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Are you asking yourself, ‘What is the Dark Night of the Soul in spiritual awakening?’ Perhaps you’re going through the Dark Night right now. The Dark Night of the Soul happens at two different points in the awakening journey and is a vital and necessary phase of development.

The Dark Night of the Soul usually happens more than once during spiritual awakening

Yes, that’s right, there’s two types of Dark Night of the Soul.

One occurs early on during awakening – before our conscious awakening, or ‘Epiphany’ – the other at a much later stage.

I’ll explain each of the types of Dark Night in this post, but the first thing to say is the root cause of each is the same – chakra constriction.

When the flow of energy through our chakras is reduced, we experience ‘negative’ symptoms.

Some of these are ‘mental’, like feeling low, miserable, and depressed, but we may also experience ill health and ‘bad luck’.

(Read this blog post to learn more about the symptoms of the Dark Night of the Soul.)

The ‘growth-oriented’ Dark Night of the Soul

The ‘growth-oriented’ Dark Night of the Soul occurs very early on in our awakening journey and can happen more than once, or last for many years.

During this type of Dark Night, we become unhappy and aware that something needs to change, in our lives and/or behaviours.

Old souls typically have troubled childhoods and, as a result, problems can continue into adulthood.

These types of traumas have the effect of constricting the flow of energy through one or more chakras, depending upon the type of experiences we’ve had.

If we don’t take steps to address the issues, then the problems worsen and we become more unhappy.

When our energy flow is reduced to less than 50% we enter a ‘growth-oriented Dark Night of the Soul’.

Why does the growth-oriented Dark Night of the Soul occur?

This kind of Dark Night of the Soul can happen to anyone, whether or not they are due to awaken in this lifetime.

Its purpose is to encourage us to ‘grow’ – hence the name.

The symptoms we experience make us aware that we need to overhaul something in our lives, otherwise we will not be happy.

We typically understand this type of Dark Night as a period of depression, or even a crisis.

For those who are due to awaken in this lifetime, the growth-oriented Dark Night of the Soul also serves another purpose.

It is designed to prompt us to reach a greater level of emotional stability. This then becomes the platform for our ‘conscious’ awakening.

Without a certain degree of stability, our teams won’t allow us to start our conscious spiritual awakening journey. It would be too much for our ‘unformed’ minds.

If we don’t take the steps we need, typically the universe will pile on the pressure until it becomes easier to move forward than to stay where we are.

That’s why we hear of people who found their spiritual path following a profound crisis.

How do I get out of a growth-oriented Dark Night of the Soul?

The only way to get out of this type of Dark Night of the Soul is to undertake deep inner work, sometimes called ‘shadow work‘.

We’re in the first stage of spiritual awakening known as ‘resolution’. We ‘resolve’ the issues and trauma we’ve collected since birth.

For this reason, this stage of awakening can last many years.

During this period, people often discover spiritual techniques to help them in their journey, such as grounding, meditation, and yoga.

This creates an excellent platform for future awakening and can even bring the conscious awakening on sooner.

Not sure if you’re going through a spiritual awakening? Discover the seven major signs in this blog post. 

The ‘spiritual’ Dark Night of the Soul’

When we ask ourselves, ‘What is the Dark Night of the Soul in spiritual awakening?’ we’re usually talking about the ‘spiritual’ Dark Night of the Soul.

That’s because this type of Dark Night usually happens after we become aware that we’re going through a spiritual awakening.

Only awakeners will experience this type of Dark Night of the Soul.

During the spiritual Dark Night, the universe shuts down all of our chakras at the same time, sometimes to as little as 5% of energy flow.

It always happens after a very intense stage of awakening called ‘connection’, where we feel at one with the universe, have contact with our guides, and experience weird and wonderful ‘other-worldly’ events.

When the spiritual Dark Night of the Soul arrives, this connection is suddenly cut off. For that reason it can be very easy to spot.

It occurs at 50 percent integration with our higher self and we exit at around 65-70 percent integration.

So it is a temporary stage and we can get out of it, if we follow the right protocols.

(Read this blog post to learn more about the stages of the Dark Night of the Soul.)

Why does the spiritual Dark Night of the Soul happen in spiritual awakening?

The spiritual Dark Night of the Soul has a very specific purpose.

It occurs so we re-learn self-sufficiency.

During the connection phase of awakening we usually become very reliant on our guides and the signs the universe sends us.

However, we are humans, incarnated to have a human experience, so it’s vital that we’re able to draw on our human qualities, as well as our soul qualities.

By removing all connection to our guides and the universe, the spiritual Dark Night forces us to do exactly this.

What to do during the spiritual Dark Night of the Soul

The only way to get through the spiritual Dark Night of the Soul is to ‘double-down’ on your spiritual practice.

This is hard because we usually don’t feel like doing anything very much at all, plus we can’t feel any connection, even if we’re going through the motions.

Don’t worry, even if you can’t feel it, you’re still integrating with your higher self in the background.

The most important thing you can do is meditate every day. That is the quickest, surest way to exit the spiritual Dark Night of the Soul.

Watch the video below for a simple, daily third eye meditation anyone can do. 

More information about the Dark Night of the Soul in spiritual awakening

What to do during the Dark Night of the Soul

Is depression spiritual?

The two types of Dark Night of the Soul

I’m a spiritual awakening coach and channel for the Council of Light and Source (Athena)

Do you want to unlock your TRUE soul potential?

I teach people from all over the world how to harness their soul power, discover who they really are, and pursue their purpose.