Yule Craft: a ritual solstice gathering

December 21 + 22, 2024 in North Saanich, W̱SÁNEĆ Peninsula, BC

Hide tanning. Intention setting. Animist folkways. 

Ritual craft immersion.

The longest night of the year was historically considered a “time out of time.” A moment when one year has died but a new one has not yet emerged. It’s a liminal precipice. What we make of these days feeds us for the rest of the year.

Take two days to furl in over the darkest weekend of the year. And celebrate Yule, the winter solstice, with hands-on craft.

Tan your own sheepskin rug or a white chamois cloth (all materials provided). Spend the evening in the sauna, at the bonfire, or walking the farm. Join us for a farm-to-table dinner Saturday.  Infuse your work with intentionality as we immerse in seasonal solstice practices + a traditional Nordic goal-setting solstice ritual.


Cost: $540 CAD ($385 USD)
Pay in one payment or three.

Join by clicking the button below.  Scroll  down for more details.

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CELEBRATE YOUR YEAR

AND MAKE SPACE FOR THE NEXT ONE

Friday, December 20

  • Those staying overnight can arrive anytime after 4pm on Friday

  • Dinner is BYO/make-do using the common farmhouse kitchen

  • Sauna opens in the evening

Saturday, December 21

  • Sauna opens early

  • Breakfast is BYO/make-do using the common farmhouse kitchen

  • Solstice Season Opening at 10am. Hot drinks and morning fire.

  • Hide tanning starts at 11am, closes around 3pm

  • Seasonal farm-sourced dinner provided

  • Solstice fire goal-setting ritual in evening

  • Actual Solstice astronomical moment: 1:19am Pacific Time

Sunday, December 22

  • Sauna opens early

  • Breakfast is BYO/make-do using the common farmhouse kitchen

  • Hide tanning starts at 11am, closes around 3pm

  • Closing at 4pm

  • Option to stay overnight Sunday night; check-out 10am Monday morning

Included in Yule Craft:

  • Materials + personalized instruction to
    tan a sheepskin

  • Farm-sourced dinner on Saturday night

  • Solstice goal-setting ritual

  • Unlimited sauna time

  • Camping on the land + shared accommodation

  • Take home your hand-tanned new sheepskin rug or chamois cloth

Tan your own sheepskin. With hides discarded from local farms, a waste product re-routed into the craft market. Hide tanning is sustainable, ethical, and necessary alternative to the commercial leather industry - and you get a high quality product that you make, with our guidance, to last a lifetime.

Sheepskin Rug

Sheepskin Chamois Cloth

Choose to make a woolly sheepskin rug for your sofa, pet, your feet under your desk, or your next camping trip

Or make a white sheepskin chamois, a linen-like cloth that melts in your hands + to use as an alter cloth, a wrap for instruments or special items, or material to cut + sew to make crafts from.

After joining, you’ll get an email to make your choice.

We’ve got a private sauna from the famous Wildwood Saunas.
With a cold plunge tub + our clean pond on the land for cooling off.

Solstice is a Season

December 21 is just the start.

On Saturday, partake in our traditional Nordic goal-setting ritual for the year ahead.

Bring your aspirations. Be ready to let go of the things that need to go.


Spend your Solstice time in craft, working with your hands, getting into an embodied flow state, letting go of your usual rhythms.

What your spot gets you…

Hide tanning workshop

  • value of $350

Farm to table dinner

  • value of $35

Unlimited sauna time

  • value of $100

Camping + shared lodging

  • value of $72

Solstice year-ahead ritual at the bonfire

  • make it count for you

Join us on the farm overnight

Paid Accommodation

There are a few private suites and rooms available for additional cost. Click the drop-down menu to see more details + book.

    • Private space

    • Queen bed and pull-out double bed sofa, sleeps up to four

    • Kitchenette

    • Composting toilet

    • Clawfoot tub

    • Access to the farmhouse indoor washroom

    • $140 CAD/night for two people

    • Book here

    • Private space

    • Double bed

    • Access to the farmhouse kitchen and indoor washroom

    • $100 CAD/night

    • 1 room left

    • Book here

included ACCOMMODATION

Camping on the land or staying indoors in one of our limited available spots is included in the cost of Yule Craft.

    • Winter camping on Vancouver Island can be rainy or more rarely, snowy

    • BYO tent/vehicle, bedding, and everything you need to stay cozy

    • You’ll have access to the farmhouse washroom and kitchen

    • RSVP Here.

    • Indoor shared spaces

    • A large room that can accommodate four people

    • BYO sleeping mat and bedding

    • You’ll have access to the farmhouse washroom and kitchen

    • Book one of four spots here.

Traditional hide tanning for contemporary life

Tanning hides builds strength + skill. We are healthier and more capable when we move through the same motions our ancestors did for millennia, giving us a level of resilience that feels easy.

We also build knowledge when we tan hides, which is less well-studied and often overlooked.

What happens when our outlook incorporates the more-than-human world? What happens when we go through our regular day with the knowledge of what came before us, how our infrastructure was seeded, and how the precursors to everyday materials are made?