Written by Phyllida Anam-Áire and Narrated by Marie T. Russell.
When I look at the trees in my garden, I see how they fully express life in their changing seasons. The wind blows and they surrender. The sun pours down on them and they are not disturbed. The snow covers their nakedness and they mould themselves to its cold covering.
Autumn sings her lament and the coloured leaves drop down, down into the dark waiting clay. This is done in silent wonder as the tree bows to the sacred laws of nature hidden in her DNA. And all the while the tree is sure of her standing; sure of her place in the family of nature.
I ask myself how sure am I of my standing in the earth? How difficult is it for me to welcome and then surrender my tears, my years, my insecurities and my fears? How difficult is it also to welcome and surrender my joys, my delights, my choices, preferences, my loves and my talents. In other words how sure am I of the what of me? The divine I am?
I imagine whether I could live my life as a bird lives, just singing my song, living my divine purpose and whether that could be enough? Maybe that is how I would live this divine life if I lived the divine me. Then there would be an end to all struggle and suffering for I would see life and death experiences through the eyes of Love with nature as my spiritual healer and guide...
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Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
Findhorn Press, an imprint of Inner Traditions Intl..
The Last Ecstasy of Life: Celtic Mysteries of Death and Dying
by Phyllida Anam-Áire
In the Celtic tradition dying is considered an act of birthing, of our consciousness passing from this life to the next. Informed by an early near-death experience, spiritual midwife and former nun Phyllida Anam-Áire offers an intimate overview of the sacred stages of the dying process seen through the lens of her Celtic heritage. Compassionately describing the final dissolution of the elements, she emphasizes how important it is to resolve and integrate our psycho-spiritual shadows and wounds in this lifetime.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here. Also available as a Kindle edition.
Phyllida Anam-Áire, a former Irish nun, as well as grandmother and therapist who trained with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, has worked extensively with the sick and dying. She offers Conscious Living, Conscious Dying retreats in Europe and gives talks on children and dying to nurses and palliative care workers. Also a songwriter, she teaches Celtic Gutha or Caoineadh, Irish songs or sounds of mourning. She is the author of A Celtic Book of Dying,