Dark Nights of the Soul:
A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals

by Thomas Moore, Ph.D.
New York: Gotham Books, 2004

Reviewed by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

Thomas Moore, Ph.D., a former Catholic monk and psychotherapist, turns his attention to the darker eras of our lives in Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals. The term "Dark Night of the Soul" dates back to the 16th century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross. Moore defines "a true dark night of the soul [as] not a surface challenge but a development that takes you away from the joy of your ordinary life." He goes on to state that unlike depression which is a "psychological sickness, a dark night is a spiritual trial . . . which pares down life to its essentials and helps you get a fresh start." Moore does not see a dark night as a problem to be solved but rather an opportunity to be embraced.

Dark nights can often take place during periods of profound change in our lives. Moore discusses several such changes in great depth, among them marriage, motherhood, aging, sexual confusion, rejection of creativity, and illness. According to Moore, "life is a continuous cycle of births" which require us to go through a process of transformation. That process begins with separation in which one may feel isolated and alone. The middle stage is liminality in which one exists in a state between the known and unknown. Change is in full swing. The final stage is re-incorporation, in which one begins to come back into an ordinary, if different, existence. These transformations make demands not only of the person going through them, but also of the friends and family of that person. Everyone involved must adjust.

Moore's forays into mythology are distracting, and there are times when it seems like he is advocating selfishness above all else. Especially in his chapter on sexual confusion, other people's feelings do not seem to be taken into consideration. Despite these drawbacks, Moore does have much to say on the subject of dark nights of the soul. He speaks from personal experience and acknowledges that he was going through a dark night even as he wrote this book. His conclusion that as a result of a dark night one is more alive and more fully who one is brings a refreshing perspective to the subject of these challenging times in life.




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