Along with twenty-six others I began my Orientation* on November 17th 1977, the Findhorn Foundation’s fifteenth birthday, in Cluny. So many people wanted to join that there was another group living and meeting at the Park making us total 53.

I was a relatively raw recruit but was accepted because the inner realms had placed me unequivocally inside the required pillar of Light. Our meeting room was the Family Room lounge in the Cluny basement, a warm, embracing and comfortably-furnished home base. Our focalisers were Carly Newfeld and Lee Preisler, and they had their hands full with a colourful assortment of diverse humanity. But we’d been accepted by the Angel of Findhorn so all knew “we were meant to be there” although neither how nor for how long!

The delightful game of Angels and Mortals: being secret angels for one another leading up to Christmas, had been introduced in recent years. It entailed putting your name in a box and a couple of weeks before the 25th drawing another name out. That person then became ones’ Mortal for whom one performed anonymous Angelic services and gave thoughtful wee gifts. An example would be asking a third party to deliver breakfast in bed to the mortals’ room, or placing a flower, chocolate, topical picture or thoughtful wee gift on their seat in the dining-room when they vacated it to fetch more food.

It’s one of the activities I most miss because it gave rise to so much joy, ingenuity, laughter and spread so much love.

One particular incident occurred when my Orientation group was meeting in Cluny basement. We were going the rounds sharing and it was my turn. I was giving vent to my ages-old challenge of not feeling loved, with the group reverently giving me undivided attention, when all of a sudden a package came into view in the window, dangled from the dining-room above.

It was addressed to me from my lovely, loving Christmas Angel!

* the then introductory programme for new members – the Home Office had as yet not made us use the term ‘staff’, nowadays ‘co-worker’

Amanda Haworth