Center for Symbolic Studies

The symbolic imagination is not only a function of the mind; its provenance is the whole human being, the body and soul alive and adventuring in the natural world. It manifests in dreams, visionary art, and the myths of all peoples. We feel our mission at CSS is to provide a theater of opportunities for conscious mythmaking, leading to personal growth and communal awareness. We see this as essential to a creative participation in the richness and variety of human cultures and in our extended ecological family.

The Center for Symbolic Studies is located on 260 wooded acres of Stone Mountain Farm in New York’s historic mid-Hudson Valley. Nestled in the ancient Shawangunk Mountains, at the northern tip of the Southern Appalachians, Stone Mountain Farm is on the flight path of the great North American raptors - eagles, falcons, hawks and owls - who grace our skies and live in our dreams throughout the year. Stone Mountain is a working farm stabling a number of horses and is crisscrossed with hiking, riding and cross-country ski trails, rolling dells and dramatic waterfalls. Programs are conducted at the Center’s main hilltop house and adjacent movement space. Our comfortable meeting rooms offer inspiring views of the surrounding fields and mountains, supporting an atmosphere of contemplation.

Since opening our doors in 1991, CSS has sponsored a rich array of workshops, lectures, seasonal festivals, ceremonies, and performances led by a faculty of professionals well known in their fields, and enjoyed by hundreds of people of every age and all walks of life. We invite you to make CSS part of your own personal adventure by choosing from this season’s offerings or perhaps becoming an active member.

At the heart of the Center is the vision of founding directors, Drs. Stephen and Robin Larsen, whose pioneering work in transpersonal psychology, art, myth and education has informed their many books including A Fire In The Mind, the authorized biography of Joseph Campbell. Mentor, teacher and friend for over 20 years, Professor Campbell’s remarkable spirit still infuses our programs, our festivals and our future with a profound regard for all manifestations of the human soul in relationship to our living Earth and all her creatures.