8 Phases You Go Through When You’re In The Midst Of A Spiritual Awakening
If you have found yourself deep-diving into the mysteries of life and becoming increasingly curious about what exactly we’re all doing here on this beautiful floating rock bopping through the cosmos, then chances are you are well on your way to your very own breakthrough. These are some of the phases, signs, and patterns our little human souls go through in our process of awakening to our truest selves. You do not need to experience these in order necessarily, but you will probably notice some common themes as you begin to more intensely question your reality and traverse through your spiritual awakening journey.
Answering The Call
At the beginning of any great adventure, the hero must say “yes” to the call. This is the catalyst that spurs on the evolution of your consciousness. Just as the entire cosmos expanded from a single thought, so too will your journey begin with the initiating force and urge to answer the call to your destiny. You will find, however, that after you have made that decision, there is no going back to the way things were. Your life will forever be changed, but in the best way possible. So say goodbye to societal conditioning and those old limiting beliefs and get ready to welcome in some much-needed change and the radical revolution of your soul.
“The call to adventure is the point in a person’s life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change, whether they know it or not.” – Joseph Campbell
Dark Night Of The Ego
For some that ignore the whispers and disregard their call to adventure, they may notice their life being abruptly course-corrected in the form of a dark night of the ego. Do not be afraid—it happens to all of us eventually, and you will come out on the other side of this renewed and even more luminous than before (think monarch vibes). This phase can take many forms: losing a job or relationship, being forcefully relocated, or the shattering of your dreams or life philosophies. Regardless of the shape of your dark night, the purpose is to clear the old and make way for the new energy. Oftentimes, this newness is something even greater than we could have even imagined throwing on our visionary dream boards. Our higher self has a way of knowing a little bit more about what is best for our evolution than our limited human minds can comprehend. So this is an initiating phase to help “wake you up”. Keep the faith and know that better days are ahead.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung
A Glimpse Of The Light
The universal law of polarity states everything in life has its opposite, queue Kanye’s “it can’t always be night.” There is always light on the other side of darkness, and this still holds true after your ego death. Once you shed the layers of conditioning and beliefs that no longer serve you, it is time to reach for some hope. Yes, hope. It can come in the form of a song that pulls you out of depression or reading exactly what you needed to hear from a random book your friend gave you, or as profound as hearing a clairaudient message from the Divine. Whatever sign your soul chooses, you can trust that it will lead you to the epiphanies and answers you are searching for and a restored sense of peace.
“The most precious light is the one that visits you in your darkest hour.” – Mehmet Murat Ildan
Seeking All The Knowledge
This is one of my personal faves, the quest to know ALL the things there is to know about life, spirituality, and everything a mere mortal can comprehend about the mysteries of the cosmos. During this stage, you quite literally cannot get enough! No amount of books, podcasts, YouTube videos, spiritual TikTok, palm reading, astrology, or even crystals can fill the void of needing all the answers. You will probably notice along with your expanding awareness that your mind begins opening up to other life philosophies and ways of objectively viewing reality. The key is to read your audience. You will probably be eager to share all your newfound discoveries with every person you come into contact with; however, everyone may not be ready to hear your message. Don’t get discouraged! You will attract the right tribe and you will be seen for all that you are. Your message will reach the people who are meant to hear it.
“We cannot solve problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” – Albert Einstein
Healing Your Inner Child & Shadow Work
As you start digging into the truths around you, all signs will start to point inward within yourself. You will begin learning how to be there for the younger version of yourself in ways that no one was able to provide for you during childhood. Along with your dark night, some of the aspects of your shadow may have been revealed and brought into your awareness. Just like the movie Soul, all they need is a little love and probably a hug. At the end of the day, your shadow self is the pieces of you that have been repressed, neglected, or shamed into solitary confinement. We can’t control our conditioning or what trauma happened in the past, but we can control how we respond and care for ourselves in the present. The beauty of healing is you don’t have to go through it alone. Reach out to friends or family you trust, journal, look into therapy, or even plant medicine can be a game changer for your healing journey. You may arrive at the realization that the things you heal from were all necessary for you to become the person you are and the happiest version of yourself. Sometimes in our scars is where we find our true power and potential.
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” – Rumi
Recalibrate Yourself
After reconstructing every truth you thought you knew, you get to rebuild! Think of recalibrating like zoning in on your target, which is your highest possible timeline. Your vibes shift and all of a sudden your outer world begins to reflect the beautiful work you’ve been doing with your inner world. It’s a glorious thing and we love to see it. During this phase, you learn more about who you are—literally “know thy self.” People who study themselves learn to love themselves even more genuinely by seeing all the elysian fractals that make them unique. The more you know, the more there is to love. So get excited because this is the moment when you level up your self-love game.
“If you are always trying to be normal, you never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
Cultivating Your Purpose With Passion
Now that you are in alignment with your authentic self, you can focus the flow of your energy on your passion and life purpose. If you never realized what you came here on earth for, this is the phase where everything becomes illuminated and clear as day. You will understand your “why”. Even if you thought you had it all figured out and already found a life purpose, be prepared for surprises in the best way possible. Sometimes the things we fear are the biggest indicators of the direction we should take. I cannot tell you how many times my dreams were on the other side of fear. The feeling you get from choosing to face them is ineffable and will open you up to a reality you never knew existed from your comfort zone.
“We fear the thing we want the most.” – Robert Anthony
Become A Master Of Life’s Lessons
This is so fun. It’s like the final exams in university, except with your life. Yay. Get ready for the storms, bumps in the road, and redirection. It’s easy to read your Eckhart Tolle book from the safety of your little spiritual space, but life wants to know if you can apply what you learned in reality. This is the most empowering phase. It’s where you gain confidence not only in yourself, but begin trusting your intuition, your spiritual gifts, and having faith in the flow of life. It is crucial to keep that bigger perspective and remember your training! Always remember the caterpillar has NO IDEA that it is turning into a butterfly during its struggle and transformation until one day it reveals its wings to the world.
“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead, you relax, and float.” – Alan Watts