It is very cold in Corrogue.
The ramp to our “acre of diamonds” is now firm where once was a sea of mud. Murphy our dog runs excitedly to my side. We are on our way to release the chickens from the coop. They should be fed porridge in milk.
Murphy has become an honorary chicken. He has self-proclaimed. He now eats with the chickens and roosters while I give them their long-awaited breakfast. Now they are together, dog and bird, loving this life that is safe and fulfilling for them.
I am becoming clearer. I am becoming more integrated and know more of the flow of this life. I’m becoming a soul friend. I am becoming what is known in Celtic tradition as Anam Cara. This translates as Anam meaning “soul” and Cara meaning “friend”.
Like our beautiful dog Murphy, I am busy bringing together different aspects of my less integrated self. They are pieces that are like different chickens inside a chicken coop. I gently bring you together in love and acceptance. I imagine sitting on top of a chicken coop with my chicken friends and discussing various questions of life.
We might ask “What does it mean to be a soul seeker?” We would squawk about our inner life. We would peck at the question “is the unexamined life worth living?” We were joking about what happened when the chicken crossed the street. More seriously, we would scratch the earth to question that existential question: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
One of our favorite chickens (and I have to admit that I have favorites) is Boddica. She is not scared. She would be the chicken to ask fierce questions. She is the chicken equivalent of a bosom friend. She tests your knowledge and understanding of who you really are. She might ask, “What does an Anam Cara do?
In response to Bodica’s question, I would humbly reply like this.
An Anam Cara loves your essence.
They see you beyond your mask. This is the person’s mask. This is what you call personality. Come beyond fear. They see the absence of love. This is the love you withdraw from others and from yourself. This is the love that is your true power. This doesn’t mean they have to like them. You are the one who stands in the way of the soul. Your soul is the light of love and needs light. You need the lightness of being. An Anam Cara will remind you to simply “be”.
An Anam Cara lives close to the land.
They can be found resting with chickens. They love the elements of fire, water, earth and air. They are elemental beings although they are more earthly than mental. Some might consider that they exhibit opposite traits. They love sensuality and sexuality. They love the game of Eros. This takes them to flight. An Anam Cara will remind you to come to your senses and be sensational.
An Anam Cara guides you to the presence that you are.
They are people of silence. They listen. They don’t debate. They do not fill you with knowledge. They transmitted the knowledge of love. They touch you with beauty. This is not her beauty but the beauty of the Beloved. They move in the world as nobodies of importance. They don’t inflate your ego. They can boost your ego. They do it so you can disappear. This is so you can blow up the chicken coop. This is so you can enter into the joy of breaking out of the prison of never being enough.
An Anam Cara reminds you of what is important.
They guide you to know who you are. They take you to what in Ireland is called “narrow places”. They take you to the limit. They convince you to the brim. When you trust enough, they pressure you. They know that this is the only way to learn to fly. They know you’re an eagle who grew up in a society of chickens. The Anam Cara will take you flying. The very air that will take you higher is the learning of trust and faith in your essential goodness.
An Anam Cara takes you to the source. You will be taken beyond time and space to the very essence of your being. This will be done using different techniques depending on which Anam Cara you speak to. There will be techniques to get you out of the constant chattering of the chicken coop to the joy of life beyond the chicken coop. These techniques lead you to tranquility and allow you to abandon the disease.
An Anam Cara will affirm you.
You will be told that YOU are enough forever. This is because Anam Cara knows that you are enough forever. They have seen beyond the limitation of the ego. They know the prison of the little me. They know that you hold the key to liberation. Only they can tell you that the door is always open. It was and will never be closed to you. They trust that “all is well and all things will be well.”
Anam Cara doesn’t really care.
They know that you are always in the hand of the Beloved. They are not here to do anything for you or for you. They are only there to facilitate your discovery that you are always enough. They know that what you need is not more of nothing but a large portion of “nothing”. This gives your soul a real rest. This is where you stop trying to live life and become abundant life. You become the flow of the essential. Nothing matters because everything matters. Ultimately they lead you to soul love.
This is how I would respond to my soul hen Anam Cara.
Would she be satisfied? I’m not sure. I know she would think I had avoided the real question. “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg.” I make up for it by taking her tenderly in my arms. I stroke her beautiful chicken head. I say, “I love you.” I tell her, “You’re chicken enough forever.” She leaves and lays another golden egg.
I’m leaving the cooperative. I leave this chicken coop for the soul and walk back up the ramp to our cabin. I am gathered. He left Murphy to discuss the rudiments of flying. He is on the edge. He is excited. One day soon he too hopes to fly. The question is: “Which chicken soul will push?”.
Blessings to you and to those you love and don’t love.