Colorful illustration of a vegetable garden with the text 'The Island Almanac' surrounded by a sun, tomato, carrot, lettuce, flower, and a small solar panel.


“We weave ideas, scribe forward, align with life and create connection.”
— Dr Demeter | Emily Samuels-Ballantyne

Covering topics on Foundational Economics, Convivial Governance, Anthroposophic Philosophy & Everyday Regeneration in Tasmania

Overview
The Island Almanac is a living compendium of stories, tools and place-based examples that weave together foundational economics, anthroposophic wisdom and the rhythms of everyday life. Rooted in the soils of Tasmania and flowering from Magical Farm Tasmania. Across its pages you’ll find:

  • Practical essays on redirecting public and private wealth into community resilience

  • Anthroposophical reflections on seasonal rhythms, ritual and soul-led innovation

  • Tasmanian case studies from coastal hamlets to mountain valleys

  • Project spotlights on island-wide initiatives, from seed libraries to solar co-ops.

    Living Architecture: A dynamic framework of interconnected practices, food, housing, energy, governance, culture, activism and economics that grows, adapts and breathes like an ecosystem, rather than standing as static policy or infrastructure. These seven pillars form the Living Architecture of Regen Era Design Studio & The Island Almanac: integrating heart, head & hands to power a truly regenerative future.

    1. Food, Plants and Planets

    2. Housing and Natural Building

    3. Energy

    4. Community Life, Learning & Culture

    5. Sacred Activism

    6. Convivial Governance

    7. Regenerative Economic Design.

Wildflowers growing in a field with a backdrop of trees and a partly cloudy sky.
Emily Samuels-Ballantyne Emily Samuels-Ballantyne

Born From the Ashes: A Scorpio New Moon Reflection on Origins & Becoming

This Scorpio New Moon brought a revelation that quietly rearranged the inside of my life. I have always known I was born in ‘that village’ during Ash Wednesday. The stories of fire and vigilance were part of the atmosphere I grew up in, like a mythos that lived in the soil. I was a child who watched the sky, who tightened inside when the wind swung around, who wanted us to leave early on fire-danger days. That instinct lived within me… One major reason is because I was always aware that 18 CFA firefighters died only one kilometre from where I grew up, taken by the Ash Wednesday firestorm. And soon after, another truth surfaced: I was conceived just two months later, in a landscape still smoking, grieving, and trying to regrow itself.

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