Gabrielle Union felt she was being "fortifies and forged in the fires of [her] ancestors" during a water ritual in Ghana.

The 'Bring it On' star, her husband Dwyane Wade and their four-year-old daughter Kaavia travelled to Africa to celebrate the actress' 50th birthday last month, and she has told how they underwent a spiritual experience at Last Bath, where slaves would have bathed before being taken to their ships.

She told the i newspaper: “We had a chance to physically get into the river and say our prayers and call to our ancestors… a few years ago they had done a ceremony so that I could have my child, and they did a similar ceremony for my husband and I this time round...

“We were all separate from each other and in the distance I see D with his arms outstretched as one of the chiefs pours water on him… next thing I know he lets out a scream.

"Some people are crying, some are silently weeping, some are anguished. It’s a boiling day, and as we walk out of the water, the skies open up and it’s a torrential downpour out of the blue.

“I felt like I was being fortified and forged in the fires of my ancestors.

“I’d never been more clear. My soul has never felt cleaner or lighter. It’s my superhero origin story.

"If you thought I was a troublemaker before, you have no f****** idea what’s coming.”

During the trip, Gabrielle and Dwyane - which included stops in South Africa, Tanzania, and Zanzibar - were given Ghanaian names and had traced their respective ancestry before embarking on the journey.

The 'Strange World' star laughed: “D is basically all Yoruba, all Nigerian, not even little pieces of anywhere else."