Sheena Govan

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Sheena Govan (1912–1967) an informal spiritual teacher, was the daughter of evangelist John George Govan, and an early influence on what would become the Findhorn Foundation.

Said to have had a difficult childhood, her unconventional spirituality was something of a challenge to the Faith Mission founded by her father. She met Dorothy Maclean while the two were working as secretaries in New York in the early 1940s, and met Peter Caddy on a train in England in 1947. By this time Sheena was living in London, apparently drawing on a family inheritance, and receiving inner guidance on behalf of those around her.

Says Peter Caddy: “Her flat was like a magnet. Throughout the day people came for help and guidance. Sheena believed that at this time many people were going through an initiatory experience that she called the birth of the Christ within. She was like a midwife helping them to go through that process.” Dorothy Maclean, now also living and working in London, says: “She’d know what stood between you and your divinity, what you put before the divine.” Eileen Caddy (who had met Peter Caddy in 1952 at RAF Habbaniyah) joined them in London in 1953. Sheena Govan taught her students to do everything perfectly and with great love, “unto the Lord.” She also coached them in the practice of receiving, and living by, divine guidance.

As she became more directive of the lives of those around her, her informal group received some coverage in the Scottish newspapers (Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Scottish Daily Express) in 1957. She died in 1967.