Findhorn Foundation
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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.
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[edit] 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 in 1973, and Peter Caddy in 1979. Eileen Caddy remained, and in 2004 was awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
[edit] 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. The Universal Hall, Findhorn's theatre and concert hall, was built between the years 1974 and 1984. Musical group The Waterboys, who have performed a number of concerts in it, named their album Universal Hall after the structure.
[edit] A Growing Ecovillage
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, Phoenix Community Stores, 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] References
Caddy, Eileen. (1971) God Spoke to Me. Findhorn Press. ISBN 0-905249-81-X
Castro, S. (1996) Hypocrisy and Dissent within the Findhorn Foundation: Towards a Sociology of a New Age Community. New Media Books. ISBN 0-9526881-0-7
Maclean, Dorothy. (1994) To Hear the Angels Sing. Lindisfarne Books. ISBN 0-940262-37-1
Walker, Alex (Ed). (1994) The Kingdom Within: A Guide to the Spiritual Work of the Findhorn Community. Findhorn Press. ISBN 0-905249-99-2
Talbott, John. (1993) Simply Build Green. Findhorn Foundation.
Burns, B. et al. (2006) CIFAL Findhorn. Findhorn Foundation.
[edit] External Links
- Findhorn Foundation official website
- A Brief History of the Universal Hall
- Findhorn Flower Essences
- Ekopia the community’s development trust
- EcoviIlage Project
- New Findhorn Association community association and ecovillage organisations
- CIFAL Findhorn
- Review of a critical book about the Findhorn Foundation, from the Cultic Studies Review
- Trees for Life, an ecological restoration charity
