Findhorn Foundation

Findhorn attracts cultural and artistic events. Mike Scott and The Waterboys, shown here playing a concert at Universal Hall in 2004, have recorded and performed at the community on numerous occasions.

The Findhorn Foundation is a Scottish charitable trust registered in 1972 to act as a focal point for the work of the community that grew up around Eileen and Peter Caddy and Dorothy Maclean near Findhorn, in Moray, Scotland, from 1962 onwards.

The founders

In the late 1940s Sheena Govan emerged as an informal spiritual teacher to a small circle that included Peter Caddy and Dorothy Maclean. Eileen Caddy joined them in the early 1950s. Their principal practices were channeling and other forms of meditation, and the bringing of love and perfection to everyday tasks. In 1957 Peter Caddy, Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean were appointed to manage the Cluny Hill Hotel near Forres. Though now separated from Sheena Govan, they continued with the practices she taught.

In late 1962 they became unemployed and, for want of any other accommodation, settled in a caravan near the village of Findhorn. In early 1963 an annex was built so that Dorothy Maclean could live close to the Caddy family. They began organic gardening as a way of growing food. To this activity they brought their spiritual practices, which they believed led to communication with nature spirits, under whose guidance the garden flourished. Peter Caddy also introduced the positive thinking practices he had learned in the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship.

After Peter Caddy had met British New Age leaders, and after Eileen Caddy's guidance had been distributed to a New Age mailing list in the form of a booklet titled God Spoke to Me, a community began to form around them. In 1969 the community and its garden were featured in a BBC television documentary.

Dorothy Maclean left the community to live in North America in 1973. Peter Caddy left in 1979. Eileen Caddy remained, and in 2004 was awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth II. Peter Caddy died in a car crash in Germany on 18th February 1994. Eileen Caddy died peacefully at home on 13th December 2006. Dorothy Maclean continues to give talks and workshops worldwide and still visits Findhorn regularly.

A centre of education

The arrival of David Spangler in 1970 resulted in the gradual transformation of the small community into a centre of residential spiritual education with a permanent staff of over 100. There are now a wide variety of courses and conferences on offer and this remains the Findhorn Foundation’s core activity. Anyone with enough money can enjoy a great range of courses, or simply pay to work in the kitchen. The Universal Hall, Findhorn's theatre and concert hall, was built between the years 1974 and 1984. The Musical group The Waterboys, who have performed a number of concerts in it, named their album Universal Hall after the structure.

A growing ecovillage

Recycled living in the Findhorn Foundation Community made from the old vats used in whisky stills.

Since the 1980s numerous organisations have started up in the vicinity of Findhorn which have an affiliation of some kind with the Findhorn Foundation. These include Ekopia, Moray Steiner School, the Phoenix Community Store, Trees for Life & The Isle of Erraid. Collectively they now form an ecovillage which aims to demonstrate a positive model of a viable, sustainable human and planetary future. As of 2005, Findhorn Ecovillage is comprised of around 450 resident members.

Individuals connected to the Findhorn Foundation

Individuals with past or present connections to the Findhorn Foundation include celtic art author Aidan Meehan, Waterboys songwriter and singer Mike Scott, sports psychologists John Syer and Chris Connolly, authors William Irwin Thompson, Caroline Myss, William Bloom, Sir George Trevelyan, Marko Pogacnik and Paul Hawken, Scottish novelist Margaret Elphinstone. motivational writer Carol A. O'Connor, activists May East and Vance Martin, Australian singer Hans Poulsen, Trees For Life founder Alan Watson and naturalist Richard St Barbe Baker.

The following have given lectures, workshops or presentations at the Findhorn Foundation: Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch, Caroline Myss, E.F. Schumacher, Ervin Laszlo, Geoffrey Ashe, Paul Horn (jazz musician), James T. Hubbell, Paul Winter, Laurens Van Der Post, Jonathon Porritt, Satish Kumar, Joanna Macy, Peter Russell, Anita Roddick, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Petra Kelly, Matthew Fox (priest), Patch Adams, John and Caitlin Matthews, Robert John Stewart, Peter Dawkins (FBRT), Robert Muller, Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Danah Zohar, Machaelle Small Wright, Lynne Franks, Hazel Henderson, James Twyman, Jane Goodall, Aubrey Manning, David Bellamy, Miranda Holden, Sandra Ingerman.

Links with the United Nations

In December 1997 the Findhorn Foundation was approved for formal Association with the UN Department of Public Information as an NGO. The Findhorn Foundation is a member of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO), attends the Sustainable Development Committee meetings and is a founding member of the following NGO groups active at the UN Headquarters in New York: The Earth Values Caucus The Spiritual Caucus and the The NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns In September 2006 a new sustainable development training facility, CIFAL Findhorn was launched. This is a joint initiative between The Moray Council, the Global Ecovillage Network, the Findhorn Foundation and UNITAR.

References

• For published articles written by (and added to the biography of): Eileen Caddy, Dorothy Maclean, David Spangler.

• Burns, B. et al. (2006) CIFAL Findhorn. Findhorn Foundation.
• Caddy, Peter (1994) In Perfect Timing. Findhorn Press.
• Castro, Stephen (1996) Hypocrisy and Dissent within the Findhorn Foundation: Towards a Sociology of a New Age Community. New Media Books. ISBN 0-9526881-0-7.
• Earl Platts, David (Ed) (1999) Divinely Human, Divinely Ordinary: Celebrating The Life & Work Of Eileen Caddy. Findhorn Press.
• Earl Platts, David (2003) The Findhorn Book Of Building Trust In Groups. Findhorn Press.
• Greenaway, John P. (2003) In the Shadow of the New Age: Decoding the Findhorn Foundation. Finderne Publishing.
• Hawken, Paul (1975) The Magic Of Findhorn. Harper & Row.
• Riddell, Carol (1990) The Findhorn Community: Creating A Human Identity For The 21st Century. Findhorn Press.
• Sherman, Kay Lynne (2003) The Findhorn Book Of Vegetarian Recipes. Findhorn Press.
• Talbott, John (1993) Simply Build Green. Findhorn Foundation.
• Thomas, Kate (1992) The Destiny Challenge. New Frequency Press.
• Thompson, William Irwin (1974) Passages About Earth. Harper & Row.
• Walker, Alex (Ed) (1994) The Kingdom Within: A Guide to the Spiritual Work of the Findhorn Community. Findhorn Press. ISBN 0-905249-99-2.
• Various (1975) The Findhorn Garden. Harper & Row, republished 2003 by Findhorn Press.
• Various (1980) Faces Of Findhorn. Harper & Row.

External links

• The Findhorn Foundation's website
• EcoviIlage Project - overview and background
• New Findhorn Association - website for the community association
• Citizen Initiative - critical perspective on the Findhorn Foundation
• Cultic Studies Review - review of a critical book about the Findhorn Foundation

Other new age communities & ecovillages

• Auroville
• Arcosanti
• ZEGG (community)
• Global Ecovillage Network