EMAIL (click icon above) Apple Farm Community Inc. 12291 Hoffman Road Three Rivers ° Michigan ° 49093 ° U.S.A. OFFICE: (269) 244-5993 TAMMY WEDLOCK, MANAGER CELL: (269) 532-0930
VISITING APPLE FARM: Apple Farm has several guest spaces available for quiet retreat, writing, working on dreams and other inner work. If you are interested in visiting Apple Farm you can email or write to the above address indicating what it is you might be seeking during such a visit including your interest in being companioned by someone at the Farm for dreamwork. If you live within an easy commuting distance we would be delighted to have you visit with us over a cup of tea to get a better idea of what Apple Farm offers. There is no fixed fee for services; guests contribute with respect to their financial capacity.
Apple Farm in Michigan is not a "Community" in the ordinary sense of the word. It was not founded as a planned institution but came into being as a focal point for a number of women who had been drawn together already by a community of interests and values.Helen Luke who was trained in the work of C.G. Jung, came to live in Three Rivers in 1962. Within a year, four persons who knew her came to live in the area, seeking answers to the search for meaning in life. Others came to live and work nearby and persons began to come from a distance. It was clear that a center was needed for the group, and through the generosity of friends, a house was bought with some land and a barn. An old school house was converted into a guest house. Over the years other buildings were added as needs arose. Apple Farm is a non‑profit charitable corporation supported by contributions from guests and friends.
There are no external rules or formal conditions of membership. That which holds the group together is a basic commitment of each individual, living his or her ordinary life, to the search for interior growth. Without this no one would be drawn to the group. The commitment may be defined as a basic choice made by the individual to follow with all the integrity of which he or she is capable the way of increasing consciousness, which means growth in the capacity to love. Apple Farm has been described as a community where “. . .one meets individuals, breathing free air, finding their own way." Some have never lived here but have come for frequent visits. They remain, nevertheless, by virtue of their devotion to this choice, as much a part of the fellowship as those who live in Three Rivers.
Outwardly, mutual support is maintained in various ways. There are regular gatherings in which we find nourishment for our symbolic lives by reflection on myth, image, and story. Other ongoing community activities have included readings of Shakespeare’s plays, art groups and shows, first showings of distinguished films, silent weeks, poetry readings, music, and readings, published and unpublished, from the writings of Helen Luke.
It has been found that each person needs to meet at intervals with one of the group who has had long experience of the unconscious. Such Farm “hours” have some similarities to Jungian analysis and are often focused on dreams. However, hours at the Farm are not done in the spirit of analysis but in the spirit of companioning with others on the Way.
There is a passage in A. M. Hadfield's book, Introduction to Charles Williams describing the "Company" of Williams' friends which beautifully expresses the spirit to which Apple Farm seeks to be faithful. She writes,"There was no pledge or initiation, no standard asked by others ...in all matters the compulsion is interior...It is a spirit which will work within everything we do, and will reject nothing of our ordinary life ....lt is the birth and life of love, of Christ, here and now...”