The dark night of the soul is a period of spiritual desolation or crisis of meaning, a phrase from the Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross. This guide covers the mystical origin, the signs, how it differs from depression, and gentle ways to move through it.
Key Takeaways
- The phrase comes from St. John of the Cross (1542 to 1591).
- Many traditions describe similar periods of darkness before renewal.
- It can overlap with depression; seek help if in doubt.
- In the U.S., call or text 988 in a crisis.
- Be patient, stay connected and keep a gentle practice.
- There is no fixed timeline. It can last weeks, months or years, and it often comes in waves.
- Many people describe four phases: unraveling, the void, stillness and seeking, and emergence.
In This Guide
- What Is the Dark Night of the Soul?
- What Triggers a Dark Night of the Soul?
- The Original: St. John of the Cross
- The Two Nights: Senses and Spirit
- Similar Experiences in Other Traditions
- Common Signs
- The Phases of the Dark Night
- How Long Does the Dark Night of the Soul Last?
- Dark Night vs Depression
- Dark Night, Spiritual Awakening and Ego Death
- How to Move Through It
- What Not to Do
- A Simple Practice for the Darkest Days
- How to Support Someone in a Dark Night
- Famous Accounts of the Dark Night
- What Often Comes After
- Learn More on Next Level Soul
- Books on the Dark Night
- Watch and Listen on Next Level Soul TV
- Where to Go Next
- Sources and Further Reading
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Dark Night of the Soul?
The “dark night of the soul” is a phrase for a period of spiritual desolation, when meaning, faith or inner guidance seem to vanish and life feels empty or confusing. It comes from the Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross (1542 to 1591), whose poem Noche oscura and its commentary describe the soul passing through darkness toward union with God. Today the phrase is used more widely for deep crises of meaning, often after loss, burnout or a spiritual awakening. It is not the same as clinical depression, though the two can overlap, and the difference matters. Read on for both the mystical view and a practical guide.
In plain language, it is the stretch of life when the things that gave you meaning stop working and nothing has arrived to replace them yet. Prayer feels empty. Meditation feels flat. Beliefs that once held you feel like clothes that no longer fit. Many people describe it as being between two lives.
It is not a sign that you have done something wrong. In the mystical traditions it is described as a passage, painful and disorienting, but one that serves a purpose. You do not need to be religious to go through it, and you do not need to understand it while you are in it.
What Triggers a Dark Night of the Soul?
Sometimes there is a clear cause. Often there is not. Common triggers include:
- A major loss. The death of someone close, a divorce, the end of a career or a long-held dream.
- Burnout or collapse. Years of pushing, performing or caretaking until something gives way.
- A crisis of belief. A teacher, institution or worldview you trusted stops holding up.
- A season of intense spiritual growth. Many people describe the darkness arriving right after a period of openness and light. The contrast is part of what makes it so disorienting.
- A life transition. A move, a milestone birthday, becoming a parent or an empty nest.
- The collective weight of the world. Some seekers feel a shared heaviness during times of upheaval. Our conversation Humanity’s Dark Night of the Soul with Kyle Cease explores this.
Sometimes it simply arrives with no reason you can name. That is also common, and it does not make your experience less real.
The Original: St. John of the Cross
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| Dark night of the senses | Spiritual consolations and pleasures fade; practice feels dry |
| Dark night of the spirit | A deeper purification where the sense of God’s presence seems absent |
| Union | Light returns as the soul is transformed |
St. John wrote in the late 1500s. Teresa of Avila, his friend and teacher, wrote of similar dryness in her works, including The Interior Castle. Centuries later, Mother Teresa’s private letters, published in Come Be My Light (2007), revealed decades of inner darkness, which many found reassuring.
The Two Nights: Senses and Spirit
St. John described two stages. In the night of the senses, the comforts that once came with prayer fade. The sweetness, the feeling of closeness, the sense of being carried all drop away. He saw this as a loosening of attachment to spiritual feelings, so that faith can rest on something deeper than mood.
The night of the spirit goes further. Even your sense of who you are and what you believe about God or the universe is stripped back. It can feel like abandonment. St. John taught that the darkness is not punishment. He compared it to a light so bright that it blinds an eye not yet ready for it.
You do not need to be Catholic, or religious at all, to recognize the pattern. Comfort fades, identity loosens, and something quieter and more honest eventually appears. That arc shows up in secular accounts of grief, burnout and transformation as well. For more on the mystics who mapped it, see our mystic Christianity study guide and mystics of the Renaissance study guide.
Similar Experiences in Other Traditions
| Tradition | Parallel |
|---|---|
| Buddhism | The “dark night” or “dukkha nanas” stage described in some insight meditation maps |
| Hindu and yogic paths | Periods of purification and intense inner clearing |
| Sufism | Stations of longing and separation before union |
| Jewish mysticism | The “hiding of the face” and exile of the soul |
| Jungian psychology | Confrontation with the shadow; a descent before renewal |
| Theosophy and Cayce readings | Testing and purification on the spiritual path |
Researcher Willoughby Britton at Brown University has studied difficult meditation experiences and found that some people struggle after intensive practice. Support from qualified teachers matters.
Common Signs
The dark night looks different for everyone, but many people describe a recognizable cluster of experiences. You do not need all of them.
- Loss of meaning or purpose. Goals and routines that once felt important suddenly feel flat.
- Feeling cut off from God, spirit or inner guidance. Prayer, meditation and ritual feel empty.
- Old beliefs falling away. Teachings you trusted no longer ring true, and nothing has replaced them.
- An unraveling identity. Roles, titles and the story you tell about yourself stop feeling like you.
- Grief, loneliness or numbness. A heaviness that is not tied to one clear event.
- Withdrawal from joy. Friends, hobbies and even spiritual community lose their pull.
- Waiting without knowing for what. A sense of being suspended between chapters.
- Questioning everything. Your path, your relationships, your work, sometimes reality itself.
- Losing interest in spiritual content. Books, teachers and events that used to light you up feel like noise.
- Heightened sensitivity. Feeling raw, easily overwhelmed by crowds, news or other people’s energy.
- A pull toward solitude and silence. Wanting to be alone, not to avoid life, but because everything external feels loud.
- Disrupted sleep and energy. Fatigue, restlessness or waking in the early hours. Mention persistent changes to a doctor.
If several of these fit, especially after a season of deep seeking, you may be in a dark night. If you also feel hopeless or unsafe, read the section on depression below and reach out for support right away.
The Phases of the Dark Night
There is no official map, and your path will be your own. Still, many people describe a similar arc.
- Unraveling. Something cracks. A loss, a doubt or a quiet sense that the old way has stopped working. Familiar supports begin to slip.
- The void. The deepest stretch. Meaning feels absent and practices feel dry. This is where patience and support matter most.
- Stillness and seeking. The edges soften. The question shifts from “why is this happening?” to “who am I without all this?” Small glimpses of something real return.
- Emergence. A steadier, quieter sense of self. Trust that no longer depends on feeling good. Many people describe more compassion and less need for approval.
The phases overlap, and you can move back and forth between them. Having a good day does not mean you slipped backward. For the bigger picture, see Stage 5 in our guide to the stages of a spiritual awakening.
How Long Does the Dark Night of the Soul Last?
There is no fixed timeline. Some people describe a few weeks. Many describe several months. Others live in it for a year or more, especially when it comes in waves. The mystics taught that its length and intensity vary from person to person.
What shapes it:
- Support. People who have someone safe to talk to tend to find the passage less lonely.
- Resistance. Fighting the darkness, or trying to force a quick answer, often prolongs the strain.
- Other stress. Grief, health issues, money worries or burnout can deepen it.
- Depression. If depression is present, it needs its own care and will not lift on a spiritual schedule.
Instead of watching the calendar, watch the direction. Are the waves softening? Can you manage ordinary tasks? Are there moments, even brief ones, of ease or curiosity? If the heaviness has lasted more than a couple of weeks and is affecting daily life, please talk to a doctor or licensed therapist.
Dark Night vs Depression
| Dark Night of the Soul | Clinical Depression |
|---|---|
| Centered on meaning and spiritual loss | Broad low mood, loss of interest and energy |
| Often follows a spiritual shift or major loss | May have no clear trigger |
| Core sense of self often stays intact | May include hopelessness and worthlessness |
| May bring insight over time | Needs assessment and care |
If you have thoughts of harming yourself or feel unable to cope, please reach out now. In the U.S., call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Outside the U.S., contact local emergency services or a crisis line. A spiritual frame does not replace professional care, and the two can work together.
A few questions can help you sort out what you are feeling:
- Where is the loss? A dark night centers on meaning and connection to spirit. Depression tends to affect everything, including appetite, sleep, concentration and energy.
- How do you see yourself? Depression often brings guilt or worthlessness. A dark night more often feels like a hunger for truth, even while you feel lost.
- What is still alive? In a dark night, curiosity and moments of tenderness usually remain. Depression can flatten them.
The two can overlap, and it is not always possible to tell from the inside. You do not have to figure it out alone. A licensed mental health professional can help you sort it out, and many are open to spiritual questions. This guide is educational and is not medical advice.
Dark Night, Spiritual Awakening and Ego Death
A dark night is often described as one chapter of a spiritual awakening, not the whole story. Our guide to spiritual awakening covers the larger picture, and the guide to spiritual awakening levels shows where this stretch can fit.
You may also hear the term ego death. In spiritual language, it describes the loosening of a rigid self-image, the “I” built from roles, achievements and old stories. It is a metaphor, not a literal death, and it can be gentle or intense. Many people feel it during a dark night as the sense that they no longer know who they are.
Not every dark night is an awakening, and not every awakening requires one. Some people pass through it quietly. Others feel it for a long time. Neither says anything about how far along you are.
How to Move Through It
There is no shortcut, but there are ways to make the passage gentler.
- Do not rush. The mystics say darkness has a purpose, but you need support.
- Keep simple routines. Sleep, food, movement and light. When meaning is missing, the body is a steady place to start.
- Stay connected. Talk to a trusted friend, teacher or counselor. Isolation makes the dark night heavier.
- Keep a gentle practice. Even two minutes of quiet. See our meditation guide, mindfulness practices and meditations for spiritual awakening.
- Write. Journaling helps you see the shape of what is changing. Try one question a day: “What is falling away, and what is still true?”
- Let go of “should.” Allow old identities to fall away without replacing them right away.
- Spend time in nature. Walking outside, sitting by water or watching the sky can steady the nervous system when words do not help.
- Move your body. Gentle walking, stretching or yoga. You do not have to feel inspired to start.
- Reduce input. Step back from heavy news and endless scrolling. Make room for silence.
- Find a guide. A therapist, spiritual director or teacher who has walked a dark night can offer perspective without trying to fix you.
- Practice small kindnesses. Doing one small thing for someone else can reconnect you to meaning when big answers are out of reach.
- Seek professional help if the darkness is heavy or lasts. That is not a spiritual failure. It is wisdom.
What Not to Do
- Do not try to force a breakthrough. Pushing harder on practices that feel dry usually adds strain.
- Do not numb it. Alcohol, overwork and endless scrolling may dull the pain, but they delay the passage.
- Do not make irreversible decisions in the darkest stretch if you can wait. Quitting, leaving or selling everything can feel urgent. Give big choices time and talk them through first.
- Do not isolate completely. Quiet is healing. Total withdrawal is not.
- Do not treat it as punishment or proof that you are failing. It is a recognized passage in many traditions.
- Do not stop prescribed medication or care without talking to your doctor.
A Simple Practice for the Darkest Days
When big practices feel impossible, try this five-minute version. It asks nothing of you except to show up.
- Ground. Sit or lie down. Feel the weight of your body and the surface holding you. Take three slow breaths, longer out than in.
- Name it. Say quietly or write: “This is a dark night, and I am in it.” Naming it without judging it often loosens its grip.
- Ask one gentle question. “What is one thing that is still true right now?” Let the answer be small. Breathing counts.
- Offer a simple intention. Use your own words or a line such as “I do not have to understand this to move through it.”
- Close with kindness. Place a hand on your chest for three breaths. Then do one ordinary thing, like drinking water or stepping outside.
Repeat it daily for as long as it helps. Consistency matters more than depth.
How to Support Someone in a Dark Night
If someone you love is going through this, you cannot fix it for them, and that is okay. What helps most:
- Listen without solving. Skip the silver linings and the quick spiritual answers.
- Stay present. A short message or a walk together matters more than the right words.
- Respect their pace. Do not push them to feel better by a certain date.
- Watch for safety. If they talk about hopelessness or harming themselves, take it seriously and help them reach a professional or the 988 Lifeline.
Famous Accounts of the Dark Night
You are in good company. People across centuries have described seasons of darkness before a deeper stage of life.
- St. John of the Cross wrote the poem after a period of imprisonment, and his commentaries became the classic guide to the experience.
- Teresa of Ávila, his Carmelite contemporary, wrote about long stretches of spiritual dryness alongside her moments of union.
- Mother Teresa described decades of interior darkness in private letters later published as Come Be My Light, even as she served others with great devotion.
- Eckhart Tolle has described a night of intense despair in his late twenties that was followed by a profound inner shift.
These stories do not promise a particular outcome. They show that darkness and deep faith, or deep awakening, can exist in the same life.
What Often Comes After
Many people who describe passing through a dark night say they emerged with a quieter faith, more compassion, less need for certainty and a clearer sense of purpose. Others describe a slow return rather than a sudden dawn. Eckhart Tolle has spoken of a night of despair that preceded his awakening. These accounts are stories of hope, not promises.
People who have come through it often describe a steadier kind of faith, less need for outside approval, more compassion for others, clearer values and a new comfort with not knowing. The darkness does not always lift all at once. Often you notice, one morning, that the weight is lighter.
Learn about spiritual awakening signs and the paths in spiritual enlightenment.
Learn More on Next Level Soul
- Spiritual Awakening Signs. What the shift can feel like. Read the guide
- Spiritual Enlightenment. Paths and stages. Read the guide
- How to Meditate. Gentle ways to begin. Read the guide
- Living With Purpose. Finding meaning again. Read the guide
Books on the Dark Night
- Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross. The original.
- The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald May. A psychiatrist’s view.
- Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore. A modern guide.
- Come Be My Light by Mother Teresa. Her private letters.
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Meaning through suffering.
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Watch and Listen on Next Level Soul TV
These titles from the Next Level Soul TV catalog go deeper into this topic.
- Humanity’s Dark Night of the Soul with Kyle Cease. Episode.
- Surviving a Dark Night of the Soul with Guy Pearce. Episode.
- Rebirth: Having a Dark Night of the Soul with Moby. Episode.
- Spiritually Awake or Just Crazy? with Dimitri Moraitis. Episode.
- A Man’s Astounding Spiritual Awakening with Bruce Joel Rubin. Episode.
- NLS Mastery: Becoming Nobody. NLS Mastery training.
- The Inner Path. Audio course.
- The Conquest of Fear. Audiobook on NLS TV.
- Secret to Spiritual Awakening with Ora Nadrich. Episode.
- Awakening in a Chaotic World with Loch Kelly. Episode.
Where to Go Next
- Spiritual awakening signs
- Spiritual enlightenment
- Living with purpose
- Mindfulness practices
- How to meditate
- Go deeper with Next Level Soul Mastery, our collection of in-depth courses.
Sources and Further Reading
Go Deeper with NLS Mastery: Becoming Nobody
The dark night strips away the identity you have been holding together. Kyle Cease meets that moment in Becoming Nobody: Stop Fixing Yourself, part of NLS Mastery, with a simple invitation: stop fixing yourself and let what is real remain. Watch the course preview below.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Dark Night of the Soul?
A period of spiritual desolation or crisis of meaning. The phrase comes from St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic.
Who Wrote Dark Night of the Soul?
St. John of the Cross (1542 to 1591), in his poem Noche oscura and its commentary.
What Are the Signs of a Dark Night of the Soul?
Loss of meaning, feeling cut off from spirit, old identities falling away, grief or numbness, and withdrawal from usual joys.
How Long Does a Dark Night of the Soul Last?
It varies widely, from weeks to years. There is no fixed timeline.
Is the Dark Night of the Soul the Same as Depression?
No, but they can overlap. If you feel hopeless or unable to cope, seek professional help. In the U.S., call or text 988.
How Do I Get Through a Dark Night of the Soul?
Be patient, keep simple routines, stay connected to trusted people, keep a gentle practice and seek professional help if needed.
Did Mother Teresa Experience a Dark Night?
Her private letters, published in Come Be My Light (2007), describe decades of spiritual dryness.
What Comes After the Dark Night of the Soul?
Many people describe greater compassion, quieter faith and clearer purpose. Experiences vary.
What Triggers a Dark Night of the Soul?
A dark night can follow a major loss, burnout, a crisis of belief, a life transition or a season of intense spiritual growth. Sometimes there is no clear cause at all.
Is the Dark Night of the Soul a Sign of Spiritual Awakening?
Many people describe it as one chapter of a spiritual awakening, often the stage where old beliefs and identities fall away. It is not required for awakening, and having one does not measure your progress.
Can You Have a Dark Night of the Soul Without Being Religious?
Yes. The phrase comes from Christian mysticism, but the pattern of fading meaning, loosening identity and eventual renewal is described in many traditions and in secular accounts of grief and transformation.
Should I See a Therapist During a Dark Night of the Soul?
Yes, if the heaviness is strong or lasts more than a couple of weeks. A therapist can help you tell the difference between a dark night and depression, and support you through either. If you feel unsafe, call or text 988 in the U.S.
What Is the Difference Between the Dark Night of the Senses and the Dark Night of the Spirit?
In the night of the senses, the comfort and sweetness you once felt in prayer or practice fade. In the night of the spirit, your very sense of self and of God is stripped back. St. John of the Cross described the second as deeper and more demanding.
