In Corrogue it is frosty.

The ramp to our “acre of diamonds” is now firm underfoot where there used to be a sea of ​​mud. Murphy our dog runs excitedly by my side. We are on our way to free the chickens from the henhouse. They should be fed oatmeal porridge in milk.

Murphy has become an honorary chicken. It has been self-proclaimed. Now eat with the chickens and roosters while I feed them their long-awaited breakfast. Now they are together, dogs and birds, loving this life that is safe and satisfying for them.

I’m getting clearer I am integrating myself more and I know more about the flow of this life. I have become a friend of the soul. I am becoming what is known in the Celtic tradition as Anam Cara. This is translated as Anam which means “soul” and Cara which means “friend”.

Like our beautiful dog Murphy, I am busy summarizing different aspects of my less integrated self. They are pieces that are like different chickens in a chicken coop. I gently bring you together in love and acceptance. I imagine myself sitting on top of a chicken coop with my chicken friends and we would discuss various issues in life.

We might ask “What does it mean to be a soul seeker?” We screamed 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 dig into the earth to question that existential question: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

One of our favorite chickens (and I must admit that I have favorites) is Boddica. She is not scared. She would be the chicken of ferocious questions. She is the chicken equivalent to a friendly soul. 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 answer like this.

An Anam Cara loves your essence.

They see you beyond your mask. This is the mask of the person. This is what you call personality. Come beyond fear. They see the absence of love. This is the love that you withdraw from others and from yourself. This is the love that is your true power. This does not mean that they have to like YOU. You are the one who stands in the way of the soul. Your soul is the light of love and it needs light. You need the lightness of being. An Anam Cara will remind you to simply “be”.

An Anam Cara lives close to the earth.

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 work of Eros. This brings them to the wing. An Anam Cara will remind you to regain your senses and be sensational.

An Anam Cara guides you into 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 your beauty, but the beauty of the Beloved. They move around the world like nobody of importance. They don’t inflate your ego. They can strengthen your ego. They do it so you can disappear. This is so you can blow up the coop. This is so you can get into the joy of getting out of the prison of never being enough.

An Anam Cara reminds you of what is important.

They guide you so you know who you are. They take you to what is called in Ireland “slim places”. They take you to the limit. They cajole you to the limit. When you trust enough, they push you. They know that this is the only way to learn to fly. They know you are an eagle raised in a chicken society. The Anam Cara will take you through the clouds. The very air that will take you higher is learning trust and faith in your essential goodness.

An Anam Cara takes you to the fountain. You will be taken beyond time and space to the bottom of your being. This will be done using different techniques depending on which Anam Cara you talk to. There will be techniques to get you out of the constant chatter of the chicken coop and into the joy of life beyond the wire mesh. These techniques help you relax and allow you to leave the disease.

An Anam Cara will affirm you.

It will tell you 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 you have the key to liberation. Only they could tell you that the door is always open. It was and will never close for you. They have confidence that “everything is going well and everything will be fine”.

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 nothing more than a lot of “nothing”. This gives your soul a real rest. This is where you stop trying to live life and become an abundant life. You become the flow of the essential. Nothing matters because everything matters. In the end they lead you to the love of the soul.

So this is how I would respond to my soul chicken Anam Cara.

Would you be satisfied? I’m not sure. I know you would think I have avoided the real question. “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg.” I made up for it by holding her tenderly in my arms. I stroke her beautiful chicken head. I say, “I love you.” I say, “You are a chicken forever.” She leaves and lays another golden egg.

I leave the chicken coop. I leave this chicken coop for the soul and return down the ramp to our cabin. I am reunited. I leave Murphy to debate the rudiments of flying. It is on the brink. He is excited. One day soon, he too hopes to fly. The question is: “What soul will do the push”?

Blessings for you and for those you love and don’t love.