Kimchi Rylander

Ancestor, Former Staff, and Faculty

Kimchi was a longtime member of Earthaven Ecovillage, one of SOIL’s most enthusastic faculty members, an artist, deep ecologist, radical feminist, permaculturalist, educator, and culture-changing activist. She envisioned a culture based on a partnership model of relating and a return to village life that embraces sanity and reverence for the sacredness of all life. “Building cultural topsoil” was a strong gift of Kimchi’s and wherever she went, she made allies and life-long friends.

In late 2015, Kimchi was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, a rare and aggressive cancer that metastasized into her bones and organs. She believed that her childhood exposures to toxic agricultural chemicals along with the general levels of pollutants found in all aspects of our modern life were factors in the development of her cancer.

Kimchi proactively and artfully created a conscious, ecstatic, and home-based dying process including ceremony, song, celebration, and a circle of loving friends who journeyed with her until the end. It was her sincere hope to delight in each moment along the way, culminating in a good death. With the help of hospice, the Center for End of Life Transitions, and a strong community, Kimchi was supported and held in love as she pioneered this beautiful path. She died in 2017 and is buried at Earthaven Ecovillage.