Life at Findhorn

A sure sign that we are indeed becoming a village is that the community has its own weekly newspaper, the Rainbow Bridge (named after the bridge linking mortals and the gods in Norse mythology).

‘The Bridge’ is a 50-odd page compilation of reflections, dialogue, letters, information and advertisements for upcoming courses, job adverts, houses to let – the usual kind of stuff you would expect to find in any ... read more

So, we have come full circle. In my first blog, almost exactly a year ago, I began by looking up into the northern skies to watch the geese fly in from the Arctic to their over-wintering grounds. Now, they are back, lacing the high blue autumnal skies in exquisite sweeping arcs, filling the air with the wildness of their cries.

I made it clear in that first blog that I ... read more

As recently as four or five years ago, my undergraduate students and I devised a game as a way of keeping ourselves cheerful. We created our own newspapers, filled with stories that we wrote ourselves, reflecting the kind of material that we wished was covered in the press. It was a way of grounding our visions of a more ecologically conscious and engaged world.

At least in terms of ... read more

There is an amusing mismatch between the perceptions that many people have of life in an ecovillage and the actual day-to-day reality. This is reflected in the kinds of questions that communards tend to get asked when out in more mainstream society.

‘Don’t you mostly all sleep in dormitories (or yurts!)? I don’t think I could handle that.’ ‘How do you manage with so little personal space?’ ... read more

A great thing about living here is the steady stream of seriously cool people passing through. This week, among our guests – as participants on a one-week course – are two wonderful young women from the Kitezh/Orion foster family ecovillages in Russia, the two Marias – Krivenkova and Shibaeva. Their stories are quite extraordinary as are those of their home communities.

In the early 1990s, well-known Russian ... read more

One of the ports of call during the last two weeks that I have been away was the 6th international conference of ASPO (the Association for the Study of Peak Oil) in Cork. This is the body, founded by former oil geologist Dr Colin Campbell, which more than any other has brought to public consciousness the imminent peaking in the availability of cheap fossil fuels.

'Fun' was hardly the word ... read more

Much of this last week was taken up with the visit of an old friend from what we here sometimes refer to as the ‘real’ world. I hugely enjoy such visits because it allows me to see this wonderfully unique place in which I live with fresh eyes. I have lived here for over 20 years and sometimes I take it for granted. Life feels quite ordinary and not that ... read more

Jonathan Dawson is away so I am filling in for him for the next couple of weeks and I would like to pick up the theme of ritual that he touched on in writing about a recent death in our community. At Findhorn we do rituals rather well. Rather than rely on an established forms, we make them up as we go along so our ceremonies are alive ... read more

There’s been creative goings-on down at the wind park. This comprises our four wind turbines at the edge of the community that enable us to generate and sell about 40 per cent more electricity that we use at the Park, our main campus.

Mural artist, Lisa Shaw, was down there last week with young people who came to Findhorn on a course, using the base of the turbines as ... read more

Just back from a return visit to Sierra Leone. I was working once again with MAPCO, the indigenous organisation engaged in poverty alleviation and human rights work that I spent time with in March. This time, I was helping them develop efficient monitoring and evaluation systems, to better enable them to track the impact of their work.

This feels like good and valuable work. And yet, how does this kind ... read more

Ritual is a much-misunderstood aspect of human behaviour that we play with a lot here in Findhorn. The associations the word carries tend to be of austere esoteric rites that are practised only by the priestly castes. Here, our way of working with ritual is altogether more alive and democratic. It is seen as a tool that helps us truly connect with what is important in our lives and ... read more

Manifestation forms an important part of the Findhorn mythology – and indeed of our current practice.

This is the art of generating money and other resources to finance initiatives that, in many cases, look improbable if not downright unachievable.

Many are the stories from our pioneering days of the community launching into highly ambitious projects with little in the way of resources, skills or business planning but filled with ... read more