Wisteria, A Community in Meigs County, Heals Residents and Fosters Spirituality

Rachael Beardsley

For Lee Neff, community is the biggest priority.

This is largely because Neff ’s community is one of a kind, weaving together spirituality, environmentalism and healing. Neff ’s home, called Wisteria, is a campground and event site situated halfway between Meigs County and Athens. He calls it a 620-acre playground of self-discovery.

“Wisteria was formed to help others, not make money,” Neff says. “People wear what they want, go by whatever name they want and act how they want, so long as it does not hurt others.”

Wisteria was born from a group of friends’ mutual desire to live authentically, says Gina Kruzel, a resident of Wisteria and former president of the community’s business, which handles the campground and event site.

“We would sit around the campfire and dream that dream,” Kruzel says. “[Then] a group of people actually

found the land and created this.”

“This” refers to Wisteria’s 80 acres of meadow and woodland that make up the campground and event site. The area also features a covered stage, a pavilion and an amphitheater used to host concerts and music festivals.

In addition, a nature preserve home to local plants and wildlife makes up over 200 acres of Wisteria. The land, formerly used for strip mining, was purchased and left undisturbed, allowing it to heal naturally.

Although many visitors come and go for festivals, events and camping trips, about 10 dedicated shareholders live on the land, contributing to the community in whatever ways their skills allow. Some help build roads or collect firewood, others manage the finances. Everyone finds their place.

“I think, first and foremost, we are a collection of people who wanted to heal a land and [ourselves] in a way,” Neff says. “Basically, the one similar want was to create a place in nature that was safe for people to express themselves.”

Neff ’s parents, two of Wisteria’s primary founders, researched, planned and visited southern Ohio for years hoping to create a land-based community. Neff says the catalyst for actually purchasing the land was his mother’s mental health struggles.

“My father dreamed of a place she could be in nature—away from a judgmental and misunderstanding society—and could heal,” he says.

Neff ’s mother did eventually heal during her time at Wisteria, and her experience has inspired Neff, a fifth- year senior studying psychology at Ohio University, to one day establish a mental health crisis shelter at Wisteria.

“[Residents and visitors] are surrounded by like-minded people who can help them process traumas and stress,” Neff says. “The whole place is just a healing place.”

Wisteria has an eco-educational focus that is inclusive of any philosophy that understands the importance of environmentalism. Although Wisteria is not a religious body, many founders and current residents are neopagan. As a nature-based religion, paganism is diverse and does not have any single set of beliefs.

Instead, it combines aspects of many ancient religions, such as the recognition of many gods and goddesses or the practice of rituals. Neff says paganism offers a large amount of freedom to practitioners in terms of what they believe and how they choose to practice their faith.

“[Neopaganism] represents an individualistic journey to religion where the only guiding principles are reverence toward nature and open-mindedness,” Neff says. “You kind of collect a lot of religions into it, and everyone is their own type.”

Wisteria weaves this spirituality into the land itself. The grounds are home to the Turtle and Ancestor mounds, known as sacred sites because of their use for rituals, as well as a sweat lodge, a fire circle, a stone circle and a shrine to nature spirits. One of Wisteria’s signature festivals, Autumn Fires, is a Halloween-themed and family-friendly event full of pumpkin carving, trick-or- treating in the woods, feasts and public rituals.

Current president Pam Cooper emphasizes that Wisteria is a place for everyone, regardless of faith. They’ve hosted events for many different groups of people, from Boy Scouts of America to Mennonites to atheists to those who just love nature. They also host many weddings, music and folk festivals on the grounds.

“We’re all positive, nature-oriented people, but there’s a lot of different spiritual paths here,” Cooper says.

Wisteria’s many facets can be complicated, yet Neff thinks of simplicity when he thinks of home. He thinks of tall trees and moss growing on stones. He remembers learning the names of plants as a child by grabbing leaves and smelling them during walks on gravel roads.

Wisteria is home—a continuous safe space.

“I see Wisteria as a place of complete healing” he says. “Healing for the people who go there and healing for those with mental illness and healing for even the land. It’s kind of like a place for transformation.”