Falling down the rabbit hole at Findhorn

 I had heard about Findhorn Ecovillage for some time, mostly that it was a large community and had been around for some time. I was completely unprepared for what I would experience during my week stay and thats probably a good thing. There are so many aspects to what is happening there that I wont do it any justice in a few sentences - best to experience yourself. Below and over the next few posts beneath are some of my thoughts and observations of a community of people doing things differently. Findhorn is essentially a spiritual community, education centre and ecovillage, and it all comes together in a rather bizarre mix of the surreal.

A mosaic at the entrance of the Universal Hall. Findhorn was established 48 years ago by three people who have become the celebrated history and vision of Findhorn. Eileen heard the voice of God, Dorothy communicated with the plants and Peter implemented their visions. Im not one to typically share these aspects but given how critical their role has been in shaping Findhorn and the community's very strong dependence on them (despite two now being deceased), it is interesting to note. Findhorn appears to be primarily a spiritual place, attracting people of all ways of thinking and being around that, and the living in harmony with nature falls into a wider respect for all life. Celebration of art, music and dance and a strong sense of community are as important. Staying there, even shortly, certainly challenged my accepted frames of references on spirituality and community. 

It is a beautiful space though and much love has gone into creating small areas of reflection and sanctuary.

Creativity, craft and the arts are highly valued in all forms, and the new Arts Centre has studios, exhibitions and classrooms. 

There are several meditation spaces around the Park, including a Nature Sanctuary where a rambling green roof that was quite cool.

A number of houses have been built for staff and residents of the Park. Some were done as part of courses, individually or by the community as the whole. There are a series of houses built out of old whisky barrels that are quite impressive! The urban (or rather rural) legend goes that one of the residents went to collect old whisky slates for the boiler when the manager remarked that "you hippies would probably build houses out of these things" and so they did.

I think without realising (and despite the frequent labelling by my family as "dirty hippie"), I have found myself in places that could easily be labelled as hippie havens. But to be honest, "good planets are hard to find", "sustainability, the final frontier" might just be the case and the whole world could do with a little more "reduce-reuse-recycle-restore". Perhaps it is the grounding to the bigger picture of actual resource flows* and questions of social justice that I sensed were sometimes absent in some of the conversations I shared. But others I had the brief opportunity to meet with were more grounded and realistic than most non-dirty hippies I have ever known.

*Whilst I was there, a big upset was being made over a tree being cut to make way to bring in a new wood chip boiler for heating. The two camps were the ones who were furious about cutting down a tree (fair enough) and those who saw the bigger picture, including the irony that the entire machine would run of cut down trees anyway.

The other side of Findhorn: many of the staff and volunteers stay in caravans that are a strong part of the history of Findhorn as well, which was originally a caravan park and it was in a caravan that the founders came and stayed. All of the staff are paid the same minimum wage, whether a cleaner or director, but apparently this brings with it other challenges of how to express power. Findhorn is many things, but mostly it is just very different.

A lovely restaurant serving local, organic and seasonal produce.

There are so many people who are part of this community it would be impossible to ever generalise the experience. From technical experts to alternative churches - it certainly has an energy for attracting a unique blend of curiosity and self expression.

The Living Machine

So, I have a strange fascination with sewerage treatment plants. Beyond the social stigmas, sewerage carries a lot of valuable water, nutrients and energy that many places discard and often use heavy chemicals to do that. The "Living Machine" that handles all of Findhorn's sewerage was quite something to see.

The Living Machine is basically a series of tanks that the sewerage water passes through, being cleaned up by plants and crittters along the way. It starts off with reeds that do some of the heavy lifting and the levels of plant diversity and number of living organisms increases down the row until finally fish can be found in the last tank and the water is purified to irrigation quality.

Inspired by nature, the Living Machine highlights the critical role that complex living systems have to play in providing essential services such as waste purification and nutrient recycling.

Our guide through the Living Machine had a real enthusiasm for the life inside the greenhouse.

By the fourth tank, the water is already teaming with life.

It was really great to see such a beautiful space for something we are so conditioned not to talk about. The Living Machine also highlighted some of the deeper tensions I felt whilst visiting Findhorn. The project is expensive to run and maintain and due to cost limitations, the water flows into the neighbouring dunes rather than being reused onsite. They dont really have water shortages in the area, but neither the embodied energy nor nutrients are being captured either. It certainly is pretty and lovely to see ecology in action, but there are ways of promoting both that also think about the reality of flows of resources and financial viability. A lovely place to spend some time though.

Field of Dreams

A while back, the Findhorn Foundation sold off a piece of land to a private developer in order to raise funds. This land has been privately developed by individuals with a strict set of ecological design guidelines and quite a thorough interview process to be accepted onto the home owners association. What has been created are some gorgeous ecologically designed houses in the middle of the Park, known as the Field of Dreams. Some of the houses are in strong contrast to the caravans where many of the staff from the Foundation live. The rates are higher then elsewhere with additional levies, and many supplement their normal incomes by turning into B&Bs - including the gorgeous place where I stayed. Some really beautiful places but affordability is definitely a challenge.

Many made use of glass conservatories to maximise passive solar heating, especially during the cold winter months.

Simple, unvarnished timber construction. The houses all varied greatly in style, size and materials used.

A large strawbale house with characteristically curvy corners.

The houses are all pretty close to each other and privacy is not readily available, especially with the large number of visitors streaming past throughout the year. The seems to come with the package though and small gardens help create sanctuaries away from the crowds. Not sure if I would be cut out for this kind of intense community living.

The gardens were completely stunning, especially when the sun was shining!

There are a number of studios and galleries through the Park.

A small, turf roofed wooden house.

The very homely B&B where I was staying for the week.

The camera shy friend I made. Many thanks to David & Gretel for a wonderful stay at 406 Field of Dreams.

Cullerne Gardens

The Cullerne Gardens at Findhorn are just beautiful. They provide a bounty of vegetables, fruit and flowers for the community throughout the year and run off the work of the residents and volunteers.

Just before the dry poppies break open to release their seeds, they form the most delicate rattles.

A fare amount of growing takes place in tunnels to extend growing seasons beyond the short summer months. Even in summer the weather is temperamental at best.

These friendly guys where mowing and fertilising the fallow beds - they seemed to be enjoying the hard work.

The guest programme at Findhorn is interesting one. People pay quite a bit to stay there and work in the gardens, kitchens and grounds. A bit of a strange concept to think that people would pay to do manual labour but there is something about reconnecting with the soil, our food, each other and ourselves that people seem to be looking for. Interesting.

One of the many quirks of the place is that they name everything, including tools. The idea is that if something is personalised, it is treated as such. They believe this is a big reason why they keep their tools for much longer and replace things less often than other places.

Everything seems to love the sun when it makes its occasional appearance.

Fresh and colourful salad packets on their way to market.

Looking for... a committed volunteer. Slightly different from the residential volunteer programme, this one was looking for a volunteer in the gardens in exchange for educational credits, meal tickets and a "box of delicious organic vegetables". Something like the Community or Talent Exchange networks that are emerging across the world -  building community based the exchange of talent and non-financial resources.

The place is as much about beauty and appreciation as it is about the work itself. A hammock under the trees for a nap after a morning of work in the sun, not bad.

An apple tree against the old house, one of a few beautiful spaces carrying wholesome food.

Findhorn Bay

A short walk out of the Findhorn Park grounds and through a forest takes you onto the most beautiful coastline that changes with the shifting light. Its a popular beach for locals and visitors, but somehow still feels untouched.

The Scottish landscape is unique and quite beautiful in its own way.

The small fishing village of Findhorn is nestled between the sanddunes and the bay.

Not much seems to have changed over the past few decades, and the crazy Scots are still swimming in the crazy cold weather.

The bay today.