REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Santa Barbara's Mt. Calvary Monastery & Retreat Burns Down

The Tea Fire in Montecito and Santa Barbara which broke out at 6 p.m. last night has been devastating with more than 100 houses destroyed and one person dead. I was utterly shocked to see on the news tonight that the Episcopal Mt. Calvary Benedictine Monastery in Santa Barbara burned down last night although the brothers were able to get out most of the books, some of the art and the computers. I didn’t realize the fire had gotten that far north. This monastery was home for the Order of the Holy Cross brothers. 

I have spent time there twice and it was a spectacular old set of buildings high in the mountains above Mission Santa Barbara. Fr. Tay Moss writes about it as his Ninja Priest blog today.

This was the front door to the main building which had once been an old estate home.

This was the main hallway of the monastery with its beautiful art and antique furniture. 

The first time I went there I drove up from L.A. after work and it was already dark. I followed the directions, spiraling up the mountain and got utterly lost. I finally called on my cell phone and one of the brothers guided me in that way. My friend Linda, who lived in Santa Barbara, was to meet me there and she was hours late because she got lost. But, how spectacular to wake up on top of a mountain. One of the brothers is an astronomer and the next night we all went outside and he gave us a tour of the skies with his telescope while we lay on our backs in the grass or on the stone walls. All the food was cooked by the brothers and they follow the Benedictine Hours, which guests are invited to attend.

I’m glad everyone made it out safely and I hope all their neighbors did, too.

These photos are courtesy of Randy OHC. I have many of my own, but I'm utterly exhausted as I write this post. I have just come from the 80th birthday party at Loyola Marymount of Fr. Don Merrifield,S.J., whom I've known for many years. That party was very joyous, I might add. 

Amaria: Collage Study I

More than 30 years ago I was with my friend Barbara at La Casa de Maria in Montecito taking an Ira Progoff-style journal workshop when Amaria came to me in an inner wisdom dialogue. If you have never visited La Casa, which is open to the public, I can't recommend it enough if you are in the Santa Barbara area. I first visited La Casa for a married couples retreat in 1960 and have spent a lot of time over the years there. It is one of the non-profits listed in my will. In my most difficult times I have stayed at La Casa.

When I write an inner wisdom dialogue, Amaria still visits from time to time. She offers such wonderful wisdom and support when I take the time to summon her. In my art work, I often attempt to make her tangible. It never quite works. But, here is a recent collage I did of Amaria. I even included bark from the old eucalyptus trees I picked up in a visit there. I find this attempt a bit precious but I am the kind of person who needs a tangible symbol when I do depth writing. So, here is Amaria I. She will be displayed in a gold frame near my writing area in my bedroom. 

Colombiere Center is Calling To Me

This is Lake Fulmore, about 10 miles east of Idyllwild--a favorite spot of mine. My family often camped in Idyllwild and when my grandkids were toddlers, I took them fishing at Lake Fulmore. Photo courtesy of Gina Campground.

There is a place calling to me in Idyllwild, CA, nestled in the San Jacinto Mountains, called Colombiere Center, a retreat for transforming consciousness. (Since this original post, Colombiere Center has become Spirit Mountain Retreat. Francis Rothluebber still lives in Idyllwild, by the way, but you can find her through Spirit Mountain Retreat.) I have not yet visited there, but hopefully soon will. I was deeply influenced by Lee Coit’s profound little book “Listening” in the early 1990s, but I admit that I often resist “listening,” and Colombiere Center is no longer whispering to me--it's gently shouting at me.

The center was founded in the 1970s in Wisconsin the website says, but in 1985, Francis Rothluebber, MA moved it to Idyllwild and is its current co-director. A former educator/administrator, Francis has written extensively and has just published a new book “The “Upstart Spring: An Experience in Evolutionary Spirituality,” which I will order today. A student of Carl Rogers and Carl Jung, as well as Sri Auribindo, Francis equates spirituality with many of the thoughts and writings of people who have influenced me. Esther Kennedy, MA, LCSW, joined as co-director of Colombiere in 2002. She is an Adrian Dominican sister and recently served as associate director at Weber Retreat Center in Adrian, Michigan. She has a gift of blending the beliefs of Christianity with the teachings of the East and traveled extensively in the East in the 1990s.

Colombiere’s vision on their website states that it embraces a new paradigm in spirituality occurring today across the world, shifts the emphasis on alienation from God, from each other, from ourselves, from the earth toward a conscious return to original unity. It offers a new vision of the human family entering the next phase of evolution, a movement from separation to unity and harmony. Participation in the movement touches the ache in many to live more aware, more in genuine freedom and peace within. Finding the way from living as a separated ego to emerging into a presence of Divine Consciousness is the evolutionary call of our time.

I truly ache to find out more about Colombiere, Francis and Esther and the workshops and space they make available for retreatants. My art heroine Seena Frost taught Soul Collage there in the spring, which I missed, but it was Seena who first mentioned Colombiere Center to me. I just love the synchronicities in our lives—we just have to listen. I have visited many large and small retreat centers across the country, but I’m always looking for new ones. Which are your favorites or ones you have heard about but haven’t gone to yet?

When I Think of Depth Psychology, I Think of Pacifica Graduate Institute

In Carpinteria, CA, just south of Santa Barbara, lies the absolutely wonderful myth and depth psychology think tank and graduate school--Pacifica Graduate Institute. For a long time, Pacifica rented space at one of my favorite retreat centers, La Casa de Maria in Montecito, and it was there I first heard about their programs. For the past several years they have had their own set of Spanish style buildings nestled in the hillside above the ocean. Pacifica currently offers an M.A./Ph.D. in Depth Psychology and in Mythological Studies, a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology. A favorite psychotherapist friend of mine, who is also a wonderful poet who wrote monthly in one of my groups for years, got her M.A. in Counseling Psych there and was able to use her poetry as a springboard for her thesis. In addition to regular classes, Pacifica has a low residency program for those who aren’t nearby to attend regular classes.

It is also home of the Joseph Campbell and Marija Gimbutas Library, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation of a unique collection of books, manuscripts, and memorabilia from esteemed cultural scholars of this century: mythologist Joseph Campbell, archaeologist and archaeomythologist Marija Gimbutas, psychologist James Hillman, and others.

The public programs at Pacifica are second-to-none and if you live in California, I highly recommend them. In fact, I hope to attend a conference celebrating Joseph Campbell's centennial birthday on April 16-18, 2004 in Santa Barbara, CA. Several years ago I had the privilege of attending a writer’s conference in Los Angeles hosted by Pacifica and it was then I realized the quality of its programs and offerings. Next time you are on the 101 Freeway in the Santa Barbara area, take a half hour break from the road and visit this magical place.