Dark Night of the Soul

[Plenum]

what do you think it means exactly?

can one have a Dark Night of the Soul without the accompanying previous spiritual awakening?  or would that just be seen/classified as a normal 'depression'?

in terms of the archetypes, what would the impairment/difficulty be?  The Sun card?

[Diana]

The traditional meaning of the Dark Night of the Soul as I understand it, is when a person comes to a point where circumstances have forced that person to look deep inside for the meaning of things and talking to someone else is not of any usefulness. It is not about depression or spiritual awakening, but can be.

A Dark Night of the Soul has more to do with personal growth, and that does not have a direct link to spiritual awakening. A person may be—or may not be—depressed beforehand, but what is depression? It's a label pharmaceutical companies sell drugs for.

It implies that there is a transformation of some sort. There is light after the Dark Night of the Soul, tiny as it might be, because the person going through it, being forced to look inside for answers or meaning, comes out of it with a little more understanding of self. With that understanding, the person may not now be happier, but that person will have experienced some kind of acceptance.

[Jade]

Ra calls the Matrix of the Spirit the "Night of the Soul" or "Primeval Darkness" - and I believe we operate under the assumption that all 3D entities are mind/body/spirit complexes, therefore having the spirit archetypes activated. The spiritual awakening comes with the Potentiator of Spirit, the Lightning. When one is "potentiated" in that way, especially the first time, it's very easy to revert to viewing things primarily from the dark and demonic spirit matrix. I think Ra implies that a lot of people who are asleep's unhappiness in general does stem from the Matrix of the Spirit - even (especially) if they don't realize it. All beings in 3D yearn to experience the Creator, some just more consciously than others.

I think the "difficulty" of depression/malaise comes from the Experience/Transformation of the Mind. I think as one progresses further into the spirit archetypes there is just less difficulty as you have begun that path in earnest. But, you can see struggle for the positive path in the first four Spirit archetypes: Being chained to the devil (matrix), falling from the tower (potentiator), releasing your creative being without attachment to the outcome (catalyst), and facing the 'black dog' on the path to the white pyramid (experience). I can see how you would feel reaching the Sun would be the inhibiting factor - the ultimate experience of transformation/radiation being thwarted by depression - but I really think what I believe you are referring to to be more weighted to a mind cycle problem, not negating the fact that all of the archetypes obviously work together. I think it's in the mind cycle where we choose how to tell our story, and the spirit cycle is more how we have the story played before us (after choosing how to view it).

I think if you are talking though, specifically about spiritual depression, I associate it more with the "weariness" that Ra describes that occurs to one the more time they spend at vibrational levels higher that the ones we are experiencing currently with our 3D thoughtforms. Becoming of lighter/more ethereal being facilitates a sort of detachment.

[anagogy]

what do you think it means exactly?

can one have a Dark Night of the Soul without the accompanying previous spiritual awakening?  or would that just be seen/classified as a normal 'depression'?

in terms of the archetypes, what would the impairment/difficulty be?  The Sun card?

I tend to view depression and dark night of the soul as the same thing, in practical essence.  When somebody feels depression (which is a feeling/emotion that can be described or characterized in a variety of unique ways), I understand it to mean they do not, in this moment, feel fulfilled in some fashion.  To me, seeking fulfillment is spiritual work regardless of what it is.  Self actualization is the purpose of life, as far as I am concerned.  That is the spiritual game we are here to play.  Why is it so damn hard?  Challenges are what make life satisfying. The mountain that was challenging to climb feels way more satisfying than the mountain that was a piece of cake. Satisfying challenges are the eternally sought after currency of the spiritual world.

As for the archetypes, I think Jade pretty much nailed it.

When we feel these feelings of unfulfillment, or dissatisfaction and anhedonia, it just means you have asked for more from the universe than you are currently experiencing -- that you have been catalyzed to greater and more expansive spiritual lessons.  After coming to terms with that, the real work begins where you seek out and discover what the new inspiration is now that you have grown beyond the limitations of your previous experiential nexus.  It is essentially figuring out what your new spiritual course load is, and making a concerted effort to line up with it.  Naturally, your heart will always be your guide in this department, and when you find it and feel a degree of weight lift off your heart, you then begin to make small steps in the direction of that new and improved mode of being.  

The great thing is that you don't have to be living the full fledged manifestation of that new way of life to feel emotional relief, you just have to at least point the sails of your spirit in its general direction, and the weight will lift off your heart as you move towards what life has inspired you to be. In any journey, for 99% of the journey you are not where you fully want to be, but as long as you are moving towards it, you will feel satisfaction with what life has to offer.