The life of man is governed by cycles. These may be inner cycles, such as the bio-rhythms of his own physiology and psychology, or they may be outer environmental cycles, such as the interchange of day and night and the rhythm of the seasons. Often these cycles and rhythms are related, demonstrating the validity of the maxim “as above, so below”, the occult Law of Correspondences. Thus, man’s personal cycle of respiration, breathing in and out, is mirrored in the rhythm of night and day, rest and activity, winter and summer. Another cycle common to all men which also is often reflected in the microcosmic life of men and their institutions is that of birth. For nine months the new individual is nourished, protected and allowed to develop in the enfolding environment of the mother’s womb; then, at the end of that period of time, the child emerges to face life more completely on its own. A similar cycle of nine years is found operative in the development and life of the consciousness of men. A particular activity or phase moves progressively along for nine years and then transforms itself into a new level of complexity, of relationship, of outlook and endeavour.

In November, 1962, Peter and Eileen Caddy, their three sons and their colleague, Dorothy Maclean, were led to “a derelict corner of Findhorn Bay Caravan Park” which they assumed would be a temporary location before moving on. What happened then is familiar to all who have read The Findhorn Story, The Findhorn Garden and other literature. From that small beginning, a New Age Community has emerged which has offered a creative influence and inspiration to individuals and groups throughout the world through its wide distribution of literature and through its thousands of visitors. Yet, in spite of this world contact, we have been, like the babe in the womb, fairly isolated and protected. This has been due both to our location (being somewhat hidden from view of the road in what appears, at first glance, to be a rather ordinary caravan park in the rural fishing and farming area of north-eastern Scotland) and to a lack of publicity about ourselves and our work other than through our own literature and through verbal news passed on by visitors.

This isolation has been important in giving us a chance to build the foundations of the centre deeply and firmly. We had many important lessons to learn before we could safely open to the world in a more public fashion. Thus, at a time when other embryonic communities and centres became overwhelmed with large numbers of hippie-type youths who came to seek and to take but rarely to give and build, or became moribund with people of the older generation who were seeking only comfortable spiritual pastures in which to graze out their remaining days, our very isolation brought to us only those who were truly dedicated, while our emphasis on work and building kept with us only those, old and young, who were willing to put creative service to the whole before self. In this fashion, we grew slowly, organically, like a child, keeping our energies largely to ourselves with little contact with the surrounding population. Then, in 1970, after several years of guidance through Elixir informing us that we had to prepare for great numbers of people who would be coming to visit or join us, the slow growth began to accelerate. In that year we trebled in size from 15 at the beginning of the year to 45 at the end and faced the challenge of consolidation, of blending all these new members into a consciousness of unity and wholeness. This trend continued into 1971, bringing our present numbers up to just over a hundred permanent members. At the same time the activities of the community expanded—in fact exploded—into a number of different areas: business, through the developing Findhorn Studios and Shop; publications, with the printing and release of our first book; education, with the beginning of the Findhorn College; the performing arts of drama, dance and music and with the beginning of our own theatre.

In the wake of all this development came publicity, ’local and national, such as we had never received before, culminating in a half-hour programme on BBC-TV Scotland devoted to the community and its work. No longer were we isolated or relatively unknown. This had also been emphasised by the fifteen hundred visitors who had come from all parts of the world during 1971; now we began to receive letters from even greater numbers of people asking to come to Findhorn, many wishing to become permanent members. Clearly, with the showing of the television programme on 12th November, almost nine years to the day from the arrival of the founders at the caravan park, a cycle in Findhorn’s growth had completed itself; the relatively inward-focussed period of development, of embryonic growth, had given way to a new cycle, a new birth, a new Findhorn in many ways, represented by the creation of a new trust deed and our finally receiving charitable status from the Inland Revenue authorities under our new name of The Findhorn Foundation.

In August 1971 we published our last Findhorn News, which covered the period between January and April of last year. It had been our intention to publish a News every three months. This soon proved to be only a dream, for with the rapid expansion that began in May, all of us became too busy living the life and building the community to have time actually to write about it. We felt keenly (and still do) the need for individuals who can become full-time reporters. It was our desire also to publish a magazine devoted to illustrated stories and articles, poems and art work. This we still hope to do, but all these developments await the manifestation of certain special printing equipment, notably a process camera, which is needed now in order to do these jobs perfectly, particularly the printing of photographs.

The revelation of the spiritual forces, the Presence of God acting within and behind all we do is of primary importance. In past Findhorn News publications Peter has traced the thread of guidance and action behind each major event, using such events as the foundations for modern parables demonstrating the reality and power of God and of man’s Divinity. This is the soul of the Findhorn story. This booklet is written to highlight the story of our many developments and changes over the past year. It is the equivalent of the News which we have previously published, except that we cannot go as deeply into the significance of each story, nor can we cover all the interesting personal details which many of you have enjoyed concerning our expanding family. We recognise, however, that such personal touches are important in conveying to you a sense of the people who are involved in the Findhorn experiment in New Age living. We all share a vision of what humanity can become and what the world can be like and we are all blending our different backgrounds and individualities in order to create an environment where that vision can come to life. This is definitely a story with human interest.

Events are now happening so quickly that the Findhorn News format cannot keep up with them in a journalistic way, telling the spiritual side of the events while still providing human interest stories and insight into the life here as well. Therefore, as our printing needs are met, we hope to publish three types of journals: one giving news stories and announcements in a concise and easily published format; another presenting a continuing account of the spiritual significance and lessons behind all that is happening here, examining the news in greater depth along with relevant guidance from Elixir, David or others; and the third being a magazine which, through photographs, art work, articles, poetry and stories, will share and depict the human and creative side of the life here, as well as dealing with the field of expanding New Age development throughout the world.

In the meantime, this booklet will bring us up to date by describing the major events which marked the completion of one nine-year cycle and the beginning of another, the events which have marked the transformation of Findhorn and our change of identity from the Findhorn Trust to the new Findhorn Foundation. It is, for us, the exciting story of the continuous revelation of the active Presence of the Beloved. We share it with you in joy, knowing that this Presence is active in your life as well, thus linking us together in the Oneness of all upon the Earth and in the opportunity to serve that Oneness until it becomes demonstrated in all lives throughout the world.

For many years much of the activity of the Trust was focussed around the creation of a Centre of Light and spiritual power and the work with the Nature Forces in developing the garden. These were vital projects, but not the kinds of activities that could be readily shared with people who were not on a New Age or spiritual ‘beam’, especially the people who were our neighbours in the local towns and villages. As a consequence, we lacked bridges that could be built between us and the conservative, orthodox people of our district.

With the beginning of the arts and crafts studios at Pineridge, as described in the August 1971 issue of the Findhorn News, such bridges began to be built. The message of the New Age, of joy and of greater attunement to the whole of Life, which might not be accepted in terms of working with Nature Spirits or being a Light Centre, could find new outlets, new forms of communication through the universal language of art, particularly hand-made crafts of a high standard of creativity, originality and excellence. This was the dream behind the vision and building of the Findhorn Studios: that this new enterprise would be a powerful link between the inner aspects of Findhorn life and work and the outside world.

Construction work on the three buildings of the Studios (one for pottery, one for weaving and one for crafts) continued throughout the summer. There was also work on preparing the road leading up to the Studios which had to be tarmacadamed. The deadline for all this was 2nd October, a Saturday when Sir George Trevelyan would be with us. Sir George, the former Warden of the Adult Education College at Attingham Park and Founder of the Wrekin Trust, was the principal speaker at a ceremony planned to celebrate the opening of the Studios and also to provide an opportunity for local officials and citizens to visit the Trust and to become more familiar with our work. The buildings were finished in time, but we were told that, due to the poor weather we had been having, the road could not be finished. Nevertheless, in a fashion that has come to characterise so many of our experiences here, the weather unexpectedly cleared and stayed perfect long enough for the road to be completed by 1st October and for the ceremony the next day-another example of how the seemingly miraculous can become an ordinary part of life for those who live in harmony with the Whole!

The opening ceremony was attended by 120 people and was conducted outside the Studios. It was a great success, with Sir George giving a talk on the role of arts and crafts in building a new civilization, and Peter introducing the many visitors to the philosophy and work of the community. Following this
the Studios were blessed by the Rev. Douglas Forbes of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Forres; by Brian Nobbs who, as head potter, represented the craftsmen; and by David Spangler-a truly ecumenical endeavour! That evening entertainment was provided for the visitors in the Community Centre, consisting of singing, dancing and drama which led to a number of our folk singers being invited to perform at the local ceilidh (more on this later).

The construction and opening of the studio buildings has given us visible evidence of the creativity which we encourage here; they are among the best equipped craft studios in all Britain. Yet they represent only the surface of this activity. The heart of it is the new limited company, Findhorn Studios Ltd., which has been formed to handle the affairs of the artists and their work. It is this company which is to demonstrate the New Age consciousness in the world of business and economic enterprise. The kind of consciousness this may be was indicated by guidance given through David to assist the growth of the company:

16th May 1971
“If the artists place their faith and trust in God and see themselves as co-creators through whom new beauty, new inspiration, new power can unfold, then they will open themselves to those Angelic presences which stand ready to assist but which demand absolute trust in God and absolute attention to the unfoldment of the craft rather than to the dictates of business. It is not that care and attention should not be given to the commercial and business side, but that these should be seen as forms of art in themselves rather than as forms of competition, demanding perfection of attention, love and awareness, a business attuned to God rather than to the dictates of the marketplace. God is the ultimate Source from which all needs are met, whether He moves through the marketplace or directly into the hearts, minds and bodies of men.”

28th July 1971
“The purpose of the Findhorn Studios as a business is to assist in the circulation to and from this centre of the energy known as money, but that is not its primary function. It is primarily another means through which a greater consciousness of service, of love, of beauty and of revelation can manifest itself into the human condition. To create a New Age business, then, you must first abolish from yourselves any consciousness of lack: you must demonstrate the basic principle on which this centre is based; that all your needs are being perfectly met. This consciousness is fundamental. Without it you cannot create a New Age business.

“You must know that you are not creating an economic device designed designed to place you into a competitive state. You are creating an artistic device designed to reveal, to make manifest to illumine, to uplift and to inspire. It can still have all forms of old age business, departments for purchasing, for production, for distribution and marketing, for sales analysis and so forth, so that balance and harmony and laws of right use and economy of energy are maintained. That is not in question. If the consciousness is centred within and attuned to its Divine source of supply and intuitive guidance, then these business forms cannot help but reveal, inspire, uplift and illumine.

“Your objective as a business is not exactly the same as the objective of a business in the outer world, which is to enhance its economic and competitive position. Your objective is to release to the world that which will bless and transform it.”  This consciousness, the guidance goes on to say will open the doors to markets and return to the Studios all that they need in order to function and grow properly.

In the six months during which the Studios have been functioning, this and other guidance that were received have been confirmed in practice. The idea of creating a business as an art form based on a consciousness of attunement and oneness, where intuition plays as large a part as does mental analysis, has met with initial success. With Violet Barker as Chairman and Joint Managing Director and Captain Alec Gibson, the owner of the caravan site, as the other Joint Managing Director, the Studios have organised themselves around the heads of the three major departments: Pottery (Brian Nobbs), Crafts (Jonathan Snell) and Weaving (Ken Bailey). These five individuals together with Bernard Hicken as Treasurer, Kathro Boaz as Secretary and Jim Glines as co-ordinator of Shop activities, meet each Saturday to discuss the needs and direction of the business. Once a month all those working in the Studios meet to become familiar with major policy decisions and to ensure a common awareness and attunement. All decisions must be unanimously approved, a technique that has worked very successfully for us.

The products of the Studios are varied. The weaving department has three large looms producing a wide range of original materials including rugs and table mats. These are dressed and finished by Gwen Coy. It also incorporates leatherwork under the supervision of Michael Playford who, before moving to Findhorn, had his own successful leatherwork business in England, specialising in goods for young people. Dressmaking is under the direction of Jenny Wood assisted by Kristin Lightstone and Valerie Bean. The products include ponchos, stoles, kaftans, skirts, jackets, hand-decorated shoulder bags and belts.

The craft building is the site of candle-making by Jon Drake and macrame by Joy Lamsley, as well as jewellery work and some silk-screen printing under Christian Torjussen and Jonathan and Dorothy Snell respectively. In the pottery studio, four potters, including our Sales Manager, Nigel Hicken, work with two electric and one kick wheel and an electric kiln (a larger oil-fired kiln is being constructed in an adjoining building) to turn out a wide variety of hand-thrown pottery and ceramics.

All three studios are approaching full productive capacity. In keeping with a consciousness of artistry and originality, almost every item produced is unique, although there are recognised types and lines. The Studios are at present working very hard to build up stock and to find outlets. Thus far, sales have been encouraging and the response good—so much so, in fact, that at times buyers have wanted more of certain items than the Studios could supply with the present number of personnel at work.

It is the policy of the Studios that individuals wishing to join in craft work must first become integrated into the community for a period of three months, learning to blend their consciousnesses with that of the whole. In this way, the Studios remain very much a part of the whole community life and are not developing into a separate enterprise.

We have also begun expanding our publishing work to include books and booklets for sale in bookstores throughout the world. The first of these, published in August 1971, was David Spangler’s book, Revelation: The Birth of a New Age, which has proved very successful. Whereas before all our literature reached primarily only those on our mailing list, now we are reaching a far wider public as bookdealers stock our material. In addition, Jim Bronson has incorporated the photographic department into the Studios, creating a record of the craft products on film and slides which can be printed and given to customers.

In August, Myrtle’s son Jim telephoned from America to say that he and his wife Linda had awakened during the night with a strong impulse to come to Findhorn. This represented a major change of life for him, as he was living at the time in Las Vegas, Nevada, and had practically no previous contact with New Age ideas. Soon after, on 7th August, Elixir received the following message: “All will work out perfectly regarding the shop, so be at peace. The right people will be drawn here to take it on. The timing is right, so let the whole plan unfold. A whole new and truly wonderful plan is unfolding step by step. It is all part of a far vaster plan, part of the whole. I go before to prepare the way.”

This guidance was received in connection with and offer by Captain Gibson that the Trust take over the running of the caravan park gift shop and store and use it as an outlet for Studio products, as well as for provisions and general merchandise.  What was needed was someone who had experience in the gift and
grocery business to organise the shop. The day this guidance was received, Myrtle again talked with Jim on the phone to make final plans for his coming. She mentioned the shop and he said that he had just been planning to write to see if there was a small shop that he could manage, for his work was in the grocery business and he had training in this field. Once again, our needs were perfectly met.

Jim and his wife arrived soon after and quickly integrated into the community. His experience and his friendly way with people soon brought the whole plan for the shop into focus. Jonathen Snell and the other artists turned the old gift shop into a new display shop for the Studios products. On 1st November we took over the shop, which has since proved to be a valuable link with the outside world. It has been so successful that we are now taking over the second, older shop on the caravan site, turning one area into a secondary shop for the sale of ice cream, refreshments and gifts, and the other part of it into a small theatre for the use of our expanding drama department.

Thus, through the media of art and business blended together, bridges of new communication and co-operation have been built with our local neighbours, bringing them into harmony with us and opening the consciousnesses of more and more people to the true value of what we are building here. In this way our ability to serve is broadened and the ‘vaster plan’ comes that much closer to being fulfilled.

In August 1971 the following headline appeared in The Press and Journal, a local newspaper: “FEAR OVER TEACHERS ‘NEEDLESS’”. The accompanying article began, “Several parents in the Findhorn and Kinloss areas are expressing concern over the fact that a number of teachers at Kinloss Primary School are members of a group known as the Findhorn Trust—a 70-strong community of people who have formed their own secluded and spiritual colony at a Findhorn caravan site. The parents feel uneasy in case the three teachers concerned try to influence the youngsters in any way with the beliefs they hold.” The article then went on to quote some of the local parents who had voiced these fears, but ended with statements by the Moray and Nairn Director of Education supporting the qualifications of the teachers and disposing of the fears as being unfounded and needless.

The teachers concerned were John and Janet Willoner, two of the founder members of the community, and Christian Torjussen, an artist and art instructor who had formerly been part of a catholic teaching brotherhood. Needless to say, the parents’ fears were groundless, yet in what appeared at first glance to be the beginnings of an attack on the community, the hand of God became very evident, for this newspaper article was the key that opened the door to the consciousness of the local people and to a new image for the Trust.

It was quite true that during our formative years we kept ourselves fairly isolated from very much intercourse with the surrounding people. This was less out of a desire to be secretive than out of a need to concentrate all our energies on building the garden and the foundations of the community. Nevertheless, bits and pieces of misinformation would filter through the countryside, giving rise to the wildest of stories: we were holding naked orgies, practising strange religious rites, holding concourse with demons; Peter was a Mormon with four wives, or a thief, or a confidence man tricking rich widows out of their life savings; we were a hippie commune, given to long hair, wild music, tree love and drugs. Strangely enough, no one from the local village ever came to see for himself just what we were doing. Visitors came from all over the world, no one came from our local area. The rumours thrived, as rumours do when people prefer sensation to truth. Thus, when the local newspaper published its story about the possibility of our teachers influencing their children, the scene was set for what could have been a public outcry of a negative nature. That this didn’t happen was due to the prompt support given by the educational authorities in extolling the excellence and qualifications of John, Janet and Christian, and to equally prompt enquiries from other reporters who wanted m-depth stories concerning this ‘commune’ on the Moray Firth. The Press and Journal and The Evening Express, two papers with wide circulations throughout Scotland, both sent reporters and did feature articles on what the Journal called “The Findhorn Faith”.

Both reporters were astonished at what they found. One wrote of being told about “sin in the sun” but when she came she found “a sanctuary-not sin- in the sun. We walk on through the rows of chalets with their pretty gardens. Windows are thrown open to the fine weather. There is nothing here of the masochistic spartanism so often associated with religious communes. On the contrary, there’s a high standard of modern comfort in all the appointments—and everywhere cleanliness.” The other reporter wrote: “If the visitor to the village (Findhorn village) were to listen and believe the rumours, he would be painted a picture of an extremely weird cult shrouded in mystery. Nothing could be further from reality.” She also wrote: “The community was not what I expected. I had tried not to take with me any preconceived ideas but have to admit that I couldn’t put the idea of off-beats out of my mind. I’m not exactly sure what I expected but it certainly wasn’t rows of neat chalets basking in the brightness of flowers galore. And the people .. . not one arty-crafty looking type to be seen. There was no way-out talk, no looking down on someone who lived out of the community, no Bible-thumping beliefs. They are a very much down-to-earth people in a community where friendliness exists in super-abundance.”

The publication of these two newspaper articles created a definite change and even inspired a few local people to come and see us. However, the next step followed within two weeks. In 1969 BBC2 had presented a ten-minute film about Findhorn as part of a half-hour Man Alive programme dealing with alternative societies in Britain. At that time, Elixir had received guidance that the time would come when Findhorn would be given a whole programme devoted to the community and its work. Not long after the publication of the newspaper articles, one of our members was hitchhiking back from a camping trip. She was given a lift by a man who asked where she was going. When she said that she was part of the Findhorn Trust community, he identified himself as Raeburn Mackie, the interviewer on Current Account, a news programme on BBC1 Scotland. He had wanted to do a film on Findhorn as part of a programme similar to the earlier Man Alive series. His meeting with her brought this fully into his consciousness.

Within two weeks the film crew arrived at the community and spent three days with us. They were delightful men, easy and charming to work with. Raeburn told us then that they had been unable to find another community like ours in Scotland, except for one or two hippie communes which had since disbanded. As a consequence, the full thirty-minute programme was to be devoted to Findhorn. Here was the fulfilment of Elixir’s guidance!

The programme opened with a brief sequence showing life in a hippie commune in western Scotland, a place of disorder and noise filmed during a celebration the group was holding in honour of chaos! The contrast was indeed striking as the scene changed to a peaceful view of our gardens (the programme was in colour), accompanied by a soundtrack recording of a group of our young people singing songs composed at Findhorn. In fact, the whole show was very favourable, highlighting the joy and creativity of our life here. It laid to rest forever the image of our being a hippie commune and demonstrated for all who watched that we were a place of happy people truly building toward an alternative society.

It was not long after the showing of this programme that the public opening of the Findhorn Studios was held, which was a great success. Now, with the expansion of the theatre and singing groups, even more contacts are being made with our local neighbours, creating harmony where before there had been suspicion. While there is still little understanding of the spiritual and cosmic aspects of our thought and work, there is now an appreciation of the fact that we are building a place of beauty, joy and harmony which can only contribute to the well-being of the neighbourhood.

Thus, from what began as seemingly bad publicity, a door was opened through radio, TV and newspapers for our local world to see us more clearly and through this to come to support our endeavours by dispelling the rumours of the past. Thus ended a cycle of preparation and isolation which had unfortunately been marked with misunderstanding and suspicion. A new cycle of greater harmony has been released. This was confirmed in a message received by Elixir on 1 2th November, the day the TV show was broadcast.

“My beloved, are you ready? More and more people will be drawn to this Centre of Light in the days ahead. It will become like a magnet and nothing can now stop this from coming about.
“Be not disturbed if you have not the accommodation for the visitors when they come. Simply let them book into other caravans and at local hotels and bed and breakfast places. You will be unable to accommodate everyone here, so be prepared for changes in this respect. You will find that people will be so keen to come here that they will not mind where they go. This is one reason why the expansion of the Community Centre is so important. You will need the lounge for those visitors who are accommodated outside, so that they will have somew here to go during the day while they are here. Also you will need the room for feeding people. Nothing must be forced; it will all unfold, so let there be no strain. Simply hold the need ever before you and know that it will be met at the right time.

“I have told you that you can no longer be hidden away. Findhorn is now on the map and is becoming well known all over the world, so just be willing to accept this. It is all in My plan and My plan is perfect, so go with it. People are hungry and must be fed spiritually. They are groping in a darkened world, searching for the Light, and the Light will draw them; Light will attract Light. The work will go ahead in leaps and bounds. A wonderful work is taking place here and you are truly privileged to be at the spearhead doing what is being done.

“The need is very great for Light and more Light, and these Light Centres are vital. More and more will spring up all over the place. Each will be different, but the Light will be there and will be recognised and souls will be drawn to it. These Light Centres will be like cells in a body; new ones will be formed, creating more and more Light, pushing back the darkness, making all things whole. The Earth is very sick and these Light cells are needed to restore its wholeness. The more Light there is, the quicker will the Earth become whole. So let the Light blaze forth and never allow it to dim. Every tiny Light has its work to do, so let your Light shine forth and do what you know you have to do. Be at peace and do My will.”

From the very beginning, the principal objective of Findhorn has been to pioneer a way of life based on complete harmony with God and His Laws, and to demonstrate what is possible for those who learn to attune to the Divine and use their wills to further the creative plan of His will. In an age when man’s spirit often seems stifled and entombed in materialism, it is our intent to demonstrate the reality and the power of the spiritual principles of living, not in a religious, dogmatic, intellectual way nor as an escape, but as the release of that greater Consciousness within each man which can take the splendours of material evolution and intellectual achievement and use them for the good of all and all which lives upon the planet. It is our belief that each individual needs to understand and experience the living Presence of the Whole, of the Source of all lives, within himself and in his life, so that he ceases to see himself as an isolated being, self-seeking in order to survive, and begins to see himself as a centre of continuous creativity through communication. We are each one with all. To know this and to act accordingly is to move toward the ability truly to communicate with others, not as separated, different identities but as individual aspects of a single Life, the Life of God. From such communication with this Life and with the lives of others we can build a new world, a new global community, for such a consciousness of communion and communication will come to see self in terms of the Whole and not Whole in terms of self. From such a vision comes harmony and co-operation and the greater release of creative power which this permits.

Thus, from the beginning, the intent of the Trust has not been to create a garden nor to build a community but to demonstrate a consciousness of attunement to the supreme link between all men, the Life of God. Because we live in a world of form and action, it has always been our further intent that this attunement be followed by action -“Heaven brought down to Earth”- in fact, the discipline of obedience to what is received in communion with God. It is this discipline of attunement to the will of God and obeying it that has built Findhorn over the years. No human consciousness acting in its own self-locked way could have achieved the miracles that we have seen manifested month after month, year after year since Findhorn began.

For years the guidance on which Findhorn is based has come through Elixir. As a community began to grow around the seed of her and Peter’s communion with the Divine it became the practice to begin each day with a reading of what had been received during the night while Eileen (Elixir) was in meditation. The vision and guidance was shared for group action; such sharing also inspired others to attempt the leap in attitude so often involved when an individual, contemplating attunement to God, is faced with the ancient thought-form of God’s vastness and man’s littleness and feels within himself the awful question, “Who am I to claim communication with God?’’ In the presence of living demonstration at Findhorn, God took on a new dimension for many as a Life, a Beloved, closer than hands and feet. The Divinity of the individual could be more fully realised and Its influence and guidance released into the lite process.

As more people joined the community, others also began to share their attunements. Still the centre point of community life remained the reading of God’s Word in the Sanctuary each morning. It was the inspiration to start the day, to guide the consciousness, and in monthly booklets God’s Word went out to all the world, bringing thousands of others into spiritual communion with Findhorn.

With the arrival of David Spangler, various aspects of direction and guidance for the community came under his attunement. As Findhorn began expanding rapidly, other members of the community began experiencing the art of communicating directly with an inner Source. As various departments began to develop, the running of their activities moved increasingly into the hands and the attunement of the department heads, who became department heads through proven ability to act from a consciousness of deep attunement. Thus, where Peter had at one time done all the tasks and then had progressed to overseeing these tasks, now several people took the reins of authority and responsibility in specific areas, with Peter, Eileen, David and Myrtle as overall co-ordinators and sources for general community policy and direction, whilst Peter still retained final authority and responsibility for the whole of the community at Findhorn.

The challenge which we faced during this period was one in which the reading of God’s Word through Elixir was creating a dependency. There was a tendency to see Elixir as the only source, the spiritual guide, rather than seeing the God within each of us as the true Source, and taking individual responsibility for revealing that God-life through heightened direction and action. That this was not the right situation had been made clear in a message Elixir had received on 3rd August 1968:

“My beloved, every question can be answered directly from within. Have I not said to you that the greatest help you can give any soul is to turn him within so that he seeks Me and finds the answer to all questions, queries and problems from Me? You are no help to a soul if you do all his spiritual work for him. All souls need to stand on their own feet; they need to take time to seek within, to be at peace and to reach up and tap the Source of all power, all wisdom, all under-standing themselves. In the days to come, no one will need a mediator of any sort, for each one will know and will work from that Centre within. The messages I give to you. My beloved, are only necessary during this interim period until each soul seeks and finds that direct link with Me. Then he will no longer need messages and directives through any other channel, for he will be his own direct channel.”

Further indication of the direction we needed to take if God’s Life were to be something more than just words read out at Sanctuary, and Sanctuary itself something more than just a place or a time of day. came in this message from God through Divina on 27th June 1971:

“As it is right and proper for a child to obey its earthly parents until it comes to its maturity, so it is right and proper for you to obey Me, your heavenly Father/ Mother until you come to your spiritual maturity. After that you have all the faculties within you to make your own decisions without turning as a suppliant to Me. This does not mean that you do not do My will. It simply means that you do My will on your own, as the devas do. They do not continually turn to Me in consciousness, seeking what is right for them to do; they /low with the energies and it is impossible for them to do anything but My will. So it is with you when you have learned obedience, when you only wish My will, when you are mature. Because your consciousness is at one with the highest, there is no question of returning to the state of separation and having to seek My will It simply is in you. You fear that perhaps you are not mature enough to be free of your separated self, that subtly it may encroach. As you flow with events and cease thinking in terms of limitation, accepting your maturity, you are living in it and all is well. Put away childish things; do not cling to them. What if you feel it is a dangerous doctrine for many? You get on with living your own life. You have grown up and, just as your earthly parents trusted you and set you free, 1 would do no less, knowing that we are together always. You are no longer My dutiful child but the beloved who loves all creation in Me, and we both know it and therefore can be One.”

These were strong words demanding a great deal of courage and trust, not so much in God but in ourselves, and a willingness to live a life of attunement, not just now and then but all the time. It has never been our way to sit back and let God do it all for us. This was just a further step along that path of revealing the sufficiency of the God within. The vision was plain: we had learned to listen to God and to obey Him; now, increasingly, we had to be the God within and live the life without relying on external guidance. The final confirmation of this came in a message through Elixir on 20th October 1971, the last message read out in Sanctuary as a regular event:

“My beloved, now is the perfect time for a complete change of rhythm for you. It is no longer necessary for you to receive a message from Me each day for the community and for the many. For a very long time I have gone on day after day repeating Myself; it is now time My word was lived and demonstrated. For those who have ‘failed to take it to heart, it is there for all who need to be reminded, printed in black and white. Now is the time for living it, and the sooner this is done the more quickly will changes come. You cannot spoon feed a child all its life. The time comes when it has to learn to feed itself and you have to let it do so. Let go and stand back and allow all those in the community to live a life guided and directed by Me.”

Perhaps more than any other event of the past year this change is the most significant, for it deals directly with growth of consciousness and a recognition of the attainment of a certain plateau of responsibility and dependable attunement within the community as a whole. Eileen has since been freed to move into a closer personal work with members of the community and is in many ways exerting a more powerful, loving and uplifting influence on each individual’s growth than before when she had to sleep much of the day in order to make up for her nightly meditations. Although she still remains the final source of guidance on all major policy matters, increasingly the community as a whole is providing, through its collective attunement, the new direction, releasing the Divine Life into a greater network of communication and wholeness amongst us than ever before. The Presence of God as our Source of direction and life is daily growing more evident and potent.

This change has led to a change in Sanctuary as well. In order to have our working day begin at 9.00 am, our new Sanctuary time is 8.30 am. Now various individuals in the community take on the responsibility of being the focus for morning inspiration and guiding the Sanctuary time; each does this for three consecutive days, then another takes over. Since this policy began we have had music, dancing, poetry and inspirational readings as part of our morning Sanctuary, which have often proved to be sources for the release of great upliftment and inspiration for us all. More importantly, more people are realising that all the life at Findhorn is the true Sanctuary, the Sanctuary of communication and communion together through work, through play, with Nature, with God. Everything we do, wherever we are, provides an opportunity to practise the Presence of God.

We have been greatly aided in achieving better communication and wholeness together by the behind-the-scenes work of Myrtle Glines and her sister. Christine Cotterel. Both are trained as human relations counsellors, both have worked with individuals and small groups in breaking down barriers of mis-communication. Their tireless efforts on behalf of the Whole, often unrecognised, have helped us
all to attain the vision of being the living word and fulfilling the promise of the messages Elixir and Divina have received. Others, too, by their willingness to change themselves, to discipline themselves in the arts of communication and attunement to God and to others, have helped lift the entire community to new levels of maturity as a group, fulfilling for themselves the faith that God puts in each human being as one of His Sons, an expression of Himself.

In the early days at Findhorn, there were few people and a great many jobs to be done. For this reason, almost all energies were devoted to the important tasks of anchoring the vision and building the foundation of the centre through the work programme. Whereas many New Age centres fail to balance their thought and meditation with a demonstration of the creative life, at Findhorn the emphasis was placed the other way around. This was a place where the life was lived, not, as Peter often said, “a place for listening to lectures or having discussions where people sit around and just talk about the spiritual life.” Nevertheless, even in those days Findhorn had its educational aspect which expressed itself through the processes of self-discovery and learning the spiritual laws on which the centre was based.

Now we have just completed the first term of the Findhorn College, a new venture for us in which the educational side of the community life has become an integral, visible part of our work/play programme and in which the role of study, discussion and creative lecture has taken its place in the Findhorn experience. This is a major event in the transformation of Findhorn’s image and expression. How has it come about?

Like everything else in this community, the development of education as a distinct department in itself has come about through step-by-step, organic growth, completely overlighted by the Divine rhythm and direction. It has stemmed from a number of seemingly separate events which all moved together to form a wholeness of interaction. The first of these was the creation, in January 1971, of workshops in the performing arts and in attunement which were discussed the Findhorn News of August 1971. These workshops, though successful at that time, were limited by a lack of a proper setting. The Community Centre, where they were held, had to serve too many needs. Our thoughts increasingly turned to the need for proper classrooms.

The second event was the introduction to the community of the work of Myrtle Glines, David’s colleague from America. Myrtle has had twenty years’ experience as a teacher and counsellor in human relations and for eight years had been at the head of her own school in the state of Utah. She is a teacher and counsellor in the field of Personology, a science of personality analysis and self-direction developed in America sixty years ago, which has since established itself as a significant approach to human relations and self-understanding, with training centres established in several American states. Widely used by professional people in business, medicine, law and education, this science deals with the hereditary, structural and physiological factors influencing and directing personality growth and expression. It has enjoyed its success because of its accuracy coupled with a relative simplicity of technique and application. The teaching of this approach to the community, combined with Myrtle’s own wisdom and skill, added a great deal to our achieving greater consolidation and communication within the group. From her classes, which were held twice weekly, a new dimension of self-awareness was added to our lives and led to the formation of small discussion groups for the purpose of exploring further the experiences and challenges that community living and personal transformations were bringing to everyone.

No person living at Findhorn escapes transformation. Everything here forces an individual to examine his own life and relationships more deeply and completely and to draw out of himself new understanding, new perspectives and new patterns of behaviour. The recognition that this was so, combined with the stimulus of Myrtle’s work and the lectures David was giving each week on the spiritual life and the meaning of the New Age, led increasingly to a realisation that a time and a place were needed where all these experiences could be shared and evaluated in group discussions. Also, many young people came to Findhorn having had little previous contact with New Age ideas or esoteric concepts, and this lack needed to be met. Though the principles on which Findhorn had been based were accepted by them, they were not always understood; the transformations these young people were experiencing needed to be related to spiritual insights, helping to bring unconscious realisations to the surface where they could be used in conscious, constructive creative work and service.

At the same time, other young people from schools which were teaching esoteric and spiritual principles came and were electrified at what we were doing. Here was living proof that what they had been studying only as intellectual theory actually worked. Over and over again, such young people would express their gratitude that Findhorn had succeeded in bringing their studies to life and in renewing their vision. This made us realise more fully the importance of Findhorn as a training centre for young people. Here we had the living pattern, the practical application, the training which balanced and complemented the theory and the study. Now, if we could make the theory and study available as well, the experience of Findhorn could truly take on new dimensions of wholeness and service to those who came to join us.

For some time Elixir had had guidance that The Park, the house and grounds belonging to Captain and Mrs Gibson, owners of the caravan site, would become part of the whole community. For educational purposes it was an ideal place. The land adjoins the community, while the house itself has a large annexe, with separate entrance, which we knew could be perfectly converted into a classroom for forty to sixty people. There would also be rooms for offices and a library.

In the Spring of 1971, some time after Elixir had received this vision, the house was put up for sale, as Captain and Mrs Gibson had purchased a larger house closer to the village of Findhorn. The price was £12,500, another large, seemingly ‘impossible’ sum such as Findhorn is often confronted with when the need arises to manifest physical expansion to meet a spiritual vision. A woman from America was coming to the community and had expressed the desire to buy living accommodation for the Trust. Perhaps she was the one through whom The Park would be manifested. However, upon her arrival she informed Peter that she wished to contribute a bungalow to the community but could afford no more. Peter gave thanks for this and reaffirmed that, as far as The Park was concerned, God would meet that need at the proper time.

Later in the day a visitor who had been staying in the community a few days, approached Peter and expressed interest in joining the community. Peter showed her a bungalow site and also mentioned ‘The Park’ which they went to see. The house did not appeal to her personally, but she said that her husband, who had died some years previously, had left £ 12,000 to be given to further the development of the many forward looking interests they had shared during their marriage. She felt that at Findhorn conditions were at last fulfilled in the practical way which would have appealed to her husband, so she offered to buy ‘The Park’ with the idea of building a bungalow for herself in the grounds and retaining the large annexe as a studio for painting.

Peter was thrilled at this news and told David. Instead of sharing Peter’s enthusiasm, though, he said that whoever bought the house needed to release it entirely to the community with no strings attached. It was under the protection of St. Germain to be used for educational purposes. As a result of this, it seemed that she might not be the buyer after all. Yet that night David had a vision of St. Germain encircling the house with his purple mantle, saying that it was under his direction and all would be well. (It may be well to add here that St. Germain is the name of one of the Masters of Wisdom, also known as the Master R., who is in charge of the fostering of new culture and civilisation for man in the New Age.) The next morning this visitor again approached Peter and told him that she had awakened with clear inner knowing that she was to buy the house and give it entirely and freely to the community. She would situate her bungalow at Pineridge and build an annexe onto it for her art studio. Within a matter of days the papers were drawn up and signed and the Trust acquired its first freehold property for £12,000. The dream of the Findhorn College now had a physical location in which to take birth.

We took over the house in September and renovated it in keeping with its new purpose. At the same time, under the direction of David and Myrtle, the joint Principals, the teaching potential of the community was drawn together and a programme of classes for the first three-month term was created. Divided into three broad categories of Humanities, Art and Ecology, these classes covered the story of Findhorn and the spiritual laws on which it is based, attunement to oneself, communication with others, human relations, esoteric wisdom, drama, dance, music, speech, writing and outdoor leadership. A total of seventeen classes was scheduled: beginners’ classes, advanced classes and special training classes for people desirous of becoming lecturers, teachers or leaders in New Age projects.

These classes are all integrated with the work and life of the community. In fact, the responsibilities in the community are considered to be an essential part of each person’s training, and failure to discharge these responsibilities results in not being able to attend classes. Here a student gains not only information but social and spiritual awareness, responsibility to the whole and group consciousness; he learns how to unfold creatively through doing and being and living the life. As a community with various tasks to be done, we are well equipped to offer such opportunities for true education, the leading out from within of the Divine splendour that is there. The days are balanced between work, play, classes, social events and outdoor activities, helping us to create a culture that is well-rounded and educative of the whole man, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

The first term is now over and together we have learned much. We have much yet to do and, like any newly born infant, we have several needs to be met, particularly for teachers in various subjects (i.e., of humanities, science, social affairs. etc.) whose consciousnesses are also attuned to the New Age vision, and for certain text-books. The time is not yet when Findhorn College can open its doors to a wider public, as it will do in the future. For the time being, during our formative period, classes are available only to those who are accepted as members of the community. Yet, even within this seeming limitation, we serve the work of the community in preparing those who will speak to the public and share the living word of the new vision for humanity, and in offering a greater opportunity tor the development of the performing arts. Also plans are now being dratted by our architect, Robert Ribet, for the building of a college centre on the land which the Trust has purchased with The Park including buildings for classrooms and library as well as residential quarters for over a hundred people. Already the word has gone out and we are receiving letters from many young people in America, Britain and Europe who wish to attend the College. When the time comes, and we know it will be soon, they will find a welcoming response and a centre where they can truly come to know the greater Life within themselves through development of inner vision, learning how to blend it joyfully and in freedom outwardly with the life of the whole.

(The following is a vision received by Elixir on 1st February 1972: “I was shown the College and it looked like a great egg ready to hatch. Resting over it was a wonderful Being of Light. The radiances were going out from this Being, enfolding the egg in a glorious blanket of Light. Then I heard the words, ‘Be patient. Be patient. All will break forth at the right time. My timing is perfect. All is in My hands.’ Then I was aware of great movement in the egg and a loud knocking, as if the ‘chick’ were ready to break out.”)

Angelic Being overlighting the College by Brian Nobbs

The illustration is an inspired drawing by Brian of the Angelic Being overlighting the College, received in the same manner as the Deva drawings. While doing it, Brian received the following interpretation: “He bears a sword and a flame. The flame is Wisdom and Spirit; the sword is Truth and Light. Though each quality is in itself inclusive of all the rest, they are here depicted as complementary pairs balancing each other. This is because human consciousness does not easily or immediately embrace the wholeness of Light, Truth, Wisdom and Spirit. Man tends to develop one quality to the detriment of the rest because his intellect analyses and separates in order to understand each part of the whole so as finally to arrive at a whole understanding. So it is natural that the Guardian of the College should wield energies to balance this tendency and to aid an easier and quicker approach to wholeness.

“The energy flow, depicted as through chakras, symbolises the descent of creative Love through the open lotus of the crown. From this opens man’s inward vision, the inbreath, which is breathed out through the creative word, symbolised by the radiant throat centre. The heart is also open and radiant, symbolising transforming spiritual Love. The flow descends into the lower centres where the affections are balanced and transmuted by the sword and the flame, bringing about the crucifixion and resurrection in a transformed state of the emotional nature, this balance permitting the true expression of the indwelling Spirit to be released in action, thought and feeling outward bound in service to the Whole. ’’

In the spiritual and esoteric tradition, art is recognised as the quality of synthesis, the bridge between the inner and the outer, the subjective and the objective, the substance and the form. It is the essence of communication, or perhaps it could be better said that all communication is essentially art. The challenge of Findhorn has been to develop means of communicating its message and life, which is essentially subjective, spiritual and ‘inner’, to a world which is orientated to the objective, the concrete, the ‘outer’ in form. The solution is  found through demonstration, through making the unseen visible and giving form to the Spirit; in other words, bringing ‘Heaven down to Earth . The garden is one example of this. The quality and extent of its growth in the existing environment is considered ‘impossible’ by soil experts. Yet it is there for all to see as a demonstration of the action of an unknown, non-physical, ie. a spiritual factor. Likewise, we have already discussed how the creative expressions through the Studios are providing a link of communication and understanding with the outside world. A third bridge is that of the performing arts, which have experienced an accelerated development during this past year.

The purpose of music, dance and drama at Findhorn is largely threefold: first, to provide an opportunity for individual self-expression and the discovery of talents. This also provides an experience in group creativity and co-operation which can further enhance an individual’s awareness of and attunement to the Whole of which he is a contributing, functioning part. Second, the performing arts provide a medium for the communication to the public (whether that public consists of community members or people from outside the community) of subjective, spiritual insights and truths. The arts become the means of sharing the vibrations and inspiration of our work here with people who would otherwise not have the time or circumstances to gain such insights, unless they could live with us for a time and experience the life for themselves. Everyone can experience a New Age life if he will open himself beyond personal self and attune to the greater life of which he is a part. Our performing arts help to inspire a person to understand this process and to accomplish it. Third, the performing arts provide a means for the transmutation of energies locked in old forms, whether this exists within people or within art forms. What man has created from spirit and form in the past often becomes crystallised merely into form as time goes on. The spirit is lost. The New Age energies cannot blend adequately with these dead forms which have ceased to be responsive to growth. Here we are exploring many of these ancient forms of art, particularly in drama and dance, in order to rediscover and release the spirit within them, that it may unfold in harmony with the new into expressions attuned to man’s new consciousness and arising culture.

Attunement is the key factor in all the performing arts at Findhorn, whether it is attunement to the spirit behind the work being interpreted, to a newer creative spirit, or to the other artists involved. The training and discipline of the crafts are considered important as foundations on which such attunement can build strong creative manifestations, and we have already discussed the educational and instructive work being carried out in the arts through the College. Yet, as the artist learns to be less structured in limited, personality ways and more open to the greater structures of inspiration and spiritual law expressing creativity, then less and less is he a victim of his limiting thoughts and emotional reactions and more and more a demonstrator of the living Presence which provides all the necessary inspiration to fulfil perfectly the needs of the moment. This is a vital lesson, not just in art but in all of life.

In June 1971 we held a three-day midsummer festival in which the various talents and creations brought out in the music, dance and drama workshops conducted during the spring were presented. This was most successful and provided a strong momentum for all these art forms. Some of the highlights of this past year, which has seen many breakthroughs in communication with our local neighbours brought about through the performing arts, are given below.

MUSIC:
The musical side has revolved around three focal points. The first is the work done by Gillian Lubach, whose talent as a professional cellist attracted to her three other outstanding artists from the surrounding district: Peter Zanre of Elgin, Drummond Cook of Forres and Ildephonse Sieczkarek of Inverness. These four have formed a string quartet that has played extensively at local concerts and is being received as one of the best quartets in northern Scotland. They have often entertained us at evening performances in the Sanctuary, but the highlight came when they performed a concert at nearby Pluscarden Priory, a Benedictine monastery with which we have close ties. Here was a perfect blending of two communities representing two different ages of man’s consciousness, meeting each other across the bridge of music. This was so successful that a second concert has been planned for this year.

Gillian is also giving private lessons in cello, piano, flute and recorder to students both from within the community and from outside. She holds the vision of attracting more trained musicians and composers to Findhorn who can perform not only the best works of the past but who can also attune to the creation of new music through the unlimited potentials of a united consciousness.

The second focus for music has been the choir under the direction of Mary Hilton. Throughout the year this has been a place for exploring works of various modern composers such as Benjamin Britten and David Gow and serves in providing training in singing together in four-part harmony and attunement to one another. The choir performed a Ceremony of Carols at the Christmas Festival and is now preparing for a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury, which will integrate choral and solo singing with acting and dance.

The third focus has been the composition, by several members of the community, of our own songs and creation of the Findhorn Folk Singers. Many of these songs were presented on the BBC-TV programme on Findhorn and we are working toward the production of our first LP record album. The first public performance of these works came at the evening entertainment prepared for the opening of the Findhorn Studios on 2nd October. From this, we were invited to perform at a local highland ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee). This is a true honour, for a ceilidh is a traditional Scottish evening of music and song, and it is rare for outsiders to be invited to participate. For a group of our young people to attend as performers was a major breakthrough in our relations with our conservative Highland neighbours. The group sang for them in January, using a medley of traditional folk songs plus one or two of their own compositions. They were so well received that they were invited back again and will perform at a second ceilidh on 17th March, and again in April.

DANCE:
The development of dance at Findhorn has taken various forms and served several purposes. One of these, of course, has been the development of each individual dancer’s body and rhythms of movement, including breathing, so as to unfold a greater sense of attunement with the grace and rhythm of the Divine Dancer within. Work has also been done in exploring spatial relationships and the creation of forms in space through crystallised dance forms and certain forms of mime are being explored in conjunction with music and drama.

At present the emphasis is less on public performances and more on developing the skills and attunement of the people who are interested in dance. Nevertheless, there have been certain high points in the dance season, such as an exploration of a theme by Erik Satie entitled The Sun and the Lily performed by Craig Gibsone, Simone Worth and Katherine Collis under the direction of Lark Batteau, depicting the opening of the soul to the Light. A portion of this dance was presented on the BBC-TV programme.

During the Christmas Festival, dance was combined with poetic narration in David Spangler’s Five Lights of Christmas. Presented in five sequences over five mornings in the Sanctuary, this performance told the story of the creation of Earth, the descent of the Christ Spirit first into Nature, then into Humanity and the eventual arising of a Christed Humanity that would transform all Earth into new realms of creativity and life. It was a special experience for all who participated and watched, evoking powerful energies of soul recognition and response to the subject matter presented. Not long after this the Sanctuary was again the scene of a dance sequence, performed to music composed at Findhorn, depicting the three stages of Love: love of self, love of another, love of the Whole. This too had a powerful impact on all who shared in it, further emphasising the power of dance to evoke inspiration and the release of spiritual attunement. We look forward to further developments in this art over the next few months.

DRAMA:
Perhaps the greatest growth has taken place in the field of drama. During the summer, under the direction and educational guidance of Edward, the drama group created a forty-five minute play entirely through improvisation, demanding a high level of attunement from the actors. For the celebration of the opening of the Studios, an original one-act play written by Michael Worth was presented, entitled Hughie’s Room. During the summer as well, other individuals trained in the theatre joined us, notably Rebecca Cotterel and Kathi Lightstone. In October, Kathi’s sister and brother-in-law Barbara and David Beardsley, both professionals in the theatre, joined us. Out of this influx of talent and inspiration, an original three-act musical, The Genial Muse was produced. Written by Edward, it was directed by David and involved the talents of at least twenty-five people. The lecture room at the Park was converted into a small theatre, sets were created, costumes designed-and made under the direction of Kristin Lightstone, and dances were choreographed by Lark. The music was composed by Milenko Matanovic, newly arrived from Yugoslavia, and by Patti Weber. The whole production was held on three consecutive nights and was considered to be a great success, both from the point of view of the audience and from the experience gained by the performers. At the same time, a Christmas pantomime was created and performed for the children of the community, which proved equally popular with the adults.

Following on from this, David and Barbara, Michael and Edward began work on an adaptation of Bernard Shaw’s St. Joan. This was performed in the College over the weekend of 10th, 11th and 12th March. Several members ol the Drama Group from the R.A.F. Base at Kinloss came, including the Station Commander and his wife. All were very impressed and they have asked us to perform the production for them in the R.A.F. Little Theatre on 17th May. Others from Findhorn Village and from Forres enjoyed this performance and have also invited us to perform locally. In this way more doors are being opened through which the consciousness of Findhorn can communicate with people.

At the present time, work is beginning on converting part of the old caravan park shop into a small theatre with the encouragement of Captain Gibson, the joint site owner. Here we will present our plays and evening of song and dance to the people living on the site and to others from outside, in preparation for the time when we will build our own theatre in the area around Pineridge. We are also preparing for a weekend conference in London on 29th and 30th April in co-operation with the Acacia House Centre. This will introduce people to Findhorn and will feature certain aspects of our performing arts. We are also creating a youth conference for the Wrekin Trust on the theme, The Hero Task of Youth, which will be held at Acton Burnell, near Shrewsbury on the weekend of 3rd to 5th November. Thus, we look forward to a highly creative year which will see even greater expansion of the performing arts and the broadening ot our bridges of harmony and communication with the world we seek to serve.

It has been some years since Eileen received guidance that we should be registered as a charity but it is only recently that our efforts to this end have been successful. With the growth of the community and the world-wide expansion of its influence, together with the development of the Findhorn College, the Inland Revenue authorities in Scotland have agreed to accept our application for registration as a religious, educational, charitable trust under our new name of The Findhorn Foundation. This, of course, gives us certain very real income tax and rating benefits and, above all, enables us recover income tax in those cases where our supporters decide to execute Deeds of Covenant in our favour. The new trustees are: Captain Ross Stewart R.N. D.L. J.P., Chairman; Miss Joan Hartnell-Beavis, Mrs. Pauline Tawse, Mr. John Hilton and Sir George Trevelyan Bt. M.A. We see this as the outer manifestation of our new identity, a new birth, a new cycle. In many ways, we have not changed at all. However, there have been some significant new policies established and new directions seen.

The over-all policy of spiritual direction is decided by Peter and Eileen in consultation with David and Myrtle; the day-to-day running of the community is increasingly the responsibility of the Heads of Departments, while a newly- formed Committee of Management has the responsibility of seeing that the spiritual direction of the community is implemented and that the financial and legal direction and responsibility set forth by the Trustees is fulfilled. Peter is the Chairman of the Committee.

Within this broad framework, community life continues to expand. We have built a nursery playground at Pineridge for the use of the 18 children who are here. (There have been three new births: Jason Hicken to Nigel and Jenny; Daniel Snell to Jonathan and Dorothy and Marian Willoner to John and Janet.) We have also doubled the size of the Community Centre. When this building was completed two and a half years ago with a kitchen designed to cater for ’200 and a dining room seating from 60-70, it seemed excessively large for the dozen members of the community at that time. With our rapid expansion it proved totally inadequate last year and an extension to the dining room was vital. In July Elixir received guidance that the extension should be designed and building permission obtained, which was done. The present dining room will be used as a lounge, while the extension, which is the size of the old dining room and kitchen combined, will be the only dining area.

Elixir also had guidance that the community was not to undertake construction until the right people had been drawn to Findhorn to do the work. Tony Lusher, who is a qualified Quantity Surveyor, ordered all the materials in faith. Then in November a young couple from America, Elizabeth and Lyle Schnadt, arrived unexpectedly. Lyle, it turned out, is an experienced joiner whose job is building houses. Then Alisdair McKay, who had been visiting us daily from his home in Inverness and whose main interest was joinery work, also joined us. Another young man, John Leslie, a Canadian, brought his sister to Findhorn to stay and was himself going on to Paris. When he heard of the building project he decided to remain since he had experience and enjoyed that kind of work. The team was completed by Craig Gibsone, an Australian who had left Samye-Ling to join us and who had considerable experience in building work, Peter Godfray and Toby Carlen (who is from Sweden), both of whom handled the plumbing and electrical work. Jonathan Snell has designed the interior as well as the furniture, which we are making ourselves. In fact, almost everything used in the dining room will have been made in our Studios, while the walls will provide space for the display of our arts and crafts. We are also including toilets and washing facilities in the new building. The weather throughout the winter has been exceptionally mild and favourable for construction and the crew has performed miracles of harmonious team work and group effort. As a consequence, the extension has gone up in record time and we intend to have it completed ready for the influx of visitors. We have gone ahead, as always, in faith, knowing that this is a need and that our need will be met through God’s limitless supply.

On 7th February 1972 Elixir received the following guidance:
“My Beloved, you see changes coining about all the time, wonderful changes and every single one of them for the very best. From now on expansion will come rapidly on all sides. I know your need for accommodation accommodation will come in many ways. Accept what comes with full and grateful hearts.

“It is time a building was designed for accommodation and classrooms for the College; Robert Ribet is the architect to do this. No, it is not too soon to start doing that now; you must be prepared and not caught napping. You will find that you will need to do something with the old shop this year: tell Peter to get together with Alec Gibson and the whole thing will unfold.

“There is no need to rush ahead regarding the theatre; that will come, but you need a place where outside people can be entertained. All the gifts and talents in the community must be used to promote the Spirit of Findhorn and spread the good news. It will all come about much more quickly than you think and without any strain. Let it all unfold step by step in true beauty and perfection.

“Yes, the time has come when you will have to charge for accommodation, but it will have to be on a sliding scale, depending on what people want and what is available. This is something which you will have to decide together and to have clearly worked out for those in the office who correspond with people who enquire. Always remember that there will be exceptions, so never become too rigid.

“The very strong feeling you have of limitless abundance flowing to you for the benefit of the Whole is coming about. I know all your needs before you even voice them and I tell you that all your needs are being wonderfully met. all of them. The plan for the farm and its development will come about; you need more land, more buildings, more accommodation. You need a New Age Theatre. More people will come to help carry and share the load. All will be done with greatest joy. Think abundance all the time and never for one second think lack in any form. Accept My vast storehouses and all that is within them; they are there waiting to be used. Use all of everything, give constant thanks and recognise My hand in everything.

“When your consciousness is of limitless abundance, the whole world is at your feet. Relax in this knowledge and expand in it. How wonderful are My ways! They are past understanding. Be at perfect peace and let your mind be stayed on Me. All is coming about Now, for Now is the only time. Rejoice and give eternal thanks. I AM with you always. I guide and direct all that you are doing. Nothing can go wrong. All My promises arc coming about; open up and let it all flow like a mighty river carrying all before it.

“All is very, very well.”

This guidance represented a major change of policy. We have never charged before but have allowed each to contribute whatever he can give. However, this policy has been abused by some, and with the vast expansion, the large number of young people that the community is carrying and with the shortage of accommodation, a change was needed.

This was confirmed by further guidance through Elixir on 4th March

“My beloved, when you know that what you are doing is right and has My full blessing, you can go ahead no matter what opposition you may come up against and quietly and confidently know that the very best will spring forth from that action, for I know what is the very best for all concerned at that specific moment. So it is with this question of the change of policy regarding having to charge people who come here to this Centre of Light. Because in the past it has been right to make no charge and simply to allow each one to contribute whatever he could give, it does not mean now, with the expansion and increased responsibilities of the community, that it is right for this policy to remain static. Like so many things, this can be and has been abused by some; therefore, the time has come when changes are necessary and this is the time for these changes to take place.

“These changes should be made very clear in the next newsletter so that no one who comes, comes under the impression that it is free, it will be necessary at times to be very flexible, but the general policy should be a minimum charge of £2 per day per person. Remember, because this is right, only the right people will come. This is not a hippie commune and nothing should be taken for granted. You will find that with this change of policy, this Centre of Light will be appreciated far, far more by the many. So go ahead in complete confidence and ignore all opposition: this is the next step. This has My full blessing.”

Therefore, we are now charging for accommodation, including food and all that the community offers, on a sliding scale depending on what people want and what is available.

The minimum charge is £2 per day per person though, as the guidance states, this a flexible policy and we know there will be exceptions. In view of the increasing number of visitors, an early booking for accommodation is essential and not all will be able to be accommodated within the community, but in hotels, boarding houses, bed and breakfast homes or in caravans hired on the site. The high season cost of the latter is from £21 to £31.50 per week, according to the number of berths, which varies from four to eight. Lunch and dinner will be available in the Community Centre at 40p per meal for those staying outside.

A list of accommodation in the district is available upon request.

Though Findhorn is not for everyone, the vision of Findhorn is. Anyone, anywhere, can live a New Age life if he is willing to turn within, attune to God and obey that inner voice or intuition, if he is willing to transform himself from attitudes and actions of separateness to those of brotherhood, goodwill, harmony and wise co-operation. Findhorn demonstrates that this can be done. Our opportunity as human beings is to realise the God within and to reveal that Divine Life in action and service. “Be ye perfect,” Jesus said, “even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” An impossible task? No, it can be done and it is our aim here at Findhorn to demonstrate that life of attunement which can make it possible.

Every day we receive many letters from people requesting to come and join us. It should be stated here that Findhorn is definitely not for everyone. This is not a feeling of elitism, only a statement of fact. Many people find community life and the constant interaction with other individuals difficult to take. Others find the work programme a challenge; their consciousness of spiritual things doesn’t seem to recognise the necessity for grounding energies and demonstrating the inner life through outer service and work. Still others find the vibrations and their transmuting effect hard to adjust to, for Findhorn demands that people change and grow and become transformed. It is definitely a pioneering centre, including pioneering new states of an individual’s own consciousness and attitudes of selflessness. Personal problems can be healed here, but this is not a place for people to come to with that objective. It is a place for people who are willing to sacrifice self in dedication to building a new culture, to building a group consciousness, a new vision. Those with emotional problems usually only find them intensified as they are brought to the surface for transmutation, and this can be a difficult experience.

When people come to stay, they must go through a probationary period of not less than three months during which time they have the opportunity to integrate with the whole. If they do this successfully, then they must provide their own accommodation and continue to cover their living expenses. These are the basic requirements for new members, although as always the guidance is that we are to be flexible.

Increasingly, we turn outward to the world to communicate, in joy and inspiration, song, drama, dance, art and living community demonstration, the reality of the Divine Presence within each of us and how that Presence is now acting and seeking to transform our world. Throughout this past year we have been transformed; we have grown up in many ways, and we look forward to more growth, more maturity, greater vision. We invite each of you to join us in this adventure. The opportunity of the ages to create a new world, a world of communication, of communion, of community is with us now. Let us seize it. Let us fulfil it. Let us rejoice.

The following message through Elixir received 17th December 1971 is about Findhorn, but in its significance, it is about all humanity and the new stage it has reached. It is about you and me and the new life that is coming to birth within us:

“My beloved. Findhorn is no longer a slender sapling tossed about by every wind of change. It is now a sturdy oak with its roots sunk deep within the soil, firmly rooted and grounded. Its trunk is strong and sturdy and every bough and branch is perfect in every line, shape and detail. See each new aspect of the work as a new branch growing out of that sturdy trunk. I am the sap, the very Life Force flowing in that tree. I am the very power and strength of it. The wind may ruffle its leaves. Storms may even make the boughs creak and bend, but nothing now can effect the true beauty, perfection and power of My work, for I am the I AM within all that is being done. I AM the Life, the ALL in ALL. There is no separation in anything. All is One. All is Whole. Lift up your heart and give thanks as vow have never given thanks before, for you now KNOW what you KNOW, that you no longer have to DO, you no longer have to keep striving. Simply allow that hidden power and splendour deep within to be released. It is all there. Let it flow, let it flow and behold My wonders manifest in form, and behold Me and My glory in everything. ”