Perhaps you’ve been feeling it recently. Maybe you’ve felt it for a long time.
The darkness around us is deep.
We no longer trust the big institutions that were meant to protect us and there is an increase in social unrest at almost every level of society.
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Our ecosystem is suffering. Wars between volatile countries are breaking out. Mental health issues are on the rise, so much so that the children these days are labeled “the anxious generation.”
Many of us are struggling to pay for basic necessities. The rise of AI is wiping out many livelihoods and our sense of fundamental security.
Mateo explores more of this crisis in this video:
I don’t need to go into every problem out there because I’m sure you’re more than aware.
We are living in an age of Soul Loss, personally, societally, and globally.
Alchemically speaking, we are living in the phase of nigredo – the darkening, the burning, the dissolution of the old structures in society that we once relied upon.
There is a collective sense of disillusionment and a level of cynicism I’ve never seen before. Do you feel it?
The other day, someone left a comment on one of my posts that perfectly summarizes what I mean. They wrote:
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ "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
“There is no such thing as love. Especially agape (“unconditional love”). Humans suck. They don’t want to love. Majority of humans are trash.”
Now I don’t know if this person was a troll or whether they were speaking honestly, but comments like these mirror something tragic but critical:
We are going through an existential crisis as a society – one directly related to a loss of soul, a loss of meaning, and a loss of connection to the spirit of nature (the anima mundi).
When I considered what to write in response to this person, the image of Viktor Frankl, one of the most powerful and awe-inspiring guides on finding purpose in times of despair, immediately came to mind.
Here was my response:
“Hi C. This is a very one-sided and short-sighted perspective. “Majority of humans are trash.” Someone like Viktor Frankl who survived the Nazi death camps chose to turn that horror into a source of power, helping many through his development of logotherapy. The way I see it is that some people in this world choose self-indulgent and self-destructive cynicism which is easy, but also empty and pointless. Others choose to transform that into power, purpose, and potential, making this world better (love in action). At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.”
This comment reflects the essence of what I want to share with you today.
In times of crisis, trauma, and darkness, the only path that I know to be truly powerful, healing, and transformative is to turn your pain into a source of power, purpose, and potential.
Anything less than that leaves us feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, angry, and stuck in a pit of self-indulgent cynicism, which doesn’t do us or anyone else much good.
This idea of finding your inner path is not a new one. The notion of having a unique calling can be found in many old religious and spiritual ideas, such as dharma in Eastern thought (one’s sacred duty), vocatio in Christian belief (God-given vocation), or one’s unique “medicine” in shamanic cultures who performed vision quests and other rituals to find their calling.
Where I live in Australia, the Aboriginal people believe in a concept known as Songlines, where their ancestors left pathways across the land for them to follow, connecting them to their greater path, role, and linking them to ancient knowledge.
In times of crisis, a large doorway to the inner world opens. We could say that pain is the portal. Suffering is the initiation. Mythologically speaking, the “call to adventure” and finding a new way of living and being almost always begins with some kind of crisis.
As Viktor Frankl writes, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” And sociologist Martha Beck complements that by saying, “Any deep crisis is an opportunity to make your life extraordinary.”
In other words, your calling is calling you.
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In times of crisis, more than ever before, your calling is calling you to step up, listen to the yearning of your soul, and give back to the world your unique form of “medicine.”
This personal medicine can be small and humble. It can be done between jobs, on lunch breaks, or in the early hours of Saturday morning. It can be visible or invisible – it doesn’t have to look any one way.
The simplest way to get started is this:
Put a hand over your heart, close your eyes, get quiet, and turn inwards. Ask your Soul,
“What am I called to do right now?”
Pay attention to the first words, images, or feelings that come up. Trust the first rush of insight.
Also remember this:
Your calling is calling you in many different ways, shapes, and forms. It calls to you through signs, synchronicities, dreams, and longings. It calls to you every day. Listen carefully.
If you struggle to connect with that inner calling or feel blocked in your ability to be proactive, see my Alchemical Soul Work Workbook – a work of passion and the soul – which can help you find clarity and focus.
It’s time to find your path in this time of crisis.
The world needs your unique form of medicine now more than ever. Don’t delay. Now is the time.
Tell me, what came up for you when you asked your heart and Soul, “What am I called to do right now?”? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
Whenever you feel the call, there are 3 ways I can help you:
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2. Shadow & Light Membership: Want weekly intuitive guidance to support you on your awakening path? This affordable membership can help you to befriend your dark side, rediscover more self-love, and reclaim inner wholeness.
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.
Reading the article and the comments was kind of soothing. We all feel the same, even “down under” (I am from Europe).
Personally I am experiencing very hard times. My job is very demanding, both physically and psychologically. I word for a big delivering company which means I carry about 200 parcels and packages a day, up to 30 kg. My joints ache, I am psychologically down because I cannot unterstand that an employer is totally indifferent to this (it’s not only me but all of us who feel overworked) and they even impose more work on our backs. This on the personal side plus what’s going on in the world and our politicians driving us all to a war made me really doubt in mankind. Staying grounded and thus helping other who struggle even more is impossible if you’re too tired even to get your household done on your day off.
Yet I know it is true what you write, and I try to recover on my day off just to start the same bullshit again the next day. Anything like vocation seems far away although I know it’s the small things in every day’s life that make the difference. Which of course I experience, my co-workers try to cheer me up in a really nice way and I am grateful for this. Yesterday my partner gifted me a small soap bubble set together with a card that read: don’t forget the playful moments. I had to cry. I always used to be the strong one who (hopefully) did for others, which was ok.
I know these times are what you call “negrido” and I really do hope change comes without horrible wars. Sometimes I think humankind really has to go through all of this, and then again I think, is it really worth it.
Long ranting, my vegetable garden helps me get my feet on the ground literally.
All the best to all of you out there, remember we are connected!
How do I find purpose in crisis times?
Turn off the TV, stop skimming through your various electronic devices, including mobile phones and exercise step monitors for health for at least 2-3 hours per day. As these keep us enveloped in connection to the doom and gloom of this world and keep us separate from each other (AI), and act as a huge distraction which keeps us from the inner calm within and the peace and harmony of our particular view on life.
So turn it all off for a time!
After having the operation to remove these outward vestiges, we begin to once more realign ourselves to hope, faith, and the need to find clearance for the build-up of the collective emotions, thoughts, inner needs, and personal desires. Within itself, it can be both daunting and shocking, giving feelings of being lost and overwhelmed.
As spoken so aptly by Sol!
A time of quiet research to find suitable outlets for feelings and disturbed emotions, eg, sadness, anger, loss, feeling used or having bad past feelings, lethargic, non-participatory in outer events, just wanting alone time, to clear the fuzz out of the head and de-stress the body. Like perhaps going out for a short walk in the park barefoot, or along the beach in late afternoon, often helps. To remove negative dark influences, and discover pains within, and authentic longings and desires. To find your needs and soul yearnings, and perhaps share simple pleasures with your spouse or trusted friend, to identify inner or outer needs that may be addressed.
By making personal boundary choices and decisions on what is needed, you may feel a lightness in step, and more able to share and listen to, and be with other people after a while. This in itself can help to enlighten the mood, and improve the light for self and others over time. Like a fission reaction which starts localized and small, then booms out, spreading to many people. Love knows no boundaries!
Blessings and love to all in need in these Chaotic times!
Love.
That was the first thing that came to mind when I placed my hand on my heart and asked myself what I was being called to.
Later this week, I’ll be traveling to the other side of the world to meet someone I’ve only known online. Over the past six months, our long-distance connection has quietly blossomed into something meaningful — and now, it’s time to meet face to face.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little anxious. It’s a big leap. But I’m hopeful — hopeful that the bond we’ve built from afar will feel just as real and right when we’re finally standing in the same room.
I hope the same for you too, Don. How exciting!
Hey!!!! Did not expect an article from you mentioning my comment. I appreciate it. I can’t go full in depth on my comment and your article because i’m not a native english speaker and it would take too long to explain myself. I commented because your article(previouse one) sounded so “gay” and weak and ridiculous. This article here and the comments show me that you people are not awake and even worse you do not care. You love to tell yourself and others this bullshit about spreading love and being kind just because it makes YOU feel better. But in reality you are contributing to evil,too. By standers are complicit. Same with the lockdowns. All the people who supported it are responsible for all the negative effects. All the job loses,suicides,the tyranny etc. i was born and grew up in west europe. I saw first hand what cancer globalism did. This is no small matter. Saying bs like “spread love” do inner work is outrageous. Instead of using water to stop a fire you gaslight people. Y”all really don’t give a sht. I guess life is still too good to you. You still have it too good. I came to this website because i struggle with the fact that most humans suck. I’ve tried politics but that was worse. Left and right are becoming too extreme and stupid. So i was hoping the spiritual and natural folks might be aware and ready to talk about this stuff and do something about it. Nature and humanity are literally dying and you people don’t even care! You just want to feel better. This is very disappointing. If you want love,freedom,peace etc you have to fight for it! Doing Inner work is not enough you have to make an impact on the outer world too. No one will come and save us. It will only get worse. There is so much to say to this. I know this comment does not explain it well… i suggest people to Read Jaques Ellul,Ted Kaczynskis,john Zerzan,David Skrbinas books. This would be a good start.
Hi Ching, I appreciate your passionate response. I can see this is a topic you feel deeply about, which is what this world needs. However, I believe your approach is not only counterproductive, but also destructive, creating the very crises in this world you say that you despise. You suggest fighting for what you want (you use the example of unibomber Ted Kaczynski, for instance, among others), and this reminds me of a quote by comedian George Carlin:
“Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”
You see the irony here?
The previous article you’re referring to where you commented (“Why Do I Always Feel Like Something Is Missing From My Life?”) talks about the epidemic of soul loss and the dark night of the soul so many of us are experiencing. The solution is a return to love – and as I shared, love can be active, not just passive. Just look at someone like Viktor Frankl who survived the Nazi death camps and turned that pain into a source of power that he shared with society to make it a better place. You neglect to mention this in your comment. Furthermore, if you have read more than a handful of articles on this website, you’ll see that it’s not a “love, light, and gaslight” place. Most of our resources are aimed at exploring the roots of pain, suffering, and darkness, which is a loss of soul connection. I can sense your pain when you write comments like “Nature and humanity are literally dying and you people don’t even care! You just want to feel better.” However, not only is this presuming to know what exactly the people who follow the work here feel, but it also assumes that they/we only want to feel better for the sake of feeling better. The goal here is greater: by reconnecting with our own Souls and healing through inner work, this ripples out into the world. This is an inward form of social justice. This is inner activism. In the words of Tolstoy, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” True change can only ever start on the inside. Then, that inside change evolves into outer action. But the foundation is first internal. I hope this makes sense.
All the best to you.
When I placed my hand on my heart, the word ‘calling’ came up for me.
But I heard it as core-ling, and then (c) all-in (g).
I took it to mean this: if we live from our core—what’s deeply true for us—and put our all-in, wholeheartedly, that becomes our calling.
Your article highlights that beautifully. We really are all in this together.
When we move through life from that core place, we’re drawn to who, where, what, and when feels right for us.
And if we can trust ourselves and that process, even when it’s challenged by the world around us, we each honour our calling.
What a beautiful and creative response to the question. Thank you for sharing this response from your Deeper Self here, Amanda!
Learn how to pray and journal came up for me. I have a strong desire/yearning to do the Camino de Santiago walk. I long to discover how I would cope with being on my own and relying on my own talents and gifts. Discovering the freedom for spiritual expression and honouring spiritual seekers of the past.
Doing a pilgrimage like that would certainly be life-changing. I hope you get the chance to do it, Antonette. <3
Love, love it’s what I get each day through so many ways! Not the human version, but That love that creates life! It’s just about discarding the mental and emotional blocks that I’ve carried around unaware so that Love can flow through me freely!
Thank you so much for your work, it means a lot to me and it helped me a lot along the journey! Keep it up!
Beautiful, Calin. Thank you for sharing 💜
Early in 2024, I was forcibly retired, separated from my wife of 42 years and began moving from friend’s home to friend’s home. All of that sounds bleak, I realize but what has resonated with me, is that these things are happening for me – not to me. In reality I’ve has been an incredible year. Not because it went smoothly, but because I began to learn who I was vs the labels I had given myself. The point being, sometimes chaos is needed to help the individual see clearly what their direction should be vs what it is. When you open your perception to what is really happening you begin to see the grander scheme and your place in it (your purpose – et al). Trust the path your higher self has guided you too.
Your post resonates with me. May your journey be blessed with revelations that support you 🙏
“The point being, sometimes chaos is needed to help the individual see clearly what their direction should be vs what it is.” – powerful put, Willem 💜
There’s no way around it. The only way is to remain firm and consistent in our true being and to let go of circumstances, toxic relationships and material things. Discover who we are, work on our self-esteem, don’t seek validation and reaffirm our most intrinsic values. Because if we become indignant and wait for the world to change, we will only become increasingly frustrated. We need to do the inner work to learn how to walk through the chaos of today’s world without letting ourselves be contaminated by it.
“We need to do the inner work to learn how to walk through the chaos of today’s world without letting ourselves be contaminated by it.” Well said Hans 🐺
I just wanted to write to you & Sol today to say how grateful I am to you both for sharing your spiritual knowledge with such authenticity & in such a loving & compassionate way.
You have helped me when I have felt disconnected & overwhelmed by life at times & you have bought me back to soul while holding space.
Your gifts I have found rarely in this world.
Thank you 🙏😊💜
What a beautiful comment, Yvette. Thank you for your kind words and for your willingness to go deep and reconnect with your Soul. Much love 💜