Eleanor’s articles and essays on animal behaviour, animal consciousness and wildlife conservation have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including the Spiritual Ecology Anthology The Cry of the Earth, Green Spirit anthologies and the Dark Mountain annual anthology of Nature Writing. She is at work on another book, inspired by the elephants, lions and other creatures and the indigenous wisdom keepers of Southern Africa.

“I’ve travelled through some of the Earth’s great wilderness areas and been privileged to meet many wild companions – the whales, wolves, bears, wild horses, lions, elephants. When I met the lucid depths of a gray whale’s gaze, when I saw the aliveness in the eyes of a wolf, and stood on foot before the towering family of wild African elephants who had come deliberately to meet us, I realised I was in the presence of beings whose depth of awareness was far beyond anything I had learned about them before.

These fellow beings have become my companions and guides on the journey to inner awakening. In the language that comes before words, the animal companions have shown me that their consciousness is inter-connected with my own – just as the world’s indigenous peoples have always known and taught, and contemporary biologists are now re-discovering.

This has opened up the space of relationship where we can meet one another in recognition and in peace. In the power of immediate presence, filled with wonder and appreciation, I have learned to release the fear that is born of separation and prejudice, and enter the unity of Being which is our natural state.

This has brought a much deeper realisation of what it means to come alive as a human being – awake and present to the immense intelligence of the living planet, as it radiates in splendour within the unity of Being. From this awakening, we can hear, and truly respond to the burning call of this time to love, protect and companion all life.

So when I use the word “wild” I do not mean anything separate or external from who we really are as human beings. The word’s roots in Old English can be interpreted as “self-determining.” They indicate the inherent freedom, dignity and flowing aliveness of the natural world and all the wild beings who co-create and shape the great beauty of life on our planet.

These qualities are also part of our essential human nature. As a writer and teacher, my desire is to share this authentic experience of greater aliveness, creativity and natural communion with others, through writings, courses and conversations.