Stage 2: Purgation - When the inner life needs to be faced

The Necessary Passage of Purgation and the Dark Night

In the Christian contemplative path, there comes a time—often unexpected and unwelcome—when the excitement of awakening begins to falter, and we are brought face-to-face with our pain and fears, our shadow, the darkness arising from within, and the accumulated detritus of a lifetime. This is the stage traditionally known as purgation, the second movement of the contemplative journey, a spiritual season marked not by illumination or ecstasy but by the necessary work of purification.

Unlike the initial awakening to divine presence—often filled with light, wonder, and an experience of being deeply loved—the stage of purgation confronts us with what still clings to us: our egoic attachments, internal wounds, unhealthy desires, unconscious habits, and the deeply embedded patterns of a life damaged by the consequences of our mistakes and brokenness that we carry in our bodies and memories. Purgation is not about punishment. It is about healing and restoration.

For those familiar with the 12-Step Recovery Programmes, I am reminded that steps 1 to 3 relate to Awakening and experience of the love of a Higher Power where the individual learns to lean into their love to be able to face elements of addiction and addictive behaviours from Step 4 and above. Purgation is very much aligned to working Steps 4 onwards by facing addiction and its attachments to find healing and spiritual freedom.

Facing Purgation spiritually and doing the inner work is where love becomes refining fire.