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The First Rituals in the Temple of Dana and the Temple of Isis
| Castle and Abbey ruins in spring © Johnny Merron |
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| The Abbey, or Temple of Dana, was the scene of druidic rituals before the founding of the FOI |
The Temple of Dana, 1963 - Present
Ross Nichols, founder of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD), often visited Lawrence,
Pamela and Olivia during the 1960's at Clonegal Castle. During this period he gave both Olivia and Lawrence Druidic initiations.
Philip Carr-Gomm, the successor of Ross Nichols, also visited and worked with Olivia and Lawrence at Clonegal Castle during
the late 1960’s through the 1970’s.
| Ross Nichols and Lady Olivia Robertson |
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| Ross Nichols founded the OBOD in 1964 |
In 1963, Olivia and Lawrence founded their own Druid grove, which they named the Grove of Eithne. They held druidic rituals
in the ruins of the Old Abbey with Ross Nichols. It was at this time that they began calling the Old Abbey, "The Temple of
Dana." Although Lawrence and Olivia founded their own grove in 1963, the founding of the Druid Clan of Dana of the Fellowship
of Isis would not take place until 1992.
Within the ruins of the Old Abbey, or Temple of Dana, stands a dolmen altar and two marble vessels containing
rain water. Nearby in a field is the ancient Bullawn Stone, used thousands of years ago for grinding corn. The depression
in it holds rainwater which is still used for purposes of healing by local people. The dolmen altar, Bullawn Stone,
yew tree avenue and the well of Brighid located within the castle shrines were all incorporated into the druidic rituals. It is here, eight times during the year that rituals are celebrated to honor the traditional holy days of the
wheel of the year.
Rites were performed at the Temple of Dana completely in the Gaelic tongue by Ben McBrady, who also offered a prayer in
Gaelic invoking the Goddess Dana and the Tuatha de Danaan, asking them to protect the earth. Ben McBrady was titled
Brady (or Chief) of the Name and Herenach of the Two Kilmores. He was Aircinneac and Herenach of a pre-Druid Megalithic Order
which was called “The Old Gaelic Order,” often referred to simply as “The Order.” (*see Note, below) The Temple of Dana was the site of two ordinations of priestesses into the Fellowship of Isis in the summer of 1976.
This double ordination ceremony for a Priestess of Dana and for a Priestess of Isis was the first ordination of FOI priesthood
conducted in the Fellowship of Isis. Lawrence Durdin-Robertson officiated as Priest and Lady Olivia Robertson officiated
as Hierophant. More information and photos of the ceremony are presented below.
The Temple of Isis, 1970 - Present
Originally used as a chapel for the castle, the area which would become the Temple of Isis began it’s
transformation into a series of shrines and a high altar dedicated to Isis in the early 1970’s. Lawrence Durdin-Robertson
wrote that in 1970 ‘religious conviction’ led him to start his research and writing about the Goddess. By 1972
Lawrence had received Isian Priesthood. Both Lawrence and Olivia could claim right to the Isian Priesthood as descendants
of Scota, the dark one, daughter of the Pharaoh Cincris, who came north from Egypt and gave her name to Scotland - Scota’s
land. Scota and her Scythian husband Nels, had a son, Gaelglas, who was founder of the Gaelic race.
Prior to the writing of Olivia’s spiritual biography “The Call of Isis” which was
published in 1975, a series of mystery dramas she had written were already being enacted within the precinct of the castle
shrines. The parts were performed by colleagues, friends and family members. These mystery dramas were based on the guided
journeys Olivia had offered both in London and at the seminars held at the castle in previous years. In “The
Call of Isis” Olivia already refers to the collective shrines as the Temple of Isis, and mentions the Temple of
the Zodiac, a temple on the astral plane, which she would subsequently feature in visualizations within later FOI rituals.
| The Temple of Isis, Clonegal Castle |
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| The Isis Wedding Rite, June, 1975 |
The Isis Wedding Rite, June 28, 1975
This was the second wedding rite conducted by Lawrence officiating as Priest of Isis at the Temple of Isis at Clonegal
Castle. The first one had been performed a short time previous for Bernard and Julia on the day of their registry
wedding. Bernard often visited the castle and played his handmade dulcimer during temple rituals.
The June 28th ritual was the first enactment of the Isis Wedding Rite as it is presented in the FOI liturgy booklet. It
was held in honor of the marriage of Swadesh Poorun and Melian Durdin-Robertson on the day of their registry wedding. This
performance of the Isis Wedding Rite was attended by 30 guests at the castle with Lawrence officiating as Priest of Isis and
Olivia as Hierophant.
On December 9, 1975 The Isis Wedding Rite was re-enacted and filmed for Telefis Eireann, “News-Round”,
which aired on January 11, 1976, with Swadesh and Melian once again assuming the roles of groom and bride. The Isis
Wedding Rite was first published by Cesara Publications (Lawrence and Olivia's private press) in February of 1976.
The Founding of the Fellowship of Isis, Spring Equinox, 1976
The high altar and shrines of the Temple of Isis officially became the spiritual center of the Fellowship of Isis when
the FOI was formally founded on the Spring Equinox in 1976. Attunements in these shrines are still offered
daily, both morning and evening, for FOI members worldwide within the temple. They have been used for the enactment of
many rituals, initiations, ordinations and consecrations over the years. The founding of both the Noble Order of
Tara and the Druid Clan of Dana were celebrated before the High Altar of the FOI shrines at Clonegal Castle. The Chapel
of the Well of Brighid was created in 1976, and water from the well has been used in Fellowship of Isis ceremonies
since that time.
For more about the Founding of the Fellowship of Isis, please click here.
The Isis Wedding Rite, June 24, 1976
On June 24, 1976, the traditional Midsummer’s Day, The Isis Wedding Rite was enacted for Michael Griffin and Kathy
Brown at the Temple of Isis at Clonegal Castle with Lawrence officiating as Priest of Isis and Olivia as Hierophant for the
Rite as before. This was the first celebration of an FOI Liturgy ritual in the form in which it appears in an FOI
liturgy booklet after the founding of the Fellowship of Isis.
| First Priestess of Dana is ordained |
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| Lughnasadh, August 1st, 1976 |
The Ordination of Two Priestesses, Lughnasadh, August 1, 1976
The Ordination of two Priestesses within the Fellowship of Isis, Kathy Brown as Priestess of Dana, and Marion Boland as
Priestess of Isis was the first ceremony of ordination in the Fellowship of Isis priesthood conducted by Lawrence and Olivia
as FOI co-founders. The ritual presented in the FOI Liturgy booklet is the same one used for these two ordinations.
Lady Olivia writes: "The participants in our double ordination involved birds, trees and flowers, as we held the ceremony
in the ruined abbey, our Temple of Dana. Open to the sky, its floor the earth, it was richly filled with summer flowering
shrubs. It was a Rite in which a pony could put her piebald head over a stone wall, a Siamese cat could leap from a bush,
without distracting but rather augmenting the presence of innate divinity."
| The First Priestess of Isis |
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| Lughnasadh, August 1, 1976 |
In the introduction to the Ordination Rite is the following passage: "... what does the Priestess rule? Not men, nor
races. She rules the striving elements of her own being, and through understanding the law of transmutations, creates harmony
of mind, heart and body ... The candidate need not forswear any family ties or her usual work. She keeps her own way
of life. What she does do is to dedicate her life to the Divine Purpose. The Scribe, Keeper of Records, during the Ordination
ceremony reads out her degrees, appointments and achievements. She offers all this to the divine service, and presents tokens
of dedication on the altar ... the Hierophant declares the new Priestess to be daughter of the Goddess, and bids her to reflect
her Mother's Glory ... She now has conscious enjoyment of day and night, summer and winter, sun and moon. She is whole."
The Ordination Rite was first published by Cesara Publications (Lawrence and Olivia's private press) in February
of 1977.
| The First Enactment of the Rite of Rebirth |
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| Lady Olivia Robertson as Ishtar, 1976 |
Rite of Rebirth, Samhain, October 31, 1976
The first enactment of the Rite of Rebirth involved the blessing of four month old Elinor Currey, daughter of Anna (Lawrence
and Pamela Durdin-Robertson’s daughter) and Robert Currey.
Olivia writes: "Ritual most certainly affects the psyche of babies, and those who have just passed into the next sphere.
A Rite provides a place of meeting where those on earth may direct consciousness to a more spiritual level; and those Spirits
who draw near to children, and those who have passed on, may act as Guardian Angels. For in an earthly Ritual it is made easy
for psychic vision to be blended with earthly awareness. Such a Rite helps the newly born child to keep hold of heavenly
friends, while also becoming aware of earthly relations. The same applies to those who leave this earth for another.
They naturally wish to hold on to earthly loves, while experiencing friendship with those who dwell in the new sphere in which
they find themselves."
| Anna Currey holding her daughter Elinor, 1976 |
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| This photo graced the cover of the original Rite of Rebirth booklet |
Olivia writes: "Our Initiation Rite involved the blessing of Elinor Currey, the four month old child of Anna and Robert
Currey. Her mother acted as the Psychopompos, the child's Guide. During the Rite the baby tried to eat the proffered
grain and seized my golden priestly girdle and refused to give it up! The Rite took place in the Castle Undercroft, in which
is the holy well dedicated to the Irish Goddess of Poetry, Healing and Springs Brighid ... On this occasion Lawrence Durdin-Robertson
was Priest, I took the part of Hierophant and Ishtar ..."
"... all those taking part are recreating an ancient pattern that involves the human and elemental participants; those
of the animal, bird, reptile and insect realms described in the Rite, and the Deities invoked. The Priest says to those assembled
in the Temple: Those who participate in the Mysteries prepare themselves for the Great Awakening."
| Rite of Rebirth in the Temple of Isis, 1976 |
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| Lucy Durdin-Robertson, Kathy Brown, Olivia Robertson and Lawrence Durdin-Robertson |
A short time later, a second performance of this Rite, with Lucy Durdin-Robertson
(daughter of Lawrence and Pamela Durdin-Robertson) as Initiate, was filmed for a wide television audience. An interview
with the Robertsons was also conducted for the programme. It was syndicated for viewing in the United States, in Great
Britain and other countries. It was televised as a half hour show for Telefis Eireann.
The Rite of Rebirth was first published by Cesara Publications (Lawrence and Olivia's private press) in September
of 1977.
1981 - Present
In 1981 Lawrence Durdin-Robertson made over by Deed of Gift, the Temple of Isis of Clonegal Castle to the Fellowship of
Isis, to be held by trustees in perpetuity. Seasonal rituals are held annually and still open for public attendance through
prior arrangement. Private rituals, including ordinations, consecrations, dedication ceremonies and initiations are still
held in the Temple of Isis at Clonegal Castle.
Olivia offering a prayer of healing on behalf of Pamela Scott, Priestess in the Fellowship who works tirelessly to
help abandoned and ill-treated dogs.
| Photo © Johnny Merron |
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| FOI members enact the Mystery of Isis and Osiris. Photo © Johnny Merron. |
Members of the Priesthood of the Fellowship of Isis, including Steve Wilson, Caroline Wise, Ingrid Fischer and
Johnny Merron enact The Mystery of the Awakening of Osiris with Lawrence and Olivia near the balustraded portico entrance
to the Temple of Isis at Clonegal Castle. Johnny is seen here lying prone as Osiris. He had a time lapse on his
camera, which enabled him to set it and have time to get in position before the photo was taken.
| Photo © Karl Duncan and Johnny Merron |
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| Lawrence and Olivia bestow Priesthood on a Maga of the College of Isis |
1993. FOI co-founders Olivia Robertson and Lawrence Durdin-Robertson bestow ordination upon Ingrid Fischer, a
Maga of the College of Isis, trained by Caroline Wise, Isis of the Thames Lyceum of London. (from "The Call of Isis" by Neptune
Press)
A view of the entrance to the Temple of Isis at Clonegal Castle from the southern portion of the grounds. Morgan
Benedict, Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Olivia Robertson, Karin Aziz, newly ordained, and Shasta Zaring. This photo was taken
immediately after the ordination ceremony.
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