Ear of the Heart: Spiritual Counselling with Nóirín

Tending the precious flame of your soul – Nóirín Ní Riain

We, Irish,  believe that when we enter this world,  a candle is ignited in Heaven that continues to shine brightly until our time, and our calling, here on earth is fulfilled.

This is the flame of the soul, where according to the fourteenth century German mystic, Meister Eckhart, no earthly time or ageing can touch.

Here in our soul resides the treasure which is our spiritual world.  

 A stick of wax has to be carefully tended to and protected from any breeze, to maintain its burn time. Similarly,  when the winds of pain, guilt, fear, lonesomeness and anger ravage our lives, we must trim the soul wick to avoid as the cliché goes “burning our candle at both ends”.

Spiritual counselling is one such training skill  of protection, restoring the original steady soul flicker of our birth.  We are the creators and the architects  of our spiritual selves, the tenders of our celestial candles.  

In our explorations together, we come to realise that these winds of destruction are merely our own breath. How we breathe is how we live in our world and is the source of our physical AND spiritual selves. 

The word ‘breath’ for both the Hebrews and the Greeks also held the meaning of ‘wind’ and ‘spirit’. The Celts were keenly aware of this through the ancient blessing; “May the wind be always at your back.”

In other words,  pay attention on three levels.  Firstly, to your own inner breathing, secondly to the breeze all around you and finally to the voice of the Spirit and “all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well” (Julian of Norwich).  

Keeping your mind on this trio of flame keepers will be the secret training tool that comes in disguise through our talks.

“Tá a coineall múchta roimh bhreacadh an lae” – Her candle is extinguished before the dawning of day - is how we say it in Ireland to mark the passing over to a new day of life which is resurrection.

Another name for Spiritual Counselling is Soul Work. When you embrace this vocation that is calling you now, you step down from the merry-go-round of the false self, and the great crises of the universe, nature and humanity.

When we gather  - “two or more in my name” – two worlds of time unite; this finite world with beginning and end and the eternal, infinite Godly world.

The ancient Greeks described this overwhelming fact.  

On the one hand, there is chronological, calendar, clock time.  Chronos is the time measured in hours, minutes and seconds which is finite and has a beginning and end.  

On the other hand, Kairos expresses a tempo of possibility and creativity where the Spirit, the Divine Sacred escapes and comes home.  All soul toil is Kairos where moments are infinite and eternal.

Although our conversation together will be measured in chronos and candle burn time, Kairos is the third listening ear; always present,  silently and surprisingly interrupting with nudges of the Spirit.

To take that first step backwards,  to empower our taking three paces forward in the right direction, cries out for courage; the courage to become potentially divine.

Once welcomed, showing up guarantees transformation for your life, your inner soul and ultimately your journey home.

FORMAT

Every conversation will begin with a mutual lighting of a candle which will welcome in a Kairos time of timeless connection, rainbow light and inspiration. 

(For some minutes before each get together , I focus on you, my conversation partner, and an appropriate prayer/poem always comes to mind. You see, I think of you not as a client but as an anam-chara in the deepest sense of the ancient word in Irish; that is as a mutual circular conversation partner in our joint search for the meaning of divine/human friendship. Your inherited life wisdom is as cherished and important as mine.)

We will share this prayer/poem and enter into a spell of silence since, as Meister Eckhart reminds us, that nothing is closer to God than silence.

From there the conversation begins for 50 minutes or so of candle burn and  Chronos time.

I shall forward any prayers shared over our time together which often come as disguise teachers or spiritual work outs for your journey ahead. 

I can hardly wait for us to take this first of many steps together, dear Anam-chara. 

Le mór-mheas ó Nóirín

Testimony: