I used Transpersonal Studies today!

What is a Dark Night without an Early Dawn?Holy Moley Doctor Christopher Bache! I not only used my Religious studies degree to answer a question, but in addition to drive-by referencing Transpersonal Studies I even name-dropped your book! If you sell a copy via stackexchange as a referral, that was me. (Or if you get a nomfg.)

"What Does the Darkest of Nights Mean?"

It might be better to use both halves in answeering your question. The first half, "Dark Night" refers to period of personal upheaval or crisis. Both halves: Dark Night, Early Dawn (DNED) is a phrase whose usage probably best elucidates the fuller context behind what a Dark Night exactly is.Transpersonal Studies usage can be summed up in the following;

"Dark Night...", as in Dark Night, Early Dawn typically can be used to refer to a period of great spiritual testing and, when coupled with "...Early Dawn", transformation. For more you might gloss over the book Summary of central metaphor in Dark Night, Early Dawn

Frequently a Dark Night is a period in which the mettle of a given subject is tested to such an extent as to not only unwind the topical or superficial egoic structures of the person, but when harnessed the crisis energy can additionally be utilized to unwind and deconstruct the foundational and subterranean structures.

Also, the actual crisis or context may not objectively warrant such a description, but the diligence and energy channelled into the situation and egoic structures involved would be sufficient to be a Dark Night experience to the subject.

When used in the superlative, there is an understanding of the Darkest Night laying bare the subject's entire self as a collection of dis-integrated parts. There is, in the sense of the Early Dawn, an opportunity to collect these fragmented elements of the person and to integrate them into a more cohesive personhood.

I'm sure I will go back and edit the answer, tweak it, coax a bit more from it. But that initial draft was awesome. So excited to finally use something from my Bachelor of Arts days. It only took 6 years!

Actually, I referenced DNED throughout the entire structure of my whole 28 hour BaconCamp qua Chili, the rundown and the recipe. I am glad to have had the kind of meltdown I did that week. I am also glad that I got to have such a foundational experience cooking before I gave up cooking at the expense of animals' lives. I don't like to pontificate much on it, but I hit a mark now where it smells wrong. It no longer looks or smells like food for human consumption.

It's a weird place and all my prior photos of meat-based dishes look like some kind of abstract culinary art. Anyway, DNED. Get there.