Jock Millenson:

I think the fellow who started the Apothecary originally was called “Terance”. At some point before this, I had been in touch with him. When I arrived at Findhorn, it was perhaps 1981. At that time, the apothecary was located in the little building opposite the General Office in The Park. It was being focalised by Michael Gardiner, who was an Australian naturopath. I was able to get to know him and learned some things from him. When he and his wife left Findhorn and went back to Australia, the Apothecary was taken over by Shell Hice.

If I recall rightly, under Shell, it was moved to a caravan on the runway maybe 2 or 3 caravans away from the original little toilet block where Eileen used to go to get her early morning guidance. I was able to do some shifts as Shell’s assistant, but she never let me do anything with natural medicine. All I was allowed to do was to acquire large glass sweet jars from Elgin and paint them green. We eventually had enough of these when all our dry herbs were in them.

When Shell left Findhorn and moved to Florida with her partner, Paul Hice, I remember her asking me, “Do you think you will be able to focalise the apothecary?” (It was natural that it came to me since I was the only person who had done any shifts there, other than her. She didn’t know that I knew quite a bit about natural medicine by then.

I don’t remember exactly when I embarked on my own correspondence course toward my Diploma in Naturopathy (ND) with the General Council and Register of Consultant Herbalists, but it must have been around then. Eventually after completing my course and going down to Wales and Cornwall to have my practical training with 2 herbalists, I got my ND and then could practice legally in the UK.

At some point, Muriel, who was co-focalising the Phoenix with her husband Roy, asked me if I would like to rent the small toilet block by the runway, when I had suggested that we could turn it into a useful building for the Apothecary. I spoke with Harold Armstrong and Gordon Cutler and they were willing to do the reconstruction work to renovate this toilet block. I remember them knocking out the men’s urinals and I went up into the roof space to install the insulation myself. We put in a large picture glass window in the front of the building and my friend Sue Beaulah painted a sign for us to install on the outside wall of the building saying, ‘FINDHORN BAY APOTHECARY’.

I had the idea to provide healthy lunches in the Apothecary because, at that time, the Hall Cafe only had the usual junk food. So, I had a mini kitchen built into the renovation. Serving smoothies and snacks was fun and we had benches outside for people to sit on warmish days. We brought in some soil and some turf to cover part of the runway in front of the new Apothecary and made grass grow on that area.

Every morning, we staff of 3-5 people and volunteers arrived 30 min before the official opening time and had a Findhorn-style attunement in a circle with some personal sharing. My idea was that a business could be run using the Findhorn concepts of focalisation and attunement.

Johanna Aro-Louis:

I remember driving around with Jock, hunting for the sweet jars, and painting them green for the herbs. This was in the summer of 1987, when I stayed 2-3 months in the Park, but then went back to Finland. On my return in February 1988 Jock had gone to Egypt and then to India to recover from ME. But what Jock had created was this small, perfect, practical and beautiful shop/café. It was a little ‘lighthouse’, where it was easy to be and work.

We were running the Apothecary with Janette Lindenberg, who was Australian, and who had put money into the project and so was – in effect – Jock’s business partner. Janette soon became pregnant and didn’t come much to the Apothecary at all. The running was left mainly to me.The Apothecary was a wonderful place welcoming people who arrived in the Park without knowing what to do, or why they were there. We could offer a stay in a caravan and free meals in exchange for work in the shop. We had attunements and sharings daily before opening and after closing. We had two caravans on what is now called the village green where two people could stay in each. I myself stayed in Jasmine, and the other was called Harley.

We sold natural herbs, flower essences, homeopathic remedies, essential oils, books, and simple lunches and drinks. I took care of ordering, cooking, making drinks, paying bills, doing the accounts, giving consultations on flower essences, and giving shiatsu in the evenings. I also joined the Sacred Dance group which I loved. My life had turned into pure delight and bliss.

Many people came and went through the Apothecary. Too many to mention. They all gave their wonderful energies to the mix of this beautiful, magical place.

I had a visa for only for a year which I had managed to extend for another six months, so I had to go back to Finland in August 1989.

I returned to Scotland a month later (the immigration nearly turned me away!) and got married and lived in Findochty. Janette was experiencing Post Natal Depression. She sometimes came to stay with us with the baby, but she wasn’t well at all.

Courtenay Young:

Jock age 45 at the Findhorn Bay Apothecary

I came to live in the Foundation in the spring of 1986, with my partner, Catherine Brislee (who had lived at Findhorn for several years before coming and living with me in London). Our young daughter, Rhiannon, was about 3 years old. We rented several different caravans that spring and summer: it was just about the time that the Russian nuclear power station at Chernobyl had exploded and we were worried about the fall out.

I was aware of Jock starting up the Apothecary in 1986 in the small toilet block by the runway and, later that year, we rented a cottage in the village and Jock came and stayed with us, renting a room. That was the beginning of my connection with him. That winter, I went back down to London for work and came back up the next spring. Jock was working all hours at the Apothecary and doing the accounts and ordering at night, so I was not particularly surprised when he contracted ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). Nothing much was known about it then, and I think he felt that the only way he could properly get better was in a warm climate, so he went – to Egypt, I think, and then to India. He asked me to keep an eye on the Apothecary for him, as his only capital was tied up in it.

About this time, the only businesses on The Park were: the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park; the Lollipop Shop (at that time in a building south of the Phoenix; Weather-wise – a solar panel company started by Lyle & Liza Schnadt; and Minton House (on the edge of Findhorn Bay). There were only about 40 people associated with the Foundation, living outside of it in and around Findhorn village. This was the very beginning of the Eco-Village and the NFA. Being a self-employed psychotherapist, I felt slightly more connected to these emerging businesses than to the Findhorn Foundation membership.
For the next 3 years or so, I kept a light financial eye on the Apothecary as a business: we had 3-monthly meetings to check the finances and discuss issues. I took no part in the actual running of the place. Johanna ran the Apothecary while Jock was away from February 1988 to August 1989.

It had a small café; a very small consulting & treatment room; a toilet (the original toilet Eileen Caddy had used for her transmissions like God Spoke to Me); and a bike-hire business as a side-line. Ken repaired the bikes if needed. All of these elements had evolved quite naturally – rather than being part of a ‘proper’ business plan. Some of them were very labour-intensive; some required specialist knowledge; some didn’t ‘fit’ together very well; and the more cash productive components were quite seasonal. It also was / is a very, very small building.

As the years progressed, people came and went. Lev Seller, a massage therapist, joined the team to help with the admin and ordering. Johanna was a delightful presence – when she was there. Deborah Lewin, I believe, started there as a volunteer waitress. It became a friendly welcoming interface between the general public, who came for tours and the Phoenix Shop (being expanded under the enthusiastic management of David Hoyle), and the rest of the Community.

In the summer time, the Apothecary – as a small business – flourished quite reasonably. In the winter, less so. Still, it was viable and ran reasonably successfully for about 3 years. It seemed a good idea, around that time, to turn it into a Co-operative Company, limited by guarantee, which – as it turned out – was probably a correct decision. It meant that any debts were not personal debts. After Jock left in the summer of 1987, Janette – his business partner – had arranged to get her capital paid back in 3 or 4 instalments – and these payments were honoured. Unfortunately, Jock had not made any such arrangements, hoping – I suppose – to come back when he was better. We heard from him only very occasionally. However, Jock’s remaining investment had become an unsecured loan, which was – in hindsight – unfortunate for him.

In the spring/summer of 1990, things fell apart. The Green Room Café (now the Phoenix Café) at the Universal Hall was now selling meals and snacks – so the competition was biting. It was decided to buy a photocopier for the various leaflets that were produced; someone had over-ordered on the (quite expensive) Bach Flower Remedies; and the bank refused to increase the overdraft. Essentially, the business became bust! We declared it so. The Phoenix Shop stepped in and essentially bought the business, and we used the cash to pay off all the tradespeople and suppliers. The bank was not particularly happy, and neither was Jock, but there was – literally – nothing left. All the stock – and the green glass jars – were transferred to the Phoenix and seemed to continue very happily there. The building was eventually taken over by the Foundation and became the Visitors Centre.

Jock Millenson:

I think that was about 1990 that The Apothecary was moved to the Phoenix, when it was decided that they could, no longer, make a viable financial enterprise out of it. Partly that was because £1,000 was spent for a new photocopier, which probably wasn’t an essential item for an apothecary! I had just got over a serious bout of ME and came back to Findhorn from India to see what had happened to the Apothecary and found it was relocated to the Phoenix. I guess Courtenay and others had wound up the business, which was the “Findhorn Bay Apothecary”.