DOROTHY MACLEAN:

A Job to Do
Many are the pages filled with the messages Dorothy received from the devic and angelic realms. However, it is important to remember that Dorothy had spent nearly 10 years connecting several times a day with the God Within before this work with nature began.

Those years of practice honed her connection and forged an absolute faith in the veracity of what she received. So in the spring of 1963 when she was told in a meditation that she had a job to do with nature, she took it to heart. She was told that everything in nature has an ensouling intelligence. She was to harmonise with that essence, which would not be as difficult as she expected. She was to begin by thinking about the higher nature spirits, the over-lighting beings, and to attune to them. This would be so unusual as to draw their interest to the garden.

Her initial response of, “Don’t be ridiculous, plants don’t have brains, how can they have intelligence?” was quickly set aside. Holding fast to her trust in that inner source, she undertook to try. Using the same process as with her attunements to God, she focused on the essence of her favourite vegetable, the garden pea, and much to her surprise received a clear and immediate response.

A few days later she became aware of another presence, an energy that seemed to be in charge of all levels of life in this area, including human. She sought and made connection, receiving a message that she needed to give language to. She called this presence the Landscape Angel – a name she now regrets given the confusion it sometimes causes. This presence is in fact the local representative of Gaia.

The Landscape Angel became her guide and mentor. Through it Dorothy was introduced to myriad other beings, and her understanding of these subtle realms grew. Reluctant to use the word angel in naming these formless energy fields – angels are, after all, full of form, having harps, halos and wings – she began to use a word encountered during her Sufi studies, the Sanskrit word deva which means ‘shining one’ or ‘being of light’. Later, the word angel did come into her names, usually when the energy field concerned had a strong human element – ie the Angel of Findhorn, angels of cities and countries.

Devas hold the energetic patterning for the forms that eventually become visible thanks to the work of the elementals and other aspects of the subtle realms. Devas are the architects of the physical world. When we attune to devas we are connecting with planetary beings who have an immediacy of knowledge about anything within their area of responsibility. A deva is not the spirit of one particular plant; rather it holds the patterning for every example of that type, wherever it occurs on the planet. The messages Dorothy received ranged from the mundane – how far apart to plant seedlings, when to water, or offer liquid fertilisers – to philosophical notes on topics such as the nature of reality, the gift of free will or the immense potential within human beings.

The Landscape Angel pointed out that healthy plants require healthy soil and that the best thing to do at Findhorn was to make and apply compost. It commented that humans could not expect ‘them’ to do all the work! The art of compost-making soon took root. Co-creation, Dorothy was told, is about conscious relationship between different, yet equally necessary, partners.

Consistently inspirational, the devas repeatedly underlined their openness to working with humans and responded eagerly to the invitation to participate in the gardens. They expressed delight that their advice was followed with such precision and immediacy. Out of this co-creative partnership came a garden that defied conventional explanation. Elizabeth Murray of the Soil Association wrote in 1968, “I was impressed at once by the vigour and radiant health of everything which was growing – trees, flowers, fruit and vegetables – far beyond the ordinary … I have never seen anything to compare with it anywhere, not merely for size, but for quality and flavour as well. I am quite certain that such results could not have been produced on that soil by good husbandry and compost only. It seems certain that there must be another factor at work which requires explanation. The explanation given by Mr Caddy, although entirely strange to me, I must admit I found convincing.”

Professor R Lindsay Robb, another Soil Association member, with numerous impressive appointments in his CV, wrote, “The vigour, health and bloom of the plants in this garden at midwinter on land which is almost barren powdery sand cannot be explained by the moderate dressings of compost, nor indeed by the application of any known cultural methods of organic husbandry. There are other factors and they are vital ones.”

The garden attracted visitors. Some stayed and joined in, thus birthing a community. Generations of gardeners have come and gone. The emphasis on practical embodiment of co-creation has gone through cycles of predominance and retreat over the years. Yet even in periods of near quiescence, the respect for the land and for the non-human beings (seen and unseen) with which we share the site, has continued. A thriving and increasingly diverse ecosystem has been established and projects such as Trees for Life that embody the principles of co-creation have come into being.

And the relevance for today? I have every reason to believe that the achievements thus far in the adventure known as Findhorn are a microcosm of what could be achieved on our planet. Daily we are confronted by the dire environmental consequences of human choices and actions. Now, more than ever, the power and potency of conscious co-creation is a precious resource, one limited only by our imagination, or lack of it!

Sir George Trevelyan once said, “One garden can save a world.” What if the example of one garden became a model for co-creative relationship on a global scale? Why not! Who knows what we may yet achieve as we explore and expand conscious partnership with that which is constantly present amongst us. The allies await; we need but engage, listen, and then, in partnership, act.

Judy McAllister