LonerWolf

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start Here
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
  • Free Tests
  • Contact
  • Articles
  • Membership
  • Course
  • Freebies
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Start Here
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
  • Free Tests
  • Contact
  • Articles
  • Membership
  • Course
  • Freebies
×
» Home » Facing The Darkness

What is Nigredo? 13 Signs You’re Having an Alchemical Breakdown 

by Aletheia Luna · Updated: Aug 1, 2025 · Leave a Comment

Image of a skull and candles representing alchemical nigredo
Nigredo spiritual alchemy soul work dark night of the soul image

Skulls, ravens, black suns, darkness. 

All these are symbols of the process of crisis, breakdown, and ego death that represent the first stage of spiritual alchemy: Nigredo.

Are you suffering from some kind of intense, consuming inner struggle right now?


Spiritual Wanderer Course image

Spiritual Wanderer Course:

Being a lone wolf and a spiritual wanderer is a sacred calling in life – a unique and alchemical path of awakening. You don’t need to feel lost, alone, or stuck on your journey any more. It’s time to meet your soul’s deep needs for clarity, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Let us show you how …


Perhaps there’s no chaotic crisis, but instead a vacuous feeling of emptiness, isolation, or disconnection from your Soul and sense of meaning in life.

Maybe you’re at a crossroads in life, are experiencing a death of old ways of being, or are suffering from a Dark Night of the Soul.

Whatever the case, if you’re feeling a sense of confusion, lostness, emptiness, anxiety, depression, grief, or disconnection, you’re experiencing the first level of spiritual alchemy, which is Nigredo.

Table of contents

  • What is Nigredo in Spiritual Alchemy?
  • What Does Nigredo Feel Like? 13 Signs You’re Experiencing It
  • Nigredo Throughout Myth & Legend 
  • We Are Experiencing Collective Nigredo (But There is Light in the Darkness)

What is Nigredo in Spiritual Alchemy?

Image that depicts the three stages of alchemy: nigredo, albedo, and rubedo
The three phases of the Magnum Opus: Nigredo, Albedo, Rubedo (from Pretiosissimum Donum Dei, published by Georges Aurach in 1475)

Nigredo is Latin for blackness, and it represents the first stage of Soul Work, which involves the putrefaction, death, and decomposition of old, rigid, false, and delusional ways of thinking and being.

In this stage, we begin to face our shadows and the challenging parts of our egos that sabotage our growth, happiness, and fulfillment in life.

The work that we do here on lonerwolf (and Shadow & Light) is primarily focused on the Nigredo stage, and its goal is to help you move to the next stage, Albedo (whitening or breakthrough), and then Rubedo (reddening or integration).

What Does Nigredo Feel Like? 13 Signs You’re Experiencing It

Image of  a person with black ink over their hands

Nigredo is an incredibly challenging season in life. Here are some signs you may be experiencing it:


Image of an eclipse

Shadow & Light Membership:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ "Receiving these messages is a beacon of light and hope for me in currently very challenging times. The words of wisdom speak right to my soul, guiding and encouraging me further on my path. I highly recommend Shadow & Light to everyone who seeks to develop and cultivate a relationship with the Inner Self." – Karin


  1. Something important to you (or life in general) seems to be falling apart.
  2. You’re in a season of decay: there are many painful inner and outer deaths or endings.
  3. You’re no longer interested in what once motivated you, and you feel flat, restless, or demotivated.
  4. You feel lost and aimless, with no clear sense of direction.
  5. You’ve lost your sense of self, and you don’t know who you are anymore (identity crisis).
  6. You lack a sense of purpose and meaning in life. 
  7. You’re having painful confrontations with your Shadow Self, and your flaws, errors, and shortcomings are on full display.
  8. You may struggle with nightmares and disrupted sleep.
  9. You may struggle with a mental health crisis (anxiety, depression, OCD, etc.)
  10. You may struggle with addictive tendencies as a way to numb the pain.
  11. You may experience strange/frightening altered states (visions, dissociation, etc.)
  12. You’ve lost trust in yourself and are filled with self-doubt.
  13. You feel emotionally fragile and vulnerable a lot of the time.
  14. The world, people, and situations easily overwhelm or exhaust you.
  15. You crave solitude and more time alone than you once did. 
  16. You feel disconnected, hollow, and distant from your Soul (Dark Night of the Soul).
  17. You feel an inner sense of being dissolved, ‘purged,’ or broken down.

How many of these signs can you relate to? If you think I’ve missed any, let me know below in the comments.

Nigredo Throughout Myth & Legend 

Image of a raven and skull symbolic of nigredo in alchemy
Julien Champagne (1926)

It might comfort you to know that experiencing Nigredo isn’t a personal failure; it’s a natural process of inner maturation and Soul evolution.

At some point in life, we’re all bound to go through this blackening process. Looking at old myths and stories from around the world helps to remind you that this is the case.

In The Black Sun, psychotherapist Stanton Marlan gives examples of the descent into the underworld that define the Nigredo process:

  • Goethe’s Faust
  • Book of Job in the Bible
  • T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Wasteland’
  • The life-death Japanese goddess Izanami
  • The Greek Kore-Persephone
  • The Roman Psyche
  • Fairytale heroines who go to Mother Hulda or Baba Yaga
  • Sumerian story of Inanna and Ereshkigal
  • Dante’s Inferno

As you can see, mythologically and symbolically, the Nigredo process usually involves images of the deep dark woods, desolate landscapes, haunted figures, or hell itself. 

If you were to give an image to the darkening process you’re going, what would that look like? Write about it or draw it – you’ll find the process quite soothing.

I did this a few years ago during the depths of my own Nigredo experience. Here’s the image that hangs on my wall to this day:

Image of a painting of the Nigredo, Albedo and Rubedo spiritual alchemy process

This image depicts the Black Madonna, who is said to help people through their periods of Nigredo darkness. 

Her white sun heart represents the next alchemical Albedo stage (illumination,) and her red garment represents the final stage of Rubedo (integration).

We Are Experiencing Collective Nigredo (But There is Light in the Darkness)

Image of a black sun symbolic of nigredo in alchemy

In Hinduism, we are said to be living in the Kali Yuga or the age of darkness, defined by spiritual impoverishment, war, and destruction. 

Would you like to save this?

We'll email this article to you, so you can come back to it later!

Your information will never be shared.

In alchemical terms, we are living in the stage of Nigredo – the darkening. This process is defined by the first five stages of alchemy: 

  • Calcinatio (burning), 
  • Solutio (dissolving), 
  • Coagulatio (coagulating), and 
  • Mortificatio (mortification)

Yet despite the collective Soul Loss we’re experiencing and the darkness pervading all corners of the globe, there is hope to be found. As the 16th-century alchemical text Rosarium Philosophorum states,

When you see your matter going black, rejoice, you are at the beginning of the work.

Painting of a skull and parchment
Vanitas still life, 1646.

Nigredo is the first stage of our Soul’s Work on this planet. We know from observing nature that after the night comes the dawn of a new day, and after winter comes spring. So too with the process of Nigredo.

After Nigredo (the darkening) comes Albedo (the lightening). After death comes rebirth. In the words of awakened teacher Adyashanti,

Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretence. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.

This is a powerful description of Nigredo. In order to find the Inner Light of the Soul, all the dark layers of crud in our minds must be burned and dissolved first.

Sage and psychotherapist Carl Jung mirror this truth, writing,

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

Nigredo is the process of making the darkness conscious, which is where our Soul Work always begins.

We don’t have to do this work alone. If you feel called to get started, we offer two paths:

  1. The Alchemical Soul Work Workbook – a structured journey through the seven stages of spiritual alchemy to help you find more clarity and direction in life.
  2. The Shadow & Light Membership – weekly guidance and support to help you dissolve the shadows that obscure your Soul and feel more at home within your Self.

In the words of medic and psychiatrist Edward F. Edinger,

This work is difficult and strewn with obstacles; the alchemical opus is dangerous. Right at the beginning you meet the “dragon” … the “devil” or, as the alchemists called it, the “blackness,” the nigredo, and this encounter produces suffering. In the language of the alchemists, matter suffers until the nigredo disappears, when the “dawn” … will be announced … and a new day will break, the leukosis or albedo.

What has the experience of Nigredo been like for you? What is dying and therefore slowly transforming within you? Share with me below in the comments.

If you need more help, we offer 3 powerful ways to guide you on your inner journey:

1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Feeling lost or uncertain about your path and purpose in life? Gain clarity and focus by learning about the five archetypes of awakening within you. Discover your deeper path and purpose using our in-depth psychospiritual map. Includes 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, and a premium test.

2. Shadow & Light Membership: Seeking ongoing support for your spiritual journey? Receive weekly intuitive guidance and learn to embrace your whole self, including your shadow side. Deepen your self-love and receive personal support from us.

3. The Alchemical Soul Work Workbook: This powerful psychospiritual tool helps you turn inner blockages into breakthroughs using the ancient wisdom of spiritual alchemy. Through guided prompts and deep self-reflection, you’ll gain clarity, dissolve emotional pain, and reconnect with your Soul’s wisdom. Transform confusion into clarity. Live a more authentic, ensouled life.

More Facing The Darkness

  • A person shining a light underneath a stone archway symbolic of finding your soul's purpose
    Your Calling is Calling: How to Find Purpose in Times of Crisis 
  • Image of some tarot and oracle cards symbolic of tarot shadow work
    Tarot Shadow Work For Beginners: 5 Steps to Unveil Your Dark Side
  • Image of a person wearing a mask in a surreal landscape symbolic of the false identity script
    7 Types of False Identity Scripts Hiding in Your Subconscious
  • Image of a gnarled tree in a dark landscape symbolic of the primal core wound
    The Core Wound: Why You Still Feel Broken, Unseen, and Alone
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Print

About Aletheia Luna

Aletheia Luna is a prolific psychospiritual writer, author, educator, and intuitive guide whose work has touched the lives of millions worldwide. As a survivor of fundamentalist religious abuse, her mission is to help others find love, strength, and inner light in even the darkest places. She is the author of hundreds of popular articles, as well as numerous books and journals on the topics of Self-Love, Spiritual Awakening, and more. [Read More]

Want to share your thoughts? Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your email address will remain 100% private.

Popular Guides

  • Signs You’re Experiencing "Soul Loss"
  • Core Wound: The Wounds of the Soul That Keep You Trapped
  • Shadow Self: How to Embrace Your Inner Darkness
  • The Dark Night of the Soul: A Modern Guide
  • What is Soul Work?
  • Spiritual Alchemy: Mystical Stages
  • What is Ensoulment?

Popular Tests

  • What Type of Spiritual Wanderer Are You?
  • What Is Your Subconscious Mind Hiding?
  • How Dominant is Your Shadow Self?
  • What Type of Inner Work Suits You?

Popular Offerings

  • Spiritual Wanderer Course
  • Shadow & Light Membership
  • The Spiritual Awakening Bundle
  • Inner Work Bundle
  • Alchemical Soul Work Workbook

Footer

↑ back to top

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, this means whenever you buy a book on Amazon from a link on this website, we receive a small percentage of its price at no extra cost to you.

 

Listen to Your Soul’s Calling

photo of aletheia luna & mateo sol

Aletheia Luna and Mateo Sol are psychospiritual educators, authors, guides, and the creators behind lonerwolf.com, which has reached millions worldwide since 2012. With over 30 years of combined experience, their work has been featured in publications like The Mind’s Journal, Wake Up World, Tiny Buddha, and more. Their mission is to help seekers overcome soul loss and live a more purposeful, ensouled life. Start here »

 

About

  • About us
  • Our Principles
  • Reposting Our Work?
  • Moon Phase Spiritual Meaning Calculator

Newsletter

  • Feeling lost, stuck, or disconnected? Find clarity and purpose. Get free, soul-centered guidance in our weekly LonerWolf Howl newsletter. Sign Up here!

Whadjuk Noongar

  • We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Whadjuk people of Noongar Boodjar. We recognize their continued connection to the land and waters of this beautiful place and acknowledge that they never ceded sovereignty. We respect all Whadjuk Elders both past and present, and any First Nations people.
 

Luna & Sol Pty Ltd © 2012 - 2025 LonerWolf.com. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy & Terms