The Collective Dark Night of the Soul

I’ve recently been doing a lot of work around levels of consciousness and have personally become aware of a soul transformation process that everybody goes through called the journey of the Dark Night of the Soul.

It’s characterised by a combination of distress, the loss of meaning and purpose in life, lack of perceived social support, a sense of being trapped, personal failure, pessimism and hopelessness/helplessness. 

The Dark Night of the Soul feels like a mini-death of our soul, however it’s actually a mini-death of the ego. Things (and people) are stripped away from us that we have put meaning to and that have lead us away from our true path of awakening.

For example, it could be the death of a loved one, separation from a partner, illness, losing your job, or financial instability. Covid has absolutely been a trigger for all this and much, much more. The divisiveness that is tearing families and life long friendships apart is nothing short of astounding. It’s like the ground is shaking beneath your feet and you don’t know who you are anymore or who is on 'your side'. The meaning of your previous life is gone. Your identity is dying. You feel completely lost.

Couples, families, groups, nations and even races can go through this process collectively. However, what’s highly unusual right now, is that it seems the whole world is experiencing this process at the same time. A huge amount of people are going through enormous challenges and even if you as an individual feel you aren’t going through any, you WILL be feeling the collective effects, because we’re all connected. 

The reason we may be going through the Dark Night of the Soul collectively is that we have reached the point in our spiritual evolution where there are too many old belief systems that needs to be let go of and healed. The world mirrors our level of consciousness and from the darkness, the emptiness, and our very foundations collapsing, comes the birth of new beginnings.

Many mistake the Dark Night of the Soul as depression because you can feel so sad and have lost all hope. Crying, feeling empty, losing motivation, increased use of alcohol or drugs, nightmares, mood swings, lethargy, and feelings of worthlessness are some of the range of feelings and behaviours you may be experiencing. 

So, what can you do about it? The most important thing is to accept that this is what you may be going through and to educate yourself about it. Be gentle with yourself and give yourself permission to be IN IT. It’s ok to not want to socialise. It’s ok to over or under eat. It’s ok to feel all the feels. Just try not to suppress your emotions. You are shedding old skin and it can feel like you are losing something very real. The good news is, there’s a purpose behind it and surrendering and trusting that it will pass will help you to stop fighting it and let go.

I’ve been going through my own Dark Night of the Soul and it has been HIGHLY transformative. It lead me to discover healing through plant medicines, which have helped me beyond belief. I can say with confidence that I’m a better person because of this process. I needed to change. I needed to step into my potential. I needed to let go of certain people that weren’t good for me.

Of course, change can be very hard and we tend to resist it, but when we embrace it, it's nothing short of transformative.

Love and light to you all as you navigate this very important journey.