October 30, 2015

From Cressida Pryor: Samhain Thoughts

Dear Friends,

My letter this Samhain accompanies a painting I have lived with all my life. The final time Olivia stayed here she saw this picture and immediately exclaimed: “Ah yes, the Green Goddess! One of Barbara’s best...”

Barbara, my mother, was Olivia’s older sister by four and a half years. She studied before the war at the Slade in London and had a few exhibitions but sadly did not keep painting after she had her four children. I think she then found her creative spark had broadened and was more about people, relationships and an interest in the afterlife rather than oil paint on canvas. Whenever I hear Olivia’s voice I also hear my mother’s.

My thoughts at this time of growing shadows and darkening nights feel more connected to those who have gone before us; who lead the way. For those recently bereaved where grief is rawest and the remaining gaping hole feels too huge to bear I can but offer my hand of friendship with these thoughts on the “Perennial Tradition” that encompasses the recurring themes in all the world’s religions. It emphasises that there is a Divine Reality underneath and inherent in the world and a deep longing for this...and the final goal of existence, of life, is union with this Divine Reality; bringing the fullness of all things in love. Olivia, Derry and Pamela had the wisdom to emphasise the FOI’s compatibility with other faiths; the primacy of the Perennial Tradition I think colours the ethical background to the Manifesto. An awareness of the Divine at work in all things is the Beauty, Truth and Love we honour and celebrate. My spiritual background also welcomes this peaceful connection within the web of world faith.

As we come together at this time when the veil is at its thinnest we can feel even more this connection to the ancestor’s presence...their guiding hands, their love and sometimes their small nudges encourage our reluctant steps on less lit paths that can lead us on to the greater good.

We are also aware and present to those yet to come and the responsibility of handing over this planet in a fit state for their lives’ fulfilment.

Divine Greening,
Open our hearts to the cold, damp and fallow.
Allow faith in the doubts that refresh the dark corners,
Blow winds of courage when our spirits waiver.
May the small wisps of your Divine voice be heard
Even when the noise of life bellows;
So we know the fullness of all things in Eternal Love.

With blessings and gratitude,
Cressida, FOI Steward
 
Archival Link:
Fellowship of Isis Letters

(photo of painting by B. Robertson, copyright reserved)

Audio: Lawrence on Samhain Eve


Listen to Lawrence Durdin-Robertson during a past Fellowship ritual:

(mp3/42 sec /330 kb)

Audio transcript:
"Companions, we are assembled on this holy Samhain Eve to make communion with Spirits from other Spheres. At this time the veil between the psychic realms and ours is lifted. The Dolmen Gateways to the Sidhe Mounds of the Faery people are open. Let us follow the custom of our ancestors who offered food to their beloved families and friends in the Spirit World, and offerings to the Deities and faeries."

Archival link:



(photo from the Occult Experience, created with permission, please do not reproduce.)

October 23, 2015

Sun in Scorpio

 
Happy Sun in Scorpio!  This passage is from the ritual of the Mystical Awakening of Scorpio and Kundalini (Liturgy book "Sophia" by Olivia Robertson):
 
1st Priestess: "Know that this is the Stellar House of Initiation. Our instructors on the Path, the Alchemists, taught that only when the Sun is in Scorpio may Iron be transmuted into Gold. For as the sun declines after the Autumnal Equinox, so does the individual soul face the apparent extinction of her dream of separate existence, when faced by death. So does a candle fancy itself extinguished when the sun rises! Scorpio rises in the cold hours of the dawn. So be watchful and fall not into inertia, for who can tell when the Scorpion stings."
 
2nd Priest: "Ponder on the fate of the giant Orion, stung by the Scorpion and so sinks into apparent death in the red Western sky. Was not even the Child God of Initiation, Son to Isis, Harpocrates, killed by a scorpion? He was revived by Isis, and shows himself to the wise as a naked child with his finger to his lips, enjoining silence. Was not the mighty Sun God Ra-Temu bitten by a snake, which Isis sent to him in the autumn? He suffered from the poisonous serpent power circling in every limb, until he fell through the flaming twilight into the watery abyss. Only when he had surrendered His Secret Name with all His magical Powers to Isis, did She restore Him as Ra-Horus, in the bright dawn when spring returned to earth. For though the Mysteries are preserved through silence, we must offer ourselves and all we have to the Goddess, that we may be reborn with knowledge of our immortality."
 
2nd Priestess: "Know that the Path of Scorpio provides a sudden shock! The cunning scorpion strikes at the foot, yet its poison courses throughout the body. Like the serpent it is called the One who Lurks. It is most potent through water and through the blood. Know that this very cruel sting, which seems to torture and to slay, is in verity the Awakener! Only through the sting may the stigmata of Initiation be gained. Yet this awakening may not be bargained for, nor induced, for only when the soul is ready may the Coming Forth by Day be achieved! Scorpio is also the sign of the Eagle and of the Winged Serpent. May we, with the Wings of the Goddess Selket, the Scorpion Goddess, rise above the Path and so learn to know its serpentine deviations, its pitfalls, its goal. Thus may we, with the aid of the presiding Deities, receive the onrush of the Fire Goddess, Kundalini, without loss of integrity or peace."
 
(Photo of the Shrine of Scorpio, located in the Well Chapel of Brigid at the Foundation Center Temple.  The wooden panels were carved by William Morris, and the altar cloth has the FOI Cosmic Web of the Universe embroidered upon it.  Copyright M. Quick.)
 
Archival Link:

October 19, 2015

Invitation to 40th Anniversary Celebration

 
Dear Friends and Members,

I am delighted to inform you of the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Founding of the Fellowship of Isis at Huntington Castle over the weekend of March 19th and 20th next year.

Put it in your diary now!

You can be assured of a welcome as we honour and celebrate the first festival of our beloved fellowship; at the very same place that inspired the Founders.

There will be an exhibition of memorabilia, photos, films and other items to prompt memories and a sharing of past involvement. We will hold the Spring Equinox Festival on Saturday; have speakers to add to and extend the contexts of the Fellowship over the weekend and on Sunday the opening of the new Sacred Grove in memory of the Founders. There will be a seated shared meal together on the Saturday evening and Sunday lunchtime.

Sadly as places are limited, due to restricted seated space, we would encourage an expression of interest to attend as soon as possible and January 6th at the latest; so we can prepare a memorable and special celebration for everyone.

True to the manifesto ideals the FOI has no membership fee so there are no funds to draw on for this event. We will need to cover food costs and marquee hire so will inform you of this as soon as we can when we know numbers better. We will keep costs to a minimum.

Please RSVP to our Hon. Sec. at the Foundation Centre 
clearly marking the email ‘40th Anniversary Celebration’.

With blessings and thanks,
Cressida Pryor; the Founder’s Successor and Steward of the FOI.
October 19, 2015
 
Update: In view of the numbers of members who have already indicated their interest in attending, it will not be possible to facilitate the attendance of members who have chosen another path from those loyal to Foundation Centre, Olivia's family and Cressida, her chosen successor.   (written by C. Pryor)
 

Post script: The recent amendment grew from an awareness of space limitations in the Temple given the number who have already said they want to attend. Also the vision for this event is one of celebrating the founder's gifts to us; meeting old and new 'fellows' in friendship and spiritual harmony. It is not the appropriate forum to try and tackle some of the profound disagreements that have occurred; this would require a separate more focussed specialised approach another time.  In March 2016 Huntington will be family home and the Foundation Centre open for friendship, celebration, inspiration and spiritual connection...as it is for all the regular festivals. Cressida Pryor FOI Steward.

 
 
Homepage Archival Link:  Invitation to 40th Anniversary

October 12, 2015

Shrine of Ngame

 
The Shrine of Ngame,
Foundation Center Temple,
Ireland
 
 

October 6, 2015

FOI Daily Prayer

 
The Fellowship of Isis Daily Prayer
"Holy Goddess Isis, Mother of all beings, come to our hearts.
Grant us, Thy children, Love and Joy, Wisdom and Abundance.
We offer Thee our loving care for all who are born of Thee."
 
 


(Prayer and drawing of Isis on glass with cloth background by Olivia Robertson, Foundation Center Temple, Ireland.)


Fellowship of Isis Prayers and Blessings with Audio

October 1, 2015

October Oracle: Goddess Ngame

 
"Nothing devoid of love or truth or beauty is real.
Immortality is the unfailing test of reality."
 
This month's Oracle is from the Goddess Ngame.  Read it in full and listen to an audio clip of Olivia Robertson giving the Oracle at the link below:
 

 
 
(photo of Olivia from the DVD "Olivia Robertson, Priestess of Isis," copyright Logic Reality.)