The Prerequisite for Your Second Birth – Healing “The Dark Night of the Soul” Through a Shaman Death (2 of 7)

The Path to Spiritual Enlightenment – Part 2 of 7

Do you have to die to wake up?

It sounds dramatic. Maybe frightening. But stay with me for a moment.

When I lay burned out in bed in 2003, unable to work, unable to function, I thought my life was over. As a civil engineer, I had always trusted what could be measured. What could be proven. What fit into my spreadsheets.

But the spreadsheets couldn’t save me.

In the darkest weeks, I discovered something that changed everything. Something that has proven true for thousands of people I’ve guided since: Before you can be born again, something in you must die.

Not your body. Something else.

In this article, we explore what the ancient shamanic traditions call “shaman death.” A term that sounds mystical, but is about something deeply practical: How you can return to the innocent joy you once had as a child.

That joy still exists within you. Buried under layer upon layer of expectations, wounds, and stress.

And it can be unearthed again.

The Innocent Child Within You

Close your eyes for a moment.

Imagine a small child playing in the forest. Tossing leaves into the air and laughing out loud. Not because they’re going somewhere. Not because they’re trying to achieve something. Not because someone asked them to.

But simply because it’s fun.

Because it feels good in their whole body.

Because life in this moment is so incredibly rich and full that it simply must be expressed through laughter and movement.

This child is you.

Or rather – it was you. Long ago, when you came into this world with a mind so pure and clear that nothing clouded your joy. When you still had full access to who you really are.

Where We Left Off

In the first part of this article series – “The Path to Spiritual Enlightenment – Your First Birth – The Original Pure Mind” – I wrote about this state. About how we all begin with a shining pure mind. Without prejudice. Without preconceived notions. Without the ego’s constant noise.

I used the image of the Sahara Desert.

Think of it this way: Everything you believe you are – your body, your thoughts, your feelings, your story, the jobs you’ve had, the relationships you’ve been in, all the achievements and defeats – is just a single grain of sand in an infinite desert.

One grain of sand in the Sahara.

Most people live their entire lives within this grain of sand. They worry about it. Defend it. Try to make it bigger, better, more successful. They compare their grain of sand to others’ grains of sand. They suffer when their grain of sand doesn’t look the way they want.

Without realizing they’re surrounded by an infinite desert of possibilities, wisdom, and love.

As a child, you still had access to this desert. You could move freely within it. You instinctively knew you were so much more than that little grain of sand.

But then something happened.

People Who Are Born Twice

In India’s ancient spiritual traditions, there is a concept that has stayed with me for many years. A concept that holds deep wisdom about human transformation.

They call spiritually enlightened individuals ‘Dvija.’

It is a Sanskrit word – द्विज – that means ‘twice-born.’

Let that sink in.

Twice-born.

Your first birth was a gift. It happened without your conscious participation. You emerged into the world from your mother’s womb, and with you came this innocent purity and joyfulness that every newborn child carries.

But this birth was also governed by your karmic tendencies. The patterns you carry from previous lives – experiences, traumas, lessons, and unresolved tasks that your soul has chosen to continue working on in this incarnation.

In the state of the original pure mind, you still had full contact with your true nature. Your soul. Your essence. All the timeless and spaceless aspects of your being.

But your brain – that ‘interface’ connecting your soul nature with the material world – was not yet fully developed. It was open. Receptive. Malleable.

And therefore also deeply vulnerable to everything that came from outside.

When Joyfulness Slowly Fades Away

It didn’t take long.

Society’s subtle but powerful influences began to corrupt the child’s joyfulness. Often before the teenage years. Sometimes as early as five or six years old.

It happens so gradually that we barely notice it.

A comment from a teacher that makes us doubt ourselves. An experience on the playground that teaches us it’s dangerous to be different. A parent’s stress that we unconsciously take on as our own responsibility. A disappointment that closes a door in our heart.

Bit by bit. Layer upon layer. Year after year.

The original purity in our consciousness becomes overshadowed. We begin to identify with a ‘self’ created by our experiences, our upbringing, and society’s rules and expectations.

We forget who we really are.

We believe the grain of sand is all that exists.

Access to our true nature becomes blocked. Our brain – the interface – is now so conditioned by external influences that the signals from the soul barely get through anymore.

And the result?

Look Around You

We live in a world where the longing for material goods, success, and career dominates everything else. Where everything humans can believe in must be measurable by our five senses. Where what cannot be proven scientifically is dismissed as fantasy.

Perhaps you’ve heard it yourself.

‘Alternative stuff is just nonsense.’

‘There are no light beings.’

‘Give me proof that what you’re talking about exists.’

‘Are you still doing that nonsense?’

I know these voices well.

As a civil engineer, I was one of those who only trusted what was measurable. What could be proven. What fit into my spreadsheets and the logical models I had learned to live by.

I was proud of my rationality. My ability to separate facts from feelings. My resistance to what I called ‘mystical nonsense.’

Then I became seriously ill.

In 2003, a life-threatening burnout hit me with a force I could never have imagined. My body collapsed. My mind was in chaos. And conventional medicine – which I had always believed in – stood completely helpless.

The doctors couldn’t help me.

The pills didn’t work.

I was heading toward permanent disability, or worse.

And it was then – in my most desperate hour – that I was forced to open my eyes to the possibility that perhaps there was more than what I could measure. More than what my spreadsheets could capture.

It was my first, tentative step out of the hamster wheel.

Life in the Hamster Wheel

It’s strange to observe how so many people — through their complete dismissal of everything beyond material facts — conclude that they have understood what life is about.

How can you understand life from inside a hamster wheel?

A wheel that spins and spins without end.

Filled with an endless stream of tasks. To-do lists. Deadlines. Obligations. New house. New car. New kitchen. New phone. New projects. Stress. Fear. Worry. Sleeplessness. Illness. Exhaustion. Medication. Frustration. Career chasing. Comparison with others. Burnout. Depression. Anxiety. Loneliness. Hopelessness. Emptiness. Arguments. Misunderstandings. Broken relationships. Divorce. War and unrest — in the world, and within ourselves.

This is not normal.

It is completely disconnected from the natural rhythms that nature demonstrates everywhere around us. The rhythms that serve as the blueprint for our own healthy existence.

Look at a tree. It doesn’t chase. It doesn’t stress. It doesn’t compare itself to the tree beside it.

It simply grows. Calmly. Patiently. In harmony with the seasons and its own inner potential.

We were meant to live this way. In harmony with nature’s rhythms. In contact with our true nature.

But the majority of humanity has lost this connection. With nature. With the innocent purity of the child within. With the soul.

Most people believe this material reality is all that exists.

It’s like believing one grain of sand in the Sahara is the Sahara.

And then the dark night comes.

The Dark Night of the Soul

‘The Dark Night of the Soul.’

I first encountered this concept when I was in my darkest period. Lying in bed, unable to work, unable to function, unable to see any way forward.

And it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

Because here was a concept that described exactly what I was experiencing. Something that told me I was not alone. That others had been here before me. That this actually had a name and a meaning.

The term comes from the 16th-century Spanish mystic John of the Cross. He was a Carmelite monk and poet who used it to describe a stage in the mystical process where a person feels deeply separated from God or the divine.

But this is not something that only happened in medieval monasteries.

It happens to people everywhere. Every day. In all cultures and social classes.

Perhaps it’s happening to you right now.

What Is the Dark Night of the Soul?

The dark night of the soul is a period of deep inner turmoil and uncertainty. A spiritual crisis or existential crisis where your previous sense of meaning, identity, or purpose is challenged.

Or completely lost.

You feel abandoned. Alone. It’s like wandering through a dark place without light or guidance. Nothing makes sense anymore. Everything you thought you knew about life and yourself is shaking.

You struggle with profound questions. What is the meaning of life? Why do I suffer? Who am I really? What do I believe in?

It can be intensely difficult. Emotionally painful. Sometimes overwhelming.

I have been there.

And I’ll be honest with you: It hurts. It’s confusing. It’s frightening. It feels like the ground disappears beneath your feet and you fall into a bottomless darkness.

But here is the most important insight I can share with you:

This dark night is not the end. It is the beginning.

It is a breaking down of the old self that paves the way for a deep transformation. A necessary stage that – if you have the courage to go through it – leads to a profound sense of renewal.

Because from the soul’s perspective – from your essence and true nature – ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’ is something entirely different from what it feels like when you’re in the middle of it.

It is the period from when you lost contact with your spiritual nature – sometime between the ages of 5 and 15 – until you decide that the time is ripe to wake up.

It is your soul’s call to you.

A call that says: ‘It’s time to come home now.’

That’s when your soul’s Epic Journey can begin.

Do You Feel the Call Within You?

If you feel a curiosity awakening in you right now – a longing for something more, something deeper, something truer – I want to invite you to become better acquainted with your soul’s Epic Journey.

In the shamanic tradition, we have a power animal that represents this journey: The Hummingbird.

The hummingbird is the smallest of all birds, but it has the longest migration distance relative to its body size. It flies thousands of kilometers, driven by an inner wisdom that tells it there is something waiting on the other side.

It doesn’t stop because the journey is long. It doesn’t stop because it’s difficult. It follows its inner call. You’ll find a short introduction to the soul’s Epic Journey in the article “When Life Feels Empty and Without Meaning: Are You Ready to Begin Your Soul’s Epic Journey?”.

The Prerequisite for the Second Birth

The second birth is not a physical death.

It’s not something that happens to your body. It’s not a mystical ritual involving physical pain or extreme ordeals.

The second birth is a deep, often challenging, conscious transformation.

A transition from ignorance to insight. From confusion to clarity. From ego and numbness to the innocent joyfulness that opens the door to spiritual enlightenment.

In other words:

The second birth is a reversal of the process that led you into the hamster wheel’s limitations and suffering.

A journey back to the innocent, joyful state and the pure mind you came into this world with. Back to full contact with your soul and your spiritual nature. Back to oneness with all that exists.

But here comes the uncomfortable truth.

The truth many don’t want to hear.

If you wish to be born again in this incarnation, you must first die.

You Must First Die

Not physically.

A physical death would only send you unconsciously into the next incarnation, governed by your karmic tendencies. And the same cycle you have experienced in this life – the same pain, the same patterns, the same limitations – would repeat itself again.

That’s not the death we’re talking about.

No, this is a death of what you today call ‘yourself.’

A breaking down of the old self’s ego structures.

We call it a shamanic death.

And this death happens one hundred percent consciously.

What Is a Shamanic Death – Really?

Let me clear up some misconceptions right away.

When people hear the word ‘shamanic death,’ many think of dramatic images from films and documentaries. Painful rituals. Extreme experiences. People lying in graves. Walking on hot coals. Fasting for weeks in the desert.

This has little to do with real shamanic death.

A shamanic death is not physical pain.

It is a longer developmental and change process where the ego goes from being the soul’s ruler to becoming the soul’s advisor.

Read that sentence again.

From ruler to advisor.

The ego doesn’t disappear. That’s not the goal. The ego has an important function – it helps us navigate the material world, make decisions, set boundaries.

But the ego was never meant to rule. It was meant to serve.

The shamanic death is the process where the ‘self’ is broken down and rebuilt. A reorientation of intellect, identity, ego, and the available karmic memory.

The only pain you will experience?

The resistance from the ego when its power and status quo are threatened.

When you begin to change how you think. Your habits. Your behavior. Your reaction patterns.

The ego will fight back. It will feel uncomfortable. Perhaps frightening. Perhaps you will encounter resistance from people around you who prefer that you remain who you’ve always been.

But it’s not the same as physical pain.

It is growth.

It is transformation.

It is being born again.

Step by Step: How Do You Begin?

In my experience with thousands of students and clients over the past twenty years, I have developed a proven and effective step-by-step developmental journey.

When my students want to go through this change process, we don’t start with the most advanced. We build the foundation first. Stone by stone. Step by step.

The first focus is mastering what I call The 7 Golden Keys – The Path to a Happy and Healthy Life, which I cover in detail in my book Beyond Positive Psychology: A Journey From Burnout to Enlightenment.

The 7 Golden Keys

The 9 Pillars for finding the Path of the Heart

Once this cultivation is well underway, we continue by living out The 9 Pillars for Finding THE PATH OF THE HEART in everyday life.

The heart is not just a muscle that pumps blood. At Yggdrasil Shamanic School, the heart is the gateway to the soul and all shamanic magic. It is through the heart we find our way home.

Pillar 1: Become a master of gratitude. Gratitude is not just a pleasant feeling. It is a powerful practice that literally changes the structure of your brain and opens your heart.

Pillar 2: Become a master of forgiving yourself and others. Forgiveness is not about approving what happened. It is about setting yourself free from the burden of hatred and bitterness that keeps you trapped in the past.

Pillar 3: Become a master of physical, emotional, and spiritual self-regulation. Being able to regulate your own states — not suppress them, but navigate them consciously — is one of the most important skills you can develop.

Pillar 4: Become a master of building a healthy value system and a strong personal character. What do you truly stand for? What are your core values? And are you living in alignment with them?

Pillar 5: Become a master of seeing the glass as half full. This is not about naive positivity. It is about training your brain to see possibilities instead of limitations. About choosing your perspective consciously.

Pillar 6: Become a master of healing your almighty syndrome. The belief that you know what you do not actually know. This syndrome creates an incredible number of limitations — and the healing is liberating.

Pillar 7: Become a master of healing perfectionism. Perfectionism is not a virtue. It is a prison that keeps you trapped in the fear of not being good enough.

Pillar 8: Become a master of understanding nature’s healing rhythms. Nature is our greatest teacher. Her rhythms — the seasons, the cycles of sun and moon, the ocean’s tides — show us how we are meant to live.

Pillar 9: Become a master of understanding and living out your soul’s desires and life mission. You are here with a purpose. Your soul chose this incarnation for a reason. Discovering and living out this mission may be the most meaningful thing you can do.

The Deeper Work

Once the foundation for the shamanic death is laid, we begin the deeper part of the process.

This is the work that goes beneath the surface. Into the layers of crystallized pain and unresolved experiences that have accumulated over years – perhaps over many lives.

Here we work with healing crystallized karmic memory and signatures in the chakra system and light body. We work with dissolving karmic cycles and complex karmic bindings. We activate the Hummingbird power for the soul’s Epic Journey.

We work with advanced mantra work. We facilitate reunion with your spiritual mother and father and your spiritual heritage. We work with healing and release from energetic dogmatic and religious imprints related to guilt, shame, and fear of death.

We use advanced structural magic with the runes. And many other highly effective methods for deep healing.

All to set you free from the ego’s straitjacket.

One thing is important to understand: No one can be objective about themselves. We all have blind spots. Therefore, it is important to have a qualified spiritual teacher to help during the process of shamanic death.

How to Recognize True Awakening

Without going through a comprehensive ego death process, the second birth cannot happen.

This is not my opinion. This is how the transformation works.

And this actually gives us a way to see whether someone has truly undergone a spiritual awakening — even if they claim to be enlightened.

How?

By observing them in everyday life.

How do they handle forgiveness? Can they truly forgive — not just in words, but in action and energy?

Do they take full responsibility for their actions? Or do they blame others, circumstances, fate?

Do they live with integrity and honesty? Do they say one thing and do another?

Do they master self-regulation in daily life? Or do they swing uncontrollably between emotional states?

These are the foundations of a shamanic death. And therefore the foundation for genuine spiritual awakening and enlightenment.

Words are easy. Actions tell the truth.

Be wary of those who talk a lot about enlightenment but live in ways that don’t reflect it. Be especially wary of those who use spirituality to manipulate, control, or create dependency.

A genuine spiritual teacher wants your freedom, not your dependency.

What Awaits on the Other Side

As long as you are not willing to go through your shamanic death, a new birth in this lifetime is out of the question.

It’s a hard truth. But it is the truth.

You can read all the books. Attend all the seminars. Meditate for hours. Talk about spirituality to everyone you meet.

But without the willingness to let the old self die — truly die, not just be slightly modified — the second birth will not happen.

But if you choose to take this step?

After the comprehensive shift in consciousness and way of living that the shamanic death entails, the second birth can begin.

And then something remarkable will happen.

You will once again be filled with innocent joyfulness.

But this time — fully conscious.

Not the unconscious joyfulness of a child who has not yet faced life’s challenges. But a deeper, richer, more conscious joyfulness. A joyfulness that has been through the fire and come out on the other side.

Fear will cease to run your life.

Frustration will lose its grip.

Lack of hope will be replaced by deep trust in life.

Emptiness will be filled with meaning.

Hopelessness will transform into vision.

The need for an endless chase after more, more, more will cease.

And here is the most important part:

This joyfulness can never be taken from you again.

Because it does not depend on external circumstances. It does not come from something you have or do. It comes from who you are.

It comes from having found your way home to yourself.

You will experience and live the complete spiritual awakening that is also called spiritual enlightenment.

That is the topic of the next article.