Sacred Lands - New & Updates

News - May 2010

Beltaine - May, 2010
Well, we made it through another winter, and although there has not been a lot of progress on the web site, we have been moving right along with the land. The rabbits and chickens are well established, and we are getting about a dozen eggs per day (any and all egg-based recipes would be appreciated).

This will be a major growth year for us in many ways. By far the best news is that we have three new people (Luke, Sage and their son Cian) coming to live on the land with us for the "year-and-a-day" trial period, though things are looking quite good for them becoming permenant members of the community next year. We have known them for some time, and things seem to finally have come together to make this happen, so we are all very excited.

The next major event taking place will be the donation of the 104 acres (where we are currently living) to Sacred Lands. We're not sure of the specific date yet since there are a lot of legal things to go through, but it will likely be this year.

And finally, we have a great deal of building going on, including Kit's cabin, Alex & Kerowyn's first floor, wood shed/work shop, barn, bath house, and of course the cabin for the new people. It sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that two of these structures are outbuildings and two are partially completed. In a pinch, the bath house can be delayed until next year if we run out of time and money.

Speaking of which, we will be ramping up our fundraising this year to help put together a community building which will serve as a public face for Sacred Lands, as well as offering facilities for residents and guests alike. Check back often for more information as it develops.

In the meantime, here are the folks coming to live with us:

Luke

Sage

Cian

Genius

Old News

Beltaine - May, 2009
We held our first Beltaine fire on May 1st. It was a quiet, private ceremony, though we intend to hold more public and not so quiet celebrations in the near furture.

We have started to plant our gardens and prepare areas for pigs, rabbits and chickens.

There have been quite a few moose visiting us, as well as rabbits, hawks, frogs and coyotes.

All in all, things are going quite well as we get settled in. We are looking forward to reaching out to others who would like to share in our vision, so if you feel the call, now is the time to contact us.

Winter's Cold - February, 2009
Well, we have made it through the coldest part of the winter, and all is well. As is mentioned in the Events section, we have started hosting monthly discussion groups at the Caribou Public Library in Caribou, Maine.

This gathering could be called a "salon," the original definition being:
"A salon is a gathering of stimulating people of quality under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation and readings, often consciously following Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, 'to please and educate' ('aut delectare aut prodesse est')."

The exact form will develop as time goes on, but we will likely discuss issues important to Sacred Lands such as simple living, community, sustainability, primal skills, practical crafts, esoteric ideas, current events and anything else that comes up. We will sometimes have structured discussion, but others will be quite informal.

We will also be discussing plans for upcoming Sacred Lands events, ideas for fund raising, and the overall direction of our organization and community.

Please note that this is meant to be an enjoyable, relaxed evening of inspirational and meaningful conversation that will, at the same time, facilitate tangible action.

In the meantime, you can learn more about what's happening by visiting the Sacred Lands Discussion Grou p.

Sacred Lands has Land! - October 2nd, 2008
We have found and purchased 104 acres in New Sweden, Maine. It is a beautiful, wooded piece of land just north of Caribou, with a well in place. There are many moose, coyotes, dragonflies, frogs and all sorts of other flora and fauna.

We have started construction on our yurt platform where my wife, daughter and I will be living, and all is going well. We are currently camping there, though we should be living in the yurt by the middle of October.

I will post a link to pictures soon. In the meantime, you can learn more about what's happening by visiting the Sacred Lands Discussion Grou p.

Sacred Lands Officially Tax Exempt - January 13st, 2008
Sacred Lands has finally (after years of toil and piles of paperwork) received tax exempt status as a nonprofit organization.

Still Looking for Land - September 27th, 2007
The search for land is still a long and difficult one, and it continues to offer us the greatest opportunity to learn the lesson of patience. That being said, we are determined that this year we will buy the land we need to build our community. At this time, we are focusing our attention in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, though of course we are open to any possibilities that might reveal themselves. Anyone out there who has any information about a large amount of inexpensive land in the north eastern United States should contact us immediately.

We have our Employer ID Number - January 31st, 2007
The first step in solidifying our tax exempt status is complete. Now we just need to send in form 1023, and we are good to go. Actually, we're good to go now, but filing the form will help us to avoid any annoying entanglements.

Sacred Lands is now a church! - January 1st, 2007
Yes, after much debate and consideration, Sacred Lands is now officially a church. Specifically, we are a congregation of the Universal Life Church, and are therefore tax exempt under the law. We came to this decision first and foremost because at our core, we have always been a very spiritual organization, and after exploring the pros and cons, we realized that as a church, our work could be accomplished more effectively.

We will post more details about the organization as we have time.

The Sacred Lands website is updated?! - January 1st, 2007
Yes, this is also true. After a year of focusing on other projects, we have begun to update and reorganize our website -- largely because of our change in status from an educational non-profit to a church. In addition to re-writing some of our content, we will be posting our new church articles and related public information as soon as it becomes available.

We have a new discussion forum. - January 1st, 2007
For some time we have operated a mail-based discussion list, but it has not done so well over the past year, so we have created a new online forum that will (hopefully) take care of many of the difficulties we were experiencing with the old system. You can check it out HERE. Please join in the discussions and let us know what you think.