A beautiful temple is nestled in the countryside near Arroyo Grande. Why is it there?

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Take a drive down to the South County sometime.

Cruise down Halcyon Road until you reach a place where the sky opens up to rolling hills and eucalyptus trees. Glance to your right at just the exact moment, and you’ll see it: a building that looks more at home in ancient Greece than in rural California.

That building is the Temple of the People, an edifice constructed by the eponymous religious organization and nestled in the town of Halcyon, just south of Arroyo Grande.

Temple members are theosophists, which means they are non-denominational and draw on a multitude of religious teachings. Every day at noon, the temple holds a healing service, where worshipers pray and meditate for the health and safety of the world.

On a recent morning, the temple grounds were quiet — the silence punctuated only by the chirping of birds and the rustling of a breeze in the nearby eucalyptus trees.

The grounds looked like something of a secret garden. A low white fence marks the border of the property, while a simple wooden sign at the entrance lets people know where they are.

What is Halcyon?

The community of Halcyon has a community center, called the Hiawatha Lodge, as well as the William Quan Judge Library, a cemetery, a post office and a store.

There’s a congenial, small-town feeling, and the town’s approximately 100 residents are a mix of temple members and non-members.

The temple’s influence in the town is noticeable, however.

Eleanor Shumway, the temple’s guardian-In-chief, said the temple owns 31 of the homes, as well as the Hiawatha Lodge, the library and the Halcyon Store. The post office contract is held in Shumway’s name.

But there are no rules about who should live there. Non-members are just as welcome as temple members to make their homes in Halcyon, and, conversely, temple members are not required to live in the town.

“The temple is about acceptance. It’s about raising the consciousness of humanity,” Shumway said.

Temple members live by the so-called “golden rule” — treat others as you wish to be treated.

Throughout the years, people have speculated about what happens at the temple. A 1983 Tribune article cited rumors of “strange things going on” and “tales of naked dancers in the moonlight.”

“People make up interesting stories about things they don’t understand and are too afraid to come and ask,” Shumway said.

Shumway and temple officer Marti Fast both said that over the years, some of those rumors have included nude services and baby sacrifices. None are true.

“We’re all trying to understand the same thing in our own way and it’s all a legitimate journey for everyone,” Fast said. “It’s meant to be respected by everyone.”

How did the Temple of the People come to Halcyon?

More than 100 years ago, Francia LaDue and William Dower moved west from Syracuse, New York, directed to expand their work in the Theosophical society, which included founding the Temple of the People.

They picked Halcyon, likely because “the vibes were good,” Shumway said. “They were instructed to find a community where they could practice loving your neighbor and accepting each other and living together in harmony.”

For a spell, the theosophists owned a grand Victorian home, known as the Coffee Rice House, in Oceano off Highway 1, and it served as a sanatorium. But as times changed and bills mounted, the temple members sold the property. It’s now rumored to be haunted.

Shumway came to Halcyon from Los Angeles in 1942, when she was a small child. Her parents were drawn to the community by friends.

“When I was growing up, there were 26 of us youngsters and we were in and out of each other’s hair and houses,” Shumway recounted, laughing. “It was magical, growing up.”

Shumway said her parents taught ballroom dancing in their home and recalled putting on plays at the Hiawatha Lodge, a community center for Halcyon.

Fast came to the Halcyon area as a member of the founding company of the Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano. She joined the temple as an adult in the mid-1970s.

“It was home,” Fast said. “It was like I needed to walk into this space and understand a little bit about the teachings and it just resonated for me immediately.”

“It seemed like most everybody who came here, most everybody feels some kind of a vibration that’s really special,” she said. “They want to walk around here. They want to come just rest on a bench. They become friends with people. ... There’s a tangible something in the air.”

What’s happening with the temple now?

There’s no formal count of current members, Shumway said.

“it sort of breathes in and breathes out,” Fast said. “It’s just always vital, it’s never twice the same.”

Theosophists don’t proselytize, and when asked if temple members were worried about bringing in new members, Shumway said “to worry about it is an exercise in futility.”

In addition to the daily noon service, the temple holds Sunday services at 10:30 a.m., a monthly meditation on the first Sunday of every morning and twice-weekly study classes. More information can be found by calling 805-489-2822 or by visiting templeofthepeople.org.

“People just wander in. Sometimes you’ll hear, ‘I’ve been passing this building for 20 years and I finally stopped,’ or ‘I went to the Halcyon store’ and somebody there invited them to come,” Fast said.

“The human race is so important,” Shumway said. “All different cultures have taught these eternal truths about God and living on the planet and taking care of each other.”

Shumway, who in her younger years lived in East Africa and the Philippines, said she returned to Halcyon because it’s home.

“I am proud of the emphasis on the golden rule and learning, still learning, to accept everybody as they are,” Shumway said. “Not as I want them to be, but as they are, with all the strengths and minuses of being a fully-functioning human being.

“That’s what keeps me here.”

For more information about the Temple of the People, call 805-489-2822 or visit templeofthepeople.org.