What is a soul friend?

So anam cara in the Celtic world was the “soul friend.” In the early Celtic church, a person who acted as a teacher, companion, or spiritual guide was called an anam cara. It originally referred to someone to whom you confessed, revealing the hidden intimacies of your life.

themarginalian.org - Anam Cara and the Essence of True Friendship: Poet and Philosopher ...

Do men fall in love visually?

Studies have shown that men are more visually stimulated, while women tend to be more auditory. “As a result, men tend to fall in love with what...

Last updated Nov 28, 2022

Do twins have 1 soul?

Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach that every human, including identical twins who share an identical genome, have unique individual souls at...

Last updated Nov 7, 2020

Do you really know who the “One” is? Your true Soulmate?

Promotion

Aristotle laid out the philosophical foundation of friendship as the art of holding up a mirror to each other’s souls. Two millennia later, Emerson contemplated its two pillars of truth and tenderness. Another century later, C.S. Lewis wrote: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” But nowhere do the beauty, mystery, and soul-sustenance of friendship come more vibrantly alive than in the 1997 masterwork Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (public library) by the late, great Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue (January 1, 1956–January 4, 2008), titled after the Gaelic for “soul-friend” — a beautiful concept that elegantly encapsulates what Aristotle and Emerson and Lewis articulated in many more words.

O’Donohue examines the essence and origin of the term:

In the Celtic tradition, there is a beautiful understanding of love and friendship. One of the fascinating ideas here is the idea of soul-love; the old Gaelic term for this is anam cara. Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and cara is the word for friend. So anam cara in the Celtic world was the “soul friend.” In the early Celtic church, a person who acted as a teacher, companion, or spiritual guide was called an anam cara. It originally referred to someone to whom you confessed, revealing the hidden intimacies of your life. With the anam cara you could share your inner-most self, your mind and your heart. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention, morality, and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the “friend of your soul.” The Celtic understanding did not set limitations of space or time on the soul. There is no cage for the soul. The soul is a divine light that flows into you and into your Other. This art of belonging awakened and fostered a deep and special companionship. The kind of friendship one finds in an anam cara, O’Donohue argues, is a very special form of love — not the kind that leads us to pit the platonic against the romantic but something much larger and more transcendent: In this love, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension. The superficial and functional lies and half-truths of social acquaintance fall away, you can be as you really are. Love allows understanding to dawn, and understanding is precious. Where you are understood, you are at home. Understanding nourishes belonging. When you really feel understood, you feel free to release yourself into the trust and shelter of the other person’s soul… This art of love discloses the special and sacred identity of the other person. Love is the only light that can truly read the secret signature of the other person’s individuality and soul. Love alone is literate in the world of origin; it can decipher identity and destiny. But being an anam cara requires of a purposeful presence — it asks that we show up with absolute integrity of intention. That interior intentionality, O’Donohue suggests, is what sets the true anam cara apart from the acquaintance or the casual friend — a distinction all the more important today, in a culture where we throw the word “friend” around all too hastily, designating little more than perfunctory affiliation. But this faculty of showing up must be an active presence rather than a mere abstraction — the person who declares herself a friend but shirks when the other’s soul most needs seeing is not an anam cara.

Are Leos heartbroken?

When someone unexpectedly walks away from them, a Leo's instant response is often big shock, followed by heart-breaking sadness. For them, a...

Last updated Jun 8, 2021

What are wise words?

19 Wise Quotes for a Better Life Be confident in yourself. “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.” — ... Always be looking...

Last updated Sep 26, 2022

Promotion

O’Donohue writes:

The heart learns a new art of feeling. Such friendship is neither cerebral nor abstract. In Celtic tradition, the anam cara was not merely a metaphor or ideal. It was a soul-bond that existed as a recognized and admired social construct. It altered the meaning of identity and perception. When your affection is kindled, the world of your intellect takes on a new tenderness and compassion… You look and see and understand differently. Initially, this can be disruptive and awkward, but it gradually refines your sensibility and transforms your way of being in the world. Most fundamentalism, greed, violence, and oppression can be traced back to the separation of idea and affection. The anam cara perspective is sublime because it permits us to enter this unity of ancient belonging. O’Donohue borrows Aristotle’s notion of friendship and stretches it to a more expansive understanding: A friend is a loved one who awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you. […] The one you love, your anam cara, your soul friend, is the truest mirror to reflect your soul. The honesty and clarity of true friendship also brings out the real contour of your spirit. Anam Cara is a soul-stretching read in its entirety, exploring such immutable human concerns as love, work, aging, and death through the timeless lens of ancient Celtic wisdom. Complement it with poet and philosopher David Whyte on the true meaning of friendship, love, and heartbreak, then treat yourself to O’Donohue’s magnificent On Being conversation with Krista Tippett — one of the last interviews he gave before his sudden and tragic death.

themarginalian.org - Anam Cara and the Essence of True Friendship: Poet and Philosopher ...

How many kids do most people have?

The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2022, there was an average of 1.94 children...

Last updated Nov 3, 2020

How to save $10,000 in 3 months?

Seven steps to save $10,000 in three months Evaluate your current financial situation. Get your debt under control. Set a realistic goal. Try...

Last updated Apr 15, 2021

Promotion

What is the soul made of?

The Epicureans considered the soul to be made up of atoms like the rest of the body. For the Platonists, the soul was an immaterial and incorporeal...

Last updated Oct 30, 2019

Promotion

What is the most profitable art medium?

A survey carried out by Art Business Today identified the following to be the painting media that sell best: Limited-edition offset-litho prints....

Last updated Oct 2, 2021