The ancient understanding of animals as guides to self-knowledge and the soul comes alive in close encounters with some of the most magnificent creatures of the wild.

The cover image of Eyes of the Wild comes an Alitak rock carving on the coast of Kodiak Island Alaska, It shows the close spiritual bond between humans and whales in the traditional culture

From the Arctic pack ice to the gray whale birthing lagoons of Baja California, Eyes of the Wild takes the reader on an epic personal journey to meet whales and wolves, brown bears, polar bears and wild horses. The journey is guided by outstanding biologists and other observers, men and women who are renewing an ancient way of relationship with the wild.

Their scientific research meets the indigenous wisdom and storytelling from the shamanic, Native American and Celtic Christian spiritual traditions, which understand the animals as guides to deeper relationship with life.

The four animals – Whale, Wolf, Bear and Horse – hold the four divisions of the circle, an image for the unity of living diversity that is found in many spiritual traditions. Beginning and ending among the great whales, the book itself moves through a circle, perhaps the most ancient of all images for our unity with life.

Eyes of the Wild was published by Earth Books in December 2012. Read some of the first reviews for the book here. It is available now on Waterstones.com, Lovereading.co.uk,  Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Endorsements for Eyes of the Wild

The eye of a gray whale mother in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, Mexico. The gray whales are the book’s guiding spirits: the journey begins and ends among them,, in the lagoons where they mate and give birth on the coast of Baja California.

“In a heartfelt, eloquent tribute to the mysterious connection between human beings and wild animals, Eleanor O’Hanlon takes the reader on a remarkable personal journey of close encounters, including the “friendly” gray whales that migrate to Mexico’s Baja peninsula, an account that is both riveting and deeply moving.“

Dick Russell Author of Eye of the Whale Epic Passage from Baja to Siberia

“The beautiful writing perfectly captures the author’s sense of wonder as she gazed into the lives of the gray whales.

Without being religious I recognize that feeling of wonder and connectedness through immersion in the natural world where, at heart, we all belong. It has never mattered more that we should have empathy for the other living things with which we share the Earth.  By showing us how she, and the other outstanding observers in this book, look at the animals who live alongside us, Eleanor has made us want to care.”

John Aitchison, wildlife filmmaker. BBC Frozen Planet, Life, Big Cat Diary and Spring Watch

“Eleanor O’Hanlon has written an exquisite insight into the majestic gray whale. San Ignacio Lagoon is the Sistine Chapel of Nature where humanity can experience the blessing and miracle of interspecies communication.  In her evocative prose, Eleanor takes the reader into that magnificent wilderness, allowing us to experience a moment of awe, as human and whale connect.

Her book awakens our responsibility to honour the sacred by  recognising the intelligence and wisdom of our animal kin. Eleanor is a voice for creation.”

Sue Arnold, CEO The California Gray Whale Coalition

“Eleanor goes to the ends of all the Earth – Siberia, the Bering Strait, the Caucasus, the dense Russian taiga forest, the Arctic pack ice. Her writing is full of kmowledge, insight and emotion, telling you things you things you didn’t know, showing you things you would never have noticed, even if you’d been there with her.”

Staffan Widstrand. Photographer and Director of Wild Wonders of Europe, the world’s largest photography initiative for conservation.

A gray whale “spy-hopping” in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California.

The black and white drawings that illustrate the text are the work of artist and author Natasha Hoffman.