Spillian

06/02/2026

Birdsong, Thresholds, and the Infinite: Initiation Ascending with the Lark

"Initiatory experiences often carry a strange emotional doubleness. The world feels suddenly more vivid, more beautiful, more alive, and yet almost unbearably vast.”

The latest essay for the Joseph Campbell foundation (link to IG account) from Spillian founder Leigh Melander (link to my IG account) On music, birthdays, larks, and and the imaginal openings that can feel like initiations

You can find the full essay at jcf.org in their 'Weekly MythBlasts' section.
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image by T. Kiya
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05/29/2026

A place where you can be exactly who you're meant to be.

"Be here. Be you. Belong."
Brené Brown, Atlas of the Heart.

Spillian: A Place to Revel
An iconic Catskills estate where myth and reality blur.
A place of gatherings, adventures, and infinite possibilities.
Where kindness and magic are the air we breathe.
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Imagine with us.
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Click the link on our bio to learn more!
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images by
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featuring our beloved couple Kian & Ash
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05/28/2026

The Whatness Problem: A Essay by Spillian Founder Leigh Melander.

"I wasn’t trying to create a bunch of randomly adjacent products. I was trying to figure out whether something deeper could travel across forms.

Whether the essence of what mattered to us at Spillian — imagination and hospitality and meaning and reveling and curiosity and belonging — could somehow live inside objects and stories and experiences out in the world beyond the physical place itself, and actually give people juice in their lives."

Read the full essay by clicking on 'substack' in our linktree.
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image by
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05/26/2026

A Wedding at Spillian is:
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Dreaming & Doing
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We co-create with our couples, on hand to help with big crazy ideas and tiny details.
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Elaborate extravaganzas, simple gatherings of your tribe, or anything in between, we help keep it on track. We’re with you every step on the way, from booking to heading off into the sunset as married people.
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Spillian: A Place to Revel
An iconic Catskills estate where myth and reality blur.
A place of gatherings, adventures, and infinite possibilities.
Where kindness and magic are the air we breathe.
ㅤ
Imagine with us.
ㅤ
Click the link on our bio to learn more!
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images by
Harper Pictures

featuring our beloved couples Lindsey & Brenden
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05/22/2026

A Wedding Haiku
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We’ve co-created a lot of weddings. With a lot of really amazing people.
With joy and mud, tears and sword fights, fox brides and barefoot toasts.
These haikus are little love notes to what we’ve learned.
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Spillian: A Place to Revel
An iconic Catskills estate where myth and reality blur.
A place of gatherings, adventures, and infinite possibilities.
Where kindness and magic are the air we breathe.
ㅤ
Revel with us.
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images by
Katelyn Rose Photography
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featuring our beloved couple Jack & Isa
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05/21/2026

Dip into a world of possibility
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Over 30 acres of forests and meadows traversed with gentle walking trails past moss-covered ruins. Public and private spaces, each delightfully unique. The perfect porch for stories and ci**rs. Stars. The smell of woodsmoke and the sound of wind in the pines. A deer, pausing at the pond at dawn. We think it’s pretty near perfect.
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Spillian: A Place to Revel
An iconic Catskills estate where myth and reality blur.
A place of gatherings, adventures, and infinite possibilities.
Where kindness and magic are the air we breathe.
ㅤ
Imagine with us.
ㅤ
Click the link on our bio to learn more!
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images by
Joshua Brown Photography
LongBrook Photography


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05/19/2026

Tradition is peer pressure from dead people.

Choose your beloved ghosts.

We revel in kindness. We don’t believe in an industry that takes advantage of people in one of the most human, most hope-filled, and most vulnerable moments in their lives.
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As a place dedicated to imagination, Spillian breathes possibility and creativity. We work with couples to create both ritual and celebration that reflects who you are and who you dream to be. Every event we do is unique; the antithesis of checking off boxes.
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Revel with us.
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What are you dreaming into being? We are here to help. Click the link in our bio to reach out to talk about how we can.
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images by

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05/18/2026

Musings on the nature of music, birthdays, and wonder from our co-founder Leigh Melander, PhD for the Joseph Campbell Foundation. 💚

Leigh Melander contributes this week's MythBlast, "Birdsong, Thresholds, and the Infinite: Initiation Ascending with the Lark".

Opening the year
Every year on my birthday, I listen to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending.

I have for most of my life.

My birthday falls just after the spring equinox, and for as long as I can remember, The Lark Ascending has marked the beginning of the year for me far more than January ever has. January feels administrative. March feels initiatory: the air still carries winter inside it, but the world begins to open again.

I remember sitting on my front step as a child while the music poured out through the open door into that particular kind of early spring light that feels both sharp and welcoming at once. Cardinals sang from the early-blooming serviceberry trees in our yard. The cardinal song and the violin became permanently entwined for me in that moment. Even now, hearing a cardinal unexpectedly can unlock the same feeling in an instant: the world suddenly larger, charged, alive in some difficult-to-name way...

Continue Reading...
https://www.jcf.org/post/birdsong-thresholds-and-the-infinite-initiation-ascending-with-the-lark

Photo by T. Kiya

05/15/2026

A fascinating history of a magical place born to create memories.

The Grounds: Wander and play among forest and clearings on 30 enchanted wild mountain acres.
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The Meadow: Ceremonies, dinners, bonfires, and dancing in the heart of the forest.
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Everything Else: We’ve got lots of resources for you on site, included with your stay. And our crew is on hand to coordinate all of the moving parts so you can focus on getting married and not worry the details. If you need anything, just ask!
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Spillian: A Place to Revel
An iconic Catskills estate where myth and reality blur.
A place of gatherings, adventures, and infinite possibilities.
Where kindness and magic are the air we breathe.
ㅤ
Imagine with us.
ㅤ
Click the link on our bio to learn more!
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images by




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05/14/2026

What We Believe Makes a Wedding Real
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Ten years and about 250 weddings in, we believe that there are four key elements to helping people create a wedding worthy of marking a lifetime of love with one another.
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Kindness Matters
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Since it was built in the 1880’s, Spillian has been a place of generosity and abundance. And, ultimately, about kindness. Always. And in all ways. And we’re here with open arms and hearts to hold your dreams with you. It’s the thing we love most.
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Spillian: A Place to Revel
An iconic Catskills estate where myth and reality blur.
A place of gatherings, adventures, and infinite possibilities.
Where kindness and magic are the air we breathe.
ㅤ
Imagine with us.
ㅤ
Click the link on our bio to learn more!
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images by


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featuring our beloved couples Maddy & Josh and Mason & Rachel
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