Sanctuary Vision
N’dakinna land slopes south, where old growth Grandmother Cherry Tree welcomes you to a forested space for healing, reflection, connection, and community.
Tree roots caress portals and pockets of wonder, weaving through an open treescape into the lower depths of the woods.
Roots that deepen into a soil alive with the decay of mycelium networks, webs of wisdom offering and receiving in the dance of reciprocity.
Trees reach for the stars, the air flow is magnificent, breathing into the outstretched arms and branches of friendship.
Music of winged friends in the gardens, spreading joy over cultivated and wild medicines and beauty.
Mountains and hills surrounded with the gifts of clouds, sharing moisture to nourish trees and plants, spreading carpets of moss along the forest floor.
Sun’s brilliance shines rays and rainbows into a dome of light covering the open land and gleaming into hidden places where source water flows from springs in crevices below.
Being present upon the land at Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary invokes a sensation of awareness into one’s soul and emergence into the shared consciousness that exists among all living beings.
Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary Vision
More people are being called to experience Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary and EmpowR Transformation offerings.
We have learned that operating outside only in seasonal weather is not energetically or financially sustainable. The sanctuary is technically located at a private residence and land stewards and bank payers Rae Carter and Mitch Pauley are in an emergent process to find alternative ways of living that shift away from rugged individual lifestyle conditions of rural Vermont. The wealth gap continues to widen and more people are seeking refuge in Vermont, impacting who has access to land. Rae and Mitch are trying to find ways to share the resource and magic of the land they steward and to cultivate a communal care process to support manifesting a four season respite, retreat, and event space.
The Sanctuary Vision is to play one small part in the energetic patterning shifts for humanity and the planet, embodying the meaning behind “it takes a village.” Intentions for the vision are to shift from individual/one family line “ownership” of land to a communal care model of land stewardship that could lead to changes in “ownership”. These kinds of cultural shifts require physical, time, energetic, and resource labor to facilitate and Rae and Mitch are exploring community-centric principles for how to co-create and fund this vision.
Phase 1 is Complete!
Working with cost-effective ingenuity, Rae and Mitch transformed the inside of the house to include a small gathering space for up to 12 people. This new “Sanctuary Room” is the former master bedroom and includes indoor respite space and a location for EmpowR healing sessions. There is also an apothecary for growing the herb farm and a respite apartment with a small music studio.
Phase 2 is Underway…
This phase involves finishing the respite studio apartment, facilities for the Hemlock Fire Circle Campsite, turning an old chicken coop into a seasonal respite space, and beginning the Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary Plant Medicine Farm.
Phase 3 is Being Dreamed…
This is to scope and build an event venue, storage space, and small greenhouse attached to a garage. This phase also includes manifesting turning the shed into a tiny house and adding a stationary camper for additional respite and lodging options. This phase would also include the exploration of changing the current ownership structure depending on what kinds of relationships and dreams emerge in community.
Thank you for learning about what is being called in for Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary. In full transparency, Rae and Mitch have experienced physical and financial setbacks beginning in 2018 when Rae was diagnosed with cancer, navigated a challenging health crisis, and lost her income. Trying to build EmpowR Transformation over the course of the pandemic has not been financially viable or sustainable and has contributed to wealth gap challenges.
As housing market trends continue to present constrictions for people to access land and more people and organizations find value with respite and retreat time to heal and vision for building new systems and culture, Rae, Mitch and many in the EmpowR Community believe the sanctuary vision is the most aligned path given the different trends and energies at play. If you are reading this, will you please consider becoming a part of manifesting this vision?
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