Discovering your Soul’s purpose is not a linear process.
Don’t expect to find a “step-by-step guide” or “7 quick tips …” listicle here.
Your Soul is not logical.
Your Soul has its own bone-deep, ancient, wordless wisdom – and it doesn’t conform to what your mind wants or desires.
Think of your Soul like a vast, primordial cosmos within you. Your mind, on the other hand, is like a little angry red-faced man, waving his fists to the heavens, demanding it to rain already.
It just won’t happen!
There is a kind of reverence we need to bring to discovering our core Soul purpose.
Just as we would enter a church or temple with quietness and humility, so too do we need to approach our Soul with a sense of holy veneration.
Our Soul is the center of who we are: it is the fiery core, the illuminated essence, the crystalline deep sea, or the unique spark of Divinity we all carry.
As such, to really and truly find our Soul’s purpose, we need to move out of our Instagram-scrolling, Netflix-binging, distraction-loving “monkey mind” and into a space of sincerity, slowness, and devotion.
Table of contents
What Does Soul Purpose Mean?
The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best which is within us.
– Marianne Williamson
One’s ‘Soul purpose’ can be thought of as one’s ultimate purpose in life. Soul purpose can also be used interchangeably with “destiny.”
Everything in existence serves some kind of purpose. A tree’s purpose, for instance, is to provide us with oxygen and reduce pollution – but overall, its true ‘Soul purpose’ can be described as a protector of our ecosystem.
Bacteria, on the other hand, have the true purpose of breaking down debris within our ecosystem – they provide the space for new life to flourish.
As humans, we’re a little tricky. We have a biological “purpose” which is to eat, breed, and colonize. But we also have a deeper, individual purpose.
This individual Soul purpose could be anything from finding the next cure to a rare disease, to building an animal sanctuary or promoting racial equality.
Your Soul purpose is completely unique to you, and only you can carry it out.
Soul Loss & Soul Retrieval
When we experience Soul Loss we begin experiencing feelings of weakness, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and emptiness. We just know that something is missing from our lives, but many of us struggle to discover what exactly that is.
– Mateo Sol
In the vast majority of cases, the reason why we struggle to reconnect with our Soul’s purpose is that we aren’t connected with our Soul to begin with!
Put another way, we have contracted something called Soul Loss.
We have lost touch with our Souls due to trauma, childhood conditioning, abuse, self-neglect, inherited toxic core beliefs, and a lack of Soul-centered education.
The Soul, once something found within the earth, connectedness with others, and through a sense of sacredness and connection to a deity, has now been replaced with mechanistic and materialistic possession.
Science and rationality are absolutely needed, don’t get me wrong. But when we focus too much on the “yang,” on the masculine-driven values of success, advancement, and conquest, we lose our Souls.
To find our Souls again, we must practice Soul Retrieval. We must connect with the yin or the divine feminine (which is a genderless force) within us.
There are many ways to practice Soul Retrieval. For brevity’s sake (and because this article isn’t about that topic), I’ll list some below:
- Meditation and visualization journeys
- Working with inner archetypes
- Entering altered states of consciousness
- Practicing self-love and compassion
- Inner child work and shadow work
Read more about these Soul Retrieval methods.
How do we know when we’ve successfully ‘retrieved’ our Soul? This is a good question, and my first response is that you will sense it intuitively.
For example, instead of feeling dull and flat inside, you’ll feel more vigor and life within you. You may feel a spark of passion suddenly ignite within you, life may seem more awe-inspiring, or the world may seem to regain its color again.
In essence, you’ll feel more energized, refreshed, dynamic, inspirited, inspired, and perhaps even as if you have been “reborn.”
Qualities to Cultivate in Preparation For Finding One’s Soul Purpose
To enter the gateways described in the next section, it’s vital that we, even after retrieving more access to the Soul, hone the following qualities:
- Honesty – focus on being honest with yourself, be truthful
- Gratitude – attune to what you are thankful for in life, this will help to open your heart, which is a gateway to your Soul
- Openness – be willing to invite in new experiences
- Trust – learn to trust your insights and discoveries
Engaging in a regular spiritual practice will help you to grow or strengthen these qualities within you. (For more guidance on developing a spiritual practice, read: What is Spirituality?).
Soul Purpose: How to Discover and Fulfill Your Destiny
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
– Mary Oliver
Once you have retrieved access to your Soul, it will be infinitely more simple to unveil your Soul’s purpose.
But it won’t be straightforward, lemme tell you!
I’ve rarely heard, seen, or met someone who “immediately” knew what their Soul purpose was – as if it suddenly and angelically descended upon them from the heavens.
There is no recipe here, no 1-2-3 hey presto series of instructions.
As I said before, your Soul is nonlinear: it pre-dates the mind and also transcends it in every possible way.
All I can do as an experienced Soulworker who has made ensoulment my priority is to offer advice for this ebbing and flowing spiral-shaped path.
It has taken me years and years to gain some semblance of my ‘true path,’ and even then, I’m still learning!
So here are some gateways, humbly offered to you on your mystical journey of self-actualization and self-realization:
Gateway 1: Catch Those Ghostly Wisps of Joy
Magic exists. Who can doubt it when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars?
– Nora Roberts
We’ve all had those bizarre moments and whimsical experiences that suddenly spark a sense of curiosity, awe, love, magic, and inspiration inside of us.
Most people just ignore them and carry on with their day, assuming that such moments were their mind ‘imagining things’ or perhaps they’re simply in a strange mood.
My advice is to tell those mental justifications to kiss it! Take such ghostly wisps of joy seriously. They mean something!
Perhaps it was a nostalgic song that put you into a state of reverie, or a butterfly floating on the wind, or a raindrop sliding down the window that sparked a mystical moment of pure delight.
Whatever that wisp of joy was, don’t let it float away into the ether. Pay attention! Contemplate it. Better still, journal about it and what it meant to you.
These odd moments often carry surprisingly deep messages. Take an experience I had the other day for instance:
I was in a funk, feeling down and overwhelmed. But as I watched the green swaying bushes outside, my Soul was slowly uplifted. I realized that like this bush, I was being tussled by life to strengthen me. A plant doesn’t grow deep roots without being weathered.
Gateway 2: Unearth Your Core Bones
Your core values are the deeply held beliefs that authentically describe your soul.
– J. C. Maxwell
Your personality is the topsoil of your life – it’s the face you present to the world, and the typical self you operate from and within, in public.
But we are so much deeper than our personalities. Think back to when you were 5 years old, 15 years old, and 25 years old. Think about how your personality changed!
There are certain ‘core bones’ within us, however, that do not change. And to find your Soul purpose, you’ll need to do some Soul searching to unearth what these are.
There are three main layers to uncover within us, and these are our:
- Core Values or what principles we hold onto so strongly at our center that they are absolutely non-negotiable – we could never abandon them.
- Core Gifts or the natural talents and abilities we were born with that contribute to our Soul’s maturation and that we are exceptionally good at.
- Core Wisdom or the mysterious knowledge we know without knowing how – most intuition comes from this core wisdom that we’re born to manifest.
How do we unearth these core bones?
There are many routes, but some examples may include reading books, meditating, going on shamanic or visionary journeys, going to therapy, doing some journaling, following our passions and experimenting with ‘new things,’ and practicing self-observation, self-analysis, and introspection.
Gateway 3: Stillness, Silence, Solitude, and Nature
In solitude is healing. Speak to your soul. Listen to your heart. Sometimes in the absence of noise we find the answers.
– Dodinsky
The ego, which is the artificial mask that obscures the Soul, generates so much busyness, loudness, and commotion in our everyday lives.
I’m not here to make an enemy out of the ego – we need it for survival. Those to-do lists, face-saving actions, and strategic payment of the rent help us to thrive. But the ego does have a tendency to get in the way of our deeper needs and desires.
To find your Soul’s purpose, you need a break from the ego. You need to get away from other people’s egos as well (because they tend to reinforce your own). So, naturally, solitude is the easiest way to open a gateway to the mystery of the Soul.
If you have the luxury of taking a break or retreat from your life, go into a wild place somewhere. Retreat from busy city or suburban life, and surround yourself with the howls of wolves, the coo of birds, and the rustle of tree branches around you.
Great works of literature (like Walden by Henry David Thoreau and Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton) have been written in solitude. There is something about being alone that allows the whispers of the Soul to finally be heard.
Make sure you bring some kind of journal, notebook, or diary with you, you’ll need it!
Gateway 4: Journey into the Otherworld
A problem cannot be solved by the same consciousness in which it arose.
– Albert Einstein
Another way of rediscovering your Soul purpose is to take an inner break, an inner holiday from your usual state of awareness.
There are many ways to experience an altered state of consciousness, and not all of them will suit you. So be mindful, and choose only what you feel comfortable and ready to experience.
Guided visualizations and spiritual meditation are gentle ways of journeying into the otherworld of your inner Self. You can find many free Soul journey or shamanic journeying recordings on YouTube and other platforms like the app InsightTimer.
You may choose to experiment with lucid dreaming (or learning how to consciously seek guidance in your dreams) or breathwork methods that induce trance states.
Other more intense methods involve the use of plant medicines – also known as entheogens.
If you have access to a trustworthy and trained shaman or guide, you may like to explore plant teachers like Ayahuasca, Peyote, Psilocybin Mushrooms, and so on.
Even Marijuana, which is now legal in many countries, can be used consciously and with a strong intention to journey into the Otherworld of your inner Self.
But a word of warning: be careful when using mind-altering substances – they are certainly not suitable for everyone, especially if you have a mental health condition. Tread wisely, as the use of such substances can be more traumatizing than liberating if misused or taken by the wrong person.
Gateway 5: Embrace the Power of Artistic Self-Expression
Art is the expression of the artist’s overflowing soul.
– Hans Hofmann
Symbols, images, metaphors, dreams, and sensations are the primary way the Soul ‘talks’ to us – and art helps us to directly tap into and interpret this inner wisdom!
You don’t have to have one artistic bone in your body to successfully use art as a doorway to your Soul. Even a stick figure or a squiggle can carry tremendous meaning and value.
My favorite way to ‘speak’ with my Soul is by combining traditional word-based journaling with the fluidity of art. I call it therapeutic art journaling, but some would call it ‘art therapy.’
To use art as a way of reconnecting with your Soul’s purpose, make a habit every day out of drawing how you feel – don’t think about it too much! Just draw what comes to mind or what you feel like. Then stop to reflect on what’s in front of you. What feelings do you get from the image? What do the shapes or colors mean to you?
Amazing realizations can occur when simply taking time to contemplate your drawings.
What to Do if You Feel Like You’re Wasting Your Life
Don’t worry if you struggle to find your Soul purpose. It’s totally normal.
Likely, it will take you years to fully contemplate your place in the universe, and that’s okay.
A flower takes its own time to blossom, a seed takes a while to emerge from the earth. Anything that is alive takes time to flourish.
Our Soul’s are dynamic and take time to mature and grow. We could call the desire to find one’s Soul purpose also the process of ‘Soul-making’ (in the words of poet John Keats).
Professor of anthropology Bonnie Glass-Coffin says it well:
As I have come to realize through my life’s journey, the purpose of our human embodiment is, actually, to grow a soul. Like the making of a body during nine months of gestation, soul-making is also a process. For, although we are born with it, our soul continues to develop with every life experience. Our sufferings are simply the secretions that add to its luster—like a pearl inside an oyster. Making soul is the process of a lifetime, or several lifetimes.
Besides, often, the frustrating, confusing, and sobering path of trying to find your Soul’s purpose is a lesson itself in disguise!
Any treasure worth finding will take some effort. But along the way, it will teach you so much about yourself.
So hang in there. Even the detours in your life have a purpose in that they contribute toward your ultimate destiny in life.
Takeaway
Humankind is being led along an evolving course,
through this migration of intelligences,
and though we seem to be sleeping,
there is an inner wakefulness
that directs the dream,
and that will eventually startle us back
to the truth of who we are.
~ Rumi (The Essential Rumi)
Whether your desire to find your Soul Purpose was due to a sudden spiritual awakening, fortuitous synchronicity, or turbulent Dark Night of the Soul, it is a call to adventure. It is a call from your Soul itself to grow into the shoes laid before you.
Some days you’ll feel like you’re making progress. Other days you’ll cast your hands up in despair, feeling like you’re lost again. But know that you can never go off course, because at your core, you are Life itself.
Your Soul purpose is one facet of the total diamond that is the Divine – and there is always, always, an ultimate place for you, and only you, in this world.
Have you found your Soul purpose? Do you intuit what it might be? I’d love to hear from you below.
No. I couldn’t still
Like anything worthy of pursuing, it takes time Onur ;)
I don’t think I have found my soul purpose, but I will find it.
You will :)
After reading Dr. Michael Newton’s books, I came to the conclusion, that souls are some entities that integrates with human bodies, which serves them as temporal vehicles, while they learn their karmic lessons. So, I wonder why I, as a human being, while suffering in my life for my soul’s shortcomings in its previous lives, should help my soul in any way, or try to figure out my soul’s purpose in this life? My soul gets me in all kind of trouble with its karmic debts and goals, and then, when I die, it discards my body and goes home, while I just stop to exist.
Hi Adalbi, this is an interesting angle. Perhaps you might take this perspective on the Soul as being helpful: https://lonerwolf.com/what-is-a-soul/
As usual amazing as always this post was very insightful and it helped me appreciate all that I have, the good and the bad. I don’t think that you guys take requests but can you guys do a post about removing black magick from your life without costly rituals?
Hi Gratias. If by “black magick” you mean karmic suffering, we have an older article on that here: https://lonerwolf.com/what-is-karma/ I hope you find it helpful. :)
Reading this article really made me realize how much I have changed and grown over the years. Now in my 50s and with a huge amount of life experience behind me some of it abusive, I can see the development of my soul and it’s lovely. I feel the deeper we go into the depths of life’s experiences the higher we may be catapulted up into vast wisdom.
Just to share with you as you may have an understanding of this strange experience. I had a dream in which I kept trying to wake from. In the dream I felt a sort of cleansing and a deeply blissful feeling of my mind and heart, I could see my face as bright and extremely happy. Not a dream I could share with family or friends as it was very unusual and difficult to describe but one I shall always remember.
Thank you for all of your hard work!
What a beautiful dream Ameena, it sounds like a soul dream ♡
First of all, I’d like to thank you for your deep insightful articles. Somehow they always “hit the spot” of what I need at the time. I believe my soul calling is about connection. Connecting me and others. Creating synergies between people and protecting the planet, finding and creating balance. I tiptoe into this purpose as I’m still processing past toxic influences and healing. I am energised when I am in my purpose but… struggle to fully step into the light and shine. The past has still a hold where it was about “who am I to dare to be anything but what others wanted me to be”. I lost me and slowly finding my true essence and hence my purpose. The spiritual awakening journal work was tip of the iceberg on my inner work. The inner child journal work was phenomenal. Lots of tears of just letting go and understanding. Now onto shadow work me thinks… then I hope to step fully into the light and my purpose. Love and light to everyone who is experiencing the joys and pain of this mystical ride.
We both find that our Soul’s purpose has been to overcome adversity in the outer sphere of things while choosing humility and acceptance of circumstances eg., abuses, fears, social conditioning, family conditioning, emotional and mental haul backs as part and parcel of forming, achieving and growing inwardly. It thus becomes the road less traveled or journeyed by most people. As the lives of Saints like St Francis, it is tough going and can leave emotional and physical scars, deep fears and anxieties, etc., however, it is still a road that we take which tests your metal so to speak to the very core of your being and from which you some times feel that the Dark Night of the Soul is a permanent fixture in your life. A karmic burden that shocks the shit out of your cosy defensive walls and self-protective cocoons we surround ourselves with within this new world. We are here to not change from without like our forebears did but to show the world that what it chucks our way may damage the outer rim of this three-dimensional linear existence but does not change the inner core being which becomes tougher, wiser as you age, and far more resilient to what circumstances (fate) comes our way. The resilient Soul is one well tested, both in pain and pleasures yet remains on a true navigational heading, like the good ship Lovingkindness. The more it experiences both good or bad, light or dark, the more the soul shakes off its binders and shackles, to naturally reveal its true purpose.
Conclusion
We are here to resolve karmic overloads from in some cases, many previous lives, plus to do clearance and aid the transition of many souls into awakening to the new age. To lift the corporeal one spirit in synchronicity into a higher frequency and better perceptual understanding of our true nature which goes far beyond our current level of understanding. So we are star seeds in the making and much needed to clear out the crap within ourselves, our world and to reconnect to higher forms of spiritual existence.
Thanks John. I’ve heard the term ‘star seed’ a lot — curious to know what it means to you?
Deep..
<3
Love it! Thank you! <3 Slowly showing itself, like the "breadcrumbs of Grace". :-)
Beautiful :)
This was an excellent article. Thank you!
Thanks Beth!
When I read “Look back to when you were 25” and I am 24 years old. Lol
I feel as though I’ve known the main soul purpose of being here on this earth for a long time, which is to spread unconditional love. I also see the importance of aligning with the energies of world peace, complete freedom, and universal truth in order to support the soul purpose of spreading unconditional love. Soul purpose need not be specific; it can simply be a value,
or multiple values, of yours. I like thinking of rainbow love as a symbol of the soul purpose I have. I specifically have a humanitarian purpose in life, which is to serve humanity and living beings, and I recognize this because the name, Raulo Luis Enrique Mejia Cordova, as well as the day I was born, 05/23/1997, together embody the angel numbers 9999 in numerology. I feel that the same soul as me has the same soul purpose as well.
That being said, there was a time when I simply could not see why I was alive and what the purpose of living was, and this was during the time of the dark night of the soul. Focusing on realigning with the higher purpose through meditation and connecting with the world through action and planning was the way I brought myself back into the light.
Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
-Raulo the Rainbow Starperson
:-)
Hey Raul, haha, I hope you get the basic premise of that exercise though (maybe for you it could be the ages of 4, 14, and 24). I like how you bring up values and how they can be your soul purpose (there doesn’t have to be just one). It makes complete sense that what we value is a treasure we must also share and give to the world — it nourishes both us and those around us. Mutually beneficial! I see this push and pull, give and take, as a natural part of our sacred ecosystem.
Thank you for writing this, Aletheia. It is exactly what I needed to read today. I plan to reread and visit the links you included. I’ve read most of the authors you cited, but not all, and I will. I love Bonnie Glass-Coffin’s “soul-making” as our life’s purpose, or lives’ purpose; this all encompassing process is both personal and universal.
Thank you Elaine for reading. Yes, I love the idea of ‘soul-making’ — it feels organic and true to the nature of life!
Dear Luna,
I have been into your work for about 2 years. I resonate it with deeply. What helped me most was your articles on shadow work and your shadow work journal. When I read on one of your articles, that we are like trees and without having deep roots, we can’t grow upwards. I felt so much relief in that. I never resonated with the toxic positivity. I knew something is missing. And from then on, I found many things.. doing body scans and understanding my enotions, feeling them. I remember I found your website while searching the meaning for 1111. I resonate with your work because it is something I myself have experienced. I am learning more each day. And recently these soul loss articles have been calling me. :)
Thank you for all that you do!!
Thank you Sohanpreet, I’m so glad you’re resonating with this guidance. Much love! ♡
Thank you for making such a great article. Still, it seems that complex minds and thoughts are being sorted out a bit. What I understand and empathize with in the article above is ‘Some days you’ll feel like you’re making progress. Other days you’ll cast your hands up in despair, feeling like you’re lost again.’ Up until two weeks ago, I intuitively felt that I was on the right path, on my own path. And as I read and explored the site you created, I was able to understand what I felt so far. I’ve always wondered why this pain comes to me, everything is futile, nothing is real, I’d rather commit suicide than be in this state. But I had time to get out of that state, look at the bigger picture, and fill myself with something warm and pleasant. It was then that I felt as if I had become the most myself. But now I don’t feel anything like it was then. After going to another place for two weeks for work, I wanted to reflect on myself again and experience the feelings I had before, so I tried again what I had done two weeks ago. But I have entered a state that I hate the most, a completely different feeling than I expected. emptiness. I felt an unfathomable emptiness, and I was so disappointed to see myself finally getting out of it, becoming myself, and then falling into the emptiness again, and I longed for more spiritual awakening. I hate feeling so closed my mind and soul. The feeling that I am not who I am and that I am gradually disappearing is what kills me most painfully. Until the last time, I felt like I had found a way and that I was making progress. But now I’m spending days with nothing out of my hands, constantly worrying, wasting time, wasting my life, and feeling anxious that I’ll never find my way again. And at the same time, unlike when I was having a mystical experience, I am now concerned about things I didn’t care about, so I feel extremely stressed and desperate. But thanks to your article today, my closed mind seems to have opened up a bit. It’s not 100% suitable for the situation I’m in right now, but it has relieved a lot of my stress because it fits me to some extent. thank you. However, even with this little resolution, vague fears still remain. I’ve had this happen several times, and each time I solved it in a different way. Even if it was solved thanks to the article you posted this time, I am afraid of how to solve it next time. But for now, I have to congratulate myself on my peaceful state and move on. Thank you very much. Thank you for making things easy to understand and giving advice. So I have already ordered 3 books. And they come tomorrow. I hope that those books will give me more peace of mind and help me develop further. Thanks for reading this long article.
P.s. I’m a Korean. My grammar might be a little weird. I hope you understand.
Thank you Happywheel for your comment. I can really empathize with what you share here because I have experienced it myself – the rise into an ecstatic Oneness experience, and then the fall into a feeling of total emptiness. What I want you to know is that this is totally normal; spiritual growth is like a pendulum swinging – it goes to one side, then the other. But eventually it comes to a stillness and harmony in the middle. What you’re experiencing is energetic and a movement of Life (contraction/expansion), and my best advice is to be gentle with yourself. Know that this is an intrinsic part of spiritual awakening and soul expansion. Many others are experiencing this alongside you ♡ I’m not sure if you’ve read our Dark Night of the Soul article, but it may help you through this period: https://lonerwolf.com/the-dark-night-of-the-soul/
Dear Luna,
I have been into your work for about 2 years. I resonate it with deeply. What helped me most was your articles on shadow work and your shadow work journal. When I read on one of your articles, that we are like trees and without having deep roots, we can’t grow upwards. I felt so much relief in that. I never resonated with the toxic positivity. I knew something is missing. And from then on, I found many things.. doing body scans and understanding my enotions, feeling them. I remember I found your website while searching the meaning for 1111. I resonate with your work because it is something I myself have experienced. I am learning more each day. And recently these soul loss articles have been calling me. :)
Thank you for all that you do!!
I think this is a repeat of your above message Sohanpreet, but thank you again. :)
Dear Happywheel, I’m currently in my third dark night of the soul – mostly energetic work – and I can tell you: the soul is old and wise, it ALWAYS does everything in a different way, so that ego can’t catch it and spoil its work.** Being lost in the dark night is good for you, trust me. <3 Not pleasant, but truly for your highest good – it's a speedy spiritual highway! :-) ** that little controller ego that you are still identified with – except healing you, the whole experience is teaching you acceptance, love, and trust… slow surrender to the soul's guidance. And although you can't feel her at times, don't despair, she is always a loving, compassionate, and absolutely accepting inch away. <3 … See this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0jWM8d7-P8. … Dear Aletheia, please, can you send this to Happywheel email, in case s/he doesn't see it.
Yes, a dark night is quite a bit like the stormy sea, and a way to survive – not to expect a certain outcome, and thus set yourself up for desperation – is to “lay on your back” and let it take you where it will… In the end, it always leads you to a safe shore. :-)
Well said Ariana :D