Mentorship - Anam Cara

As a mentor, I will use my experience to offer guidance to others as they work through their challenges in life based on Anam Cara mentorship. 

Anam Cara is an anglicisation of the Irish word ‘anamchara’, an age-old notion meaning 'soul friend'. Anam Cara holds deep significance in the Celtic tradition.

It symbolises a unique and transformative relationship that goes beyond mere companionship and can transcend time.

Monastic Origins

The origins of Anam Cara lie in Irish monasticism. The name was given to a monk’s teacher, companion, or spiritual guide. They provided illumination on the path of spiritual growth. I desperately needed such guidance in my first year at a Trappist monastery. 

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Mount St.Bernard Abbey

I went on to enjoy a profoundly nourishing relationship with my own Anam Cara, some 40 years my senior, until his death. What helped me above all was his simple, open presence and complete lack of judgment.

Having spent some 21 years in enclosed monastic life, beginning at Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire and later including an Irish one, I now feel able and willing to share the fruit of the Anam Cara tradition. I am no longer a monk but nevertheless feel called to pass on to others what I had the privilege to learn and become.

Rooted in Peace

I now offer the same sort of care I received to others, in which they can find their own inner stability and roots for day-to-day life. Life isn't meant to be done alone. It's meant to be lived in friendship. There is inner work to do but it should be fun.

Life inside a monastery can be very humourous at times. Once I was summoned to the abbot's office. As "laundryboss", I had managed to dye all the community's underwear pink - with the help of a red t-shirt. I smiled to myself when I realised he was probably wearing pink knickerbockers while he was scolding me.

Many come to a monastery to feel its peace, as people warm their hands by a wood-burner. Little do they know that it is the monks who are burning inside.

When & Where

I'm available by appointment online or at the Temple Lodge Club in Hammersmith. The charge is £30 an hour, excluding room hire.

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"Dru certainly has the ability to help people 'see through the fog' better understand their underlying issues and identify ways forward. Not only can he express complex emotions in clear language, he is also a great listener!" 

- David Sear, Magazine Editor


"Andrew has a capacity, unique in my experience, of presenting inner stress in vivid, cartoon-like drawings, very different from the typical art products of many I have worked with. His dream-work, likewise, characteristically presents vivid, simple imagery within what can be complex patterns.

- Rev. Basil E. Hobbs, Retired Chaplain to the British Army, Clinical Theology Association

For more info contact: peers.esq@gmail.com

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