How did Lightforce Sanctuary come to be? When I first bought the land that is Zfarm in early 2013, I knew I wanted to create an edible nature sanctuary. It was beautiful acreage, but without any infrastructure, it was a blank canvas to paint. And as its present-day steward I felt a duty to protect it. Biodynamic farming felt like the first step in the right direction. From what I discovered about combining the spiritual and physical aspects in cultivating the land I felt I could add something to the dialogue growing the healthiest food on the planet.
Walking around those first months, I was struck by the quiet. It appeared as though the land was asleep, but soon I noticed more signs of life appearing. Was it just that I was waking up to it, or was there a palpable difference in the living beings there? Either way, the birds and insects and animals and plants were sprouting up before my eyes. I felt an energy that was alive—a “lightforce,” so to speak.
My Dutch baker friend, Koen, helped me “dig in” to the land—he planted heritage grain derived from wild grasses from Germany in a rocky field. Then I planted garlic next to his crop. We both felt beautiful lightforce on the farm, most especially when we collected dewdrops at dawn on Ascension day. Each loaf of bread Koen bakes contains dewdrops distilled in spring water drawn there. (You can purchase Koen’s bread today at the Philmont Community Supported Bakery on Main Street in Philmont.)
It was challenging to create this working farm. With the help of an idealistic young farmer, we set about doing it. We ran electric from the road. I opted to put it underground to preserve our beautiful vistas. A well was drilled—a bit disappointing in its output at only 7 gallons per minute. Next, 3 acres of deer fencing were erected. Then, to help a young farmer who had lost his land, I let him use Zfarm’s and plant the fenced-in field. He expanded to planting 7 acres, taxing our slim water resources. I hurriedly had another well drilled, with little better result of 13 gallons per minute output. The water gods were not raining down on us! We then pumped water out of the spring-fed swim pond, which luckily refilled (one good thing!), during the drought of 2016 in Columbia County.
We also had some young Amish farmers put up a post-and-beam livestock barn for our first eight goats, and later Katahdin sheep, followed by 60 baby chicks to raise for fresh eggs. Lastly, a cold storage shed was built for washing and storing harvested produce.
This was a lot for the land to digest — all those different energies on the land were too much for it to handle. There began some dark times on Zfarm.
Enter the light force. Yes, it spoke to me. I would sit on the dock of the pond looking at the rays of sunlight as it danced on the surface and felt its energy. My dream of edible nature sanctuary would take a different turn. I decided to lease most of the farmland to a nearby organic farm owner and let his farmers take over running the day -to-day farm activity. This would leave me less burdened, only what would I then contribute to Zfarm?
Spending a day with my daughter at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshires in the summer of 2018, I came across a poster for a new program to become a Certified Mindful Outdoor Guide. That hit me like, well, a lightforce! I immediately applied and luckily was accepted. Just as 9 years ago when I discovered biodynamic farming, I was bowled over with what I was learning. Each day was a challenge, as we spent 10-12 hours exposed to the elements of wind, rain, snow and freezing temperatures. Yet, I never felt healthier in my life. Here I learned a vocabulary I had intuited, but not could express about nature. In the oldest hemlock stand in the Northeastern US, I learned a way to connect to the natural world and a symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth.
We began each day before daybreak at our base camp, with mindful breathing exercises and movements to loosen up tightness and cold in our bodies, then walked silently to sit -spots in the woods to watch dawn unfold. Sitting quietly I noticed the energy of daylight express itself in tiny imperceptible movements and then perceived ones. I discovered that the temperature in the air drops right at the moment of sunrise in the forest, before warming to the heat of the day. I learned to hear the wind before I felt it hit my face. I felt the trees give off energy when I touched them. I learned to birth a fire from a flint and steel- the way our early ancestors did. Striking a flint with steel, seeing the lightforce spark, then the fire catch as I blew into the tinder bundle, I felt a deep archetypal connection with the living earth. Then the pine needles and hemlock needles we foraged in the forest were gathered in a pot of water for a tea ceremony. I learned not to take nature’s bounty for granted, but to first ask the tree or plant for an offering, and give it something in return- a note of gratitude, a poem, a song, a mindful breath. And after making an infusion, the first cup of tea goes back to Mother Earth.
I was able to still the chatter of my mind, detach from the stresses of the everyday, and sink into a sublime beauty of the moment in Nature. All these elements go into a living relationship with the earth we inhabit. We seem to have lost our connection to the Earth today. But there is something inside each and every one of us. We only need bring it into our consciousness and awareness to harness it and its power.
We only need be mindful.
Come join a Mindful Outdoor Experience at Lightforce Sanctuary, take it home with you and spread it into the world! — Cathy Zises