Editing Findhorn Foundation (section)

== History==

[[File:Findhorn Foundation - Salads at Cluny.jpg|thumb|left|Decorated salads at Findhorn Foundation, [[Cluny Hill]], 2011]]

=== Background ===

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 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.<ref>In Perfect Timing: Memoirs of a Man for the New Millennium Peter Caddy 1994</ref> 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 the practices she taught.<ref name=telegraphobit>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537268/Eileen-Caddy.html Obituary of Eileen Caddy] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604041647/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537268/Eileen-Caddy.html |date=4 June 2011}}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 19 December 2006</ref> 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]].<ref name=roberts1>Roberts, A. [http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/81/saucers_over_findhorn.html Saucers over Findhorn] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808113411/http://forteantimes.com/features/articles/81/saucers_over_findhorn.html |date=8 August 2008}}, ''[[Fortean Times]]'', accessed 12-08-08.</ref>

=== Findhorn caravan ===

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 a [[travel trailer|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 (Blavatskian)|theosophy]] and MRA, from which he developed methods of [[Optimism|positive thinking]] and other methods he had learned in the [[Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Caddy |first=Peter |title=In Perfect Timing |year=1996 |publisher=Findhorn Press |isbn=978-1-899171-26-2}}</ref>

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 ''[[Deva (New Age)|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 [[Child benefit|Family Allowance]]). The Caddys credited the garden's success of producing "exceptionally large vegetables"<ref name=caddyobit>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jan/08/guardianobituaries.religion Obituary of Eileen Caddy] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306145454/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jan/08/guardianobituaries.religion |date=6 March 2016}}, ''The Guardian'', 08-01-07</ref> – on these practices.<ref>Memoirs of an Ordinary Mystic Dorothy Maclean 2010</ref> 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]]<ref name=independent>McCarthy, M. ''[https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/findhorn-the-hippie-home-of-huge-cabbages-faces-cash-crisis-672920.html Findhorn, the hippie home of huge cabbages, faces cash crisis] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208071835/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/findhorn-the-hippie-home-of-huge-cabbages-faces-cash-crisis-672920.html |date=8 December 2010}}'' ''The Independent'', 05-06-01</ref> or the substantial quantities of [[horse manure]] donated by a local farmer.<ref name=ch>[[#Ch|Christensen, p. 499]]</ref><ref name="telegraphobit"/>

=== Expansion ===

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'';<ref>{{cite web |title=R. Olgivie Crombie (1899 – 1975) |url=https://albion.org.uk/historical-albion/r-olgivie-crombie-1899-1975/ |publisher=Albion |access-date=31 August 2019 |quote=His work is recounted in 'The Gentleman and the Faun' (Findhorn Press 2009) and 'The Occult Diaries of R. Ogilvie Crombie' by Gordon Lindsay (Starseed Publications 2011).}}</ref> [[Sir George Trevelyan, 4th Baronet|Sir George Trevelyan]] who formed the [[Wrekin Trust]];<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dawkins |first1=Peter |title=Sir George Trevelyan: obituary |url=https://www.sirgeorgetrevelyan.org.uk/obit-dawkins.html |website=Sir George Trevelyan 1906 - 1996 |access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref> [[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'.<ref name="About">{{cite web |title=About the Findhorn Foundation |url=https://www.findhorn.org/about-us/ |publisher=Findhorn Foundation<!--primary source used for basic facts only--> |access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Residential spiritual education centre ===

[[File:The Waterboys perform in Findhorn 2004.jpg|thumb|Findhorn attracts cultural and artistic events, such as [[Mike Scott (Scottish musician)|Mike Scott]] and [[The Waterboys]], shown here playing a concert at Universal Hall in 2004.]]

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 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 was awarded an [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|OBE]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=57155 |date=31 December 2003 |pages=15–28 |supp=y}}</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3357389.stm MBEs: A-C]  BBC News, 31 December 2003.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lorianpress.com/macleanhome.htm |title=Dorothy Maclean Home |website=lorianpress.com |access-date=2019-01-25}}</ref>

The Universal Hall, serving as a theatre and concert hall, was built at The Park, the former caravan park site, between the years 1974 and 1984. The musical group [[The Waterboys]], who had performed concerts in the hall, named their album ''[[Universal Hall]]'' after the structure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Facilities |url=http://universalhall.co.uk/facilities/ |website=The Universal Hall |access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref>

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's courses annually, and called the Foundation an example of contemporary religious individualism.<ref name="Sutcliffe2010">{{cite journal |last1=Sutcliffe |first1=Steven |title=A Colony of Seekers: Findhorn in the 1990s |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |volume=15 |issue=2 |year=2010 |pages=215–231 |issn=1353-7903 |doi=10.1080/13537900050005985 |s2cid=144251383 }}</ref>

=== 2021 fire, lockdown and transitions ===

In April 2021, a fire destroyed the Findhorn community centre and its sanctuary building. This was deliberately set by the community centre's manager, who had lived and worked at Findhorn for 16 years.<ref name="Sunday Post 2021">{{cite news |url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/findhorn-foundation/ |title=“rouble in paradise as fire and redundancies provokes ill-will at famously peaceful Findhorn Foundation |work=[[The Sunday Post]] |date=18 July 2021}}</ref> After admitting the offence, he was ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid community work by Inverness Sheriff Court.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-58222968 |title=Unpaid work for Findhorn eco-community fire starter |work=[[BBC News]] |date=16 August 2021}}</ref> Scotland's ''Sunday Post'' newspaper reported that he had been unhappy that he was among the 50 staff who would have to leave Findhorn in a restructuring, where many had worked long-term in return for housing, food and minimal wages. This restructuring was only partly due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]], according to the newspaper's report. It quoted other redundant Findhorn staff as affirming widespread "hurt and anger" within the Findhorn community about these restructuring plans.<ref name="Sunday Post 2021"/>   

The fire and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns forced the Foundation to cease its educational activities by September 2023,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wildhunt.org/2023/09/findhorn-foundation-closes-educational-programmes.html |title=Findhorn Foundation closes educational programmes |publisher=The Wild Hunt |access-date=}}</ref> marking a major change 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<ref name="McAngus 2023">{{cite news |last=McAngus |first=Sean |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/5984503/findhorn-foundation-reveal-current-model-no-longer-financially-viable-with-staff-at-risk-of-redundancy/ |title=Findhorn Foundation reveal current model no longer financially viable with staff at risk of redundancy |date=26 July 2023 |publisher=[[The Press and Journal]]}}</ref> in an effort to stabilize its financial situation. Further, it stated in July 2023 that it might have to let go of some of its 50 staff members.<ref name="McAngus 2023"/> In September 2023 the Findhorn Foundation stopped offering courses, conferences, and educational programmes.<ref name="Sutcliffe2010"/>