Letter from Cressida Pryor
April 28, 2021
FOI Letter Beltane 2021
Dear Friends,
Here’s hoping you are well and still getting through these strange times...it seems we need more than ever the qualities contained within the feminine sacred divinity...that of sharing out our recourses, in terms of scientific advances, vaccine supplies and having a clear discernment to see through complex issues...
Nature is coming together to be fruitful now...this is so noticeable in the hedges and trees where birds are busy finding mates, nest building and sorting out territories...buds are bursting and there is fresh life everywhere...
We are preparing to take on two chickens from a neighbour who is moving and not able to take them with her...I had a few bantams thirty years ago and I’m ashamed to say did not really think much about their conditions in advance. It was a similar situation, their previous owner wanted rid quickly and assured us they were ‘no bother’ so we had them in a converted rabbit hutch and run for a while...
This time I want to be better prepared to ensure they will be really well cared for...
I think my vision for how we house these two birds, how we welcome them is very different to how it was before what with so many demands on my time with two small children and a full-time career... there was no capacity for any thought out vision for the bird's place in our lives.
This difference in approach has made me think about what vision there is now for the FOI’s place in our current world? We face somewhat different conditions to those that faced the founders in the 1970s...then there was a growing awareness of feminist and feminine spirituality within a very patriarchal world... Women now do have a more prominent role in many faith traditions but there is of course much ground to cover still...
The Earth’s needs were high-lighted then but more in terms of pollution and habitat loss, now we have a far more extreme future crisis in the form of climate change producing extreme weather, rising sea levels and other horrors...
So what is the FOI’s vision now for our work in the world? What does the Goddess call us to do and be?
I think much of the founders' vision is still valid and important...having connection with others who wish to honour the divine feminine whatever their ‘home’ faith...more specific action will depend on more local needs...
I suggest each Iseum and Lyceum revisit what these local needs are as we emerge from pandemic lock down...each region has their own timetable of emergence and safety needs to be the priority.
The Foundation Centre continues to celebrate the Celtic Festivals via Zoom which has allowed wonderful links with members around the world.
We are thinking of keeping at least one Zoom celebration for worldwide connection on March 5th, which happens to be a Saturday next year. This is celebrating the ‘Ship of Isis’ described by Derry, (Lawrence D-R) in his Perpetual Calendar as a time when: ‘the storms of the winter lose their force, the leaping waves subside and the sea becomes navigable once more...’
I remember launching a small bio-degradable boat into the Thames with Aunt Olivia to celebrate the Ship of Isis and know how excited she was to connect with this festival.
I envisage it as a time of rededication, to hoist our sails for the year ahead amongst our friends and fellows...This feels appropriate as Isis was the patron of navigation and inventress of the sail.
Blessed Isis, garner a fair wind for the times ahead,
May we listen and be open to the needs around us
Holding true to the vision and course we have navigated so far
Willing to deviate when clarity and discernment shows a new direction
Allow us to reach out as pioneers to build a better world through our service
Grateful knowing that your love and wisdom sustain us.
So may it be.
In fellowship,
Cressida
FOI Steward.
