Dark Night of the Soul

By the Soul of the Universe
Channeled by Josh Schwartzbach

In these, the early years of what many of you consider the 21st Century, it seems that the energies of good and evil are locked in a struggle of survival for each of you as individuals and your entire species as well. Some of you believe that God and Satan are locked in a struggle that will determine the survival of you. You are feeling powerless in the face of Armageddon. There are more than enough signs reflecting back to each of you the fact that your entire species is facing dark clouds of uncertainty. It seems that each occurrence of so-called "evil" adds to your uncertainty and fear. Your old images of yourself have been stripped away, and you have allowed it - from fear, from fear. It is considered by some to be the dark night of the Soul.

Everything in your physical reality exists within the duality of light and dark, and, these most misunderstood energies are both needed in oneıs life in order to be empowered and really connected with the Divine energy of All That Is. This magic that comes from understanding the paradox of light and dark has been lost to you for quite some time now. In the remembrance of this paradox comes the gift of mastery and the road to peace and prosperity, both individually and as a species.

In your journeys through life you wear many masks and live many personas. Many of you have lived through the darkness of a childhood or adolescence surrounded by pain and abuse and violence. The darkness that surrounds lives like this becomes a familiar and reassuring energy when viewed from the seemingly impossible goal of being good enough.

Darkness is impossible without Light, and Light is impossible without Dark. However, this fact is often lost within the myriad beliefs and judgments around both. The Divine holds no judgments; however you do. Light is good; Dark is bad. Light is Godlike; Dark is evil. Light has a connection with the Divine; Dark has the connection with Satan. Angel (Light) sitting on one shoulder, Devil (Dark) sitting on the other in a constant battle for your Soul! For ultimately, that's what many of you believe - that some outside forces of good and evil are battling for your Soul, your essence. In fact, the truth is far different from any of this, and we wish to shed some light (pun intended) upon this subject.

Your physical reality is dualistic in nature. This means that you gain your experiences of this world by polarized reflections of it. These reflections are also an ongoing conversation between you and the Divine Consciousness of All That Is. As you gain greater awareness and consciousness, you will realize that this conversation is going on every moment of every day whether you are awake or asleep. The understanding of this, and some of the other basics of conscious reality creation are becoming more and more important in the increasing polarizations of your world, for it is by learning how it all works that you can begin to change everything. There is so much to be gained by understanding light and dark.

In this moment your physical reality is reflecting fear, danger, everlasting war and perhaps even Armageddon. This is all quite purposeful as you are each as individuals, as well as your entire species, being asked the question, "WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BE." You will not be able to avoid answering this question.

Many of you are reacting to the increasing pressure of your reality by going deeper into your old belief systems. This is reflected in your world right now by the ever-increasing attendance in religious and spiritual institutions of all kinds. For many of you, your first reaction to the seeming intrusion of evil in your reality is to try to be a better person. This moves you more and more into Light Shadow, which has both its advantages and its disadvantages.

Now this may sound strange to you, but the quickest and easiest way to strengthen your self-confidence, as well as self-esteem, self-worth and other gifts of the empowered person, is to own your Dark Shadow. Each one of you has a Light and a Dark Shadow. Basically you judge these pieces of Self as being your "good" side and your "bad" side. We would like to show you how, by owning that so called darker side of your self, as well as the light side; you can also reclaim a tremendous amount of your self-confidence, self-esteem, and more.

Understand that children come into an incarnation Knowing that they are One with All. They know this through the only thing they experience...Love. They are beings of Love; they are beings of Light, born with a Knowing of who they really are. They know that they are Divine beings manifested in the physical. All incarnate with this Knowing, and most of you promptly forget it in the reality of being physically alive.

You are born Knowing that you are a being of Love. That is the one constant in an infantıs life. For each person, the reality that interferes with that Knowing is different. Some live in loving and nurturing family situations. These folks often experience that interference from the outside world. Some are born into families where there is no love, or some sort of skewed love. Some experience a period of love and then suffer some sort of abandonment, perhaps through divorce or the death of their parents.

So, let us take the easy hypothetical example of the child who experiences a physical abuse. Imagine what it must be like for abused children, often only infants when they are struck for the first time. Understand dear one, these children always believe they are at fault and therefore judge themselves as flawed; however, that doesn't change their inherent belief that they are "Good."

With an infant who believes that he is good, but judges himself as flawed, this sets up an internal conflict that begins the formation of dark shadow. For where can the self-worth, the self-confidence of this child go when he is abused? The self-worth or any other of a number of positive aspects moves from the Light Shadow - the piece of self that Knows that it is inherently good - and disappears into the Dark Shadow, to be accompanied with the other parts of itself that it judge to be bad, to be wrong - like those parts that are angry, or enraged. Some of you add energy to your dark shadows throughout your whole lives without ever gaining access to all those pieces of self (self-worth, self-respect) that are there for you - for they are pieces of you.

So, allow us to share a technique with you for beginning the integration of the light and the dark.

First, it is important to set your intent. Actually saying the words in your imagination does this most effectively. A good one might be, "It is my intention to be who I truly Am."

Now allow yourself to relax, and close your eyes. Ask your higher self to join you.

Remember your "light" side. This is the part of you with the best of intentions, the part of you that is one with All That Is, the part of you that is good, the part of you that always tries to do the right thing, the part of you that puts others before yourself. See them in your mind's eye. How do they look? Do they seem strong or weak? What is their demeanor? What is your emotional response to them?

It is important that you now remember your dark side. These are the parts of you that are angry, enraged, bad, only out for yourself, the you that was hurt, shamed, humiliated, the you that hurt, shamed, humiliated, the one that made wrong choices, for the wrong reasons. See them in your mind's eye. How do they look? Do they seem weak or strong? What is their demeanor? What is your emotional response to them?

Your higher self will take both your light and dark shadows to a place where you can see and experience them both simultaneously.

See them. Experience them. Remember the truth of each. Remember the fear that each has of the other. Realize that the only true safety will come to you when you can own both pieces of self. Say it in your imagination, "I own these pieces of myself."

Feel yourself rising to a third position in the complete ownership of these pieces of self - owning the truth of yourself, and your world.

For that is the goal, dear ones - to experience them both, to be them both simultaneously. When you are successful you will know the truth. You see, from this third position, there is no fear, just mastery. One can see the truth and falsehood of the light and the truth and falsehood of the dark. From this place, the things that each shadow fears of the other shadow are canceled out. The dark's scorn of the weakness and vulnerability of the light and the lightıs fear of the lack of control and rage of the dark are each canceled out by the other.

And from this new place, allow yourself to come back, remembering it all if possible. Spend a few minutes musing on your experience before you continue your day. Each time you do this exercise, you will build more trust in yourself.

And so, the duality continues within each and every one of you and in every reflection of your world. The truth of the matter is, dear ones, that each of you is both Light Shadow and Dark Shadow. It is when you can hold both pieces of yourself simultaneously that you will rise above to a third position that is greater then either of its parts. It is the power of paradox. Oh, and don't worry about making Dark choices. When one is in the third position, the inherent goodness and loving nature of humanity is known, and from that Knowing one always makes the right choice. Realize how much more powerful it is, knowing that you could have just as easily made a Dark choice, but have chosen the Light one. Remember this as you answer the question for yourself and your world, "WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BE?"

It is with the greatest love, that we close, We are the Soul of the Universe.

İ 2003 EJA Magical Journeys. The Soul of the Universe (SOTU) is channeled by Josh Schwartzbach and presented by EJA Magical Journeys. SOTU's here to assist humanity through our transformation. SOTU's sane and pragmatic perspectives are available in "TRUTHS from the Soul of the Universe" at www.ejamagic.com, 800-327-1632.

2/1/04