Sublime and/or Spiritual Experiences of the Natural World..

[Forest Denizen]

Hey All!

First, this thread is meant in no way to compete with Rachel’s wonderful thread for members, EXPERIENCERS: Sharing, Exploring, and Learning Together :heart:

And to differentiate the two, this thread is not meant to include experiences of the overtly paranormal or transdimensional.

Rather, with all the negative information and events that are communicated far and wide every day, I thought it might be uplifting to have a thread devoted to the sharing of, and learning from, special, spiritual, magical, and/or sublime experiences in nature. :sun:

This could be virtually any kind of experience had while traveling, camping, hiking, looking at the night sky, gardening, birdwatching, simply existing, whatever! :clapping:

And I recognize that what may seem sublime to one may seem mundane to another. But, so what! Please do not be afraid to share. Nobody will make fun of you here

To the Mods, if you feel this thread should be placed elsewhere, or already exists somewhere, please do with it what you will. :flower:

I’ll start by sharing an experience that I’ve been meaning to write down for many years now and, this morning, I did just that.

The Song of the Whale

I awoke one summer morning to one of the most sublime, ethereal, events of my life. This was an event that seemed to bridge two worlds, the 3-dimensional, material one in which we go about our day to day life taking care of this, planning that; and another, more timeless and exalted, where magic finds its openings more easily.. more frequently.

I opened my eyes in the soft gray light of dawn, well before sunrise, and was greeted by perhaps the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. A humpback whale was singing! But I was not in the water, I was in my tent just the other side of a thin row of mangroves from the beach.

The songbirds surrounding our campsite, usually very vocal heralding a new day as dawn broke, were strangely quiet. I knew the sea was glass calm as, normally, while in camp, the gentle sound of the surf accompanied our activities. The rest of the time (most daylight hours), we could be found anywhere up to 1500 feet above and several miles away, conducting research.

Everything was completely still and silent, but for the mournful call of a single whale.

I unzipped my tent, stepped out, and stood up to listen. Silence.. The clouds had descended to ground level and fog washed my surroundings in various shades of gray. It was comfortably cool, perhaps 65 degrees.

This was the second summer of four that I spent camped on an uninhabited island in Galápagos, 600 miles west of the coast of Ecuador. That’s what the inhabitants call the island archipelago, rather than adding a “the” before the name, it is simply Galápagos.

I trod the very short path to the beach and stood listening in eerie stillness. There! There it was again. It was loud and sounded like it couldn’t have been more than 20 to 40 yards offshore. And yet.. I heard not one exhalation, which should have been clearly audible as the whale would have to surface in order to breathe.

Could I be hearing the whale due to the dense fog? Could water suspended in droplets aloft be carrying the song of the whale? Or could it be due to some strange anomaly having to do with the shape of the beach, the surrounding topography?

Four times in total, the unearthly calls of the whale echoed across the sand. Full of mystery and evoking the dark ocean depths. A tale of starlight and of moons risen and fallen. Ships come and gone. Loves lost.

I did not imagine it, for my fellow researchers heard it from their tents as well. Each one noting it later in hushed and reverential tones. A magical and mysterious event not once repeated during four long summers. A gift never to be forgotten.


:flower:

[lake]

Well....I shall give you one of my first! :)

Which is of 'nature' and is an aspect of such.


I was asleep and then I awoke as a being was stood by me.

Said being was approximately 6 foot and wore a hooded robe.

The arms of this entity were very short....such as that of a Tyrannosaurus rex and were casting some such thing above me!

Now this is natural and is of nature.

Personally I got the 'hump' and literally 'kicked' said being 3 times, who backed away....then I told it to F off or come at me .......and then I watched it leave!

So the above is an account of interaction within a natural environment.

It is correct and true as far as I recall.

But I am unsure if this is that which you want?

Was it spiritual....no.

Was it of the Natural World (this world)....as far as I have knowledge....YES.

[Forest Denizen]

Well....I shall give you one of my first! :)

Haha!! We’ll take it, thank you, Lake!

:flower::flower:

[RunningDeer]

I played with inner vision and kinesthetics in the 1990’s. I hung three Christmas balls that looked like soap bubbles from my ceiling at different lengths over my bed. It gave the illusion that they were floating.

My partner randomly picked the ball for me to move. He’d pick the direction: forward-backward, left-right, circle. For the finale, he included the other two.

I demonstrated the power of the mind and belief to him. I just visualized. I saw them moving. I had him try it. He didn’t believe he was doing it without my help. So I told him not to tell me which ball and make it move. He still didn’t believe he did it even though it worked.

You may feel a sensation in the heart, stomach, belly button region or slightly lower in the dan tien; whichever is your ‘hotspot’. How I explain the sensation is like when you're high on a swing and are about to come down. Capture that feeling and move the balls.


https://i.imgur.com/F5VZkI8.gif

I had taken the balls down when my partner passed. About a year ago, I hung new ones in four places where I spend quiet time. I’ve not been able to move them.
https://i.imgur.com/NjmwyaZ.gif
While I’m writing out this post, I looked up at the one hanging above my kitchen table and it’s moving back and forth. It stops and when I put focus on it there’s slight movement again. A month or so ago, I was focusing on one set of three in the living room and got a knowing to check the ones behind me. Sure enough they were moving, but I rationalized that the heat kicked on and created flow. I don't know why I didn't think to check the heat unit.

(If it were someone else, I'd say the knowing signal tells me it wasn't the heat flow that moved them.)


Recently I copied what Bill had written on his “Question-and-Answer (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104824-Bill-Ryan-s-personal-Question-and-Answer-thread.-Pile-it-on.--&p=1260792&viewfull=1#post1260792)” thread. It resonated with me. I called the document: Why x-mas bulbs no longer work.

Bill’s post:



One of the obstacles in time-consuming, repetitive, routine tests was that of boredom. No matter how talented the research subjects were, or could be, once the experimentation became laborious, humdrum or monotonous, the anomalous results almost always dropped off very quickly.


♡

[Forest Denizen]

I played with inner vision and kinesthetics in the 1990’s. I hung three Christmas balls that looked like soap bubbles from my ceiling at different lengths over my bed. It gave the illusion that they were floating.

My partner randomly picked the ball for me to move. He’d pick the direction: forward-backward, left-right, circle. For the finale, he included the other two.

I demonstrated the power of the mind and belief to him...

VERY cool, RunningDeer! Whenever I've tried to exercise PK abilities, it's always been on something like a glass sitting on a table, rather than something that might be a little less stubborn, like your hanging Christmas balls. I believe this is one of those natural abilities that we all possess, but have lost sense of how to access. I'll have to give it a try! :sun:

Thanks for the idea :flower:

[RunningDeer]

This one comes from the Spoonbending (how to!) (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?84701-Spoonbending--how-to--&p=991290&viewfull=1#post991290) thread:

Note: These days I mostly use natural skills like inner vision, knowing and auric field, rather than focus on sensations in the heart, stomach, belly button region or slightly lower in the dan tien.


My spoon bent and then bent back with a slight bump.

https://i.imgur.com/l3BYivI.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/aZaYRS7.jpg

[Eva2]

I have a share from some years ago when I was staying in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. One afternoon, I was sitting in the kitchen of an apt. I had rented when a black bird came and sat on my window sill outside and began singing a beautiful song. I decided to join in with whistling and humming. We kept up this exchange for a long spell before the bird flew away. After that afternoon, s/he returned every day at about the same time in the afternoon and we serenaded each other for at least 15-20 minutes. This routine lasted for a good chunk of the 3 months I spent in Ecuador and I consider these visits among the highlights of my stay in there. I sure hope my little friend found a new singing companion after I left. I think about him often and miss him.

[Forest Denizen]

I have a share from some years ago when I was staying in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. One afternoon, I was sitting in the kitchen of an apt. I had rented when a black bird came and sat on my window sill outside and began singing a beautiful song. I decided to join in with whistling and humming. We kept up this exchange for a long spell before the bird flew away. After that afternoon, s/he returned every day at about the same time in the afternoon and we serenaded each other for at least 15-20 minutes. This routine lasted for a good chunk of the 3 months I spent in Ecuador and I consider these visits among the highlights of my stay in there. I sure hope my little friend found a new singing companion after I left. I think about him often and miss him.

Jill, what a lovely experience! A gift from the universe to you. I wish my Ecuador field guide wasn't in storage, I could probably figure out what bird it was. I'm guessing it was probably one of the thrushes. There are a number of them in SA and many sing beautifully.

I have another experience that I will share here. Again, it is one I will never forget. Sorry if my experiences seem to take the form of a story but I am almost finished reading (at Bill's suggestion on his Q&A thread) Gifts of Unknown Things by Lyall Watson. Thank you, Bill! What a wonderful book!!

Okay, here goes..

Many years ago, almost 50 in fact, I spent half of the summer in Ocean Beach on Fire Island, off the southern coast of Long Island, NY. It was a somewhat tumultuous time in my life, my parents had separated a couple of years earlier and my father had just remarried.

My new stepmom was a good person, and her young daughter, my stepsister, was delightful. But things were not all as they should be and a rather dark cloud hung over my brother and sister and me.

We spent the first half of the summer with my dad and his new little family, and then we went to Fire Island with my mom to stay in the house (a large house) of my best friend and his family. Our families had been friends ever since Adam and I had hit it off in 4th grade.

Fire Island is a long, thin strip of sand, a barrier island, that is sparsely inhabited during winter, but in summer, it comes alive with thousands of summer residents and tourists - much to the dismay of the year-round residents.

Most the houses on the island are set amongst a gridwork of small cement or wooden walkways; no cars are permitted during much of the year, including the summer. Many houses are in the classic Cape Cod style, dark wood shingles weathered a silvery-gray.

Lovely little gardens replete with hydrangea and roses and such. Very little lighting other than that shining onto the paths from the houses. It was very safe and we children ranged far and wide.

There are a couple of small hamlets to the east that have been known as gathering spots for the LGBTQ community long before it was labeled with that acronym.

Anyway, the summer wore on and Adam and I, his two sisters, my brother and sister, my mom, Adam’s mom (often away for reasons unbeknownst to us), Adam’s dad, and their au pair, all got along well except for little spats here and there common to children who are thrust together, all in one house.

It later turned out that my mom and Adam’s dad were having an affair which really wreaked havoc among the adults and us children.

But that is all just a backdrop for one magical night in August. It was warm and clear, there was no moon so the stars were particularly bright. We were out and about doing something, I don’t remember what, when a couple young friends approached excitedly, and said, “you’ve gotta go to the beach!”

Well, we were on the beach just about every day, it was a hundred yards or so from the house, so we were not too impressed. “Why?” we asked.

“It’s glowing!!”one of them said.

So we headed up to the beach and were greeted by a scene I will never forget.

The waves were alight with brilliant green phosphorescence! People.. couples, some in small groups, some alone, walked the shore and gathered here and there to gaze in awe.

Every breaking wave and ripple was alight with green fire. Not only that, it soon became evident, as we pointed out excitedly to one another, that every step and impression that we made with our bare feet along the wet sand, was also alight with the same ghostly green glow! Only fading a good 5 to 10 seconds later.

The night sky with its stars shining above, the ocean alit with a cool green fire below.

“I bet this is why they call it Fire Island!” I exclaimed excitedly. We all agreed.

A magical night forever etched in my memory. One of those peak moments that never fades..

:Party:Happy New Year!!:Party:

May we all experience such moments of joy this year :flower:

:heart:

[lake]

I have to say, Forest Denizen, that you my friend transform your memories so beautifully into the written form....thank you :)

I keep 'popping' back to this thread to dwell within your posts.... sumptuously delicious to consume :flower:

I see by profession you are not an author....but have you ever written a book?

[Forest Denizen]

I have to say, Forest Denizen, that you my friend transform your memories so beautifully into the written form....thank you :)

I keep 'popping' back to this thread to dwell within your posts.... sumptuously delicious to consume :flower:

I see by profession you are not an author....but have you ever written a book?

Why thank you, Lake!! :sun:

I'll post something else to this thread in the next day or two.. They're actually fun to write :clapping:

I've never written a book but I may cobble something together in the somewhat near future. I come from a family of professional writers (movies, plays, books, television..) so I've learned sort of by osmosis.

:flower:

[Bill Ryan]

I'd love to share a marvelous little anecdote that (alas!) isn't mine, but told to me by a good friend.

When my friend was a tiny girl, she often went hiking with her mother in Yosemite. One day, she and her Mom rounded a bend on the trail, and immediately found themselves facing a Momma bear with its little cub.

The two Mommas and their cubs stood very quietly and gazed at each other for a long time. Then they slowly and carefully passed one another without incident, and both families continued on their way. :)

50 years later, my friend remembers it all like it was yesterday. She was certain that each Momma deeply recognized the sanctity of motherhood in the other, and pledged they would do no harm.

:flower:

[RunningDeer]

In the mid-1980’s, I was on my way to meditation that was reschedule on a day I usually attended healing service. I was in conflict but picked the meditation which was one exit away from the healing service.

Still torn by my decision and bewildered, I pulled over, readjusted my seat and stared out the sun roof at the stars. It was 6:50 p.m., a few moments away from my 7:00 p.m. meditation class. I felt disoriented and confused by the indecision.

During the meditation I experienced a split in vision. Where one eye watched a scene that was in black and white while the other was of a past life.

It wasn’t until the following week that I found out the rest of the story. At the healing service, a man asked if I’d been experiencing any troubles lately. He went on to explain he has the ability to see people bi-locate. And that I was there a little before the 7:00 p.m. healing service.

♡

[Constance]

I think I have shared this story on Avalon before but I will share it again here.

One day, I was out driving in the car with my son. As we drove the car towards home, I spied a great big cockatoo roosting in the tree.

We quickly swerved to the side of the road and got out. I had never seen a bird like this before and so I zoomed in on him with my video camera. You can hear my son in the video saying "What kind of bird is that? I must look it up in my bird book."

I had no idea either so I just stood there and filmed it, hoping that I might also identify it in our bird book.

To my surprise, I heard the words, "Gang Gang" in my head. The cockatoo was letting me know who he was!

So, I raced home, got onto the computer straight away, googled it, and low and behold, he was exactly who he said he was. :dog:

[Constance]

I often play this little game with my son when we are driving in the car, just for a bit of fun.

He asks me to read his mind, and I oblige :)

Here is one of the techniques I use to read his mind and sometimes, it can be quite accurate!

If you imagine that you are tapping someones forehead, whilst you ask a question, you can quite often get a simple answer to what they are thinking.

The answer will be in a very simple form, maybe just one word, or an image.

The trick is to keep your mind empty and still as you are doing this and the answer will naturally come to you.

[lake]

I will share a little tale....which to most will be of nothing but to me, well 20 years later and I still feel pangs of guilt!

It is about trust and also as Constance has stated....reading minds?

I had just arrived at a friends house, who's kitchen door lead onto a patio area which was enclosed by a 3ft wall except for a stone stairway up onto a lawn with trees and shrubs.

As we entered the kitchen, I remarked that it was strange to have the rear door shut as it was near 95F (a good summer) and beautiful sunshine!

My friend looked at me and said that it was necessary in order to keep the cats in as there was a hedgehog on the patio!

I asked "How did a hedgehog get on your patio....The steps are too steep?" And was answered with a shrug of shoulders.

So I went into the stoned area and saw a sad little being attempting to be as small as possible in one corner, walled in and cooking within that summer's heat!

(damm making me bloody emotional again even typing this) So I stepped toward the tiny hedgehog, maybe 5ft away, and crouched down, putting my two open hands palm up on the concrete....and looked at the little bugger.......all the while repeating in my head "Trust me Trust me Trust me....."

And that so tiny but wonderful part of creation....raised it's head, looked at me....stood fast, took a breath......and then slowly walked toward me and then on to my open palms.....

I took it upto the end of the garden, put it under a large shrub, went and got the hose and proceeded to make it rain.

Trust. :)

[RunningDeer]

In 2006, we lost sibling #8, our sister, Rebecca.

Several years later, another sister, Marie and I were coming back from a weekend party at our cousins' place. I was prompted by Rebecca to share what I felt. I told Marie that Rebecca was with us the whole weekend. She agreed, but it was more out of courtesy.

I added, “She’s in the back seat.”

Then out of the blue silly putty popped in my head. Rebecca kept prodding me to pass along the message.

“She's insisting that I ask you about silly putty.”

Marie is holding back tears while she reaches into the console and pulls out a silly putty egg. Unbeknownst to me, Rebecca gave it to her the year before her passing. It was a reminder for Marie to play.


https://i.imgur.com/QJdeuHo.jpg
♡

[RunningDeer]

Apologies for being a thread hogger. https://i.imgur.com/wTlYXrZ.gif

There was a place on the property that my siblings and I named, “Fairyland”. It was marshy with streams that meandered and broke off into smaller ones. The land was full of fiddlehead ferns and purple and white violets, skunk cabbage, lady slippers and thorns. It covered at least a couple of acres. We lined the trails that lead up to our secret place with fallen white birch trees. I only saw the fairies and elves out of the corner of my eye, and there was an inner knowing. I’d get that tickle in the belly and hear whispers and giggles.



https://i.imgur.com/F5VZkI8.gif


In another place on the property there was a thick sycamore grove where we’d hide from one another. I never had reason to wonder how but my elf and fairy friends helped me “float” while on all fours. It was a rush like no other. I giggled and rolled and floated with lightening speed. As strange as this sounds, I believed I turned invisible. It was a secret that I didn’t know not to share. It just never crossed my mind.



https://i.imgur.com/F5VZkI8.gif


In an unrelated story, several years back, the kids and adults went for an early evening walk. I caught my nephew who was six or seven give a wave towards a row of forsythia bushes. His face said it all. He checked to see if anyone saw what he saw. I leaned over and whispered, “You see them, too?” He shook his head and grinned.

♡

[mojo]

...love the title to thread. There have been some fascinating encounters in nature above the standard deviation to theorize there's a special affinity with animals. This passion led to a degree in Natural Resources from U of A in Fairbanks. I could share on and on about some encounters but more important was reaching inside for understanding nature and in doing so helped greatly in a contact experience that was knocking at my door.

[sunwings]

An anecdote told by the wonderful John Butler has always stayed with me. He was a sheep farmer during his early years and would spend all day with the flock. One day whilst sitting against a tree, he was contemplating his life choices and felt his mind slipping into a depression. At that moment the Ram of the flock, walked over to him and laid his head on John´s lap for around 15 minutes. He described it as the most magical moment of his entire life.

[Forest Denizen]

Okay first, a big Thank You to RunningDeer, Jill, Constance, Bill, mojo, sunwings, and lake, for your posts, I have enjoyed them all! :sun:

This experience happened in the late 1990’s when I was working on a research project all up and down the Lower Colorado River, from the Mexican border all the way north to a point a number of miles into the Grand Canyon, at which point, we could go no further by motorboat.

We were documenting the locations of breeding pairs and reproductive success of a small endangered bird, the southwestern willow flycatcher.

It was a phenomenal time with countless hours spent boating alone or, at times with a colleague, on the river and searching adjoining suitable habitat on foot; sitting and listening intently for their calls and searching through, mostly, young stands of native willows and non-native stands of tamarisk, also known as salt cedar.

There were many truly sublime moments as well as many grueling days spent searching for and observing nests, crawling on all fours through feral pig wallows amidst dense tangles of salt cedar forest, temperatures 100+ and humidity around 95% :happythumbsup:

So, this was one of the sublime moments. I was inspired to write about it by Onahwah’s post:
... in the Your Soul's Pre-Birth Plan thread, about her spirit animal and the synchronistic meeting with her spirit animal in the physical.

It’s also a follow-up to a post I made:
... in the EXPERIENCERS: Sharing, Exploring, and Learning Together thread about meeting my spirit animal in a journey led by a shaman friend of mine months earlier.

It was early one very hot, sunny morning (it often didn’t get down to less than 95 degrees Fahrenheit at night) in June and I was in the southern end of Imperial National Wildlife Refuge along the Colorado River north of Yuma, Arizona.

I had bushwhacked into a particularly beautiful stand of big old willow trees and dense understory vegetation. The area was largely either flooded to a depth of about a foot or two, or marshy with small openings of wetland grasses, reeds, and cattails. A few game trails here and there snaked through the area.

I found a fallen log in the middle of one of the small open patches, no more than 2 meters across, bordered by dense reeds and cattails, and took a seat. There was no breeze and everything was very still. The silence broken here and there only by the songs and calls of birds. No willow flycatchers. I was at peace, enjoying the moment.

Soon, however, I became aware of a rustling in the vegetation not far from me. The log I was sitting on lay adjacent to a little game trail, no more than parted vegetation really, that I had taken advantage of to access the site. I waited. The rustling came closer. Probably just a coyote, I thought, searching for a morning meal.

I sat silently, curious about what might be making the noise and whether whatever it was would sense my presence and move off the trail to avoid me. It didn’t. Instead, it grew closer. I watched where I knew it must appear out of the reeds no more than 2 to 3 feet from where I sat.

I continued to watch as the rustling grew steadily closer, until.. out popped a badger! my spirit animal! Badgers are not known for being nice, nor are they known for being mellow. However, this individual stopped in its tracks and looked up at me. We gazed at each other for maybe 5 long seconds. I may have smiled, I’m not sure.. but I definitely was not afraid; far from it, I was delighted! At which point, the badger simply continued calmly on its way.

It was the first time I had ever met a badger, my spirit animal, in the wild. Another one of those magical moments that I’ll never forget.

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[Innocent Warrior]

Every afternoon my son and I used to go for a walk and play in the parks near the harbour of a town we lived in. There’s a pod of dolphins who live in the area and we kept our eyes out for them, hoping to spot them. We briefly saw them a couple of times but one afternoon they treated us to their company for hours.

I had bought my son a colourful, diamond shaped kite and we went down to a luscious green grassed area right next to the water, to fly the kite. It was a perfect afternoon, blue sky with small fluffy clouds, perfect temperature, sun low enough not to be shining in our eyes too much as we watched the kite, the smell of the ocean and the sound of the sea birds. Shortly after we began flying the kite we heard the blowholes of the dolphins and were excited to see them right beside us in the water.

We watched the dolphins playing there, surfacing constantly for some time before my son got bored, still keen to play with his new kite. I watched for a while longer before I lay down on the grass, looking up at the sky, watching the kite dance in the breeze, as I listened to the dolphins play. Gorgeous afternoon. I thought to myself, we’ll leave once the dolphins do, but they never did and we had to leave them as time was getting on and I had to get home for dinner.

***

More delightful than sublime but here’s clip of a bird dancing to the music of a busker (in Melbourne I think).

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2190274984569460&id=21785951839&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.au%2F&_rdr

:sun:

[Flash]

I'd love to share a marvelous little anecdote that (alas!) isn't mine, but told to me by a good friend.

When my friend was a tiny girl, she often went hiking with her mother in Yosemite. One day, she and her Mom rounded a bend on the trail, and immediately found themselves facing a Momma bear with its little cub.

The two Mommas and their cubs stood very quietly and gazed at each other for a long time. Then they slowly and carefully passed one another without incident, and both families continued on their way. :)

50 years later, my friend remembers it all like it was yesterday. She was certain that each Momma deeply recognized the sanctity of motherhood in the other, and pledged they would do no harm.

:flower:

yes, i can witness that mama's recognize each other predicament, cross species.

I was very pregnant with Mini Flash, quite large belly and awkward walking gait, walking on the street in my neighborhood. All of a sudden, a pregnant female cat started walking beside me. We walked together for a while, looked at each other in total understanding. I finally told her: yeah, we are both quite pregnant aren't we? she miaued as if saying yes.

While we are at it, I have a wonderful yet sad story that went on with Mini Flash when she was a child.

I had discovered a speech therapist, Dr Flowers, who was working with children and dolphin, in Florida. I had heard about the capacity of dolphin to help children with autism and other ailments, and I thought that would be a wonderful experience for my daughter, potentially helping, and at the same time, allow me to have some vacation on the sea.

So there we went for therapy in a dolphin aquarium with two little spotted dolphins (they are only 150 pounds about and quite shy). The dolphin were trained in working with children. The team (dolphin trainer and speech therapist) were very nice too.

When we got there, one of the dolphin was sick and the team did not want her to work with my child. But both dolphins were competing to get Mini's attention and work with her (dolphin do chose whom they are working with, sometimes one would refuse to worlk with a child and nothing could be done, other times they both would want the child attention). But, as I was observing them in the pool, I had the strong feeling that the sick dolphin was not sick, but quite depressed.

So I told Dr Flowers to let the depressed dolphin work with my daughter, telling her it would help both of them daughter and dolphin. So they tried, thinking at first that the depressed dolphin was better in the morning and therefore working fine, then changing the schedule to ascertain that she could still work in the afternoon, etc, to discover that she was in fact depressed.

Mini Flash and the presumed sick dolphin worked together for more than 2 weeks, one hour a day. The dolphin was doing fine and my daughter went through a huge developmental step with her having to do with understanding sequences and being able to follow up to 7 consecutive instructions, from only 2 when we started. These skills are very poor in partial aphasic children but are a must for adequate schooling.

Furthermore, Mini Flash, not being able to speak properly and with regular rythm, did not have friends. So for her, Daphne the dolphin was her first real friend in life, apart from her cat. But with Daphne, she had real communication.

So real, that when we came back, 6 months later, at Christmas, she dreamed that we were going back in Florida the following summer but that Daphne was not there anymore. I e-mailed Dr Flowers and asked her if Daphne was fine, telling her about the dream. She answered that she was doing real fine.

We went back the following summer, and as by the dream, Daphne was not there anymore. She had passed away about 2 months after my daughter's dream. They had been somehow linked.We worked with the other dolphin. My daughter did dreams of the deceased Daphne coming to talk with her at night quite a few times.

So, back at school, when the teachers were asking the children what they did in the summer, daughter would tell she played with dolphins, and also that she made a new friend called Daphne, not telling that this new friend was one of the dolphin, so that other kids would not laugh at her. They all believed she had also made a human friend.

On my side, after few weeks in therapy, my daughter had to get me in the pool and show me which instructions to give the dolphin to do all kind of tricks. This is where I saw she could manage 7 sequences together. wow.

Then I looked at the dolphin and called her, but she would not come. She was observing me, not trusting. I understood she did not know who I was, My daughter was beside me, so I pointed alternatively to my daughter and to me, a few times. All of a sudden the dolphin eye light up, she had understood I was the mom, she came fast and jump on my lap, all emotional. I could feel her emotions and intelligence. It really felt like encounter of the third kind, a live, emotional and intelligent other specie.

--------------------------

I admire your way or writing, all of you on this thread, with detailed pretty descriptions of the environments, feelings, sightings, and all the hues and subtleties language can carry. Gosh you have nice text, Rachel, Running Deer, Forest, Constance and all others.

I am sorry, but I do not have this talent, still less in English, I wish I had, to convey at least 50% of the experiences.

But, I love to read you all.

[what is a name?]

Lovely tales! Or should I say tails...

About 6 years ago I was 'released' from employment and my parents, who spend a month each year vacationing in a a village in Turkey call Turunc, said why not come over?

On arrival the village location was by the sea and behind it the mountains rose to the sky - time to get fit and walk some hills!

So on my first meanderings I ended up in an area with dense vegetation and I thought if I just keep going I will eventually come to an area less dense which will allow me to get my bearings.

An hour later with legs and arms having greeted every thorn bush on the way, and coming to the conclusion that I was lost, I came across a large intact fallen tree across a gulley. "Ah, a bridge that will save me going down and up through those jaggy wee buggers"!

On the 2nd step onto the fallen tree my leg went right through the tree and my foot out the other side - the tree was rotten right through - the bark was holding the the whole thing together. Getting my leg back out of the tree probably only took a few minutes but my head was now going into 'fear' mode, expecting that whatever decimated the inside of the tree was now crawling up my shorts to find a new host!

Having calmed myself (and checked nothing was in my shorts) I walked up to a large (standing) tree, wrapped my arms around it and said "please help".

Having never communed with nature in such a way before I didn't expect anything, and nothing did happen, except a calmness that came over me and held me...

After 10 minutes I walked off and within a short period of time I was able to find my bearings and wander back to the village.

I spent the next 3 weeks all over those mountains and have no doubt that it was Nature giving me an initial 'slap in the face' to wake up to the beauty and life that surrounds us.

[RunningDeer]

what is a name? and Forest Denizen’s posts reminded me of a couple more. The first was a conversation with a Tree. The conversation was brief but the connection lasted for hours after I left. This is what Tree said and we connected:


https://i.imgur.com/rrAbaqp.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/F5VZkI8.gif


WhiteCrowBlackDeer

I live in the country, so it is not unusual to see wildlife. On July, 2010, I asked for confirmation on a pressing question. Less than an hour later there was a 100% white crow caw-cawing in the pine tree just 50 feet away. It happened that my mail carrier came by twenty minutes later. I had just finished the story, when as if on cue, WhiteCrow did a fly-by.

And again early morning, on September, 2010, I looked for a synchronicity. Several hours later, there was a 100% black deer right in the middle of a country road waiting for his buddy to cross the pasture while my dog, Wolfie, and I were out for a walk.

In both cases, I was not aware until I researched that there are 100% white crows and black deer.

Side note: When I first came to Avalon my name was WhiteCrowBlackDeer.

[RunningDeer]

White Blue Jay, White Squirrel

I lost Michael, my son in December. By April, I stop looking out the window when a car drove by to see if it was him. I asked God or the Universe or anyone that would listen for a sign that things were going to turn around. Well, I got two. A blue jay flew down by my office window that was only about a foot or two from ground level. At first, I wasn’t sure and as if reading my mind, she hopped a quarter of a turn, so I could get a better look.

Blue jays are skittish. I knew I had but a few seconds to check her out. This blue jay had reverse color markings: completely white, and she had purple feathers rather than the blue where typically the white markings would go. And just when I began to doubt her, another blue jay flew right down beside her and let out a big squawk as if to say, “Now, do you believe?”

Then, I got a second sign a few hours later. I was on the main floor of the house when I got an inner knowing to look out the window. And there was a 100% white squirrel scurrying across a branch. The first time I saw a white squirrel was the fall before my son died.

[Constance]

It is so touching and heartwarming and magical to hear all of these stories!

@Flash, your story about mini Flash and the dolphin was wonderful!!
-------------------------------

A short anecdote that was told to me by a friend.

One afternoon, John, was playing a game of cricket with some kids in a country where cricket is revered.

The kids were absolutely loving it; John was having such a magical time with the kids.

At one point, one of the kids hit the ball way out of bounds and it went flying out into the marshes.

John, who was so in the moment, ran to get that ball.

The kids were yelling at him because the marsh was quite boggy, full of water and they had lost balls in there before.

They said, "John, John, don't go in there!"

But John, in his excitement, wasn't listening and grabbed the ball from where he found it, and ran back to the kids.

The kids were in an absolute frenzy. They told him that they had seen him running OVER that water.

He lifted up each foot to check his sneakers and sure enough, they were dry.

[RunningDeer]

Animal Connections

The landlady’s horse was grazing at the other end of the field. I sent him a stream of heart-hellos. Without skipping a beat, he ran full speed towards me, shook his head and whinnied.


https://i.imgur.com/F5VZkI8.gif

I was out for a walk at a ranch in Nicasio, California where I was staying. There were about ten California Condors feeding on a carcass. I watched until one looked up. I spread out my arms in slow motion and sent from the heart center. He did the same back. Twice we communicated in a powerful silence.


https://i.imgur.com/F5VZkI8.gif

When I was seventeen, a bird pooped on my head. Little did I know one year later I’d hitch-hike across the state line with only a brown paper bag filled with clothes and a couple of books to begin a new life. My first job was right there at that card shop where the bird christened me.

♡

[Joe Sustaire]

Wow, I haven't been around here in a while, but what a wonderful thing to come visiting and find this thread with all these magical experiences! Thank you my friends, I needed this...…...

[Dennis Leahy]

Ah, Joe is here! Joe has a few stories smack dab in the zone of the title of this thread.

(I'll come back and edit a post into this slot, I just wanted to catch Joe because of the synchronicity.)

[greybeard]

One day in the kitchen a beautiful butterfly, of a kind I had never seen before, landed on my chest--over the heart--it remained there for hours. Evening came and it flew on to the window.
In the morning no sign of it--windows not open --no obvious way it could have left.

At that time I had a healing centre and was asked by a friend to do healing on a retired race horse that had lost the will to live--she had a stable and kept older animals. Next day the horse was running around like a foal.
There just seemed to be some energy connection when I put hands on the horse.

Chris

[RunningDeer]

Gray Wolf
A couple of weeks after my son’s burial, two friends and myself took a trip to a Native American shop. As soon as I stepped through the door it felt like I stepped into a déjà vu.

I felt the gentleman watching. I looked over in part to reach out to someone to ground myself. As I did, he stepped my way. I explained that I buried my son recently and I’ve been having strange experiences. This is the first time I’ve been here but I know this place. I know you.

He was the store owner and asked me to step into his office. As he introduced himself, he took the power bag from around his neck and said, “My name is Gray Wolf.”

I can’t recall all of what he said but something to the effect that he was expecting me. And he added, “This is for you.” As soon as he placed the power bag over my head, my heart whooshed. My whole body felt like it was a warm, healed heart.

Afterwards, my friends and I walked through the blustery December wind. My body held onto the welcomed solace from the physical and emotional pain. My body shook but it was not because of the cold.

That meeting was a gift that kept on giving in those dark moments of “Should I stay or should I go?” It’s one of those immeasurable influences that help me remember that life is filled with blessed wonders that far exceed the fears of pain, loss and death.


https://i.imgur.com/YShSGsG.jpg
♡

[Caliban]

1987, the Harmonic Convergence, August I think.

I was with some of my acting school buddies and we went to the gathering in Central Park that night. I didn't know much of what it was about but the atmosphere was great -- pot, incense, great lookin' chicks. There was a very long meditation going on with thousands of people.

Towards sun up I felt really sick to my stomach and my friend took me back to her place. We're walking up some Manhattan street with the sun starting to blind us and suddenly this crazy flock of birds (NYC pigeons), maybe a hundred, swoops down! right over our heads. We looked at each other, shocked, and looked back up at the sky --- the flock whirls back around in absolutely perfect exquisite layered formation -- and seems to pause for a long second (in that perfection) - and then scatter away...

[amor]

Since these stories are about nature connection with animals, there is one of mine which may fit in. I have spent long periods of time alone, communicating with lizards, birds, stray cats because there was no one else around. One day in the tropics, I sat outside on the deck and broke pieces of bread for the birds, keeping one eye on the stray cat I was feeding to make certain he did not pounce on a bird. The birds, took their bread hastily, aware of the cat, when suddenly a Mouse appeared. Somehow I felt it was a She. She slowly collected more than one of the larger pieces of bread, having difficulty carrying them in one trip. My heart went out to her. No one interfered with her, the cat being well fed. The mouse knew I was looking but continued. I was fascinated at its bravery and intelligence and could only feel Love for it.

[Forest Denizen]

Okay, this is about an experience that I still remember vividly.. a seminal moment in my development. A moment that heightened my awareness of who I was and what I believed and what I felt was right and what was wrong.

In June, the year that I was five years old going on six, we packed up our bags and went to spend the summer in Rockland County, not more than 40 minutes from our apartment in New York City. This was where my mother had spent her childhood, and where many of my relatives lived.

We stayed in a magical house that had been built by an old family friend, an artist and craftsman, long dead now. Each stone and every beam had been selected with care or hewn by hand and lovingly laid into place.

The house nestled in its woodland setting so comfortably that it seemed almost to have been willed into being by the woods themselves, sprung from the rock and the leaf mold of the forest floor.

Not much more than a mile away stood the house where my favorite uncle and aunt lived for many years (having moved in after my grandfather had decided to build a new house nearby).

An ancient Dutch farmhouse, even in summer it smelled of cool smoke, baked into the stone of the enormous living room fireplace. The dark, wooden floor, worn smooth and glossy from centuries of use, and the hand plastered walls throughout, lent an air of timelessness.

A waterfall spills into the ravine behind the house and along its course yawn caves dark and wet, smelling of moss and full of mystery.

Late one morning I was out wandering about, in search of whatever the woods would yield in the way of interesting critters to study.. salamanders, toads, crayfish.. looking for logs to overturn, burrows to probe, when I hear the sound of laughter somewhere not far from me.

I follow the noise down a long, winding dirt drive until I come upon the spot where my friend Andre's driveway forks off through the woods. The voices are louder now, I continue towards Andre's house and as I round a bend, I see them.

Andre, his older brother, and a friend of his are there looking over the edge of a small stone arch bridge into the dark waters below. They take turns throwing stones into the water.

“What are you doing?” I ask.
“There's a turtle in there.” Says Andre's older brother.

He is bigger than either Andre or myself and at nine years old is given to bullying us both. I am surprised that Andre seems to be eagerly participating in the activity.

I look over the waist high stone wall of the bridge. Below, I see only our reflections in the dark pool, disembodied heads grinning jack-o’-lantern-like all in a row.

“Why are you throwing rocks at it?” I ask.
“I don't know.” Shrugs Andre's older brother. “Why not?”

He picks up a stone that is lying in the dirt near his feet, takes careful aim at where he imagines the turtle to be, and hurtles the stone into the water below us. The woods are silent save for the scolding of a titmouse from a nearby tree.

“Do you think we got him?” Asks the friend.
“I have an idea!” Exults Andre's older brother, and from his pocket he pulls a large
firecracker that is silver in color with a bright green fuse issuing from its center.
“These are waterproof!” He exclaims.

The look in his eyes frightens me. I feel small and helpless and only watch quietly. From his other pocket he retrieves a book of matches.
“Oh boy!” Giggles his friend gleefully.

Andre's brother lights the firecracker and drops it into the water. Images of submarines being pounded by depth charges leap to my mind, residue of some TV show that I never should have watched.

A couple of anxious seconds pass. BOOM! The firecracker explodes with a splash.

“Wow!” We gasp in chorus and gaze transfixed as the ripples reverberate around the pool. I wait for the battered carcass to float to the surface but the dark waters yield nothing.

“Bet we got him that time!” Says the friend.
“I like turtles.” I say.
Andre looks at me but remains silent.
“You would!” Laughs his brother. “C'mon, let's go.”

He and his friend start off down the drive to Andre's house. Andre is looking into the
water below the bridge.

“C'mon, Andre!” His brother yells back over his shoulder.
“I'm staying here.” Andre says, resolute.
His brother and the friend laugh derisively and continue on down the drive.

“Why didn't you stop them?” I ask Andre accusingly.
“What do you mean me, you didn't do anything!” Andre says.
We gaze into the water. It is calm once again, and again we are greeted only by our
reflections.
“I hope he's O.K.” I say.
“Me too.” Says Andre.

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[Valerie Villars]

After the death of my son, I went to Sanibel Island, off the coast of Fort Meyers, Florida to try and heal. I stayed in a little cottage from the fifties, right on the Gulf of Mexico.

One morning, before going to the beach, I thought to myself, "I wish I would find a sand dollar."

I went to the beach and down to the water's edge. There, lying in the edge of the surf were three perfect sand dollars.

[RunningDeer]

Foreshadow

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I was doing Tai Chi when I got a flash that something big was about to happen. My inner knowing understood: it was the greatest challenge of my life, I had no control over it and I had to accept it. Then I heard, “We're never given more than we can handle."

I covered up my fear with a cocky attitude of “Bring it on!”. And that was that; that is, until after work. I was on my way to the bookstore when I felt an inescapable panic. A presence filled the back seat of my car. I checked the rear view mirror and saw nothing. My son, Michael flashed in my mind. It was too painful, so I blocked it out. When I returned home, I told a dear friend where my personal papers were and that I had a feeling I was going to die.

A couple of days later, I got a call to go over to my ex-husband's home. On the drive over, I made all kinds of deals with God. No words were needed. I saw it in his Dad's eyes.


Night Before Michael’s Burial

I muffled my screams in a pillow the night before my son’s burial. No one answered my pleas to be buried with him. Then the darkened room filled with a beau-ti-ful blue.

“Mom, this was the plan. Remember the plan.”

The bedroom was stacked with packed up books. I tore through a box and grabbed the “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah". Michael answered my questions through the random pages I turned until peace and silence filled me.


https://i.imgur.com/jbiDZbw.jpg

I was directed to go to my office which was two floors down. I pulled open the computer keyboard shelf and there was a feather. On the “Illusions" cover was a feather. It was an important turning point in the story of a teacher that died and floated a feather onto the grieving student.

I preserved the precious gift in a transparent baseball envelop, and tucked it in my power bag. It brought me strength and assurance that Michael was but a thought away. A couple of days later the feather gift was gone. It’s purpose was served.


https://i.imgur.com/QYRThUP.jpg

♡

[Valerie Villars]

Running Deer, your beautiful story reminded me of another incident, which I would do well to remember during the times I get frustrated over having to piece my life back together. I need to thank the good God above for all I DO have.

After Dustin's death, I was in the library of my house and had an appointment to see a counselor. I was so exhausted that my heart was going a mile a minute and I really thought if I didn't sleep I was going to have a heart attack and I was so very thin from not eating. I was a physical and emotional wreck. So I called and cancelled.

Then I lay on the couch in that beautiful room and fell into a deep sleep. What follows is not a dream, it was a healing.

I was in a beautiful small, round room which had a warm and beautiful little fireplace going. The bed was all white and I was laying in it. I felt a whoosh, whoosh, as the layers of covers were gently pulled off of me and a very loving presence. There was a door leading out of the room and I was floated over to it as it opened and set gently down.

There was this most beautiful, bright light; the brightest I had ever seen and yet it didn't hurt my eyes. There was nothing but this light.

At that moment, the phone next to my head rang and woke me up. It was one of my son's best friends calling.

To this day, I believe she kept me from crossing over, by calling and waking me up.

[avid]

Oh Paula, that is such an immense load of memories, so wonderfully awesome, so personal and heart-rending, yet giving those with huge losses, or ongoing loss, hope. You give your memories throughout the years, so precious, so special, and yet still absolutely important every day to those whose trauma is similar.

You are so brave - so inspiring - and a great reason we are here together - I can’t describe the thankfulness for you here, and how much we are in your debt. You encourage folk to look forward, and all around for positivity.

Hence - on a lighter note - my garden was fluttering with light coloured feathers today, good news - the ring-necked dove has safely escaped, but just been given a wee bit of a ‘plucking’ by naughty neighbour’s cat, who looked at me when I said “naughty chap” innocently, trying to disguise the feathery claws - ‘who me?’ His owner is coming again tomorrow to visit me, at least we have a great love of a wee naughty critter between us, and our rediscovered love of our families as my parents and hers were such great friends. Wee furry reconciliations - brilliant, thank you for bringing us ‘common denominators’ :flower::flower:

[RunningDeer]

…To this day, I believe she kept me from crossing over, by calling and waking me up.
Valerie, thank you for sharing about Dustin and the rawness of your pain and how synchronicites happen in miraculous ways. It opens others to the possibility of the unknown richness of life and helps to re-ignite others’ life stories.


I can’t describe the thankfulness for you here, and how much we are in your debt.

avid, I’m not blowing smoke when I say, “It is me that’s soooo thankful and grateful that I can share with you all.” Also it reminds me on those days when I’m asleep to the dimensional self to keep on keeping with discovery.


https://i.imgur.com/sdBvXyv.jpg
♡

[Valerie Villars]

Paula dear, I love you with all my heart and soul. And your son Michael. I'll bet he and Dustin are high fiving each other right now; happy that we understand the impermanence of death.

Our two guys are very brave souls for having crossed over first. :flower:

[Forest Denizen]

...I was directed to go to my office which was two floors down. I pulled open the computer keyboard shelf and there was a feather. On the “Illusions" cover was a feather. It was an important turning point in the story of a teacher that died and floated a feather onto to the grieving student.

I preserved the precious gift in a transparent baseball envelop, and tucked it in my power bag. It brought me strength and assurance that Michael was but a thought away. A couple of days later the feather gift was gone. It’s purpose was served...




...There was this most beautiful, bright light; the brightest I had ever seen and yet it didn't hurt my eyes. There was nothing but this light.

At that moment, the phone next to my head rang and woke me up. It was one of my son's best friends calling.

To this day, I believe she kept me from crossing over, by calling and waking me up.

Paula and Valerie, I am awed by your strength and the love that you both pour forth every day. As Avid said, we are so fortunate to have you here in Avalon. Nothing can prepare us for the death of our loved ones and I can't imagine the pain of losing one's own child.

It is fascinating how the loss of a loved one is often accompanied by wonderful synchronicities.. I lost my mother in October and the event was not without these unusual experiences. I've been meaning to write about it and will do so soon..

Much Love and Respect to you both :heart:

[RunningDeer]

Paula and Valerie, I am awed by your strength and the love that you both pour forth every day. As Avid said, we are so fortunate to have you here in Avalon. Nothing can prepare us for the death of our loved ones and I can't imagine the pain of losing one's own child.

It is fascinating how the loss of a loved one is often accompanied by wonderful synchronicities.. I lost my mother in October and the event was not without these unusual experiences. I've been meaning to write about it and will do so soon..

Much Love and Respect to you both :heart:

https://i.imgur.com/tQube71.gif Thank you, Ken.
Sorry for the loss of your Mom. https://i.imgur.com/Vlz1VQ6.gif
I look forward to your experiences.



Paula dear, I love you with all my heart and soul. And your son Michael. I'll bet he and Dustin are high fiving each other right now; happy that we understand the impermanence of death.

Our two guys are very brave souls for having crossed over first. :flower:

Yup. https://i.imgur.com/3x9om0z.gif

Sending the Love Wave back your way, Valerie. https://i.imgur.com/LerFlSj.gif

[Sandy123]

15 years ago my husband and I were on vacation in the badlands of Wyoming. When we get to a good area he goes one way and I go the other. I love the peace of being being alone and the quiet of nature. I was in this bowl with hills when I heard this sound "beeeee", so I look up to see an antelope standing there looking at me. I just think how cool and I say back "beeeee" and the antelope says it back to me again. I was amazed that the antelope and I were communicating. So this goes on for 15 - 20 minutes both of taking turns saying "beeeee". I start walking around again looking for petrified wood and the antelope just stays there about 300 yards away. About an hour later my husband comes by and the antelope is still there, he tells me; the antelope has a fawn near by. Sure enough he finds it and we left the area so mom could bee with her baby again. The fawn was laying down being still like they're supposed to do. It was a very special experience. I have walked upon many rattlesnakes also.

Yes Project Avalon has really special and lovely people here!!! I'm blown away by your spirit.

[Forest Denizen]

Rugged, windswept, stunningly beautiful, the island of San Nicolas lies more than 60 miles off the coast of Southern California. The most remote of the Channel Islands, it is owned by the US Navy and closed to the public. I was lucky enough to live and work on the island one winter and spring in the 1990s, researching the birds that occur there.

The island is dotted with pockets of “forest” composed of an improbable daisy relative, the giant coreopsis, where you feel you’ve just stepped onto the set of the old TV show, The Land of the Giants! The air perfumed by the roiling sea and drifts of lavender-colored lupines, you might encounter here and there, the tiny island fox, a species native to the Channel Islands and the size of a small house-cat.

The foxes on San Nicolas do not view humans as dangerous and are relatively tame. It’s believed they were brought as pets by the native Tongva people, who first settled the island at least 10,000 years ago. The Nicoleños, as they later became known (what they called themselves is unknown), lived on the island until the 1800s when they ran afoul of sea otter hunters after the animals’ valuable pelts.

Following a massacre in 1811, the Nicoleños dwindled until being removed to the mainland in 1835.
All but one that is..

One lone woman remained on the island and lived there, alone, for the next 18 years.

Finally picked up and brought to Santa Barbara in 1853, the Lone Woman of San Nicolas (baptized Juana María shortly before her burial - she never revealed her true name) died just seven weeks later of dysentery. Her story became the basis for the classic children’s novel, Island of the Blue Dolphins.

San Nicolas is littered with archaeological sites and roamed by the ghosts of its previous inhabitants. You can feel them palpably in certain locations. They are with you, watching you..

One cloudless day in early spring, I had to check on a huge colony of breeding seabirds, Brandt’s cormorants. However, the area was designated off limits, unless you had business being there, due not only to the breeding seabirds, but the presence of a sacred native site, the Cave of the Whales.

At the edge of the sea, close by the breeding cormorants, the cave had been hollowed out of the rock over eons of constant battering by the ocean surf. I had always wanted to see the cave and an archaeologist had always wanted to see the seabird colony, so we went together, I escorting her to the birds and she escorting me to the cave.

Birds fussed and scolded us as we passed but they were doing well. Then, as we approached the cave, we fell silent.. struck by a sense of sadness.. and loss.. Once the site of profound and ancient knowledge.. wonder filled ritual.. now lost and abandoned.

We entered.. reverent. Daylight reflecting off the ocean’s surface splashed patterns of constantly moving light and shadow, revealing pictographs of fish and a killer whale. The changing light served to animate the carvings, bringing them to life! Mysterious hatch marks and lines covered another wall.

So as not to bother the birds again, we took a short cut back to the truck. We climbed up the back side of a large dune, an ancient midden, now covered by the drifting sands. These giant middens, scattered across the island were, essentially, enormous refuse piles composed largely of giant abalone shells, now entirely covered by sand. A number of these middens stretched for 100 meters or more, and could be 30 meters wide by 10 high or more.

Summiting the dune, we were greeted by a sight I will never forget. There at our feet, just below the crest, lay a largely exposed human skeleton! Just recently exposed by the winds, the skeleton, likely that of a young woman judging by her pelvis and teeth, lay stretched out on her back, mouth agape. And, lying on the surface of the sand next to her skull, was a beautiful and intricately designed fish hook, skillfully carved out of abalone. She had died perhaps hundreds of years ago.

We paid our respects and left her there undisturbed. Where she remained. We told not a soul.

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[RunningDeer]

Two Last Feathers




Feathers continued to come my way after Michael’s death. (see part of the collection below) One example was about a week after his passing, my sister, Jill and I parked in a parking garage. Several hours later, by my side of the car on the cement floor there were two feathers that were the same shape, size and in the configuration of X marks the spot.

In order for me to move on, I needed two feathers: a humming bird and an eagle feather. It was six months after he passed, I went for a visit to Jill’s place in California. This one morning, I stared out the window when a humming bird fluttered in one spot long enough for me to see. And when I wondered, he shifted a few inches over so I could get a longer look.

Several days later, we headed to Las Vegas to hook up with our parents. Jill and I walked around. And as we passed the Luxor Hotel & Casino and I had knowing to go to a particular display case in the hotel. I pointed to an old Egyptian coin and told my sister there’s something about that one. A sales person came over and asked if we'd like to see it. I’m half listening, and he turns it over and says, ”There’s an eagle on the back.” My sister’s eye went wide-wide. Without asking the price, I said, “I’ll take it.”

The last part of the eagle story was I kept it in my jean vest pocket. Just weeks after returning from the trip, I lost it. I recalled putting it into the pocket in the morning, by evening it was gone. It must have dropped out when I bent down. I was okay because it served as the last piece I needed to find peace.



Three Sided Feather Bottle

https://i.imgur.com/WxlweFF.jpg


♡

[Forest Denizen]

Moon Over the Himalayas

I traveled to Nepal in 1991 shortly after my divorce. We had been together for ten years. She had followed me out to L.A. after I dropped out of college. I had been floundering in school and had decided that paying for a private college under the circumstances was a waste of money.

We were young and wild and immortal. All the guys had been after her but for some unknown reason she had chosen me. She was an artist.. beautiful, fiery.. a dance major and ceramicist. We had always been a popular couple, fun to be around.

She was also bipolar. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.. many of the great artists and thinkers throughout history were likely bipolar.

After a year or so of floating around and getting into trouble, we decided to clean up our acts, go back east and finish college. She actually talked me into it. After a couple of years, we got married. I excelled in college and wanted to continue on to grad school. She didn’t.

She wanted to work. Earn money. More money. She had gradually and tragically become terrified of the artist and the fire inside of her and fought desperately to dampen her bipolar nature. To be “normal.” We grew apart and finally went our separate ways.

But I found that over the course of being together, living as a couple, being known as a duo, always invited as a pair, I had lost track of something. I had forgotten who I was. That’s when I decided I needed to travel to Nepal.

I had always been drawn there and went as a way of removing myself from all that was outwardly familiar to me in this lifetime. And stripped of the trappings of my recent past, I hoped to remember who I was at the core of my being. The essential “Me.” The timeless “I.”

I sold something that I had inherited from my grandfather and ended up with a little more than I needed for the trip. He was an armchair traveler and I knew he would have approved.

Kathmandu is an ancient and intoxicating city. I instantly felt at home, stirred by a feeling of familiarity. The smoke from countless wood-stoked fires scented the air and mixed with the incense from shops and homes.

A winding maze of small alleys and unpaved streets lined with four- and five-story structures that loomed above, casting shadow that left one in darkness even during the day. And everywhere, small shrines to various gods and “saints” spoke to me, asking, “Do you remember?”

But it was the wilds of northern Nepal that I was headed for. Langtang National Park lies north of Kathmandu along the Tibetan border. I reached the beginning of my trek after a day’s journey by truck. I would spend two weeks and climb to around 15,000 feet.

It was autumn and I passed several terraced farms on the way up. Everything was about ready to harvest.. millet, barley, and what I took to be amaranth.. seed heads brown and full.

The trek followed the Langtang River which ran wild beside and at times below the trail, whitewater cascading its way downhill, rushing, twisting, exploding past rocks and boulders. We hiked through forests of mixed deciduous and evergreen trees. Moss and wet leaves adorned the trail.

On and on, up and up we hiked. At one point, directly across the river and at my elevation, in a small glade dappled with sunlight, I watched a troop of grey langur monkeys go about their daily activities. Resting, grooming one another, youngsters playing..

For days I climbed ever upward. And before long, I reached the tree line, above which, only grasses and herbs and widely scattered low growing shrubs persisted. The trail snaked through valleys and along ridgelines, and here and there would appear a remote group of low stone structures.. living quarters, a barn, an outbuilding or two.

Most were abandoned for the oncoming winter but one or two still supported a few yak herders and their animals. The last holdouts from summer when herders bring their animals to these higher elevations to graze on the rich grasses that have grown up following the snow melt.

I trekked for several days, up, up, across treeless slopes, through rock-strewn meadows surrounded by jagged snow-covered mountain peaks. Scattered widely along the trail, small isolated guest houses offered smoky respite from the climb. A woodstove was always burning, and tea and dahl were usually available for a small price, as was a primitive bunk. This was how I spent most nights.

Ancient Buddhist stupas adorned with prayer flags and long low mani-stone walls carved with inscriptions appeared out of the mists along the trail as I trudged ever onward.

Finally, I reached the little village of Kyanjin Gompa which sits nestled in a mountain valley at a little under 13,000 feet. Tired but happy and feeling fitter than I had in a while, I could explore the surrounding heights using the guest house as a base of exploration.

The night of my arrival there was a full moon and a celebration was held in the small and ancient temple on a hill nearby. I and several other trekkers were invited to attend. Lit by butter lamps and reverberating with the chants of resident monks accompanied by a cacophony of cymbals, rapidly beating small drums, and horns. Locals danced in a whirling circle and drank from a communal jug of traditional distilled rakshi.

Later, still vibrating from the energy of the chanting monks, the clanging cymbals, the beating drums, the blaring horns, I returned along a steep and treacherous path to my bunk where I fell into a restless sleep.

I soon awoke, however. It was around 3 am and, but for the gentle snoring of the owner of the guest house, asleep on a blanket by the stove, all was silent. It was dark inside and I decided to go for a walk alone under the light of the full moon.

I strolled outside and up the valley, awash in ghostly pale shades of grey and white. Deep shadows loomed and snaked across the valley floor. It was cold and my breath hung about me. The ice and snow-encrusted mountain peaks surrounded as I turned in a circle, ancient sentinels, watching as eons flowed inexorably past.

When I stopped and again gazed up the valley, there, not 40 meters from me, a lone mountain wolf, a dhole, bathed in moonlight, stood watching me. Elated, I studied him in wonder. We regarded each other, calm, still. I thanked him. He blinked and continued on his way. It was then that I remembered who I was.

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[Shadowman]

Hi Ken,

You have an amazing talent for writing. What a sublime description of awakening you shared of your encounter with the Himalayan Dhole.

Once, during an extended satori which lasted a few weeks, I had a similiar experience. I was standing in the front yard of a rented house in Brisbane when a beautiful butterfly flitted past my eyes. I watched silently as it flew randomly from flower to flower alighting briefly on each. It then doubled back to a flower about 10 feet away where it stopped. I intuitively felt a deep connection and held out my hand with the palm facing up.

The butterfly then flew onto my hand whereupon we stood silently gazing into each others eyes. I sensed a deep and profound intelligence from this perfect tiny creature as a wave of love swept over me and we dissolved into one. I subsequently came across the story of Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly, which became part of his awakening journey, and which will now always remind me of this seemingly ordinary, yet magical encounter,


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRhZlyI7944

Namaste
tim

[Shadowman]

Hi again Ken,

The following is from a book I wrote, called The Real Life Adventures of Shadowman (SM). I haven't decided whether or not to publish it yet.

Chapter 10 - The Prince, the Rebel, the Dolphins and a Mystery

SM had befriended a genuine Prince, and a genuine Rebel. The three of them had found a stunningly beautiful location just south of the village, in a National Park, where there was a natural rock pool. It was a great place to just chill and hangout. It was fairly isolated and the path leading from the dirt roadway was barely visible, so there were rarely other people there.

On two occasions when they visited the location they were to encounter rare and unusual phenomena. The first was a spectacle of nature, while the second, was something far more wonderful and mysterious.

The previous night there had been storms in the area, and the swell was pumping. SM, the Prince and the Rebel decided to head out to their spot to watch the giant waves smash into the rocky shoreline. They made their way down the secluded forest path, which obscured the coastline until you emerged from the trees. As they did so the entire grassy hill leading down to the rocks came into view. The entire hill was covered in a layer of white foam about 1-2 feet deep.

As the waves smashed into the rocks, an updraft sweeping in from the ocean to the East, lifted the foam about 60-80 feet into the air. It then fell down onto the hill like snow, creating the effect of a magical winter wonderland. We all thought that this was one of the most amazing things we had seen. The Prince commented that this would be a hard act to beat for our favourite spot, and we all laughed and agreed.

We were all dead wrong.

The next time we went out was a few weeks later. As we arrived we noted their was a camper van parked near the entrance to the track. An elderly couple were standing near the van, one of whom was holding a camera, pointed at the sky.

We got out and looked up to see what he was photographing. Sitting in the sky just adjacent to some clouds was a glowing sphere. It would have been at an altitude of at least a thousand metres or three thousand feet. SM estimated it’s diameter to be at least 50 feet. It looked like a glowing rainbow condensed into a ball. It hung majestically motionless as we all watched it for several minutes, chatting away excitedly. It was difficult to tell if it was a solid object glowing, or just a translucent glowing ball, as there was nothing directly behind it.

We then went down to the rocks where we stayed for a few hours. During that time the cloud formations shifted further away, but the Rainbow Sphere just hung there, in exactly the same spot. SM intuitively sensed that whatever this was, it was benevolent and certainly no threat to any of them. In fact, SM felt that it emanated a kind of higher intelligence and love. It was still hanging there when we left.

It was only a few years later that SM had a possible insight into the Rainbow Sphere. At the time he was living in a city and had travelled alone to the spot for a three day meditation retreat. After setting up a small tent, an esky full of fruit and muesli bars, and a folding meditation chair, SM settled into the first days meditation. He sat facing the ocean.

Now you’re probably not going to believe what happened next so allow SM a short preamble. SM loves all animals, but like everyone, has a particular affinity with certain species, for whatever reason. These include Tigers, Eagles, Wolves and Dolphins.

SM had had the pleasure of swimming with wild dolphins at a local snorkelling spot. He had also been amazed to see two of them leap out in front of him once on the same wave he had been bodysurfing. This may seem silly but SM would sometimes go underwater and attempt to imitate the high pitched squeaks they made to call them. What he loved most about them was their sense of pure, purposeless joy and fun.

Anyway, SM had been meditating for a few hours and was in a state that could only be described as euphoric. He was again doing Vipassana, with his eyes mostly closed and focused on the tip of his nose. He then sensed a sort of telepathic communication of great joy. He opened his eyes to see a large pod of dolphins heading northwards up the coastline about 150 feet from the shore. SM stood up, squeaked as loud as he could and waved both his hands in greeting. As SM was waving his hands, three of the dolphins lifted their tails out of the water and waved their tale fins up and down, imitating SM’s gesture.

SM now sensed inuitively that the Rainbow Sphere he had seen years earlier was not there to visit humans, but more likely to communicate with the Cetaceans.

SM has also swum inadvertently with a Great White Shark off Hayman Island and a Bronze Whaler at Duranbah Beach. While SM has immense respect and love for these predatory marvels of the ocean, he got a distinctly different vibe from them compared to the dolphins!


Shadowman now knows all species are part of the great circle of life, and are a part of GS’s grand plan. Even, perhaps, those further up the food chain from humans.

Shadowman now knows that if we exploit and treat other species cruelly, such as is the case with chicken cages, veal crates and factory farming; well - as they say, what goes around comes around.


Reference Song - The Circle of Life - Elton John
Reference Song -- Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft- The Carpenters

[Forest Denizen]

Hi Ken,

You have an amazing talent for writing. What a sublime description of awakening you shared of your encounter with the Himalayan Dhole.

Once, during an extended satori which lasted a few weeks, I had a similiar experience. I was standing in the front yard of a rented house in Brisbane when a beautiful butterfly flitted past my eyes. I watched silently as it flew randomly from flower to flower alighting briefly on each. It then doubled back to a flower about 10 feet away where it stopped. I intuitively felt a deep connection and held out my hand with the palm facing up.

The butterfly then flew onto my hand whereupon we stood silently gazing into each others eyes. I sensed a deep and profound intelligence from this perfect tiny creature as a wave of love swept over me and we dissolved into one. I subsequently came across the story of Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly, which became part of his awakening journey, and which will now always remind me of this seemingly ordinary, yet magical encounter,


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRhZlyI7944

Namaste
tim

Tim,

I want to express my deepest gratitude for your kind words and your wonderful contributions to this thread.

Though I thanked you on your message board, I felt an overwhelming desire to thank you here publicly. Your thread, “Enlightenment - A direct, succinct account of what occurs...,” is an amazing resource and truly inspiring, and your ability to convey thoughts, information, and truths is something to aspire to.

I will follow up with my own butterfly encounter anon.

With love,

Ken

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[Forest Denizen]

Many years ago, back when I was in the flower of my youth, when I was wild and fearless and immortal, I embarked on a journey to Pakistan. “Land of the Pure,” the Indus River, the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro, bordered on the south by the Arabian Sea and on the north by the Himalayas.

Perhaps not as random as it might at first sound. I traveled with my best friend at the time, shortly after dropping out of college. His father was stationed in Pakistan, working for the U.S. Foreign Service. The year was 1980.

I later returned to college, motivated to attend the classes that I registered for, something I had previously found to be too restrictive and rather a bore. We were as brothers.. bulletproof.. foolhardy one might say. Two long-haired adventurers fortunate to have not ended up languishing in a Pakistani prison. But I digress..

We traveled for a month all throughout the southern half of the country, through the Indus River Valley, Balochistan, the Sindh Desert, had all kinds of truly remarkable experiences, encountered many beautiful and highly exotic landscapes, warm and generous people, curious animals..

We wandered through ancient lands, where, particularly at night, there was no way to discern what century it was. No electricity, absolutely no radios or televisions, the small huts lit only by oil lantern.. people telling stories, laughing.. much as they had for thousands of years. It was magical.

In some villages that we came to, the people thought I was some sort of holy man. Perhaps it was the round, wire-rimmed spectacles I wore at the time. I was honored that they would perceive me in that way but I, of course, always assured them that I was no such thing.

Groups of wide-eyed children would surround us, accompany us, practicing their English. “Good day!” They followed in our wake. Many of the younger children were fascinated by our skin, never before having seen a “white” person (tanned and dusty though we were).

I could easily write an entire book on our journeys throughout this ancient land, now all but forbidden to westerners, but for the moment, I will recount an episode that was one of joy.

Near the end of our journeys, exhausted and sated, we alighted on the coast.. a remote white sandy beach on the Arabian Sea. No tourist had likely set foot there in quite some time. We stayed in a miniature marble palace, paying almost nothing for several nights. The structure resembled a tiny Taj Mahal and consisted of a few small bedrooms, a common or “living” room, a primitive kitchen and even more primitive “bathroom.”

The beds were no more than wood frames strung with rope and everything else save for a small table and a few chairs consisted of aged white marble. White marble floors, walls, doorways, ceiling. The ocean beckoned from across the sand, maybe 30 feet from the doorway. Several other similar structures sat widely scattered along the beach, all empty and apparently abandoned.

The days were long and hot and bathed in a sun that arced across a cloudless sky. The nights were serene, lit only by the light of the moon and the stars. Here and there we would come across a giant female green or smaller olive ridley sea turtle in the midst of laying her precious eggs.

One early afternoon, as I lay napping through the hottest part of the day, engulfed in a light but dream-filled sleep, I was suddenly awakened by yells and whoops of my buddy from somewhere down the beach.

Instantly wide awake, I leapt to my feet and sprinted towards his voice. There on the sand, maybe 50 yards from our tiny Taj Mahal, I saw him kneeling reverently, seemingly in supplication. As I grew rapidly closer, I saw that he was kneeling amidst a herd of stampeding hatchling sea turtles pouring forth from a depression a couple of feet in front of him and racing for the sea!

Thrilled and delighted, I fell to my knees and picked up a couple. Beautiful little living jewels, I gazed briefly into their lovely moist and glistening eyes. They gazed at me unafraid paddling the air. I put them down and they joined the others racing for the water. A few headed the wrong way, towards dry land, so we gently turned them around and they too raced for the sea.

I tore off my shirt and ran with the tiny hatchlings towards the water, yelling encouraging words. But they needed no encouragement from me. They were entering the water and swimming out to sea, so I dove in and swam with them!

Accompanying these newborn adventurers, I envisioned myself a sea turtle, protecting and shielding my tiny charges. I swam with them and saw that there were no fish feasting on them, no seabirds plucking them from the water. I was elated. They had made their escape into the deep. Very few hatchling sea turtles survive to adulthood.. I hoped my tiny companions would.

[Forest Denizen]

Once, during an extended satori which lasted a few weeks, I had a similiar experience. I was standing in the front yard of a rented house in Brisbane when a beautiful butterfly flitted past my eyes. I watched silently as it flew randomly from flower to flower alighting briefly on each. It then doubled back to a flower about 10 feet away where it stopped. I intuitively felt a deep connection and held out my hand with the palm facing up.

The butterfly then flew onto my hand whereupon we stood silently gazing into each others eyes. I sensed a deep and profound intelligence from this perfect tiny creature as a wave of love swept over me and we dissolved into one. I subsequently came across the story of Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly, which became part of his awakening journey, and which will now always remind me of this seemingly ordinary, yet magical encounter

Tim, your experience brought to mind a similar event in my life..
And I assure you, dear reader, that the following is exactly as the event transpired. It remains, for me, to this day, a highly significant moment of awakening to the unfathomable and profound mysteries that surround us always.

Back in college, my roommate and I used to practice “being.” We would engage in activities as a form of meditation. No thought, just being in the here and now.

We did this in a number of ways. Throwing the frisbee back and forth on a giant lawn was one. He, I, the frisbee, the breeze, all one.

Another way we did this was by walking in the beautiful nature preserve adjacent to the college. Surprisingly, we rarely encountered another soul. Ancient oaks and sycamores towered over creeks, waterfalls coursed through limestone gorges, a historic and well-known iron-rich spring flowed year-round unabated, emanating from an aquifer deep within the earth. Fifty feet from the spring was an Indian mound that dated back to around 2,000 years ago. It was the burial site of a mother and her newborn, both of whom likely died during childbirth.

It was mid-summer and the forest, having benefited greatly from frequent thunder storms and associated downpours, was lush and green. Thick stands of bright green jewelweed, blooms orange and yellow, lined the creeks where turtles stretched out on logs, bathing in shafts of sunlight that managed to penetrate the forest canopy. Dragonflies and damselflies flitted about, sparkling, iridescent blue and green.

Barefoot as usual, we emerged from the forest at around noon onto a small, sunlit dirt road surrounded by a large grassy meadow. Wildflowers bloomed everywhere and a lone red-eyed vireo sang from the forest nearby, most other birds remaining silent during the heat of mid-day. It was humid. Here and there, a cicada buzzed stridently.

The road stretched out ahead and we walked.. Immersed in the flow of now. Silent. Aware. "Being." When suddenly we became aware that we had company. Two skipper butterflies flew about us excitedly, one circling my friend and one circling me. We were both smiling, delighted by our little visitors. And simultaneously, we each extended our upturned right forefinger.

Immediately, without hesitation, and synchronously, the butterflies landed, one on the tip of my upturned forefinger and one on his! Astonished, we each brought our little visitors up to our faces in order to examine them more closely.

“Oh my g...” We each exclaimed, our voices trailing off into stunned silence..

There, a few inches from my nose, an amazing and otherworldly creature gazed steadily back at me. I looked deeply into its eyes which each contained thin rainbow rings of color floating in a light greyish colored background, alternating with one or two thin, concentric black rings, at the center of which was the pupil. A pupil unlike any I have encountered to this day. It was of the the deepest, most unfathomable black, virtually beyond imagining. And there.. I saw into another universe, what appeared to be a gateway to an entirely separate reality.

Dumbfounded, in awe, for perhaps a minute, maybe two, I stared into the eyes of this tiny visitor. Eyes at the center of which existed the key to another universe. And then, at the exact same instant, the butterflies took flight.

I know my friend was experiencing the same highly magical revelations that I had arrived at, for, we discussed this event immediately upon the butterflies' departure.

We were convinced we had just encountered and communed with some sort of profound and deep intelligence. An intelligence that extended far beyond the little creatures perched on our fingertips. In the eyes of these tiny beings, we had caught a glimpse of the infinite.

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[Shadowman]

Hi Ken,

I'm posting the introduction and Chapter 6 of "The Real Life Adventures of Shadowman" here out of deep respect for your love of the natural world, and out of deep love and respect for all the good works Bill Ryan has accomplished in the name of truth and transparency. If Bill gives permission, either by PM'ing me, or simply thanking this post below, I will post the entire book in a new thread, one chapter per post. If nothing else, I'm sure the forum members will find it entertaining...

Please see The real Life Adventures of Shadowman Thread due to editing changes,
Thanks , Shadowman

[O Donna]

In perfect poise, everything takes on a sublime radiant hue.

[Forest Denizen]

Hi Ken,

I'm posting the introduction and Chapter 6 of "The Real Life Adventures of Shadowman" here out of deep respect for your love of the natural world, and out of deep love and respect for all the good works Bill Ryan has accomplished in the name of truth and transparency. If Bill gives permission, either by PM'ing me, or simply thanking this post below, I will post the entire book in a new thread, one chapter per post. If nothing else, I'm sure the forum members will find it entertaining...


Tim! Absolutely wonderful!!! Love your writing.. love this idea, and, can't wait to read more!!! Thank you so much for your presence here, it is greatly appreciated :heart:

AND thank you again for your wonderful thread: Enlightenment - A direct, succinct account of what occurs... :flower: :flower:


In perfect poise, everything takes on a sublime radiant hue.

O Donna, SO TRUE!!! Thank you :bigsmile:

With Love,

Ken

:flower: :flower: :flower:

[Andre]

great intro Tim! We need more. There just isn't enough written along these lines. Much appreciated and do keep writing.

[Tam]

Loving this thread!

Let me share an experience of my own. This will have happened when I was somewhere around 11-13 years of age.

Back before things went to hell, my family would vacation just about every year to Cozumel, Mexico. It's nearish to Cancun, and is a tropical paradise. We'd go to one of those all-inclusive resorts, get a room as close to the beach as possible (often, right on it!), and would spend our days at the picturesque beach, surrounded by powdery white sand and warm, turquoise water.

My father and I both loved to snorkel, and the resort we were staying at this particular year had its own miniature barrier reef, which not only protected that little sliver of beach from any strong waves, but also attracted a plethora of aquatic life. As such, we would spend hours at a time swimming right up to the barrier reef, which was about 500 yards away, and back, mesmerized by all of the sea life. We'd see schools of colorful fish hundreds strong, giant blue lobsters, eels, starfish, giant sea urchins, halibut, sea anemones, nurse sharks, and all manner of marine creatures. It was absolutely magical. Every time we'd venture out, we'd see something new. Each round trip usually took us around 2 hours, as we would take our time.

Since the barrier reef was a good half mile long, we'd walk up or down the beach to hit up different areas, as they were all of varying depth, and, therefore, varied in what would lurk there.

One trip, in particular, stood out to us.

We had found a really cool spot the day before that had an honest-to-God shipwreck. Kid Tam thought it was the coolest thing ever. While it wasn't like out of The Little Mermaid, there was an old wooden mast with the sail still attached, some sealed crates, bits of rope, and random broken planks of wood. It must have been there for quite some time, as it was all covered in coral, barnacles, and algae. Nature had turned it into a perfect refuge for all kind of life, so it quickly became a favorite spot.

We were on our way back from the reef one day, passing by the shipwreck, when we notice something new: a large driftwood log, down on the seafloor, near the mast.

My father would frequently dive down to grab the occasional conch, sand dollar, or starfish, so we could observe it together, always returning it to its rightful home afterwards. He'd go down alone in case there was anything dangerous; one time, he nearly hit a large manta ray with his flipper. It was easily as big, if not bigger, than the one that killed Steve Irwin. So to protect me, he'd head down first, check if the coast was clear, then wave for me to join him.

So, as usual, I would wait at the surface, watching carefully, as he slowly approached the log to see if he could move it, as there were frequently small colonies of shrimp or starfish under fossilized, loose coral stones, coconut shells, or the like.

He nearly reaches it when he makes the hand sign for danger, and rushes back to the surface, motioning for us to get the hell away.

We flee, and once my father deems it safe, pulls out his snorkel to tell me why he freaked out.

Turns out, it wasn't a log at all.

It was a barracuda.

Now, for perspective, my father is 6'2'', and this thing was at least a foot longer than he was tall. It was also just as wide.

In other words, it would have been something along this scale:

41381

But bigger.

My father told me that as soon as he got close, he made eye contact with it...and saw that its razor-sharp teeth must have been around 5 inches long and the thickness of his thumb.

He was understandably shaken by it.

We alerted the lifeguard, who told us we were lucky it didn't attack us, and that seeing one of that size was quite rare.

We were much more careful when out on our adventures after that.

[Valerie Villars]

I love that area of the world. Thanks Tam.

[Johan (Keyholder)]

In 1994 I was in Kaikoura, South Island New Zealand.

On a beautiful day I was part of a group that went swimming with wild Hector Dolphins.
We got in a small boat, and when the guides knew that the dolphins were around (they sort of knew their swimming routes),
we all got our snorkels on and went in the water. The motor of the boat was not functioning at this time.

Now, the spiritual experience I am thinking of was when 1 particular dolphin was about three feet away of me and we made eye contact.
It was one of the most amazing experiences I have had with nature and I really think dolphins and whales may be MUCH "wiser" than we are, as a species.
That I remember this experience as if it happened yesterday while it was 25 years ago, speaks for itself.

Not sure whether they still do this around Kaikoura, but it was a way to not disturb (not too much anyway) the Hector dolphins, while teaching "the tourists"
about the value of marine life.

[Forest Denizen]

Back in the mid-1990s, I was living in New Hampshire. My girlfriend at the time, Diane, and I, had been doing the weekend relationship thing for a while, she lived up north in the White Mountains teaching environmental education, and I lived in the southern part of the state, finishing my degree.

Through word of mouth, as is often the case in these small New England towns and rural locations, we heard that an amazing place was suddenly available for rent, and at a price we couldn’t believe. The owners really just wanted someone living in the place, caretakers essentially, otherwise, the place would sit vacant, vulnerable to marauding wildlife and perhaps local teenagers looking for a place to party.

Tired of the long commute and ready to take the next step in our adventure, we jumped at the opportunity. Our close friends lived next door to the property, about 50 yards along a path through the woods, and they were the ones who told us about it. We were all excited to be living next door to each other.

The place was a cavernous old carriage house sitting on acres and acres of forest and fields. Low, ancient rock walls snaked this way and that throughout the landscape. It had at one time served a stately old mansion that stood on a hill overlooking lands mostly to the south, that rolled downhill and away, through a broad valley and across rushing streams to, eventually, Mount Monadnock, a venerable old granite-topped peak of 3,000 plus feet.

The old mansion had burned to the ground some years earlier and all that remained was a lovely but long neglected formal garden, and maybe 50 yards away, the carriage house, which sat at the end of a winding quarter-mile-long driveway that climbed upward from the one lane road below.

The sprawling wooden structure consisted of, on the ground floor to the right, a series of large stalls and rooms for tack and storage, and on the left, a gigantic open room the size of a gymnasium, for carriages I supposed. Large wooden doors with wheels that rolled on tracks, opened onto a flat expanse at the top of the driveway.

Still, after many years of disuse, the ground floor of the carriage house seemed permanently infused with the aroma of horses, sweet hay, leather, and the broad old wooden boards, weathered to a smooth, almost glossy finish, that extended throughout the structure.

Upstairs, on the second floor, was the caretaker’s apartment. Two bedrooms, one large and one very small, a bathroom, kitchen, and cozy living room.. large windows looked out into the trees and fields that surrounded the place. The heat was by wood stove.. two of them, one in the living room, one in the larger bedroom.

The area was perfect for hiking and in the winter, we went cross-country skiing right out the front door. Endless trails beckoned in every direction. In the fall, I liked to go foraging through the woods for wild mushrooms.

The forests, a mosaic of old oaks, maples, hickories, dense stands of hemlock, spruce, and balsam fir, were home to a number of delectable species. Hen of the woods, oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, matsutakes, chicken of the woods.. all enticed, their delicious and unique flavors drawing me on. Deep into the forest I would wander.

One particular late October day, it was cloudy and cool.. around 45 degrees. Sweater weather they call it in New England. It had rained a couple of days earlier. Wet brown leaves and deep green moss carpeted the forest floor and my footfalls made no sound as I meandered slowly through the trees. On I crept, scanning this way and that. Stalking the rare and elusive, wild and wary mushroom.. all my senses heightened.

The forest floor grew dimmer as I entered a thick stand of hemlock and balsam fir. Branches, dense with dark green needles filtered what little light might reach the forest floor on this gray autumn day. Chickadees and titmice scolded me. Wait a second. What is that? My brain struggled to make sense of the shape.. it’s a hoof! And.. a dark brown leg, no more than eight feet in front of me!

I follow the leg up and it meets the hindquarters of a gigantic bull moose, its front half, head, and antlers partially obscured by branches just ahead and to my left!

I’d seen plenty of moose before. We even had them wander through our garden now and then. But I had never stood next to one. It was as if sprung direct from the Pleistocene.. One of the giant megafauna that fascinated me as a child.. giant ground sloths, North American camels, short-faced bears..

This was an enormous male in the prime of his life. Over six feet at the shoulder and a thousand pounds or more, his antlers spread six feet across overhead. So intent had I been on my hunt for the elusive and varied fungi amongst the detritus of the forest floor, so narrow and focused was my search image, that I had failed to notice this animal the size of a garage standing not eight feet in front of me.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I froze. Was it still rutting season? Had he been browsing on the fragrant balsam fir? Males don’t eat during the fall rutting season, instead, they battle for the right to mate with whatever females might be about. Rutting season is not a great time to stumble into a bull moose. Hormones pulse through their bodies, tickling the brain and nether regions, making them irritable.. agitated even.

I was even with his hind quarters as he stood broadside to me, partially obscured by the dense young fir trees. He noticed my presence. Moving his head around slightly to look back, and down, at where I stood, his enormous bloodshot eye rolled rearward in my direction.

His great brown and bloodshot eye warily assayed my small frame. Perhaps still ready to engage any male intruding upon his territory.. He seemed to relax slightly.. Satisfied that I was no threat, he turned his great head back around to face forward. I slowly and carefully began retracing my steps, a film in reverse, moving back from whence I had come. He then returned to what he must have been doing before I came upon him, browsing on the young and fragrant balsam fir.

[Bill Ryan]

:bump: :bump: :bump:

[Anka]

Hey All!

First, this thread is meant in no way to compete with Rachel’s wonderful thread for members, EXPERIENCERS: Sharing, Exploring, and Learning Together :heart:

And to differentiate the two, this thread is not meant to include experiences of the overtly paranormal or transdimensional.

Rather, with all the negative information and events that are communicated far and wide every day, I thought it might be uplifting to have a thread devoted to the sharing of, and learning from, special, spiritual, magical, and/or sublime experiences in nature. :sun:

This could be virtually any kind of experience had while traveling, camping, hiking, looking at the night sky, gardening, birdwatching, simply existing, whatever! :clapping:

And I recognize that what may seem sublime to one may seem mundane to another. But, so what! Please do not be afraid to share. Nobody will make fun of you here

To the Mods, if you feel this thread should be placed elsewhere, or already exists somewhere, please do with it what you will. :flower:

I’ll start by sharing an experience that I’ve been meaning to write down for many years now and, this morning, I did just that.

The Song of the Whale

I awoke one summer morning to one of the most sublime, ethereal, events of my life. This was an event that seemed to bridge two worlds, the 3-dimensional, material one in which we go about our day to day life taking care of this, planning that; and another, more timeless and exalted, where magic finds its openings more easily.. more frequently.

I opened my eyes in the soft gray light of dawn, well before sunrise, and was greeted by perhaps the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. A humpback whale was singing! But I was not in the water, I was in my tent just the other side of a thin row of mangroves from the beach.

The songbirds surrounding our campsite, usually very vocal heralding a new day as dawn broke, were strangely quiet. I knew the sea was glass calm as, normally, while in camp, the gentle sound of the surf accompanied our activities. The rest of the time (most daylight hours), we could be found anywhere up to 1500 feet above and several miles away, conducting research.

Everything was completely still and silent, but for the mournful call of a single whale.

I unzipped my tent, stepped out, and stood up to listen. Silence.. The clouds had descended to ground level and fog washed my surroundings in various shades of gray. It was comfortably cool, perhaps 65 degrees.

This was the second summer of four that I spent camped on an uninhabited island in Galápagos, 600 miles west of the coast of Ecuador. That’s what the inhabitants call the island archipelago, rather than adding a “the” before the name, it is simply Galápagos.

I trod the very short path to the beach and stood listening in eerie stillness. There! There it was again. It was loud and sounded like it couldn’t have been more than 20 to 40 yards offshore. And yet.. I heard not one exhalation, which should have been clearly audible as the whale would have to surface in order to breathe.

Could I be hearing the whale due to the dense fog? Could water suspended in droplets aloft be carrying the song of the whale? Or could it be due to some strange anomaly having to do with the shape of the beach, the surrounding topography?

Four times in total, the unearthly calls of the whale echoed across the sand. Full of mystery and evoking the dark ocean depths. A tale of starlight and of moons risen and fallen. Ships come and gone. Loves lost.

I did not imagine it, for my fellow researchers heard it from their tents as well. Each one noting it later in hushed and reverential tones. A magical and mysterious event not once repeated during four long summers. A gift never to be forgotten.


:flower:

The story is extremely impressive. I feel connected to the song of the whale!
How easy it is to communicate with Nature, how close we are to each other, all living beings ...
How easy it would be to promote all such stories, would be, finally, a communion between human nature, the living Nature of the Earth and a coexistence with Life itself in full happiness.:bearhug:
Ken's story is pure simplicity in our existence.
Very fantastic beautiful and thank you Ken!:flower:

HsMuvyZdUAk

Love,
Anka

[Anka]

My experience with the words next to the presence of my walnut in the garden.:flower:



On the road with the words

The words that speak their name have the vital force and the magnitude of the true thought perceived intuitively and rendered instantly natural, undiluted by other thoughts or reactions.
While reading and writing, a number of pages are born smoothly or in step with time, in a sweet and complex or simply pronounced way, but it is only a number of pages and they are only pages inscribed with a number in relation to feelings, emotions, and interdependent connections that I can create.

A life will be born on the horizon of empty expectations and will be indefinitely filled with full pages. The difference is that any number of pages can be read in a day when life it cannot be lived on a page of living words, so, I let myself be inspired by all the experiences finding the essence in each experiment.

Between an expression and a truth,I ask to be offered shelter where I can rest and celebrate the words of longing and relief from what I feel is a waterfall of creation that constantly happens in the human diary of my innate authenticity almost immortal.A fantastic sense of tranquility in the protection of a wisdom that floats in the air in the silence of Nature:flower:

A good thought that is transcribed into words is like a beautiful bird that flies across the garden of your soul.I always write good thoughts on paper when I return from the garden.As if Nature is loading me with pleasant and sometimes important information that I feel the need to write.

The fragrance is good, it stands in the air and I like to smile when the sun accompanies the warmth of my life and melts me in the comfort of my dream, the clear sky think along with me, the fluffy and white clouds cross my image in this world I feel pleasantly lost when the clouds travel great distances, it is as if they would tell a story all the time.
I feel lost in the beauty of nature, I feel fascinated by her power over me to fulfill myself and I trust in her hands where I dream in a dream for a long time.:inlove:
http://images.gofreedownload.net/a-big-tree-landscape-scenery-of-highdefinition-picture-148771.jpg

The best thought for me now is that "I am here" and all of a sudden all my senses are calmed, the rumbling of thoughts ceases, the conversation with Nature begins and the Nature speaks in the sound of rustling leaves of the trees, with me,
the wind confirms my good hope, the dew of the morning endows me with sprinkles of happiness, the sun in the rays of wisdom gives me a bright hue that suits my nature to be for him.

I look around and look for a living being to share my joy with, I look for a child or an old man as a grandfather looks for happiness within the eyes of the nephew, and as I look for an old walnut, he finds me in change, and as I prepare to ask him, he is already answering "you should value what life already values ​​in you" and I thank him somewhere inside me, for his wisdom.
I feel my roots deep in the Earth along with this "old man tree" and the branches of my soul along with his branches directed away from the Cosmos, I look at the sky and I see them unite in pure blue, touching his "body" in all the cleanness of his mind, in his bark I understand his experiences and I realize his significance over so many years of existence and I realize the guard post he has kept for our benefit to all.:flower:

I am fascinated by the task of Nature to maintain life in a mission in which it participates incessantly, I take my ship of mind and on the waves of the soul, I start to understand, it's great work and its great influence on us.

I memorialize every event in which a miracle takes place, I find my words in the bosom of a beautiful life, I raise them to their height like a spring that fills a fountain, our fountain of all that adapts us with the spring water of our awakening together.

The bag of words that identifies us, indicates the facts and the exercise of existence in the entire procession that is poured back into the depths of our soul.
https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-04/22/13/campaign_images/webdr05/24-of-the-most-beautiful-quotes-about-nature-2-20983-1429722037-8_dblbig.jpg

And because I let myself be driven by the wave of joy, below is my first English poem.:ROFL:
I thought that I would not be able to find the English rhyme in the poems, but I succeeded, and I will try again ... I am extremely happy!
I hope you will be happy in the heart of Nature, in the arms of life that will seek happiness.
You just have to seek happiness, along with life, and happiness will bring you the gift of life itself!


The sound of Nature's calling me
My name is now, is life who live on me
I feel the random dream in leaves along the tree
I raise in soul my thoughts for him in poetry
He is the love of life, the tree who's live me
Be your existence now, just come along with me
I am a human you're my soul, you are a tree with me!

:ROFL:Love,
Anka

[RunningDeer]

https://i.imgur.com/Ewn40X2.jpg




March 21, 2020

The Clock




I had been thinking of my ex-hubby/dear friend the last few days, nights and in some of my dreams. I chalked it up to that the 2nd anniversary of his passing was in about a week. Well, he popped in and we had a chat. He apologized for ‘stuff’ that I’ll skip here.

Apologize is a word I never heard him use in 40+ years, so the skeptic in me questioned if it was really him. I suggested a sign. I closed my eyes to better concentrate on a feeling, a knowing, a sound, or a visual. He told me I’d miss it with my eyes closed.

A minute later, I saw the digital clock blink off. It stayed off while I checked to see if the electricity went out. It didn’t because the microwave would’ve needed to be reprogrammed. Then when I came back into the living room, the clock came back on.

Even if there’s a logical explanation for the clock going off, there’s something to be said for the timing.

♡

[Forest Denizen]

https://i.imgur.com/Ewn40X2.jpg


March 21, 2020

The Clock

I had been thinking of my ex-hubby/dear friend the last few days, nights and in some of my dreams. I chalked it up to that the 2nd anniversary of his passing was in about a week.

Well, he popped in and we had a chat. He apologized for ‘stuff’ that I’ll skip here. It’s a word I never heard him use in 40+ years, so the skeptic in me questioned if it was really him. I suggested a sign. I closed my eyes to better concentrate on a feeling, a knowing, a sound, or a visual. He told me I’d miss it with my eyes closed.

A minute later, I saw the digital clock blink off. It stayed off while I checked to see if the electricity went out. It didn’t because the microwave would’ve needed to be reprogrammed. Then when I came back into the living room, the clock came back on.

Even if there’s a logical explanation for the clock going off, there’s something to be said for the timing. I haven’t put much attention on the woo-woo of late. I’m appreciative to be reminded that desire + focused attention is the ticket; stay open, flexible and don’t complicate the process.

♡

Dearest RunningDeer,

What a lovely surprise to check in on the Forum and find your post in this thread :heart:

I think you know that what you experienced was not a "coincidence." And I know that you also know that the "woo-woo" is one of our windows into the real magic that is constantly at play all around us.. All of the time :star:

With Love,

Ken

43406

[RunningDeer]

Dearest RunningDeer,

What a lovely surprise to check in on the Forum and find your post in this thread :heart:

I think you know that what you experienced was not a "coincidence." And I know that you also know that the "woo-woo" is one of our windows into the real magic that is constantly at play all around us.. All of the time :star:

With Love,

Ken

43406

Thank you, Ken. And thank you for the reminder. https://i.imgur.com/bKNyAO6.gif

Sending the big kind of Love back your way,
Paula ♡

[Gracy]

Four times in total, the unearthly calls of the whale echoed across the sand. Full of mystery and evoking the dark ocean depths. A tale of starlight and of moons risen and fallen. Ships come and gone. Loves lost.

I did not imagine it, for my fellow researchers heard it from their tents as well. Each one noting it later in hushed and reverential tones. A magical and mysterious event not once repeated during four long summers. A gift never to be forgotten.


:flower:

Funny how these things happen sometimes. And they always, always, always, happen at times when we least suspect them. A mundane moment suddenly turns magical out of the clear blue sky!

My story is nothing extraordinary, as is the main aim of this thread, but it certainly did grab my attention for a good couple of minutes.

Just a little while ago I was briefly chatting with Ken on the mod Discord chat, he happened to have brought up this thread I somehow had not paid much attention to. I clicked straight here to a thread dedicated to sharing little mystical experiences that is so much needed in this time or swirling energies affecting us all.

Soon as I had read Ken's experience with hearing the voice of the whale, an immediate question came to mind. I couldn't help but wonder if the whale Ken heard in that magical pre dawn moment, had any clue their voice might not only be overheard by a human, but that said human may not forget that voice for the rest of his life?

Wouldn't it be moving for the whale to know that?

So then subsequently my little moment happened. Was just about to head back into the house after my evening outside relax, semi meditative time in the woods with my dog Scooby, and a sudden sun shower came blowing through. Those don't happen that often here, and this one had a message. I stood mesmerized for a good 2 minutes under the leaves of the protective trees as a gentle, moderate, sunshine drenched rain came cascading over my up and coming garden in the clearing feeding it new life, while it also spoke to me.

Thanks Ken, that was beautiful, and it wasn't by accident! :flower:

[EFO]

For about five-six years bugs,bees and wasp started to have a "relation" with me.My "first" contact was when taking a break from doing gardening work I sit on the chair looking at the garden,when I "felt" that a bug will fly towards me and in the same time a big black beetle jumped and fly straight towards me from a distance of about four-five meters.My first instinct was to stay away from his flying path,but "something" changed my mind and I stood still and that bug landed right on my right cheek.It took some seconds until I was "acclimatized" with the bug and the sensation of it sucked on me and then I shout to my wife which was at a some distance from me.When she turned around she asked me:"What do you have on your face?",I told her smiling knowing her reaction:"It's a bug.".She replied terrified:"Get rid of it!He will bite you!" and I calmed her:"He just sitting here.He will not bite me."I stayed there together with the bug,resting each other until he took flight like nothing happened. :)

I searched the internet and I only found a similar bug,but mine was bigger than this triceratops beetle Phileurus truncatus

After this other bugs (praying mantis,stag beetles,green scarab beetles,hornets,wasps,bees,dragonflies and other insects that I don't know her's names) came to me for resting or saving them and non of them bite or sting me.

Last month I took some pictures and videos of some apiaries found in an acacia forest on our way back home from shopping.The forest was full of bees and we pick some acacia flowers for winter teas,but I got close tow transformed into bee hives and I took some close up pictures of the bees.

On that yellow painted entrance a bee landed and stopped resting and I gently comforted her three times on her back with my index and it didn't sting me :) When I sensed that's enough with my intruding I left the area letting them to made their job.

From distance first :)
https://i.postimg.cc/zDs03VHy/20200514-104026.jpg

then a close up
https://i.postimg.cc/MT4t7Gsr/20200514-104008.jpg

In their company I felt like this :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uStEUy3xQ-M&list=PLsb-lGkTuRbakiNo9JMg7wctIWMmongPr&index=7

I have other stories related to Nature,like unburying living trees lying in sand dunes or "flowing water" made of light blue crystals,but these are from other Natural Worlds :)

[Harmony]

So many members have written about their pets and experiences with animals that are so profound. I’d like to write about an experience that was something I will always remember.


I previously had two donkeys that were sisters and spent their whole lives together. I had them for over twenty-five years. When they were quite old the eldest sister passed on and I adopted another donkey that was actually related to them both because they always love company.


After about 18 months I started having dreams where they (the sisters) were fenced off in different paddocks and the one I still had was trying to get to the other donkey that was calling to her in another paddock. When I went to find the donkey that passed (in my dream), I could only go so far and she would dissappear into the mist. Not too long after these dreams started, maybe 2 months, the remaining sister donkey that I still had got sick while I was away visiting my father who was ill, about 1000 kilometers away. When I got back she worsened and passed away also after nursing her for several days and nights, always someone by her side to comfort her.


Needless to say I was devastated once more. Directly after her burial in the forest that she loved, a group of about 100 birds made a circle in the trees above her grave and sang constantly for several minutes in the most melodious sweet way all toghether, and that somehow brought my heart back from a deep place. I felt a miricle message was sent just for me and my family. Somehow the different “worlds” met and I knew the “girls” were ok and back together. So, I had to get another sweet donkey friend for the one that was on her own and they loved each other straight away.


I know other members on the forum have also experienced our animal messengers that bring us connection in a way we can understand and feel. This has also happened to me when a loved one has passed, our angels letting us know in a way we can understand.


If you have had an extraordinary experience where unconditional love has encompassed all, it is something you carry in your heart forever, an imprint to keep with us, especially when “the valley of darkness” can temporarily bring us down without realising there are other “places” we can choose to be if we but remember.

My two "girls"



55246

[RunningDeer]

My two "girls"


https://i.imgur.com/e8ClBch.jpg






Harmony, I was touched by your Sister Donkeys story. Thank you. :heart:
Is that lovely lady you? https://i.imgur.com/XXCNCxJ.gif

[Harmony]

My two "girls"Harmony, I was touched by your Sister Donkeys story. Thank you. :heart:Is that lovely lady you? https://i.imgur.com/XXCNCxJ.gif
Thank you Paula, yes that was me, but I was younger then :clock:, time keeps flying by:cake::stars:, but luckily our hearts are always young:heart:

[Victoria]

Harmony, 

What a beautiful photograph and memory together...and a very special reminder that we go on with love. The sisters were so very fortunate and happy to be there together with you. It looks like a lush paradise where you are. :heart: 

Your post brought tears to my eyes and happiness to my heart.:flower::sunrise::star::stars::sun:

[onawah]

Thanks for sharing that wonderful memory, Harmony :heart:
I think donkeys have been vastly underrated.
They have so much heart and personality, and can be very entertaining as well...
:nod:


Donkeys have always been one of my favorite animals.
When I was a kid, I loved visiting the donkey at the zoo-- with his sad, expressive eyes, I could tell that he liked having visitors too. :nod:
Evidently they can also be a bit stubborn and uncooperative though ...:lol:

YwZud-5s-Ws
V1F5sNLxHZ0




So many members have written about their pets and experiences with animals that are so profound. I’d like to write about an experience that was something I will always remember.

I previously had two donkeys that were sisters and spent their whole lives together. I had them for over twenty-five years. When they were quite old the eldest sister passed on and I adopted another donkey that was actually related to them both because they always love company.


After about 18 months I started having dreams where they (the sisters) were fenced off in different paddocks and the one I still had was trying to get to the other donkey that was calling to her in another paddock. When I went to find the donkey that passed (in my dream), I could only go so far and she would dissappear into the mist. Not too long after these dreams started, maybe 2 months, the remaining sister donkey that I still had got sick while I was away visiting my father who was ill, about 1000 kilometers away. When I got back she worsened and passed away also after nursing her for several days and nights, always someone by her side to comfort her.


Needless to say I was devastated once more. Directly after her burial in the forest that she loved, a group of about 100 birds made a circle in the trees above her grave and sang constantly for several minutes in the most melodious sweet way all toghether, and that somehow brought my heart back from a deep place. I felt a miricle message was sent just for me and my family. Somehow the different “worlds” met and I knew the “girls” were ok and back together. So, I had to get another sweet donkey friend for the one that was on her own and they loved each other straight away.


I know other members on the forum have also experienced our animal messengers that bring us connection in a way we can understand and feel. This has also happened to me when a loved one has passed, our angels letting us know in a way we can understand.


If you have had an extraordinary experience where unconditional love has encompassed all, it is something you carry in your heart forever, an imprint to keep with us, especially when “the valley of darkness” can temporarily bring us down without realising there are other “places” we can choose to be if we but remember.

My two "girls"



55246

[Harmony]

Thank you so much Victoria :heart: I know you have written about your everchanging group of animals that you care for, and indeed they have a special place in our hearts :rose::bearhug::shooting star:


Harmony,

What a beautiful photograph and memory together...and a very special reminder that we go on with love. The sisters were so very fortunate and happy to be there together with you. It looks like a lush paradise where you are. :heart:

Your post brought tears to my eyes and happiness to my heart.:flower::sunrise::star::stars::sun:

[Harmony]

Thanks for sharing that wonderful memory, Harmony :heart:
I think donkeys have been vastly underrated.
They have so much heart and personality, and can be very entertaining as well...
:nod:


Donkeys have always been one of my favorite animals.
When I was a kid, I loved visiting the donkey at the zoo-- with his sad, expressive eyes, I could tell that he liked having visitors too. :nod:
Evidently they can also be a bit stubborn and uncooperative though ...:lol:

YwZud-5s-Ws
V1F5sNLxHZ0



I really love those videos about the donkey sanctuary Onawah. I have two different donkeys now, both Jennys. Each one has such a unique and usually fun personality and love interaction with each other and people. They are actually very smart. I will add a picture of them here if I can a little bit later:happy dog:. :heart:

[Harmony]

I will add a picture of them here if I can a little bit later:happy dog:. :heart:Poppy and Jenny browsing in the paddock
55260


Poppy from about a year ago when she was smaller.
55259

[onawah]

Deep Thinking with Donkeys
Can you think a little deeper?
Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary
67.2K subscribers
May 4, 2025

qfl-i9BeVeQ

Spine chilling donkey fights (for sticks)
Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary
67.2K subscribers
52K views 8 months ago

iy7mcnu7k1I

Steve the Donkey is passed out and what on earth is Ronnie doing?
Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary
67.2K subscribers
Aug 27, 2021

"Steve passed out, Ronnie being weird and Dotty is ignoring me."

nMMON-5ln4g

[onawah]

Investigative journalists uncover shocking truth
Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary
67.3K subscribers
Aug 31, 2021

"DONKEY CHAT TUESDAY
Investigative journalists have uncovered the truth of the JR Donkeys!"
(The donkeys DO have a salt lick by the way!)

UxuRaqbrdqU

You won't believe what this Donkey did
Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary
67.3K subscribers
3 years ago

"Join Julian and the donkeys"

iJqeU4pwm5k

Naughty donkeys getting told off.
Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary
67.3K subscribers Jan 21, 2018

"Ronnie and Hotey live at Jacobs Ridge Animal Sanctuary (www.jacobsridge.com). After breaking out with the other donkeys, they all raided next door's lemon grove (just eating the grass, didn´t touch the trees). Julian had to give them a "bit of a talking to.

Jacob's Ridge is a vegan run, volunteer funded animal sanctuary near Murcia, Spain. To see how you can help with this incredible project visit our website: www.jacobsridge.com "

TJJZ88bRilw

(Julian is funny and very inventive, but the donkeys' expressions are simply hilarious....:ROFL:)