Eutierria: a
positive feeling of oneness with the earth and its life forces where the
boundaries between self and the rest of nature are obliterated and a deep sense
of peace and connectedness pervades consciousness. (eu =good, tierra = earth,
ia = suffix for member of a group of {positive psychoterratic} conditions). [Albrecht
2010] (Pronounced: You tee air ia)
In contrast, to ecoanxiety, ecoparalysis and global dread, when the human-nature relationship is spontaneous and mutually enriching (symbiotic) we experience a state of ‘eutierria’. As indicated above, I define eutierria as a positive feeling of oneness with the earth and its life forces. Eutierria now exists as an alternative to what has previously been described within religious and spiritual writings as “that oceanic feeling”. This feeling is one where the boundaries between self and the rest of nature are obliterated and a deep sense of peace and connectedness pervades consciousness. As indicated above, I have always had a strong affinity with the land (terra) so for me, it has always been “that earthly feeling” that best captured an emotion or state of being that I would now like to call eutierria.
Alexander von Humboldt described this experience thus:
Nature can be so soothing to
the tormented mind, a blue sky, the glittering surface of lake water, the green
foliage of trees may be your solace. In such company it is even possible to
forget the reality of one’s personal existence. It lends wings to our feelings
and thoughts. (von Humboldt 1829: Letter to brother, in Von Humboldt
1995:xliii)
