Spiritual Genealogy

Spiritual Genealogy

I mentioned my thrill at finding in John O'Donohue's "embers of kinship" quote the idea of "spiritual genealogy," some mysterious non-physical connection which may click or spark like two magnets smashing together.

This connection may be some sort of "blood link" similar to D. H. Laurence's "blood memory"--the idea that within us are mysteries, often unknown to us consciously, which we have inherited through the blood and DNA handed down to us. Or possibly, sucked into our essence by osmosis from, through, physical places or things.

When we encounter strangers within whom exists some of our own inheritances, we sense a connection. O'Donohue calls this person an "anam cara" or "soul friend" which, by definition, implies that we are already aware of our own "soul" and that we recognize within some Other some aspect of our selves.

This is why I see the idea of a soul friend as connected to a mirror. A person who reflects back to us some aspect of ourselves. Or a person/Other who helps us see and love some aspect of ourselves we may have been unaware of, oblivious to, before.

I think it may also be John O'Donohue who gave me this definition of "soul" which makes sense to me for the first time in my life. That soul is the presence of the divine within. And divine? Something beyond the human, with some sort of connection to our origins on this planet?

When we feel as if we have found a soul friend, we have found someone who understands some of the experiences we have experienced. Who appreciates some of the things we appreciate. Who "gets" some of the "low level ecstasies" we get. That Other with whom we feel "at home."

A soul friend does not have to be a lover. It is deliberately not a soul mate. Nor does he/she/it/they even have to be of a specific (opposite) gender. And each is/would be a gift, not an entitlement. Not everyone is so lucky.

I did not want nor intend to write a story about a lonely woman finding a lover or a soul mate. Never. A lonely woman finding herself. Now that's another story. And what Wyn finds is both physical and spiritual, a kind of genealogy which helps explain her own emotional history.

Comments

Title

Titles are so important. I'm happy with this one, EMBERS , especially with John O'Donohue's "embers of kinship" phrase, and also because it alludes to the title of a song on Jim Byrnes' Fresh Horses referenced in the story. My first working title was Clara . It is the name of a small town in Ireland. But there are many female characters in CanLit named Clara, and I wanted to avoid any unfortunate crossover. Also, to me, the book is not about Ireland. It is about what a Canadian woman learns about herself and her country while she is on a trip to Ireland. Another title was Accommodations because so many of Wyn's adventures take place in motel rooms and B&Bs. And I like the idea that, all her life, Wyn has attempted to accommodate herself and her life choices to address her often unconscious needs. I also toyed with Claritas , with Shine , and with Turning Into Light (from an Eastern poet, Hafiz). I was serious about this "writing ...

Writer - J.M. Bridgeman

Writer Bio: J.M. Bridgeman When I hand a copy of EMBERS to anyone who knows me, I have to resist the urge to insist: This is not about me, and you’re not in it. It is not exactly that age-old writer’s dilemma of having to wait until enough people die to be able to publish. It is more like the writer’s quest for that ideal reader, sophisticated enough to allow that imagination and creativity are the source of material which, hopefully, feels real, as if the writer actually experienced it all herself. As far as I’m concerned, the only “real” things in this story EMBER S are the places. And that itself is a clue, because for me, place, our attachment to place, is one of the most important aspects of our life here on Earth. So, here’s the short fast version of my life and you can see and judge for yourself what the intersections / crossroads are, where the story comes from. I was born in Rivers. I have always and still do love the sound of that. Born in rivers. Rivers is ...

Style (1)

Style (1) They used to say (my old profs) that there are two types of literature, and thus, two types of writer. The Classicists and the Romantics. The Classicists are interested in the style, the "how" of telling the story, the little tricks the creator uses to hook his audience and keep them reading or listening. Too many little tricks turn into purple patches, which is a bad thing. (A purple patch is a section of the telling which interrupts/stops the reader by attracting them to the words and the way they are put together, thus pulling us out of our suspended disbelief in the created story.) The Romantics are more interested in what happens to the characters, in the emotional and physical conflicts with which we readers identify and care about the created beings. I probably don't have to tell you that I've always leaned towards the Romantic side (positivity, emotion, nature, spirit). Towards more flesh than flash. Not to be dazzled by the teller's tric...

Embers - a novel by j.m. bridgeman

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