FOI Co-Founder Olivia Robertson
Describes How She is Inspired to Create the Fellowship of Isis Liturgy
Nesu House, Isis Oasis, FOI Convocation 2005
Transcribed by Linda Iles
When Olivia was asked “How did you create the rituals of the Fellowship of Isis Liturgy?” She responded:
“I am guided through spiritual inspiration - it all just flows. I get up at 5:30 every morning, have a hot bath and then go to meditate within the temple. I let the Deities know what I want to do and wait for their response, often sleeping on it that night. Then I wake up in the morning knowing what to do, what to write. Every word of the liturgy is inspired.”
"Isis inspired my work. When writing the liturgy, I sit alone in my drawing room with no one else present besides Deity."
The Fellowship of Isis Liturgy contains oracles and passages given to Olivia Robertson through divine inspiration. These are then combined with passages from ancient texts and other works to bring forth a liturgy rite.
“I’ve had a wide education, and I do know the great religious writings. I use the Bhagavad Gita - the Ages of Brahma, the Incarnations of Vishnu. I have included passages from Homer, Plato, from African religions, ancient Egyptian writings, Sumeria - the Descent of Ishtar. I have used the writings of St. Germaine and modern works by visonaries like AE and Yeats. Usually it’s something old like the Irish epic "Lebor Gabala Erenn", the Finnish saga "Kalevala", or works by classical authors, Ovid, Pausanius or Hesiod. I like to use myths of the stars and planets.”
The texts used for sources of a rite are listed either at the end of each rite, or at the end of the booklet. They are recommended reading for all students in the various branches of Initiation in the Fellowship of Isis. These texts mainly come from the great religions and spiritual traditions of the world, Africa, America, China, ancient Egypt, Europe, ancient Greece, India, Japan, and ancient Rome. The texts also come from modern sources, from the writings of mystics like AE and W. B. Yeats and from scholars like Robert Graves.
"When ancient liturgies are recited and words of Power uttered, sound reverberates through the centuries, note calling to note. Words are uttered, even in translation, they reiterate those used in temples for thousands of years. In these Rites for the Fellowship of Isis, ancient invocations, hymns and dialogues are used from ancient liturgies from many religions." *
The Rites of the Liturgy of the Fellowship have been constructed to facilitate awareness of all the Goddesses and Gods of all pantheons throughout this planet. The magical name I.S.I.S. represents all Goddesses just as Osiris represents all Gods. The Goddess is seen as the Divine Mother of all beings, as well as the embodiment of Wisdom, Beauty, Truth and Compassion.
"For the time has come when Iris, the rainbow messenger, is forming a pattern of beauty from many faiths...No one religious practice can now dominate this earth and force rival faiths to be regarded as heresies. So the wise accept this, and are looking for common point agreement that harmony may be attained. So in these Rites, prayers and hymns are used from Karnak, Babylon, Africa, the Norse lands, India, China, Japan, the Celtic countries. For all are relevant, and without one faith the planetary symphony is deficient." *
The purpose of the Rituals within the Liturgy of the Fellowship of Isis is to strike a note on one level of being and so awaken the same note on other octaves of being through use of symbol and color. The elaborate description of colored robes, headdresses and other outer symbols at the beginning of each ritual puts these psychic keynotes into the creative imagination of the candidate. This promotes visualization of the energies being invoked. It is not necessary to have the robes or headdresses or any of the other physical items suggested, in order to perform a ritual. They are meant to be used for the purpose of visualization, although the gathering together of any of the implements described will be helpful as an aid. All the individual roles within a rite can be performed by one person working as a solitary.
"This creative use of the divine imagination aids the soul, while the body is passive, and so little change is wrought in the material surroundings. but rather the mind. And this is the spiritual path of development." *
The creative power that exists within each individual is honored and encouraged to find expression within service to the Goddess and the God. This is especially true in performing ritual.
"...when ritual activity is undertaken, power is brought through to the earthly plane...In ritual dancing, even a simple circling movement brings through Power...All the Arts strengthen Ritual and bring about purposeful changes." *
*Note: All quotes marked with an asterisk (*) are taken from the introduction to the book of FOI Liturgy rituals, "Dea, Rites and Mysteries of the Goddess", written by Olivia Robertson, Cesara Publications, Clonegal Castle, Ireland, 3rd Impression, 1988. Unmarked quotes are shared from notes taken during conversations with Olivia in October, 2005.
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