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» Home » Turning Inwards

What is Ensoulment? (12 Deep Changes That Happen Within You)

by Aletheia Luna · Updated: Aug 21, 2025 · 114 Comments

Image of a tree and the cosmos symbolic of ensoulment
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The great malady of the twentieth century, implicated in all our troubles and affecting us individually and socially, is “loss of soul.” When the soul is neglected, it doesn’t just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning. – T. Moore

What is at the root of all our suffering?

This is a question that has haunted the minds of humanity since the dawn of time.

What we’ve learned from religion and spiritual traditions alike is that the core of our torment is rooted deep within human beings.


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It is a canker of the Soul. A fragmentation of the psyche. A disturbance of the mind. A severance from nature. A desecration of the very world around us.

All of this pain is rooted in the loss of Soul.

This is why Ensoulment – being in the soul or living in alignment with the Soul – is so critical.

Table of contents

  • What Happens When We Are Severed From the Soul?
  • What Actually is the Soul?
  • What is Ensoulment?
  • 12 Deep Transformations That Happen When You Become More Ensouled
  • Four Sacred Paths of Ensoulment
  • Conclusion

What Happens When We Are Severed From the Soul?

image of a person with a bandage over their head and a black butterfly on their mouth symbolic of soul loss

When we are cut off from the Soul, we are cut off from each other and the world.

It is then that we collapse into a state of fundamentalism, cold rationalism, and mechanistic reductionism that sees the world/others as an object to be used and discarded.

When we are severed from the Soul, human beings become deranged.

Illnesses of every kind begin to emerge, starting within the body as chronic illnesses and eating disorders – ending with mental illnesses, existential crises, paranoia, hatred, suicide, murder, and the psychotic abuse of our most innocent members of society.


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For humanity to heal, we must reconnect with the Soul. We must become Ensouled. For us to reverse, in whatever way possible, the direct path of self-destruction we’re forging right now, we must be initiated onto our Soul’s path.

Ensoulment is the answer to Soul Loss, which is the most severe pandemic of all time, afflicting all people of all races and countries. 

Humanity has lost its Soul, and without a move toward Ensoulment, what hope is there for our children’s children to survive in a world that is being laid to waste as we speak?

What Actually is the Soul?

Image of a pure white light symbolic of the soul

We all possess a Soul. On a fundamental level, Soul is our animating essence – it derives from the Old English word sāwol, which means “spiritual and emotional part of a person, animate existence” (1).

Through the ages, thanks to both religious and wider spiritual influence alike, the Soul has been understood as the indwelling spark of Divinity we all carry. 

In a nutshell, Soul is your innermost essence or Spirit embodied in earthly form. To use a simple analogy, Spirit is like pure light, whereas Soul is the kaleidoscopic, multi-colored lens through which Spirit shines.

Your Soul can also grow and expand throughout life.

In the words of poet Kahlil Gibran,

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

The Soul is paradoxical in nature and is both wholly human and wholly Divine.

Ever heard the expression, “He’s a lost soul,” or “She sold her soul”? The Soul can become sick, lethargic, and lost. But there is another part of the Soul, the Divine part (the “Immortal Soul”), that can guide and support us.

What is Ensoulment?

Image of a woman standing on a beach alone

There’s a part of every living thing that wants to become itself: the tadpole into the frog, the chrysalis into the butterfly, a damaged human being into a whole one. – Ellen Bass

The word Ensoulment is composed of ‘Ensoul,’ which means to endow or imbue with a Soul, and the suffix ‘ment,‘ which means action or process. So, Ensoulment quite literally refers to the process of being infused with Soul.

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Ensoulment is about learning how to live more in alignment with your Soul by listening to its authentic wants, needs, and values. It’s a path of embodying your most authentic Self.

Another synonym for Ensoulment is Soul recovery or the shamanic notion of Soul retrieval; however, Ensoulment is more of an ongoing philosophy and lived experience than a single shamanic ritual.

Note on the traditional meaning: Originally, Ensoulment was a term with religious connotations, referring to the moment in which a fetus gains a Soul. But that’s not what we’re talking about in this article. Instead, we have intentionally redefined and reimagined Ensoulment to mean the ongoing experience of Soul Initiation. 

12 Deep Transformations That Happen When You Become More Ensouled

Image of a woman standing in the sunlight with a veil symbolic of ensoulment

The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. – Carl Jung, Psychiatrist & Ensouled human being

Soul Loss looks like anxiety, depression, addictions, narcissism, violence, and abuse of all kinds. 

Ensoulment, on the other hand, looks like openness, warmth, creativity, compassion, connectivity, joy, and a purpose-driven life.

To summarize, here are twelve transformations that often happen when you start to become more Ensouled:

  1. Living more in the present moment.
  2. Receptivity, humility, and openness.
  3. Creativity and living a life of rich self-expression.
  4. Having a strong sense of meaning and purpose.
  5. Knowing and honing your unique spiritual gifts.
  6. Feeling more connected to and led by your intuition.
  7. Greater ability to let go and surrender to a Higher Power.
  8. Moving toward internal integration and Wholeness.
  9. Experiencing more signs, synchronicities, and doors opening.
  10. Feeling connected with other people, the world, and Life itself.
  11. Heartfulness (awe, reference, wonder, enchantment, devotion, compassion).
  12. Orienting to the mysterious, the numinous, and the magic within and without you.

Ensouled people live with a great sense of creative meaning and purpose, are connected to their hearts, and feel a stronger connection with the Divine.

This journey isn’t something we can quickly “achieve” in the traditional sense. It’s not a linear path. It’s a spiralic, ebbing and flowing journey. It’s a movement of nature: organic but powerful. There is no single “finish line” – Ensoulment is an ever-deepening process of illumination, growth, and interconnectedness.

Four Sacred Paths of Ensoulment

Image of a rock doorway leading to the cosmos with a person standing shining a light symbolic of ensoulment

The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door. ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Writer, Analyst & Ensouled human being

How do we become more Ensouled? That’s the next reasonable question. The answer is that there are different types of doorways, all with their unique potentials, gifts, and capacities. 

I’ve spent over a decade exploring paths of Ensoulment. Here’s a sample of some of the most powerful paths:

Physical/Earth-centered Paths:

Image of a man sitting with the fire beneath the stars

The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear.

― Daniel Defoe
  • Dancing
  • Singing
  • Solitude
  • Drumming
  • Nature walking
  • Gardening
  • Plant Medicine
  • Ecotherapy

Emotional Paths:

Image of a beautiful pink flower symbolic of the heart of what is a mystic

Love is the nature of the soul.

– John O’Donohue

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. ― Rumi

  • Devotion
  • Self-love
  • Contemplating beauty
  • Heart-centered meditation
  • Inner child work
  • Caring for a family/other beings

Imaginative Paths:

Image of a vibrant sky symbolic of soul work

Music and art and poetry attune the soul to God. 

– Thomas Merton 
  • Writing/Journaling
  • Drawing/Painting
  • Crafting
  • Music-making
  • Ritual
  • Mythology/symbology
  • Vision quests
  • Shamanic journeying

Mental Paths:

Image of a boat with a lantern on the lake at sunrise with stars in the sky

Knowledge is the food of the soul.

– Plato

Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.

― Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

  • Prayer
  • Chanting
  • Silence
  • Lectio Divina
  • Meditation
  • Reading books
  • Dream work
  • Mindfulness
  • Shadow work

Of course, not all of these paths lead exclusively to Ensoulment. 

Gardening, for instance, can easily become a mindless chore if it lacks a sense of heart and soul. Another example from the above list is chanting, which can become a dead droning of empty words if it isn’t first imbued with deep feeling and intention.

In summary, whatever we do with depth and focus can be a path of Ensoulment (i.e., Soul Work) – it’s all about your heart’s inner attitude and the meaning you infuse into what you do.

Essentially, Ensoulment is inner archaeology – it helps us to go back to the root of our being. Choose what resonates with you and leave the rest.

Conclusion

Image of a hand holding a crystal ball

Ensoulment is essential because you and I – and Mother Earth at large – crucially and desperately need it.


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We’re suffering from pandemic proportions of Soul Loss that’s only getting worse, putting us on the fast track to the sixth mass extinction.

We’re not only destroying Mother Nature and the ecosystem, but we’re also experiencing large-scale cultural collapse that is undermining the fabric of our civilization.

We need to think bigger as a race. Whatever we do can’t merely be for the individual – we don’t have that luxury. Our efforts must be directed toward the Whole. And that starts at a root level: becoming reconnected to our Souls again.

Being true to who we are means carrying our spirit like a candle in the center of our darkness.

– Mark Nepo

What does living an Ensouled life mean to you? What are the biggest struggles or blocks you face? I welcome you to share below. You never know who you may reassure or comfort by doing so.

Whenever you feel the call, there are 3 ways I can help you:

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About Aletheia Luna

Aletheia Luna is a prolific psychospiritual writer, author, educator, and intuitive guide whose work has touched the lives of millions worldwide. As a survivor of fundamentalist religious abuse, her mission is to help others find love, strength, and inner light in even the darkest places. She is the author of hundreds of popular articles, as well as numerous books and journals on the topics of Self-Love, Spiritual Awakening, and more. [Read More]

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  1. Deonsha says

    May 27, 2023 at 2:27 am

    “TanamS0ul Osei: A Soulist Mystic

    Grateful for all fellow Souls & Heart-Centers who, much like me, have finally began showing up & “coming out” into their authentic selves!! May We one day align & gather as ONE–Setting the example of TRUE Soulism & Mysticism💙

    Reply
  2. Leah says

    January 09, 2023 at 11:09 pm

    Loved this article and all of your guidance, Luna ! I am so grateful that you created this website and for sharing all of your research with those who are on the same path !! I would love to meet you one day Greetings to you & Sol Bless you ! – A Lone Wolf :-)

    Reply
    • Mateo Sol says

      January 10, 2023 at 8:19 am

      We’re grateful to hear you’re enjoying what we share Leah. Yes, someday we need to organize some type of lonerwolf anti-pack gathering haha :)

      Reply
  3. Xen says

    November 13, 2022 at 6:10 am

    For the above statement “awe, reference, wonder, enchantment,” I think you mean “reverence” (?)

    Reply
    • Aletheia Luna says

      November 16, 2022 at 11:40 am

      That as well. :)

      Reply
  4. Nikimarguerite says

    October 27, 2022 at 7:54 pm

    I just want to say thank you and you do good work. My whole life has definitely been a continuous journey with many ups and downs. Along with a shocking number of tests. I am almost always being tested, but I never give up, keep fighting to move forward, continue studying and learning, always remaining true to self being ‘me’ no matter what is very important to me even though it has definitely produced many challenges and consequences. So, you understand the magnitude of these ‘tests’, I’ll just tell you what my mama always told me, ‘You were put on this earth to show people just how much a person can take, fight through, endure, survive and rebuild. While still able to see the beauty and goodness in things.’ And I still do. Although she was just winging it, trying to keep her daughter from losing it, it was probably the best thing she could have said to me. I am 50yrs old now and when it starts again, I look at my mom and say, ‘I think I’ve held the reins long enough, I think I’ve earned my retirement and some peace the of my days.’ lol Not a joke, it has been rough ride, but I will survive I always do. My studies are what keeps me sane and grounded. Shamanism mainly but also the theology of many other religions and beliefs, plant medicine w/traditional Indigenous and Native American focus and natural healing and therapies of all kinds. Well, I didn’t intend to babble on for so long. ~Good Vibes & Blessings to you~

    Reply
  5. Mari says

    July 06, 2022 at 5:20 am

    Ifollow the findings/teachings of this woman who was raised in the Sikh faith and she seems to know a lot about responding to “Who is there in this modern day and age, to initiate us into the mysteries and depths of the Soul?”
    Studying this faith is on my plans.
    Her name is Valerie Kaur for the ones who want to know more.

    Reply
    • Ram Acephali says

      April 24, 2023 at 4:11 pm

      No one can teach you about your soul better than your soul, the teaching and the teacher is with you, always. You are what you seek.

      Reply
  6. Carmen says

    June 12, 2022 at 10:55 pm

    Gratitude beyond words

    Reply
  7. Cynthia Winton-Henry says

    March 20, 2022 at 10:51 am

    Thank you. It is wonderful to find a teacher so resonant with my own approach!

    Reply
    • Aletheia Luna says

      June 08, 2022 at 2:44 pm

      Beautiful, Cynthia, that’s wonderful to hear! ♡

      Reply
  8. Jessica Ysidron says

    October 16, 2021 at 2:06 am

    This resonates with me so much! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Aletheia Luna says

      January 07, 2022 at 2:17 pm

      I’m so glad to hear that Jessica! ❤

      Reply
  9. Yoshiko says

    September 03, 2021 at 3:54 pm

    First, please let me tell you my surprise: I selected this article while thinking of feminine energy. I have an experience in which I was aware of an invisible being watching me from above, and (almost?) at the same time I was watching myself from above just for a moment when I was very depressed and didn’t expect this at all, this once till now. But I didn’t get any wiser or I didn’t get any inspiration.
    Thank you.

    Reply
    • AnonymousPerson says

      June 29, 2023 at 4:59 am

      Sometimes the message is not necessarily specific advice from those who watch over from above, but just “I’m here for you,” “I’m protecting you,” and “I care about you.” After all, even to us humans, giving advice does not always provide as much comfort as someone just being by your side, and such beings do understand that wisdom much more than human beings do oftentimes.

      Reply
  10. Hamod says

    August 26, 2021 at 9:29 am

    I found something extraordinary about myself that have never take it seriously and I always love doing those things and they are solitude, contemplating beauty, mythology and prayers thanks to this article now I know my soul.

    Reply
    • Aletheia Luna says

      August 27, 2021 at 11:14 am

      This is so beautiful and inspiring. Thank you Hamod ♡

      Reply
      • Alison says

        January 25, 2022 at 10:03 pm

        This chimes so strongly with me and what I’m trying to do at the moment. As a child I used to feel the atmosphere around me to the point of being overwhelmed. In a museum, the past would rise up around me and I’d be scared I’d lose my grip on reality because I could feel so strongly how it would’ve felt to live in the past.
        By the river mudflats there would be such a sense of something I couldn’t describe but which was so different to the atmosphere of my home that it freaked me out.
        There were many other examples, and the way they made me feel meant I spent a long time thinking I was going insane.
        As an adult I really enjoy when those feelings of connection to something else occur. I’ve just embarked on a challenge to myself to really find that child inside me, and retrieve her ability to feel those things.
        This feels to me now not like the stirrings of insanity, but something more like what you describe as ensoulment. A bigger world opening up just by the effort to put out feelers and feel it. I get the same sense of expansiveness and connection from reading the things you write.
        Thankyou for writing them.

        Reply
        • Juliet says

          June 17, 2022 at 8:44 am

          Wow, Alison. What you describe is pretty much exactly my own experience. I have found that I must be careful about what media I watch…movies, TV shows etc… and what I read because I experience them in such a first person way that they become an actual part 9f my own “lived” history. I AM able to intellectually separate them from my actual experiences but emotionally they remain a part of my psyche.
          Bless you for sharing and good traveling to you.
          Juliet

          Reply
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Aletheia Luna and Mateo Sol are psychospiritual educators, authors, guides, and the creators behind lonerwolf.com, which has reached millions worldwide since 2012. With over 30 years of combined experience, their work has been featured in publications like The Mind’s Journal, Wake Up World, Tiny Buddha, and more. Their mission is to help seekers overcome soul loss and live a more purposeful, ensouled life. Start here »

 

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