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Fellowship of Isis Founders
Biographical Information
© Olivia, Lawrence & Pamela Durdin-Robertson
(At the family's request, please do not reproduce.)
FOI History Section
The founders of the Fellowship of Isis are Olivia Robertson, her brother, Lawrence Durdin-Robertson and his wife, Pamela Durdin-Robertson. These three first began working together in 1960, when Olivia moved back into the Castle where Lawrence and Pamela were already living. Together, they formed the Clonegal Local Welfare scheme. Through this, they raised funds for the families in the area that lived in poverty. When the Irish government began to provide welfare assistance in 1963, this service was no longer needed, so they turned their attentions toward a new interest.
In 1963, they formed the Huntington Castle Centre for Meditation and Study. This Centre flourished for many years, holding regular seminars with various spiritual and mystical themes. Early members and presenters included Philip Ross Nichols (O.B.O.D.), Josephine and Mohun Lall, Gerald Gough (Fraternity of the Inner Light), Tamara Bourkoun (Order of the Sphinx and Pyramid), and Theodore Beskine.
The following is a quote from the booklet, Isis of Fellowship, How the FOI was Founded, by Olivia Robertson: When Lawrence, Pamela and I joined to work together, already we had experienced altered states of consciousness. Pamela on occasion found herself merging with all Nature. My brother s enhanced consciousness, like my own, involved sensitivity to symbolism. We learnt, at various times, to recognise the inner meaning of ritual, gestures, sound, colour and images. From 1960 onwards, we shared our adventures after group meditation. Wonderfully, we discovered a cosmic language that, through octaves and correspondences, formed connection with the spheres of Deity, angels, nature spirits, humans and animals. We did not derive this knowledge from books or tradition.
Olivia, Lawrence and Pamela created the Fellowship of Isis on the Vernal Equinox of 1976 in order to assist in reintroducing the religion of the Goddess to the world. Olivia wrote:
We chose to dedicate it to She who had inspired our work. It is curious that my cousin Robert Graves wrote about the Goddess long before Isis called us. She is calling people all over the world through many religions and cultures. Therefore we are a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-racial Fellowship. All the Goddesses are represented by the magical name I.S.I.S. and Osiris represents all Gods. (The Call of Isis)
Further Biographical Information on:
Olivia Robertson
Lawrence Durdin-Robertson
Pamela Durdin-Robertson
FOI History
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