On Sunday April 11, 2021 Findhorn Spiritual Ecovillage’s life was firmly tossing in a VUCA World.
In 2018 the Covid pandemic launched Findhorn like the rest of the world into a VUCA existence.

Volatile meant relationships could explode at any minute. Findhorn relationships disappeared and/or were stretched around the world. No longer could thousands of people visit for learning, day trips or spiritual guidance.
Uncertain meant situations could go multiple ways. For Findhorn we were trying to figure out if the government would allow international travel, change the lockdown conditions or even permit us to gather in the sanctuary for meditation. Conditions changed from one month (sometimes one week) to the next.
Complex meant that organic non-linear cross-connections could link us to anyone, anywhere, anytime in the world/universe. That was what we were told that the virus effectively did – its contagion meant that not only were our potential guests at risk, but they could also threaten the health of local residents. So effectively the complexity of the world shut down the economic flow of the ecovillage (and region).
Ambiguous meant interpretation of any situation was hazy and unclear. Were there prospects to open again for business after the first lockdown? How long were those furlough schemes to go on? Was it better to make employees redundant or keep the doors open with government loans?
Throughout 2020 Findhorn endured its VUCA life conditions and made all the difficult decisions to survive long enough to reinvent itself for a new online (or blended) life. We had just begun to invite guests back to our Scottish location for simple self-guided retreats. Our community centre kitchen just started serving takeaway meals and our sanctuary was reopening to physically distanced meditators.
On Saturday April 10, 2021 we seemed to have survived VUCA and were reconnecting globally with all the people who had arrived and grown up here in 19-60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. You could feel the anticipation of new hope in the air.
But on Monday April 12, 2021 in the early morning Findhorn Ecovillage was rudely awakened to an ENCC world. The very sanctuary that was our spiritual heart and the community centre which was our relationship heart burned to the ground. Within half a day we were rudely introduced to the ENCC world.
Exploded meant that our sacred places had been wiped off the face of the earth. Only charred remains were left of Spiritual Heart and Relationship Heart of the community. It was shocking in its violation of the community’s physical heart centres.
Not-Knowing meant entering an interstitial zone between seeing certain destruction and not knowing what would be the meaning and result of the devastation of the fire when our sacred buildings no longer existed.
Complexity densified way beyond the merely complicated by linear logic, but deep into the organic life of the community that had been threatened. Was the threat contagious or infectious? We did not immediately know.
Charged. It seemed that our Phoenix suspended in mid air? The field was energized with uncertainty but also dread. We realized that we could not pretend that we had not been physically attacked. But in the 24 hours afterwards we did not know by who or why? So maybe life was unclear as it had been last week – but in a different way?
From VUCA to ENCC seemed an enormous insult to our system – as the Findhorn Ecovillage had survived the covid pandemic with no confirmed cases in the last year. We were feeling safe and content as the majority of us were being vaccinated.
But from a totally unexpected source overnight our calm had been converted into turbulence. Life seemed both VUCA and ENCC at the same time.
How could we move forward? Find out in the next blog … here.
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