One of my favorite books of all time is Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue. He writes that “time as a rhythm of soul has an eternal dimension where everything is gathered and minded. Here nothing is lost. This is a great consolation: The happenings in your life do not disappear. Nothing is ever lost or forgotten. Everything is stored within your soul in the temple of memory.”
I remember hearing a story about Sister Betty—and I don’t actually remember who told the story—where the storyteller was walking the land of Prairiewoods one spring afternoon and she came upon Sister Betty lying on the ground. “Are you alright, Sister Betty!?” the storyteller asked, somewhat alarmed. “Oh, I’m fine,” Sister Betty said calmly, her ear still upon the ground. “I’m just listening to the Earth. I’m listening to all that’s growing.”
John O’Donohue writes, “Because we are formed from clay, the rhythm of the seasons outside in nature is also active within our own hearts. We can learn much, therefore, from the people who constructed and articulated their spirituality in sisterhood with nature, namely, the Celtic people.”
The term anam cara means “soul friend” in Gaelic, the Irish language. O’Donohue describes the anam cara as “a person to whom you could reveal the hidden intimacies of your life. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the friend of your soul.” Sister Betty, of course, was of Irish Celtic heritage. And although I don’t recall her actually saying this, I imagine her soul friend was the Earth herself.
Do you have a soul friend? Might we consider the Earth herself as our soul friend?
The other day I was listening to the autumn season, hearing the birds in conversation, the fallen leaves dancing with the breeze. The air was fine and the sun was warm. I laid down on the ground. I listened. Instantly I felt connected and embraced. My breathing matched the breeze and my heart settled. I thought of Sister Betty. I thought of the Earth as my soul friend. I thought of the ancient and the eternal. There, nothing is ever lost.
—Angie Pierce Jennings, Prairiewoods hosted groups and hospitality coordinator