dark night of the soul
Profound inner desolation
A dark night of the soul is a profound spiritual or existential crisis—a period of deep despair, doubt, or inner turmoil that strips away certainties and leaves one feeling lost or abandoned.
The phrase comes from a 16th-century Spanish mystical poem, but now applies broadly to any intense personal reckoning: After the divorce, I went through a real dark night of the soul.
Such crises are often described as necessary passages toward transformation or deeper understanding.
- faith crisisLoss of spiritual certainty
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- negative theologyKnowing God through exclusion
- religious doubtQuestioning one's spiritual convictions
- existential dreadTerror at meaningless being
divine mystery · via negativa · contemplative prayer · spiritual journey · spiritual longing · John of the Cross · inner light · spiritual ascent · Christian mysticism · divine grace · Teresa of Avila · quietism · spiritual warfare · purgation · spiritual exercises · F. Scott Fitzgerald · aridity · mystical poetry
- existential dreadexistential dread, existential angst, existential anxiety, existential crisis, dread
- faith crisisfaith crisis, doubt, questioning faith, spiritual struggle, religious doubt
- CarmelitesTeresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Mount Carmel, Carmel, mansions
- Christian Mysticismmystical union, divine union, contemplative life, mystical states, mystical visions
- Spanish MysticismTeresa of Avila, John of the Cross, San Juan, dwelling places, divine union
- questsquest, seeking, main quest, searching, side quest
dark night of the soulspiritual ecstasy
Overwhelming sacred joy
divine union · mystical union · enlightenment · spiritual awakening · satori
dark night of the soulgolden age
Period of peak prosperity
harvest · breakthrough · rebirth · ascent · emergence
dark night of the souldeification
Elevation to divine status
divine union · beatitude · spiritual marriage · illumination · mystical vision
darken, darkened, darkening, darkly, darkness, darker, darkest, night, nights