Synthesist TWO - Will Parfitt

Now I’ve always remained unconvinced that growing big veg is really a miracle, even
though for a long time it was the main thing the Foundation was famous for, and people
flocked from all around the world to gasp at the giant cabbages etc. God, didn’t these
people have lives Or at least televisions The thing is, all sorts of people grow big veg;
my stepdad Barry is particularly good at it, and as far as I’m aware he’s never started a
major religious movement.
But for all that giant vegetables aren’t really proof of spirituality, people started coming
to the Foundation, working on the garden and community and paying for the privilege,
which really helped with the old balance of payments, as well as doing the place up a bit.
So, thanks to the spiritual inspiration of these two women, plus a lot of work from the
other people that went to study with them, these days the Foundation is a big sprawling
land-owning community, which is really not doing all that badly for a religious movement
that began in a caravan.
(The original caravan where it all started. Hey, it could be worse; it’s not like it’s a stable
or something. Note also the lovely Findhorn Foundation Garden where I have personally
shovelled shit as part of the Findhorn Slave Economy. It was very spiritual)
Now I know what you’re thinking; isn’t this one of those evil cult things where the
founder manages to have sex with every single one of his followers before going totally
barmy, buying Rolls Royces and then going on to commit mass suicide
Well, I’d have to say no. Dorothy McLean no longer lives in the community; she went
back to Canada where she definitely isn’t head of a cult. Eileen stayed, but refused to
share any more of God’s messages (privately I’ve always suspected God wasn’t talking
to her anymore; possibly she forgot his birthday), and refused to be a Big Spiritual
Leader, leaving the Foundation to govern itself in a fashion not unlike a big tenant’s
association. Whilst this has had dire effects on the Giant Vegetables front, it has meant
that Foundation has managed to keep itself together where many other cult-y type things
have foundered in sexual and financial scandals. Of course that also means it’s kind of
dull, and every so often some crackpot turns up at the Foundation saying that it has lost
the true way and that they (the crackpot) have personally come to show them the light,
have sex with all of them and buy Rolls Royces. Strangely, the Foundation has never
succumbed to the temptation of such individuals and remains democratically governed.
The Synthesist • 2 • page 145
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