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50-461: The Findhorn Foundation lies to the south of Findhorn Village but is considered separate from it. The existing settlement is the second village to bear this name, the original having been a mile to the northwest of the present position and inundated by the sea. This transposition was not an overnight catastrophe but a gradual withdrawal from the earlier site during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Some sources (e.g. Graham), claim it

100-596: A caravan near the village of Findhorn ; an annex was built in early 1963, so that Maclean could live close to the Caddy family. Eileen Caddy's direct relationship with God began with an experience in Glastonbury , where she recorded that she heard a voice say "Be Still and Know that I am God". Peter Caddy followed "an intuitive spontaneous inner knowing" and was influenced by theosophy and MRA, from which he developed methods of positive thinking and other methods he had learned in

150-491: A "spiritual utopian community ". The community includes an arts centre, shop, pottery, bakery, publishing company, printing company and other charitable organisations. All aim to practice the founding principles of the community and together make up the New Findhorn Association (NFA). The NFA was formed in 1999 to provide a structure for all the people and organisations in the community. It includes people from within

200-651: A 50-mile radius of The Park, at Findhorn. Each year a council and two listener-conveners are elected by the membership of the NFA, who organise monthly community meetings to decide upon community-wide issues. By 2011, the NFA consisted of "320 members and 30 organisations". These included for example the Findhorn Press, the Phoenix Community Stores, the Trees for Life organisation, and the various educational centres including

250-643: A 90% majority vote; decisions that do not reach this threshold are given time "for more information to be gathered", and the proposals are presented again later. Since the 1980s numerous organisations have started up in the vicinity of Findhorn which have an affiliation of some kind with the Findhorn Foundation. These include Ekopia, Moray Steiner School , the Phoenix Community Store, Trees for Life (Scotland) and The Isle of Erraid . Collectively they now form an ecovillage intended to demonstrate

300-555: A background in the Moral Rearmament (MRA) movement, joined them in the early 1950s. The group's principal focus was dedication to the 'Christ Within' and following God's guidance. In 1957 Peter and Eileen Caddy were appointed to manage the Cluny Hill Hotel near Forres , Maclean joining them as the hotel's secretary. Though now separated from Sheena Govan, whose relationship with Eileen Caddy had deteriorated, they continued with

350-507: A positive model of a viable, sustainable human and planetary future. By 2005, Findhorn Ecovillage had around 450 resident members, and its residents were claimed to have the lowest recorded ecological footprint of any community in the industrialised world, at half of the UK average. Physically, Findhorn Ecovillage is based at The Park, where the Foundation's belief in sustainability is expressed in

400-625: A run-down hotel in Scotland , the Cluny Hill Hotel in Forres , Moray , which they reportedly resurrected and turned into a four star hotel following practical guidance given by the "voice". Early in 1962, the couple along with most of the staff were sent by the management to resurrect another of their properties, the Trossachs Hotel, at Perthshire , but when they pleaded to be shifted back to Forres closer to their "mission", they were fired. Following

450-480: A village in Moray , Scotland, and at Cluny Hill in Forres , is now home to more than 400 people. The Findhorn Foundation and the surrounding community have no formal doctrine or creed. The Foundation were offering a range of workshops, programmes and events in the environment of a working ecovillage and at Cluny Hill Hotel in nearby Forres. Findhorn Ecovillage has been awarded UN Habitat Best Practice designation from

500-426: A volume of inspirational messages published in various formats from 1966 onwards, and an autobiography titled Flight into Freedom and Beyond . Finally in 1996 at the age of 76, Eileen stopped giving workshops, as her inner voice "suggested". In the late 1960s Eileen had been reconciled with her first family, and in 1997 all her eight children came together for the first time to celebrate her 80th birthday. In 2001 she

550-458: Is "responsible to the Trustees of the Foundation". The Trustees meet 4 times per year. Decisions are made meditatively by "attunement", where "each person does their best to find an inner state of mind in which goodwill is foremost and any outcome will be one which serves as the best for all." "Most decisions are made unanimously or with a loyal minority." Failing this, decisions can be passed with

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600-602: Is a founder member of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) a non-profit organisation that links together a diverse worldwide movement of autonomous ecovillages and related projects. The Ecovillage project has received Best Practice designation from the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The Findhorn Foundation is a member of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGO), attends

650-457: Is derived from Fionn Èire , meaning "white Ireland" which "doubtless refers to the white sands of the estuary". The genitive Èireann gave rise to the use of the anglified 'erne' in other local names such as Invererne, Cullerne and Earnhill. In the seventeenth century Findhorn was the principal seaport of Moray and vessels regularly sailed to and from all parts of the North Sea and as far as

700-556: Is the third village to bear the name, perhaps erroneously assuming that the seventeenth century destruction of the nearby Barony of Culbin by shifting sands resulted in an earlier relocation. Findhorn was part of the Barony of Muirton and was erected into burgh of barony by act of Parliament in 1661. Although surely Gaelic in origin the derivation of the name of the River Findhorn is not absolutely clear. Watson (1926) states that it

750-565: The Baltic Ports. Changes to the narrow and shallow entrance to the Bay created obstacles to navigation and as the size of trading vessels increased so the volume of trade to the village declined. Findhorn Bay witnessed a brief episode in the 1745 Jacobite rising . In March 1746 the French brigantine Le Bien Trouvé entered the tidal waters with dispatches for Bonnie Prince Charlie but her departure, with

800-542: The Global Ecovillage Network , the Findhorn Foundation and UNITAR . 57°39′11″N 3°35′31″W  /  57.653°N 3.592°W  / 57.653; -3.592 Eileen Caddy Eileen Caddy MBE (26 August 1917 – 13 December 2006) was a British spiritual teacher and New Age writer, best known as one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation community at the Findhorn Ecovillage , near

850-630: The Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship . Maclean initially followed practices from the Sufi group centred on the teachings of Inayat Khan , and from this developed her contact with the divine to focus upon communication with 'nature spirits' which she named as devas . The three of them agreed that Maclean's contacts should be made useful for the growing of food which was supplementing their income (the family at this point being entirely supported by Family Allowance ). The Caddys credited

900-428: The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT), and regularly holds seminars of CIFAL Findhorn , a United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), affiliated training centre for Northern Europe. In the late 1940s Sheena Govan emerged as an informal spiritual teacher to a small circle that included her then-husband, Peter Caddy , and Dorothy Maclean . Eileen Caddy , as she became, who had

950-660: The Wrekin Trust ; Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke , Liebie Pugh, and Joan Hartnell-Beavis. Through connections such as these and the distribution of Eileen Caddy's writings in the form of a booklet titled God Spoke to Me (1967), people came to live at the Caravan Park, eventually forming the 'Findhorn Trust' and the 'Findhorn Community'. From 1969, following Eileen's guidance, Peter Caddy slowly devolved his day-to-day command. David Spangler became co-director of Education almost immediately after he arrived in 1970, which resulted in

1000-399: The 1829 floods known as " The Muckle Spate " five Findhorn fishing boats rescued Forres residents. For a few years (1860-9) there was a branch railway line to Findhorn railway station in the village to take advantage of the herring fleet. The early twentieth century saw a decline in fishing as the traditional two-masted zulus were in their turn being replaced by larger vessels. Some of

1050-404: The Findhorn Foundation itself. Each department is responsible for its own decisions. There is an 11-person "Management Team" which makes "decisions which affect the organisation as a whole". The Management team consults with the council, which consists of approximately 40 "committed members" who "meet regularly to discuss issues and participate in team-building activities". The management team

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1100-514: The Findhorn community eco village at Findhorn houses about 40 community businesses such as the Findhorn Press and an alternative medicine centre. Before the Findhorn Foundation in 1972, there was a Findhorn Trust as more people joined Eileen Caddy , Peter Caddy and Dorothy Maclean , who had arrived at the Caravan Park at Findhorn Bay on 17 November 1962. The Findhorn Foundation and surrounding Findhorn Ecovillage community at The Park, Findhorn ,

1150-456: The Foundation an example of contemporary religious individualism. A theatre and concert hall known as the Universal Hall was built at the former caravan park site, known as The Park, between the years 1974 and 1984. The musical group The Waterboys , who have performed a number of concerts in the hall, named their album Universal Hall after the structure. The Foundation has been called

1200-561: The Isle of Mull, Scotland, having divorced Peter Caddy. By the autumn of 1956, Peter and Eileen came over to join her nascent group of followers there, along with the two children they already had together. Following a divorce, Eileen married Peter Caddy in 1957, and they had one more son in 1968. Meanwhile, Sheena's group was fast gaining popularity, and was dubbed the 'Nameless Ones' by the local media, which also called her "the woman Messiah". Subsequently, from 1957, Peter and Eileen Caddy co-managed

1250-704: The New Age". She was born Eileen Marion Jessop in Alexandria , Egypt , the second of four children of Albert Jessop, an Irishman, and the director of Barclays Bank DCO ; her mother Muriel was English. At six she was sent to school in Ireland, where she lodged with an aunt, and returned to Egypt in the holidays. When she was 16, her father died in Egypt of peritonitis and her family moved back to England. Tragedy struck again two years later, when her mother died of meningitis. Thereafter she

1300-673: The Oneida Community, which practiced polygamy, but without the religious element. Many others were involved with varying importance and influences in the early years, from Lena Lamont, part of Sheena Govan's circle, who lived in her caravan with her family and who shunned publicity, to those whom Peter Caddy met as he travelled in British New Age circles: among them Robert Ogilvie Crombie (ROC), who wrote of nature spirits in The Findhorn Garden ; Sir George Trevelyan who formed

1350-497: The Prince's aide-de-camp on board, was delayed by the arrival of two British men-o'-war . Unable to enter the shallow bay, the two warships lay in wait in the Firth. Somehow Le Bien Trouvé slipped out and away to safety on a dark night. The name is recalled in the modern-day training gig of the same name which is based at Findhorn. During the nineteenth century fishing predominated. During

1400-681: The Sustainable Development Committee meetings and is a founding member of the following NGO groups active at the UN Headquarters in New York: The Earth Values Caucus, The Spiritual Caucus, and The NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns. A new sustainable development training facility, CIFAL Findhorn was launched in September 2006. This is a joint initiative between The Moray Council ,

1450-473: The built environment with 'ecological' houses, innovative use of building materials such as local stone and straw bales, and applied technology in the Living Machine sewage treatment facility and electricity-generating wind turbines . The Ecovillage is intended to be a tangible demonstration of the links between the spiritual, social, ecological and economic aspects of life, for use as a teaching resource. It

1500-488: The catchment zone of Forres Academy in Forres . Findhorn Foundation The Findhorn Foundation is a Scottish charitable trust registered in 1972, formed by the spiritual community at the Findhorn Ecovillage , one of the largest intentional communities in Britain. It has been home to thousands of residents from more than 40 countries. The Foundation closed all its educational programmes in September 2023 whereas

1550-484: The craft, 'temporarily' beached on the western shore of the Bay whilst their crews fought in the First World War, were never used again. The wreckage is still visible at low tide. The shore-based salmon fisheries lasted until the 1980s but they too are no more. Today the village is a dormitory suburb and leisure craft dominate the moorings. The Crown and Anchor Inn, dating from 1739, is the oldest surviving structure in

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1600-461: The following years, even started a Findhorn-style community in California, but eventually died in a car crash in 1994. Meanwhile, all through the 1980s, Eileen travelled across the world speaking at spiritual gathers, and also writing several books, including her "compendium of daily guidance", "Opening Doors Within", which went on to be translated in 30 languages. Her works include God Spoke to Me ,

1650-431: The garden's success of producing "exceptionally large vegetables" – on these practices. More conventional explanations have been suggested by locals from outside the community who feel that the garden's successes can be explained by the unique microclimate of Moray or the substantial quantities of horse manure donated by a local farmer. Findhorn was one of the many communes of the 60s and 70s that were influenced by

1700-497: The gradual transformation into a centre of residential spiritual education with a permanent staff of over 100, and the establishment of the Findhorn Foundation in 1972. The following year. David Spangler and Maclean, with several other Findhorn Foundation members, left to found the Lorian Association near Seattle . By 1979 Peter and Eileen's marriage had disintegrated, and he left the Foundation. Eileen Caddy remained, and in 2004

1750-507: The help of what they claimed were plant spirit and devas that it eventually attracted national attention, and was featured in a 1965 BBC radio programme. Its supporters included Sir George Trevelyan and Lady Eve Balfour of the Soil Association . Beginning in 1965 a community, eventually known as the Findhorn Foundation , began to form around the work and spiritual practices of Eileen and Peter Caddy and Dorothy Maclean. The community

1800-483: The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns forced the Foundation to cease its educational activities by September 2023, marking a significant shift in its operational model. As the Foundation grappled with the financial strain of these compounded crises, it announced the decision to sell part of its properties in an effort to stabilize its financial situation. Furthermore, the Foundation has disclosed that it may have to consider letting go of some of its 50 staff members, underscoring

1850-481: The practices she taught. In the early 1960s, Caddy, along with others who called themselves channellers , believed that they were in contact with extraterrestrials through telepathy , and prepared a landing strip for flying saucers at nearby Cluny Hill . In late 1962, Caddy's employment with the hotel chain that owned Cluny Hill, at the time he was working in the Trossachs, was terminated. He and Eileen settled in

1900-415: The resulting period of unemployment, on 17 November 1962 Eileen, her husband Peter, the children and their colleague Dorothy Maclean , moved to a holiday caravan in a trailer park , a few miles from Forres and a mile from the village of Findhorn . There they began practising organic gardening as a means of supplementing their family's food supply. The garden flourished to such a remarkable extent with

1950-475: The severe impact of these events on its community and operations. Since September 2023 The Findhorn Foundation has stopped offering courses and conferences; or educational programmes. The Findhorn Foundation College was established in 2001. An ethnographic study in the 1990s looked in detail at the 'Experience Week', which it called "the main entry point into Findhorn's ethos and lifestyle", noted that over 5,000 people attended Findhorn courses annually, and called

2000-464: The village of Findhorn , Moray Firth , in northeast Scotland . The commune she started in 1962 with husband Peter Caddy and friend Dorothy Maclean was an early New Age intentional community where thousands of people from dozens of countries have resided in years since. One of the UK's largest alternative spiritual communities, The Sunday Times referred to it, on Caddy's death, as "the Vatican of

2050-639: The village. Other prominent buildings of note include Findhorn House built in 1775, which is the home of the Royal Findhorn Yacht Club, The Kimberley Inn, the James Milne Institute, The Universal Hall at the Findhorn Foundation and the ice house Heritage Centre. Findhorn Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1926 and continued until World War II. Primary school students go to nearby Kinloss Primary School in Kinloss . Secondary students are in

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2100-655: Was a follower of the group called Moral Rearmament (MRA), and insisted that his wife follow the traditions of the group, which included joining the group's "quiet times", during which they would listen for divine guidance. Though diffident at the time towards the practices which she found restrictive, she later acknowledged the importance of her early attunement to "quiet times" and "listening to inner guidance", regarding it as an important milestone on her spiritual journey. In 1952, while posted at RAF Habbaniya , in Iraq , Combe read an article written by Squadron Leader Peter Caddy who

2150-468: Was already in trouble. Their friend Dorothy Maclean later recalled that Sheena had declared that she was no longer her husband's "other half", and that soon Peter would meet his "true partner". Eileen and Peter fell in love and in 1953 after returning to England, she asked Combe for a divorce in a letter to him in Iraq, where he was still posted. Combe immediately forbade her from seeing their five children. It

2200-504: Was also posted, met him, and became interested in bringing him into the MRA fold; subsequently Eileen was introduced to Peter and his wife, Sheena Govan , daughter of the founders of the Faith Mission . Due to their shared interests in the occult and spirituality, they immediately took a liking to each other. Soon Eileen was in the circle that formed around Sheena Govan . Peter Caddy's marriage

2250-513: Was awarded an OBE . Peter Caddy died in a car crash in Germany on 18 February 1994. Eileen Caddy died at home on 13 December 2006. Maclean continued to give talks and workshops worldwide, visiting Findhorn regularly, and in August 2009 returned to Findhorn to live. She retired from public life in 2010. In April 2021, a fire destroyed the Findhorn community centre and its sanctuary building. The fire and

2300-539: Was bought in 1983 More recently it was profiled by the Channel 4 documentary series, The Haven , in 2004. In 1971 Eileen, as "guided" by her inner voice, stopped receiving guidance for the community and from then on remained as an inspiring figure within the community. Dorothy Maclean moved to the United States in 1973, while Peter left Findhorn in 1978 after falling for a young female community member; he married twice in

2350-513: Was educated at a domestic college, and later bought and ran a pub at an RAF base in Oxfordshire , with her brother for four years. Soon she met an RAF officer, Squadron Leader Andrew Combe, whom she married in 1939, just months before the beginning of the Second World War; subsequently she travelled to London and America with him, and lastly to Iraq, and had a son and four daughters. Combe

2400-536: Was featured in several television documentaries by the BBC, starting in 1969, when BBC TV programme Man Alive came to Findhorn, resulting in greatly increased public awareness. Soon the place became a favorite haunt for thousands of New Agers from around the world and the community bought the Cluny Hill Hotel in 1975 and turned it into a college, which stands seven miles from the Findhorn Bay Area caravan park , which

2450-584: Was named one of the 50 most spiritually influential people in Britain on Channel 4 's "The God List". For services to spiritual inquiry, Eileen Caddy was in 2004 awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The award was presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Moray , Air Vice-Marshal George Chesworth. Eileen Caddy died on 13 December 2006 at Findhorn, after leaving instructions that her death "be

2500-529: Was then that a traumatized Eileen visited a private sanctuary at Glastonbury with Peter, where she first claimed to have heard while meditating, the "voice of God", which said: "Be still and know that I am God." Initially she took it as a sign of a nervous breakdown, but in time she began to "love the voice as an instrument from the God within us all". Her subsequent instructions from the "voice" directed her to take on Sheena as her spiritual teacher. Sheena moved away to

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