Anam Cara – Soul Friend

Anam Cara - Soul Friend
July 27, 2021

The Anam Cara is Gaelic term for “Soul Friend”.

Traditionally, the Anam Cara was a person who you felt a special connection with and with whom you could share your innermost self and deepest intimacies with. This friendship which was cultivated with trust and openness,  was a very deep and special companion in which  you found a sense of recognition and belonging.

The Anam Cara may have also come as a helpmate for a person who was dying and comfort this person during  their passage of death, or as a Spiritual mentor or guide which would teach it’s students wisdom and spiritual truth.

In the Celtic tradition, when you connect with your Anam Cara, your two souls begin to flow together. This special connection was an awakening and unfolding as all barriers were down and protective distances collapse. A connection where a person gives another permission to come into the deepest temple of their spirit. When the Anam Cara was present in one life, the Celts saw this as a great gift and blessing and the bond was eternal. When you arrived at that most sacred place in your Anam Cara ……you were Home.

The Anam Cara was not exclusive to human beings. The Celts were a nature people, the world of nature was both a presence and a companion. To the Celts, all of the world was imbued with divine energy which was referred to as Dana (Mother Goddess of All Life). They believed that everything belonged together, there was no separation between the physical and the divine or the human world and the underworld (place of their ancestors).  Every tree, river, stone, and mountain had its own in-dwelling spirit and its own stories to tell. The Celts were completely at home with this, it was with Nature that they felt their deepest belonging and affinity.

In everyone’s life there is a need for an Anam Cara.  Everyone needs harmony in their life for without it we become fragmented, pulled apart by the conflicting tides of living. When there is not the Anam Cara of a person who you find a sense of “recognition” and “belonging” with, then Nature is always present as the Silent Nurturer and Anam Cara.

Not only is nature beautiful and majestic – Nature is healing and beneficial to our wellbeing. It can rejuvenate and energise you, deep to your core. Communing with nature on a regular basis is a wonderful method for nourishing and renewing ourselves and optimizing our mental, physical and spiritual health.

“We do not need to go out and find love; rather, we need to be still and let love discover us.  There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect”. (Donohue. 1997)

 When we arrive at quiet moments with nature, we :

  • Become more connected to the Land and the elements, which rekindles our sense of “belonging”.
  • Re-Awaken an intimacy with life and to the Divine Beauty in Nature.
  • Go deeper within your Self.
  • Come back into our Natural Rhythm
  • Produce a sense of greater vitality and a deeper sense of connection with the rest of the world.
  • Open ourself to Harmony and Inspiration

“Finding an anam cara is a practice of healing the wounded soul. Whether this means finding a person to whom you can share your soul, engaging with nature and the spirit of place, or rekindling our ancient bonds with the natural rhythms of life”.  John O’Donohue. 1997

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