This article was previously published in One Earth magazine, Volume 3 Issue 6, in Aug/Sept 1983.

***

Finance and economics are undoubtedly powerful factors in the world at present, and indeed could reasonably be said to be the dominating source of energy and satisfaction for much of the world’s population. The Findhorn Foundation is not immune from these influences, and nor, given the possibilities for growth and development they offer, would we wish to be.

However, money does not stand in isolation, unique in form, or a world unto itself. It interacts with all the other systems of humanity and nature and must be constantly fused with them in a holistic and balanced way if harmony is to result.

The life of the community is deeply rooted in the land of Morayshire, and the natural cycles which affect the living world around us are similarly influential on our economic system. Today, the abundant gardens are matched by an accounts office busy with the job of conveying our hard-won earnings to the bank and of paying the bills commensurate with our summer activity. Six months from now the dormant soil and leafless trees will indicate financial concerns, no less energetic, but of a very different kind. The shortening days are more of a time for budgeting, planning more creative systems and projects, and evaluating past successes and failures (such as whether or not the summer surplus will carry us through the winter!).

Clearly, however, we must arm ourselves with an economic philosophy which goes a little farther than simple observation. Two main concepts have underlain the Foundation’s growth from family to community and on to the first stages of the ‘village’. The twin ideas are those of stewardship and manifestation. The first is our pledge to the worlds around us and essentially commits us to being wise caretakers of that with which we have already been entrusted, in the belief that the second, the ‘Laws of Manifestation’, will provide us with the means to further our work. The reality is of course more complex than this, but we have adhered fairly closely to the essential principles.

The balance between the two is considerably important. Paradoxically, the very success of the one has, for us, created imbalance in the other. The continued and miraculous generosity with which the universe showers its gifts on us has occasionally left us gasping for breath as we seek to provide new forms while at times unable to perform basic maintenance and services. However, these instances have provided the impetus to increase our efficiency and so restore the balance.

The purchase of the Caravan Park is the most obvious recent example of this approach, and also perhaps the ultimate test of our faith in it. We believe we are ready to take on this next challenge of work and commitment, and have already taken over the running (stewardship) of the business from the previous owners. We are also working hard to ensure that we raise the purchase price, but ultimately we are dependent on the generosity of our friends to help us achieve this symbolic step of grounding our spiritual work in this corner of the world.

If successful, the purchase will coincide with the completion work on the Universal Hall and our 21st birthday — hardly a coincidence and one which underlines the necessity for us to balance our financial affairs with the inner, spiritual life of the community, as well as with the mundane laws of earthly accounting.

Yet as we take these steps we are ever gazing further ahead. The 1982 Planetary Village Conference stimulated much thought about Findhorn in the 80s. A village implies a variety of small independent businesses, and already we are exploring a number of options in the commercial and educational spheres. There is already a shop, a printing/publishing department and a solar panel/home insulation business, while Newbold House has become an independent Trust. A planned conference on economics in October 1984 should further stimulate ideas; new forms of ownership such as worker’s co-operatives, credit unions, and partnerships beckon; and a community currency, a post office, and a bank appear on the horizons of discussion.

As the Foundation grows, matures and finds its place in the financial world, possibilities and challenges emerge which inevitably pose questions of a wider and more macro-economic and political nature. The governing concept behind the growth of the community is one of ‘cellular development’, which implies a continuing organic growth as new activities are born and develop into autonomous units. Yet the problem of ownership, so central to much current economic dispute, must be faced here too, and the balance struck between rewarding effort and rewarding merit. Also, our administrative and political structures must be continually reevaluated if they are to enable the developing ‘cells’ to interact harmoniously.

In the harsh economic climate of the 80s these challenges cannot be ignored by an emergent planetary village, and far less so by a planetary culture. We may not yet have reached a stage at which we are ready to respond to them, but they loom ahead. One of the greatest financial challenges of the village will be to marry spirit and matter in a way which meets the needs both of the individual and the community. Whilst it seems obvious that financial sacrifices must be made by some (particularly for those of us living in the West) if spiritual objectives are to be achieved, we need also to empower ourselves economically if the work is to be done, and done well.

The great economic debates of the future may well concern themselves with the different possibilities offered by the path of the disciple of inner wealth, and the way of material concerns. It may be Findhorn’s role to demonstrate that the two are not divergent, but are both necessary if we are to build a new Jerusalem.

Alex Walker has been focalizing the Findhorn Foundation Accounts Department for the last year. Before joining the community he was a research assistant at the Department of Management Studies at the University of Glasgow.

***

Photo credit: photo Findhorn Foundation.

Author’s Note:  The OneEarth editor wanted a photo to go with the article and it was suggested that the accounts team of the three of us should have a group photo. We took a desk outside and threw a few random items – coins, cheque book etc. – onto it. It shows Debbie Hill, Vita de Waal and myself. It was a lark and OneEarth chose this, shall we say lighthearted, image.