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The dark night of the soul is a stage of final and complete purification, and is marked by confusion, helplessness, stagnation of the will, and a sense of the withdrawal of God's presence. [ note 1 ] It is the period of final "unselfing" and the surrender to the hidden purposes of the divine will.
For Carl Jung, "the rediscovery of the principles of alchemy came to be an important part of my work as a pioneer of psychology". [3] As a student of alchemy, he (and his followers) "compared the 'black work' of the alchemists (the nigredo) with the often highly critical involvement experienced by the ego, until it accepts the new equilibrium brought about by the creation of the self."
Considered to be his introductory work on mystical theology, this work begins with an allegorical poem, Dark Night of the Soul.The rest of the text begins as a detailed explanation and interpretation of the poem, but after explaining the first five lines, John thereafter ignores the poem and writes a straightforward treatise on the two "active nights" of the soul.
In the 16th century, Saint John of the Cross famously described it as "the Dark Night of the Soul". The 17th-century Benedictine mystic Fr. Augustine Baker called it the "great desolation". [1] Mother Teresa's diaries show that she experienced spiritual dryness for most of her life. [4]
The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth (2004) Harper & Row, ISBN 9780060750558; The Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature (2007) HarperCollins, ISBN 9780061146633
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Ego death is a "complete loss of subjective self-identity". [1] The term is used in various intertwined contexts, with related meanings. The 19th-century philosopher and psychologist William James uses the synonymous term "self-surrender", and Jungian psychology uses the synonymous term psychic death, referring to a fundamental transformation of the psyche. [2]
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