Awakened by darkness : when evil becomes your father

Awakened by Darkness is Paul Levy's personal story of how he managed to come through extreme psychological abuse from an emotionally disturbed father to not only find his inner voice, creative spirit and life's work, but a deeper sense of wholeness as well. This is the in-depth story of Paul's descent into the depths of insanity and his encounter with archetypal darkness and evil, only to come out stronger than before, with creative gifts that can help others who are struggling with the evil of psychological trauma and abuse. At age 24, the intensity of the emotional abuse from his father catalyzed a life-transforming spiritual awakening, which, because it wasn't recognized as such, got Paul hospitalized and (mis)diagnosed by psychiatry as having a mental illness. This is the story of how Paul eventually freed himself from both his dysfunctional family as well as from the toxicity of psychiatry - in a dream come true, he now has psychiatrists consulting with him. Paul's story illumines how the deeper archetype of the wounded healer/shaman underlies and in-forms all healing procedures, be they personal or collective. Though this is Paul's unique story, in a sense it has a universal aspect, for it is all of our story-relevant to all types of trauma-as we attempt to shed light on and creatively bring forth the hidden gifts encoded within the darkness that is to be found both out in the world and within ourselves.