The Journey

Dark Nights of the Soul

Yes, there can be more than one.

Last night, while revisiting darkness, I had a moment of communion with the shadow. Maybe it wasn’t the dark night of the soul. Maybe it was just a small eclipse. We get those, too, you know? There is no soft way to say it. We all encounter it. Some of us have more than our fair share. It’s wrought with enough symptoms that medical professionals would label it depression. A spiritual person would call it spiritual warfare. I suspect it’s just astral dynamics exemplifying the three body problem. Souls interact, collide, orbit, destabilize orbits, form systems, disrupt systems, and the seasons change. On a dualistic plane, there can’t be one dark night of the soul. So, how do we survive till dawn?

There is an assumption that counselors know things. They got this. We don’t. We suffer just like everyone else. We’re not better. In fact, it’s a safer bet to assume if you met someone who is in a counseling field, they are fundamentally, excessively, and starkly human. They tend to be extreme. You will think them great or hate their guts. Rarely is there a between position.

You should also know this is true for shamans. Shamans arrive at their insight by going through dark nights of the soul. They experience trauma. In shamanic culture, they even have ritualized…