RE: Footsteps In A Nutshell

[carolkean]

P.S. I'm still reading this 1970-ish book (reprinted in 2018) and marveling at the stories of George Washington Carver and Jagdish Chandra Bose, and Goethe, and others.
The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man by Peter Tompkins, Christopher Bird

The last chapter reminds me of you and Sam Stonehill.

Peter Caddy was the co-founder of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland with his wife Eileen and friend Dorothy Maclean. He was a vibrant, energetic and inspirational figure who between 1962 and 1979 established a keynote for the hundreds and then thousands of people who would eventually either live or pass through the Findhorn experience.

Findhorn eco-community marks 50 years Published 17 November 2012

The Findhorn Foundation has attracted admiration and ridicule with its ethos of inner spirituality and environmental care. It is 50 years since three friends moved to a caravan in Moray, after listening to "inner voices", and began the Findhorn project. So how did a "wacky" commune in north east Scotland become a model for sustainable living?

Ok, a few more excerpts, but you'll want to read the whole story. :)

The organisation has estimated it is worth £4m each year to the local economy but it started life in a little blue and white caravan.
Peter and Eileen Caddy moved their three young sons into the caravan in Findhorn in 1962 after the couple lost their jobs at a hotel in nearby Forres.
Their friend Dorothy Maclean also moved in with the Caddys. The three had a shared interest in spiritualism and also growing their own fruit and vegetables.
The garden they created attracted interest from visiting horticulturalists and stories spread of exceptionally large vegetables, including 40lb cabbages, grown by summoning "nature spirits".
People with similar beliefs to the Caddys and Dorothy started to move into the area and a community formed.

@samstonehill I can see you building such a community around your electric garden - but you have surely read this "Secret Life of Plants" book (years before I found it!). And people will flock to you. Has it already started?

Comments

[owasco]

I read that book back in the 70's. It influenced me profoundly, I must say. I've communed with plants, especially trees, ever since.

A dear friend of mine was rejected for residence at Findhorn, so I have negative feelings about that place now.

[carolkean]

Rejected!
I suppose an ecovillage can only house so many people, but if we want the concept to spread, we need more ecovillagers.
Well, I'm not surprised you already read the book, back when it first came out. I can see that it inspired you - that's why I thought of you (and keep thinking of you, and Sam) as I continue to read this book.

Closing lines from the bbc.com/news linked above:

"It has much to do with people getting in touch with the non-tangible world, the spirit world if you like. It's to do with people's connection with nature whether that be 40lb cabbages or the eco village that is here."
The freethinkers of the sixties were swimming against the tide but now their ideas of environmental sustainability are mainstream.
"In some ways what is exciting is that it is no longer new," says Anna Rhodes Castro, director of the Findhorn Foundation. "That is why now we can make a difference."

But, but, if they're rejecting people like your friend who apply to be part of this community, how are they to SPREAD and grow?

[owasco]

She was very gung-ho about their lifestyle and has stuck to it pretty much ever since, fifty years now. She came with her then boyfriend, and they accepted him but rejected her!
There she was, thousands of miles from anyone else she knew, and they broke up the relationship. She's quite amazing, even today. I can't imagine what they were thinking.

[carolkean]

They accepted her boyfriend, but not her: what the heck!
She does sound amazing. Their loss.
We need more progressive eco-communities but not when they revert to the same old small-mindedness that plagues society now.

[samstonehill]

Thanks for including me in this most interesting conversation.

I downloaded The Secret Life of Plants last year and very much enjoyed the read.

I also have the book, The Magic of Findhorn, but haven't had time to read it yet! Certainly i love the concept.

Am also looking at Kin's Domains. An idea put forward by Anastasia in The Ringing Cedars books. I will very likely write a post about Kin's Domains as i do believe this is the model i will be following and there will be no rejections as your friend experienced @owasco.

https://anastasia.foundation/kins-domains-ringing-cedars/

Here is an interview with a person who is actually doing it:

[owasco]

Thank you! So much like this has been coming my way. Glad to have another.

[carolkean]

Looking forward to your post! (and your resolution, "no rejections")

I will very likely write a post about Kin's Domains as i do believe this is the model i will be following and there will be no rejections as your friend experienced @owasco.