eyes4earth.org
Consciousness for Connectedness
  • Home
  • About
  • What is…?
    • Meaningful Nature Experience
    • Connectedness with Nature
    • nature-based synchronicity
  • Research
    • PhD Dissertation
    • Research Insights
    • Bibliography
    • Helpful Links
  • Publications
  • Experiences
    • Fauna (Animals)
    • Flora & Landscape
    • Share Your Own!
  • Poetry
  • Media
    • Video
    • Music
    • Images
  • Blog
Meaningful Nature Experience 0

Great noble beast

By eyes4earth @eyes4earth · On April 25, 2012

“I was sleeping outside on the lawn of the house in the Drakensberg where our family used to regularly go for our winter holidays. The house…is very isolated, has no electricity, and is very rustic but also very comfortable… I like to sleep outside there even though it’s very cold in winter, but I usually sleep on the veranda and not on the grass. This time I slept on the grass though, and I woke up in the very early morning with the sudden awareness that something big was near me. It ran away immediately as I moved, and I saw that it was an eland bull, and that it had been standing or grazing right next to me. It didn’t go far, and I stayed awake as the dawn gradually broke, watching the great noble beast feeding from the ouhout trees around the edge of the garden, and eating the previous night’s charcoal from the braai. I felt deeply honoured to have been so close to this animal, especially as I have always regarded them as somewhat mystical, and can fully appreciate the Bushmen’s deep respect for them. I also felt that this experience was somehow very meaningful, perhaps symbolising the natural world reaching out to me in some way, but I didn’t analyse it too deeply.”

Story submitted by “Sally”
Image: Matthew Zylstra
(Note the image of the eland was not captured as part of “Sally’s” story but at another location.)
AfricaMammalsMNETraditional Knowledge
Share Tweet

eyes4earth

eyes4earth.org is a portal into meaningful nature experience and connectedness with nature. It draws on scientific research and experiential insight to explore implications for sustainability education and consciousness. Learn more »

You Might Also Like

  • When the rhino saw us

  • Moments that matter

  • Truth: It’s a fine lion

Be the first to share a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • Interview on ‘Dierepraters’

    September 17, 2021
  • Armageddon Dating & Polyamorous Place Relationships

    January 31, 2021
  • Keurbooms Lagoon 2021 Calendar – now available

    November 21, 2020

Instagram Feed

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

Follow On Facebook

Topics / Tags

Africa Americas Attention Birds Cetaceans Community Outreach Consciousness CWN Education Human-Wildlife Interaction Insects Interspecies Communication Interviews Mammals Marine MNE Non-Native Species Oceania Perception Poetry Sensory Awareness Spirituality Synchronicity Traditional Knowledge Video Wilderness

Follow On Twitter

My Tweets

Meaningful Quotes

The unexpected and the incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole.

— Carl Jung
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Archive

About

eyes4earth.org is a portal into meaningful nature experience and connectedness with nature. It draws on scientific research and experiential insight to explore implications for sustainability education and consciousness.
Learn more »

PhD Download

The PhD research underpinning certain content on eyes4earth.org was completed in early 2014.

The final dissertation is freely available for download here.

Learn more »

GIVE

eyes4earth supports masiyembo.org: an initiative that is creating opportunities for people to find meaning and wellbeing through nature. Join us in giving others the chance to experience renewed connection with earth.Donate via GivenGain


© 2007-2021 eyes4earth.org