Commerce & Conservation
Stewardship Through reciprocity
““We have been given the intellectual vision, the spiritual insight, and even the physical resources we need for carrying out the transition that is demanded of these times, a transition from the period when humans were a disruptive force on the planet Earth to the period when humans become Present to Earth in a manner that is mutually enhancing.””
Conservation Initiatives
Individuals at SMS have worked since 2010 to conserve farmland and forests in the Hominy Valley, to promote regenerative and biodynamic farming practices and to revive sacred relationships with the wildness and vitality of our Appalachian Mountains. In 2023, Sacred Mountain Sanctuary was recognized and awarded by Buncombe County for its “exemplary dedication to the preservation of the landscape in Buncombe County” and contributions to regenerative land stewardship and agriculture.
All SMS lands are protected by a collective commitment to uphold stewardship covenants that honor the vitality of SMS lands and prescribe careful, regenerative tending by all who inhabit its fields, forests, and farms. SMS is honored to steward 115 acres of land known as Young Pisgah Mountain, conserved in 2020 through a perpetual conservation easement created in partnership with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
In 2013, SMS also made significant contributions and encouraged Buncombe County and local conservation organizations to fund an agricultural conservation easement that protected a 120 acres known as Long Mountain Bald. In 2017, SMS protected 3 acres adjacent to Long Mountain Bald from high-end development, through a voluntary agreement to receive this land and encumber it with a conservation deed that set the land aside for Agriculture and prohibited development.
Sacred Mountain Water
Sacred Mountain Sanctuary is the fountainhead of at least 9 pristine springs that feed and nourish the waterways of the surrounding Hominy Valley, and beyond. Water is a primary, vitalizing force that supports all life on Earth, and thus, reverence for water is fundamental to human wellbeing. Our relationship with water informs and inspires all aspects of commerce in the Sanctuary- giving, receiving, and generating the resources that potentiate our efforts and allow us to continue our work in education, conservation, and regenerative stewardship practices.
3 hares Farm
Sacred Mountain Sanctuary’s 3 Hares Farm, and surrounding wilderness, are repositories of wild and cultivated medicinal and food botanicals, and both wild and domesticated animals. Biodynamic agriculture has been an established practice of presence to the land since the beginning of the Sacred Mountain Sanctuary impulse. Working with the indications of Rudolph Steiner, Hugo Erbe and our own durational presence to the Sanctuary’s vital forces, we’ve devoted ourselves to uplifting the vibrancy of human-nature relationships through our work with soil, water, plants, animals and the numinous beings of Natura’s realm. Recognizing the importance of vibrant relationships between humankind and Natura, we engage in established and newly emergent practices that nourish both the visible and numinous realms of our Living Earth and Cosmos, and consequently our own vitality.
Bountiful Bakery & Teahouse
The Bountiful Bakery & Teahouse impulse arose from a stream of Agricultural wisdom that acknowledges the vitality of grains and their transmutation into bread - a substance that historically follows great leaps in culture and the evolution of human consciousness. Bountiful visionaries have co-imagined the creation of a teahouse & bakery, alongside a water mill that will process grain that is grown by 3 Hares Farm and utilize its biodynamic vegetables and fruits to craft simple, seasonal meals for guests of Sacred Mountain Sanctuary or participants in its programs. We also envision that this business will provide educational internships and service opportunities for students & young adults. Currently in Development- check back for updates.
