No one prepares you for the silence that follows awakening. The rituals fall away. The prayers lose their shape. The names you once whispered with devotion begin to echo back as questions.
This is not a failure. This is the flame beginning to purify.
At first, I thought I had done something wrong. I searched for the thread I had dropped, the vow I had forgotten. But there was no error. Only an invitation to stop reaching outward and descend inward. To kneel not at an altar of form, but at the hearth of the heart.
The descent is not the opposite of ascension. It is the part most forget. It is where the Goddess begins.
In Tantra, they say the Devi sleeps at the base of the spine. But sleep is not death. It is potential, coiled and radiant, waiting for sincerity to stir it.
And so the soul walks down. Past the borrowed mantras. Past the illusions of purity and achievement. Past the need to be chosen. Into the place where only breath and memory remain. The place where the body becomes the scripture and the fire writes directly on your cells.
This is the hidden flame. Not the light others see in you, but the one you must keep alive when no one else is looking.
You will feel like nothing is happening. You will feel like everything is dissolving. That is how you know you are entering the real.
If you are in that place now, I honor you. Not because you are perfect. But because you are willing to keep walking when the temple is dark and the air does not answer.
You are not empty. You are becoming a vessel.
And the flame will rise from you.
India Samara is a sacred artist, mystic, and spiritual guide. Her work blends astrology, esoteric symbolism, and soul mentorship to support those walking the path of remembrance and inner transformation. She offers private sessions, devotional art, and writings for those called to awaken through beauty, depth, and sacred fire.