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Development and idea ancestral family land

The idea of the ancestral family land makes a valuable contribution to the development of a new consciousness in which man returns back to the natural order of creation.

Traces of this primordial knowledge can be found among descendants of many ancient peoples on all continents. It is a proven and crisis-proof form of living together in settlement communities and genuine neighborhoods, which takes into account the individual needs and talents of the individual and ensures a high degree of personal responsibility and freedom.

Many of these archetypes of the ancestral family land and settlements were described in a wonderful way in our time in the Russian series of books "The Ringing Cedars of Russia" by V. Megre.

The association Precious Soil has set itself the goal of supporting people who wish to establish a new existence on their own piece of land, about one hectare each, to maintain a sustainable and crisis-proof life.

The driving force for this arises from the realization that a rethinking and a return to the real roots must take place if we want to look forward to a joyful future full of good hope. A regional alliance of ancestral family lands has the added advantage of working together economically and collectively to support the stability and productivity of ancestral family land.

The way of life promoted by our association is well known to many people inside and outside of Hungary. Especially in Central European and Eastern European countries the tradition of livable gardens is still preserved.

For the Russians these places are called "dachas". Many of them spend the summer months there, working on their piece of land and providing themselves and their relatives with fresh fruit and vegetables. As well in the Hungarian villages many inhabitants still cultivate a kitchen garden, moreover in Hungary so-called “Pince” exist, which is a small house in the innumerable vineyards of Hungary, which the grandparent's generation still cultivated diligently.

The old tradition of self-sufficiency nowadays is being rediscovered by many townsmen, resulting in an unstoppable wave of people who feel the urge to live in the countryside again.

In the last decades, due to the revival of the ancestral family land idea, many such individual places and even complete ancestral family land settlements have been founded all over the world. The Russian situation provides us with an excellent example of this: There are now more than 450 ancestral family lands – among others as of the legal support given by the Russian constitution ensuring the ownership to every family in matters of their own one hectare sized ancestral family land in context to assist this way of life.

In Hungary individual ancestral family lands have been established throughout the country in the last 15-20 years, with a steadily increasing trend. During the last decade, there have also been well-known figures in Hungary who address the important role of ancestry family lands as a solution for our current crisis period in their interviews and presentations.
In recent years many of such life-stories have become known to the public through various social media releases resulting in even more individuals getting inspired in founding their own ancestral family land. Having insight into these life stories shows that building an ancestral family land had been a test of strength for many families over a period of several years, since the former townsmen had to relearn many traditional rural activities. Numerous families have the desire to implement this idea for themselves, but at the moment they do not yet see the way to do so.

The "mother association for the establishment of ancestral family lands" uses its full potential to help people get back into their gardens and accompanies them in the creation of community settlement structures.

The Ancestral family land alliance

The individual ancestral family lands act together as an alliance and are locally interconnected. The settlement-like structure of an alliance of ancestral family lands is also expressed in the commonly chosen term "kins domain settlement". Such a future ancestral family land alliance can consist of up to one hundred ancestral family lands.
The individual ancestral family lands are connected by walkable paths and each ancestral family land also has an access to a drivable road, if possible.

The development of the ancestral family land is a collaborative project of like-minded ancestral family land owners who have joined together to form an alliance – the "Ancestral family land alliance". Each individual contributes to it to the best of his or her knowledge and ability, at his or her own pace. All members of the Ancestral family land alliance move in the same direction, e.g., each member is responsible to arrange itself and its environment to its own – and thus to the largest well-being of all. Each ancestral family land, together with its inhabitants, is accepted and respected as a party developing at its own pace and defining its needs independently.

Each ancestral family land thus defines the rules for its own hectare by itself.

The inhabitants of the defined habitat manage themselves; decisions are made collectively for the benefit of all.

The residents support each other with their individual skills and knowledge. Here families live harmoniously for and with each other over generations and take pleasure in observing their individual and common creation. Depending on the needs of the individual members, there may be shared land, for example, as pasture, as meeting places for festivals, etc., or the construction of shared buildings, such as a community house, healing center, a visitor center, or a store for the exchange and sale of surplus products.

In general, certain foods, such as crops and grazing animals, can be grown, or kept, communally if the members so decide. Intergenerational learning sites for lifelong learning can be established and managed together.

Noise-intensive trades such as the smithy or the sawmill can also be outsourced to communal areas. In this way, the settlement infrastructure is created, maintained and financed autonomously and collectively.

On formerly fallow, overgrown areas, partly exploited by extensive agriculture, paradise gardens are created by the measures described above, which offer living, working and living space to many people. An immeasurable biodiversity develops through many kilometers of living fences created in a variety of ways, consisting of trees and shrubs in colorful, mostly edible diversity.

Many ponds, wetlands and water retention areas, mixed forests and orchards provide habitat and nesting sites, food sources and shelter for countless animals. A stable ecological system is created, which is self-sustaining and self-renewing. The planting of trees has a long-term effect on climate regulation, it protects against soil erosion and creates space for rare or endangered animal and plant species. Water retention areas balance the water requirements for humans, plants and animals.

In this way, we create a feasible and sustainable rural living model for generations of people, which can be adopted in almost all parts of the world. A living environment is created in which children experience a life of abundance from the moment of conception and can thus fully and undisturbed develop their creative abilities for society's benefit.

The ancestral family land alliance promotes a sustainable economic structure and the emergence of diverse fields of work. In addition, it contributes to a durable and crisis-proof supply of the settlers and the surrounding villagers.

The ancestral family land

The ancestral family land provides the livelihood for a family for generations:

An ancestral family land has the size of about 1 hectare = 10.000m². Each family is responsible for their own property. This living & creative space nourishes body, mind and soul in a natural and sustainable way for generations.

The individual plots are surrounded by a living fence of trees and shrubs in colorful diversity. It gives us fruits, nuts, firewood and building material. The living fence provides food source, nesting place & shelter for animals. The great advantage of this living fence is that it gets denser and better over the years.

Drivable paths run between each property. Adjacent neighbors are commonly responsible for maintaining these paths.

One third or more of the land area consists of mixed forest. The unfolding balance of plants regulates the water table, provides a natural soil climate and healthy air to breathe. The trees store water and convert solar energy into oxygen and wood. This creates a natural forest, interspersed with paths and individual clearings, in the middle of which a pleasant habitat for people and animals is formed.

On every ancestral family land there are one or more natural or constructed water areas, fountains and/or springs. They give the best quality water for plants, animals and people. Compost toilets and living plant roots transform excreta into valuable humus fertilizer.

The ancestral family land represents an edible garden – vegetables, herbs, berry bushes and fruit trees ensure food diversity for each family in a high-quality way. Surplus crops can be exchanged, traded or given away.

Farm animals are kept and treated in a species-appropriate and loving way. Following their natural destiny, they help us in many areas of life.

House and subsidiary buildings consist as far as possible of natural materials provided from its very own close environment.

The natural variety of colors, shapes and fragrances in the plant kingdom awakens the creative powers of the inhabitants of the ancestral family land. This automatically leads to the desire to create one's own space into a harmonious picture in as many different ways as possible, like a painter with a blank canvas in front of him.
The combination of mixed forest and water area offers countless different animal and plant species a home on the ancestral family land. Through this diversity symbiotic connections develops moreover animals and plants grow together into a single ecological organism with its own micro climate, which naturally protects against extreme weather conditions.
A tall hedge of diverse trees and shrubs protects the ancestral family land from cold winds and associated frost and storm damage. Deep-rooted deciduous trees raise the water table through the capillary action of their roots. A larger natural pond also protects against extremes – in times of drought it waters its surroundings and in winter it serves as a heat reservoir and also protects against damaging frosts. In combination with a constructed wetland, the pond also fulfills other functions. Thus, every person living on an ancestral family land automatically makes a not inconsiderable contribution to a healthy earth.

Why is an ancestral family land one acre in size?

The ancestral family land represents an information field: Due to the fact that the human being deals with his land over the years, cherishes it with love and joy, interactions arise between the people living on it and the plant and animal beings. These interactions function according to the resonance principle, according to the motto: "What you sow, you will reap" - all love giving into his land by man returning back by his land to the same extent. In this way, a space of love is created, which supports its inhabitants in their refinement and offers them protection from the outside. A too large piece of land makes it impossible to hold the space; foreign influences can penetrate more easily. A much larger area does not make one freer; it makes it more difficult to work the land, which is mainly done by hand, and its maintenance becomes confusing.

Of course, a pure self-sufficiency can also be implemented on much smaller areas, so that an independently functioning ecosystem with its own micro climate can develop, it needs however a certain land area – for this, among other things, a certain area of mixed forest and a larger pond is needed and also an appropriate biodiversity needs its place.

Furthermore, smaller plots of land are lacking of space for development of mind, also sufficient possibilities for individually designed secluded places for each family member, where creativity and creative power can freely unfold, are important.

The whole ancestral family land as living space is recognized as a "house". This paradigm shift goes far beyond the usual idea of just four walls around us. Thus, all areas of the property are considered equal living space.

Space of love

The human being on its ancestral family land strives to create a space of love, for himself and his descendants – a space worth living in, in which all inhabitants feel happy and at home and carry it on with equal appreciation for the generations to come.
In this way, a viable and livable sacred livelihood in harmony with creation is established for the family over generations; the inhabitants thus continuously ensoul their space of love, which yet is ensouled by nature anyway.
In this way, the ancestral family land forms a unity of people, plants, animals and entities, which offers protection, security and love to all inhabitants within this space. We humans actively design this space and take on the great responsibility of satisfying the needs of all inhabitants as well as balancing all the existing energies and bringing them into harmony. Love being part of every single action we perform on the land and for the land, gets back with the same extent towards us – we take care of our land and our land takes care of us.

The ancestral family land – the advantages

On the ancestral family land old traditions are combined meaningful with new technologies. A family lives on it – family is considered the most original form of living with and for each other. It is the basic element of society. From the smallest unit of the individual human being and his family this idea offers solutions over the settlement communities and the state up to the global order of our mother earth. The idea of the ancestral family land includes everyone – people of all ages, religions and skin colors can create their ancestral family land if they feel the desire to do so. "Family" here means the entire community of members living now, as well as the ancestors and descendants. Thus, even an individual is always part of a family. The ancestral family land here creates the connection between the individual generations. It is designed in such a way that our children and grandchildren still want to continue and improve it, while at the same time a reconnection to the ancestors can be established. Thus, a very intimate connection to the land with its plants and the animals living on it itself is created. This concerns the spiritual as well as the biological-secular aspects.

All this happens out of joy and not primarily for reasons of accumulating money and wealth. Happiness and real wealth are achieved rather through joyful creation and sharing one's creation with others than through accumulation of possessions. A good bond with fellow human beings is created where the community is doing well. Everyone involved lives his or her individuality for the highest good of all. The family and settlement structure offers the best possible support and development opportunities for children as independent and free-thinking people who respect nature and life.

The idea of the ancestral family land naturally includes all currently living family members, so we are talking about a multigenerational life model. In this way, the retirement provisions of the older family members are secured, while the younger ones benefit from the wisdom and life experience of the grandparents. The daily work on the ancestral family land gives all family members meaningful tasks and offers a life in dignity until the highest age. Necessary state financial support for the accommodation and care of old people in homes can be saved. The today unfortunately omnipresent problems such as Burnout illnesses, work stress and/or unemployment and social welfare neediness can be prevented with the work on the ancestral family land performed by joy and a feeling for meaningful doing for itself and the own family. The nutrient-rich food grown with love on the ancestral family land also benefits the urban population, as surpluses can be given away. This has a variety of positive effects – the most important: the health of the population improves – healthy people are generally happier and also more efficient, the demand for really healthy food increases when its consumers literally experience the added value of this food first hand. On the one hand, this increasing demand financially secures the gardeners on their ancestral family lands, and on the other hand, it can lead to a paradigm shift – the self-experienced health improvement through healthy food awakens in more and more people the desire to establish ancestral family lands themselves.

The ancestral family land at a glance

Vision of the ancestral family land:

Each family lives on +/- one acre of land (10,000 sq. m.)

A "living fence" of shrubs and trees surrounds the hectare

At least one third of the land consists of forest

A constructed pond for bathing, for animals and plants, has a balancing effect on the micro climate

Vegetable and herb garden, nut and fruit trees, as well as berry bushes contribute a large contribution to the supply of the residents

The buildings are constructed from the most natural materials possible

several ancestral family lands join together to form a settlement, the individual lands are separated by paths

Multilingualism and cultural diversity

Even though families of Hungarian origin will make up the majority of the settlement community, it can be assumed that people from various predominantly Western European countries will also join the community, particularly in our special situation. With establishment of the ancestral family land alliance, it is expected that people from various countries will intent to join. We see the cultures and languages they bring with them as a valuable asset and multilingualism as an enrichment.
To enable a quick and good settling in of such foreign-languaged foreigners, we see the willingness to learn Hungarian language as necessary. In order to integrate multilingualism well into the life of the settlement, voluntary language courses in the languages of the settlers are a useful addition.

A family ancestral family land as an integral nature reserve

With our work we want to create a nature reserve with the people as an equal part in the Nemes region*. All living beings have their destiny according to the plan of creation – this is true for plants and animals as well as for human beings. In the emerging nature reserve, all people living here will become guardians of the region and support the animals and the plants in order to achieve the best possible development together. The Nemes region becomes the first nature reserve in which people also live on an equal footing and responsibly guard the space according to the example of ancient cultures.
By building up humus, creating wind barriers in the form of hedges and forests, establishing vegetation over a wide area and avoiding soil compaction and plowing, creating water retention areas and thus increasing biodiversity, the region is given the opportunity to regenerate completely.

* The term “Nemes Region” is a creation of the association members, as all our already existing ancestral family lands are located within an area consisting of villages with “nemes” as root word in the names. The Hungarian “nemes” equals the English “precious”.

Integration into the region

Beyond the already mentioned benefits of the ancestral family land for people and nature, the region also benefits from its existence:

The skills and activities of the settlers moving in lead to further development & infrastructural provision. The demand for certain regional products, especially high-quality food, increases significantly. Among other things, this creates new opportunities, cooperation and sales markets in regional agriculture.

The desire for a healthy lifestyle automatically leads to a change in thinking. The awareness for environmental protection – the interaction with the nature surrounding us and its flora and fauna – can develop more and more, so many gardens are maintained or newly founded

The increasing attractiveness of the region attracts new community members to the villages, at the same time it reduces the exodus of people to the cities. In medium term it even enables a significant increase in income.

The demand for accommodation in the close neighborhood, such as guest rooms or pensions for visitors and interested people is increasing. The provision of such offers creates and opens up new markets and sustainable economic perspectives. In addition, completely new areas of work are being created, such as compost and humus processing on a larger scale, in order to help all the gardens in the region get back to fertile and healthy soil.

The offer of cultural activities such as music, dance and art automatically increases with the influx of new families and the lively life on an ancestral family land

Reforestation and increase of biodiversity on ancestral family lands makes the region a recreational area with people at its center.

The family lands of the surrounding communities experiences an increase in value.

The region also benefits in land improvement, for example through lakes and an increasing biodiversity.

Infrastructure and building yard

In an ancestral family land settlement, basic services are incurred, such as the construction of paths. In addition, it makes sense to acquire certain goods collectively and to distribute and use them within the settlement framework. For this reason, the establishment of a small construction yard an well as further infrastructure is envisioned:

Construction vehicles, construction machinery and construction materials for community use.

Mobile sawmill for the basic supply of building materials

The waste disposal can be organized and bundled

A postal address and a means of accepting packages at a central location

Materials for the construction and maintenance of shared energy and water networks, if needed

The supply of electricity (public grid/self-sufficient power supply) depends on the geographical conditions and the decision of each individual ancestral family land.

The supply of drinking water through communal wells is, as far as feasible, reasonable and will be striven for.

Roads should be avoided as much as possible. Each ancestral family land should have the right of access to the family land boundary whenever possible. Necessary roads will be constructed and maintained collectively.

Support of the settlers and the community

In the early years - besides establishing their own ancestral family lands - settlers should be able to focus on building a strong community and commonly build the necessary infrastructure in an efficient way. Planning services necessary for this are provided in advance and materials are purchased in bundled form. New settlement candidates are given the opportunity to become involved in the planning process at an early stage.

Local experience with official and other necessary structural issues is collected and shared among the settlers. This simplifies official procedures (registration, motor vehicles, etc...).

Living expenses

The settlement is not an independent cosmos, but among other things also part of the regional economy. All settlers are responsible for their own expenses, but a rethinking of how to earn a living allows the development of alternative livelihood strategies, such as:

work in the home office (e.g. internet, engineer, graphic designer)

working in the center for natural healing (e.g. alkaline applications)

individualised offers (e.g. time out for stressed managers)

offers in individual tourism (e.g. vacation with high experience share "vacation on the farm")

seminar offers (e.g. clay building course, cooking courses, community building courses)

Self-sufficiency

Experience shows that achieving a complete self-sufficiency is very challenging for one family. The range of needs is also subject to great individual differences. This is where one of the great advantages of a settlement opens up – self-sufficiency based on division of labor: In addition to gainful employment, settlers engage in numerous tasks according to individual interest and ability, which they can trade among themselves. They are then able to efficiently provide services beyond their own needs in one or more areas. Gainful employment and self-sufficiency based on the division of labor make it possible to live in prosperity with a high level of regional provision.

Specializations in the division of labor self-sufficiency may be found, for example, in the areas of fabric and wood processing, herbalism and gardening, and food processing, animal husbandry and preparation of resulting products, all building trades, and in the area of languages and the arts.

Community & Sovereignty

Already during the application process and in the trial phase, the self-responsible action of the settlement candidates is valued with high importance, because a strong community is characterized by the union of strong and self-responsible people. Each new family should also be able to support itself financially.

In planning the settlement, the association uses innovative models of self-organization and sociocratic decision-making. These include models such as Ubuntu and a protected space for conflict resolution.

Each member of the settlement strives to take full responsibility for his or her own actions and being, and to perfect himself or herself on his or her own individual path towards becoming a sovereign human being. Consequently, also in the construction and design of our future living spaces, a radical rethinking is required in the way we implement our common creation.

Sociocratic decision-making*, non-violent communication** and UBUNTU*** are some terms that represent focal points and will very much shape our work.

Basic values such as transparency, equal value of all participants (equal eye level), acceptance of different points of view, a positive error culture, as well as fairness and equitable balance in give and take – real humanity, are part of our work.

Our decision-making takes place on the basis of arguments that are based on a joint decision (consensus). Since each individual contributes to the decision-making process, this results in creative solutions and a strong identification and motivation in the joint work and creation.

* Word origin:
Socius = companion, comrade, ally, crony, member.
Krat(e)ia = power, dominion, force, strength.

** Nonviolent Communication is a concept of action developed by Marshall B. Rosenberg with the goal of developing human relationships in such a way that those involved spontaneously and willingly contribute to each other's well-being. The basic prerequisite for this is voluntariness.

*** "A European explorer offered a game to hungry children of an African tribe. He placed a basket of sweet fruit by a tree and told them whoever got there first would win all the fruit. When he gave them the signal to start, they took each other's hands and ran off together, then sat down together and enjoyed the treats. When he asked them why they all ran together when everyone had a chance to win the fruit for themselves, they said, "Ubuntu – How can one of us be happy when all the others are sad?" Ubuntu in their culture means, "I am because we are."

Legal / principles & foundation process of a future ancestral family land settlement

Mother Association Precious Soil

The association is the superior legal body for the implementation of the individual projects and measures. However, decisions within an individual settlement are made autonomously and independently of the mother association by the settlement council of the corresponding settlement.

The association promotes and supports the emerging settlement in its development, but the settlement should, as soon as it is able to do so, manage itself and establish a suitable legal body.

Settlement Council (Council of Twelve)

The settlement council is the superior committee of the settlement and is even superior to the General Assembly. All families are part of the Settlement Council on a timely rotational basis in order to incorporate the ideas of each ancestral family land. It consists initially of at least 5 people (current founding group) to a maximum of twelve people. Maximum two of them from the age of 14 (mental maturity of the adolescent assumed by the family and accepted by the settlement council in consensus). The aim is to have one adolescent girl and one boy each on the council. An equal proportion of male and female is to be ensured. Remaining in the council is per person in terms of time limited to 6 months. It depends on the availability of a replacement and can therefore be extended accordingly. After expiration of the council membership the council seat is to be filled again. Each ancestral family land may then register an eligible human for the election as a council successor. Any individual aged 14 years or older who has been a permanent resident of the settlement for at least 12 months and its last council membership has passed at least 12 month is an eligible candidate. The retiring councilor is to be replaced preferably by candidates of the same sex and in the case of young people (14-17 years) also of the same age. In case of more eligible candidates at the same time, the public lot shall decide before every one`s eyes of the Settlement Council. In the event of illness or absence of a councilor, he or she shall be replaced by the last member to leave the council. Consensus based decisions of the settlement council are to aimed in each and every case.

General assembly

Every resident of the settlement is invited to the general assembly. The general assembly takes place once in six months. The settlement council can also invite to extraordinary general assembly meetings. Any resident is entitled to request an extraordinary general assembly meeting. The resident may then speak before the settlement council. The admission to the settlement of new families must be decided within the framework of the general assembly meeting on a consensus basis. The decision-making authority in this matter is the Settlement Council, but each resident must be heard upon request. The decision to include new families to the settlement must always be positively voted by all council members (consensus). Before the taking place of a general assembly meeting the Settlement Council decides which both important and the settlement affecting matters are to be topic to the meeting.

Panel of wise

This council has the function to prevent the Settlement Council from making too quick or rash decisions due to its life and settlement experience. It has a one-time right to veto any decision made by the Settlement Council. For this purpose, one veto by any member of the Panel of wise is sufficient. If the Settlement Council should come to the same conclusion when re-making the decision, the Panel of Wise does not have the right to veto this decision again. A new decision of the Council of the Settlement may only be made after a re-thinking-time of at least 48 hours. The Panel of wise may be present at meetings of the Settlement Council, but shall not have the right to vote. People are elected to the council of wise men by the general assembly. An appointment of a wise man or woman requires 100% acceptance by the general assembly.

Composition of the settlers

We pay attention to a balanced and reasonable composition of the future settlers. Interviews with the settlement council in advance via the Internet (e.g. Zoom) and later on personally in the settlement region are obligatory. One hectare of land per settlement is kept free for children from orphanages.

After a successful application, new families initially move into a trial plot of land the size of a quarter of an acre (2500sqm) for 12 months. They will not build a permanent house here, but live in mobile houses, yurts or larger garden houses. They can use the garden to grow and harvest their own fruits and vegetables. Of course, the applying family may also take care of their own needs, but the goal of the first year is to get to know each other and work together. To this end, the family should actively participate in community projects and neighborhood assistance. This is helpful to the settlement council, after consulting the general assembly, to decide about the allocation of land to each family after the probation period.

Allocation of land

After the trial year, the family may choose one hectare of land and it will be allocated to them. If several families choose the same hectare at the same time, the settlement council decides on the basis of presented plans for the land by the corresponding families. As the last option, the lot decides on its allocation. This hectare is given to the family for four more years for its own orientation phase. The first 5 years the settlement council holds options to dissolve the lease.

Transfer of the hectare – legal framework

At the end of five years, the family that has already been active within the settlement for the last five years and has also revived its own ancestral family land in the last few years, will receive the lifetime right of use and hereditary right of transfer of the chosen hectare. The most suitable legal framework for this purpose shall and will be chosen.

Abandonment of the ancestral family land

If a family wishes to give up its ancestral family land and return its right of use, this is possible at any time. The money paid in remains with the association. Individual investments in theancestral family land are offset by the new owner selected by the Settlement Council. The selection of the new candidate is the solely responsibility of the Settlement Council and the General Assembly according to the rules for the admission of new families.

Activities of the Association and the Hungarian Farmer

The association is the necessary legal entity as an interface with offices, commercial enterprises, sponsors, associations, etc. According to the current legal framework, the association is not authorized to acquire agricultural land in Hungary. However, a registered Hungarian farmer is legalized to take ownership of up to 300 acres of land. Considering the current legal situation, a farmer belonging to the association, can as a start purchase the settlement land. The aim of a subsequent legal examination is to find ways to convert the land bought by the Hungarian farmer into the assets of the association.

The settlement is association land in the sense of the association law and is exclusively available to association members as a permanent place to live. Every member of the association recognizes this by agreeing to the statutes of the association. In case of termination of the association membership by the association, the right of the housing possibility on the association area expires. After granting the life-long and hereditary right of use (after 5 years), all members of the ancestral family land become irrevocable and life-long honorary members of the Association. The same applies to their descendants of all future generations.