Seriously, though, I read John O’Donohue’s Anam Cara in my early twenties and (apart from the Hegelian aspects which were a bit of a ball ache) it expressed a lot of what I was then unable to articulate about the profound Celtic expression of Christianity embedded in but also strangled by retrograde versions of Irish Catholicism that I’d experienced. Bit of moment on my journey of faith!
Interesting that O'Donohue came up for you like he did for S.E. Most of my own experience of Irish Christianity is mostly that retrograde Catholicism and the people I know who've rejected it.
What does O'Donohue articulate about the Celtic expression of the faith?
Well, it’s probably better expressed in Heaney, really, but a love of... soil and kin, light and endless colour, the sounds of fresh water and driving wind, healing and nourishing crops and wild flora, dog and horse; the spiritual presence of ancestors that haunt heart and memory, the many souls of nature itself, the sacredness of imagination; the darker brooding of the soul and the many superstitions that lead to blood sacrifice and grudge vengeance; the shape of the land that will never not be home, the call of mountain, river, dell and most of all the sea; good company, strong liquor, music, prayer and poetic song, kindness and courtesy, visceral loyalty, appropriate humility, an almost reckless courage, a ready wit, the power of word, a keen eye, and the soul’s crown - a good sense of humour.
Of course, I imagine lot of this is also due to Christianisation but, as said, it’s a crying shame that the crappy uncatholic Catholic thing did so much damage and was so prevalent. Who wouldn’t want to reject it!
I loved your reading of Neruda, by the way. If you’ve a Spanish background, I guess you’ll have a good handle on what I’m grasping at here...
That is plenty to articulate, and Heaney fits the bill in certain lines.
Thanks for the Neruda catch. Your list certainly fits his poetry also, though in Spanish it sounds all the more immediate (to me, a linguistic tourist).
Hey, don’t tell everyone about Celtic Christianity: they’ll all want in on it! ☘️
Too late. Like all things Christian (and Irish), it can't be contained.
But I hadn't realized you were also a fan. When did that happen?
😂 If you’ll pardon the Beckettian response: around the time of my conception.
No need, now nor ever, to pardon a Beckettian response!
Seriously, though, I read John O’Donohue’s Anam Cara in my early twenties and (apart from the Hegelian aspects which were a bit of a ball ache) it expressed a lot of what I was then unable to articulate about the profound Celtic expression of Christianity embedded in but also strangled by retrograde versions of Irish Catholicism that I’d experienced. Bit of moment on my journey of faith!
Interesting that O'Donohue came up for you like he did for S.E. Most of my own experience of Irish Christianity is mostly that retrograde Catholicism and the people I know who've rejected it.
What does O'Donohue articulate about the Celtic expression of the faith?
Well, it’s probably better expressed in Heaney, really, but a love of... soil and kin, light and endless colour, the sounds of fresh water and driving wind, healing and nourishing crops and wild flora, dog and horse; the spiritual presence of ancestors that haunt heart and memory, the many souls of nature itself, the sacredness of imagination; the darker brooding of the soul and the many superstitions that lead to blood sacrifice and grudge vengeance; the shape of the land that will never not be home, the call of mountain, river, dell and most of all the sea; good company, strong liquor, music, prayer and poetic song, kindness and courtesy, visceral loyalty, appropriate humility, an almost reckless courage, a ready wit, the power of word, a keen eye, and the soul’s crown - a good sense of humour.
Of course, I imagine lot of this is also due to Christianisation but, as said, it’s a crying shame that the crappy uncatholic Catholic thing did so much damage and was so prevalent. Who wouldn’t want to reject it!
I loved your reading of Neruda, by the way. If you’ve a Spanish background, I guess you’ll have a good handle on what I’m grasping at here...
That is plenty to articulate, and Heaney fits the bill in certain lines.
Thanks for the Neruda catch. Your list certainly fits his poetry also, though in Spanish it sounds all the more immediate (to me, a linguistic tourist).