Dark Nights of the Soul A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals Hardback - 2004

by Thomas Moore, Ph.D.

'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.