About Lorian
Lorian’s Story
Lorian’s story is about the emergence of a new kind of spirituality - a spirituality of the incarnate person as a being of Light, a radiant source of sacredness and blessing - and how it has made itself known through the work of a group of people responding to its call.
The group of persons who founded Lorian originally met as participants in the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland in 1971. As they helped to create a unique experimental community in Findhorn, they developed a deep bond of spirit and friendship that shaped itself around serving this emerging incarnational spirituality. Upon leaving Findhorn, these founders incorporated Lorian as a not-for-profit spiritual and educational organization in 1974.
Since its founding, Lorian has served as a grounding place for this emerging spirituality. As a new century dawned, Lorian formally adopted the term “Incarnational Spirituality” to define its work. It remains an organization committed to supporting, exploring, and engaging with the Sacred at the heart of all life.
The Incarnational
Spirituality Story
In 1962, seventeen-year-old David Spangler spontaneously experienced a vision of an emerging incarnational spirituality and of people who would form a spiritual “organism” (rather than an organization) that could bring that spirituality into being through their own lives.
As David describes it, “In my vision, I was shown that a spirituality of incarnation was emerging and that it was important that it do so that we incarnate people would see our embodied lives in a new way, a way that opened our hearts to love, to joy, to Light, and to wholeness by affirming and emphasizing the sacredness of incarnation itself.
“Incarnational Spirituality is not a philosophy that I’ve studied, and it most assuredly is not a philosophy or teaching I’ve made up. When I tune in to the spirit and energy of Incarnational Spirituality, what I experience is a presence, a spirit of love and joy, and a will to empower and nurture this love in the hearts and activities of each of us.”
This experience propelled him toward a life of spiritual research and understanding. Over the years, as David articulated the ideas and principles of this incarnational spirituality, it attracted a fellowship of individuals who were also committed to this emerging spirit. Through their inner work, they expanded and deepened David’s early vision, co-creating a core of thought and practice around which the educational work of the Lorian Association formed.
To put it simply, the object of Incarnational Spirituality is to open more ways in the lives of people through which love can enter the world and bring its blessings to all.