Convocation Review

by Linda Iles

This year’s convocation was blessed by two things. First off, the weather was perfect. Secondly, although the atmosphere at the Isis Oasis FOI Fall Convocation is always one of camaraderie and well being, there was a particular underlying joyful sweetness to this year’s activities. Bast, the beautiful goddess who was honored at this year’s gathering was truly present through out the roster of events.

At 8:30 PM on Friday evening, Isadora Forrest gifted us with an Opening of the Ways ritual, based on techniques that are to be published in her book, Magic of Isis, due to be released in March of 2001. Isadora is an accomplished ritualist and her work was presented with quiet power, strength and grace. It was not hard to imagine oneself in the presence of a priestess transported to Isis Oasis from a temple of ancient times. Her book is eagerly awaited by the Isian community.

At 9:00 PM Lady Olivia Robertson, the only surviving founding member of the Fellowship of Isis presented us with a beautiful guided visualization. The FOI has been Lady Olivia’s lifework as a priestess of the goddess, creating a network of centers throughout the world which function jointly to further knowledge of Isis and the goddess in all her forms. Her knowledge, enthusiasm and humility serve as an inspiration to all of us.

Immediately afterwards, the women of Isis Pelagia in Los Angeles, headed by Laura Janesdaughter conducted a ritual of honoring Ma’at, a Purification of the Heart ceremony. Leticia Layson, Mary Scarlett Amaris, Catherine Wright, and Isadora Forrest were among the participants. Laura’s group encompasses a diverse cross section of women who serve together in laughter and love. Members of the audience were invited to step forward and have their hearts weighed by the scales of Ma’at (played by the lovely Marie) against a white feather. They had to watch out, because the fierce crocodile, Ammit (played by ElfKat) was ready to pounce upon the unwary at any given moment, if their hearts were impure! Ecstatic drumming followed provided by Misha, Cat and other members of Isis Pelagia. These women contributed temple drumming to other events throughout the convocation and really helped to generate sacred energy.

On Saturday, the events were started off with Neter Yoga before breakfast. The atmosphere was tranquil and helped to place all who participated in a pure space, identifying their own bodies with the energies of the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt through specific positions as shown in temple art. Loreon Vigne, head of Isis Oasis Retreat Center refers to this branch of yoga as “a universal language of movement that produces healing.” It was a great way to begin this very busy day.

At 10 am in the theater Linda Iles presented an Awakening of Bast ceremony, featuring a shrine box and image of Bast created by Catherine Farah. Catherine is an accomplished mixed media artist and has been a devoted priestess of Bast for many years. Her image of Bast was so beautiful that it touched the hearts of all present. Lady Olivia gave Bast a special blessing after the rite. Linda has researched the morning rite of the ancient Egyptian temples for over two years and wrote all of the text of the hymns, offering formulas, guided visualization of the Temple of Bast at Bubastis and the Oracle of Bast, based on surviving records and religious texts from ancient Egypt. She has also spent the majority of this year gathering together information about symbolism, attributes and manifestations of the goddess Bast which were incorporated into the rite. An offering table provided gifts from Bast to all present after the ritual. This included the Ba of Bast necklaces that everyone turned into very effective circlets and wore throughout the convocation! Cathy and Linda were aided in presenting the ceremony by Joni Abbatecola, Laura Janesdaughter and Caroline Wise.

At 11:30 am Dr. Leonard Shlain presented material from his best-selling book “The Alphabet Versus the Goddess” accompanied by a slide show to illustrate the contents of his written work. He presented a beautifully thought out dissertation on how the use of the alphabet corresponded to the fall of the status of women and the goddess in human culture, religious thought and society worldwide. He offers many thought provoking examples of how use of another hemisphere in the brain changed the direction of our social and spiritual growth.

Just before lunch there was a gathering under the Great Tree to honor the surviving forests worldwide with a special meditation. Participants connected to sacred tree energy and joined in asking the goddess to protect the remaining trees and forests of our earth.

In the afternoon, Leema Kathleen Graham offered a dance of the Minoan Snake Goddess and slides illustrating the prominent place held by sacred serpents in religious thought and culture throughout the ages. Leema is a very accomplished, beautiful and talented dance artist. Her priestess work involves training others to connect with the Inner Serpent within to find their center of spiritual power. She now heads a group of intelligent and artistically gifted women who lend their strength and grace to proceedings at Isis Oasis every year.

We were privileged to have Felicity Artemis Flowers present with us this year. Felicity has worked for many years in the goddess community as founder and head of a mystery school for women in Sebastopol. She is a gifted writer and has decided to focus especially on creating sacred drama. Her work “Blood Sisters” honoring the goddesses Artemis, Medusa and Aphrodite was a solo work which showcased her considerable talents. We are all looking forward to seeing more of her work in years to come.

Just before dinner, deTraci Regula offered a series of Isis chants in the pavilion. She stressed the need to feel comfortable with the idea of creating lovely, simple spontaneous songs to the goddess. These can be used as ritual tools at need in daily life. She demonstrated through several examples how and why this can be so effective. Participants were gifted with a little booklet of Isis songs that she had written and graced with cover art by deTraci. Her wonderful book, “Mysteries of Isis” has brought many people to the Isian community.

Saturday evening an improvisational performance conceived by Loreon was presented in the theater. It was designed to help bring a spirit of forgiveness between differing factions of religion, culture and creed. It was titled “Priestess versus Pope or Dogma versus Catma,” with Paul Ramses playing the part of the Pope. At the finale a pageant hymn was sung:

“A life that’s on a sacred path

Where we know joy and sing and laugh

No Dogma please we do implore

But Catma we adore....yes, Catma we adore.”

Participants then proceeded to the Tomb Room to deposit a message of forgiveness to the awaiting guardian. A procession to the Isis Temple concluded the ceremonies to unburden ourselves from negative experiences and memories. Catherine Farah was the Bast oracle for this event.

Lady Starsheen was scheduled afterwards to guide us through a journey of the nighttime skies on the bridge by the swan pond. But, it was heavily overcast and this event had to be canceled. Not one to be easily deterred, Starsheen offered a brilliant discourse on Egyptian sky lore to all assembled with her in the hot tub!

At 8:00 am on Sunday morning Joni Abbatecola presented The Lotus Meditation of Mother Isis. Joni was given this meditation directly through divine communion with Isis. It is a vehicle which enables individuals to rise above difficulties and adversity to bloom in the light of the inner, spiritual sun. Before the starting of the meditation Joni had printed scrolls passed out containing the opening lines of the lotus meditation in both English and in ancient Egyptian. These scrolls were given as gifts to all present. Joni has worked in the goddess community for many years as a counselor, psychic and priestess. Her warm presence and genuine, heartfelt enthusiasm were manifest to many throughout the convocation. She was assisted in her presentation by Linda Iles, Cathy Farah and Caroline Wise. After meeting at the 1999 convocation, Joni co-founded the Inner Temple of the Lotus with Linda Iles as they both resonate strongly with the lotus as a sacred symbol. Lady Olivia announced that she saw the four lotus priestesses, Joni, Cathy, Linda and Caroline as sisters who had worked together at the Temple of Hathor in Dendera in another lifetime.

Immediately following breakfast we gathered in the theater to witness the celebration of a Gnostic Mass of Mary Magdalene. This is a repeat performance of last years mass, which brought so many to tears. Elizabeth Kelly, a priestess of Mary Magdalene was the main officiant of the ceremony. She was assisted by Catherine Wright and Christy Salo. Sabrina sang the sacred songs of the rite, gracing the proceedings with the clear tones of her lovely voice. The sheer power and beauty of this rite can be heartily attested to by anyone who ever has the chance to attend this profound celebration of the mysteries.

Next we were treated to a concert by the talented musician and composer Raymond Powers. His music takes listeners on a personal journey of spiritual seeking and growth, enlightening and inspiring all who hear it. Raymond is a quiet person, with a ready wit and a twinkle in his eye. His presence and his work were a welcome addition to this year’s convocation. We look forward to more presentations by Raymond during the coming years.

After lunch, ordinations again took place under the Great Tree. Sponsoring priestesses and priests stepped forward with those they had prepared for ordination. After each candidate for ordination was anointed and invested, they made a declaration of their chosen deity, their area of service in the Isian priest(ess)hood and gave a blessing, which was their first public act as members of the Isian clergy.

After dinner at 8:30 PM Mary Greer offered “The Priestess and the Tarot.” Mary is a familiar presence to those who regularly attend the FOI Convocations at Isis Oasis. She is the author of several very good books on the tarot and a well known lecturer and teacher. Besides study of the tarot, Mary has also written “Women of the Golden Dawn” which chronicles the lives of key women who were priestesses in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mary shared with us a tarot spread that she has created based on the Visconti-Sforza Priestess card. This spread answers the question “What is my work as a priestess?” by incorporating symbolism of the priestess card of the Visconti-Sforza deck, the Tiara, the Cord, the Throne, etc., with a tarot reading. By asking specific questions of the cards in their respective positions which correspond to the symbols of the priestess card, insights can be brought to light about the path of the individual priestess or priest. Mary’s years of experience and deep knowledge were shining through the entire presentation. She gave all who attended an indispensable tool for personal growth.

At 10 PM Diveena Shapouri offered a series of beautiful dance movements and songs which she has created. She encouraged audience participation and guided us through the movements, a true art form which she calls “Neter Dancing.” Diveena is a gifted priestess and teacher who works very hard within the goddess community. She has been doing ritual work on the grounds of Isis Oasis for several years developing spiritual awareness on a deeper level through the use of dance and ceremonial song.

Activities on Monday morning were inaugurated by a meditation session at the Isis Temple followed by a hearty breakfast.

Caroline Wise gave a discourse on how she views the Fellowship of Isis as a spiral, with energies flowing in and out rather than up and down as a hierarchy. She answered questions and recounted some of her long history within the Fellowship of Isis. Caroline is one of the owners of Atlantis Bookshop in London. She sponsors the annual London FOI Convocation, and other public FOI events in the London area. She is responsible for publication and mailing of the Isian News and has published special editions of some of the FOI books. Caroline has been a featured speaker at many goddess related events, both in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. We were very blessed to have her with us this year at the Convocation.

A meeting of the board of the Temple of Isis followed lunch, with all convocation attendees welcome to be present. Information was presented about how to obtain certification in the Temple of Isis, founded by Loreon Vigne and headquartered at Isis Oasis Retreat Center. Loreon has been able to obtain legal recognition for the Temple of Isis clergy as ministers. Loreon gave an inspired farewell talk on the steps of the temple about the goddess Bast, including an incorporation of the attributes and manifestation of Bast as an influence into the future work of the TOI. A gentle rain fell that afternoon and we were gifted with a beautiful rainbow. It was a sign of blessing and a promise of the many good things yet to come.

Later in the day, because so many people elected to stay overnight on Monday, Lady Olivia gifted us with another guided visualization and impromptu play, picking individuals from the circle to play various parts. Those chosen by her for these performances have no prior knowledge of their participation and learn to “give into the moment” and play out their parts spontaneously. It always works and a marvelous underlying spiritual truth emerges as Lady Olivia gently guides the activities along. She has a gift for making us see old truths in a new way.

A final note, on Tuesday morning, in the lodge of Isis Oasis, deTraci Regula, Joni Abbatecola and Linda Iles were able to put on an impromptu ritual honoring Isis Caffeina before starting on their long trip to their respective homes. Many thanks to Lorna McGaw, deTraci’s mother for the foresight to always travel with a coffee pot and private supply of coffee, thus providing the ritual brew!

And so the FOI Convocation at Isis Oasis in Geyserville for the year 2000 finally came to a close. All who attended were truly touched by Bast who was the patroness deity of this years event. Bast dispels negativity with happiness and compassion. She is so strong and powerful that she possesses the ability to face opposition with gentleness. Beauty, compassion, love, joy clear vision in the physical and spiritual realms, healing of the mind and spirit, these are the qualities of Bast. She manifests as life in balance, life in beauty, life in abundance. She is well and truly titled “Beautiful Bast, giving life.” May all who read this receive her blessing in their own lives.