Infancy stage of a non-monogamous intentional permaculture community N. Central Mass.

Christopher Kyprianos wrote:Many thanks to the great support folks here. They were able to update the thread title. I am optimistically curious to see if this improves the volume and tone of the responses.

Oddly enough since the title change the thread has quieted down. Nonetheless, I want to thank those who shared in 2014 and invite all to share their feeling about how to proceed in 2015.

This past year's veggie and flower gardens were a huge success. The herb gardens did fantastic too. Was able to begin canning, making jams, sauces, relishes and more. Share them with many friends and have a pantry that is fairly well stocked with the winter.

Best to all and well wishes for a safe, healthy and successful new year!

Peace, out...

Christopher

I just found this thread looking for something related to Morehouse, but I thought I'd give it a bump, and also a suggestion--change the title to "Have Land, Will Community-ize, Poly-friendly/Open-minded Only" or something like that. Not "infancy" but "have land need people"-- there's plenty of people wanting to leave the city and find a cleaner life closer to nature/their food supply, and many who would also be open to questioning mono normative assumptions about relationships. Having land already puts things way, way beyond the "infancy" stage, so you might want to emphasize that. (I mean, there are plenty of infant communities that are in the phase of talking, and nowhere near manifesting a tenth of an acre.)

You could offer people to buy an acre with some kind of land trust agreement. In other words, you can live there, you can re-sell to someone else who wants to live there, but you can't develop it for profit/sell it to a developer. I don't know if contracts like that exist, but that would be an easy way to attract people, and of course you can meet them and get a sense of whether they're really about communal living or just looking for cheap land. You could post on Craigslist "land for sale for community-minded, poly-friendly people" and get a lot of responses, I imagine.

Lastly, my personal feeling, having lived in a Morehouse, I'd feel safer in another Morehouse than going somewhere that doesn't have a long history of and experience with handling issues such as power dynamics, STD's, and happiness. Morehouse was tough at times, occasionally really really sucked, but frequently was sublimely awesome and it had a lot of experience to back it up. Starting a community means encountering different views, as you've already seen on this thread, and there can be a lot of unexpected challenges. 99% of communes ended in the first few months in the 60's; taking a page from one that's lasted for a few decades is a smart move. Actually, now that I think of it, I'd suggest visiting a bunch of different communities to get a feel for what the people are like there, that would be a great way to proceed from where you are now.

Maybe I'll start my own thread so I don't hijack this one, but if you ever have a change of mind on the Morehouse thing I'd be interested. I want to live in a Morehouse in the Northeast and grow food in a permaculture. Born in Massachusetts and feel at home here. Plus according to Google Images we're clearly the most beautiful state!

I worry that when I say permaculture, people will say " oh that's the sin full stuff right" media will pick this sort of thing if we ever get mainstream or if it looks like we might have a case......I caution against allowing those who will talk such a good case against permaculture, in media/politics guilty by association still works.

As far as I'm concerned, your deal is yours mine is mine, I just know that the strategy of how we show the world permaculture needs to be protective of the whole, if we have a chance with the mainstream society.

Hi Joshua,

Thanks for piping in.

Can you give me more information on Morehouse? I would like to check into what they offer.

I have been to a few intentional communities in Mass. and have spoke with many people about both poly living and community living. Yes, I agree that there are challenges in starting up a new community, but that is something I am willing to undertake. I would not be interested in cutting up the property and selling off pieces. That is not the style of community I am proposing. Are you aware of Sirius Community, http://www.siriuscommunity.org/. I have been there many times for a variety of reason and like the general style of how they operate. I also like there main co-housing structure. This is very similar to the model I would like to pursue. I might be interested in living there for a bit, but the main obstacle for me is that it is not near other things I already have some commitments to, thus it is important for me to work with what I have.

I do appreciate your speaking up and sharing your ideas. If you would like to come out for a visit and some conversation feel free to touch base.

Kind regards,

Christopher

Hi all,

This thread is a bit old, but I live/work within a poly oriented ecovillage in washington state, the Windward community

For reference, Windward has been around in one form or another since the 70's, but moved onto this land in '87-88. we're on 120 acres

at the heart of the community is a core of long-term commited members that we call the "line-family". or "The Line" for short.

The Line is a poly fidelitous relationship, which means that we all have an interconnected, interdependent alliegience to one another and the big picture work that we are doing as it relates to creating a working model of a self-reliant village in deep country - which includes large scale permaculture for our dry/cold region, practical renewable energy systems, a natural burial cemetery, as well as the social practices of cooperative community living, and the legal container within which we function.

The Line- as a social structure we have created/ are creating - is intended to provide for the continuity of knowledge, land, capital, values and vision from generation to generation within the context of a network of mutually supportive intimate relationship. "Intimate" in a variety of ways, including sexuality.

How humans love and relate to one another on an intimate level is one of many important aspects that needs to be examined as we work toward creating a "sustainable" or just plain sensible culture. I think it behooves us all to take a look at any and all of those ideas and practices which we accept as "natural" or "normal" within society. Monogamy is just one more aspect which can be examined.

My thought is that monogamy and family-lines seem to be significantly hindering to inter-generational accumulation of knowledge and resources which is at the heart of building a culture that can think and act on the timescales that ecosystems require.

From my personal experience, when I live and work and depend on many people being out on the land it is hard not to love them all. Sexuality and intimacy seems a natural part of the love unfolding. ---trying not to sound too esoteric or woo-woo, but it's my living experience day to day.

Anywho, thought I would pop in and say "Hi!" and let you know that their are communities out their which are doing what you are desiring to do. Happy to answer any questions which you might as well.

I grew up in a community, that seems to me, to be as dysfunctionally monogamist as it's possible to be. It seems to me, to be very unnatural for primates to act like that.

A few years ago, I began consciously building and hanging out with a poly-amorous community, which isn't necessarily the same as a poly-sexual community. I think of our community as like a troop of monkeys. Working together. Grooming each other. Touching. Playing together. Singing. Dancing. I have really enjoyed claiming and exploring the social-primate animal part of my nature. I grow food and take it to the city park with me on Saturday mornings. Social primates that love great food know that I'll be there, and they seek me out. We touch: Sometimes a hug, sometimes a caress on the cheek, sometimes bumping shoulders, sometimes carrying a child, or shaking hands, other times putting a grape in someones mouth, or peeling a garlic for someone and daring them to eat it. There is music. Sometimes we dance. Good, wholesome, loving, and intimate affection. Even the most rigidly-monogamist members of the community could participate in this sort of poly-amory, if they would.

Taking a cue from Daniel Quinn's notion of "leavers" and "takers", I guess I tend to see the poly- versus mono-amorous issues as being ones subsumed within the larger notions of poly- versus mono-"life". Monoamory tends to be coupled with mono-theism and mono-culture....and more associated with the "taker" cultures. Poly-cultures tend to be associated with poly-theism and greater diversity...the "leaver" cultures... and this included acceptance of *polyamory*. I only place that term between asterisks here because the notion of "amorous" as a construct will be quite different between cultures: The Western romantic tradition of the mono "soulmate" being one rather bizarre manifestation that probably should not be overlaid onto those leaver cultures that practice, to a greater or lesser extent, some form of *polyamory*.

I believe that this is very fertile ground for conversation.

In relation to what I mentioned above, and to link in these social dimensions into a permaculture framework, it strikes me as odd that sooo many permaculturists are really only thinking in terms of their own lifetime while they are also simultaneously building systems which could/should last for many many generations.

Making a food forest is a multigenerational endeavour and many people do not treat the social aspects of long-term stewardship with the same fervor as the establishing the system.

One of the issues that seems to plague "alternative" cultures within america is that they do not maintain the continuity of vision, values, and capital from one generation to another. This is the primary reason why we are trying to create a line-family or intergenerational group marriage context to move the community and it's collective cultural presence into the future with a high level of continuity. I believe that the poly-fidelity piece is almost redundant to say as it is implied in the fact that we are a line-family.

Moving deeper into the poly-fidelity piece, there is also a very natural sharing of love, romance and sexual energy between people and at the same time there is a cultural container within which this is all happening. It is not "free love" or what not. It is more about intentionally cultivating our erotic relationships in a manner which is in service to the whole "culture" or the whole enterprise we are engaging in. We use ship metaphors alot, and I could say that we use our love sex and intimacy to ensure the integrity of the "hull" of our community "ship". The hull has economic pieces, physical and infrastructure pieces, technological pieces, emotional and social pieces, legal pieces, etc.

The basic orientation is a move away from love sex and intimacy being a decisive force in community (or simply human) affairs.Energies which do not work in harmony with the flows of energy within the human ecosystem.

Instead, we are endeavouring to find ways and develop social structures within which we live our lives that "capture and store" that erotic energy and put it to productive purposes. Much in the same way that permaculturists capture and store water, wind, solar energy or soil fertility.

Yay! This sounds awesome and I love that you're focused on the long view, and working with flows rather than attempting to suppress the river.

Is this vision still alive? Greenfire Barnstead NH.

Question---is your place suitable for poly families with members who work off site--specifically are you located within a do-able commute to Boston?

Thomas Bruce Shearer wrote:Is this vision still alive? Greenfire Barnstead NH.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Having been checking in to often.

Yes, the vision is still alive though unfortunately I haven't met any more people that share it. This past year the gardens did well and lots of canning resulted. Now working off site to build an indoor hydroponic farm in a warehouse i have about 7 miles from this site. That has been consuming my time this year.

If you are interested in talking more about it let me know and we can connect to share some ideas.

susan vita wrote:Question---is your place suitable for poly families with members who work off site--specifically are you located within a do-able commute to Boston?

As just noted, sorry for teh delay in replying.

There is no housing on site at this point. I have not been able to find others that share the vision who are willing to invest the time and energy to get this off the ground.

It is about an hour ride to Boston, depending on the time of day you are driving in. If you drove about 10 miles you can pick up teh commuter train which take you in so that is a great option too.

Just in case anyone wants to still reach me I can be found at cckyps@gmail.com now...

hello
John here,....
I am very interested in learning more about your community and think I may have much to offer,... 4178465445 is my number, or manofyah789@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you
thank you