Fellowship of Isis - History

History

The FOI was founded at Clonegal Castle, Co. Carlow, Ireland at the Vernal Equinox of 1976. The three co-founders were Olivia Robertson and her brother, Lawrence Durdin-Robertson (grand-children of Thomas Herbert Robertson) and Lawrence's wife Pamela. Their aim was to create a fellowship to "help the Goddess actively in the manifestation of Her divine plan." Olivia has described Isis as "God in female form." The FOI grew out of a "working group" created in 1963 called the Huntington Castle Centre for Meditation and Study. This Centre was active in gathering together various occult and theological figures such as Philip Ross Nichols, Josephine and Mohun Lall, and Gerald Gough. The experiences shared within this group, along with the personal spiritual revelations and experiences of the three FOI co-founders led to the eventual founding of the Fellowship of Isis on the Vernal Equinox, 1976. From 1976 until the early 1990s, the group steadily grew.

In August 1993, the Fellowship of Isis was represented at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago by Olivia Robertson and other member delegates. It is the first time that the Religion of the Goddess has been acknowledged as a world faith at this Parliament. The Parliament "became a showcase for the new religions in America, especially since mainstream Christianity was much underrepresented . . . Two feminist neopagan groups, the Covenant of the Goddess and the Fellowship of Isis, were among the sponsors of the parliament."

Custodianship of the legacy of the Fellowship of Isis has been entrusted to three Foundation Unions known as "The FOI Foundation Union Triad." The first was the Archpriesthood Union, created in January, 1999. It consists of 32 members of the FOI Priesthood, sixteen ArchPriestesses and sixteen ArchPriests. The ArchDruid Union and Grand Commander Union were founded by FOI Co-Founder Olivia Robertson in October, 2009. The ArchDruid Union consists of 32 ArchDruids and ArchDruidesses of the Druid Clan of Dana. The Grand Commander Union consists of 32 Grand Knight Commanders and Grand Dame Commanders of the Noble Order of Tara. These two new unions join the ArchPriesthood Union to form the Fellowship of Isis Foundation Union Triad. Together the three unions act as "Custodians of the Legacy" of the Fellowship of Isis.

A series of advisory boards has also been created by FOI Co-Founder Olivia Robertson to act as consultancies. The Star of Isis-AU consists of ArchPriesthood Union members. It was created by Olivia Robertson in 2003. Owing to the rapid expansion of the Fellowship of Isis over the past several years, the Star of Isis-AU has been joined by the Circle of Brigid (Ireland, 2004), Circle of Isis (USA, UK, Germany, 2004.) Circle of Pelagia (USA, 2006), Nemeton of Dana (for the Druid Clan of Dana, 2006), Round Table of Tara (for the Noble Order of Tara, 2006) and Star of Elen (United Kingdom, USA and Europe, 2008). There are three authorized central websites for the Fellowship of Isis, they are Circle of Isis (Fellowship of Isis Central), Star of Elen and FOI Germany. The authorization of three 'central' sites around the world is part of the continuing decentralization process initiated by FOI Co-Founder Olivia Robertson. The Fellowship is a good example of a globally organised religion, whose international and Internet presence is very large by comparison with its Irish base.