AUTUMN EQUINOX FESTIVAL AT FOUNDATION CENTRE
27th September, 2014
We have been blessed in Ireland with a wonderful continuation of warm daytime temperatures this year. At night however the temperature drops heralding all too soon the end of tender beans in the garden and the last of an abundance of blackberries and other fruits. But Saturday dawned bright and clear and we had quite a large gathering of members and their friends to our Festival at Clonegal. Many events take place at the Castle these days and a wedding was taking place the same afternoon, and with the fine weather, the Bridal Party had requested that they might take their vows actually in the old Abbey, which was a lovely idea and we all wished them every joy.
So we adjusted our usual plans to leave them in peace and processed down to the Druid’s Grove in the Wilderness to spend a beautiful peaceful time together in this sacred place which the Co-Founders dedicated to the Druid Clan of Dana. There we invoked Her Presence and that of Tara and Persephone, that we might enter the Temple of Isis in purity of heart and thankfulness that provision had been made for us all in the Fellowship to connect in spirit with these special places and perhaps even visit one day.
At Brigid’s Well of Truth we remembered Olivia’s vision of ‘light energy’ coming directly into it from the heavens, providing healing of the spirit through its waters.* She maintained that it was this energy which enabled her and her brother Lawrence to bring forth and encourage a love for the Goddess again in our age. They researched and reconnected with Her manifestations throughout the ages, and established that the essential universal truths have always been remarkably similar. They sought to re-establish and acknowledge the innate equality and unity of Goddess and God, as did Isis and Osiris, each fulfilling their divine destiny. As a visionary, Olivia tuned into so many of the famous manifestations of the Goddess and received their wisdom for our time. She preserved these Oracles at the heart of the Liturgy, which she created to illuminate our many and diverse spiritual paths through life.
After all had been Blessed with sacred water from the Well, we were introduced to three of the priestesses newly in training with our Lyceum of the Three Mothers, and were delighted to meet them and wish them every success and deep fulfilment as they dedicate their lives to the service of the Goddess.
Following this we received a powerful Oracle from the Goddess Danu who reminded us that we can all do something to further a more general awakening to the need to treat our Great Mother, the ground beneath our feet, with greater respect. To protect her from the ravages of short-sighted, severely damaging attacks, offering limited benefits for the few, by acting together in the interests of everyone - She requires our hands and hearts and voices.
We had all been saddened to hear of the recent death after a long illness of a long-term member of the priesthood here, and were glad to welcome members of her close family and friends to join us in remembrance of her gentle, quiet, wise spirit. This was quite a homecoming in a sense for one or two younger members as they had actually been blessed by Olivia as babies and had travelled quite a way to be with us from West Cork.
A feature of the Festivals that have taken place at Foundation Centre since Olivia’s passing has been the participation of everyone in the priesthood in the planning process, in order to provide a changing and interesting seasonal content to the ceremonies. This time we were taken on a ‘magical journey’ by one of our Circle members who is a wonderful story teller. We also had a quite spectacular ‘mystery play’ central to which was the telling of the high drama around the birth of Athena (“She who comes”) as told by the Goddess Metis (“She who was of all beings the most knowing”) But the centre piece of our play was Athena Herself, resplendent with helmet, sword, shield and golden staff or ray, having sprung fully grown from the head of Zeus, who to protect himself had somehow swallowed pregnant mother and baby so that she might not be born!
After all this excitement our time was nearly up, so having given thanks and prayed for the Blessings of the Mother on all in need, we repaired to enjoy the welcome tea which had been prepared for us in the village, and many of us stayed on there, quite a while, to enjoy each other’s company and get to know those who had joined us for the first time.
Minette Quick, 29th September, 2014
* You may read Olivia’s full account which she sent whilst in hospital in June 2013 to the websites, referring to the importance of these sacred places for us all to connect with in spirit if we so wish. The Manifesto of the Fellowship expresses the essential universal truths expressed over the ages for spiritual seekers of their time by many Goddesses and Gods.
Link to Olivia's account on the Fellowship of Isis Central Blog:
http://fellowshipofisiscentral.blogspot.com/2013/06/announcements-from-olivia-robertson.html
Art: "Brigid of Joy" by Olivia Robertson
