ThunderPhoto by: Earthfire


AUG 3 2005 022

Jean Simpson, my partner and a wild animal trainer, founded Earthfire Institute with me in 2000 to give sanctuary and voice to the wild ones. Named after a passionate wolf with an urge to protect the vulnerable, Earthfire is located on forty acres near the base of the Grand Teton Mountains, on the Wyoming-Idaho border. It is home to bears, wolves, cougars, lynx, bison, and other wildlife native to the Rocky Mountains who can never be set free for various reasons. Our animals come from fur farms and roadside zoos; they are orphaned wild babies, captive pets who could no longer be kept, or deformed or “undesirable” animals. Because they can never be set free, these animals live their whole lives with us. During the day, they play in specially constructed gardens; at night, they rest in private enclosures that protect them. We give them the best available medical care, both Western and alternative, and we are constantly seeking new ways to help them. In caring for them and living with them, our lives, hearts, and minds intertwine, and we are all immeasurably enriched. Each animal is a distinct being, with a soul and a passion to live.

After much thought about how best to help the animals’ voices be heard by more people, Jean and I began to offer retreats in which people are able to experience the animals. They see them, hear them, feel them, and make a connection with them. The animals’ reactions and the humans’ experiences continually astound me. We all grow and are changed and enriched—blown away, in fact. Somehow we have created the conditions for a sacred space in which humans and wild animals meet, and the communion between them occurs on its own, quite beyond my understanding.

by Susan Eirich, Ph.D.

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