The Wordsmith's Forge

Here are the setting notes for "Your Own Blissful Path."


Pyramid Holistic Wellness Center
120 Merchants Row, Rutledge, VT 05701

Pyramid offers a wide variety of New Age, metaphysical, and holistic goods and services. In addition to addressing things like energy imbalances and personal growth, it's a great place for treating things like anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress because just being in a beautiful environment full of caring people is helpful. They also offer an alternative to the mainstream idea of "having superpowers" because this subculture generally believes that we're souls having a human experience and so everyone has the possibility of opening up limitless expressions of energy and creativity.


Facilities and Services

Basement
Reiki Treatment (basement)
-- massage table
-- energy healing
-- healthy touch
-- aromatherapy
Ionic Footbath (basement)
-- ionic machine
-- footbath stations
-- padded benches
Immersion Meditation Rooms
Green Room / Lobby (basement)
Mandala Room (basement)
-- soundtracks for relaxion, meditation, hypnotherapy, etc.
-- counselors specializing in meditation or hypnotherapy
-- large viewscreen with mandala videos and other options
-- zero-gravity chairs
Rainbow Room (basement)
-- QUILTBAG support circles & group therapy
-- queer healing sessions
-- chromatherapy
-- sonic rainbow therapy
-- chakra balancing & rainbow crystal therapy
-- New Age Rainbow Light Experience
Ultraviolet Room
-- ultraviolet and other colored lights
-- UV-reactive and neon decor
-- small altar table
-- textured floor cushions & rugs
-- UV therapy & other light therapy
-- transcendental meditation
Life Cycle Spin Room
-- verbally guided exercise experience
-- stationary bicycles
-- projection wall
-- videos include road trips, nature trails, roller coasters, and lakes
Himalayan Salt Cave with Zen Salt Garden
-- salt gravel floor
-- salt block walls
-- glowing fireplace wall
-- fiber optic night sky
-- sound and music
-- zero gravity chairs and lounge chairs
Pyramid Room (basement)
-- light
-- sound
-- kambaba jasper stone to take home
Edfu Egyptian Temple (basement)
-- vibroacoustic tables
-- music
-- crystal energy
-- kyphi or other incense
-- chromotherapy
-- magnets
-- Egyptian rituals
Amethyst Biomat (basement)
-- water fountain sound
-- healing music
-- negative ion generation
-- far infrared light generation
-- amethyst crystals
Sedona Crystal Vortex (basement)
-- Sedona vortex wall art
-- copper pyramid
-- crystal light bed
-- stone filled infrared mat
-- crystal altar and therapy stones
-- chakra balancing
-- color therapy
-- sound therapy
Rentable cubicles that can be customized for different purposes
Basement dottie with bathtub & shower

First Floor
Crystal Shop & Wellness Marketplace (1st floor)
-- tumbled stones, crystals, and gemstone jewelry
-- essential oils
-- Himalayan salt products
-- books and magazines
-- scarves, robes, and other garments
-- local metaphysical arts and crafts
-- CDs for relaxation, meditation, music, etc.
-- singing bowls, drums and other instruments
Multipurpose Room (1st Floor)
-- tables and chairs
-- Egyptian and metaphysical decor
-- arts and crafts
-- metaphysical classes
Angel Room (1st floor)
-- healing sounds
-- projection screen
-- angelic decor
-- angelic contact therapy
Intuitive Readings
-- Tarot and other divination systems
-- Medium
-- Past Life Reading
1st floor dottie with bathtub & shower

Second Floor
Labyrinth Immersion Wellness Room (2nd floor)
-- healing soundtrack
-- labyrinth
-- swing chairs
-- inHarmony vibroacoustic meditation cushions
-- audiovisual guided journey
-- moving meditation of a labyrinth walk
Unicorn Room (2nd floor)
-- unicorn decor
-- unicorn floor cushions
-- couch and child-sized chairs
-- children's meditation and yoga sessions
-- family spirit therapy
-- inner child healing
Rentable cubicles that can be customized for different purposes
2nd floor dottie with shower

Third Floor
Large Studio (3rd floor)
-- meditation
-- yoga
-- group therapy sessions
-- other large group activities
Changing room
-- divisible into separate spaces
-- Oriental rugs
-- benches
-- curtained areas
-- cubicles with full-size locking doors, each with a seat, mirror, and hooks
3rd floor public dotties with showers
Sound Healing Room (3rd floor)
-- massage table
-- energetic crystals
-- vibrational sound bath
-- singing bowls, drums, rattles, gong, and chimes
-- intuitive voice
Chakra Balancing
-- Essence of Egypt Chakra Healing with sound and 7 sacred oils
-- 7 singing bowls
-- chromatherapy
-- crystal therapy
Office Suite (3rd floor)
-- breakroom / meeting room
-- manager's office
-- staff dottie with bathtub & shower plus walk-in shower


The Pyramid Holistic Wellness Center is on Merchants Row in Rutledge, Vermont. The building has three stories, plus a large basement. The entrance stands between two large display windows. This is one of Pyramid's winter holiday window displays.


Basement

The basement has a bunch of function rooms, ranging from small to large. Some can be rented, and the variable options come and go as different things become popular or lose interest.

The Reiki Room is a tiny roomlet with tan walls and hardwood floor. It has a massage table and a set of wooden shelves that hold metaphysical tools.

The Ionic Foot Bath Room has a padded bench around the walls with multiple sink stations. The walls are taupe with New Age decor.

Immersion Meditation Rooms

The Green Room serves as a lobby connecting several Immersion Meditation Rooms. It includes couches, end tables, and houseplants. The door has a sliding sign for the Mandala Room that shows Vacant / Occupied.

The Mandala Room is dominated by a large viewscreen for showing meditative imagery. It also includes chairs with footrests and starburst-shaped lamps for viewing the screen, along with a small table and chairs for mandala coloring books, stone paintings, or related crafts.

The Rainbow Room has walls and floor painted with rainbows, large round seats also with rainbows, and viewscreens that can present rainbow meditation videos or other content. The round seats are big enough for people to lie down on, and there is also enough room to bring in portable furniture such as chairs, loungers, or massage tables. The seats are solid so they can also serve as altars for setting up displays of crystals or other mystical equipment.

The Ultraviolet Room features ultraviolet and other colored lights, UV-reactive decor, a small altar table, textured floor cushions, and throw rugs. It is most often used for UV or other light therapy, but can be used as a sensory room.

The Life Cycle room features New Age wall decor, a projector for showing films on a blank wall, and stationary bicycles.

The Himalayan Salt Cave is lined with salt bricks, the floor is covered in salt gravel, and the lamps are salt lamps. The ceiling has star lights. One end of the room has an altar with an electric hearth, salt lamps and sculptures, and a large Buddha face. Chairs provide space for guests to sit, while a table holds singing bowls and other tools. There are loungers as well as upright chairs. Here is a closeup of the hearth and altar.

The Himalayan Salt Cave can be set up for a reiki session. It also offers sound immersion therapy.

The Pyramid Room has four chairs around a small table underneath a pyramid in the ceiling.

The Edfu Egyptian Temple features four beds around a copper pyramid over a large slab of quartz crystals. Egyptian deities adorn the walls, and the ceiling is painted with gold stars.

The Amethyst Biomat Room has a bed with an amethyst biomat, an end table with an amethyst geode, a chair, wood panel walls, and star lights in the ceiling. The amethyst biomat has small amethyst crystals along with heating elements.

The Sedona Crystal Vortex has two therapy beds, each with a copper pyramid and rainbow prisms for color therapy. The main altar holds crystals from Sedona, Arizona and the vortices are featured in large photos on the walls. The wall art shows vortices from Sedona, Arizona like this photo of Cathedral Rock. This wall photo shows the Boynton Canyon Vortex.

Rainbow lights provide chakra color therapy. The copper pyramid surrounds the whole bed. The infrared mat has narrow channels filled with chakra stones of red jasper, orange jade, yellow aventurine, green aventurine, turquoise, lapis and amethyst. Essential oil of creosote bush, sagebrush, juniper, cedar, or other sacred desert plants may be worn or placed on crystal diffusers. Smudges and incenses in similar flavors are also available. A crystal grid on the altar features large crystals and Arizona tribal crafts.

The basement dottie includes a sink, a toilet, and a bathtub with shower. Racks by the toilet and the shower hold bohemian decor, houseplants, and bathroom supplies.


First Floor

The first floor features the storefront and a few other rooms.

On the first floor, the Crystal Shop and Wellness Marketplace carries a wide range of metaphysical supplies. Look toward the windows and toward the back.

Antique bookcases hold metaphysical jewelry and other tools. This table holds stones and woodcarving. Here is a closeup of the stones. Nature's Spirit Stones are etched with an animal, word, or other symbol.

Chakra candles and beads aid balancing.

This case holds a variety of drums. Singing bowls come in assorted styles.

Racks hold robes and other clothes.

Bookcases hold metaphysical books. Leatherbound books make good journals. These are divination decks and books.

The Multipurpose Room has metaphysical decor. It includes a variety of tables and chairs. Here it's set for a meal. This setup is for art class.

The Angel Room is done in pale blue and white with imagery of angels and stars. It includes a round chair, other chairs, and various end tables.

The divination area has two blue velvet chairs bracketing a small table. A projector on the far wall can display images on the wall above the table. A mirrored star hangs on the wall above an angel altar. A floral dish holds angelic stones.

This cubby holds a padded chair, hidden by a curtain.

A large dove painting makes this room popular for peacework.

The first floor dottie features a sink, a toilet, and a bathtub with shower. It has bohemian wallpaper and houseplants.


Second Floor

The second floor has several function rooms. In addition to the dedicated rooms are rentable ones that can be used for various purposes.

The Labyrinth Room has rocking chairs, swing chairs, and houseplants on one end with a large floor labyrinth on the other. These swing chairs bracket an altar with a viewscreen. These rocking chairs sit near houseplants and end tables. A conversation cluster surrounds a small table.

Columns frame the entrance to the labyrinth. A sky rug fills the center of the labyrinth. Windows illuminate the labyrinth.

The Unicorn Room features unicorn decor, pastel colors, a couch, and child-sized chairs. Storage racks hold unicorn floor cushions for meditation and unicorn yoga mats for stretching.

The second-floor dottie includes a toilet, a sink, and a shower with bohemian decor and houseplants.


Third Floor

The third floor includes a couple of large function rooms and the office suite.

The large third floor studio has white walls, hardwood floors, and windows. It can be cleared for classes in yoga, t'ai chi, meditation, or other group activities.

Here it is set up for a group sound bath. Zero-gravity chairs support the clients. Small tables hold sound therapy tools and other equipment.

A private sound bath features six large gongs along with other instruments, for a group of 6+ people.

The changing room includes Oriental rugs, chairs, benches, curtained areas, and locking cubicles with full-size doors, each with its own mirror, seat, and hooks. The space can be divided into several smaller sections as needed. This gives clients a place to dress for yoga or other classes.

The third-floor public dotties each include a sink, a toilet, and a showr with bohemian decor and houseplants. A row of these stands near the changing room.

The Sound Healing Room is pale pink with a hardwood floor, chandeliers, and windows. It has a massage table for clients and small tables for holding sound therapy tools. This altar holds singing bowls, crystals, and other tools. This table holds assorted rattles. This set of drums and rattles comes from the Pacific Northwest. The Phoenix Dragon Drum bears symbols of transformation and rebirth.

Sound healing is done with crystals and singing bowls, among other tools. These singing bowls have rainbow colors.

Essential oil potions in rainbow colors convey the Essence of Egypt Chakra Healing.


The manager's office includes a computer desk and chair, shelves, and office carts along with bohemian decor and houseplants. The hallway connects several other small offices and the larger breakroom.

This large room serves as the breakroom, meeting room, and discussion area. It includes built-in booths, a reading corner, tables and chairs, a bench along one wall with small tables, a large conference table with chairs, and houseplants.

Open shelves offer fresh fruit, dried fruit, granola, trail mix, nuts, dry cereal, instant hot cereal, and similar items. A refrigerator holds yogurt, fresh vegetables, fruit cups, hard boiled eggs, healthy dips such as hummus, sandwiches, wraps, meat and cheese trays, salads, and more. Cold drinks include bottled water, coconut water, fruit and vegetable juices, dairy and plant milks, kombucha, tea, and more.

The kitchenette includes a counter with a single sink, cabinets, a dishwasher, and a refrigerator-freezer (not visible from this angle). Countertop appliances include coffee and tea machines, blenders for making smoothies, a buffet burner, and a microwave oven. The cabinets hold dishes, cookware, silverware, basic kitchen utensils, and a few extra appliances like crockpots.

The staff dottie features a sink, a toilet (not visible from this angle), a bathtub with handheld shower, and a separate walk-in shower. It has bohemian decor and houseplants.


Center Street Park

Center Street Park is located in the middle of the block, behind the Pyramid Holistic Wellness Center and across from the back of Roots restaurant.

Green Yoga classes take place outside. This one is in Center Street Park behind the Pyramid Holistic Wellness Center.

This class in Center Street Park uses a big canvas labyrinth. The orange awning covers the back of Roots restaurant.

Offsite sound baths are available for groups. This one is in Center Street Park with singing bowls and a large canvas labyrinth.


Mala Meditation Park

Pyramid also owns Mala Meditation Park just outside of Rutledge. It features several different areas for meditation, including this rocky grotto with a waterfall.

A rocky creek flows into a large pool.

The Thinking Tree is a hollow tree with a space large enough to sit inside for meditation.

Usnea, pronounced ooze-nee-ah and better known as old man’s beard, is the long, lacy, greenish lichen that grows from tree trunks and branches in forests across New Hampshire and Vermont. It is considered by some to be one of nature’s most effective medicinals, by others as an excellent gauge of environmental pollution, and by still others as an indicator of true north.

In spring, this wet meadow blooms with wildflowers.

Eastern Newt
Notophthalmus viridescens
Identification
The Eastern Newt as a terrestrial juvenile is reddish-orange with slightly bumpy skin.
The juveniles, called red efts, live on land for up to eight years. As an adult they return to the permanent water of beaver ponds, small lakes, man-made ponds, or marshes, where they breed and lay their eggs individually on underwater vegetation.

Red efts congregate in the wet meadow and nearby forest.