Seasons of change underground
We catch up with Kelli Scarr of Greater Mysteries before heading into the Widow Jane Mine this weekend
The light may be beginning to fade, and with it, transitions, like summer to fall, begin to weigh. Guided by light, music and community, Greater Mysteries allows those willing to ease into the next phase with a series of offerings and events of collective insight and natural connections, leading up to a grand immersion deep into the bedrock of our foundations – and into the literal bedrock of the Hudson Valley.
Before heading phone-free into the acoustically- and mythically-attuned caves of Widow Jane Mine this weekend (Tickets still available, here), we caught up with Kingston-based composer Kelli Scarr about her inspirations behind cultivating these pathways through the Greater Mysteries series, and what inspires her through her own journey (dog Hank included!) –
“We’re incredibly fortunate to live in a place where it’s possible to slow down enough to really notice all the life happening around us. ”
Niki@HVNY: What has evolved since the last cycle of Greater Mysteries?
Kelli Scarr: I think the biggest evolution has been learning to get our own minds out of the way and listen more deeply to what the project wants to become.
The vision has expanded, but at the same time it has become much more rooted here in the Hudson Valley. The cave and the programs leading up to it have created incredible opportunities to meet and work with artists, thinkers, and makers in this community. The team continues to grow, and collaboration has become essential to the work.
As the project has grown, it’s started to feel bigger than any one person’s vision. My role feels less like directing every aspect of it and more like stewarding something that is taking shape through collaboration. That has required a different kind of trust: making space for other people’s gifts, following unexpected threads, and allowing the mystery itself to shape the work.
HVNY: How does the Hudson Valley, and its landscapes, play a role in Greater Mysteries?
KS: Living here in the Hudson Valley, we are constantly reminded of the aliveness and interconnectedness of all things. We relate to this valley, not just as the place we live, but as our collaborator in this project.
Over time, we are deepening relationships with particular places, like Overlook Mountain, the Hudson River, the cave at Widow Jane, and Opus 40. These relationships create opportunities for deep listening about how this project can serve each place and how each place can influence what we’re creating.
Living in a landscape with such vivid seasons makes the cycles that Greater Mysteries explores very tangible. You witness life, death, and rebirth happening around you constantly. The land is always reminding us that transformation is the fundamental rhythm of life.
We’re also fascinated by the histories of the sites where we gather. Opus 40 and Widow Jane Mine were both once places of extraction. They have since been transformed into places where people gather for art, culture, and community. There’s something very resonant about gathering around the mysteries of transformation in landscapes that have themselves undergone profound transformations.
HVNY: Complimentary registration is being offered to our Hudson Valley farmers – how do our local farmers play a role in Greater Mysteries?
KS: We’re offering complimentary registration to Hudson Valley farmers as a gesture of gratitude for the essential work they do. We’re incredibly fortunate to have access to such nourishing food, yet the people tending the land and feeding our communities are often deeply undercompensated. To us, that is sacred work.
There’s also a deeper connection to Greater Mysteries. The ancient Mystery traditions that inspire the project were intimately connected to agricultural harvest cycles. Farmers still live in direct relationship with those rhythms, which embodies one of the central invitations of Greater Mysteries: to recognize ourselves as part of the larger cycles of transformation happening all around us.
It’s a small gesture, but we hope it honors the essential role farmers play in the life of this valley.
HVNY: Where do you go around here to feel inspired and connected?
I try to spend a lot of time outside. My favorite thing to do is walk with my dog Hank in the Bluestone Forest. I also love walking with him in our neighborhood in Kingston. We’re perched up high, so we have a beautiful view of the Catskills.
I used to feel like I always needed to seek out new places, but more and more I find myself drawn to returning to the same places over and over again in order to notice what I notice. I recently saw the Mary Oliver documentary at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck (another place I go to feel inspired and connected) and learned that she had a similar walking practice, which made me happy.
We’re incredibly fortunate to live in a place where it’s possible to slow down enough to really notice all the life happening around us. I think that kind of attention is essential to my creative practice. Inspiration doesn’t always come from seeking something out. Often it comes from getting quiet enough to notice what’s already here.
What do you hope audiences take away from this season's series of events?
I hope people leave with a deeper sense that the transformations we move through are not interruptions to life. They are an essential part of its rhythm.
So much of our culture encourages us to move through thresholds quickly, to fix them, overcome them, get back to normal, or worse, pretend they didn’t happen. The ancient Mystery traditions offer another possibility: that these periods can be approached with attention and reverence, and that there is wisdom in learning how to move through them rather than around them.
I also hope people experience the power of doing that together. There’s something very different about gathering in a room, on the land, or inside a cave with other people and making space for the questions we don’t necessarily have answers to.
Ultimately, I hope people leave a little more able to trust the cycles of their own lives, and perhaps more attentive to the larger and longer cycles we’re all a part of. In many ways, Greater Mysteries is less about discovering something new than remembering something we already know.
Event details:
Greater Mysteries
September 25-26, 2026 from 6 to 10pm
Widow Jane Mine, 668 Route 213, Rosendale
Cost of admission: $33+, complimentary access offered to Hudson Valley farmers
Greater Mysteries returns to Widow Jane Mine for two immersive evenings of live music, storytelling, and shared experience inside one of the Hudson Valley’s most extraordinary natural spaces. Together, we’ll explore the timeless human experience of transformation through sound, myth, and ritual. Website: https://widowjanemine.ticketspice.com/greater-mysteries-2026
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