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


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.


From AudioFile
Here's a book for the troubled times that come to everyone's life. Bestselling therapist Thomas Moore continues to bring mental health to the masses with his views on finding opportunity for change in the face of life's major upsets. Moore's soft-spoken delivery and gentle tone soothe and inform while challenging the listener to review past "dark nights" in their lives. Moore highlights the lives of historical figures like Oscar Wilde, Anne Sexton, and others to make the case that true spiritual growth and superior creative output come from the pain and suffering of catastrophic change. Here's a book for those nights when sleep doesn't come, but darkness does. R.O. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
The emphasis here, as in Moore's last book, The Soul's Religion (2002), is on suffering, and that book's mission of counseling readers on how to deal with suffering is extended more practically here--that is, provided you are primarily a seasoned reader capable of being consoled by others' written testimony, which Moore would have you consult. His advice for coping with "dark nights of the soul"--itself a literary framing of a concept, derived from the writings of the Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross--draws habitually upon literature, though he cites movies now and then (his consideration of Humphrey Bogart as an actor who used his childhood suffering to create positive characterizations is most intriguing and persuasive--and ultimately dependent on Eric Lax's biography of Bogey). The book's parts expand upon the different dark nights of the soul arising from three different kinds of experiences: life "passages," "disturbances" of normal or optimal states of being (chiefly in relationships), and "developments" in life that provoke emotional, mental, and physical suffering. In the last section in particular, Moore dispenses less literarily mediated therapeutic advice, but he keeps intact throughout the soothing tone that, ever since Care of the Soul (1992), has powered his books regularly to berths on the best-seller lists. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


San Francisco Chronicle
A thoughtful, eloquent, inspiring... discourse on how we can bring imagination, poetry, and yes, soul, back into our lives.


Book Description
"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." From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Care of the Soul comes the long-anticipated sequel, an uplifting and groundbreaking approach to life’s darkest hours Every human journey is filled with emotional tunnels: the loss of a loved one or end of a relationship, aging and illness, career disappointments or just an ongoing sense of dissatisfaction with life. Society tends to view these "dark nights" in clinical terms as obstacles to be overcome as quickly as possible. But Thomas Moore’s extensive career as a psychologist and theologian has taught him that honoring these periods of fragility as periods of incubation and opportunities to delve the soul’s deepest needs can provide healing and a new understanding of life’s meaning. Dark Nights of the Soul presents these metaphoric dark nights not as the enemy, but as times of transition, occasions to restore yourself, and transforming rites of passage. Moore shows specific ways to engage life more deeply through particular challenges and shares a powerful new outlook on such topics as: - The healing power of melancholy - The sexual dark night and the mysteries of matrimony - Finding solace during illness and in aging - Anxiety, anger, and temporary Insanities - Linking creativity, spirituality, and emotional struggles - Finding meaning and beauty in the darkness With the soothing, accessible tone and practical philosophy that have made Moore an internationally beloved author, Dark Nights of the Soul will help you tend to the deepest needs of the heart and spirit in a modern world full of life’s challenges, and is sure to be a comforting companion during your most difficult times.


About the Author
Thomas Moore, Ph.D., wrote the phenomenal #1 bestsellers Care of the Soul and SoulMates as well as many other successful books. Moore was a Catholic monk for twelve years and later became a psychotherapist, earning degrees in theology, musicology, and religion. Moore now lectures extensively throughout North America.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Every human journey is filled with emotional tunnels: the loss of a loved one or end of a relationship, aging and illness, career disappointments, or just an ongoing sense of dissatisfaction with life. Society tends to view these "dark nights" in clinical terms as obstacles to be overcome as quickly as possible. But Thomas Moore's extensive career as a psychologist and theologian has taught him that honoring these periods of fragility as periods of incubation and opportunities to delve into the soul's deepest needs can provide healing and a new understanding of life's meaning.

Dark Nights of the Soul presents these metaphoric dark nights not as the enemy, but as times of transition, occasions to restore yourself, and transforming rites of passage. Moore shows specific ways to engage life more deeply through particular challenges and shares a powerful new outlook. With the soothing, accessible tone and practical philosophy that have made Moore an internationally beloved author, Dark Nights of the Soul will help you tend to the deepest needs of the heart and spirit in a modern world full of life's challenges, and is sure to be a comforting companion during your most difficult times.

FROM THE CRITICS

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. Agent, Michael Katz. Author tour. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In his 13th book since Care of the Soul (1992), psychotherapist and theologian Moore concentrates on the painful, emotionally taxing periods of life. He believes that these can be enriching, growth-producing events if they are perceived as opportunities to learn more about oneself. Moore pulls insights from a variety of disciplines and belief systems that one can use when dealing with illness, divorce, joblessness, or the death of a loved one. He proposes that individuals use these times to weed their lives of unnecessary clutter or to tap into their own intuitive or spiritual natures. Moore acknowledges the despair inherent in "dark nights" and treats it respectfully. He has a gift for recognizing the pain yet encouraging the reader to see the bright spots and move productively through the experience. Easy to read and sure to appeal to intelligent, open-minded readers, this book is recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/03.] Deborah Bigelow, Leonia P.L., NJ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Larry Dossey

Psssst! Here's the secret left unsaid: the dark, gloomy side of life is our salvation. Unless we become aware of this fact, we are doomed to beware it. It isn't just ordinary individuals who try to avoid the shadow side of life, our entire culture is dedicated to this collective blindness. The results are catastrophic-a pervasive loss of meaning, direction, and joy, and a forgetting of how to live in the world. Thomas Moore is a compassionate, wise guide who shows us why walking with God always requires wrestling with the devil. To find out why wholeness always trumps perfection, and why life's ups and downs are joined in an eternal dance, Dark Nights of the Soul is highly recommended. — M.D., author of Healing Beyond the Body, Reinventing Medicine, and Healing Words

David Whyte

Dark Nights of the Soul is an intriguing, insightful and ultimately seductive book, inviting us below all surfaces into the undercurrents of human endeavor. Amidst every difficulty Thomas Moore is there to offer each of us a very sure and companionable hand, guiding us through the awkward, the unforeseen and the unforgivable. Through it all, the book radiates a sense of quiet, reassuring magnificence. A very fine achievement. — poet and author of Crossing the Unknown Sea and Everything is Waiting for You

Marianne Williamson

All of us go through troubled times, when we lie awake at night unable to sleep, wishing we had a comforting book to read. Now you do. Dark Nights of the Soul brings solace to the aching heart. — author of Everyday Grace and A Return to Love

Andre Dubus III

In these reductive and fundamentalist times, Thomas Moore asks us to acknowledge the dark moon within us all, to question the workings of a sun-bright culture which demands our happy, healthy productivity at perhaps the cost of our very souls. This is a wise and timely book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! — author of House of Sand and Fog and In the Bedroom

Rabbi Harold Kushner