Madonna has used her first podcast interview to dec lare she owes her decades-long career to her spiritual practice

The discussion ranges from forgiveness and success to the influence of Kabbalah, which Madonna first encountered in 1996 shortly before the birth of her daughter Lourdes Leon.

An extract from the chat obtained by People reveals Madonna tells Jay: "You need to be spiritual to be successful. Success is having a spiritual life, period. I wouldn't be here if I didn't have one."

The seven-time Grammy award winner, known for her outspoken advocacy on human rights, added: "What have I done for others? That's really the only way you can be successful in life. It's like the greatest amount of light is where there's darkness and you can reveal the most amount of light. When you're in a dark room, you turn on the light. When you're in a room that's already light, what do you, there's no, um, effort made. So should we look for darkness?"

She continued: "My soul's purpose is to reveal light in the world through whatever I do. I want it all, but I want it for the sake of sharing, not to keep it for myself."

The podcast also features Eitan Yardeni, Madonna's longtime Kabbalah teacher.

The pair recently launched a new course titled The Mystical Studies of the Zohar.

Speaking to Jay, Madonna admitted she had once been vulnerable to outside judgment.

She added: "I was once a slave or victim of other people's opinions of me.

"I don't fit in, and not fitting in is what saves you."

Reflecting on her career highs and lows, she insisted spirituality has provided the foundation for her resilience.

Madonna said: "Spiritual wisdom is not helpful when everything's going your way. It's helpful when you're challenged and when you're happy.

"It's helpful to remember that at any given time, in any moment, it could be gone. So don't take it for granted. Have humility.

"Radical acceptance is just accepting that what is happening to you is meant to happen to you - and that you're going to be okay."