My name is Margit Urbassek, 64 years old and living in Vienna; born in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee. I lived in the Findhorn Community for almost a year at Cluny Hill College in the years 1982/83.

When I was 17, I found a book about the Findhorn Garden and Eileen Caddy. My only wish was to go there. Always in summer 1979, ’80, ’81, I was there for Experience Week, gardening workshops, an art of healing programme for several weeks, and workshops on the Isle of Erraid.

In 1981, when I was there, I fell in love with a member. He wanted me to stay, but I needed to go back to Vienna to finish my studies for primary school teaching. I promised him I would come the following summer to stay forever as a member, and he promised to wait for me. I finished my studies and packed my things.

When I arrived at Cluny, I discovered that he had been with another woman for months. I was given a room. The other person in that room was exactly that woman. I was shocked. This was my first experience in my adult life abroad on my own. As I talked with the woman, she moved into the room of my now ex-boyfriend. But as I believed in all that Eileen Caddy wrote – meditating there, being in contact with angels, and talking with Carol (who was responsible at Cluny) – I decided to stay as I loved the community.

Margit Urbvassek Young photo Margit UrbassekSo, I started to work in the bakery and did so for several months, totally alone. I got up at 4:00 in the morning to start the dough and bake all the bread and rolls for breakfast. After that, I started the Orientation programme to become a member, connected with gardening. Following that, I worked in the kindergarten until mid-April 1983. I loved it very much. During my whole time at Findhorn, I participated a lot in Sacred Dance sessions, and there was also professional modern dance training at the Park in the Universal Hall.

I left the community in 1983 and went back to Vienna to start teaching in a primary school. So, I worked in school for 42 years. In 1998, I helped build up a reform pedagogical school in Vienna within the official school system. I brought books from London about “the art of dance in education” and worked out a curriculum designed for Austria (in England it was already common), as there was no dance at that time in the primary school curriculum. I went to the Ministry of Education, and I was allowed, instead of teaching 10/12 subjects, to teach only one subject: DANCE.

I had already danced before in Austria. I did a study in integrative dance pedagogy for several years in Germany on the weekends, along with a Montessori education, and transformed the content for my schoolchildren from age 6 to 15. I also arranged for many artists and dancers to come to classes to give them a view of what dance can be all about.

In 2002, I met my husband in Vienna and in 2008, I gave birth to my first child at age 47. My son is now 17 and studies professional photography. I feel very fit and I am very grateful that I am always healthy, and I feel always protected. I still regularly contact the angels. I am very grateful that I could deepen this ability during my time in Findhorn.

One of my orientation group leaders, Ben, talked with me when I decided to leave the community in 1983. He said: “Margit, it’s your inner necessity to leave and go into your own life. But you are so young. You will really understand the Findhorn Community when you are over 60 years old.” I didn’t understand what he meant. I thought I did live here and understood many things … what was he saying?

Now, after walking and dancing through 42 years of my life, I began to gain an understanding of what he meant. I am very grateful to Eileen Caddy and all the people I met in person and could learn from.

THANK YOU!!

Margit Urbassek portrait 2 photo Margit Urbassek