The ‘Dark Night of the
Soul’ refers to a difficult period of your life when you genuinely need to be
healed and helped through challenging times. Those of us who prioritize
spiritual healing engage in the process of shucking off the layers of modern
reality, shedding our materialistic tendencies and opening ourselves to a
significant journey.

Can you remember a time when you have felt weighed down by your pain and stress and could not hear or feel the presence of God? Have you ever felt as if you just couldn’t go on in your life and that some sort of change had to happen? The crushing pain of realizing that you are not who you want to be, but that you don’t know how to be free leads to the dark night of the soul. If you are trapped in insecurity and distress you may be headed toward your own dark night which will set you on the path to refinding parts of your soul you didn’t even know were missing.

Beyond Ego

Many things may bring about this tipping point, emotional imbalance, trauma, physical illness, or a realization that you are hiding your true self. The ego plays a central part in our day to day existence and to grow and evolve, and we must go beyond our external self, the face we show the world, and concentrate on our hidden needs.

The dark night of the soul
that we go through is a process through which we have to pass to really
understand how to heal on a soul level. If you are seeking to pursue a more
open, less egocentric life, then you have to start with insights that are often
painful.

You are in pain because you
are disconnected from the spiritual force in your life. Your god or goddess has
stopped being a central part of your life, and this has left pieces of your
soul untethered.

Although the name of the process, this dark night sounds ominous, it shouldn’t be feared. By using psychedelic substances, and personal therapy you can help yourself enter the process with a guide which allows you to peel back the layers and support you to find your truth.

The dark night is something
that you have to pass through to come out into the light and should be seen as
a journey on which you will learn a lot about yourself.

Psychedelics and the Dark Night

Plant medicine such as ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms are often used by Shaman to help you reach a state of enlightenment. The use of psychedelics is tailored to you by the shaman, and they guide you on your soul retrieval journey. Ayahuasca, often called the mother, serves as a benign presence on your journey to the higher plane.

Ayahuasca makes you
sensitive to activity on the higher plane. Your senses are heightened, and you
start to see the intricacies of your physical and spiritual reality. This can
drive you to the depths but is illuminating and can eventually lead to
enlightenment.

Magic Mushrooms can also be a force for change in your life; they force you to examine yourself and your insecurities by leading you down the path toward enlightenment of your true self. The true essence of your soul. The psychedelic substances assist and guide you on your journey. The ego crumbles as the mushrooms free the mind and creates a bridge that allows you to attain a higher plane.

Endure the Journey

As you progress towards a higher consciousness, there will be times when you feel bereft, alone, and are tempted to turn back. But the dark period must be understood and endured to reach a state of higher consciousness and to heal the soul. Your shaman and the psychedelic mushrooms or ayahuasca will be there to guide you out into the light.

The hard part is getting
through the darkest part of the night, and the plant medicine can support you
in that.

If you are making this
journey with the help of a shaman or a group, then they will also be a great
support during the time in which you are in transition. You are caught between
your old life and new and the love and support of fellow travelers in invaluable.

Metamorphosis

The process of shedding
your old skin with its fears, inhibitions, and hurts can be likened to a
caterpillar hiding in the darkness of a chrysalis before it emerges as a
beautiful butterfly. Your full potential can only be revealed if you turn
inward. You cannot find peace in your friends, hobbies or books and only see
the parts of you that are imperfect.

It can be like staring into
an abyss and being tempted to jump, the helplessness of the personal work that
you need to do to become your true enlightened self feels completely
overwhelming. The psychedelic effects of the plant medicine act to support you
in the process.

The loss of a part of your soul leaves a gaping wound that must be healed for you to become whole again. The healing process has been practiced by shaman for time immemorial to allow you to reconnect to life. You get to a point in your life where the chaos and trauma that surround you are too much, and you withdraw into the dark night of the soul.

Spiritual Rebirth

You cannot force soul
retrieval, you must submit to the dark night, let it consume you, in the
knowledge that the disconnection that you are feeling from your material self,
possessions and emotions is necessary to move toward enlightenment. By
welcoming the ayahuasca or mushrooms, you are opening up to the healing.

This spiritual rebirth is
hard to go through, but you must not neglect your physical wellbeing on the
journey. It is essential to eat healthily, to meditate, and to seek emotional
support as you usually would.

Eventually, your ego lets
go the darkness ebbs. The old you drifts away, and you begin to blossom into
the person who has realized that the true path to higher consciousness comes
from inside you. It no longer matters what the external world sees, but what
you have discovered about yourself.

The Grieving Process

The dark empty spaces where
your soul has been lost or damaged can be healed with work, the vacuum that has
been caused by the loss can be filled with light again. You just have to be
guided through the process by your shaman and their psychedelic knowledge. You grieve for the person that you were but
realize that you can work to retrieve the pieces of the soul that were lost.

You can ‘reboot’ yourself
with the support of plant medicine guides who can help you to retrieve the
pieces of your soul that are lost. You can work together to fit the puzzle of
your new self together and to bind it in a way that acknowledges and
understands your past experiences while looking to the future. To truly get to
a place of enlightenment, you need to know why you went through the dark places
and how doing so has helped you.

A Sense of Positivity

The ego-sense has
dissolved, and you are left with a sense of positivity and a feeling that you
are who you’re meant to be in the world. The problem you had before, of your
ego, masking some of your true qualities while exaggerating others is gone, and
you are balanced and whole.

Passing through the dark night of the soul is traumatic. It can feel perilous, and you can lose touch with everything around you as you focus only on the hurt and pain that you have uncovered. For some, it lasts hours, for others days or even months but, as they say, the night is darkest before the dawn. The joy of your soul again being whole will make you feel lighter, freer, and calm your inner conflict.