Dark Nights of the Soul

by Thomas Moore
Published by Piatkus Books (UK) - September 2004
Gotham Books (US)

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Description

A 'dark night of the soul' is not a psychological syndrome, but a quest for meaning during life's darkest hours: the loss of a loved one, the end of a relationship, aging and illness, career disappointments or just an ongoing dissatisfaction with life. Thomas Moore's extensive experience as a psychologist and theologian has taught him that the dark night is a challenge to restore ourselves and to become someone of substance, depth and soul. By using these trying times as an opportunity to reflect and delve into the soul's deepest needs, we can find a new understanding of life's meaning. The book explores such topics as: Anxiety and insecurity; Marriage and the mystery of matrimony; Melancholy and meaninglessness; Feeling stuck or blocked; Giving form to anger; Finding meaning and beauty in darkness; In this new book, Thomas Moore offers us practical ways to care for our soul and help it to flourish in a modern world that is full of life's challenges.

Reviews

Perhaps because I was rather scathing about a Pagan-written book on the dark, Piatkus sent me this book by the American psychologist and theologian, Thomas Moore; and I've been sufficiently impressed by it to submit a recommending review. This isn't a Pagan book in the language it uses: beautifully, however, it is wholly human. In fact, the essence of what Moore writes is, to me, completely Pagan and Druidic.

Far from pacifying the reader, Moore questions the 'hero' culture that requires us to fight with a sword of light through the darkest periods of our living. He honours the numinosity that inspires wonder, the value of living fully even through darkness, the power of acceptance, creativity, poetry and connection. For anyone interested in the human soul, I recommend this gentle but powerful exploration.

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