Summary of the Spiritual Wanderer’s Journey:
The spiritual wanderer’s journey is a circular and spiralic journey of growth and transformation.
Take a moment to look at the diagram above. Where do you think you are on this path of awakening? (You’ll find some helpful resources to give you a clear idea below.)
The purpose of this ‘ancient blueprint’ of the spiritual journey is to become more self-actualized, find your Soul’s calling, and eventually awaken to your deeper True Nature.
You’ll enter this journey repeatedly within your life, and you can overlap between different stages, re-entering each stage on the wheel again when further levels of Soul expansion are required.
The journey is ruled by five main archetypes and ten stages that we have uniquely defined and loosely adapted from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey monomyth and the Zen Ox Herding teachings.
10 Stages of the Spiritual Wanderer’s Journey
Below, you’ll find each of the five archetypes of the spiritual wanderer’s journey of awakening accompanied by the ten stages of transformation. I’ve linked each stage to various portals on our website if you’d like to explore them further:
Seeker Archetype:
- 1. Spiritual Calling – We all begin our spiritual awakening journeys with some deep and visceral spiritual calling. Our calling might be an intense fire within us that burns for freedom, or it may be a quiet but persistent voice that intuitively drives us forward …
- 2. Resisting the Path – At some point on the spiritual wanderer’s journey, we don’t want to go any further. We feel lost, empty, alone, confused, and plagued with pain and anguish. The unknown waters of transformation are intimidating, and we desperately want to “return to normal” …
Apprentice Archetype:
- 3. Finding Guidance – To continue evolving and progressing on our spiritual awakening journeys, we need guidance. Fortunately, there is a great deal of help available out there: it’s always at your fingertips …
- 4. Starting the Journey – Beginning the spiritual wanderer’s journey can feel a little intimidating or confusing at times. Where do we start? What path do we follow? What comes next? These are all normal concerns and questions …
Warrior Archetype:
- 5. Turning Inwards – The longer we’re on the spiritual wanderer’s journey, the deeper we voyage inwards. Unfortunately, this is a point on the path where people tend to back away: it can be challenging and confronting to look within. Facing the truth can leave a bitter taste in our mouths …
- 6. Facing the Darkness – No matter who we are, we all experience a descent into the inner Underworld at least once in life. This plunge into darkness may be triggered by a life trauma, an old wound, losing a profound spiritual experience, or the spontaneous eruption of our familiar daily reality …
Mystic Archetype:
- 7. Illumination – Many seekers will experience a profound and breathtaking glimpse into their Soul and True Nature as Spirit incarnate at some point on the spiritual wanderer’s journey. We can refer to this life-altering glimpse as having a mystical experience or ego death where we are blessed to see beyond the ego’s veil into ‘Higher Consciousness’ …
- 8. Traps and Pitfalls – None of us are immune to falling into the many spiritual traps and pitfalls that exist out there. These snares cause us to become stagnant in our growth and imprisoned to limiting desires and beliefs. Attachment and aversion, ego inflation, spiritual materialism, and spiritual bypassing are some of the main traps and pitfalls …
Sage Archetype:
- 9. Rebirth – Rebirth or inner transformation can happen at any moment of the spiritual wanderer’s journey. Often, rebirth is the reward we receive for turning inwards, facing our darkness, listening to our Soul’s intuitive voice, and letting go of ego identification …
- 10. Integration – The yin yang, the mandala, the circle, and the ouroboros (snake eating its tail) are all symbols of integration, which represents both the end and the beginning of the spiritual wanderer’s journey …
You can click on any of the above links to find out more about each stage.
Want to know what type of Spiritual Wanderer you are?
Spiritual Wanderer’s Journey FAQ
See what level speaks to you above, click through, and read more about it, noticing if it resonates with what you’re experiencing. You can also take our free What Type of Spiritual Wanderer Are You Quiz to see what archetype and phase you’re currently occupying.
Yes, it’s common to get stuck on the spiritual wanderer’s journey. This typically happens due to fearful ego contraction, unresolved traumas, mental blockages, and sometimes a lack of balanced and down-to-earth education. This entire website offers hundreds of resources to help you get unstuck, so click one of the portals above to get started! If you seek ongoing and in-depth intuitive guidance for your path, we also offer our Shadow & Light Membership, which is currently open for you to join.
While we typically dwell in one main stage at any given time, it’s common for us to experience any number of stages on the spiritual wanderer’s journey (with one usually being more dominant than the rest).
The concept of the five archetypes and ten stages of the spiritual wanderer’s journey comes from our own years of crystallized experience as spiritual guides and educators (and wanderers ourselves). We were loosely inspired by Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey archetypal monomyth (which contains seventeen stages and other elements) and the Zen Ox Herding teachings, but here we have crafted a “map” specifically to do with the spiritual awakening journey of soul growth and expansion. Enjoy! If you want to go deeper into this journey, see our illuminating Spiritual Wanderer Course which gives you an entire in-depth overview.
Yes, you’re welcome to reference this image and these stages in your work. However, we ask that you please link back to this page and credit us (Aletheia Luna and Mateo Sol) as the authors who have crystallized this concept of the spiritual wanderer’s journey. Our work is copyrighted, but we welcome you to distribute it freely, provided that you honor this simple request. For more information on how to repost our work, see this post.
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Further Guidance:
- How to Start Your Spiritual Journey (7 Illuminating Steps)
- Subscribe to the LonerWolf Howl free weekly newsletter
- Check out our premium resources
- Go deeper in our Spiritual Wanderer Course!
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