Chapter 1

1. One enters the dark night when God begins to move them on from the state of beginners

2. The dark night is a state one passes through on the way to union with God.

3. One need not be too discouraged as the suffering of the dark night is a necessary suffering in which the soul is strengthened.

4. In the early stages of our spiritual journey consolations come from God in our prayer life rather easily like a mother nursing a child

5. What follows is some of the imperfections of beginners

6. The beginner prays and does other spiritual practices in order to receive the consolations

7. The dark night weans the soul off of these consolations