I recently received a revelation that there is a collective of people who need a fresh way to understand their spiritual journey. While there are plenty of useful explanations of Divine encounters and Dark Nights of the Soul, this collective has found their journey, or the anticipation of it, to be less linear and hypothetical.
So I wrote this post with you in mind. This outline takes a bird’s eye approach to the ascension process. It will cover the eight overall stages – within each one you may apply other aspects of the spiritual journey. For digital materials to help you connect with the Divine, click on this link.
Thank you for being here. Let’s begin.
What is a Spiritual Transformation?
Spiritual awakening, transcendence, enlightenment – the ascension process has many names.
All describe the series of events that occur within and without you, from a particular point in time until the end of your life, that elevate your consciousness to mirror the highest level of understanding. This understanding causes you to feel oneness with all the people and creatures on the planet, taps you into new ways of thinking, and allows you to experience previously unseen energies.
This journey is continues over the course of your life, but this post will cover the beginning stages that may be familiar to you.
The transformation takes place over a cycle of eight steps that restart after coming full circle. Each requires different amounts of time. They are the following:
- Meeting the Divine
- Gathering Information
- The Reaction
- The Commitment
- The Experiment
- The Results
- The Groove
- The End
In this post I’ll teach you what each step entails, and provide you tools to navigate them. Remember, this process is the very reason you came to this planet. As such, it is deeply personal and unique to every individual. Your path will take its own detours, and it will be unlikely that the people in your family will have the ability to help you.
Take a deep breath – if you haven’t met the Divine yet, you’re about to. And then it will begin.
1. Meeting the Divine
The first step in ascension is meeting the thing you’re ascending to. It has many names – God, Allah, Source, the Universe (though I like to distinguish that one for the coding of this 3D reality – more on that later). I was raised in a Christian household, so I know Him to be God, Yahweh, Elohim, and the many other illustrious titles. For the purposes of shared understanding on this post, I’ll call it the Divine.
The Divine is. Plain and simple. It had no start, and it has no end. It is the infinite consciousness from which all things are made, and all things return to. Think of this massive universe as a section in the Divine’s brain, or part of his stomach (which is how He taught me to see it). Go outside or to the nearest window, look up, and try to feel the presence of the space beyond. All of it is part of the Divine, some section of his non-physical body. We are like the cells in our fingernails – knowing that we are part of something greater, yet because of our position, unable to perceive it.
You may feel some buzzing around the crown of your skull right now. That’s your life force recognizing words that describe its origin.
In this way, everything is the Divine. The trees on the corner, the brain in your head, the device on which you’re reading this.
For my more STEM minded people, consider that the smallest level of existence that we’ve observed are atoms and their subatomic particles – these particles are the Divine shifted into three-dimensional form. The way that the ingredients used with flour decide whether you make a cake or a cookie, the grouping of these particles determine the shape, structure and function of the creation.
So you are human. And rock is rock. And so on.
They are all expressions of the same energy.
When you connect with this Source energy, your personal identity sees itself not as its own being, but as a part of the whole. This connection is what brings you to what is called enlightenment: the tuning to the sensitivity of the universe, emotions of the people around you, your personal spiritual gifts and abilities, and more.
Connecting to the Divine is what everyone is looking for. Let’s talk about how it happens.
The Introduction
As of now, most people meet the Divine through experiences that bring the temporariness of life into perspective – a personal catastrophe, a near death experience, a sudden realization that some effort is futile. Anything that points out, without question, that there must be more.
In that moment, the Divine makes Itself known to you.
For me, it started as a whisper in the back of my head while my therapist and I discussed my purpose. That whisper became a conviction in my spirit – a belief and resolution that I would (and eventually did) stake my life on. And in the space of a second, that belief suddenly became a force, a consciousness that filled every part of my body and mind, taking over my fingers to write a message in my journal.
Others have out of body experiences, nearly dying and returning. Some people hear a voice like thunder in the sky, or meet an Angel in its true form.
Meeting the Divine always comes in a way you don’t think to expect, which is what makes it fun. My little saying is that if you can see it in your mind, it won’t be what happens.
He’s got a knack for drama.
The experiences are as varied as the number of people on this planet. But when it happens, you cannot mistake it for anything else. And after it happens, you’ll never be the same.
If you would like to meet the Divine, try using the methods in the workbook below. If it doesn’t work, don’t worry! It means He has another plan for meeting you, and this is just the starting point. He is here, observing your intention with gladness in His heart.
The Divine will answer questions you’ve had your entire life. It might show you a reel of your life, or introduce you to the angels that will guide you in times to come. Whatever the Divine shows you, wherever It takes you, it will feel like home. Every being that surrounds you has known you since before you were born, knows every single there is to possibly know about you, and unconditionally, undeniably loves every bit.
You’ll feel a fulfillment that only meeting the Divine again could replicate, and so your journey to find that feeling and make it a regular part of your life will begin.
Which brings us to step two.
2. Gathering Information
As your life perspective shifts, you’ll find that the old knowledge doesn’t serve you anymore. Themes of hard work, sacrifice and pain will seem foolish and nonsensical to you. You’ll wonder why anyone spends time worrying about people’s opinions, the shape of their bodies and other things. It will all seem so small.
This is where the hippies get their vibe from. Congratulations – one of us! One of us!
The Divine loves us dearly and has it all planned out. You won’t be left without a clue – in fact, if you’re here reading this, you’re on track to becoming a spiritual expert, and building a business in partnership with God that will shift your community and break generational barriers. Use this blog, books on spirituality, and any other resources you desire to make sense of what’s happening in your life.
Most likely, the Divine will have a resource ready for you immediately. It could be a new post of mine, or a TikTok sermon or a spiritual gift from a friend. The Lord’s parting words to me when He left my body were “Take time to learn about Us. You have the tools within your reach.” As I came to, I realized I had a book about the Law Of Attraction sitting at the edge of my bed.
He is a literal God as well.
Fill your mind to your heart’s content. You’re learning about the reason behind our existence, the purpose of this giant universe and your role within it. There is no better thing in creation to learn. Do as much as you please, and take breaks when you want!
My Story
To illustrate the miraculous fervor you’ll be filled with, I’ll briefly explain the circumstances of my introduction.
At the time that the Lord first spoke through me, I was sitting on my bed in Barcelona, Spain, where I was attending business school. Amour Abroad had just begun – she had no more than 3 posts. At the same time I was working on my dissertation (a consultation for a small international football agency), and I was preparing final projects for all seven of my classes.
There was no time in the day. I woke up at 5AM, had class from 9 until 7, and then I taught English online for 3 hours. Neither I nor any of my classmates were having the study abroad experience we’d planned.
But then I met God and my spirit family, and all of a sudden it seemed that I had time for everything. On top of class, I could go to the movies in the evening (Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness had just dropped), visit the theater on the weekend, sightsee, and read about the spiritual.
Aligning with God aligns everything else for you.
People around you might think you’re doing the impossible – they’ll want to see your work or your grades to confirm their certainty that some deception is at play. But the reason you had an awakening around a group of people (instead of alone in a cave) is because the Divine desires to use you, to show people what can be when they trust in All that Is.
As you gather more information and observe the new differences between yourself and those around you, you’ll come into a new appreciation for life and understand why these particular people are the ones you’re with.
This is explained in depth next.
3. The Reaction
It is a beautiful thing to behold the world after you meet the Divine.
Colors are brighter, people are happier, and all of a sudden you remember what it means to just be happy that you’re alive.
I remember leaving my room in a daze to go for a walk. The red roses were calling me. The cakes in the bakery windows beckoned. I shed tears when I saw the sunlight falling through the clouds.
When I got home a wave of inspiration hit me. I wanted to take pictures of this red color that I couldn’t stop noticing. I put together a rose and a tiny cake with a cherry on top, and spent 30 minutes taking photos from different angles.
I ate the cake so slowly, savoring every bite. It wasn’t that good but I was so happy just to have something sweet. When my roommates came home I showed them the pictures, to which they asked me if I was smoking weed.
But I wasn’t high. Not on marijuana at least.
The love you feel when you reconnect with All That Is creates a new lens to see existence through. You’ll notice in detail how certain experiences in one person’s life trigger another to work through a certain fear, why sitting in silence helps you feel closer to some than small talk ever did. Every emotion you felt before feels like the building up to a finale, and the finale turns out to be a gateway to a brand new world.
You will find yourself wise and patient, able to understand people who you couldn’t understand before, able to take time and enjoy slowness and stillness that you hadn’t experienced.
It may feel like you’re a bit dissociated. For me it was like there was (and still is to some degree) a veil of light between myself and the rest of the world. It’s as though myself and the immediate space surrounding me is bright, shining and vibrating – sometimes I walk past people who are also bright and shining – but objects across the room appear dull and dense. Only the things I love seem full of light.
This is a side effect of expressing eternal energy. Part of what happens when you contact the Divine is a marked increase in your vibration. The first signs are that you glow – your skin is brighter and your eyes are lifted. You are attracted to things that bring you genuine joy. You might find yourself leaving the bar to go to the carnival, as I did.
You may notice that people begin to stare at you when you walk by. They may gather to you, along with animals and bugs. Butterflies and dragonflies will land on your body, birds will rest on your window sill, and you will be every pet’s favorite visitor.
As you become accustomed to your new energy, observe how things that once felt difficult become easy. Everything from creating slide shows to running miles will feel inspired. Bursts of energy will move through you like rushing water, and great things will become habit.
Relationships
One of the side effects of a dramatic increase in your vibration is the sudden removal of lower density manifestations. For example, relationships built on themes of codependency will suddenly have no leg to stand on. The advice of a particular person may become meaningless overnight, or you may begin to see how a certain aspect of your life conflicts with the love in your spirit.
Additionally, as you find that the application of your new knowledge has greater impact than what you learned through life, your close friends and family will have less in common with you.
This is the part where I remind you not to worry. Things fall apart so better can come together.
Unconditional love will replace the unhealthy parts of your relationships. You will see people in their wholeness, observing how past wounds influence their smallest decisions. You will gain a greater appreciation of who they are, and show them an acceptance they hadn’t experienced before. This is a gift the Divine provides through you naturally.
Many newly awoken beings want to share what they have learned at this point. You may feel inclined to teach or offer resources. Do not be surprised if your knowledge is not readily received. In fact, some may openly refute or ridicule you. This is normal. As the saying goes, you can only accept in others what you accept in yourself. You are quite a bit further ahead on the self love journey – allow your community the time and space to find Source on their own, as you did. Something else is in store for you.
Let’s talk about it.
4. The Commitment
As you read this is, know that your ascension has not happened by accident. You were made for such a time as this.
The planet is experiencing an increased speed of ascension. On social media, you may have noticed that everyone is practicing manifestation, meditation and mindfulness. Therapy is expected to be a functional member of society. Affirmations are now part of the workplace environment. The people of Earth are headed somewhere fast, and if you are experiencing the initial spiritual transformation, it’s because you are a leader.
When you meet the Divine, It will answer your questions about the purpose of life and why you came to Earth. As your relationships change and situations are removed, you will find yourself observing your creative pursuits with more passion. Things that you considered doing long ago will reappear – this time with resources and freedom. Consider this the Divine’s way of gently nudging you in the right direction.
When you begin your craft, things will change. Even if you start it for fun – like how I created my blog to capture the joy of studying abroad – it will suddenly morph into a project through which you heal and brings opportunities that change your life.
Take pride in your progress! Most people struggle with just accepting that they might need a change – you’ve gone all the way to building a relationship with God. You are in the top 5% of your class, and that deserves a celebration.
You won’t need to make a giant decision or fight through hellfire to commit to your gift. Rather, you will find that everything else pales in comparison.
The relationships you used to hold on to, the career you desired, the activities you once engaged in – all of it will seem like McDonald’s after a month of eating at 5 star restaurants. It will be in your best interest to work on your craft, and as you put energy in, you’ll start noticing results within yourself and in the outside world.
Friends and Family
At the same time, the things of your past may fall apart in a spectacular manner. New jobs may fall through right when you’re about to sign the contract, family could turn their back on you, and so on. This is not meant to scare you, but to illuminate the real world side effects of elevating your consciousness. Not to worry, as your higher perspective will allow you to see the positivity in every occurrence, and you will walk out in your full power each time.
For example, after I graduated from business school, the Lord put Amour Abroad on my heart as the one thing I was give myself to. No other career, no friends. His specific words to me were:
Do not get a job.
Do not do your taxes.
My family had a violent reaction to it – just three months after my graduation I was accused of theft, lying, and treachery. I was threatened and stolen from. Eventually I just packed up and left.
It is unlikely that your family will have such a reaction to your work – if they do, know that you will find support and understanding here.
For most, you will simply find that those closest to you begin to envy, judge you or shun you. You might receive fewer invites – family will conveniently ‘forget’ to tell you about certain things, stating that they thought you were busy.
This part won’t feel great – this is what many spiritualists refer to as The Dark Night of the Soul. The way through is to take refuge in your spiritual communities and strengthen your relationship with the Divine. As you keep going, the light will become plain to see, always leading you back to the promise He gave you and the assignment you were gifted. And soon enough, results will follow, bringing you new life and passion.
In the next section we will discuss the process of grounding your spiritual gifts and how to strengthen your divine relationship.
5. The Experiment
The typical illustration of the spiritual awakening goes:
The Awakening (Meeting the Divine)
Bliss (The immediate following happiness)
The Dark Night of the Soul (Period of time when old life structures fall apart)
The Void (Period of quiet stillness, both within and outside)
Grounding (Coming ‘back to reality’ through new spiritual routines and understanding)
Purpose (Spiritually driven passion, success, and impact in the field designed for you by the Divine)
Separated into six distinct segments, each one describes the combined internal and external experiences we go through on our road to ascended understanding. However, these steps tend to recycle and reoccur, many times at the same time as one another.
For example, sometimes Voids, where I don’t readily feel the presence of God or have to be really intentional with my prayer, come and go, and become the greatest times of expanding in my Purpose. The way I get my results during those periods is by taking a break on some spiritual practices, and instead Ground through traditional Christianity like prayer and fasting.
Breaking Barriers
As you become more familiar with spiritual impacts on your life, you will want to experiment with the things you learned on your journey. This may include but is not limited to practices like meditation, aromatherapy, yoga, astral travel, tarot, or astrology.
Whichever you are drawn to, explore it and see how you can implement it into your life. As the conscious ascension is all about breaking down internal and societal barriers, you may find yourself attracted to practices that did not previously align with you.
Personally, as a Southern Baptist Christian I was taught from birth not to entertain anything having to do with witchcraft. I didn’t play with ouija boards, voodoo, or even watch the Harry Potter movies growing up. I can count on my hands how many haunted houses I’ve been to, and two of them were put on by my church. All things pertaining to the occult were forbidden.
But shortly after God gave me my assignment, He called me to ask for Tarot cards for Christmas. With the Bible open on my bed and The Chosen playing in the background, He taught me how to use the cards in a way that separated me from the traditional craft, yet allowed me to understand His plans. Later, I used the cards to help other Christians commit to the steps they knew the Lord was asking them to take.
In this way, the Divine is able to bridge gaps and do away with misconceptions.
It may be that the practices you’re drawn to are in line with what you learned growing up – that’s okay too. Being open to what the Universe puts in front of you is the key to accessing new levels of life.
In the Experiment, which takes course over about a year, practice the different spiritualities and determine which ones help you feel the best. The more joyful you are, the better the Divine can guide you. For journals to assist you, click here.
A Bit About Power
Some practices will help you see the matrix more clearly. You may make decisions to forgo your spiritual practices from time to time to see what results they produce, and then add your new knowledge to compare the difference.
This is your introduction to personal power. It’s not that you can make people do what you want them to do, but that your decision to engage in higher vibrational activities will bring your desired outcome more quickly, while allowing you to skip over the not-so-good-feeling stuff with people. This is the Law of Vibration at work before your eyes.
As the months go on you will begin to see the results of your experiments.
Choose the practices that fit you best and create a routine that includes your work. This way you will quickly bring in the first drafts of your manifested life, which is so thrilling thatt you won’t be able to contain your joy.
We’ll discuss that next.
6. The Results
In this section I will reference the Universe, which I differentiate from the Divine. For me, the term The Universe refers to the coding woven into the fabric of reality. This coding is explained through the Laws of Attraction, Assumption, and Vibration, among others. It is conscious, yet automatic, much like our bodily functions. It does not require us to do anything except utilize its laws to our benefit.
Manifestations come in drafts. Like writing a blog post or designing a website, each iteration is better than the last.
From your experimentations will come an initial manifestation, and you will be able to explore it to your heart’s content.
Say you have been desiring an increase in online visibility. Through your experimentation, you will manifest a form of visibility that not just brings you the reach you desired, but comes in a form that respects your high vibration while meeting your inner child’s needs. You will feel an elation that cannot be contained, and your confidence will grow to an extent that will remove you from past limitations.
Congratulations! Enjoy this victory. It’s the stuff music is made on! There are few greater feelings than knowing that you have successfully manifested a desire. It is a showcase that you are the powerful being you know yourself to be, and an indicator of all the other desires within your grasp.
My First Manifested Victory
On my second day in Los Angeles I suddenly found myself on a first-name basis with an artist I had loved since I was a child. Just that fact that we were cool enough to park next to each other, enjoying the springtime under the sun, ignited a passion in me that I haven’t yet found words for. And all I did was follow my intuition!
Your first draft is all of the things you wanted as a kid, and all the things you need as an adult. Take your time! Bask. Revel! You are who you think you are, and the Universe would see you rewarded.
Making edits
As you explore your new reality, you’ll find many things that you love, and a few things you would like to improve. It could be simple things like the amount of money you have available to enjoy your blessings, or something more substantial like the relationships you form.
Remember that the Universe is perfect and delivers you everything you need for each part of your life, so if you’re broke or your clothes don’t fit right, it’s because you’re meant to explore that experience. However, the feeling of things being not-quite-right can deliver you to an incredible cycle of frustration and surrender.
This is when the Universe makes edits to your reality. It will take a few months for you to see the results, as there is a lag between vibrational changes and the 3D, but you will see them.
During this editing period, it’s important to remember how far you’ve come, what you’ve accomplished, and to stick to the routine that got you there.
In the meantime, you will explore feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment, which will help you lay the groundwork for your next round of miracles. And so your understanding of your personal creation cycle will unfold, where you possess a full picture of the emotions and changes you experience through life.
Let’s talk about that next.
7. The Groove
Welcome to the good part.
The spiritual ascension journey is long and involved. A year passed from the time the Lord first spoke to me until my first manifestation. Throughout it, I went through emotional cycles that brought me face to face with doubt, deception, and more. By the time I reached my first draft, I was tired and just wanted to rest.
The Divine feels how much energy is drawn from you to create this new reality. That’s why one of His first commands was to rest on the Seventh day. Creation takes time and effort, no matter whether it is internal or external.
The Universe gave me a year of rest and recovery, during which I went through the editing process until I found my groove. This is what I’ll explain now.
The Groove is what you get into when you start to trust your experience. After you make it out of your Dark Night of the Soul and into your first manifestation, you’ll never ask another person for their opinion again. Only the wise, elderly, and extremely wealthy will have words of value to you – people who have mastered creation over their lifetime and are naturally drawn to new creators.
The trust you develop in your truth and actions will help you recognize your patterns. With this you’ll be able to build systems that carry you through your cycles.
For example, if you’re like me, and know that you oscillate between cycles of grief and hope, you will know when and how your waves hit, and have a set of actions to respond. Whenever I’m having a low couple of days, I follow the steps laid out in my Self Care for Sad Girls post. When I’m feeling hope and joy, I act on it through things like My First Surfing Lesson. And when a ton of things happen at once, it’s Back to Basics.
This internal recognition is the foundation on which your new relationships are built on, and you’ll notice a corresponding shift in your reality. The right kind of people will start approaching you. Those who are going through the same spiritual journey will find you. And everyone will want to learn from you.
The more you enjoy the Groove, the more you’ll grow, and the quicker new opportunities will present themselves. This is the part where life really starts looking up – where the Divine shows you that He trusts you with more.
8. The End
Which is really a new beginning.
All good things must come to an end. Like the first leaves that fall off the tree, a few things from your new reality will start to wither.
For me, it was relationships that were still in their first draft, financial practices that wouldn’t work with the new income I was manifesting, and the routine I had created for the blog.
When the Divine is ready to bless you with more, He moves you into a space where you make room physically and emotionally.
He might call you to upgrade some of the processes. It’s never anything out of the ordinary – just making things a bit quicker and more refined. You wake up an hour earlier, make exercise part of your errands instead of allotting a time of day for it, switch around your banking information and so on. You will be adjusted so that your old habits support the new level.
The trigger usually comes with a revelation from the Divine. He’ll give you information about your identity and how you’re meant to use your gifts. At the same time the your community will suddenly exhibit a new interest in you.
Just like the first time you committed to your journey, let what no longer serves you fall away. Let go, and remember that in the gray space, better always comes.
Dinosaurs, meteor, us.
Conclusion
So, the steps of the Spiritual Transformation are:
- Meeting the Divine
- Gathering Information
- The Reaction
- The Commitment
- The Experiment
- The Results
- The Groove
- The End
This process takes anywhere from 2 to 5 years (as you’re reading about it on Amour Abroad, you’re in alignment with closer to 2 years). Underlying your journey will be healing experiences that encourage you to be the fullest, loudest, most authentic version of yourself.
By the end, you’ll allow yourself to feel the full unconditional love the Divine always desired to give you.
To learn more, subscribe to my newsletter, where I’ll be sharing more information on the emotional and spiritual changes you undergo, how to alchemize the hard parts, and how astrology and other forms of divination come into play.
Stay tuned for the next post, where I cover Kingdom Spouses – also known as Divine Counterparts!
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I love you 🤍
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