Lady Olivia Robertson

Olivia Robertson at the 1993 Parliament of World' (official website of the Fellowship of Isis)

Olivia Melian Robertson was born in London on April 13, 1917. She was born into an old Irish aristocratic family. Having finished hers studies at the Dublin's National University, she went on to become a writer. Her first book was “St. Malachy’s Court”, published in 1946. Among her other books from this period of her life were “Field of the Stranger” (1948), “The Golden Eye” (1949), “Miranda Speaks” (1950), and “It’s an Old Irish Custom” (1954)and “The Dublin Phoenix”(1956).

At the same time as her writing career took shape by leaps and bound, in 1946 Olivia experienced a spiritual awakening from the age-old Egyptian Goddess Isis. Together with her brother Lawrence Durdin-Robertson and his wife, Pamela, Olivia proceeded to explore her spiritual experience based on the idea of the Divine Feminine.

Young Olivia Roberston (Facebook page of FOI Central News)

The three of them in the end came to the conclusion that God has both masculine aspect as well as its feminine counterpart. Unfortunately, today's religions put a strong emphasis on the divine male aspect. Olivia strongly believes that the missing feminine aspect of the godhead has also resulted in dire consequences for our society. In her own words she explained in an interview with the BBC in 1992, "It was direct spiritual experience, as with my brother, that I had a direct spiritual vocation to do this from God – the feminine aspect of God, God who is also feminine - to emphasize this because the world is threatened by destruction through pollution, through misuse of nature, often through stupidity and greed. We’re destroying the planet and the Divine Plan appears to be to emphasize the feminine – charity, kindness, care for nature, nurturing, motherhood – all that side. Not to get rid of the male aspect, but to balance male aggression and materialism. And this linear, logical, mental though – always analysis, analysis. We’re more for healing and synthesis.”

Finally, in 1976, Olivia and her brother Lawrence founded the Fellowship of Isis (FOI), an international, multi-faithed organization that is dedicated to honoring the Goddess in Her many forms. Operating from the ancestral home of the Durdin-Robertsons Clonegal Castle, Ireland, FOI now has over 300,000 members spread across the globe.

Olivia Robertson on her 97th birthday in 2010 (FOI Central News site)

In recognition for her work to promote the religion of the Goddess, Lady Olivia was invited in August 1993 to attend the Parliament of the World's Religions Centennial Session, in order to represent the Fellowship of Isis, along with other appointed FOI delegates. This was the first time that the religion of the Goddess was publicly acknowledged as a world faith at this parliament. Olivia was one of two women and sixteen men who addressed the opening plenary from the platform and she gave the blessings of Isis to the world.