Dark Night of the Soul

Darkness Darkness A Feeling Prologue

Dark Night: What is It?

DarkNight and Addiction May occur after a period of abstinence, spiritual release, or conversion so to speak St. John “secret stair” descent into “darkness” period of feeling spiritually bereft Dark Night maybe understood as the time spent in the abyss It is considered to the beginning of recovery - lapse, relaspe

Growth Process Breaking down of an old state and the metabolization of a new state Periods can last from months to years State includes transient shifts of severe depression, mania, panic, emptiness, happiness, agitation, confusion, bliss, dissociation, boredom, calmness, blankness But this period is necessary for a sorting of the soul and a displacing of the ego and paramount to recovery from addiction The DarkNight or mystical journey is not linear nor is it rational

Madness and Torment Growth process can feel terrible - we may relaspe, be spiteful, angry, and also feel as though suicide is the only solution What maybe is the most frustrating aspect is that in the Abyss of the Dark Night - we have glimpsed and even revelled in the divine thus our alienation feels like torture We cut ourselves off from others, ourselves, hate god /the divine and feel as though we have been left in the desert to suffer without a shred of hope of ever feeling “real again” The Dark Night Stands beyond the confines of the Human Mind

Time in the Desert

We are Drawn Even Further “The Whole process of transformation requires entering even further in , even nearer, so as to sink the deeper in an unknown and unnamed abyss; and, above all ways, images and forms, and above all powers, to lose thyself, deny thyself, and ever unform thyself” Underhill

Apparent Process Stages - mountains and river’s Periods of relief Back into a seeming hell “fire of love” Light in the dark Moments of Paradox “joy mingled with terror” Balancing

The Abyssinian Dark Night of Surrendering Choice-lessness [choose this path] Intuitive Fearing The goal is to not defeat or create a gap between the self and it’s experiences Cloud of unknowing Mind or ego cannot safe you from this experiencing “let go of controlling” Give up identification “no-self” Allowing and waiting

Jung and Alcoholism His craving for alcohol was the equivalent, on a low level, of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness; expressed in a medieval language; the union with God... You see, ‘alcohol’ in Latin is ‘Spiritus’... You use the same word for the highest religious experience as well for the most depressing poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.

Roethke : Deliverance So the abyss- The Slippery cold heights, After the blinding misery, The climbing, the endless turning, Strike like a fire, A terrible violence of creation, A flash into the burning heart of the abominable; Yet it we wait unafraid, beyond the fearful instant, The burning lake turns into a forest pool, The fire subsides into rings of water, A sunlight silence.

I Am Not I