Pan and Findhorn

"I became aware of a large figure lying in the ground. I could see him through the grass. It appeared to be a monk in a brown habit with the hood pulled over the head so that the features were concealed...As I watched, he raised his hands and rolled back the hood. It was Pan. He rose up out of the ground and stood facing us, an immense figure. He smiled and said: 'I am the servant of Almighty God, and I and my subjects are willing to come to the aid of mankind in spite of the way he has treated us and abused nature, if he affirms his belief in us and asks for help.'

"It became apparent that what was happening was a sort of reconciliation between the Nature Kingdom and man.

"Another encounter took place in September of the same year, 1966, at Attingham Park. I had attended a weekend course conducted by Sir George Trevelyan. Before leaving on the Monday morning, I was prompted to go to an area known as the Mile Walk on the extensive grounds of Attingham. The walk starts at a point on the bank of the River Tern where there are many trees and bushes. I followed it until I came to a slight bend in the river where a huge cedar tree with a seat around it is situated. To the left of the tree, at a right angle to the river, is the beginning of the Rhododendron Walk.

"I sat there for some time enjoying the beauty of the place. After a while I rose and went into the walk. As I did so, I felt a great buildup of power and an increase in awareness to a high degree. Colors and forms became more significant. I was aware of every single leaf on the bushes and trees, of every blade of grass on the path standing out with startling clarity. It was as if physical reality had become even more solid--a strange sharpening of vision. It is an overwhelming experience when it happens and nearly impossible to describe in words. It is a thing one must experience for oneself to understand fully. I had the impression of complete reality, and all that lies within and beyond it felt immediately imminent. The sense of awe and wonder this produced is not easy to convey. There was an acute feeling of being one with nature in a complete way as well as being one with the Divine, which produced great exultation.

"I was aware that he was walking by my side and of a strong bond between us. He stepped behind me and then walked into me so that we became one and I saw the surroundings through his eyes. At the same time, part of me--the recording, observing part--stood aside. The experience was not a form of possession but of identification.

"The moment he stepped into me, the woods became alive with myriads of beings--elementals, nymphs, dryads, fauns, elevs, gnomes, fairies--far too numerous to catalogue. They varied in size from tiny little beings a fraction of an inch in height--like the ones I saw swarming about on a clump of toadstools--to beautiful elfin creatures three of four feet tall. Some of them were dancing round me in a ring; all were welcoming and full of rejoicing. The Nature Spirits love and delight in the work they do and have to express this in movement.

"I felt as if I were outside time and space. Everything was happening in the Now. It is impossible to give more than a faint impression of the actuality of this experience, but I would stress the exultation and the feeling of joy and delight. In spite of the intense exhileration, there was an underlying peace, contentment, and a sense of spiritual presence.

"I found myself in a clearing at the end of this part of the Rhododendron Walk, where there is a great oak tree. I turned and walked back the way I had come. I now had pipes in my hands and was aware of shaggy legs and cloven hooves. I began to dance down the path, playing the pipes--the melody I had heard. The numerous birds responded, their songs making an exquisite counterpoint to the music of the pipes. All the nature beings were active, many dancing as they worked.

"When I had reached the spot where the experience had started, the heightened awareness began to fade and he withdrew, leaving me once more with my ordinary self. I stopped dancing and walked on. The pipes had gone. The change from this strange ecstatic experience to the normal reality of everyday life was not a disappointment. What I had experienced was still there; it is always there, as it is a part of the true reality. Because of our dulled sense and our habit of going through life wearing materialistic blinders in a condition verging on sleepwalking, we are unaware of the fantastic beauty of the life around us..."

Robert 'Roc' Crombie, quoted in the Magic of Findhorn (Paul Hawken)