Our Land Manager, Kajedo Wanderer, shares news of a Vision Quest held recently in the Hinterland, and the importance of being still and listening to the land.
‘Be still, and listen’ – a mantra of sage advice from the co-founder of our community, Eileen Caddy.
Easier said than done, I found out when I tried. Monkey mind, they say. ‘Sit still and don’t move’ were the first instructions of most of my meditation teachers, as well as my instructor during my years of forestry training.
I became a forester because I wanted to spend my days ‘in church’ (temple/mosque/synagoge). Among trees in wilder places I found it easy to connect with the presence of something beyond the physical dimensions we usually perceive with our senses. The presence which whispered of the presence of a G(ame) O(verall) D(irector) – a divine intelligence or organising principle that oversees life as we experience it.
And learning to be still and being willing to truly listen clearly is the cornerstone of building a conscious relationship with that presence.
The late Joanna Macy gave me my favourite interpretation of the word ‘Dharma’: ‘The dharma is that within all things which whispers – come a little closer. Come a little closer.’
Over the years of working with the land I heard that gentle invitation from the ‘still small voice’ increasingly – from the trees connecting Earth and Sky, the flowers, and the many creatures of the land. And as we are part of nature, I tried to apply it to my human relationships as well.
Later ‘Permaculture’ affirmed the guidance to be still and listen, through its governing principle of (before you change anything in the natural world) ‘observe, observe, observe’.
Over the last 10 years as steward of the land in our care I learned more about the many ways in which we can do that.
Investing a thousand pounds a year in surveys of creatures we are sharing the land with is another way. Looking through the eyes of experts I never cease to be amazed about what reveals itself – the wonders of small creatures we usually hardly notice. The sheer numbers are often staggering – over 200 different species of lichens on our small piece of land! Siders, mosses and fungi – the numbers are always impressive. Right now we have a beetle survey going on and I can’t wait to learn of their findings.
As I write this the 10 days of a Vision Quest we’ve been hosting on the land are coming to a close. These 10 questers and three support staff have conducted this ancient rite of passage, practised by many indigenous peoples all over the world. This group from the Eschwege Institute in Germany is offering a modern version of that, but the steps are the same: ‘dying’, ‘passing through’ and ‘being reborn’. After thorough preparations the 10 brave souls spent four days and nights without food under a tarp, alone in hidden corners of the wildest part of our land. They return dirty and hungry – but without exception, with shiny eyes. To tell the stories of their journeys with the mirror of nature and little else. The follow up is as thorough as the preparations.
I felt it an honour to host this ancient rite here. And it served as a reminder of the importance of ‘ being still, and listening’ – to the ‘still, small voice’ of nature that gave rise to our community over 60 years ago, when those who had learned to truly listen started the miraculous Findhorn Garden.
And it reminded me of the spiritual essence underpinning our relationship with the natural world.
My work here is worship. An act of devotion to all that I hold sacred.
To finish this offering to you, the readers of our newsletter, let me share a few lines from a poem by Hermann Hesse:
Sometimes, when a bird cries out,
Or the wind sweeps through a tree…
I hold still and listen a long time…
…My soul turns into a tree,
And an animal, and a cloud bank
Then changed and odd it comes home
And asks me questions. What should I reply ?”
Kajedo Wanderer, August 2025
News from the land – August 2025
‘Be still, and listen’ – a mantra of sage advice from the co-founder of our community, Eileen Caddy.
Easier said than done, I found out when I tried. Monkey mind, they say. ‘Sit still and don’t move’ were the first instructions of most of my meditation teachers, as well as my instructor during my years of forestry training.
I became a forester because I wanted to spend my days ‘in church’ (temple/mosque/synagoge). Among trees in wilder places I found it easy to connect with the presence of something beyond the physical dimensions we usually perceive with our senses. The presence which whispered of the presence of a G(ame) O(verall) D(irector) – a divine intelligence or organising principle that oversees life as we experience it.
And learning to be still and being willing to truly listen clearly is the cornerstone of building a conscious relationship with that presence.
The late Joanna Macy gave me my favourite interpretation of the word ‘Dharma’: ‘The dharma is that within all things which whispers – come a little closer. Come a little closer.’
Over the years of working with the land I heard that gentle invitation from the ‘still small voice’ increasingly – from the trees connecting Earth and Sky, the flowers, and the many creatures of the land. And as we are part of nature, I tried to apply it to my human relationships as well.
Over the last 10 years as steward of the land in our care I learned more about the many ways in which we can do that.
Investing a thousand pounds a year in surveys of creatures we are sharing the land with is another way. Looking through the eyes of experts I never cease to be amazed about what reveals itself – the wonders of small creatures we usually hardly notice. The sheer numbers are often staggering – over 200 different species of lichens on our small piece of land! Siders, mosses and fungi – the numbers are always impressive. Right now we have a beetle survey going on and I can’t wait to learn of their findings.
As I write this the 10 days of a Vision Quest we’ve been hosting on the land are coming to a close. These 10 questers and three support staff have conducted this ancient rite of passage, practised by many indigenous peoples all over the world. This group from the Eschwege Institute in Germany is offering a modern version of that, but the steps are the same: ‘dying’, ‘passing through’ and ‘being reborn’. After thorough preparations the 10 brave souls spent four days and nights without food under a tarp, alone in hidden corners of the wildest part of our land. They return dirty and hungry – but without exception, with shiny eyes. To tell the stories of their journeys with the mirror of nature and little else. The follow up is as thorough as the preparations.
I felt it an honour to host this ancient rite here. And it served as a reminder of the importance of ‘ being still, and listening’ – to the ‘still, small voice’ of nature that gave rise to our community over 60 years ago, when those who had learned to truly listen started the miraculous Findhorn Garden.
And it reminded me of the spiritual essence underpinning our relationship with the natural world.
My work here is worship. An act of devotion to all that I hold sacred.
To finish this offering to you, the readers of our newsletter, let me share a few lines from a poem by Hermann Hesse:
Sometimes, when a bird cries out,
Or the wind sweeps through a tree…
I hold still and listen a long time…
…My soul turns into a tree,
And an animal, and a cloud bank
Then changed and odd it comes home
And asks me questions. What should I reply ?”
Kajedo Wanderer, August 2025