TorchFindhorn Foundation
Because the Findhorn Foundation is so many things, I never know where to start when trying to describe it. It's a spiritual community; it's a centre of education; it's a place to get in touch with yourself; it's a place to get in touch with the world; it's an unprepossessing caravan park; it's an ecological experiment; it's all these things - and more. The Foundation currently describes itself as, "A centre of spiritual service in co-creation with nature, encompassing education and community". I also like this short explanation, taken from the Foundation's brochure of a few years ago:
Sanctuary Picture
 "The Findhorn Foundation is part of an international spiritual community living, studying and working together in the northeast of Scotland. It was founded in 1962 by Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean on the principles that God, or the source of life, is accessible to each of us at all times, and that nature, including the planet, has intelligence and is part of a much greater plan. While we have no formal doctrine or creed, we believe that humanity is involved in an evolutionary expansion of consciousness which is creating new patterns of civilisation and a planetary culture infused with spiritual values."
All this sounds very high-minded and esoteric. But when you experience Findhorn, that's not the way it is. It's about people and how they can make a better job of the way they live their lives.

My first visit to Findhorn was in August 1995. I was there for Experience Week - the hugely popular introduction to the community, which leads on to participation in the Foundation's wide range of workshops and longer-term programmes. Unlike many who come to Findhorn from all over the world, I knew nothing of the community or its history. I was there on the recommendation of a friend, a little apprehensive but feeling I had nothing to lose. I came away re-charged, inspired and encouraged. Our group was made up of a wide range of people of various ages, from different countries, with different interests, different careers and different backgrounds. We were all new to Findhorn and we were all new to each other. By the end of the week we felt that we had created and become part of something special through the privilege of being welcomed into the Findhorn Community to experience the way it works at first hand.
The pictures on this page were taken during my visit to Findhorn in May 1999. Click on any of them to see more pictures.
Findhorn Bay Picture
Different aspects of what goes on at Findhorn have immediate appeal to different people, so Experience Week gives you chance to share many aspects of life in the community. For me, the time spent each afternoon working alongside resident members of the community provided the strongest insights into what Findhorn was about. I found myself in the kitchen at Cluny - the former hotel where Experience Week is usually based, a couple of miles away from the main site on Findhorn Bay. As a culinary novice, skilled in the art of turning fish fingers under the grill, I felt a bit of a fraud. Who would have believed the coleslaw I contributed to one meal for 137 all by myself before the week was out? There was also chance to focus on the ecological projects going on at Findhorn, learn Sacred Dance, spend time among some of the glorious local scenery, play games, build new friendships or join meditations. Each person found something different touched them most, but I think the common experience is an encouraging realisation that life can be lived differently to the way so many of us feel forced to live it in modern Western society.

Some people decide that they want to try this different way of living within the community at Findhorn itself. But for every person who is moved to stay, hundreds more return to their own countries and their own communities, inspired to remain part of the wider Findhorn community and to use what they have experienced at Findhorn to change their every day lives for the better.

Findhorn Bay Picture

Much of what goes on at Findhorn might be described as "New Age". But the community has been there since 1962, so ideas that are new to some are rather more tried and tested to Findhorn folk. American David Spangler lived at Findhorn from 1970 to 1973 and played a prominent role in its development as he merged his own ideas of the New Age with the philosophy of Findhorn's founders. David Spangler is now one of the leading writers and teachers in the New Age movement. His book A Pilgrim in Aquarius is a critique of how that "movement" has developed and of what it has to offer beyond the headline-grabbing pre-occupation with crystals and UFOs. In the introduction to the book he writes:
Book Cover
 "In my vision of the New Age, humanity has gained tools and skills, insights and knowledge to expand into the frontiers of mutual cooperation and understanding, into a working harmony with the world that ecologically supports us, into the frontiers of space, and into the unexplored realms of the spirit and of that universal love that underlies all being."
A Pilgrim in Aquarius, by David Spangler, is published by Findhorn Press. Click here to buy a copy on-line from Amazon.com.

Findhorn Press has a wide-ranging catalogue of books. If you are interested in finding out more about the background to the Findhorn Foundation, and its history, I would recommend Peter Caddy's memoirs, In Perfect Timing.

A fascinating counterpoint is provided by Flight into Freedom, the autobiography of Eileen Caddy, Peter's wife, co-founder of the Foundation and the source of its spiritual teaching for many years.

You can find out much more about the Findhorn Foundation by going to its web site:

+ Findhorn Foundation