Angus Marland - My Findhorn Story
written by Angus Marland, Findhorn Foundation SCIO Trustee
From building the Universal Hall, Aligning Spiritual Centres, starting up Cluny Hill and the Isle of Erraid Community to being a Trustee of the Findhorn Foundation SCIO today
Angus Marland tells his Findhorn story, arriving in the spring of 1972 and on to his life in the community today. Angus experienced a lot during his time here: He saw the Universal Hall when it was a chicken run, connected energy points on top of a ladder, got married on Iona, started up Cluny Hill Hotel as a community venue and introduced the pre-booked coach tour guests to our spiritual practices, started up the Erraid community on the West Coast of Scotland and is still here today welcoming guests to the Friends of Park Garden and serving as a Findhorn Foundation Trustee.
How I got here
Back in 1972 my mother was sitting under the hair dryer in our local hairdressers, reading the current issue of Women’s Own. In it was a short article about Findhorn, and she thought that it would be interesting for her 22 year-old son to visit for a weekend. Well, a weekend turned into a lifetime!
There is an old English saying about arriving somewhere ‘by hook or by crook’, by being attracted through one’s own curiosity or by being gathered in by whatever means are available. My arrival at Findhorn was definitely the latter, but after a cup of tea with Peter and Eileen and a chat about my past and possible futures, the verdict was clear: Maintenance! I was accepted into the fold and thus began the unfolding story of the rest of my life.
Early days
Building the Universal Hall
In the early 1970’s, Maintenance was a busy department - we had 16 people covering carpentry, plumbing, electrics, painting and construction. Three quarters of us were under 30 and mid-morning tea breaks saw at least a couple of large loaves of bread disappear. Then the time came to start the Universal Hall and the design team got busy with a range of options, all beautifully explained through intricate models. When the final choice was made, we laid out the floor plan on the site - then a chicken run. My job was to stand on top of a ladder right in the centre of the building, and line up the axis with Cluny Hill.
The Universal Hall, pictures by Mark Richards & Angus Marland
We got it almost right, but a visiting sensitive requested that it be moved very slightly. It transpired that the reason for this was that once the excavations had been made, the position would have moved. What I only found out later was that the alignment was due north / south, and that the line between the Hall and Cluny Hill just to the east of the building also passed through the Sanctuary. Even on top of my ladder it was invisible because of the trees, but it was meaningful to discover the alignment of the three centres.
Coming back to open Cluny Hill
My first wife, Jill, and I were travelling in the USA after our marriage on Iona and after various adventures decided to return to Scotland. I was looking at courses in hotel management because it seemed a good way to put Findhorn’s principles into practice, and wrote to Peter and Eileen saying that we were interested in coming back, but not to The Park, maybe somewhere nearby, and that I was interested in hotel management. They wrote back saying the perfect job was waiting for me - Cluny Hill!
Cluny Hill a former Victorian Hotel
The decision to buy Cluny Hill, a former Victorian Hotel, was made by the core group on the community’s 13th birthday, 17th November 1975. It was the first major decision that we made without Peter and Eileen being present - they were off travelling. A momentous day, and shortly after that Jill and I moved in to focalise the restoration of the building. Part of the purchase contract included a full season of pre-booked coach tours and so our first year included bed and breakfast for the coach tours as well as community guests. I would hop onto the buses when they arrived to explain that this was ‘no ordinary hotel’ - we made good friends with the drivers and many of the guests would return to find out more.
Starting a community on the Isle of Erraid
Once Cluny was up and running, the opportunity to change course came up again, this time to start the community on the Isle of Erraid, a mile from Iona off the south west coast of the Isle of Mull. Three of us, Jonathan, Joanna and myself, arrived in February 1978 and gradually brought the houses into habitable condition and the gardens into production. A memorable time, and it is wonderful that today the community there is entering a new cycle of growth as an independent charity, all made possible by the generosity and support of the van der Sluis family who have owned it since 1977.
Angus, Jonathan and Joanna, who started the Erraid community in 1978 | Celebrating on Erraid | The Erraid flag on the hill | Erraid’s cottages
“The elements - earth, wind, sea, clouds, sky are ever with us in the Western Isles. There are angelic presences involved with Iona, overlighting the whole area, who look after us on Erraid too. There is a tremendous radiating power in the island, deep down in the earth - a power that can be tapped in meditation.”
What keeps me here
The short answer is the Sanctuary. The depth of the spiritual anchor laid down by the small community during the 1960’s is palpable as we sit together in silent attunement. Much of Findhorn’s teaching is received in the silence as our psyches begin to recognise and incorporate the inner harmonics of life’s beauty, joy, congruence and peace.
Angus’ pictures of the various Sanctuaries within the community - At the Park Ecovillage Findhorn: the former Main Sanctuary, Cluny Sanctuary, Nature Sanctuary, Universal Hall Sanctuary, St. Germain’s Sanctuary, Light of Findhorn Sanctuary - On the Westcoast of Scotland: The Erraid Sanctuary and Traigh Bhan’s Sanctuary on Iona
It never ceases to amaze me how that small founding community, that knew the profundity of its purpose and established the spiritual anchor, opened its doors widely to the younger generation. They came from all corners of the world in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s with long hair, baggy trousers, and a deep desire to create a new culture that made sense in those turbulent times.
My passion
My passion is to help maintain Findhorn’s spiritual anchor and to give expression to that in the daily life of the community. It is said that up to 80% of Findhorn’s teaching is received through the ‘presence’ of The Park Ecovillage, whether in one of the sanctuaries or simply being in the environment. Whatever way works for people, helping to maintain the potential for individual sparks of insight and attunement remains one of the most meaningful and useful ways of living one’s life.
Life at Findhorn now
Currently I’m one of the Findhorn Foundation SCIO’s trustees, and it is wonderful to work with others in the group to take Findhorn’s educational impulse into this entirely new cycle of multiple community organisations working together on a shared vision of a village, town and city of light alongside our commitment to making this presence available around the world through on-line community, courses and gatherings.
Friends of Park Garden focalised by Angus and his wife Elisabeth (in front of Angus)
Elisabeth and I are also into our second season of holding the focus for Friends of Park Garden, a voluntary group that keeps the community gardens in The Park, as well as the roadsides and paths looking as lovely as possible. It is a joy to welcome community members and visitors, as well as FF SCIO’s guests on programmes, into the gardens and to experience the magic that is still alive and well as we move into a new cycle of greater diversity held by an increasing strong sense of unity.
