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ยป Home ยป Illumination

What is Ensoulment? (The Path of the Spiritual Wanderer)

by Aletheia Luna ยท Updated: Dec 15, 2024 ยท 113 Comments

Ai generated image of a mystical wolf staring at the moon in the night sky symbolic of ensoulment
Ensoulment mystic wanderer image

Are you a spiritual wanderer?

Modern spirituality places great emphasis on the transcendent โ€“ on the Spirit. But unfortunately, this obsession with the ethereal comes at a detriment to the Soul.

The Soul is Spirit embodied. The Soul is mystery, enchantment, and poetry incarnate โ€“ย  it is earthy, sensual, ecstatic, and rooted in the here-and-now. The Soul is primarily yin (feminine), while Spirit is primarily yang (masculine).


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In a world currently dominated by an imbalance of yang, we need yin again. We desperately need to reconnect with the Soul.

We need to walk the path of the spiritual wanderer who is innately and irresistibly drawn to the flame of the Soul โ€“ oneโ€™s Inner Light.

The way to do this is through Ensoulment.

Table of contents

  • What is the Soul?
  • What is Ensoulment?
  • The Darkest Pandemic of All Time: Soul Loss ย 
  • 11 Signs Youโ€™re a Spiritualย Wanderer
  • What Happens When We Become Ensouled?
  • Paths of Ensoulment
    • Physical Paths:
    • Emotional Paths:
    • Imaginative Paths:
    • Mental Paths:
  • Conclusion

What 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 โ€“ it derives from the Old English word sฤwol which means โ€œspiritual and emotional part of a person, animate existenceโ€ (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.ย 

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.

Read more: Higher Self: 11 Ways to Connect With Your Soul ยป


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What is Ensoulment?

Image of a woman standing on a beach alone

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

As such, Ensoulment can be seen as both a present-moment experience and a journey. It’s about learning to live a life more imbued with Soul and it’s also a creative path of embodying your most authentic Self.

Ensoulment is a core part of the spiritual awakening journey and it is the central path of the spiritual wanderer. Another synonym for Ensoulment is Soul retrieval โ€“ however, Ensoulment is a philosophy and ongoing lived experience whereas Soul retrieval tends to be a one-off practice.

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


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The Darkest Pandemic of All Time: Soul Lossย 

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The great malady of the twentieth century, implicated in all our troubles and affecting us individually and socially, is โ€œloss of soul.โ€ When the soul is neglected, it doesnโ€™t just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning.

โ€“ 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 weโ€™ve learned from religion and spiritual traditions alike is that the core of our torment is rooted deep within human beings.

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 within loss of Soul.

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, mechanistic reductionism that sees the world/others as an object to be used and discarded.

When we are severed from the Soul, the human being becomes deranged. Illnesses of every kind begin to emerge, starting within the body as chronic illnesses and eating disorders โ€“ 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 weโ€™re forging right now, we must be initiated into the spiritual path.

We must walk the path of the embodied Mystic or the Bodhisattva โ€“ two types of spiritual wanderers. ย 

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

Let this be known. Let this be written in stone. Let this be screamed from the rooftops. Humanity has lost its Soul, and without a move toward Ensoulment, what hope is there for our childrenโ€™s children to survive in a world that is being laid to waste as we speak?

11 Signs Youโ€™re a Spiritualย Wanderer

Ai generated image of a mystic wanderer wolf in a dreamy landscape searching for ensoulment

Ensoulment begins with the prefix en โ€“ Latin for โ€œin.โ€ So Ensoulment quite literally means being in the Soul or embodying the Divine essence within you.

A spiritual wanderer is a person who is called to live, express, and fulfill the destiny of their Soul.

If youโ€™re a spiritual wanderer, youโ€™ll:

  1. Sense that you have a specific, meaningful role to play on this planet (perhaps since an early age)
  2. Intensely crave a purpose-filled life
  3. Feel depressed when you donโ€™t know or canโ€™t โ€˜figure outโ€™ your destiny
  4. Be drawn toward the spiritual or metaphysical realm
  5. Have undergone a Spiritual Awakening, Kundalini Awakening, and/or Dark Night of the Soul
  6. Find it hard to fit in or belong in this world
  7. Feel everything intensely (as a highly sensitive person and/or empath)
  8. Crave solitude and enjoy introspection
  9. Often struggle with crises of some sort (such as the midlife or quarter-life crisis, existential crisis, etc.)
  10. Struggle to find your Soul tribe (likely due to the aforementioned Soul Loss epidemic!) and therefore struggle with feelings of loneliness and isolation
  11. Long to unite with the Divine, God/dess, Life, the Beloved

Our world desperately needs modern spiritual wanderers who rediscover, reclaim, live, breathe and share their Soulโ€™s purpose.

What Happens When We Become Ensouled?

Image of a mystical mountain range that symbolizes ensoulment

Itโ€™s not hard to imagine what Soul Loss looks like โ€“ just observe the world around you. Anxiety, depression, addictions, narcissism, violence, and abuse of all kinds define what a soulless society looks like.ย 

An Ensouled human, on the other hand, is much less common. Who is there in this modern day and age, to initiate us into the mysteries and depths of the Soul? The answer is that those who are willing and capable are few and far between. We live in a cultural and societal spiritual desert, after all.

To do Soul Work and to come to a place where one can guide other Souls is a strange calling. Itโ€™s not something I ever imagined for myself. I am the daughter of a Christian preacher, but I never imagined myself becoming a Soul guide, a psychopomp guiding seekers into the mysterious waters of their inner selves.ย 

Perhaps my own experience of extreme inner desolation, Dark Night despair, and Soul-longing growing up forged my sensitivity to this global crisis that is largely ignored โ€“ and in many cases, not even seen.ย 

Ensoulment, while not typically commonly seen, can be sensed in those who live creative and purpose-driven lives that center not just around their needs but the needs of the collective.

To summarize, here are some qualities that Iโ€™ve observed in Ensouled humans:

  • Receptivity, humility, and openness
  • Creativity and living a life of rich self-expression
  • Heartfulness (awe, reference, wonder, enchantment, devotion, compassion)
  • Having a strong sense of meaning and purpose
  • Knowing and honing oneโ€™s unique spiritual gifts
  • Intimacy with the present moment
  • Greater ability to let go and surrender to a Higher Power
  • Feeling connected with other people, the world, and Life itself
  • Honoring the power of imagination, symbolism, and innovation
  • Orienting to the mysterious, the numinous, and the magic within/without us
  • Embracing the Divine as both a transcendent and immanent force
  • Moving toward internal integration and balance (Wholeness)
  • Connecting with and embodying the Soulย 

To crystallize what Iโ€™ve written above, Ensouled people live with a great sense of creative meaning and purpose, are connected to their hearts, and feel a strong connection with the Divine.


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Ensoulment isnโ€™t something we โ€œachieveโ€ or โ€œtick off our to-do listโ€ in the logical linear sense.

Instead, itโ€™s a slow and ambling journey that ebbs and flows. Itโ€™s a movement of nature: organic but powerful. And there is no single โ€œfinish lineโ€ either โ€“ Ensoulment is an ever-deepening process. It could be said that Ensoulment is like a thousand-petaled lotus that is both being and becoming, always.

Paths of Ensoulment

Image of a hand holding a crystal ball

How do we become more Ensouled? Thatโ€™s the next reasonable question.

The answer is that there are many paths, all with their unique gifts and capacities.ย 

Iโ€™ve spent over a decade exploring paths of Ensoulment and Soul Communication, and itโ€™s no easy feat to include them all in one article. However, Iโ€™ll include the Soul Work paths that come immediately to mind โ€“ and you’ll notice that most of them share a single theme: creativity:

Physical Paths:

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

โ€• Daniel Defoe
  • Dancing
  • Singing
  • Solitude
  • Drumming
  • Nature walking
  • Gardening

Emotional Paths:

Love is the nature of the soul.

โ€“ John Oโ€™Donohue
  • Devotion
  • Self-love
  • Contemplating beauty
  • Heart-centered meditation
  • Inner child work

Imaginative Paths:

Music and art and poetry attune the soul to God.ย 

โ€“ Thomas Mertonย 
  • Writing/Journaling
  • Drawing/Painting
  • Crafting
  • Music-making
  • Ritual
  • Mythology/symbology
  • Vision quests

Mental Paths:

There is no coming to consciousness without painโ€ฆ People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul.

โ€“ Carl G. Jung
  • Prayer
  • Chanting
  • Silence
  • Lectio Divina
  • Meditation
  • Dream work
  • Mindfulness
  • Shadow work

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

Gardening, for instance, can easily become a mindless chore if it lacks a sense of creative meaning or contemplative mindfulness. Another example from the above list is chanting, which can become a dead droning of empty words if it isnโ€™t first imbued with heart-centered feeling and depth.

In summary, anything we do in life can be a path of Ensoulment (i.e., Soul Work) โ€“ itโ€™s all about your heartโ€™s inner attitude and the meaning you infuse into what you do. However, there do seem to be some specific paths that are more well-suited to intentionally practicing Ensoulment.ย 

Ensoulment is inner archaeology โ€“ it helps us to go back to the root of our being.ย 

Choose what resonates with you and leave the rest.

Conclusion

Ai generated image of a wolf in a circle of the sun and moon

Ensoulment is something that is so close to my heart that it has been my focus for over a decade now โ€“ I could even say that this entire website is an expression of my own Ensoulment!

So, why is Ensoulment so painfully vital?

The reason why Ensoulment is so essential is that the world crucially and desperately needs it! Weโ€™re suffering from pandemic-proportions of Soul Loss thatโ€™s only getting worse, putting us on the fast track to the sixth mass extinction.

Weโ€™re not only destroying Mother Nature and the ecosystem, but weโ€™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 canโ€™t merely be for the individual โ€“ we donโ€™t have that luxury. Our efforts must be directed toward the Whole.

Spiritual Gifts Test image

Being true to who we are means carrying our spirit like a candle in the center of our darkness. If we are to live without silencing or numbing essential parts of who we are, a vow must be invoked and upheld within oneself.

โ€“ Mark Nepo

I hope what Iโ€™ve written here has sparked within you the desire to commit to rediscovering and reconnecting with your Soul’s creative calling. This is the path of the spiritual wanderer, the path of the Bodhisattva. The path that can redeem humanity from its heartbreaking Soul Loss.

Let me know your thoughts and your experience with Ensoulment in the comments below!

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

1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Need "big picture" direction, clarity, and focus? Our Spiritual Wanderer course is a crystallization of 10+ years of inner work, and it can help you find your deeper path and purpose in life as a spiritual wanderer. You get 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, a premium test, and more!.

2. Shadow & Light Membership: Want weekly intuitive guidance to support you on your awakening path? This affordable membership can help you to befriend your dark side, rediscover more self-love, and reclaim inner wholeness.

3. Spiritual Awakening Bundle: Looking for a collection of all our essential transformative resources? You get five enlightening ebooks, seven in-depth journals, plus two empowering bonuses to help you soul search, heal, and awaken.

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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]

(113) Comments

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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 & Mysticism๐Ÿ’™

    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! โ™ก

      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! โค

      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 anย experience in which I wasย aware of an invisible being watching me from above, and (almost?)ย 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, thisย onceย 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 โ™ก

      Reply
      • Alison says

        January 25, 2022 at 10:03 pm

        This chimes so strongly with me and what Iโ€™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 Iโ€™d be scared Iโ€™d lose my grip on reality because I could feel so strongly how it wouldโ€™ve felt to live in the past.
        By the river mudflats there would be such a sense of something I couldnโ€™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. Iโ€™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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Welcome! Our names are Aletheia Luna & Mateo Sol and weโ€™re spiritual educators currently living in Perth, Western Australia. What's this website about? For spiritual rebels and outsiders, our mission is to help you dissolve the shadows that obscure your inner Light and find peace, love, and happiness. Unlike other spiritual spaces, lonerwolf focuses on approaching the spiritual awakening journey in a discerning and down-to-earth-way. Start here ยป

 

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