Noble Order of Tara - Founding an Order of Chivalry

Lawrence, Olivia and FOI members during an NOT rite, Temple of Isis, Clonegal Castle, Ireland.

Founding an Order of Chivalry

By Olivia Robertson

Why is Hamlet’s agonized query: ‘To be or not to be’ possibly the most quoted query in literature? Why did Mahatma Gandhi feel obliged to transform the sacred Hindu scripture ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ in pacifist terms? Why, I asked myself, were my brother and I inspired by Isis to found the Noble Order of Tara, an Order of Chivalry, with the sword as part of its revered emblems?

I myself was a pacifist, though a bewildered one, until about the 1950’s. But reviewing the Second World War, I could not whole-heartedly support ‘non-violent resistance.’ Once I received the words: ‘a young woman chose to be born under the sign of Aries to have courage.’ I saw a flash of myself with dark hair and fringe! Although I was guided to use a sabre for the initiation of Knights and Dames of Tara, I did so cautiously, wishing further illumination.

Two happenings affected me. One was the vision, seen while I was wide awake, at the longest day of the year 2000. Brigid was silently demonstrating the power of sonics over the spiral of atoms. I remembered She was a Warrior Goddess as well as the healer of all springs and wells, and the muse of craftsmen and women. In 2003 a new sword came into my hands unexpectedly, in a blue scabbard - ceremonial and ornamented with pyramids with rays of light and pentacles - I had always preferred even-numbered symbols.

All over the world men and women are pondering on violence and the cure. Oddly enough it was re-reading the Bhagavad Gita that brought me a new understanding. While writing my book on Isis and alchemy, I felt I had to include Shri Krishna, though not caring for his reputation as warrior and polygamist! Already I had disliked the God Rama for trying to burn his wife. King Arhtur tried to burn his wife Guinevere for adultery - but she was rescued by her lover Sir Lancelot. Indeed I created an impromptu play in Glastonbury in a FOI gathering in 2003. We had a remarkable dialogue between the King and his wife, which was so effective because of the cool intellectual judgment of the King - she was to be burn at the stake although she had only loved Lancelot, not been physically unfaithful. The fact that the English ardently await the return of King Arthur to rule over them is most interesting. Do the British women agree?

I found, writing my alchemical rite, that I began thoroughly to like Shri Krishna! He was empirical, humourous and defended the native Indians against his own race, whose priests were imposing their own Deities. Krishna recommended the people to return to their own native God of the Mountain. When a youth, he encouraged the emanciipation of women by hiding the clothes of Brahmin sacred cow priestesses. By adoring him as God they stood naked and unabashed, to the rather natural rage of the priests! But later, was his justification of military action of his cousin Arjuna justified? Was he promoting the military rule of his caste of warriors, the Kshatriya?

Strangely enough, through my long life - I am currently ninety-four - I had realized through actual mystical experience that there is no death. Hence we never kill anybody in war or in any other way. We are acting - each of us - in a Mystery Drama of life in which we choose to enact our own roles. What really matters is that we act without evil emotions, but taking action of any sort without malice, revenge or hatred.

Now we come to a strange moral problem for myself. I was aware of the fear, even panic, that thousands of people have about the possible invasion from Outer Space by UFOnauts. A plethora of television and film dramatizations inducing terror of ‘monsters’ played in these fears, but reassured witnesses of UFOs and contactees of their sanity!

For the total denial of the scientific establishment as to the reality of any extra terrestrial visitations, though factually honest, creates mental insecurity in those who have had UFO contacts. The assumption is that they are insane, deluded and create psychological fantasies.

This is where FOI members can help. For the scientists are correct in a sense: there does not appear to be ‘nuts and bolts’ extraterrestrial visitants. This blinds them to what is really happening: the thinning of the veil between the ‘supernatural’ and the physical spheres. At a time when orthodox religion appears to be under threat, millions of people believe in Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary - or Goddess - in her solar form, in daylight.

Tentatively, in an autobiography I described my own experience in February 1946 of ‘the silver lady,’ a Being made of crystallized white light, with black hair and a dress of pale violet and green blue cut in ‘V’s’. Why I call this lady ‘Goddess’ is that she had super human intelligence. Now, especially when I was a girl, I have met so-called ‘geniuses’ - Schroedinger the physicist, W.B. Yeats, AE the mystic, and so many others. But none of them, with all their genius, bore a candle compared with the brilliance of the mind of this visitant! The Lady and I communed for about half-an-hour, and I do not remember what she said. But now I believe I was being given the inspiration for all my subsequent work for women and children, especially through the Fellowship of Isis. For she was one who loved and cared for all beings.

Ah, but what of my earthly patriotism? For this being came from an invisible craft from the sky, that was making its way to a gigantic spaceship that I called ‘a Queen Mary liner up there.’ So no I, co-worker with my father, a F.R.A.S. and proud of my realistic writings (‘Book Society Choice’) was suddenly hurled into the shunned area of eccentrics, dreamers, fantasists.

Because I knew of the awe-inspiring powers of the beings of whom the lady formed part, I felt it was a matter of National Security. Fortunately for my morale, my brother-in-law was a Colonel in British Intelligence. He was interested in my account and asked me to write it down. So this I did, during Christmas of 1948 and posted it off. This was salving my conscience, because I knew that all the armed forces of the world could do absolutely nothing …. I felt like a South Sea Islander seeing his first sailing ship with its billowing white sails that looked so beautiful - yet with an intuition of what this meant. But would the local rulers believe me?

So to me, being Chancellor of the Noble Order of Tara means keeping my hand on the hilt of my spiritual sword. I shall not be deluded but keep active to save our earth from pollution both ethical and environmental - from anyone, stellar or earthly. But I have complete faith in the deities I have encountered: Dana, Tara and Brighid - also the Archangel Michael. An Order of Chivalry defends the weak, women and children and suffering animals and trees and plants, threatened by our own greed and folly. I was inspired to choose Tara as our guiding Sister because she approximates to Hera, Artemis and the human Bodhisattva Tara. Tara will not cease from Her benign activity until all beings are saved. Yet the Divine Tara the Goddess smiles. For we are all saved already! We just need to wake up to this reality!

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