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The Last Ecstasy of Life, by Phyllida Anam-Áire

The Last Ecstasy of Life: Celtic Mysteries of Death and Dying, by Phyllida Anam-Áire
Findhorn Press, 9781644112656, 175 pages, June 2021

Death plays such a huge role in our lives. It is something that a lot of people would rather not think about even though it is all around us every day. Though some may call it morbid, I have an interest in learning about how different cultures view death. Seeing how communities treat those who are dying can reveal so much about them. Ireland in particular has such a fascinating culture, steeped in rich history. I wondered what insights I could glean from reading more about how a person from that culture would view topics such as death and grief. Thanks to Phyllida Anam-Áire and her book The Last Ecstasy of Life: Celtic Mysteries of Death and Dying, I have the answers to that question.

To say that Phyllida Anam-Áire is intimately familiar with death would be an understatement. Throughout her life training as a nun and then as a therapist where she trained with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, she learned to view death in a unique way. To her death is not a looming spectre waiting menacingly off in the distance. Death is a constant companion that she has embraced with love. Having found the sacred nature of what it means to live while facing one’s own mortality, she passes on this wisdom through flowing poetry and thoughtful prose.

The first chapter introduces us to some core topics and important information about the author’s beliefs about the nature of life itself. An overarching question of this section revolves around the concept of identity and just what really is the “I” that we speak of when we talk about ourselves. What parts of us can really be considered the true expression of our ‘self’? She shares the Celtic belief that “creation came about by the out-breath of life force and so it was”. This breath that gives us life does not belong to us, but it is something to savor while we get to experience it. She chooses not to question the specifics of what this “breath” might be, instead she surrenders to the mystery and encourages us to do the same. Pondering the unknowable will distract us from living out the fullest expression of life. At the same time she states that it is important to make some personal sense out of what we can observe about the nature of life around us.

With references to works by others in the scientific community, she speaks about the natural energetic field within and around all living organisms. Anam-Áire states that to her the life force that fills and balances all things is a force of love. “This Love does not judge or condemn as its core is the Universal Heart, the heart of compassionate energy.”1 This Universal Heart can act as a source of love of life in the world. It is a beautiful way to view life. Viewing things with compassion and empathy in mind leads to a kinder, more understanding world.

From there the author spends the majority of the book discussing the types of processes we undergo as we die. The energy within us starts to weaken and eventually is released from us as we die. She uses sprinklings of poetry throughout the book to help highlight the emotional themes she brings up. Even the prose she writes reflects her poetic spirit. While the words she uses are not overly complex and the tone very conversational, Anam-Áire weaves together beautiful sentences that evoke certain deep feelings throughout the book.

There are a number of blessings and visualization exercises written throughout the book. Trying those exercises for myself I felt myself more at peace as I went through them. It was interesting to explore these types of thoughts and feelings from the safety of my home. One of the exercises that I found the most impactful was located at the end of chapter three. This exercise, entitled “Let Love Heal…Now”, led me into a deep meditation of healing and self love. The text went on for a few pages, the experience diving deeper as things progressed. I felt the sacred nature of my own divinity and the healing power of love from the Universal Heart. Afterwards I felt at peace and relaxed, having healed bits of myself that required it. Luckily this was near the end of that chapter, which gave me time to reflect.

At the end of each chapter the author leaves a list of questions for the reader to ponder. Taking a few moments to digest and reflect on what I had just read, I found those questions enlightening. They cause us, as readers, to reevaluate our preconceived notions about ourselves, divinity, and the nature of life and death. Taking time to think on these questions, I was led to some interesting personal conclusions that I had not previously considered. With that in mind I was able to sit with a more complete knowledge of myself. Contemplating those questions has given me a greater understanding of what I want from my life as well as my death.

Reading The Last Ecstasy of Life was a journey of self discovery. Led by a guide who speaks with wisdom and a clear reverence for life, the reader is led to examine themselves. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn to approach death with compassion and have a deeper appreciation for life. This is an excellent book that was a pleasure to read. Anam-Áire has managed to breathe such a vibrant sense of life and love into a book all about the topic of death and dying. She has left me with questions to ponder for the remainder of my life as I try to shape what that life will look like. Though when death finally does come for me, I believe I will be more prepared.

Inviting Angels into Your Life, by Kathryn Hudson

Inviting Angels into Your Life: Assistance and Support from the Angelic Realm, by Kathryn Hudson
Findhorn Press, 1644111727, 239 pages, September 2020

I’ll never forget an encounter I had in a bread shop one cold, December morning. I had just left the hair salon after getting my hair cut. I was thinking about my cousin who was hospitalized for a serious illness and bothered by a relationship problem. The gray sky matched my mood. I was even feeling guilty for going to the salon with my cousin so ill. I heard a man speaking to me from behind as I waited in line to buy bread. “Everything will be okay. I promise you.” I turned around and looked at this slightly built man, the only other customer in the store.

I felt tears well up. “Really, everything will be okay. Remember what Mikey is telling you. Mikey is always right.” He walked up to me, gave me a hug, and left the store. This was not a normal encounter – and I remember it to this day, 11 years later. I continued to wonder if Mikey was indeed an angel. After finishing Kathryn Hudson’s book, Inviting Angels into Your Life, and reading of angelic encounters, I am more convinced than ever that Mikey of the bread store was Archangel Michael.

I’ve read a lot of books on angels over the years, but Inviting Angels into Your Life resonated with me more than most books on this topic. Kathryn describes what angels are (without being clinical in nature or getting bogged down with the hierarchy of the angelic realm) and brings them to the reader in ways that we can truly interact with them on an everyday basis. As she writes, the angels are always present and willing to help– what they need is an invitation from us and that is what she shows us how to do. Angels will never infringe upon our free will. Kathryn, a certified Angel Therapy practitioner, has written on this topic and is a workshop presenter on angels.

One of the things that I most liked, and found very helpful in working with angels, was her descriptions of how there is unlimited angelic help available to all of us. If we work with the angels all day, every day, we are not taking angels from someone who we perceive as needing them more. I came to think of this as an angel being like a mother, a mother who can help one child with a seemingly menial task such as homework help while also helping another child deal with a relationship problem. Nothing is too small to ask an angel for help with – and as such asking does not take the angels away from someone asking for help with a serious health issue, for example.

Kathryn write a lot about living a “Large” life, a life aligned with our intended state of being, which is Joy. “Joy is rooted in the truth of our being, eternal and light-filled, no matter what our current experience is on the earth plane. Joy is the essence of Large Life…”2 Angels help us remember our true essence and are willing to help us live a life that is not based in fear and scarcity.

The book is divided into four parts: Take Action with Angels – Preparation, Our Friends in High Places – Archangels, Energy and Angelic Healing, and Next Steps. In Part One she writes on how we can prepare ourselves for interacting with the angels in an intentional way. She describes an angel as “an expression of God that accompanies us here on the earth plan during our lifetime.”3 By viewing our bodies as an instrument, she shows the reader how, “it is up to us to become more aware of how our instrument works and reach toward its mastery.”4 This instrument works through clairvoyance, the method through which we communicate with angels. She defines clairvoyance as “a capacity to see/understand things in an extraordinary way, over and above what is deemed ‘normal’.”5

Part One offers exercises such as channel opening, how to ask for help, filling one’s body with light, and connecting with the earth. She also suggestions for aftercare after completing the exercise. I particularly liked the exercise of connecting to Mother Earth – and the closing affirmation; “I open my channel to stand strong upon the earth, grounded and ready to live my life’s purpose – Large. Thank you, Gaia, Mother Earth.”6

Part Two focuses on the fifteen archangels with whom she most works, from Azrael to Zadkiel. For each she describes the specific focus or form of help of which each one is a master, the associated chakra and color, and the ideal stone with which to connect. She concludes each description with an exercise that can be used to connect with the specific archangel. Peppered throughout are stories of her connections with the archangel or those of others. Uriel, for example, can be called on in times of natural or personal disasters. Uriel is associated with the solar plexus to bring calm, the color is steel grey, and the stone is snowflake obsidian.

The focus of Part Three is on Energy and Angelic Healing. Included are ways to connect with our inner child, do chakra work, and ways to raise our frequency. As we align more with our true self and the spark of the Divine that resides within us, so too do we open ourselves more to angelic communication.

The final part, Four, focuses on Angelic Co-Creation, “essentially a partnering with the Angelic realm in order to live our lives to the fullest, in service of Light, Love, and Joy.”7 She recommends entering into two Contracts, one with our inner child and one with the angels. All offerings are doable – and not intimidating.

I highly recommend Inviting Angels Into Your Life for those new to working with angels as well as those who have been tapping into the angelic realm for a while. I’ve taken Kathryn’s suggestion to “talk” to my guardian angel during the day, as I would a friend. I now communicate with the angels in ways that don’t always focus on problem solving such as pointing our something beautiful that I see (like that lovely full moon) or laughing at myself for something silly that I did. Angels as friends! Use this book to invite them in!

Gateways to the Soul, by Serge Beddington-Behrens

Gateways to the Soul: Inner Work for the Outer World, by Serge Beddington-Behrens
Findhorn Press, 9781644110454, 302 pages, 2020

In his book Gateways to the Soul: Inner Work for the Outer World, Serge Beddington-Behrens shares ways that we can reconnect with our soul through various “gateways” that he has used in client sessions and workshops over his 40 years as a transpersonal psychotherapist. His goal for this book is an invitation; he asks the reader to bring a “new kind of ‘sacred space’ into the way you live your everyday life.”4 Beddington-Behrens gives us a framework for healing by inviting us to move through the book as a “training manual” and use the exercises and questions he includes to create new “gateways” into change and healing.

“In every chapter, therefore, I discuss how we can concretely bring the qualities of this mysterious ‘thing’ called Soul into all aspects of our daily lives and thus enable ourselves to start making them into a sacred practice.”8

Beddington-Behrens begins by sharing his background as part Russian royalty and part wealthy aristocrat. He was educated in what he calls “posh” schools and was growing up to be in an elite part of society. When he read a book by the Indian spiritual teacher Krishnamurti, he began to see the possibility of a different type of life in a different type of world.  He knew that he had to change his inner world to make the changes he wanted to see in his outer world. 

His first spiritual experience took place when he visited the Scottish spiritual community at Findhorn in his early twenties.  He points out that Findhorn was not the large community that it is today, but rather a bunch of “caravans” and a small group of people.  This took place in 1967 and he immediately felt at home.

He learned that Findhorn became a “kind of training course to help you to be yourself!”9 Here he learned to ask questions, to confront himself, and to challenge his past conditioning.  At the end of the first chapter, he poses questions to help the reader unearth information about inner changes we may want to make. (He also gives us a hint that there will be more questions to come!)

What really interested me about this book was its subtitle about “inner work for the outer world.”  It was Gandhi who said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  The author really hits home with this idea in every chapter. He asks us to do the inner work in order to see changes in our outer world.

One technique that he taught dealt with regret.  He invited the reader to use the breath to release regret.  By exhaling regret and inhaling good energy, one can release regrets. He then shared another series of techniques:

“You can also use the four elements of fire, water, earth and air to help you release your regret. You can either use one element that you feel more drawn to, or if you wish, all four. With fire, write down your regret on a piece of paper and then throw it on the fire. As you watch it burn, imagine the regret burning up inside. With water, stand under a shower and imagine the water is flowing through you, flushing out your regret; see it going into the drain and being washed away for good. With earth, lie down on the grass and imagine giving your regret to mother earth and it passing out of you into the soil. With air,  stand outside on a windy day and say: ‘Please wind blow my regret out of me.’”10

I used this tool to help myself clear an issue that I had been carrying around with me for several months. Afterwards, I felt lighter and more at peace with myself and the other person involved in the situation.

Another section that really spoke to me was the one entitled “Gateways through Our Dark Side.” As someone who has been doing shadow work for a number of years,  I was particularly interested in any new techniques.  He first explained that “shadow” is “those parts of ourselves that we are ‘in the dark’ about, that we don’t know we possess.”11  He then went on to share how his father projected parts of his own shadow onto his son and then those shadow aspects became a part of Beddington-Behrens’ own self-image.  This summary really touched me:

“What happens when we get negatively projected upon – we can also say ‘regarded in a reductive light’ is that we will often internalize the projections and incorporate them into our own self image. This is often what will have occurred with people who have low self esteem.“12

I see now that my mother projected quite a few traits on me!  He then shared with us a concept of “withdrawing our projections” and focusing on our close relationships as the basis for becoming more aware of shadow aspects. At the end of the chapter are questions for journaling and unearthing these shadow aspects.  Then, he included a healing exercise where one can take back projections and send positive energy transmissions to anyone involved.

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and all of the stories about his life.  He was very honest about his healing journey and his strengths and weaknesses, and I appreciated his candor.  As an Oxford-educated transpersonal psychotherapist, Beddington-Behrens is also a shaman, an activist, and an educator.  He teaches worldwide and enjoys homes in both London and Mallorca. 

This book is probably best for someone who has been on a spiritual journey for at least a few years.  Some of the concepts might be difficult for someone who is new to awakening or new to healing psychological issues in a transpersonal way. 

In the back of the book, the author includes a recap of all of the exercises in the book, listed in order and by “gateway” complete with page numbers.  This is extremely helpful.  He also includes a separate index.

As he was finishing the book, the COVID-19 pandemic began. He mentions it with this interesting point of view:

“My strong hunch is that underneath this seeming curse, lies- if we evolve a long term perspective- a very profound blessing, and that a story or a ‘world of consciousness’ that I have been arguing needs to die, is actually doing so much more quickly, and is therefore quietly creating a space for something new to be born that very much needs to be born. Basically, this pandemic has actually come to save us from ourselves!”13

Thank you, Beddington-Behrens, for a fascinating chronicle of your life and these healing exercises in Gateway to the Soul.

Deva, by Jacquelyn E. Lane

Deva: Our Relationship with the Subtle World, by Jacquelyn E. Lane
Findhorn Press, 978-1644110741, 320 pages, June 2020

Deva: Our Relationship with the Subtle World by Jacquelyn E. Lane is a title that anyone who is serious about the undertaking of engaging and communicating with the natural world should read. Lane is an educator by profession and this is quite apparent in the organization of the book. She has also been involved in the study of metaphysics for 50+ years, and this experience is the underpinning of this particular title and its teachings regarding the work of collaboration with the laws and spirits of nature through the development of a relationship of mutual respect, stewardship, and care.

…. Life is a great song. From the rocks that seem to be still to the bubbling water of a stream that flows over them. From the uncurling leaves of small plants to giant trees. From the quiet hamlets to the teeming cities. It’s all singing-notes within tunes, tunes within themes, themes within symphonies.14

These words flow from the pages and are the first lines of the Introduction. Simply reading them draws the reader in for a closer look and the journey that is about to unfold in the voluminous content that follows, if truly heard and appreciated, becomes a timeless and timely composition of nature. 

Deva is a fitting publication for the Findhorn Press and the mission of the Findhorn Community. To fully appreciate the need for this book a little history of The Findhorn Community will offer some background. The Findhorn Community developed from the resettlement of Peter and Eileen Caddy, their children, and Dorothy Maclean to the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park in 1962. The three had dedicated their lives to the pursuit of esoteric studies and applications and the barren soil of the caravan park provided the setting of opening to the land spirits and guidance in how to “live” in harmony on the land. All that was planted in accord with the aid of the Devas, elementals, and other nature spirits grew beyond expectation, and the garden became a marvel within the horticultural world.15

This book will please both the scientist and the esotericist in its content. Science and the esoteric philosophies are fast becoming great friends and supports to one another as we learn more about quantum physics and the nature of matter and energy. There is still quite a bit of ways to go in the overlap, but more books such as this will help in creating that bridge of cross-pollination. In reading the biography of the author we learn that Deva, was shortlisted for the 2019 Ashton Wylie Unpublished Manuscript Awards: an affirmation of the need for this material to be given the proper consideration it is due. 

The Introduction holds the keys to everything that the reader needs to know regarding what to expect from this book and what is required from the reader by way of open mind and willingness to become “involved” in the world that surrounds us in a more authentic way. So, for some this book will definitely be one of those slow and steady reads that leaves you with questions and wanting to know more-and do more-with each paragraph. And, for others it will affirm everything they have known and are currently working towards. 

Lane gives a clear and simple (ironically, for a very complex subject) introduction to who/what the deva are and the use of that term in the content that follows…

…. Deva is an ancient Sanskrit word from India meaning “Being of Light”… They sing ideas into form. It is the deva that cause us to exclaim, “Wow, this is a special place. It feels so alive!”…. they are within every atom. Deva are the faeries in the grass. They are the vast energy of sea, wind  and mountains….To really (understand) deva, we need to realize that deva is a kingdom of substance and form-the world of matter both solid and subtle.16

Deva is separated into three parts comprising a total of eighteen chapters. In some cases more is more, but this is one case in which it feels after reading that there were too few chapters — meant in the most complimentary of ways. There is a strong infusion of Theosophical principles throughout the book, but these are incorporated in such a way that the reader does not have to be a student of Theosophy to understand what is being said. The Bibliography is filled with resources of books, articles and recordings sourced from some of the most prominent and respected presenters of physics, botanists, metaphysicians, theosophists and more. I would consider this work as a required text for a course in how to become a participant in the worlds shared by humanity and nature. 

Part One: Elemental Tunes dives right in to exploring the inhabitants of our greater etheric planes of Earth that are the pure expression of energy from densest to the more rarified. Each chapter contained within this section opens the reader to a new experience of the devic kingdom and provides the basis upon which the individual can extrapolate and come to their own conclusions regarding how the energy of what is unseen is often more powerful than that seen as we become more aware of what is within and surrounds us…

… The deva kingdom is everywhere, say the ancients-an Intelligence infused into matter at every level of density.17

Part Two: Who’s Singing Your Song encompasses the aspects of emotion, thought  and those forms of deva that we create. I particularly enjoyed chapter eight “Emotion” and Lane’s attention to the power of our emotions as fueling many of the components of the spiritual evolution of devas, humanity and all of the sea of matter, formed and formless. This chapter really calls to the reader to examine their emotional baggage and presumptions that create patterns of illusion that are in contradiction to the organic nature of the deva and humanity. As I moved through the information in Part Two, I was reminded of the deep connection we have in mind and heart and the impact, not only upon ourselves, but everything from the densest of matter to the most subtle. These also inherently include the discordant relationships and often-resultant ill effects that communication with the deva kingdom may have if the individual is not aligned within him/herself.

Part Three: Symphonies could be compared to the final movement of a stirring orchestral composition. All of the instruments have a role that is both profound and subtle in their impact. The climax reaches its peak and we are left in the after-glow of a symphonic masterpiece that is inspiring and has reached deeply into the fibers of all of our being. These final chapters of Deva speak to active participation in the natural world and those aspects of the deva kingdom we are more familiar with as iconic representations of nature. Trees, plant life, geographic regions, climate change and planetary deva are some of the topics discussed. 

The final two chapters, “Deva, Religion and Pan” and “Consciousness,” were appropriately placed in the organic flow of this writing. These are topics that are usually captured at the beginning of a discourse such as this, and in doing so, feel like the perfunctory ‘getting that out of the way” manner in which they are often treated. In this case, this very important material punctuates the final notes of this symphony, and it is always those last notes that are remembered, even if the rest is forgotten. 

Lane offers these thoughts as conclusion and calls us to re-member our true state of being…

…The Great Song dances out of the One from the highest to the lowest. We can see its effects all around using every kingdom (animal, deva, mineral, etc..) beside us. We can hear it directly when we cease to place our individuality before that One Life. Yet, from the beginning it has called on our inner ear relentlessly until we have learnt to listen and, in listening, we hear the song of our own Light as well.18


Deva: Our Relationship with the Subtle World has been an immensely satisfying book to read. and I am looking forward to the many re-reads I will give as my own journey in connecting more deeply to the Deva continues. We are at a crossroads of choice and the next steps we take collectively, but most importantly individually, will determine so much more than what we see of the physical world. The more reminders we have about our place in this “symphony of life,” and the more books that are brought forward that will speak to all levels of engagement and practice will be steps in the right direction.  Open your eyes with new wonder and call out from your highest intention and you may just be surprised at who/what calls back in reply.