Author: Terry Malatji 

Affirmations are often seen as magical declarations that bring what we want into existence. The truth is, there is more to affirmations that I wish to share with you on your journey to becoming a conscious creator.

Your affirmations don’t just echo into the universe. They land on spiritual soil. That soil has been shaped not only by you, but by those who came before you. What you declare interacts with the seeds, the ground and the conditions set in place by your past and your family lineage.

This is why different people manifest differently, because not all soil is the same.

Every affirmation searches for ground

When you make an affirmation, you are initiating a vibrational request into the spiritual realm. That request doesn’t vanish. The affirmation will search and ask the following:

• What seeds have been planted by you and your family lineage?
• Is there fertile ground for this to take root?
• Is this affirmation harvesting something, or is it preparing something?

Some affirmations land on ready soil and sprout quickly. Others land on hard, uncultivated ground and call you to begin the work of tilling, weeding and watering.

Affirmations are not always about instant results. Sometimes they are divine instructions to begin again.

When the seed or ground is missing, this is how the universe will respond:

If the affirmation finds:

• No seed: You will receive inspiration or instruction to create and to plant a seed.
• No ground: You will be called to prepare space for what you are asking for.

This is why after affirming “I am abundance”, you may suddenly get ideas about budgeting, healing money wounds, or starting a project. Affirmations don’t fail. They respond with what is needed next.

Your family lineage affects your soil

You don’t arrive in this life on neutral ground. You arrive on ancestral soil.

• Some families pass down fertile energy: wisdom, wealth, blessings, emotional safety, confidence, creativity and so forth.
• Others pass down drought: shame, fear, spiritual trauma, scarcity mindsets and so forth.

This means that even with the same affirmations, two people may experience very different timelines and that’s okay. Why? Because once you are aware, you can change the soil. You are the gardener. You can heal what was passed down and prepare new ground for future generations.

Why this truth brings power and not pressure

Understanding this principle removes shame because:

• you stop blaming yourself for slow manifestations
• you stop comparing your path to others
• you start asking deeper questions like:
  • What ground am I standing on?
  • What did my lineage pass down?
  • What am I ready to plant or clear today?

This is not about perfection. It is about conscious co-creation. You are not just affirming for the now. You are cultivating a future.

The power of alignment and showing up

Once you understand the relationship between the seed (your affirmation) and the ground (your energy and ancestral soil), you must do more than speak. You must align and move.

To align means – your thoughts, emotions and actions must be in harmony with what you are affirming. You cannot affirm abundance while thinking and feeling lack. The universe mirrors consistency. If you affirm abundance, but live in fear and avoidance, the energy will not take root. But if you speak the affirmation, take aligned, simple steps and show up with clarity and openness the spiritual soil responds.

For further illustration:
When you affirm, “I am a confident and successful public speaker”

• To align means: believing in your ability, visualizing yourself speaking with confidence, and embodying the energy of a great speaker.

• To show up means: practicing daily, embracing speaking opportunities, joining a public speaking group, and stepping into spaces where your voice and message can be shared.

Without alignment, your actions feel forced. Without showing up, your affirmation remains just words. When you align and show up, manifestation becomes not just possible, but natural. You can’t outsource your blooming. You must be the one who waters what you called in.

In order to show up you must take inspired action consistently. You must actively create opportunities for your affirmation to become reality instead of waiting for it to happen magically.

It is worth noting that while some affirmations harvest, some affirmations cultivate. All of them speak to the soil beneath your soul. So next time you say: “I am worthy. I am free. I am abundance.” Know this: You are awakening ancestral codes. You are stirring spiritual memory. You are planting in a sacred field and every seed will find its season.

Does the higher self know the timeline of our manifestations?

When making affirmations, the big question that many of us ask is that:  Does the higher self know the timeline of our manifestations? 

The answer is yes and here is why:

There is a proverb from the scriptures that says: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s purpose prevails.” In case you didn’t know, before I embarked on my spiritual journey beyond religion, I was a devoted Christian for over 30 years.

Today, I honour that part of my path while recognizing a deeper truth. In our indigenous tradition, we don’t speak of “the Lord.” We speak of the Higher Self,  Modimo – the Universal Energy, the Field of Consciousness, the Inner Divinity that sees the whole picture.

These are not opposing truths. They are different languages of the same river. That proverb speaks to a truth, one that has often been repackaged through systems of monarchy and hierarchy. But in our spiritual language, the Divine does not sit on a throne above us. Modimo flows within us. The Higher Self is of us. And the purpose that prevails is not separate from us. It is remembered through us.

Where some wait for the Lord to move, we move with Modimo, we are Modimo and Modimo is us. We are co-creating, aligning and honouring the timing encoded in our soul’s blueprint. We know that spiritual alignment is not waiting to be chosen. It is choosing to remember.

How does the Higher Self understands timing?

I would like us to reflect on this important question: 

Why doesn’t the higher self reveal the entire plan in advance?

1. Your higher self sees what you cannot

It holds the vibrational blueprint of your lineage, emotional readiness, soul contracts, and past energetic efforts. Just as a farmer knows when not to plant in winter, your higher self knows when to wait and when to grow.

2. The universe responds to your timeline with compassion

When you set a timeline for your affirmation, the universe listens, but the higher self may redirect you toward deeper preparation, soul lessons, or inner alignment first. Your timeline is the invitation. The higher self is the editor.

3. Divine timing is not delay. It is design

A delay is never denial. It is spiritual architecture at work, setting the conditions for sustainable blooming. What appears slow in the physical is often sacred recalibration in the spiritual.

Your affirmations are never ignored. They are curated by a higher wisdom that wants your dreams to arrive when they can thrive.

The true nature of knowing lies in unknowing

This sacred paradox holds the essence of all soul journeys. Mystery is not confusion. It is divine choreography, unfolding in layers we were born to remember.

Knowing too much too soon would interrupt the process of becoming. If we saw the entire journey, we would likely try to skip the important process of growth. We would miss the character-building, the wisdom-gathering, the clarity that only comes from walking through the process.

Growth without mystery is growth without depth. Each step unlocks the next level of awareness. Revelation unfolds in layers. The more aligned you become, the more access you gain. This ensures that knowledge lands on fertile ground. The veil lifts when you are ready and not before.

Free will is a sacred gift that is integral to who we are, who we are becoming and the essence of our sovereignty. We agreed to forget enough to rediscover. That forgetting is not disempowerment. It is the gift of choice and choice is what makes you sovereign.

One day, you will know fully. You are becoming the one who sees. As your frequency rises, your questions are answered in the language of alignment, not prediction. You are not waiting to be shown. You are rising to match what’s already known. What feels hidden now is already written. You are just catching up to your own light.

Without mystery, duality would be useless

We were born to experience contrast: love and fear, clarity and confusion, power and surrender, and so forth. Duality is not a flaw. It is the sacred classroom. Without duality, there would be no adventure of becoming. Mystery is not punishment. It is protection for power that is still forming in line with your ability and readiness to comprehend. Let the unknown be your teacher, not your fear. The timing, the plan, the unfolding – it’s all written in the vibration of your journey of becoming.

The Power of Multiple Pathways

The higher self often holds back from revealing a single path. This is not to confuse you. It is essential for your expansion. One path can lead to the destination, but multiple paths lead to transformation.

Each route that appears in response to your affirmation carries unique wisdom. One may stretch your determination. Another may test your boundaries. Yet another may call you to heal, rest or rise. 

Each pathway that you will walk, even the ones that feel like delays or detours carry sacred lessons. One path might teach patience, another discernment, another boundaries, another self-belief, another humility or creative power and so forth.

So even when you affirm “I am love”, the manifestation may require you to:

• heal your inner child
• end an unhealthy connection
• create new rituals of self-worth and / or
• meet people who mirror your wounds before mirroring your joy

It is not because you got it wrong. It is because the affirmation was too powerful to deliver through one doorway. All are sacred.

Even when your manifestation comes after several attempts or routes, it is not because you failed. It is because your soul needed to grow into the version of you who could hold the blessing. At the end of your manifestation journey you will boldly say  “I did not just get what I wanted, I became someone who could hold it with wisdom.”

This is the hidden magic of the journey. You are not just manifesting outcomes. You are manifesting your capacity to embody what you asked for.

To learn more about the seed, the ground, energy, affirmations get yourself a copy of  my book Principles & Tools of Creation.

Consistency in Affirming: Keeping the Flame Alive

We have spoken about showing up after making affirmations. We often overlook the consistency of making affirmations themselves. Your affirmation is not just a declaration. It is a living frequency. Consistency is how you keep that frequency alive and aligned.

1. Affirmations Are Energetic Anchors

Each time you speak your affirmation, you are not simply repeating words. You are anchoring your energy in your vision, identity and spiritual truth. You are not just convincing yourself. You are reclaiming alignment again and again.

2. Inconsistency Breeds Doubt

When you affirm only occasionally, you send mixed signals:

• to your subconscious mind
• to your energy field and 
• to the universe

This creates confusion in your frequency and doubt begins to fill the space where certainty should have taken root. Inconsistent affirming says: “Maybe I don’t believe this after all.”

3. Consistency Is Proof That You Know

The more you affirm with discipline, the more you embody the affirmation as truth. Your consistency is proof that you know. It is not hope, nor a wish. It is  knowing that your seed is growing, regardless of what the soil looks like today.

4. Evolving Affirmations as You Grow

It is also important to be aware that your affirmations are not fixed scripts. They are living prayers that evolve with your consciousness. As your manifestation unfolds, your needs, awareness and alignment will shift. Be open to this evolution.

Consequently, your higher self may guide you to rephrase, deepen, or refine your affirmations to match the next level of becoming.

5. Keep a Manifestation Journal

 It is very important that you keep a manifestation journal to:

• record your affirmations regularly
• reflect on how they shift over time and
• notice what feels true, what needs release and what your higher self is asking to call in next.

This regular journaling becomes a mirror of your growth and a timeline of your transformation. You are not just watering the seed, you are becoming the tree. Stay present. Stay consistent and trust that every word is building what  you are becoming.

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