The Invitation [Paperback]

‘Her words pierced my shell and pricked at my soul. An invitation to the ultimate dance.’
Wayne W. Dyer, author of Wisdom of the Ages

‘The Invitation is a treasure. If you want to live more deeply, honestly and passionately, you must read this book.’
Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Cult bestseller The Invitation is more than just a poem. It is a profound invitation to a life that is more fulfilling and passionate, with greater integrity. This book is a word-of-mouth sensation, whose truths have resonated with people all over the world, and is now reissued with a beautiful new cover design.

When workshop leader and author Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote her heartfelt ‘Invitation’, she did not expect the small prose poem to reach the level of popularity that it has. It has spread far and wide by word of mouth and the internet and has been read aloud at weddings, funerals and spiritual gatherings.

In this inspirational book, the author explains and expands upon the ideas contained in her poem, creating a guidebook for living a life full of integrity, commitment and passion and inviting readers on a journey to find and accept their true selves.

In this accessible book, Oriah Mountain Dreamer provides a line-by-line exploration of the poem, showing us how we can meet the challenge that it gives us.

The poem is a challenge to us and in this accessible and inspiring book Oriah Mountain Dreamer tells us how to meet that challenge.

My name was given to me by the Grandmothers in the dream many years ago when I was very ill. It means, amongst other things, 'She Who Belongs to God'. Mountain Dreamer is my medicine name. It was given to me by a Native American Shaman with whom I apprenticed. He told me when he gave it to me that it meant, 'one who likes to find and push the edge.'

I have some ambivalence about using this name in my writing and my speaking and I admit to being as prejudiced as the next person. When someone comes up and introduces themselves as Ophelia Morning Gloria I think, "Flaky!" which is pretty cheeky for a woman who goes around using Oriah Mountain Dreamer. In my daily life I use my family name, generally introducing myself as Oriah House.

In many interviews the first thing the interviewer says is, "Oriah Mountain Dreamer's not your real name is it?" to which I reply, "Well, it's my real name alright. It's just not my birth name."

The truth is that there are many cultures where the birth name is considered a temporary name used for convenience until more can be seen and known about the person's nature, gifts and role in the world. In spiritual communities like convents for example, new names are taken to indicate a major life change, or they are given as a guide, something to challenge the person to be all they essentially are.

So, Oriah Mountain Dreamer it is.

A GUIDEBOOK FOR LIVING WITH INTEGRITY, COMMITMENT AND PASSION

When visionary author Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote her heartfelt “Invitation” a couple of years ago, she did not expect it to travel by word-of-mouth and the internet across the globe, to be read at weddings, funerals and large spiritual gatherings.

Now, in this practical and inspiring book, the author expands on the ideasa behind the poem to creat a guidebook for living a life full of integrity, commitment and passion.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer is a workshop leader and writer. Her name was given to her by the Native American elders to whom she was apprenticed, and means 'one who likes to push the edge and can help others do the same'. She lives in Toronto and runs workshops and retreats all over the world. Her other books include the bestselling The Dance and The Call.

I wrote "The Invitation" late one night after returning home from a party. I was unsettled, disappointed with an evening that had been full of the usual social conversation. Restless, I sat down at my desk in the darkness adn listened to the sounds around me gradually diminish as the city settled into sleep. there in the quiet, with a street lamp casting a pale light into the room, I picked up my pen and wrote what I really wanted to say to the people I had met that evening, patterned on a writing exercise I had learned from the David Whyte workshop.
When I finished, I sat in the half-light and read the words aloud to the sleeping city. I heard my longing to be fully with others. And in the silence that followed, I heard the voice of the world I sometimes think I hear late at night, begging me to remember this longing.

When I imagine myself as an old woman at the end of my life and ask myself how I will evaluate my life here, there is only one question that concerns me: Did I love well?