done that, bought the tour t-shirt. From time to time, I still wear it.

[forextradinginfo]

I think everyone goes through a period like this, even for people not on any of the occult paths.

[heennaRaf]

Yes, a good number of experiences transcend the path.