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Find utopias in Beauly, in the North Sea near Tarbat, and in Ardersier!

- RED pins are documentaries (watch these first)
- ORANGE pins are additional material to the documentaries
- BLUE pins are interactive content for you to participate
- WHITE pins are related places
- GREEN pins are background informaion on the project

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I welcome and value all kinds of responses to this project so please don't hesitate to get in contact with me via email:
allalina@web.de

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CLAIRAUDIENCE is the ability to attain auditory information. People with this ability describe a strong inner voice that guides them or even voices of other beings.

CLAIRVOYANCE is the ability to receive mental images, sometimes known as visions.

CLAIRSENTIENCE is the ability to sense emotions or information. This information can manifest in the body of a clairsentient person or be a non-physical experience.

CLAIRCOGNIZANCE is the ability to receive ideas/knowledge without having to read or hear about them first. It is described as "simply knowing".

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Leaked! Inofficial logbook of the experiment

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Leaked! Inofficial logbook of the experiment

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A little bit of background on the inspiration, research, and intentions of the performance project.

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Five minutes on the development stages of the piece, types and areas of research, and ethical considerations.

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The Scottish Quality of Life Index Agency

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The Scottish Quality of Life Index Agency

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Reviews: Counselling and classes with Luna

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Reviews: Counselling and classes with Luna

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***** "If I could I would move into her house immediately. Her home is as clean as my mind feels after every class." -M

***** "She just gets me. It's almost like she has some empathy superpower." -F

***** "To be honest, she's a weird lady and I have no idea what she did differently to my former counsellor BUT WOW did I feel so much better after just one session." -TR

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The one secret that every claircognizant person will refuse to reveal is that of God's existence. The question is: do they not want to tell us or is that truly the one thing they cannot sense?

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5 Fettes Rd, Ardersier, Inverness IV2 7UH, UK

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The studio is open again after lockdown. Normal opening hours are Tue to Sat, 11am till 4.30pm

I have a limited range of my work for sale online, the pieces on offer can be found on my 'Treasures' page

Half-A-Moon started in Glasgow in 1987, then relocated in 1992 to Inverness; the capital of the Scottish Highlands. In 2000 the studio moved out to Ardersier, 10 miles east of Inverness, where you will find us on the old military road from Cawdor to Fort George (B9006).

We are specialists in the art and craft of designing and manufacturing stained glass in both traditional leadwork as done by the medieval monks across Europe for centuries and copper foiling as invented by L.C.Tiffany around 1880.

We can make anything from a small light-catcher to a large panel. Our range includes clocks, lamps, mirrors and candleholders as well as pieces for your windows or even the windows themselves!!!!

We also do fused and slumped glass, we have a range of 'hot' glass bowls and platters, from small trinket bowls to large display dishes. We also have a range of one-off fused panels, mainly on the theme of the sea, each one is unique so you will get a piece of art that no-one else will have.

Occasionally we are asked to collaborate with other makers who work with different materials. We have done a series of framed silk paintings with Heather Butlin and from 1996 until early 2003 we worked on a range of complementary wrought iron with Alba MC. This included unique "metal" mirrors and "glass" weather vanes. We produced exhibition pieces using the skills of both stained glass and wrought iron as well as some more 'everyday' items.

Click on the picture below to get a clearer view of the trophy we designed for the Clarsach Society

We sell from our studio as well as through various retail outlets throughout both Scotland and England. We rarely exhibit at trade fairs and craft fairs. If you do meet us at a show let us know that you found us on the web.

If you are going to be in our area contact us so we can give you directions to the studio and then come and see us at work. We are usually open to visitors Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 4.30pm, February to December. You may catch us still working there at 11pm sometimes! It is best to give us a phone before visiting just to check that we are in and open as we may be away delivering our latest creation.

Click on these links to find out more about Half-A-Moon

Commission Work

Commission Gallery

Want to learn this ancient craft? Classes and courses are available throughout the year

Treasures at Half-A-Moon. Retail therapy at my online gallery

Trade website for shop and gallery owners

Contact us

Follow us on

Like us on

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The studio is open again after lockdown. Normal opening hours are Tue to Sat, 11am till 4.30pm I have a limited range of my work for sale online, the pieces on offer can be found on my 'Treasures' page Half-A-Moon started in Glasgow in 1987, then relocated in 1992 to Inverness; the capital of the Scottish Highlands.

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This place inspires residents to connect to nature and to each other.

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Organic fruit and veg, dairy, and meat - made in communication with nature.

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Macleod Organics has an amazing selection of fresh and tasty products. They provide a true farm to table experience with the delivery service. Offering their own produce along with that of other local farms and locally sourced sustainably produced goods makes them a single stop for all of our needs.

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This short test will tell you your core values that you will base your individual constitution on.

Special thanks to Ben J. Wetzel!

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The reason why the Princessipality is named after Tarbat is not just that this little Scottish village is particularly beautiful. For 35 years, the architect of the Tarbat Ness Lighthouse - Julia Burns - was one of two mainland citizen to know of the existence of the Princessipality. While she did not want to take part in any illegal activity, she agreed to give the plans of the mainland lighthouse to the Princessipality, enabling them to build a lighthouse of their own and finding their home easier and safer.

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Since the Princessipality is an official state and does not have to keep secrecy anymore, the residents get food and supplies delivered from Lossiemouth every 6 weeks. From 2005 until 2016, an anonymous RAF pilot frequently dropped canned goods and exotic fruit off at the Princessipality. Nobody knows his name or motive.

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Read about the fascinating history of the village that gave the princessipality its name.

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Incredible art from the distant past

An un-cracked code...

Pictish art is acknowledged as some of the most beautiful in the world and is admired and studied by scholars world-wide. The many carved stones and cross-slabs they left behind are as enigmatic as they are beautiful. They are covered in mysterious symbols, such as the crescent and v-rod, the double disc and z-rod, mythical beasts and intricate scrolls and knots.

Who were the Picts?

The Picts were made up of various tribes or kingdoms who spoke a Celtic language and are believed to have descended from the native peoples of Scotland. The Picts had a prehistoric religion but were later converted to Christianity. The name Pict comes from the fact that the Romans referred to them as the Picti, meaning 'painted people', with reference to the many tattoos their warriors wore.

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Described as 'the Iona of the east' it may be better to describe Iona as 'the Tarbat of the west'! The Tarbat Discovery Centre is a fascinating building with an intriguing story set in a beautiful location away from the hustle &bustle of the A9 and the regular tourist routes.

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Beauly Advent Window Trail, 42 Aird Rd, Beauly IV4 7ER, UK

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Every year in December, Beauly residents and visitors can peek through the windows on Aird Road to marvel at beautiful Christmas decorations.

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Every year for one week in May, Beauly transform into an outdoor stage for beauty. Without timetables or dedicated performing areas, everyone can take part in the festival. Whether you are strolling down the High Street or exploring the banks of the river, you can always spot someone presenting music, pictures, acts of kindness, dance, plants, free hugs, or food.

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Kilmorack Gallery, By Beauly, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Kilmorack Gallery, By Beauly, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Kilmorack Gallery, By Beauly, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Polpular Beauty Festival location:
"a unique and spiritual blend of the old building married with the work of some of Scotland’s finest artists."

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GALLERY in a BOX | March 2021

360 degree walkaround | March 2021

We hope you enjoy our latest 360 degree walkaround the gallery. This includes work by Adrian Wiszniewski and large paintings by Paul Bloomer. Please click the tags for more information.

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Kilmorack Gallery is one of finest Scottish Art Galleries. Regular artists include established Scottish sculptors and painters as well as carefully selected younger artists. Exhibitions change frequently and our reputation extends well beyond the Highlands and Scotland. more....

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6 Drumindorsair, Beauly IV4 7AH, Vereinigtes Königreich

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A fellow beauty seeker.

"I like to paint 'en plein air' whenever I can."

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Oil paintings from the Highlands

Impressions, Expressions, Abstractions

I am primarily a landscape painter; I live near Beauly and I work from my studio at Inverness Creative Academy. I also like to paint "en plein air" whenever I can. You can see my work at several Scottish galleries (see the News page) or visit my studio (when allowed again!). My smaller Daily Paintings are for sale here on the website, as are occasional Bargains . I am happy to consider commissions on a no-obligation basis.

With the support of the WASPS Studios organisation, I am pleased to be able to offer the OWN ART scheme, which enables purchase of my paintings over £500 in 10 interest-free monthly installments. The scheme is easy to set up and available to most purchasers. Click here for details of the scheme, and contact me for more information.

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Oil paintings from the Highlands Impressions, Expressions, Abstractions I am primarily a landscape painter; I live near Beauly and I work from my studio at Inverness Creative Academy. I also like to paint "en plein air" whenever I can. You can see my work at several Scottish galleries (see the News page) or visit my studio (when allowed again!).

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Anam Cara, Inverness, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Anam Cara is a Gaelic expression meaning "soul friend". It symbolises a spiritual friendship that is not affected by time, distance, or separation.

In the old Celtic tradition, the Anam Cara is someone with whom you could share your innermost self, mind and heart. This soul friendship is an act of recognition and belonging, helping us return to the hearth of our Spirit.

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Welcome to Anam Cara

'A Retreat Centre in the Scottish Highlands'

Training courses and workshops in

SHAMANISM, BUDDHISM, HEALING ARTS,
MEDITATION, YOGA, CREATIVE ECOLOGY & WORKING RETREATS

Anam Cara is a Gaelic expression meaning "soul friend". It symbolises a spiritual friendship that is not affected by time, distance, or separation.

In the old Celtic tradition, the Anam Cara is someone with whom you could share your innermost self, mind and heart. This soul friendship is an act of recognition and belonging, helping us return to the hearth of our Spirit.

We have chosen this name as a symbol for the 'circle of belonging', that inner friendship which embraces nature, divinity, spirit and human world as one.

Location

Anam Cara lies 600 feet above sea level and overlooks the city of Inverness with stunning southerly views towards the Monadhliath Mountains. We are only three miles from the city centre yet surrounded by farm and woodland. The scope for walking is endless. The centre is set in seven acres of land which offers a delightful network of paths through a rich and varied landscape with extensive wooded areas and a sheltered fruit and vegetable garden.

Living arrangements

Workshops and retreats are fully residential with nutritious, wholesome, vegetarian meals provided with special diets catered for on request. We use organic produce as availability allows - an ever-growing proportion of which is produced in our own garden. All meals are prepared by our experienced cooks, with participants assisting in the 'Helping Hands' wash up rota. During working retreats, meals will be prepared as a community exercise.

Accommodation

The guest living space is comprised of three large wooden clad cabins, which are set into the hillside, with south facing views. Each cabin can accommodate up to 5 people with three single rooms and one twin room with shared toilet/shower room.

The turf roofed Pavilion offers a comfortable communal space for eating and relaxing. All food is prepared in our galley kitchen.

Workshop facilities

The main venue, affectionately known as the 'Tufty', is an octagonal building constructed from local timber with large patio windows that offer views south over Inverness and beyond. The log burning stove, oak floor, spiritual library and turf roof create a unique and lovely space.

Anam Cara has a range of additional buildings tucked away in various nooks and crannies around the croft.

We have a wood fired Sauna with shower/changing area and a spacious relaxation room. Nearby is the Healing Barrel, formerly a whisky mash barrel. This delightful turf roofed conversion serves as a therapy room. Both buildings are situated in the Healing Well Garden, a quiet retreat space with shady decking overlooking a natural spring and its aquatic abundance. Water may be drawn from the well by those seeking the benefits and blessings of a water ablution.

Our Shrine Room is a quiet and secluded venue used for daily meditation, which retreatants are welcome to attend, or use it at other times of the day.

The Earthlodge is buried into hillside with thick stone walls and turf roof and is most often used for shamanic ritual and ceremony.

Community policy at Anam Cara

We strive to create a safe, respectful and harmonious space for people to visit, relax, grow and deepen. We have a no drink or drug policy and ask smokers to use our designated smoking spot. Mobile phone use is limited to certain outdoor spaces and Wi-Fi is only available in the office. We ask that people are mindful of others' sensitivities and request that people refrain from using strong perfumes or deodorants.

Price structure

We endeavour to keep the costs of our courses as low as possible, which we hope you will find reflected in our prices. A number of concessionary places are also available on request.

Please note that course fees should be paid separately from accommodation and meals. Details of payment will be sent on receipt of your booking form.

Shamanism workshops and shamanic training

Shamanism is the most time tested mind/body healing method that we know of today dating back at least 40,000 years. It was practised in all five continents including the Celtic and Pictish peoples of ancient Britain. The shamanic methods and practices the world over are strikingly similar and not bound by race, culture, belief, or lifestyle.

Training is provided by Twobirds, a qualified shamanic practitioner with eighteen years of experience. She is the co-founder of the Anam Cara Retreat Centre where she works full time as a shamanic practitioner and as a teacher of cross-cultural and Toltec shamanism and Plant Spirit Medicine.
For further information see our Shamanic Workshops and Training page.

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Shamanism, Yoga, Buddhism, Meditation Workshops - Anam Cara - Highland Retreat Centre, Inverness Scotland UK

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Welcome to Anam Cara 'A Retreat Centre in the Scottish Highlands' Training courses and workshops in SHAMANISM, BUDDHISM, HEALING ARTS,MEDITATION, YOGA, CREATIVE ECOLOGY & WORKING RETREATS Anam Cara is a Gaelic expression meaning "soul friend". It symbolises a spiritual friendship that is not affected by time, distance, or separation.

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Rubha Phoil, Armadale, Isle of Skye, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Reconnecting people, land, and nature - a young nature-based permaculture project.

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History of the rock "Rubha Phoil" Share your Rubha Phoil experience, recent or old ScotLAND Centre
We are a young nature-based permaculture project on the Isle of Skye.

(This website is our first draft version, (version 1.01) it is not complete yet, please be patient while we add things to the website, slowly.) You can also try to find more on www.earth-ways.co.uk

Rubha Phoil is an ancient, very special rock in the south of the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

The rock we live on is made from Lewisian Gneiss, some of the oldest rock on our planet. It is the first rock that solidified when the earth was still a ball of lava. The rock has made an interesting journey over those billions of years. In the early as well as the recent times.

We will document what we know about that journey HERE.

If you want to help us to discover, document and present more about the history, join us HERE.

The Rock now provides a home to a permaculture project and our vision is for it to transition into a nature connected permaculture community. Follow our history time line or join our Virtual Village to hear about our achievements and struggles of that process.

Latest News

We are really proud to announce that we are recognised as a Permaculture ScotLAND Demonstration Centre!

This means that the official body, the Permaculture Association of Britain has officially found our rock and us to be an excellent example of permaculture in action. A place where people can come, see and learn real permaculture.
The rock first got given the label "permaculture" in 1992 when the previous owner started her project. In 2013 the first application to be approved as a ScotLAND Centre was deferred. Now after 4 years of hard work by Ludwig and the more than hundred volunteers who supported the project since, we have been successful. Rubha Phoil is officially a 'Permaculture Project' worthy of the label 'Permaculture'.

Thank you Ed for your guidance, thank you Graham for your time and expertise in assessing our application.

You can read more here.

Click here to visit our shop or have a quick browse below. You will need to go to the actual shop above to purchase items. Various discounts are available for members of the Virtual Village.

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Welcome to Rubha Phoil : Rubha Phoil - our sacred, ancient rock.

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History of the rock "Rubha Phoil" Share your Rubha Phoil experience, recent or old ScotLAND Centre (This website is our first draft version, (version 1.01) it is not complete yet, please be patient while we add things to the website, slowly.)

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27 Tomatin Rd, Inverness IV2 4UA, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Utopia has been a long and winding road in the making and comes to fruition by our founder, Kevin, and his long imagined pipe-dream of running his own neighbourhood food place. It's all about locally sourced, honest and wholesome grub. It's as simple as that! Showcasing quality ingredients and great flavours, we aim to bring modern spins on some classic indulgent comforts alongside a selection of healthier alternatives.

We're more than just your bog standard cafe. We've got big plans to turn Utopia into a vibrant community hub, open all day and serving the community, with plans to start hosting events, private parties, social clubs, workshops and more. Our aim is for Utopia to become a thriving and bustling local space for everyone in Hilton and beyond to enjoy. You may also see us up popping up at events and festivals right across the UK, so please keep an eye out, and come swing by to enjoy some quality artisan dishes lovingly prepared by our passionately dedicated team.

Pop in, say hello, and let the good food times roll!

Locally Sourced

Quality of ingredients and ultimately taste, is the number one priority for Kevin and his team at Utopia. We've curated a list of esteemed local suppliers and artisan makers who pride themselves on the quality of their product, and it's our mission to showcase the best of this in our dishes. We're excited to show you what's in store!

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Utopia Cafe - Quality Artisan Produce - Inverness

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Utopia has been a long and winding road in the making and comes to fruition by our founder, Kevin, and his long imagined pipe-dream of running his own neighbourhood food place. It's all about locally sourced, honest and wholesome grub. It's as simple as that!

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Netherton Farm Bed & Breakfast, Culbokie, Dingwall, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Netherton Farm Culbokie - Utopia Experiment

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Netherton Farm Culbokie - Utopia Experiment

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"The Utopia Experiment was an experiment by Dylan Evans, set up in 2006. It involved a group of volunteers improvising a post-apocalyptic lifestyle. It was time-limited to 18 months, and was originally intended to serve as both a learning community and a working community.

After 10 months, Evans had become disillusioned with the project and concerned about his mental health. He went to see a doctor and was then detained under the Mental Health Act for his own safety. After 4 weeks in a psychiatric hospital, he returned to the experiment to inform the volunteers that it was over. They, however, wanted the community to continue and renamed it the Phoenix Experiment, under which name it continued for several years."

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19 Bank Street, Cromarty IV11 8YE, Scotland, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Visual Artist & Social Art Practitioner

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rosie newman artist educator socialpractioner sculpture belladrum invernesscollege uhi cromarty

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Located in international waters, on the military fortress of Roughs Tower, Sealand is the smallest country in the world. The country's national motto is E Mare, Libertas (From the Sea, Freedom), reflecting its enduring struggle for liberty through the years. Sealand has been an independent sovereign State since 1967. The Bates family governs the small State as hereditary royal rulers, each member with his, or her, own royal title. Sealand upholds its own constitution, composed of a preamble and seven articles. Upon the declaration of independence, the founding Bates family raised the Sealand flag, pledging freedom and justice to all that lived under it.

Following this, Sealand issued passports to its nationals, minted official currency and commissioned its own stamps.

Show your support for Sealand independence for the years to come, by registering for a Noble Title and becoming a Lord or a Lady. Sealand also offers ID cards, and the chance to own a piece of our territory. Other official Sealand products are also available for sale on this website. See shop

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Principality of Sealand - Become A Lord Or Lady With Sealand

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Located in international waters, on the military fortress of Roughs Tower, Sealand is the smallest country in the world. The country's national motto is E Mare, Libertas (From the Sea, Freedom), reflecting its enduring struggle for liberty through the years. Sealand has been an independent sovereign State since 1967.

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Delta Cottage, Garden Pl, Beauly IV4 7AW, UK

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Introduced by Fiona herself in 1999, the Beauty Well is a chance for beauty finders to share what beauty means to them and for beauty seekers to get inspiration when they temporarily lose track of beauty. Everyone can contribute - you too!

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The Beauly Library holds the first piece of art Fiona made whilst building the Beauty Findation: The Book of Beauty. It contains 27 close-up nude photographies of 10 Beauly residents and the body parts that they find most and least beautiful on themselves. Fiona showed the book to a wide audience and let them guess which parts they believed are perceived as beautiful or not beautiful by the owner of the body. Nobody could guess more than 5 images right.
Now, The Book of Beauty has been digitalised as an interactive gallery. Everyone can upload pictures of their body parts they find most and least beautiful - you too!

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Anyone entering Fiona's house must keep dirty shoes outside. To invite beauty, she says, we must leave behind the dirt we collect by accident.

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The ruins of the Beauly Priory hold the most precious of artifacts of the Beauty Findation: the brass magnifying glass of Fiona's great-grandmother. It represents the eye's careful effort to magnify the beautiful and to see the world through a different lense.

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Legend has it that Mary, Queen of Scots - on a bright summer morning in 1564 - passed through Beauly on her way to meet her second husband-to-be, Lord Darnley. With excitement, she noted "Ç'est un beau lieu!" - What a beautiful place!

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"...is a dynamic experiment where everyday life is guided by the inner voice of spirit, where we work in co-creation with the intelligence of nature and take inspired action towards our vision of a better world."

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Beginnings

Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean unintentionally founded the Findhorn community in 1962. All three had dedicated themselves to following a disciplined spiritual path for many years. They first came to northeast Scotland in 1957 to manage the Cluny Hill Hotel in the town of Forres. Eileen received guidance in her meditations from an inner source she called 'the still, small voice within' and Peter ran the hotel according to this guidance and his own intuition. In this unorthodox way - and with many delightful and unlikely incidents - Cluny Hill swiftly became a thriving and successful four-star hotel. After several years however, the hotel company terminated Peter and Eileen's employment, and with nowhere to go and little money, they moved with their three young sons and Dorothy to a caravan park in the nearby coastal village of Findhorn.

Feeding six people on unemployment benefit was difficult, so Peter decided to grow vegetables. The land in the caravan park was sandy and dry but he persevered. In her meditation, Dorothy discovered she was able to intuitively contact the overlighting intelligence of plants - which she called angels, and then devas - who gave her instructions on how to make the most of their fledgling garden. She and Peter translated this guidance into action, with amazing results. In the barren sandy soil of the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park they grew huge plants, herbs and flowers, most famously the now-legendary 40-pound cabbages. Word spread, horticultural experts came and were stunned, and the garden at Findhorn became famous.

A community is born

Other people came to join the Caddys and Dorothy in their work and soon the original group of six grew into a small community, committed to their spiritual path and to expanding the garden in harmony with nature. The community published a slim volume of Eileen's guidance entitled God Spoke To Me, in 1967, and word of this determined and spiritually oriented community spread still further. Significant friends and supporters of the community in these early days included English new age pioneer Sir George Trevelyan, Scottish esotericist R Ogilvie Crombie and Richard St Barbe Baker, 'the man of the trees'. In the late 60s Peter and community members, in accordance with Eileen's guidance, built the Park Sanctuary, the largest of our meditation sanctuaries, and the Community Centre, where the community still meets and eats.

In 1970 a young American spiritual teacher named David Spangler arrived in the community and with his partner Myrtle Glines helped to define and organise the spiritual curriculum, and a programme of learning was established at The Park. In 1972 the community, the Findhorn Foundation, was formally registered as a Scottish Charity and in the 1970s and 80s grew to approximately 300 members. In 1975 the Foundation purchased Cluny Hill Hotel (which had declined after the Caddys' departure) as a centre for workshops and for members' accommodation, and in 1983 purchased the caravan park in Findhorn.

Peter Caddy left the community in 1979 to work internationally. He came back to visit Findhorn regularly until his death in Germany in 1994. Eileen Caddy lived a long and inspiring life in the community and died peacefully at home in 2006. Dorothy Maclean, having lived in North America for a number of years and been actively involved in leading workshops around the world, returned to live in the Findhorn Foundation community and passed peacefully on 12 March 2020, three months after her 100th birthday.

The Ecovillage and worldwide network

At the end of the 1980s, the Ecovillage Project at Findhorn began, contributing significantly to the development of the ecovillage movement worldwide. An ecovillage, defined as being ecologically, economically, culturally and spiritually sustainable, was a logical development of the community's work with spirit and nature. There are now 90 ecological buildings, three wind generators and a biological sewage treatment plant, The Living Machine.

In 1995 the Findhorn community and the evolving informal ecovillage network organised a conference at Findhorn: Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities for the 21st Century. From this initiative the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) was established, with the Foundation becoming one of its founding members.

The Findhorn Ecovillage is a constantly evolving model used as a teaching resource by a number of universities and school groups. The Findhorn Foundation College was established to provide a vehicle for academic programmes and to host students and study groups from the local area and around the world.

In 1997 the UN recognised the Findhorn Foundation as a Non-Governmental Organisation associated with the Department of Public Information. The Findhorn Foundation is an active participant in a variety of UN activities and events.

More about our Global Networking.

Further reference

The following is a short selection from the many books about the Findhorn community.

God Spoke To Me
by Eileen Caddy (Findhorn Press)
The first book of Eileen's Guidance - still in print after 40 years.

The Findhorn Garden Story
by The Findhorn Community (Findhorn Press)
The story of the community's early days.

To Hear The Angels Sing
by Dorothy Maclean (Lindisfarne Press)
Dorothy's autobiography.

Opening Doors Within
by Eileen Caddy (Findhorn Press)
Daily selections from Eileen's Guidance.

Flight Into Freedom
by Eileen Caddy (Findhorn Press)
Eileen's autobiography.

The Kingdom Within
edited by Alex Walker (Findhorn Press)
A selection of writings on the history and work of the Findhorn Foundation by David Spangler, Peter and Eileen Caddy, Myrtle Glines, William Bloom, Dorothy Maclean and many others.

Simply Build Green
by John Talbott (Findhorn Press)
A guide to the principles and methods of eco-building.

In Perfect Timing
by Peter Caddy (Findhorn Press)
Peter Caddy's autobiography.

Memoirs of An Ordinary Mystic
by Dorothy Maclean (Lorian Press)

Inner listening

When we become still and go within, either through meditation or activities such as being in nature, we can find a deep inner knowing that reaches far beyond the sense of a small and separate self. At Findhorn we describe this process as inner listening, and the knowledge received as guidance. We also use attunement, the practice of consciously tapping into the interconnectedness of life. These are at the heart of the Foundation's ethos.

Eileen Caddy began her practice of inner listening in a Glastonbury sanctuary in the late 1950s. Later, through training and regular meditation, she developed the ability to attune to the deep knowing within her at any time. Committed obedience to this guidance led her, the community's co-founders and the group that gathered around them, to step into a living relationship with this inner wisdom which continues to this day.

Finding the stillness and listening within, attuning, and then trusting and acting on this attunement, is the central process by which the Findhorn community lives and evolves. We believe it is a way of living that can support humanity to evolve. The Findhorn Foundation and community is a gateway to this new world and a living demonstration of it.

Work Is Love In Action

Work is an opportunity to bring our whole selves and our highest love into the practical business of daily life. By bringing full, loving engagement into each task, moment by moment, we can shape a new consciousness for ourselves and the world.

'Love where you are. Love what you're doing. Love who you're doing it with.' This is founder Peter Caddy's succinct explanation of our practice of Work is Love in Action. A former military officer who led by example, he insisted that community members bring this attitude into every daily activity, whether raking up the leaves, harvesting organic vegetables or making key decisions.

With this attitude, people discovered that each day can become an opportunity for growth and discovery when we bring our highest spiritual aspiration and love to it. Also, when we act with love and clear intention, life meets us with the right resources, people and realisations. An example of this is in the community's early days: Peter, acting on guidance, bought several bungalows with borrowed money, although there were no people yet who needed housing. Within weeks the bungalows were full with people who wanted to live the exciting experiment that was happening at Findhorn. Manifesting the right thing at the right time became so common that the community adopted the motto 'expect a miracle'.

Today, we continue to bring love and mindfulness to every moment, no matter how seemingly ordinary. Before each shift we share whatever is needed to bring ourselves present and then hold an attunement: a brief meditation to align people with each other and with the task at hand, and to invite the cooperation of our partners, seen and unseen.

This practice is a recognition that everything we do, no matter how small, is an opportunity to move beyond previously limiting beliefs and to shape a new future. Our own story of a tiny band of spiritual seekers growing into a flourishing, internationally respected spiritual learning centre and community is a demonstration of the power of putting our love into action. And we know that this story is just a beginning - our vision is nothing less than a world where each human being manifests their highest love and, in doing so, becomes a unique blessing for all life.

Co-Creation with the Intelligence of Nature

Our planet is alive and aware. By communicating and working with the rest of nature humans can find and bring new and creative solutions to life.

In the early days of the community, while trying to grow a garden, community co-founder Dorothy Maclean found she could communicate consciously with the intelligence that gave form to the plants in the garden. As she and others followed the suggestions of these intelligences, a seemingly impossible abundance grew in the poor soil, including the giant cabbages that brought fame to the community. Building on this early work, the Findhorn Foundation continues to be a pioneer in partnering with the intelligence of nature, a practice we call co-creation. Everyone, either through innate gifts or through training in inner listening, has the potential to partner with these more subtle aspects of our world.

We bring the practice of collaborating with other forms of life into our daily activities in our kitchens, gardens and living spaces. Before each shift, we invite non-human partners, such as the plants we're tending, animals we're with and non-physical members of our subtle ecologies, to work alongside us. This cooperation brings practical results, as well as a more connected and creative relationship to life.

Community Life

Community life provides the spiritual and social framework in which to experiment with new ways of being. Living together and practising spiritual values creates the transformative environment where learning takes place naturally through the ordinary activities of daily life. We work through conflicts, celebrate seasonal rhythms, eat, work and play together, acknowledge life's milestones and explore new forms of leadership, economics and governance.

In the 1990s a community grew up around the Findhorn Foundation as more people, attracted to the Foundation's ethos, settled at The Park. In 1998 the New Findhorn Association was created as an umbrella organisation that facilitates and encourages development of the whole community.

Today the Foundation is the largest organisation within the NFA, which now has approximately 350 individual members and a membership of 40 holistic businesses and charities. All are linked by a shared positive vision for humanity and the earth, and a commitment to the deep and practical spirituality practised here in everyday life.

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Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean unintentionally founded the Findhorn community in 1962. All three had dedicated themselves to following a disciplined spiritual path for many years. They first came to northeast Scotland in 1957 to manage the Cluny Hill Hotel in the town of Forres.

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In 2017, the school introduced a new optional subject to their curriculum: Beauty Studies. Kids aged 5-10 learn what beauty means to the world and to themselves, how to keep open eyes for beauty, and how to act upon values they find beautiful.

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Before issuing the two main rules of the Beauty Findation, Fiona published this manifesto. It was part of the escape from her Catholic upbringing and tells the story of how she redefined what sin and virtue really mean in the light of beauty.
Fiona hung the original copy on the fence of St Mary's Catholic Church. It was burned by a priest the very next morning but not before a choire boy could capture the document.

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Due to COVID-19, many theatre makers resort to live or recorded digital performances, using Zoom or other online platforms. Let me explain why I don't want to be one of them:

I believe art has the responsibility to take its audience out of their every-day life. Art views known things from different perspectives and explains it in new conceptual and aesthetic languages. If we as artists resort to a medium that most of us are overfed with due to remote learning and working, it much harder to achieve this out-of-the-usual experience.

This is why I think we should allow ourselves to re-think performance more boradly. After all: we all became artists to think outside the box and that box is a computer screen right now. There is a whole world of innovative approaches to audio performances, site-specific work, or intimate performances for single audience members and many other things just waiting for us to invent them.

Stay fresh; stay creative!

They say "History is written by the winners" and as we know, those winners have been mostly men. Friend and theatre maker Jo Page has invited an all-female cast to perform a series of monologues written by herself about women who have been overlooked in history - retelling herstory.

Welcome Rosalind Franklin, who has laid the foundation of the current model of DNA:

Alina Ben Larbi as Rosalind Franklin in HERSTORY

Other great women in the series are "Mother of American modernism" Georgia O'Keeffe and feminist author Luise Aston.

Get ready for some dense chocolate action!

3 packs/450g Oreos (or 2 packs/300g if you don't fancy the topping)

150g butter

300g dark chocolate

250ml vegan whippable cream/custard (I used Oatly's custard)

For the base, crumble 2 packs of Oreos either in a food processor or in a plastic bag, rolling a bottle over it. Mix with the melted butter and let it cool down in a springform pan for about an hour.

Whip the cream/custard ( whip it real good) and mix with the melted chocolate. Pour over the base and sprinkle the crumbled third pack of Oreos on top. Chill in the fridge for another two hours.

Enjoy!

90s aesthetic photography skills

Detached from a mind
I know it is mine
But I would not mind
Giving it away for a while

My legs look like yours
My arms dressed in your clothes
You, this person I don't know
Not very well nor very close

Come closer and tell me more
About this life you live for me
I want to know
Do you feel free?
Do you feel for me?

Now is not the time
To live in the present
Yet now seems to present
So much time for me to think

Overthink the times my mind was mine
And when a while was long enough
To breathe between the lines
And read deeply into them

"Life does not wait for anyone"
Neither does this mind of mine

A musical poem (?) to say that vulnerability does not mean weakness and being alone does not mean being lonely.

To feel "socially distant"
Is the virologist's way of saying "lonely"
Because nobody is meant
To live on or off a screen
And contentment isn't meant
To only be part of the past
Or the future
- This indefinite bastard.

To be "socially distant"
Is the government's way of saying "depressed"
Because the only dance
That I don't want to perform
Is the embodied questioning
Of whether or not
Your body is safe
- Whatever "safe" means.

I want to see a screen as a break again
And find contentment
In a dance to music
That does not sing from a balcony
And embody bigger questions
Than
"What does indefinite mean?"
I want to dance contentedly again.
03/05/20

(Lifehack: Just add "for change" to any activity and it makes it sound political.)

I am learning how to edit videos at the moment and I am incredibly lucky to get paid for some of my learning time - because otherwise I would definitely have made bad music videos for my non-existent band. Here are three promotional videos of exciting non/low-profit projects on societal self-organisation, conciousness, and sustainability.

Voice and photographs by Lars Kirchhoff
Visualisation by Monia Ben Larbi

Content and visualisation by Monia Ben Larbi

All visuals by Juliane Wünsche

Spoken word poetry in which technology is to be taken as a metaphor but also literally.
Part of To Make Endings Meet but also part of this global pandemic.

Feeling like my own digital revolution today.
I used to fall over the cables and chords,
Now everything's wireless
And I know I must have written down
This damned password somewhere:
Logged out of heaven.

Can bring a man to the moon
But no thought to an end
Or an end to this feeling
Of having my head in a cloud
And my feet on a fucking smart fridge
Used to chill water or my overheating head.

Wish I could facetime my own face
To tell me to
Reboot, retweet, relive these memories
Shoved onto some hard drive,
Driving me insane to the point of numbness
Caused by electroshocking my system.

System updates aren't what they used to be,
A virus is all I get in my inbox,
And the problem I ran into was you
So excuse me if I had to restart
To deliver your fucking Netflix show
That only has two seasons anyway.

I've tried so many times
To turn it off and on again
And all I am asking for now is to speak
To someone who actually knows how a brain works
And how to securely eject a heart drive.
Not even the YouTube tutorial helped in any way.

I don't think there is anything
That makes me mad as easily
As faulty technology
So I guess seeing myself
Become a faulty cyborg
Is Lovelace's way of dramatic irony?

Feeling like a boomer
Pretending tech hasn't brought me
To where I am now:
Head in a cloud
And my feet on a USB drive
Filled with all my favourite memes.

Thanks?

First of all: art is a process, not a product. Stop buying into the belief that you'd need to be able to sell your art in order to publish it!

Art is just an outside way of thinking, so it is something deeply personal, subjective, vulnerable. And that's exactly the beauty of it! You can share your thoughts wrapped in words, notes, colours, movements.

"Good" art is made up of skill, talent, and passion. A sudden outburst of love or sadness put into art and you're already a third of the way there. And you know what they say: it's about the journey anyway.

So please:
Sing and dance,
Paint and draw,
Write and rhyme,
Compose and try out,
And most of all enjoy!

And for all you audience memebers: be nice to the people sharing their work. It's a gift to look inside someone's head through their artistic glasses!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Due to COVID-19, many theatre makers resort to live or recorded digital performances, using Zoom or other online platforms. Let me explain why I don't want to be one of them: I believe art has the responsibility to take its audience out of their every-day life.