Many secular or New Age people will talk about their Dark Night of the Soul as if it’s a challenging moment, a depression, or just a bad experience. It’s much deeper than that. If you hear of someone talk or write about the Dark Night of the Soul without mentioning St. John of the Cross, it’s probably just a challenging time. The Dark Night of the Soul is a purgative process in the mystical tradition where we’re called to let go of our material desires and sensory gratification. There is no spiritual bypassing here.