dark night
Pitch-black after sunset
A dark night is simply a night with little light—no moon, heavy clouds, or far from artificial illumination.
The phrase appears in the title of Saint John of the Cross's poem "Dark Night of the Soul," which describes spiritual crisis and the painful passage toward divine union.
That phrase now refers broadly to any period of profound despair or spiritual desolation: She went through a dark night of the soul after losing her faith.
- moonlessLacking lunar presence
- starlessLacking celestial pinpricks
- new moonUnlit lunar phase
- pitch-blackCompletely without light
- eclipseCelestial body blocks another
shadowy · crepuscule · nocturnal · abyss · purgation · soul searching · mystery · omen · void · spiritual ascent · inky · transformation · contemplative prayer · divine union · eventide · melancholy · umbra · noir
- nighttimestarry sky, moonlight, dusk, full moon, moonlit
- despairdespair, hopelessness, desolation, despondency, dejection
- meditationbreathing meditation, breath, breath meditation, mantra, breathing
- mysticismmystic, gnosis, divine union, divine spark, mystical
- religious strugglesdoubt, backsliding, temptation, trials, tribulation
- CarmelitesTeresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Mount Carmel, Carmel, mansions
dark nightbroad daylight
Fully visible daytime conditions
high noon · midday · dawn · morning light · sunrise
dark nightbright day
golden age · moment of clarity · spiritual awakening · enlightenment · ray of hope
dark, night, darken, darkly, darkness, darker, darkest, darkened, darkening