Anam Cara [Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition]: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

by John O'Donohue, Michael D. Higgins (Foreword by), Pat O'Donohue (Afterword)

Overview

“In this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, you will find John a “soul friend” on your own journey through life, offering support and solace, clarity, and consciousness—expanding narratives that invite you to experience relationships with people, nature, and even your inner world in new ways that nurture well-being and resilience in these challenging times.” —Daniel J. Siegel, MD, Neuropsychiatrist and New York Times Bestselling Author

A special twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the classic work of Celtic spirituality and mysticism by beloved poet and philosopher, John O'Donohue, with a new introduction by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, an afterword by the late author’s brother, Pat O'Donohue, and insightful material from O'Donohue's circle of close friends.

In this revered classic, John O’Donohue excavates themes of friendship, belonging, solitude, creativity and the imagination, among many others. Widely recognized for bringing Celtic spirituality into modern dialogue, his unique insights from the ancient world speak with urgency for our need to rediscover the thresholds of the soul. 

With lyrical wisdom and fluency, O'Donohue encourages pathways of discovery to come home to the natural rhythm in ourselves in sacred connection with one another and the landscapes we inhabit. This timeless collection nourishes the heart and elevates the spirit. It is "a book to read and reread forever.” (Irish Times)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063270589
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/29/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	20,519
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John O'Donohue (1956-2008) was a poet, philosopher, and scholar and a native Gaelic speaker from County Clare, Ireland. He was awarded a PhD in Philosophical Theology from the University of Tübingen, with post-doctoral study of Meister Eckhart. John's numerous international bestselling books include Anam Cara, Beauty, Eternal Echoes, and the beloved To Bless the Space Between Us (published as Benedictus in Europe), among many others, guiding readers through the landscape of the Irish imagination. 

Michael D. Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth President of Ireland on November 11, 2011, and was then inaugurated for a second term on November 11, 2018.  A passionate political voice, a poet and writer, academic and statesman, human rights advocate, promoter of inclusive citizenship and champion of creativity within Irish society, Michael D. Higgins has previously served at almost every level of public life in Ireland, including as Ireland’s first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

Pat O'Donohue was born in County Clare, Ireland. He attended Maynooth College studying the Arts and Philosophy, receiving his B.D. in Theology in 1978. After living in London, he returned to County Clare, writing and continuing to further the legacy of his beloved brother, John O'Donohue.  

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Prologue xxi

1 The Mystery of Friendship 1

Light Is Generous 1

The Celtic Circle of Belonging 2

The Human Heart Is Never Completely Born 5

Love Is the Nature of the Soul 8

The Umbra Nihili 10

The Anam Cam 11

Intimacy as Sacred 15

The Mystery of Approach 16

Diarmuid and Gráinne 17

Love as Ancient Recognition 20

The Circle of Belonging 21

The Kalyana-Mitra 22

The Soul as Divine Echo 23

The Wellspring of Love Within 25

The Transfiguration of the Senses 27

The Wounded Gift 29

In the Kingdom of Love, There Is No Competition 31

2 Toward a Spirituality of the Senses 33

The Face Is the Icon of Creation 33

The Holiness of the Gaze 35

The Infinity of Your Interiority 36

The Face and the Second Innocence 38

The Body Is the Angel of the Soul 39

The Body as Mirror of the Soul 42

For the Celts, the Visible and the Invisible Are One 44

The Children of Lir 45

A Spirituality of Transfiguration 50

The Senses as Thresholds of Soul 52

The Eye Is Like the Dawn 53

Styles of Vision 55

Taste and Speech 58

Fragrance and Breath 60

True Listening Is Worship 62

The Language of Touch 64

Celtic Sensuousness 67

3 Solitude is Luminous 69

The World of the Soul Is Secret 69

The Danger of Neon Vision 71

To Be Born Is to Be Chosen 73

The Celtic Underworld as Resonance 75

To Transfigure the Ego-to Liberate the Soul 77

There Is No Spiritual Program 78

The Body Is Your Only Home 81

The Body Is in the Soul 86

To Be Natural Is to Be Holy 87

The Dancing Mind 89

Beauty Likes Neglected Places 91

Thoughts Are Our Inner Senses 92

Ascetic Solitude 95

Silence Is the Sister of the Divine 98

The Crowd at the Hearth of the Soul 99

Contradictions as Treasures 100

The Soul Adores Unity 104

Toward a Spirituality of Noninterference 107

One of the Greatest Sins Is the Unlived Life 108

4 Work as a Poetics of Growth 111

The Eye Celebrates Motion 111

To Grow Is to Change 113

The Celtic Reverence for the Day 114

The Soul Desires Expression 117

Pisreoga 119

Presence as Soul Texture 120

Weakness and Power 122

The Trap of False Belonging 126

Work and Imagination 127

Spontaneity and Blockage 129

The Role Can Smother 131

Sisyphus 132

The Salmon of Knowledge 134

The False Image Can Paralyze 136

The King and the Beggar's Gift 137

Heartful Work Brings Beauty 139

5 Aging the Beauty of the Inner Harvest 142

Time as a Circle 142

The Seasons in the Heart 144

Autumn and the Inner Harvest 146

Transience Makes a Ghose of Experience 148

Memory: Where Our Vanished Days Secretly Gather 150

Tír na n-Óg: The Land of Youth 153

Eternal Time 154

The Soul as Temple of Memory 156

Self-Compassion and the Art of Inner Harvesting 159

To Keep Something Beautiful in Your Heart 161

The Bright Field 162

The Passionate Heart Never Ages 164

The Fire of Longing 165

Aging: An Invitation to New Solitude 167

Loneliness: The Key to Courage 168

Wisdom as Poise and Grace 169

Old Age and the Twilight Treasures 171

Old Age and Freedom 172

6 Death: The Horizon is in the Well 175

The Unknown Companion 175

The Faces of Death in Everyday Life 176

Death as the Root of Fear 178

Death in the Celtic Tradition 181

When Death Visits … 182

The Caoineadh: The Irish Mourning Tradition 183

The Soul That Kissed the Body 184

The Bean Sí 185

A Beautiful Death 186

The Dead Are Our Nearest Neighbors 189

The Ego and the Soul 190

Death as an Invitation to Freedom 191

Nothingness: A Face of Death 192

Waiting and Absence 194

Birth as Death 196

Death Transfigures Our Separation 197

Are Space and Time Different in the Eternal World? 198

The Dead Bless Us 200

Afterword 205

Acknowledgments 213

Editorial Reviews

"Anam Cara is a rare synthesis of philosophy, poetry, and spirituality. This work will have a powerful and life-transforming experience for those who read it." — Deepak Chopra

“John O’Donohue’s unique voice and heart and his exquisitely elevating poetic imagination are immortalized in these pages, saturated as they are with his lyrical and contagious love of life and love for people and nature. Even reading it at random is profoundly healing and affirming, especially in hard moments.”  — Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Meditation is Not What You Think and the bestselling classic, Wherever You Go, There You Are

"The moment I read Anam Cara...I felt like I had found a kindred spirit. I love everything John has written. It comes from such a deep, profound, wise, and insightful space."   — Maria Shriver, author, advocate, and journalist

"What a profound joy it is rereading Anam Cara, John O'Donohue's glorious book of teachings about nature, human life, friendship, love, and loss. Anyone who ever spent time with John came away changed, as do his readers."  — Diane Ackerman, bestselling author and poet

“In this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, you will find John a 'soul friend' on your own journey through life, offering support and solace, clarity, and consciousness—expanding narratives that invite you to experience relationships with people, nature, and even your inner world in new ways that nurture well-being and resilience in these challenging times.”   — Daniel J. Siegel, MD, bestselling author, neuropsychiatrist 

“This book is a phenomenon in itself . . . a book to read and reread forever, its style of varied narration responds to our times.” — Irish Times

"With this twenty-fifth anniversary of Anam Cara, John's fervent call to dignify each other reverberates in every corner of our beautiful broken world with more urgency and presence." — Ellen Wingard, Advocate for Social Impact Leadership 

"A lively spiritual companion to all Celts—or to those who are Celtic in their hearts." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"For almost twenty years the poetic and prophetic words of John O'Donohue have held sacred space and holy weight in my heart." — Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor-Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago, Illinois)

"Anam Cara is a radiant source of wisdom, a link between the human and the divine. This work is a blessed, rare gem." — Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Be Careful What You Pray For, Prayer Is Good Medicine, and Healing Words

"John O'Donohue is an unassuming man with a grand sense of humor. . . charming." — Joy Redfield Kwapien, author of The Celestine Journal

"John brightens the way for you, if you have the courage to go there—he was obviously sent here with the light." — Davy Spillane, Grammy Award-winning musician/composer at North Atlantic Music Studios (Ireland) and Producer of Anam Cara Audiobook

"John O'Donohue's book of Celtic wisdom comes at you like a blast of fresh wind rushing above the din of modern noise and cynical contemporary conversations, revitalizing the spirit to effectively face this turbulent world. Indeed we need John's wildly original and provocative voice more than ever." — Gail Straub, Co-Founder—Empowerment Institute, Author of The Rhythm of Compassion

"From the very first sentence, Anam Cara takes us on an exhilarating journey through the human soul and its many wondrous and mysterious labyrinths, and John O'Donohue is the perfect guide to light the way—a radiant soul full of deep wisdom, true compassion, and boundless joy." — Andrew Carroll, New York Times bestselling author and co-founder, with Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky, of the American Poetry & Literacy Project

"Anam Cara has accompanied me on my spiritual journey from its very inception. I have returned to this book often, for solace, wisdom and —most of all—to be reminded that I am not alone in what I desire for myself and for our world. John O'Donohue has been my "soul friend" for years, and his brave revelations of his mind and heart have changed my life. Get ready for a life-altering journey." — Edward L. Beck, Roman Catholic Priest, CNN Faith and Religion Commentator

"In the age of social media in which we add and discard friends with the tap of a screen, we need more than ever John O'Donohue's vital words of wisdom on how the right relationships can lift a life and feed the soul. This book is about deep love, belonging, and honoring nourishing ties that crush small-minded concepts of what friendship can be. A must read for all on the spiritual journey." — Sophfronia Scott, author of The Seeker and the Monk and Love's Long Line

"John blew away the dust of many years of spiritual disillusionment and blessed the world with an ancient message infused with beauty, love and divine truths. This was a man formed from the wildness of clay and rock of the West coast of County Clare. It was a privilege to know John and to witness him enliven weary souls in search of the divine spark. He was an continues to be an Anam Cara (soul friend) to those of us blessed to have known him and for all who continue to walk the path through his inspired writings." — Áine Minogue, Irish Musician

From the Publisher

"John O'Donohue is an unassuming man with a grand sense of humor. . . charming."

Joy Redfield Kwapien

This book is a phenomenon in itself . . . a book to read and reread forever, its style of varied narration responds to our times.

Irish Times

"This beautifully written book proves that tireless wisdom can bring an amazing understanding about ourselves and the world around us even today."

Dannion Brinkley author of

"Anam Cara is a rare synthesis of philosophy, poetry, and spirituality. This work will have a powerful and life-transforming experience for those who read it."

Deepak Chopra

"Anam Cara is a radiant source of wisdom, a link between the human and the divine. This work is a blessed, rare gem."

Larry Dossey