A village with unique gifts to be shared, appreciated and honored

Courage is needed to slow down, re-member, and express our love for humanity through building an eco-village as our pathway to do this healing work collectively with the human and more than human worlds.

SOL Gratitude Village is learning village through the experience of building an eco-village and intentional community with the learning community, Through this integrative experience, the SOL eco-village invites community of families, adults, youth and elders to join us in this journey of experiential learning prioritizes sustainability, ecological responsibility, and social harmony.

SOL village's intention is to minimize the environmental impact while promoting a high quality of life for the villagers. SOL village embraced the principles of sustainable architecture and urban planning. This includes energy-efficient buildings, use of renewable energy sources like solar or wind power, water conservation measures, and waste reduction and recycling systems.

Permaculture and organic farming are also incorporated through permaculture principles and design to create sustainable food systems. This can include community gardens, orchards, and livestock management that prioritize ecological health and food sovereignty.

Tribal living emphasizes strong community bonds and cooperative living arrangements. Our villagers often share resources such as tools, vehicles, and communal spaces like kitchens or recreational areas. Our village rotates cooking duties and enjoy our communal dinner daily as a family.

In addition to environmental sustainability, SOL Village focuses on social and cultural well-being. This can include activities such as community events, educational programs, skill-sharing workshops, and fostering a sense of belonging and inclusivity among villagers and outside community.

SOL village is located on a 101-acre pristine wilderness land which allows the villagers to have a close connection to nature. This proximity to natural environments encourages outdoor activities, environmental stewardship, and appreciation for biodiversity.

At this building stage of development of SOL Gratitude Village, one of our emphases is to focus on education as our pillar and engage in outreach efforts to promote sustainability principles to the wider community. We are currently hosting a series of wilderness skills and farm building and engineering workshops to youth and adults, offering tours, works-stay and apprenticeships, and collaborating with schools and colleges on sustainability initiatives.

Sol Wilderness Rites of Passage

Traditional cultures around the world have used rites of passage as a way to support young people in transitioning into adulthood with purpose and confidence. Modern societies often lack these intentional rituals, leaving young people to navigate their development with limited guidance. Rites of passage help to mark the shift from childhood to adulthood in a supportive environment, helping young people understand their roles, values, and responsibilities within their community. Rites and Responsibilities is helping young people understand the responsibilities they carry as members of a community. Through the rite of passage, they learn about accountability, service, and the impact of their actions on others. This understanding of responsibility can foster a sense of purpose, encouraging young people to become proactive and engaged members of society who are aware of how their contributions support the whole.

Wilderness rites of passage are deeply transformative experiences that allow individuals, especially young people, to step out of their everyday environments and into the natural world, where they can encounter themselves and the world in new and profound ways. Here are some of the main reasons why the wilderness is such a powerful setting for rites of passage:

1. Connection to Nature and the Larger World

Reconnecting with the Earth: In today’s highly urbanized and digital society, many people, especially youth, are increasingly disconnected from nature. Wilderness rites of passage help participants reconnect with the Earth, allowing them to experience themselves as part of a larger ecological system. This connection often leads to a deeper sense of responsibility toward environmental stewardship and respect for life.
Grounding and Clarity: Nature has a way of grounding people, helping them strip away distractions and connect with their core selves. This often brings clarity and insight that is hard to find in the busyness of daily life.

2. A Sense of Challenge and Personal Growth

Leaving the Comfort Zone: The wilderness presents natural challenges that require individuals to rely on their own inner resources. The isolation, quiet, and unknown elements create conditions that help them confront fears, insecurities, and limiting beliefs. Overcoming these challenges cultivates resilience and confidence.
Learning Survival Skills: Being in nature teaches valuable survival skills and fosters self-reliance. It gives individuals a direct experience of their own resourcefulness, helping them trust themselves more and find strength they may not have known they had.

3. Psychological and Spiritual Transformation

Inner Reflection and Silence: The wilderness provides the silence needed for deep inner work. Without distractions, individuals are more likely to tune into their thoughts, emotions, and intuitions. This internal dialogue is central to the transformative nature of a rite of passage, helping them explore their identities, values, and purpose.
Symbolic Journey: Many wilderness rites of passage include a physical journey, such as a solo hike or vision quest. This journey mirrors the inner journey, allowing participants to symbolically leave behind their old identities and emerge with new insights about who they are and how they wish to live.

4. Direct Experience of Interdependence and Belonging

Learning from Nature’s Wisdom: Nature teaches through example, showing the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. It demonstrates the principles of interdependence, resilience, and adaptation. These lessons serve as metaphors for personal growth, showing participants that they are interconnected with all life and part of a larger whole.
Sense of Belonging: Being in nature fosters a sense of belonging that goes beyond societal definitions. It provides a space where individuals can find a sense of “home” in the wild, and many people find this sense of belonging healing, as it gives them a place and a purpose within the larger web of life.

5. Marking a Significant Life Transition

Honoring Life Stages: Rites of passage in the wilderness are powerful markers of life transitions, such as adolescence to adulthood, loss or grief, or any personal transition. These rites create a clear “before” and “after” point, which helps individuals acknowledge and integrate changes into their identities.
Community Recognition: Traditional rites of passage often end with a return to the community, where participants are celebrated and recognized in their new roles. This final stage of the rite is vital as it allows individuals to embody and be seen in their transformation. In a modern context, families and communities can also participate in this way, witnessing and celebrating the individual’s growth.

6. Creating a Lifelong Sense of Purpose and Responsibility

Fostering Purpose and Vision: The wilderness has long been a place where people seek clarity and vision for their lives. Many wilderness rites of passage include vision quests, solo time, or guided reflection to help participants discover or deepen their sense of purpose.
Responsibility to Self and Others: Wilderness rites of passage cultivate a sense of responsibility toward oneself, the community, and the environment. This experience encourages individuals to carry their insights and growth back into their lives, often feeling more aligned with their values and committed to acting in ways that benefit others.

7. Legacy and Cultural Continuity

Drawing from Indigenous Wisdom: Many indigenous cultures have long understood the power of nature-based rites of passage, and contemporary wilderness rites of passage often draw on this wisdom, respectfully adapted for modern participants. This practice serves as a bridge between ancient traditions and contemporary society, preserving and honoring cultural legacies while helping individuals connect with their own ancestry and cultural heritage.
Creating a Lasting Legacy: Those who experience wilderness rites of passage often go on to become mentors, guides, and supporters for others. This creates a ripple effect where each person’s growth and commitment to community enriches the lives of those around them, contributing to a culture that values and honors life transitions.

The wilderness provides a setting where people can connect with their deepest selves, nature, and their communities in profound ways. The experience often serves as a turning point, equipping individuals with insights, confidence, and purpose they carry into their lives, relationships, and communities.

@ Sol Village

Ritual . Community . Healing

"A ritual is a tribute to the human capacity to create, remember, and imagine, and to apply that imagination for the benefit of the community. One of the greatest barriers to memory and imagination is the lack of self-trust, for if you don't trust yourself to be involved in transforming that which needs to be changed, then you end up waiting for someone else to come along and do the work for you. This leads to a constant state of dependence on some external authority, when the means to achieving what you want sits within yourself. Ritual, community, and healing, these three are so intertwined in the indigenous world that to speak of one of them is to speak of them all.

Ritual, communally designed, helps the individual remember his or her purpose, and such remembering brings healing both to the individual and the community.

The community exists, in part, to safeguard the purpose of each person within it and to awaken the memory of that purpose by recognizing the unique gifts each individual brings to this world.

Healing comes when the individual remembers his or her identity - the purpose chosen in the world of ancestral wisdom and reconnects with the world of Spirit.

Human beings long for connection, and our sense of usefulness derives from the feeling of connectedness. When we are connected - to our purpose, to community around us, and to our spiritual wisdom - we are able to live and act with authentic effectiveness.

In order for ritual to manifest its full power, it must be connected to the world of nature, and to this topic we now turn. To attend to Spirit, for indigenous people, is to attend to the geography in which you find yourself. we must try, therefore, to understand the indigenous experiences of nature." Malidoma Patrice Some, The Healing Wisdom of Africa

We honor our ancestors, elders, youth and you. We hold the spirit of listening sacredly and embrace you to enter this courageous and loving space to express your full authentic and vulnerable self. What is your life purpose? Perhaps that has already been agreed between you and your ancestors and all you need is to re-member in a community in which you are held to rise and fall. Perhaps with the re-membering, you discover your true human potential through unwrapping the wounds and trauma gracefully so you can share your unique gifts. This is Sol is here for, to support your healing journey and to walk together fiercely, yet gracefully, to listen, to create, to share, and to serve.

At Sol, we hold gatherings, ecstatic dance, holistic healing workshops, retreats, ceremonies and rites of passage for youth and adults through the connection between the natural world and the awareness of our body and senses. We would love to welcome you to be a part of Sol. We look forward to having you! Connect with us and learn more.