There are 7 stages of spiritual growth according to Saint...
The Culturist@the_culturist_
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Feb 14, 2025
~3 min read
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There are 7 stages of spiritual growth according to Saint Augustine.
You can use his roadmap to ascend from a purely material existence to the highest state of the mind.
Most people get stuck at step 3... (thread) 🧵
You can use his roadmap to ascend from a purely material existence to the highest state of the mind.
Most people get stuck at step 3... (thread) 🧵
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In 388 AD, Saint Augustine proposed that the soul's journey to God unfolds in 7 distinct steps.
His 7 stages also correspond to the 7 days of creation...
His 7 stages also correspond to the 7 days of creation...
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1. Animatio (basic life)
The soul starts off enslaved to the physical world. In Confessions, Augustine recounts his experience as a young man immersed in pleasure and ambition, while blind to the spiritual world...
The soul starts off enslaved to the physical world. In Confessions, Augustine recounts his experience as a young man immersed in pleasure and ambition, while blind to the spiritual world...
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Animatio hearkens back to the first day of creation.
In Genesis 1:3-5, God creates light — symbolizing the soul's first glimpse of divine reality.
In Genesis 1:3-5, God creates light — symbolizing the soul's first glimpse of divine reality.
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2. Sensus (sensation)
Next, you begin to interact with the world via the senses: experiencing beauty and order but without deeper understanding.
Augustine reached this via love of rhetoric, pursuing excellence in speech and intellectual life — albeit for personal gain.
Next, you begin to interact with the world via the senses: experiencing beauty and order but without deeper understanding.
Augustine reached this via love of rhetoric, pursuing excellence in speech and intellectual life — albeit for personal gain.
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Sensus finds its parallel in the second day of creation, when God separates the waters.
It symbolizes the soul's first recognition of the distinction between earthly and spiritual realities.
It symbolizes the soul's first recognition of the distinction between earthly and spiritual realities.
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3. Ars (skill / art)
Next you move from mere perception to reasoning — seeking skills and understanding of the natural order.
Augustine became a skilled rhetorician and valued intellectual pursuits, but realized human knowledge could never satisfy his soul's deeper longings...
Next you move from mere perception to reasoning — seeking skills and understanding of the natural order.
Augustine became a skilled rhetorician and valued intellectual pursuits, but realized human knowledge could never satisfy his soul's deeper longings...
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The third day of creation, when land appears and vegetation starts to grow, represents this stage of stability and productivity.
Just as Earth became structured and abundant, the soul now starts to cultivate intellectual depth.
Just as Earth became structured and abundant, the soul now starts to cultivate intellectual depth.
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4. Virtus (virtue)
At this stage, you realize the importance of virtue and turn toward moral goodness.
Augustine's turning point was realizing that he couldn't overcome sin unaided. Mere knowledge of virtue isn't enough — something else is required to ascend further...
At this stage, you realize the importance of virtue and turn toward moral goodness.
Augustine's turning point was realizing that he couldn't overcome sin unaided. Mere knowledge of virtue isn't enough — something else is required to ascend further...
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Creation's fourth day (the sun, moon, and stars) coincides as it symbolizes moral illumination.
Just as the celestial bodies provide light, the soul at this stage begins to walk in moral clarity.
Just as the celestial bodies provide light, the soul at this stage begins to walk in moral clarity.
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5. Tranquillitas (inner peace)
As virtue is established, the soul attains inner tranquility — peace from spiritual stability.
Augustine reached this by abandoning reliance on philosophy, entrusting himself to God's grace alone to carry him to the rest he longed for.
As virtue is established, the soul attains inner tranquility — peace from spiritual stability.
Augustine reached this by abandoning reliance on philosophy, entrusting himself to God's grace alone to carry him to the rest he longed for.
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The fifth day of creation, when God creates living creatures, corresponds with this stage.
The soul is now abundantly aware that only God is the giver of life, and everything you have comes from him.
The soul is now abundantly aware that only God is the giver of life, and everything you have comes from him.
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6. Ingressio (approach)
The soul now actively and wholeheartedly seeks God, unsatisfied by partial truths.
In practice, this means a deep experience of faith, having abandoned all pride — perhaps only possible for us to reach during fleeting moments in life.
The soul now actively and wholeheartedly seeks God, unsatisfied by partial truths.
In practice, this means a deep experience of faith, having abandoned all pride — perhaps only possible for us to reach during fleeting moments in life.
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The sixth day of creation is when God creates man in his image.
Humanity was formed with the capacity to know and love God, and the soul at this stage does so to the greatest extent possible — while still earthbound.
Humanity was formed with the capacity to know and love God, and the soul at this stage does so to the greatest extent possible — while still earthbound.
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7. Contemplatio (contemplation)
The final stage of ascent is only possible after death. The soul achieves complete union with God — no longer striving or seeking, but at rest in perfect peace...
The final stage of ascent is only possible after death. The soul achieves complete union with God — no longer striving or seeking, but at rest in perfect peace...
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Contemplatio mirrors the seventh day of creation.
Just as God's creative work culminates in rest, so too does the soul, having completed its ascent, enter into eternal peace.
Just as God's creative work culminates in rest, so too does the soul, having completed its ascent, enter into eternal peace.
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Augustine's stages are shown here as seven distinct steps, but they're by no means a linear roadmap.
Souls can move both up and down within this schema. Read them not as a rigid sequence, but as tools for continued self-reflection...
Souls can move both up and down within this schema. Read them not as a rigid sequence, but as tools for continued self-reflection...