Forget the Spiritual Awakening — What You Really Need Is a Cultural Awakening
Hey beautiful soul,
Let me come in hot today, because this message? It’s been tugging at my spirit for a while, and it needs to be said:
Forget a spiritual awakening, what you need is a cultural awakening.
Yep. I said it. And I’ll tell you why, through my journey.
Let me take you back.
I went through what many would call a full-blown spiritual awakening. I was deep in it — scripting every morning, visualizing every night, meditating like clockwork. I had the crystals tucked in all the sacred places: rose quartz under my pillow, black tourmaline at my door, amethyst right there in my bra. You couldn’t tell me nothing.
I was all in: watching Neville Goddard videos, reading Florence Scovel Shinn, practicing gratitude, journaling affirmations until my hand hurt. I even went through the dark night of the soul: the tears, the ego deaths, the “Who am I really?” moments on the floor.
But even after all that, something still felt… off. Like I was doing all the right things, but still missing something important.
That’s when it hit me: my spirit wasn’t craving another meditation. It was craving memory.
It wasn’t just my mind waking up, it was my bloodline calling me back.
A lot of us are waking up spiritually, and I love that for us. Truly. But we need to be real about something:
Sometimes what we call “spiritual awakening” is actually cultural amnesia.
We’ve been handed a version of spirituality that tells us to transcend — transcend our pain, our bodies, our pasts.
But our ancestors didn’t transcend.
They transformed.
What I thought was “New Age” was actually old knowledge. Ancient knowledge. Our knowledge.
Divination? That’s Ifá.
Energy healing? That’s calling on spirit and using our hands.
Manifestation? That’s commanding, ritual, rhythm.
When I started reconnecting with African spirituality, I saw it clear as day:
Colonization didn’t just steal our land, it stole our cosmology.
It took our gods, our names, our altars, and gave us something that told us to bow our heads and feel small.
But when I learned that my ancestors believed the divine lives in us? Whew. That’s when everything shifted.
That’s when I stood taller.
That’s when I stopped shrinking.
That’s when I started loving myself differently.
Because how can we fully love ourselves if we’re disconnected from our people’s power?
How can we feel divine when everything “holy” has been painted in someone else’s image?
When I started learning proverbs, cowrie shell divination, listening to elders, and understanding our deities, everything changed.
My manifestation got deeper. I stopped just hoping and started knowing.
I let go of the pressure to always “be high vibe,” and instead learned to honor the full spectrum of emotions.
Because that’s what our ancestors did.
They didn’t bypass pain — they literally transmuted it.
A cultural awakening reminded me I don’t need to ascend — I need to remember.
Here’s the truth:
If you’re manifesting without your culture, you’re manifesting from lack.
A lot of what we’ve been taught about manifestation comes from Western, individualistic frameworks.
They don’t account for ancestral trauma.
They don’t account for the experience of being a Black woman in a world that tries to make you forget who you are.
But when you reclaim your cultural identity?
You don’t just manifest houses and money.
You manifest clarity. Confidence. Courage.
You become unshakable.
Because now you’re manifesting from a place of truth.
Of legacy.
Of alignment.
If your spirit’s been restless, feeling like something deeper is calling — don’t ignore it.
Start small. Start sacred.
You don’t need to become a scholar overnight.
Just start walking home.
Yes, have your spiritual awakening.
But don’t stop there.
Have your cultural awakening.
Reclaim your power.
Reconnect with your people.
Remember who you were before the world told you who to be.
If this spoke to your soul, leave a comment and share with someone who’s ready to wake up — for real.
Stay rooted.
Stay divine.
Stay manifesting.
Video version:
📺 Watch the full video on YouTube: Why Your Spiritual Awakening Isn’t Enough (Until You Do This)
