Published: June 2023 (2 years ago) in issue Nº 407-408
Keywords: Passings, United States (USA), Dancers, Forecomers community, Sacred geometry and Australia
References: Deborah Lawlor, Robert (Bob) Lawlor, Constance and Dhruva
In memoriam - Deborah Lawlor
Deborah Lawlor
On May 2nd, Deborah Lawlor left her body in Los Angeles, California at the age of 84.
Deborah and her husband Robert started Forecomers community in 1968, where, on the barren fields and baked, eroded red laterite earth, they had built two huts, one for living quarters and one for a dance and painting studio. With a background in dance and theater, they presented a torchlit drama in the Forecomers canyons during the early years and built a check dam in the canyon by hand that was, however, soon washed out by a major cyclone. In 1972 they left Auroville for two years to recover their health, and held a summer immersion in upstate New York introducing a group of college students to the philosophy behind Auroville and taught yoga, dance, macrobiotics and organic farming.
Upon returning to Auroville, Robert researched chlorella algae as a supplement to the local diet, as well as aloe vera and experimented with earth stabilization using natural materials. Together, Robert and Deborah made a deep dive into sacred geometry, aided by their friends Andre and Goldian Vanden Broeck in the US and Constance and Dhruva in Auroville. They started work on translating "The Temple of Man" by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz from the original French with help from Lucie Lamy, de Lubicz's niece and Ehud Sperling, of Inner Traditions, who eventually published the book.
Alarmed by the revocation of the visas of Francis and Savitra by Navajata of the Sri Aurobindo Society, Robert and Deborah moved to Flinders Island, Tasmania, with the help of Joss Brooks, in order to hold a Commonwealth country passport and allow them better access to Auroville. The ensuing years of drama between the SAS and Auroville pushed them to create a home in Tasmania and focus on their research, making occasional trips to the US to be with friends and family and participate in the Lindisfarne Association.
Bob and Deborah parted ways as a couple with Deborah moving to Los Angeles and collaborating with director Stephen Sachs in founding The Fountain Theater and holding festivals of flamenco dance. Deborah’s love of flamenco and the cultivation of new flamenco artists created a lasting legacy in that community.
She and Robert returned to Auroville in 2018 for the 50th Birthday celebrations but by that time she was showing signs of memory loss due to Alzheimer's. But she was very happy to see many dear pioneer friends from Auroville’s early days.
On May 2nd, Deborah Lawlor left her body in Los Angeles, California at the age of 84.
Deborah and her husband Robert started Forecomers community in 1968, where, on the barren fields and baked, eroded red laterite earth, they had built two huts, one for living quarters and one for a dance and painting studio. With a background in dance and theater, they presented a torchlit drama in the Forecomers canyons during the early years and built a check dam in the canyon by hand that was, however, soon washed out by a major cyclone. In 1972 they left Auroville for two years to recover their health, and held a summer immersion in upstate New York introducing a group of college students to the philosophy behind Auroville and taught yoga, dance, macrobiotics and organic farming.
Upon returning to Auroville, Robert researched chlorella algae as a supplement to the local diet, as well as aloe vera and experimented with earth stabilization using natural
materials. Together, Robert and Deborah made a deep dive into sacred geometry, aided by their friends Andre and Goldian VandenBroeck in the US and Constance and Dhruva in Auroville. They started work on translating "The Temple of Man" by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz from the original French with help from Lucie Lamy, de Lubicz's niece and Ehud Sperling, of Inner Traditions, who eventually published the book.
Alarmed by the revocation of the visas of Francis and Savitra by Navajata of the Sri Aurobindo Society, Robert and Deborah moved to Flinders Island, Tasmania, with the help of Joss Brooks, in order to hold a Commonwealth country passport and allow them better access to Auroville. The ensuing years of drama between the SAS and Auroville pushed them to create a home in Tasmania and focus on their research, making occasional trips to the US to be with friends and family and participate in the Lindisfarne Association.
Bob and Deborah parted ways as a couple with Deborah moving to Los Angeles and collaborating with director Stephen Sachs in founding The Fountain Theater and holding festivals of flamenco dance. Deborah’s love of flamenco and the cultivation of new flamenco artists created a lasting legacy in that community.
She and Robert returned to Auroville in 2018 for the 50th Birthday celebrations but by that time she was showing signs of memory loss due to Alzheimer's. But she was very happy to see many dear pioneer friends from Auroville’s early days.