In November 1962 a group of four people, all of whom had undergone a long period of training and preparation, during which they had been required to surrender everything, including their own wills, to follow God’s will, were led to occupy two caravans on the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park in Morayshire, Scotland. This group consisted of Peter and Eileen (Elixir) Caddy, with their family, Dorothy (Divina) and Lena with her family. It is from this point that I, Peter, will take up the story.
It was the very last place in which any of us would have elected to live. Over past years we had often said how much we should hate to live on that particular caravan site. It had always appeared to us as excessively crowded and far from beautiful. However, our guidance was crystal clear and following it, we found our caravans being put on to a piece of ground less than half an acre known as The Hollow, adjoining but quite separate from the main caravan park. This small piece of land is surrounded on three sides by the sea and constantly swept by gale-force winds, although there is a certain amount of protection from both north and west afforded by an adjoining belt of trees. It is on the edge of sand dunes and the only native vegetation is gorse, broom, couch grass, and a type of grass that favours growing in sand.
From the outset, our method of approach to the experiment upon which we were embarking was to be through individual guidance to each one from God. We were, however, fortunate in being able to obtain confirmation and advice regarding over-all policy through Elixir.
We were at that time all without jobs and only expected to be at Findhorn for a short period. By the following Easter, however, we were still there and it had become apparent to me that it was necessary to set about improving our surroundings, which can only be described as deplorable. At this point, I cannot do better than to quote Lena, who about this time wrote:
“The story of the garden itself is remarkable, and shows how belief in God’s readiness to help in all practical things of life brings into manifestation all our needs. Of course, we have to go into action and grasp the opportunities He opens for us. We could have been negative and said the soil was useless for anything (as indeed it was) consisting of lifeless sand and gravel, but our aim was to grow strong, healthy plants, so instead very much hard work and positive thought went into all we did and amazingly the garden took shape and God’s hand was very much in evidence. There was very little money available, therefore we could not buy the material required. This proved a good thing, for everything became gifted to us and the strange thing we noticed was that as one source of supply ran out, another immediately opened up for us!
“To begin with, a wooden interwoven slatted fence was erected and inside this, a concrete square with a small patch for radishes and lettuces was planned and a patio where we could sit in the sun in privacy, have our times of quiet with God and also enjoy our meals. One day a neighbour informed us that a large quantity of slightly damaged cement had been dumped just across the road from us. This indeed was a windfall, as the cement proved to be in almost perfect condition and we were able to salvage enough for our patio and the concrete areas and paths. At this time also, another dump of rotted grass was found nearby and this was the beginning of our new soil.
“A friend who owns a riding stable offered a quantity of horse manure in repayment for help given in previous years. When this source ran out Peter went to collect a load of straw to start a compost heap. He gave a lift to an acquaintance who said he had just put his three horses in a nearby field and we were welcome to collect their manure. No second offer was needed. Armed with buckets and shovels, the field was invaded and bucketfuls of manure were carried away under the enquiring gaze of the passers-by!
“Seaweed was gathered from the beach; it had to be cut off rocks and collecting it was hard work. The distillery nearby supplied peat dross and cummings, which is the barley germ and a potent fertiliser. By this time one or two of the plots were completed and with great interest we watched the first of the radishes, lettuces, etc. growing. Wireworms then attacked the young lettuces, but a neighbour looking round the garden suggested we use soot to kill them off. That day we came across a dump containing mature soot, which is not only good for the soil but an excellent fertiliser.
“One evening Peter was walking in an adjoining field, when he noticed a sheep that had been caught in a fence and was hanging upside down, and obviously had been in this condition for quite some time. He released the sheep and notified the farmer, who thought he might have to destroy the poor creature. A few days later, he again met the farmer, who said the sheep had recovered and as a token of gratitude he offered a load of manure, to be delivered by him. Here then was the manure we required to complete the garden and compost heaps, which are intended to feed the ground and steadily improve its fertility. All the materials that went into their making was given to us in the most amazing way.
“Grass cuttings were delivered by the load; a shop gave old potatoes and vegetables which could not be sold; and a lorry-load was dumped again across the road. We needed straw for covering for the compost heaps, and that same evening a neighbour brought us a bale he had found by the roadside. This same neighbour had bought a large quantity of wood from dismantled garages, and in exchange for some help in dismantling them, invited us to help ourselves to anything we might need. Here then was a plentiful supply of wood needed for fences, frames, edges to paths, etc. and included was sufficient wire netting to go round the gardens to keep rabbits out.
“In all this vigorous growth and productivity of the garden, it is only right to mention the help given by the devas. This is something new, so new that I will only mention it and no more. Co-operation with these beings is to be part of all plant growth in the New World and one group member – Divina – is now touching in on it. I can only say it opens up a completely new vista of life, but again it is part of the Oneness which is all God’s life. “
This account by Lena was written in 1963, very soon after Divina had discovered that she could communicate with the devas. This was vitally important because none of us had had any real experience at all in gardening. In fact we had none of us ever sown a single seed before we came to Findhorn. I had spent a considerable amount of time during the previous winter studying books on gardening. The difficulty here was that for the most part they were books written for gardeners in the south of England and they were not therefore applicable to our local conditions with long dark winters and a very short growing season. Moreover they occasionally even gave conflicting advice. For example, we wished to grow watercress, which is unobtainable locally. One book informed us that running water was essential, another book said that running water was not a necessity provided the crop was grown in a trench in full sunlight, and yet a third book told us that the crop could only be grown in full shade. In view of all this conflicting advice, we had no recourse but to ask Divina to try to get into contact with the Watercress Deva. This she did. The advice we got was to experiment by growing some in the shade and some in the sun. We carried out this advice and the results were excellent.
It was about this time that Elixir received guidance to the effect that I was not to attempt to grow any flowers. Instead I was to concentrate on growing every kind of vegetable, fruit and herb suitable for that part of Scotland. During our first season we grew 65 different kinds of vegetable, 21 different kinds of fruit and a variety of 42 different herbs. Whenever it was possible Divina contacted the appropriate deva when each species was being planted, welcoming it into the garden.
At other times, when specific information was required, the appropriate deva was once again contacted. For example, when some newly transplanted lettuces appeared to be failing, advice regarding these was sought immediately and we were told:
“We do not approve of transplanting. It weakens the plant forces. To man it is convenient. To us it is inconvenient and weakens our charges. Nature’s methods of a prodigious mass of seeds, from which only the strong survive, ensures the best for the plant. In the best of all worlds, man should sow seeds more thickly than is needed and then thin out by destroying those whose life forces he can see are weak. He is then aiding Nature, and Nature in turn will produce health for him.”
This advice had immediate application. We received similar practical advice from the devas regarding many problems relating to the garden.
Frequently questions arose that were of a more general nature, and these were answered by a being who, for want of a better name, we called the Landscape Angel. This Being is the one who overlights the whole area and frequently acts as spokesman for the deva world. From this Being we learned many things. We learned, for example, that the devas deal with forces or radiations, whereas man tends to think in terms of chemicals, elements, trace elements, etc. We were told that the most important contribution man can make to a garden is the radiation that he puts into the soil with cultivating it, such as Love, and that every member of the group at Findhorn had something to give to the whole. One could contribute strength and power, another love and so on. We were told that this was far more important than the addition of chemicals or fertilisers, since the devas were quite capable of producing these for themselves without any help from man – presumably from the surrounding ether.
The result of this experiment which we were carrying out became apparent some eighteen months after the garden had been started, when I asked the County Horticultural Adviser to come and take a sample of the soil for analysis. His first comment on arrival was to the effect that without question the soil would require a dressing of at least two ounces of sulphate of potash per square yard. I pointed out to him that I did not believe in artificial fertilisers and preferred to use compost with the addition of wood ash. His reply to this was that it would be totally inadequate to make up the deficiencies of this particular soil; in fact he added, this would in effect be quite impossible, and proceeded to spend the next two hours explaining to me just why, in his view, it would prove impossible.
Six weeks later he returned, bringing with him the results of the soil analysis which had, in the meantime, been carried out in Aberdeen. To his complete bewilderment, the analysis had found no deficiencies at all in the soil sample he had given to them. All necessary elements, including trace elements, were present. He was so astonished by the results of this analysis that he asked me if I would take part in a broadcast on our garden with himself in the chair and an experienced gardener and broadcaster taking a third part, who used normal conventional methods of gardening,
chemical fertilisers, etc. At that time I felt that it was not the appropriate moment to expound to the public on the subject of our co-operation with the devas, and that I would be well advised to explain our remarkable results by attributing them to the use of organic manure and compost. I did add, during the broadcast, however, that in my opinion the whole balance of nature was being upset by man, who was now beginning to reap the results of what he had sown. I had a very strong case. The proof of the pudding is to be found in the eating and the Horticultural Adviser had seen our remarkable results for himself, together with the results of the soil analysis.
The results we were getting brought with them their own peculiar difficulties, particularly in the field of planning the crops. For example, when estimating the number of red cabbages we should need I calculated that with an average weight of three or four pounds (the normal weight) we should probably require about eight, and therefore I planted this number. When mature, they were so large that one cabbage weighed 38 pounds and another 42 pounds, and consequently they proved far more than our requirements demanded. Similarly, a white sprouting broccoli that had mistakenly been planted out for a cauliflower grew to such enormous proportions that it provided us with vegetables for weeks, and when eventually I pulled it up, it was nearly too heavy for me to lift.
All this have been achieved on soil which, only eighteen months previously, had been sand and gravel, with no more than two or three inches of very poor soil and turf on the top. All waste was of course composted and put back into the soil to revitalise it.
Inevitably progress was slow for the first three years, for the foundations had to be dug deep for future expansion. During the whole of this period we were virtually cut off from the world, receiving our guidance entirely from within.
About this time I was offered one of the finest walled gardens in the district complete with greenhouses, frames, etc. I was offered this free to cultivate exactly as I wished. However, in view of the remarkable way in which all our needs for the garden were being met, the extraordinary results which were being achieved and the way in which I was being led step by step to extend the size and scope of our garden, it seemed to me that there must quite obviously be a reason for it all. It was gradually beginning to dawn upon me that that there must be some underlying purpose behind all that we were being led to do at Findhorn, and that we were carrying out some mysterious pioneering venture. I decided, therefore, to turn the offer down. Another thing which was becoming apparent was that I was being actually prevented by extraordinary methods, from obtaining a job so that I was able to concentrate full time on the garden and work which we were doing at Findhorn. I had come to realise by this time that the garden was just a part of a much larger experiment in group living.
It was training us to realise the Wholeness of One Life.
The devas had indicated to us that any food grown with their help and co-operation was of a higher nutritional vibrational value. From an economic point of view we were forced to live almost entirely on our own garden produce. This, together with the pure air, sunlight, sea bathing and plenty of pure, cold water, enabled us to purify the atomic structure of our bodies. The more refined they became the more we were able to absorb energies from the cosmic rays, sun and air, and the less solid food we needed. Thus we were building bodies more capable of receiving the new frequencies and energies which were entering the Earth as it moves forward into the Aquarian Age.
Soon after the vegetable, fruit and herb gardens were complete, we were brought into contact with Roc. A few months later he had his first meeting with Pan. With Roc’s arrival a new phase of the work began.
In the spring of 1967 Elixir received guidance to the effect that the garden was to be extended and made a place of beauty. This involved the planting of trees, shrubs and flowers. With the expansion of the Centre, came the acquisition of more land (the ground surrounding the new bungalows) to its present extent of about two acres.
The barren soil was considered to be quite unsuitable for the growth of deciduous trees, but Pan promised us his help and that of his subjects should we decide to attempt to grow trees and shrubs. It was the end of April and already very late in the season for planting, but on looking round a nursery, I was inspired to get a large chestnut tree, together with an assortment of other trees and shrubs. These were duly planted in the sandy soil and there followed a dry summer. Pan, however, kept his promise. The growth of the chestnut tree averaged 14 inches – an astonishing amount in view of the adverse conditions under which it was growing. The growth and colour of the flowers in the new herbaceous border, created in pure sand and nothing else (all the compost having this time been used up) was truly remarkable. One delphinium grew to a height of eight feet and had enormous blossoms. The colours of all the flowers shone with a scintillating quality. In fact many of our visitors told us that they had never seen such a uniformly high standard in all sections of any garden before and were at a loss to understand it in view of the poverty of the soil and the northern climate. Certainly it was not due to any experience on the part of the gardener!
During this phase we had a great deal to learn about the nature spirits and the way in which we were to seek their co-operation. For example, I had planted an orchard and had purposely left some gorse bushes in order to provide protection from the wind. These had gradually overgrown the fruit bushes but I had not had time to cut them back during the winter.
One day in spring I asked Dennis, who had been with us for three or four months, if he would cut back the gorse bushes, which were by that time already in flower. He did not like doing this but as he did it he explained to the nature spirits that it had to be done as the gorse bushes were preventing the growth of the fruit trees which were being grown to supply us with food. Lena was also upset at their being cut down when they were in flower and Divina exploded, saying that I was butchering the plants.
This I felt was going rather too far, as every time a lawn is mown plants are butchered! I felt that I had taken the only possible course, as our primary object at that time was to provide ourselves with food. Later at the weekend Roc arrived and immediately asked what I had done to upset the nature spirits, as something was apparently very wrong. At that time I had no idea what this could possibly be.
On his way down to the beach which goes through a profusion of gorse bushes, Roc found that he was being followed by a lot of little elves who wanted to know why man had destroyed their homes. They lived, it seemed, in the blossoms of the gorse and broom and they told him that they had all left the garden and refused to work there any longer because of this thoughtless destruction. Roc explained to them that it had been in complete ignorance. As soon as I understood the true situation, I apologised to them for what I had done and I asked them to return. This they did, and the whole episode is a small illustration of the way man, in his ignorance, can upset the nature spirits. Furthermore, it shows how those who were near to them felt instinctively that it was wrong to cut down the gorse and the broom when they were in full bloom, whereas man (represented by myself) used only his mind and overruled the sensitive feelings of others.
Henceforth we only pruned or cut down plants when not in bloom. Later the following message was received from a high source:
“Remind Peter that at Findhorn where a pioneer experiment in co-operation between man, the devas and the nature forces is being carried out, the greatest care must be taken to refrain from any action that will give offence. This particularly applies to the nature spirits who are active in the garden. You cannot continue to expect co-operation from beings, many of whom still doubt that man deserves their help though they are willing to make the experiment, if you do not respect their principles.
“Co-operation with the nature spirits is a two-way affair. It is not enough for man to believe in them and ask for their help. He must also respect them and avoid doing anything that will give them offence.
“There are certain practices common in many gardens which should not be used here.
“Peter as master of the garden is the one to make decisions. But he must be warned that if he makes mistakes serious consequences will result. Not only will the nature forces concerned depart from the garden, but a penalty will be imposed. This will be severe as there is now no excuse for offending these spirits. He can no longer plead ignorance as in the case of the broom.
“Certain flower spirits left because of what seemed to them to be wanton mutilation of the plants they tend by removing the blossoms. Remember these spirits are concerned with beauty and resent any violation of it. Flowers may be picked to beautify the home. They will not resent this if it is explained to them. If flowers have to be pulled off in order to stimulate growth of leaves for food, this should be done before the flowers have opened out. Once they have done so they may have become the dwelling places of tiny little beings whose presence and whose goodwill ought to be cherished, not repulsed.
“Weeds in the garden are growths in the wrong place and can be removed. But this as far as possible should be done before any flowers open out.
“The question of removing shoots or buds to stimulate growth and grow larger blossoms is a difficult one and must be left to the gardener’s conscience and common sense. There are many cases where penalties will be exacted for such treatment which the gardener must accept as reparation for his deed. These penalties may be imposed on other parts of the garden. They may take the form of attacks by disease or fungus or by caterpillars, greenfly, wireworm, etc. In a carefully controlled co-operation these things do not occur without cause. The nature spirits are still easily offended by man’s mistakes. Constant care must be taken here. A reasonable man tries to avoid giving offence to or hurting his friends. The nature spirits are your friends. Respect them and treat them as such.”
We had another lesson given to us regarding co-operation with the nature spirits. This was in connection with the wild garden. During a visit to a local garden, Roc was instinctively drawn to the wild garden, which had been completely untouched by man. Pan was there and he explained to Roc that this wild garden was their own part. They worked from there and they always like to have a place in any garden where they were left entirely to themselves, and which man visited as rarely as possible. He then went on to say that in any garden where the full co-operation of the nature spirits was desired, there should be a wild part that could be used as a focal point, in which they knew they would be left quite undisturbed. He said that at Findhorn there was not enough respect for the wild garden; we tended to go through it on our way to the beach, and there was even someone camping in it. When Dennis, who was the culprit, heard this, he removed both himself and his tent as speedily as he could!
This incident shows how the old-time gardeners, who were usually very close to nature, instinctively knew the importance of the wild garden, because this is to be found in most old gardens and even in the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. This, needless to say, should not serve as an excuse for the lazy gardener!
We come now to a final example of the co-operation of the nature spirits and the devas. By Easter 1968 three new cedarwood bungalows had been erected and a large area had been added to the garden. The bungalows were surrounded by a barren waste of sand and gravel, full of couch grass. Nearly 600 beech trees were planted in this to form a hedge enclosing the whole area, paths were made and the area cleared of the couch grass, and in due course, manured. It had been our original intention to clear the ground this year (1968) and to plant it with trees and shrubs next year. However, at the end of April, I saw an advertisement in one of the Sunday papers with a special offer of large trees and shrubs from a nursery on the south coast. Elixir received guidance to the effect that this was a gamble and that I was to go ahead and order these trees. They were duly despatched on 16th May and arrived nine days later in a pitiful condition, with their roots and their leaves shrivelled. They had come from the relatively warm climate on the south coast, they had spent nine days travelling by rail to the north east coast of Scotland and they were finally planted in almost pure sand in the teeth of a strong cold north-east wind. The help of the devas was duly requested and a message was received from the Landscape Angel as follows:
“We are including all these new trees and shrubs in a solid downpour of radiation, a wall of it, for they must indeed be stabilised and kept immersed in the life elements. They have to be kept in this wall without a moment’s deviation, each one must be upheld until the life in them is one with it. You can say I am doing this but I am only a representative; the deva of each plant is with me in this. They are glad to be in this garden but can only just acknowledge the contact. They are being kept busy!
“Yes, I can keep a part of myself in constant service to this wall of radiation while being otherwise engaged elsewhere. My consciousness is more spread out than yours in one sense. Man generally works more like a searchlight, moving and focussing from one thing to another; we are more diffused, more embracing, not as concentrated, aware of what is in our charge at all times without having to look and see how it is getting on. You too will function more in this way when you are free of the limitation of the self.
“We do not range the sky searching for answers to the questions of life. We are consciously in the scheme of things, we know what we have to do and we do it. You cannot separate us from our sphere of activity; we are that activity, we are the wall of energising life, it is our breath incoming and outgoing, our arms and legs. Yet we are completely free at the same time, free to be joy itself, colour itself, life itself, and always always free to glory that we are part of yet greater Life, the greater breath, the greater arms and legs of the One Lord of all life who is formless but consciously giving us life. That life that He gives is an ecstasy of all qualities and we rejoice to feel a minute part of it. We are one with you too in this if you would but recognise it.
“The wall is still there of course. Give all your protective love to it and let us thank God together.”
Roc also invoked the aid of the nature spirits and became aware of the wall of energy descending upon the plants; he also saw the nature spirits busy at their work, particularly among the roots. They appeared to be using this energy, this power, to help establish the trees. At the time of writing all the trees and the shrubs are not only alive but in some cases flourishing. I asked the opinion of several amateur and one professional gardener as to what in their view were the chances of these trees of survival, having regard to the circumstances of their planting and their condition at the time of planting, etc. All gave the chances as being very slight. I had been unable to understand the reason for Elixir’s guidance to get these plants, but as time went on, it became clear that the object had been to demonstrate what could be done under almost impossible conditions, given the help of the devas and nature spirits working through dedicated channels.
After hearing about Pan and his realm, Divina wondered how that fitted in with her own contact with the devas and the higher angelic beings which had been built up over the years. She was given the following message from the one whom we know as the Landscape Angel:
“Though we are delighted you come to us, you puzzle too much and you would learn more if you left the puzzles and communed with us more. Yes, Pan has his domain and we have ours. There are no discrepancies; there is little overlapping, but any relationship is of the happiest. How could it be otherwise? We are on a more formative force-field level; as guardians we are tireless, with no need for revels, yet our work is our play; our lightness is our guarantee in this respect – our being.
“You wonder why we do not appear in the myths of the world, as do so very many beings. Because we do not deal with humans; our work is in other realms. Your myths are stories of how emerging mankind is affected by various influences which are part of his ongoing, part of the world in which he lives. We, as it were, may supply the force for this but we do not enter into man’s world directly, at least not to the average man, not until he begins to be at home in the formative worlds behind his outer worlds. Man could not placate us nor change our ways; in any case we are the servants of the Creator, His hands and feet.
“Now you wonder, why your contact with us? There is a world to be redeemed and all forces are needed for that purpose. Unity, co-operation, is the keynote. We are with you as you are aligned to your God and our God, and the forces we deal with are absolutely essential to your life, and your bodies could not exist without the intermediary work which we do. No longer can man blindly rape his worlds, but in the most beautiful harmony we will continue to provide what he needs, while he, in his turn, will accept his gifts and render them back to the whole. This must be or the whole cannot continue.
“Life is a whole. Harmony has been ordained throughout the universe. Man too will play his own unique part and we need not retire nor be extinguished and this world may then continue to a greater and greater beauty, higher harmony, colours of more light; up, up into the greatness of it all, all of it, every atom of it responding, and being what is. We are part of this great chain; you join us in your wider-ranging fields, that His Will be done on this Earth to create God’s fairest fruit.”
This then is the Findhorn Garden Story. It is one which would seem to prove, beyond doubt, that man, working in proper harmony with the devas and nature spirits and in absolute obedience to the Will of God, can bring down even to the most barren plot of this earth, clear and tangible evidence of His Kingdom.
We thank the Findhorn Foundation for the permission to offer this document from their Archive on our website.
Peter Caddy, Community co-founder.
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