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This week Adytum, (www.adytumsanctuary.com) has the great pleasure of hosting Philip Folsom and Leo VanWarmerdam from Santa Monica, CA. Philip is co partner in www.fulcrumadventures.com, and Leo works with him in this international adventure company that has trained over a half a million people with the goal of realizing their full potential. What a worthwhile career… who wouldn’t want to wake up and put a smile on a face and a spring in a step every day, knowing the investments made in the human spirit live on and affect other lives as well.

Philip and Leo are in Mossyrock this week doing a group team building training focusing on adults who work with kids in the after school program. This particular program is specifically targeted for the children who may not be enrolled in after school sports, but they also serve those that are. So many of us just weren’t sports minded…but we would have grown tremendously in self esteem, discipline, self determination and confidence through the experiences Fulcrum Adventures charts out. I’d be willing to say hands down it would have changed the course of my young life had I had this program available.

Philip and Leo are two fun loving guys, with quick witted humor, a casual and relaxed style, and exude fitness, confidence and an “I can do anything” attitude themselves. They are walking examples for the “Do, Risk, Grow” which is Fulcrum Adventure’s motto – an invitation to cultivate potential greatness within by meeting challenges head on- and they supply the helmets- literally.

How do they accomplish it? The idea is to use the challenges they present to realize full potential. We are all so much greater than we believe, and they prove it to us through conquering high rope courses, rock wall climbing and the invitation to take the leap of faith off an outrageously tall phone pole, grabbing life by the horns with white knuckles clinging for dear life to a trapeze bar. At some point, evidentially you think, “Bring it on!” You’re completely transformed…They’re not just fostering adrenalin junkies but fueling people with indomitable confidence and empowerment that will transform their whole lives…

They don’t stop short with their far reaching vision; they’re out to impact the whole world by transforming and expanding the potential of everyone they train which in turn affects the entire planet. If you caught the run up on gold this year, you know how awesome it feels to pull off a winning investment. Imagine repeating that feeling every day with kids, adults…anyone who breaks through and discovers the true reality; that we are powerful beyond measure…making those kinds of investments – aiding in self enrichment in others – are how I imagine they’d spend their dying hour.

We were invited to join in support of this wonderful program when other leaders from the program came to Adytum with Philip and Leo for a tour. Donn and I met two members of the National Guard, Timothy Allan Brown and Le’Juan O’bryan. The National Guard partners with Fulcrum Adventures for the after school program. Erin Riffe, Director of Afterschool and Summer Programs for Educational Service District #113, as well as Miss Washington, Jacquie Brown. Jacquie has as her focus “youth mentoring”. Erin and Jacquie had many ideas for Adytum including fund raising events hosted here and at our suggestion, exposing kids to fine art of which Adytum has a small, museum quality collection. Also receiving actual classes and talks with artists who visit Adytum.

Check out the gallery link on www.fulcrumadventures.com to get a sense of the work they do, some in the form of games. Other types of training provide wilderness skills, increased in mental strength and self determination. Since our character is the only thing we’re taking with us when we end our time on earth, making self investments to increase character makes perfect sense. They are here to help.

They use the BOLD method which creates team synergy through integration of different leadership styles. Who doesn’t need that? “Plays well with others” is a nice statement at any age. Figuring out where you fit into that equation is nothing short of a gift. A short behavior assessment is followed by “facilitated experiential activities”- a nice way of saying get ready to confront some fear – that is if the ropes challenge course is on the agenda. These exercises allow participants to discover the strengths and challenges of their own leadership style as well as how to partner with team members of different styles to create a high performing organization. Their work takes different forms. One way is to work with heights…ropes…trapeze bars…zip lines…think of all the tightrope, high wire amazing Circ Du Soliel acts and then visualize yourself doing them- and loving it- once you realized it was in you all along, anyway! Other methods are games from the Crate that enlarge those who participate.

At Adytum, when they see our giant fir trees, they are thinking “zip line opportunity!” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that from other adventurous souls. Our retreat acreage is just the kind they create high rope courses on to take participants to the edge of their comfort zone…then beyond. In the strangest way, it dovetails so perfectly with Adytum’s desire to bring healing, peace and wholeness at deep levels although I’m not sure our insurance agent would be excited to hear it…Philip and Leo go right to the source to create wholeness: the mind and emotions, working their transformative magic. The mind is the center of true health, wellness and wholeness. They are psychologists, psychiatrists and healers of another order…get rid of the obstacles and the real self will emerge in all its glory and wholeness.

Adytum keeps evolving in ways we never foresaw. Like the visit last year from Napa, California renowned Impressionist artist Don Hatfield (www.hatfieldfineart.com) Don has a disc golf course on his 15 acres and people come from all over to use it. He got us so excited about it when he was here doing a photo shoot for a commissioned painting that we stocked up on discs for our alpine course. Not only did Don leave his amazing impressionist paintings for everyone to enjoy in the house, but left his commitment to creating relaxed playfulness around exercise with the disc golf. He is one of the possible guest artists that will support the program by holding workshops at Adytum when his busy schedule permits.

Philip and Leo found the discs on the Orion Courtyard, alongside some Bocce balls. Apparently their adventure doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. They were playing bocce ball in the moonlight…on unfamiliar hillside terrain with sharp drop offs. The next night was disc golf over 16 acres before coming in to invent new games for the program until well after midnight.

It makes me so exceptionally happy to see the visions I have for life here at Adytum coming into reality. I love to create space for others to enjoy, creating different vignettes and scenarios and then watching the “actors”- in this case Leo and Philip- enter the stage and go for it, laughing and playing, sucking the marrow out of life like Thoreau said. They caught the spirit- the sense of retreat, relaxation and play- that we know as a vital aspect of this sacred space; the attitudes that foster the creation of wholeness, inside and out.

We’ll see about the ropes course, zip line and fitness course they suggested; bringing more play and personal “metal testing” for personal growth to our mountain. They have shared how much they’ve enjoyed what we’ve created here, and we now possess a new sense of how Adytum lands can to evolve to expand human potential and build character. Maybe we can rope them in (no pun intended) to coming on a regular basis, holding retreats designed to enlarge the human spirit by facing our fear and personality obstacles.

Each guest of Adytum brings valuable gifts that increase and expand the spirit, build health and wholeness in the mind. They come as guests needing a place to stay for a few nights, but Adytum is never the same when each one leaves a bit of their special interests, talents and desires for future development imprinted on this house and land. We all benefit from these investments. We hope you check out these amazing programs Philip and Leo facilitate. Since our businesses aren’t large enough to fall under their group teaching, we plan to look them up when we’re in Southern California next month and try it as a couple.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

“Philip and Leo were both amazing, and we had wonderful time learning from their devotion to make the world a better place. I know personally I will use the training I received to make the Mossyrock Jumpstart Program a better success! Our program does reach out to all students, even those in sports. We have many students who attend after their practice is over.” Jamie Wilkinson

The annual Mossyrock Blueberry Festival (www.mossyrockfestivals.com)was yesterday, August 7, and nearby Pan American Berry Farm (212 Klickitat Creek Road) was packed with tourists loading up on their annual supply of blueberries. We buy between 80-100 pounds every year, enjoying some fresh and freezing the rest for our daily protein shakes. Though the festival is over, Pan American will remain open until Labor Day if you want to get some.

As I stood in line waiting to get another 40 pounds of blueberries, I heard snippets of conversation….”they say blueberries are one of the best things you can eat for health…” From my Nutritional Therapy background, it is soul satisfying to see people interested in securing their part of the blueberry harvest and securing greater health at the same time.

Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants and even prevent urinary tract infections like cranberries do. They are excellent brain food too, “Earlier research suggests that oxidative stress may be a factor in age-related loss of brain function. So, we fed antioxidant-rich blueberries to aged lab rats in one study and to mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in another and found improvement in memory function and motor skills in both…” James A. Joseph, PhD.

It’s interesting to note that blueberries are a rich source of the trace mineral manganese which helps in tendon control. I did a nutritional therapy consult Friday at our optometry office; Medical Vision Center in Morton, with a woman in her early 60’s who had ptosis. Ptosis is when the eyelid droops, obscuring the vision. A drooping eyelid acts as an early warning indicator that tendons are losing integrity in the whole body which can lead to ankle sprains and even tinnitus when the tiny bones of the ear are affected with weakening of tendon control.

Blueberry consumption to increase manganese is part of her answer. She was also advised to take a Complete Mineral Supplement like the one we carry at the office from Designs for Health(www.designsforhealth.com.

We had guests for breakfast Saturday at Adytum who enjoyed dairy free/gluten free pancakes from the Bob’s Red Mill mix topped with blueberry compote fresh from the fields in the valley below. Those fields will turn the loveliest russet color soon so if you want blueberries, come before Labor Day when Pan American closes for the season.

I made an interesting compote starting with blueberries, water and cornstarch to thicken, then adding cinnamon, Mexican chocolate and orange peel shaved thin with a microplane. My husband pronounced it, “Awesome…off the charts”. I added honey also purchased from Pan American. It was the best compote I’ve created yet and everyone loved it on the pancakes. One guest was an adorable six year old little ballerina who sat beside me and pronounced breakfast “really good”. I felt good feeding her healthy, gourmet food instead of the traditional white bleached flour pancake and fake syrup disaster.

Some interesting variations on the pancakes are adding blue corn meal and then topping the compote with pan toasted crushed hazelnuts and more fresh blueberries. We get our hazelnuts from Freddy Guy’s(www.freddyguys.com) in Portland at the Saturday Market. This is another stocked item at Adytum. We freeze 80 pounds last year and enjoy them all year long. The increase in health benefits from these two additions alone is outstanding.

Mossyrock is the quintessential “best kept secret”. When I lived in Olympia for 25 years, I ventured out to Mossyrock once…I didn’t even know it was there until I did…but that seems to be changing. The Blueberry Festival also had a car and quilt show, along with live music. The next festival we’re looking forward to is the Mayfield Lake Summer Tunes! Late Summer. Jazz. Wine. Sunshine…at Mayfield Lake, Saturday, September 12.(www.summertunes.org) More people are discovering that Mossyrock is a beautiful mountain town at the foot of the Cascades, rich in natural beauty and of course, blueberries.

The DeGoedes Bulb farm(www.degoedebulb.com)is located here too. Judging from the crowded parking lot yesterday, evidently there are as many gardeners as blueberry lovers. Since Pan American Berry Farm is just 20 minutes east on Highway 12 from I-5, it’s a fun day trip, for those that aren’t staying at Adytum (www.adytumsanctuary.com)to come out and get your blueberries and something for the garden too.

Adytum began in 1995 as a spiritual dream. It began with a relationship that was spiritual in its inception. We fell in love spiritually before we did intellectually or physically…Before that, there was desire. Desire for Adytum, the dream that was growing in each of us before we knew each other. Adytum has roots outside space and time. Just as our lives were coalescing into a soul mated oneness with incredible speed once we met (a whole other story in itself with God’s fingerprints all over it), so this sacred space was already planned and determined by God.

I wanted to live in a spa setting, a healing retreat, and share it with other like minded individuals. Donn wanted a soiree; a meeting of other great minds. Both of us wanted a spiritual retreat. It was our individual dreams…and now apparently our shared dream.

We discovered this early on in our relationship as we talked late into the night one April in my living room at Rosebriar. It was so astonishing to discover that we both wanted the same thing…and we were strangers just months before. In many ways, this shared dream brought us together – that and our shared spiritual journey -and it has taken 16 years to materialize it and all the faith we had and more.

Donn married into a full household, three children and a five acre hobby farm with horses and a large organic garden close to the Capitol Forest. Between leaving the world of personal training and assisting in teaching the Diet and Exercise class at Tumwater Valley in Olympia, Washington, I began to work with Donn learning to manage Medical Vision Center in Morton – about an hour and fifteen minutes away. We commuted ten solid years, while raising my children and growing in our spiritual life. I had asked God before Donn came into my world for “a man I could work shoulder to shoulder with, serving the Lord.” My prayers were being answered on multiple fronts.

When my children were raised, I promised to move closer to our practice. I was so bonded to Rosebriar, the little farm and wasn’t sure that promise was really for sure. I hoped we would just stay. But I was true to my word and strangely, God allowed me to keep Rosebriar and it has never sold… We settled on a five acre parcel overlooking Lake Mayfield, and both the Cowlitz and Tilton Rivers which flow into Mayfield. To the south, we see the DeGoedes Bulb Farm and the blueberry fields now owned by Pan American Farms but for years they were privately owned. And lovely farms, valleys, and mountain ranges all around…I can see for miles and miles and miles.

I never dreamed when I asked God, back at Rosebriar while doing the dishes one day and looking back to the end of our land to “enlarge my boundaries”that Adytum would be the result. I had no idea about the “Jabez” book either that was telling others to ask that. I just knew in my heart I had to see farther…more. I became like the sight hound, the Borzoi, I owned…it was necessary to see far for her. And so it was for me too.

The day we decided on this life at Adytum in Mossyrock, we stood on a stump trying to imagine what the view would be like. Evidently we were shown this very parcel of land once before and turned it down…God must have been in angst that we were missing it yet again…strangely…miraculously no house had ever been built on this land. Only the Cowlitz tribe had passed over her back…The owner hadn’t opened up the view to the lake the first time we saw it, and all we saw was a very hard road in and a closed off forest of alder, Big Leaf Maple and Grand and Douglas Fir. Nothing worth moving for. Or so we thought.

This time, God sent in the heavenly troops. I had been reading Bullinger’s “Number in Scripture” and was familiarizing myself with Biblical numerology, the significance of numbers in scripture. First two huge raptors flew in. To this day, I’m not sure what they were. Then another two. When they started circling over our heads, this caught our attention. Then another two and another two until there were eight all flying in a circle over Donn, Paul the realtor and myself… As we stood overlooking the lovely Lake Mayfield, still indecisive for some reason unbeknownst to me at this moment…we realized that a clear omen was being presented. You see, in Biblical numerology the number eight is the number of new beginnings. And we signed on the dotted line, at full asking price, for our new beginning here on this land.

So this is how it all began. One day I will tell you how God began to provide financially for building the Castle Adytum. We never called it that but it seems everyone else does. And so perhaps it is with her stone walls, her three turrets and spires thrusting up into the sky on the hill overlooking Mossyrock.

Suffice it say, we are living daily in “the realm of all possibility”, as Emily Dickinson would say. It is a world of life by faith, calling down miracles and creating means out of thin air. It is practice for heaven where our word (and here…) is a creative force and we are co-creators with God. We have received provision for the next phase over and over again when all resources were exhausted. We have received strength to go on when that went by the wayside as well…

Building Adytum, then building Adytum into a Retreat to share with others has been the biggest step toward the life of faith we could have ever imagined. It is simply so far beyond us, and our original vision, that we know it is of God and therefore, God continues to finish what He started back in 1995 with our shared dream.

We are learning to dream big, to “go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is”, as Frank Skully once said, and to “never, never, never, never, never give up” as Winston Churchill admonished, no matter how impossible the dream seems and how worn thin we become.

We had the realtor return to Adytum who sold us the land. Paul said, “Some people talk about their dreams. You two are honestly the only people I’ve ever known who actually accomplished them…”

Well Paul, it was all God. If it were us, we’d be woefully embarrassed. We’d have the frame of a castle and nothing more. God took our “green-ness” into account and made provision for that too. Not only did He provide financially, but He has proven to be full of grace and an unusually great sense of humor while our lessons are being administered.

Creating Adytum for many to share has also entailed creating a depth of spirit in each of us that we never dreamed of. Hillary Clinton said, “It takes a village to raise a child”. Well, it takes all of heaven’s angels and God Himself to build the Castle Adytum. And He isn’t done yet. Day by day we turn in dependence upon His grace and mercy to meet the next round of expenses and pay the faithful workmen He sends.

Consequently, the halls of Adytum, the very walls have absorbed countless prayers as has the soil of the land where prayers are laid down with each footprint…our walking meditations asking day by day for what we need to complete this enormous four year project.

People who come never, ever fail to comment on the great peace that rests on Adytum and her lands. Those that are spiritual and those that are not all feel it. You will feel it too. Adytum, if you didn’t know, means “sanctuary” in Greek. But it isn’t a sanctuary like one might think. It is the sanctuary entered into without a door…the sanctuary of the human heart where God resides if we let Him…the sanctuary where we commune, fellowship and sup with Him as friend and Lover. The sanctuary that remains regardless of any outward circumstance…

Rumi, great Persian poet and mystic from the 1200’s said he could be walking through a baking hot desert with his camel but in reality be “in a garden communing with the Friend”….he understood the sanctuary, the Adytum within…it is no place, it is the Reality in each of us.

It is now June 2010 and Adytum is nearly complete. It is actually sixteen years since the first night Donn and I sat in my humble Rosebriar house in Olympia, sharing our mutual dream of living in a spa, sharing it with others as healing retreat, and enjoying the great meeting of the minds with our guests. We know that God is already drawing those to this sacred space who will come to be blessed, and also bless us in return. It has begun to happen…and it is immensely, intensely gratifying to us both…

We are still living as though in “the heavenlies”, practicing His presence moment by moment…living in the secret Kingdom where our faith and our words create out of thin air, literally. We live there symbolically, but literally too as Adytum and her turrets and spires are thrust up into the atmosphere…the sky is our home like the birds of the air…the upper canopy of ancient, tall trees that have been long on the earth our view…the inspired music we fill our home’s walls with lifts us further into the 4th dimension and we know without a doubt that we live with angels here….

Adytum will begin her second round of “soft openings” Memorial Day weekend. We weren’t planning to officially open until some additional projects were completed and things were “perfect”, but events transpired that accelerated everything. Namely, people want to experience what we’ve created here not caring if things were quite ready yet–so ready or not- we will enjoy the awesome season together, and keep working and as we go along.

Somewhere along the way, the house seems to have become a driving force in her own right. It sounds strange, but the Adytum house and the lands all seem to be conspiring to bring opening day about. Having worked on novels, this is the same phenomenon I’ve observed when I cease to drive the story forward and the characters themselves take off and create their own reality.

Most people remark that they feel Adytum herself extends a huge welcome and draws like minded individuals here who love the spectacular natural beauty, appreciate the spiritual life and nature while respecting the integrity of the land. . Luxuriously appointed suites, fine art and sculpture, romance and indulgences….magnificent natural beauty viewed through this house of glass….this is Adytum within.

Adytum will always be a work in progress, the work of a lifetime. While the Star of the North Suite, The Orion Suite and First Light have largely fulfilled the romantic and spirit nurturing visions we have for them- encompassing every extravagance, the 15 ¾ acres will always be evolving. We and our staff are committed to doing the work by hand, forgoing chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, carving walking and meditation paths out of dense, thorny brush and supplanting weeds with natives.

Soon trails will be marked and a walking labyrinth achieved as we connect all the paths and trails. One day the gardens around the house will be maintenance free…meantime, we have made peace living on the edge of wildness in the Pacific Northwest. We’re learning to enjoy the nettles and dandelions in ways we never dreamed possible….gastronomically…

Starting the morning with a walk in the woods overlooking the lake and valley is sumptuous in the extravagant privacy of the land. The air is full of birdsong, croaking frogs, the wind in the ancient Fir and Maple, and the air is fresh and clean…Inside the main house, classical music or smooth jazz plays softly. Suites are IPod/I Phone ready for your own music selections. WiFi…

Celebrating the spectacular sunsets at days’ end in the library or in the hot tub with a glass of wine is an honored ritual at Adytum. In suite couples massages can usually be arranged to extend the deep relaxation. Nights are simply extravagant here. With the absence of light pollution, the stars explode overhead. The Milky Way and constellations you’ve never seen light up the sky, particularly in the winter. But the summer sky is intense as well. Reconnecting with the beauty of the night is such an amazing venture.

After a nourishing gourmet breakfast featuring an organic, vegetarian and largely gluten free menu and the best coffee from the Italian made Miele built in coffee machine, Lake Mayfield beckons so bring your kayak, canoe or fishing gear. The Tilton, which feeds into it, is heavily stocked with Rainbow Trout. We are a registered wildlife habitat, bird sanctuary and a working Fir and Alder plantation, so bring your binoculars. The plantation is home to many nesting birds who return year after year. Hawks and Eagles soar, along with local ultra light pilots right outside the windows. If you’re into mountain biking there are many trails nearby. We like to ride around the DeGoedes Bulb Farm fields and through the little town of Mossyrock.

Ike Kinswa is 5 minutes from Adytum and has some lovely hiking trails, even a rope swing to jump off into the glacier fed Cowlitz water. The Mossyrock Dam attracts visitors from all around. Further east is Morton where the Logger’s Jubilee is held every August and the Packwood Flea Market and, of course, Paradise and Mount Rainier are the crowning jewels of this area that welcome people from all over the world. My favorite time to go is when the lupine and wild flowers are blooming so profusely that the air smells like heaven…late summer.

When it’s raining, we love to sit in the Tower Room, so named for its 24 windows overlooking the lake, rivers, blueberry and flower fields, and watch the storms come in off the lake. Play the baby grand digital piano, listen to music (the acoustics in this room are awesome) or take advantage of the Spa using the Far Infrared or Turkish Steam Sauna. Or perhaps we read in the library or play chess on the third floor by the fire. We’ve stocked Adytum with DVD libraries to watch on the flat screen TVs, movies, and books on a multitude of topics, chess and board games. When the sun comes back out, there is bocce ball, croquet, football, Frisbee golf, taking a salt water hot tub or making s’mores around one of the fire pits.

We love to read and sip iced tea under one of Adytum’s signature orange umbrellas while we watch the boaters on the lake. The magical beauty here captures everyone’s hearts, and guests always linger, reluctant to leave the deep peace and relaxation that emanate from the house and land. Adytum is sacred space. It is a world unto itself…a destination.

We look forward to meeting you and know that you’re in for an unexpected indulgence that will become a new ritual in your life.