Dark Nights of the Soul (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When it comes to spiritual growth, we humans are solar-seeking beings; eager for the bright lights of clarity and the bliss of illumination. Paradoxically, we all need to walk through the shadow of the dark night in order to discover a life worth living, according to psychotherapist and spiritual commentator Thomas Moore. Unlike depression, which is more of an emotional state, Moore calls the dark night a slow transformation process, which is fueled by a profound period of doubt, disorientation and questioning. Ultimately, a journey into the dark night will reshape the very meaning of your life. As a self-proclaimed "lunar type," Moore is comfortable leading his clients and readers into the shadows, where ambiguities and mysteries lurk around every corner. He describes the dark night journey in stages, starting with feeling distant from your life even as you continue to go through the motions. The second phase is "liminality," meaning living on the threshold between the known self and the unknown self. This is perhaps the most uncomfortable phase as the dark night may "take you away from the cultivation and persona you have developed in your education and from family learning," he explains. After dwelling in this murky darkness, there's a stage of "re-incorporation," in which one integrates the profound inner transitions into daily life. Like a tour guide to the underworld, Moore leads readers through all these phases, offering tools and rituals for making the journey more tolerable or at least more meaningful. He also speaks to the many arenas and stages of life in which we might find ourselves stumbling through the dark, with chapters on marriage, parenting, sexuality, creativity and health. The scope is ambitious, and at times the structure seems disjointed—but this is perhaps Moore’s best contribution since Care of the Soul, proving once again that he is a wise and formidable spiritual teacher. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

There's an old saying that a devil is appealing at first but leaves you in despair, while an angel appears terrifying at first but leaves you refreshed and hopeful. This eighth book since Moore's extraordinarily successful Care of the Soul considers loss, pain, conflict, confusion, anger, excess, deviance and other disturbing feelings and behaviors not as devils to be exorcised but as angelic opportunities for deepening and altering the self. Derived from a chapter of the first book titled "The Gifts of Depression," the idea is not that suffering per se is good for the soul, but that to regard such visitations merely as suffering is to miss their point and meaning. Art and religion feature more prominently here than psychology, which Moore, a Catholic monk turned therapist, finds too mechanical and fix-it oriented to serve the soul. He adopts F. Scott Fitzgerald's phrase "the real dark night of the soul" to refer to anything from a short episode to an entire marriage and sees it as an invitation to spiritual cultivation, work that can be intellectual, creative or even physical, but which the monastically trained Moore tends to depict as quiet, solitary reflection. All this is set forth in a fluent, unflaggingly earnest style. Moore, who has an exceptional arsenal of literary and religious lore at his disposal, scatters allusions to figures as various as Madame Bovary, Gandhi, Thomas More and Glenn Gould (no Luther or Malcolm X, though) with dexterity. Short on detail, long on evocation, this book coveys the important if familiar message that spiritual growth entails darkness as well as light. While not exactly a substitute for reading Dostoyevski or Keats, this is perhaps an inducement to give them a chance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (June 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592401333
• ISBN-13: 978-1592401338
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,541 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #56 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Aging > Depression

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moore, always a comfort to the soul, May 31, 2004

By	C. L. Ferle (Midwest Reader and Writer) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals (Hardcover)

Thomas Moore never disapoints. His previous works, including CARE OF THE SOUL, somehow manage to transcend pop culture, yet remain accessible and practical to the general reader with a yearning to grow. If only everyone could take the time to read his work, or listen to his tapes, we'd all be better people.

DARK NIGHTS OF THE SOUL is especially needed in these times of quick-fix therapy and entertainment as anti-depressant. We need to accept the fact that tough times and dark episodes in our lives must be dealt with and honored, not medicated or pushed under the rug. Dark nights offer potential for growth, for soul expansion, and Thomas Moore is the one to lead us on this important journey.

If you enjoyed his earlier work, you will appreciate his latest effort, and no doubt, will notice that he too is growing as a writer and giving us more to think about. Don't overlook this one.

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars encouragement and strength offered in this reading, June 5, 2004

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Dark Nights of the Soul (Audio Cassette)

"Every human life is made up of the light and the dark, the happy and the sad, the vital and the deadening. How you think about this rhythm of moods makes all the difference. Are you going to hide out in self-delusion and distracting entertainments? Are you going to become cynical or depressed? Or are you going to open your heart to a mystery that is as natural as the sun and the moon, day and night, and summer and winter?"

The above quotation is the crucial question in Thomas Moore's sequel to his best-selling and ultimately helpful "Care of the Soul." Read in his soothing, contemplative voice it is a challenge to all for everyone of us experiences times of grief, suffering, disappointment, and failure. Rather than reject these experiences, try to avoid them or get through them as quickly as possible, Moore, a former Catholic monk who became a therapist, suggests that we see them as opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.

Not an easy task you say. I quite agree. Yet, as Moore speaks from his personal life, cites case studies, and presents stories from art, literature, and mythology, listeners may find both encouragement and strength.

- Gail Cooke

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An author worth reading, May 18, 2004

By	Richard William Ray (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals (Hardcover)

There should be a section in the book stores called intelligent and thoughtful reflection. You can find books like these but they are scattered in the hundreds of awful releases in "Self Help", "New Age" or "Philosophy".

Moore is intelligent, thoughtful and has spent years in reflection. He's also a good writer who doesn't offer easy answers. I've loved all his books. This is no exception.