Embodying spirit through music and dance
Written by Carolin Waldmann
‘Get into tune, find your own note, and sound it loud and clear, for you are part of the vast orchestra of life.’
These words from Eileen Caddy’s Opening Doors Within have always resonated deeply with me, and I love that one of Eileen’s favourite metaphors for life and guidance is a musical one that captures the essence of her teaching so well: learning to listen deeply, discovering our own unique note, and finding harmony within the greater symphony of existence.
Musician, singer and community member Carolin Waldmann
For me, the role of music and dance at the Ecovillage Findhorn Community is deeply personal. When I first arrived here seven years ago, having grown up in a musical environment, it was one of the pillars that immediately drew me in. I could feel how deeply music was woven into the essence and spirit of the Community. It was present everywhere – in community celebrations and sharings, sacred dance gatherings, Taizé singing, workshops, ceremonies, and spontaneous music-making. Music was not just an activity, it felt like one of the threads holding the community together – a community glue!
“I’ve come to see even more clearly how music embodies the core principles and is, quite literally, ‘love in action’”
Through singing, I found an immediate connection to Spirit, to deep listening, and to community. Singing invited me to listen within, while also listening to others and discovering the harmony and relationships we could create together. It became a living expression of many of the Community’s core principles for me and perhaps also one of the best ways to actually embody them!
Over time, I’ve come to see even more clearly how music embodies the core principles and is, quite literally, ‘love in action’: every song, dance and moment in its communion becomes an offering of love, a way of serving the wider web of life – amplified by the sound(waves) that carry our intentions as we send them out into the world.
‘Through music and dance we participate in co-creation with the living world.’
Music also reflects our co-creative relationship with nature. We are nature; our voices arise from breath, our bodies move in rhythm, and many instruments are made from natural materials. Through music and dance we participate in co-creation with the living world, bridging earth and sky, visible and invisible, human and other-than-human realms.
“In singing together we remember something timeless: we belong to the same vast orchestra of life.”
During the Covid years, I felt the absence of communal singing very deeply. It made me realise just how essential these shared musical spaces are to me and to so many others. Yet even then, music found ways to continue connecting us. Online Taizé singing brought people together across the world in prayer, song and silence. What began as a response to the crisis has since blossomed into a living international community that still meets regularly today.
Since then, I feel a deep gratitude for the homecoming of music within our community. It has been beautiful to witness voices gathering again, new melodies emerging, and old songs finding renewed life.
‘Homecoming in Song and Stillness’ group on Findhorn beach in 2025.
Nowadays, I am also enjoying the co-creating of musical events. One that is especially close to my heart is ‘Homecoming in Song and Stillness’. This retreat first emerged just after Covid in 2023 and has since become a nourishing part of our singing community, carrying its melodies, relationships, and spirit forward into each new gathering.
This love of music also led me into what I sometimes call a self-designed apprenticeship with Barbara Swetina, a key pioneer of Ecovillage Findhorn’s musical culture. Her contribution has been central in nurturing our singing community and carrying the spirit of Findhorn through music and dance, both within our local community and far beyond internationally. I feel deeply grateful for all I have learned through her guidance.
Carolin and Rory O'Connell on the flute, playing in the Original Garden at the Park Ecovillage in Findhorn.
Through these experiences, I have come to understand more deeply the interbeing of music, spirit and community. They are inseparable. And perhaps this is why music has helped me find my way home again and again: home to myself, home to community, home to nature, and home to Spirit. And in the silence that follows the song, something equally important is revealed – the stillness from which all music arises and to which it returns.
In singing together and resting in that shared silence, we remember something timeless: we belong to the same vast orchestra of life.
‘Homecoming in Song and Stillness’ takes place this year from 13-19 July.
