Four Elements: Reflections on NatureFrom the beloved author of the bestselling To Bless the Space Between Us and Anam Cara comes a new work that shares his insights on nature and the ancient wisdom of this earth. John O'Donohue won hundreds of thousands of admirers with his now classic work on Celtic spirituality Anam Cara. Unfortunately he died suddenly at age fifty-two just as his book of blessings, To Bless the Space Between Us, was being published. The loss of his powerfully wise and lyrical voice has been profoundly missed, but his many readers are given a special opportunity to revisit John in a new book based on a series of papers he wrote on the elements of water, stone, air, and fire, now published here for the first time. O'Donohue's readers know him as both a spiritual guide and a poet, and in this work he exhibits both qualities, sharing his Celtic heritage and his love for his native landscape in the west of Ireland. As O'Donohue explores a range of themes relating to the way we live our lives today, he reveals how the energy and rhythm of the natural world—its innocence and creativity, its power and splendor—hold profound lessons for us all. With a foreword written by his beloved brother, Pat, this illuminating book is an inspired reflection on the ancient wisdom of the earth. |
Contents
| 11 | |
Air and the Invisible | 23 |
Space as Welcome and Possibility | 29 |
To Free the Silted Source | 41 |
The Language of Tears | 47 |
Water and Time | 56 |
Fluent Presence Through Landscape | 67 |
The Folklore of Water | 76 |
Origins in Fire | 85 |
Fire and Fear | 108 |
Fire and the Soul | 118 |
First Born of Creation | 129 |
Stone as the Tabernacle of Memory | 143 |
Stone and Earth | 149 |
Stone and Water | 156 |
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Common terms and phrases
air element alcohol ancient angel animal Aran Islands awaken beautiful become Big Bang bless body breath Brighid brings burning Burren classical antiquity clay Conamara consciousness culture currachs dark depths distance divine earth emerge empty eternal everything experience fascinating fire flame flow fluency furnace gravity Hans Georg Gadamer healing heart hidden Holy Saturday Holy Spirit human identity imagination individual infinity inner innocent invisible Ireland Joseph Brodsky journey koans land landscape language light limestone lives meditation Meister Eckhart ment metaphor mind mirror mystical nature ness never night ocean one's origin passion person poem poitín possibility Prayer presence primal rain remember rhythm river rock ruin sculpture secret seems sense shape Shekinah silence soul sound space stone story strange stream surface tears things thirst thought tradition transfiguration transience Tyger valley warmth water element wind wonderful word