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Fellowship of Isis key
This Fellowship of Isis website has been authorized by the FOI Foundation Center: Clonegal Castle, Enniscorthy, Eire


Noble Order of Tara
Fellowship of Isis
Foundation-Center Society


"pro Dea et Natura"                                     "as an bhean O Tara"
(For Goddess and Nature)                                     (all glory to Tara)

Coat of Arms
© Coat of Arms of the Barony of Strathloch
Please do not reproduce.

"What we think, feel and imagine now,
if we act upon it, will make our future."



Noble Order of Tara Overview:

            The Noble Order of Tara (NOT) is a Foundation-Center Society of the Fellowship of Isis. Founded in May of 1989, the Chancellors were the late Lawrence Durdin Robertson and his sister, Olivia Robertson. The Chief Herald of Ireland had matriculated Lawrence as 21st Baron Strathloch in 1979, so he had the authority of bestowing knighthood through his Baronial Court.

            The Noble Order of Tara is an Order of Chivalry that is organized into chapters, called Priories. Each Priory is founded by a Grand Dame Commander or Grand Knight Commander of the Order. Each Priory within the Noble Order of Tara promotes dedicated work for our planet.


Olivia Robertson writes in Gaea:
            "In May 1989, a young American, knocked at our castle door and asked my brother Lawrence to bestow on him the Accolade of Knighthood. He was a member of the Fellowship of Isis, but we had not met him before. He explained that he wished to found an Order of Chivalry with the intention of conserving nature. His first aim was to help cleanse the Irish sea of pollution from nuclear waste. He said: Why should the British have all the good things? Why shouldn't ordinary people be Knights and Dames?"

            "My brother and I considered the idea, and agreed to be Chancellors of Douglas' proposed Noble Order of Tara. The Chief Herald of Ireland had matriculated Lawrence as 21st Baron Strathloch in 1979, so he had the authority of bestowing knighthood through his baronial Court. I felt we certainly had the right setting for a very enterprising project! A dragon from the film "Excalibur" graced our courtyard. Within the Castle was an eight-foot high statue of the Archangel Raphael, facing a wooden dragon carved by my nephew David. A Chinese screen above the entrance stairs depicted a rampant golden dragon. Higher up the stairs was a large painting of a golden curled, smiling Archangel Michael wielding a sword with the St. George's parry, piercing it though a prone hairy man with a bristling black beard. Throughout the basement we had a Temple of Isis with side chapels, a magical well, a dungeon and assorted armoury. Therefore we could magically be transformed into a Castle of the Danaans, of the Graal, of the Well at the World's End." (See more Castle photos at the Gallery page.)

Welcoming Archangel
© The Welcoming Archangel

            "Why do many people long in their hearts for Romantic adventure? The World is the many-coloured mantle of dreams which we wrap about our earth, with background the sighings of winds, the call of seagulls and the barking of dogs hunting in their sleep. The world has been created by the imagination of our forebears. What we think, feel and imagine now, if we act upon it, will make our future. Our intention to save the earth is good. But people striving for green objectives cannot work without inspiration and hope. Nothing stifles the ardent soul more than bureaucracy. Opposing a County Council is harder than fighting a dragon. The humblest ecological project requires Divine Guidance and the co-operation of nature Spirits. To do this we need telepathic communion with Deities through the magic of associative symbols."

            "With this in mind, Lawrence and I arranged the Tara ceremony, and offered the motto 'pro Dea et Natura'alongside Douglas' 'as an bhean O Tara.' Lawrence pointed out that the name Tara came from the Goddess Tea or Tephi who presides over Ireland's royal mound and her Stone of Destiny. The Stone of rulership of every land is in the aegis of the Earth Goddess."


Olivia Robertson writes in the FOI & NOT Manuals:
            "The Noble Order of Tara provides a way to help, even in a small way, while enjoying the companionship of others. Work is done to cleanse pollution of the local environment - energy, hope and cheerfulness is preserved. Blessings come from the Earth Goddess Tara, whose hills and mountains are derived from Her Name: Tor, Tower, Tora, Tara. She helps us through invocation of Her Five Forms - the Five Elements of Earth."

            "I was inspired to choose Tara as our guiding Sister because She approximates to Hera, Artemis and the human Bodhisatva 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!"

            To join the Noble Order of Tara, you must first be a member of the Fellowship of Isis. Contact any active Priory to become a companion of the Noble Order of Tara.


Lawrence bestows an Accolade
Lawrence Durdin-Robertson bestows the Accolade on Rt. Rev. Sudheer
© Submitted by Olivia Robertson
(w/additional cropping & enhancement by this site)



"Pro Dea et Natura"
  (For Goddess and Nature)

            "When we are inspired by the Deities of the land, that which appears impossible may come to pass. We may yet save rain forests, oceans, the atmosphere, from destruction and- pollution. However, small projects also matter. The efforts of knights, dames and companions of a Chapter to save a pool, a grove of trees, a field, contribute to the whole beautiful dream of Gaea for Her Earth, which will therefore manifest in the future. We shall ourselves be part of that future To commune with the Earth Goddess is to love one's Mother, and so share in her Divine Creation." Olivia Robertson, Gaea

            "Tara is the Goddess of mountains and hills all over the world. A hill, whether Nun of Egypt, Mount Meru, Olympus, Mount Leinster, Mt.Shasta, Glastonbury Tor, is based on earth, and is the place of Tara where earth meets sky. We need to climb our own hill to the sky; yet not forgetting where we came from - the earth." Isis of Fellowship

Mt. Leinster, Ireland
Sacred to Tara, the White Moon of Wisdom.

mountain/378418 Bytes
© O. Robertson


"As An Bhean O Tara"
    (all glory to Tara)

            According to Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, the name Tara came from the Goddess Tea or Tephi who presides over Ireland's royal mound and her Stone of Destiny. The Order of Tara Stone of Destiny is the Neolithic Bullawn Stone found at the Fellowship Foundation Center. It is approximately 4000 years old. It stands at the outlet of the sacred well and collects rainwater. The Stone of rulership of every land is in the aegis of the Earth Goddess.


Order of Tara Stone of Destiny
Bullawn Stone at Clonegal Castle
Bullawn Stone
© O. Robertson


NOT Non-Affiliation Statement:

            In addition to the FOI's general non-affiliation clause, Olivia announced this in November, 2006: "The Noble Order of Tara, F.O.I., has no affiliation with any other Order of Chivalry." (see letter)

            Further information on the history of the Noble Order of Tara may be read in the booklet Gaea: PDF Version   /   HTML Version

            Please also see the "Noble Order of Tara Manual", and Chapter 6 of the booklet, "Isis of Fellowship, How the FOI was founded": Publications


Noble Order of Tara Pages:

Noble Order of Tara Initiation System

The Strathloch Coat-of-Arms

Applying to a NOT Priory

Founding and Managing a NOT Priory

Oracle of the Goddess Tara

FOI Centers

Guidelines for all Centers

Noble Order of Tara Publications






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