|
|
Letter from Cressida Pryor
September 19, 2016
Autumn Equinox Letter 2016
Dear Friends,
Re: The Fellowship of Isis...Rediscovering the Love and Compassion of the Goddess.
It is hard to believe that half a year has passed since our wonderful and inspiring 40th Anniversary Celebrations. We now we face fading sunlight and day length; compensated by rekindling warmth and fires in our own hearts and hearths.
Many gifts of inspiration grew from the ‘Birth of Isis’ Hawkwood meeting we held at the end of August, near Stroud in the UK.
The first I will write about was the privilege of taking part in Caitlin’s ritual to ‘re-own’ the sacred name of Isis desecrated by recent IS horrors...this was an important ‘remembering’. The drawing together of so much that has been scattered, forgotten, besmirched and lost so we can celebrate and honour in ‘her name’ again with fresh hope and energy. Thank you so much Caitlin for your inspiration and all who participated in this powerful ritual. I believe Caitlin is open for it to be used by others who feel the need of it; best to approach her directly.
This leads directly to the recent thorny issue as to whether we should change our name or not. There has been much discussion, prayer and contemplation on this. The Circle of Elders have also valuably contributed their views and the decision that emerged was: that we keep our name ... The Fellowship of Isis AND add a tag line to distinguish ourselves from those with other aims.
Our tag line is: Rediscovering the Love and Compassion of the Goddess.
So this needs to become our mantra from now on...when using the name FOI, to add ‘rediscovering the Love and Compassion of the Goddess’....on our websites, Facebook pages notices and in everyday chat.
It seems small but to members of the public there needs to be clarity. We know the difference and need to make it clear to the wider world too.
Earlier in the letter I referred to rekindling hearths which allows me to link to the second gift that grew from our Hawkwood meeting together.
It is wonderful to meet together over a weekend as we did then from many countries and lands. It takes, however, huge energy to organise, monies to travel and time to put aside. Although valuable and much appreciated sadly it was beyond the capacity of many to attend.
So rather than one ‘big’ meeting I suggest we have more local ‘Hearth Convocations’. Held over a day and perhaps built around a theme they would allow local folks to meet up with members slightly wider than their Iseum or Lyceum. Those who are more isolated, as I know is the case for many, there could be a Skype opportunity to connect up. We discovered there were particular areas with isolated members (Yorkshire and Wales comes to mind) who could arrange a Skype Hearth Convocation through contacts on Facebook. Hearth Convocations could be listed on the website and other internet forums.
All of this I hope adds to the richness of our Fellowship together.
I love this season’s fecund harvest...my enjoyment perhaps influenced by being an autumn baby, born on one of the quarter days when agricultural rents were paid and tithes delivered. Michaelmas was celebrated with roast goose and the annual Mop Fair; a chance to find a new hiring showing your trade by it’s representative ‘tool’. House maids stood holding a floor mop hoping to be the lucky ones chosen by a future employer. Unsatisfactory pairings, on either side, could be rectified by the ‘Runaway Mop Fair’ two weeks later. Winchcombe still holds these two fairs in the autumn...now loud with dodgems, waltzers and candy floss, attended by youngsters unaware of it’s significance in their ancestor’s lives.
We now can celebrate a more humane and fair legislature for ‘hiring and firing’ those needed in the workforce together with other positive gains in public life. There are still however many areas where inequalities need to be challenged, where injustice and cruelty still abound. We still have much to do to serve the Goddess in this world.
What tool would you choose to represent the gift with which you serve the Goddess?!
Such service is hard to do alone. The support, inspiration and energy we gain from being with others in the fellowship is what it’s all about. Such gatherings are what the Founders envisaged when the idea for the fellowship developed around the kitchen table at Huntington 40 years ago...the hearty but frugal fare of eating baked potatoes together seemed to feature in people’s memory from that time!
If there is the chance to do so I suggest the Hearth Convocations that gather together share baked potatoes together in memory of those earlier times! Walking up the avenue with Minette one time more recently I remember her saying: ‘if I feel upset, I eat potatoes and immediately feel grounded and good again...’wise words.
With the blessings of gratitude for a rich harvest and the Love and Compassion of the Goddess,
Cressida
FOI Letters & Correspondence
(With gratitude to Cressida for sending her letter.)
© Copyright
All Rights Reserved.
|
