The phrase “dark night of the soul” was reportedly first coined by St.John of the Cross in the 16th century. There have been many different explanations of these words by a variety of people and the general interpretation is: someone who is going through a very difficult time or a crisis in one’s life.
In my opinion, experiencing “the dark night of the soul” is perfectly normal. We all experience difficulty during an incarnation at one time or another, it is not unique to any one person. It is part of the process of evolution, for if we did not experience sorrow, tragedy or affliction, how would we learn? We need adversity in life in order to make choices by using a higher vibration to solve a problem or a lower one. It is all up to us.
An incarnate may experience suffering and misery in order to clear and balance karma, and through the suffering there is an opportunity for growth, or a lesson that needs to be learned. It may happen that we choose love in the situation and through that, we become closer to the Divine, perhaps it is an opportunity to realize what our true mission is here on planet earth. There are no mistakes during a soul’s journey, everything happens for a reason. We are seldom aware of the reason but it is there.
If we are able to come from a place of compassion, understanding and positivity when we encounter a hurdle in life, we usually move forward in evolution, if we choose anger, jealousy, spite or perhaps greed to solve problem, we do not move forward, we stay stagnant or sometimes, even take a step backwards. It is all a soul choice.
There are times when an incarnated soul chooses a life of harshness, maybe poverty, homelessness, imprisonment or serious physical abuse. Those are the times when one can easily lose their connection to God and then a feeling of desolation and hopelessness may arise. They may feel forsaken or betrayed and that is when the will to go on is weakened.
The period of the “darkness” may continue for years or might last only a few days and at the end of it all, one will either feel bitter and disillusioned and remain that way or else change will occur and the soul will once again reach out to Spirit, resume the God-connection and move forward into the Light.
Life is a learning process. We arrive in this world having to forget who we are and where we came from, the task then throughout the incarnation is to remember the truth and that is accomplished through our connection to the higher realms, God, the angels, our guides, our Higher Self. Through it all – the hurdles, pain and suffering, something magic happens – we learn, we grow in consciousness, we move forward in evolution and that is the ultimate goal.
So “the dark night of the soul” is not something to fear or discount. It can be very real and occasionally traumatic for many but it can also be a productive time on one’s journey – a doorway to enlightenment.
Bethel
