Via Lactea Sanctuary

Via Lactea Sanctuary is open to new members who wish to deepen diverse practices of Earth-centered Spirituality while farming in community. We are an agricultural community, spiritual education center, and retreat space organized as a 508 (c)(1)(a) non-profit, tax exempt FBO and Member Association. Current members (3 permanent full-time adults, and two part-time) live and homestead on and off-the-grid within a beautiful NY State Forest. We work in close connection to our waters, soils, forests, plant, animal and beyond-human-allies. We are currently seeking prospective Land Care Community Members who will tend (and work to regenerate) 84 acres of mixed forest and agricultural land, learn and share practices of Earth-centered spirituality, celebrate the Wheel of the Year, tend dairy cows, make dairy products (butter, yogurt, cheese etc.) and provide support in hosting trainings, events and healing retreats, especially for front-lines activists. We are especially interested in providing young or potential families with a place to produce nutrient-dense food, to homeschool their children, and to teach simple, Earth-centered living, all of which our founding family has done for 16 years. There is currently housing available (small, private rustic yurt and currently grid-tied large old farm-house) for two small families or up to six individuals (including possible partners). While we are currently seeking prospective permanent Land Care Community Members, we envision a community including a mixture of long term homesteaders/subsistence farmers, short-term apprentices and visiting retreatants. Core Values Subsistence is resistance. We liberate ourselves by working for the liberation of all beings. Heart-centered, Self-led connection with each other, the land, human and more-than-human communities. Shared values connect us. We hold the Earth as sacred, and we hold our work on/with the land as a form of worship, prayer and/or meditation. We encourage Earth-centered spiritual practices such as ancestral connection, recovery of individual and cultural lineage-derived spiritual technologies, and Earth-based healing practices. Core self-organizing agreements: 1) we use ADVICE PROCESS to consult with those who will be impacted by a decision; 2) we commit to an established CONFLICT RESOLUTION process; and 3) we seek regular practice in providing and receiving FEEDBACK. With time, we are working toward integrating INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS-based Self-leadership into our community practice toolkit. We center consent and bodily sovereignty. We hold war as a fundamental tool of oppression, identify as an anti-militarism member organization, and work for peace on all levels of society-not just the absence of war. People of color and all gender/sexual orientations are welcome here and we commit to being in a continual process of examining and dismantling our racism, privilege and cultural biases.