Editing Fellowship of Isis (section)

==History==

The FOI was founded at [[Huntington Castle, Clonegal|Huntington Castle]], [[County Carlow]], [[Ireland]] at the [[Vernal equinox (northern hemisphere)|Vernal equinox]] of 1976. The three co-founders were [[Olivia Robertson]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/oliviarobertson.html|publisher=FOI Homepage}}</ref> her brother, Lawrence Durdin-Robertson (both are grandchildren of [[Thomas Herbert Robertson]]) and Lawrence's wife Pamela. They aimed to create a fellowship to "help the [[Goddess_movement#Terminology|Goddess]] actively in the manifestation of Her divine plan." Olivia has described Isis as "God in female form."  The FOI grew out of a "working group" created in 1963 called the Huntington Castle Centre for Meditation and Study. This Centre was active in gathering together various occult and theological figures such as [[Ross Nichols]], Josephine and Mohun Lall, and Gerald Gough. The experiences shared within this group, along with the personal spiritual revelations and experiences of the three FOI co-founders led to the eventual founding of the Fellowship of Isis on the [[March equinox|Vernal Equinox]] in 1976. From 1976 until the early 1990s, the group steadily grew.

In August 1993, the Fellowship of Isis was represented at the [[Parliament of the World's Religions]] at Chicago by Olivia Robertson and other member delegates. It is the first time that the Religion of the Goddess has been acknowledged as a [[World Faith|world faith]] at this Parliament.<ref name="handbook">Robertson, Olivia. ''The Handbook of the Fellowship of Isis.'' Enniscorthy: Cesara Publications, 1992.</ref>  The Parliament "became a showcase for the new religions in America, especially since mainstream Christianity was much underrepresented . . . Two feminist neopagan groups, the [[Covenant of the Goddess]] and the Fellowship of Isis, were among the sponsors of the parliament."<ref name="Keller">Keller, Rosemary Skinner & Ruether, Rosemary Radford.  ''In Our Own Voices, Four Centuries of American Women's Religious Writings.''  San Francisco: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995. pg. 428.</ref>

Custodianship of the Fellowship of Isis Foundation Centre is now under the [[aegis]] of the Durdin-Robertsons, heirs of the co-founders.  In 2011, Olivia Robertson named her niece, Cressida Pryor, successor and FOI steward.<ref>{{cite web|title=Notice|url=http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/cressidapryor.html|publisher=Fellowship of Isis Homepage Archive}}</ref>

In October 2014, Cressida announced the Irish-based Circle of Brigid the "central parliament" and "executive board" of the Fellowship of Isis Foundation Centre, of which she is the overall adviser. The Circle of Brigid is also responsible for festivals at the Castle Centre in Ireland and has a subcommittee to sort ethics grievances.<ref>{{cite web|title=Notice|url=http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/letters/samhain2014.html|publisher=Fellowship of Isis Homepage Archive}}</ref>

The Fellowship is a globally organised religion, whose international and Internet presence is very large by comparison with its Irish base.<ref>Maignant, Catherine, "Irish base, global religion: the Fellowship of Isis". 53 – 73 in Olivia Cosgrove et al. (eds), Ireland's new religious movements. Cambridge Scholars, 2011</ref>