In the 16th century, St. John of the Cross wrote a poem describing the soul’s journey on its spiritual road with regard to the quest for a perfect union with God that can be achieved in this lifetime.
It was called the dark night due to the hardships, struggles and difficulties the soul goes through to purge itself of the material world. And while some days the struggle will be difficult, it won’t be so bad that you want to end things as would be the case in clinical depression. The soul stays strong even in the darkest times and pulls us through in order to emerge out into the light.
The dark night of the soul can often be confused with clinical depression as the symptoms and feelings are very similar and if we don’t know we are in the middle of a spiritual awakening then it can feel like depression. The difference is that following the dark night of the soul you will emerge a changed person with a new vision of the world around you. You will begin to see the material status you once aspired to means very little and your ego will begin to quieten as you start to long for a much simpler life. You may see the physical world in a different way and feel a need to walk in nature, connect with animals, start meditating and generally explore spiritual practices. Your old friends may leave and new people will appear who are more in alignment with you. But most of all your need for connection with spirit/God/universe will become so strong your quest to connect will lead you down all sorts of paths and rabbit holes. Allow it to unfold.
The dark night can be triggered by major life events such as serious illness, job loss, divorce and separation. In my case, while I had been living a good life I always felt something was missing and I could never figure out what that was. It took me going through my breakup to realise I wasn’t living in alignment with my soul and was living a life my ex-husband wanted. I stayed in the marriage because I thought there was no other option and I also didn’t want to break up my family. But the universe had other plans. They say the universe will keep nudging you until get it and if you keep ignoring the nudges you will be knocked off the path you are on in order to find your own path.
So you may be wondering what the symptoms may be so here are just a few you may be experiencing:
✨ You feel stuck or lost
✨ You have overwhelming feelings that there must be more to life
✨ You have less desire for the material world
✨ You are searching for spiritual philosophies
✨ You feel emotionally detached
✨ You see the world differently and how society has been deliberately conditioned
✨ You become conscious of a higher power that you are connected to
✨ You don’t resonate with old friends and even family members anymore
Many souls walk this earth unhappy because the ego is leading and they are looking for something that will never satisfy the soul. Society has created lifestyle trends that many long for but the material world will never satisfy the soul, which is why we never stop buying, stay stuck in addiction which in turn leaves us feeling miserable and constantly seeking more. After emerging from the dark night, these old 3D addictions will no longer have any hold over you; you will feel lighter with a sense of excitement about what is possible.
Look at your awakening as a period of growth and expansion and a time of excitement for what is ahead as you start to live consciously and in alignment with your soul. Everything will begin to feel easy and inflow as you are no longer fighting against your feelings to keep up with a world that was predominantly fake.
Honour yourself, enjoy the journey and whatever stage you are at, and trust your own intuition which is guiding you to where you are meant to be. The spiritual journey is not a straight path so allow things to unfold naturally and don’t fight it. The path to sovereignty both physically and emotionally can be likened to the butterfly metaphor where you go through pain emerging as a beautiful free soul.
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