✦ The Documentary
See what happened.
The first gathering on film.
✦ The Original Retreaters
A small group. A dog.
The first Camp Mary.
They came without knowing what it was. What they found — on the land, in the field, around the fire — is being turned into a documentary. This is where it started.
Jackson's Camera · Camp Mary · August 2026
✦ Documentary · Coming Soon
Their story is being shot.
Jackson Averett had a camera. Nobody was performing for it. What he captured is the most honest footage we've ever seen of what this land does to people.
Coming
Soon
✦ The Heart of the Land
Mary.
The spirit this is named after.
✦ What This Is
We're not selling healing.
We're not selling spirituality.
We're not selling technology.
The best adult summer camp
you've ever been to.
Not a retreat center. Not a wellness brand. Not a conference facility. A place where interesting people gather and something unexpected happens.
✦ Capacity
Small Group Size
Housing for men, women, and couples · Special gathering first · Then we launch
Deer Trail Lodge
Men's Bunks
(4 Guests)
Camp Mary Lodge
Women's Bunks
(4 Guests)
Small on purpose.
Intimate.
Curated.
No strangers packed into a retreat center.
No 50-person workshops.
No conference energy.
The magic is the size.
✦ The Last Gathering
August 17–20, 2026 · Complete. And Epic.
The founding council gathered. The land did what it does. Now we finish the documentary — and prepare for the next Camp Mary. This is what every gathering holds:
What's included
✦ What They Get
Four Worlds.
One Weekend.
THE FIELD
One Harmonic Egg session.
Ajna Light.
Bioharmonic Bed.
Frequency experiences.
Recovery technologies.
Guided wellness experiences.
THE LAND
Forest Floor adult experience.
Tracking.
Fire. Water. Shelter.
Nature awareness.
Creek exploration.
The Deer Trail.
THE ARTISTS
Live music.
Patrric painting.
Campfire storytelling.
Creative exercises.
Optional songwriting.
Optional journaling. Optional art.
COMMUNITY
Shared meals.
Shared stories.
Small group (6-12 guests).
Real conversations.
No networking.
No pitching. No business cards.
✦ The Weekend
Four Days.
No Agenda.
Thursday
Arrival
Arrival.
Dinner.
Stories.
Camp Mary.
Friday
The Inner Journey
The Field.
Readings.
Wellness.
Drum Circle.
Asheville.
Saturday
The Land
The Land.
Forest Floor.
Tracking.
Creek.
Music.
Art.
Stars.
Sunday
Integration
Integration.
Reflection.
Departure.
✦ The Next Camp Mary
Want to be at
the next one?
The August 2026 gathering is complete — and it was epic. Camp Mary stays small on purpose: 6–12 guests, invite-only. If this speaks to you, reach out and tell us who you are. That's how every retreater has arrived.
Contact Us for the Next Camp Mary →✦ The Vision · A Bigger Home
Camp Mary is outgrowing
the family home.
Shope Creek was the birthplace. Hollow Bone is the initiative. Asheville will be its first permanent home. The Hollow Bone Initiative is now exploring a larger retreat property in the Asheville area — a permanent sanctuary capable of holding healing retreats, Camp Mary gatherings, creative residencies, children's nature education, and more.
The sanctuary would hold
✦ The Origin
Why Camp Mary
Exists
Camp Mary did not appear overnight.
It is the result of nearly two decades of exploration, experimentation, community building, and asking one question:
What actually helps people come alive?
Along the way, Craig found himself in some unusual places.
Ancient spiritual communities.
Intentional villages.
Artist colonies.
Wilderness retreats.
Music festivals.
Plant medicine circles.
Innovation labs.
Off-grid experiments.
Places where people were attempting to build different futures.
✦ Northern Italy
Damanhur
Craig visited Damanhur — one of the world's most famous intentional communities.
Built largely underground and hidden within the mountains, Damanhur became known for combining:
Art.
Spirituality.
Architecture.
Mythology.
Community living.
It asked a question that would stay with him:
What happens when people intentionally build a culture together?
✦ Years of Travel
Mexico
Years of travel to Mexico introduced Craig to traditions centered around ceremony, nature, community, and transformation.
Not as entertainment.
Not as escape.
But as opportunities to see life differently.
The lesson wasn't the ceremony.
The lesson was the people.
The conversations. The willingness to gather around something meaningful.
✦ Santa Cruz Mountains
Rainbow Ridge
In the Santa Cruz Mountains, Rainbow Ridge became a proving ground.
Musicians.
Artists.
Entrepreneurs.
Seekers.
Friends.
Gathered repeatedly to explore:
Creativity.
Music.
Storytelling.
Healing.
Connection.
Many of the relationships that now exist inside Shope Creek were forged there.
Rainbow Ridge proved something important:
People don't need more information.
They need environments where transformation is possible.
✦ The Gathering of Pieces
The Vision Quest
Along the way came:
Sedona.
Damanhur.
Mexico.
Rainbow Ridge.
Intentional communities.
Music culture.
Nonprofit work.
Startup culture.
Wellness culture.
Each offered pieces of the puzzle. But none felt complete.
Some had spirituality but lacked creativity.
Some had creativity but lacked stewardship.
Some had community but lacked vision.
Some had vision but lacked heart.
✦ The Realization
What Remained
After all of those experiences, one realization continued to surface:
People change when they gather in meaningful places.
Not because of a guru.
Not because of a doctrine.
Not because of a program.
Because of:
The land.
The conversations.
The art.
The music.
The stories.
The relationships.
Camp Mary is built around that realization.
✦ The Design
The Experiment
Camp Mary is what happens when:
Wilderness education.
Creativity.
Music.
Storytelling.
Stewardship.
Community.
are brought together in one place.
No one arrives as a customer.
No one arrives as an audience.
Everyone arrives as a participant.
✦ A Place Where Things Are Born
Songs.
Friendships.
Ideas.
Films.
Projects.
Communities.
Sometimes even entirely new chapters of life.
That is the experiment.
That is Shope Creek.
That is Camp Mary.
✦ A Hemp-Based Sacrament
HOLY
WATER
Camp Mary is not a psychedelic retreat.
There are no mushrooms.
There is no 5-MeO.
There is no ayahuasca.
There are no illegal substances.
What exists here is something much simpler:
Presence.
Conversation.
Nature.
Creativity.
Community.
And for those who choose it — Holy Water.
✦ What Is Holy Water?
A hemp-derived sacramental beverage.
Legal. Accessible. Intentional.
It was born from a simple observation: many people are curious about expanded states of awareness but are not looking for a heroic journey.
They're looking for:
Holy Water was designed to support those experiences while remaining grounded in everyday life.
✦ Why Hemp?
For years Craig hosted and participated in transformational experiences across different settings.
5-MeO retreats in Mexico
Mushroom retreats at Rainbow Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Creative gatherings centered around music, art, and storytelling
While those experiences were powerful, they were not always accessible. Holy Water emerged as a different path.
A gentler path.
A legal path.
A path that can be integrated into community, creativity, and conversation without requiring people to leave ordinary life behind.
✦ The Camp Mary Approach
The land is the medicine.
The creek is the medicine.
The conversations are the medicine.
The music is the medicine.
The art is the medicine.
Holy Water is simply one optional tool within that environment. It is not the center of the experience.
People come for:
Holy Water simply supports the atmosphere.
✦ A Different Kind of Gathering
What if adults could reconnect with wonder
without needing to escape themselves?
What if healing looked more like:
A campfire.
A song.
A walk through the forest.
A deep conversation.
A shared meal.
A creative breakthrough.
And what if the most powerful thing wasn't what you consumed…
but who you became while you were there?
Camp Mary
A Shope Creek Experience
The land is the medicine.
The people are the magic.
The story continues.
✦ The Balcony Will Never Be The Same
Kenny McCormick IV sings
"Open Heart"
✦ The Moments
What it actually feels like.
✦ The Secret
What people think it is
Harmonic Egg
Asheville
Wellness
Nature
What it actually is
The moment.
The people.
The recording.
The memory.
"This was my only time with him."
Talking about Stephen. Suddenly the footage becomes a record of a moment that cannot happen again. That's why it matters. That's why Jackson should edit it. That's why people will watch it.
Because none of you knew exactly what you were building. You just knew something important was happening. And the camera happened to be there.
✦ The Documentary
A film about what happens when you stop performing and start being present.
Coming 2026.
Camp Mary
Shope Creek Wilderness