human elements that go to make it up are melted together. But the darkest nights are followed by the most radiant dawns and the soul, perfect at last, enters into complete, constant and inseparable communion with the Spirit, so that – to use the bold statement employed by St John of the Cross – "it seems to be God himself and has the same characteristics as him". See also Ego death Existential crisis Loevinger; Loevinger's stages of ego development Dabrowski; Theory of positive disintegration Kenosis Lawrence Kohlberg; Kohlberg's stages of moral development Nigredo Psychology of religion Divinization (Christian) Notes References Sources Further reading External links Poem Dark Night of the Soul verse translation of the poem. Text of Dark Night of the Soul from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library Original and Translation of Dark Night of the Soul From The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross St. John's commentary Online version of Dark Night of the Soul Modern interpretations The chapter titled "The Dark Night of the Soul" from Evelyn Underhill's Mysticism at Gnostic.org. Summary of The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross Christian mysticism 16th-century Christian texts Books by John of the Cross Christian devotional literature Christian literature 1578 works 1585 works