in 1912 felkin, together with harriet and ethelwyn, visited havelock north, new zealand at the invitation of the society of the southern cross. this was a prayer and meditation group closely involved with the "havelock work", an arts and spirituality movement embraced by the whole town. reginald and ruth gardiner and harold large, founders of both the havelock work and the society of the southern cross, believed that eastern methods of spiritual training such as theosophy were unsuitable for westerners, but also felt that the church had lost the esoteric teachings of jesus and his disciples. they were determined to undergo rigorous training and initiation to merit learning those hidden teachings. these three had started daily meditations together, and were soon joined by miss m. m. mclean and reginald's sister, miss rose gardiner. reginald gardiner considered the havelock work to be a cultural society "built around this silent power station". the meditation group grew, and began to incorporate simple ritual, calling itself the society of the southern cross.