The 4th Symphony for The Goddess had been celebrated in the grounds of Naturfreundehaus Ubbedissen on Lughnasadh 2008. It was also the 25th anniversary of the Bielefeld Iseum / Lyceum of Bastet and Dana, now the Tara Hedge Lyceum and College.

On Saturday we had started with the Rite of Building the Mandala of The Goddess during which the participating members of the Isian and Danaan priesthood have invoked The Goddess in Her many aspects.

After the mandala of The Goddess had been build, we celebrated the Mystery of The Harp of Tara. The Mystery Drama had been inspired by the myth of Lugh asking the Danaan Round for acceptance in the Hall of Tara.

A soul journey to the Well of Brighidh had been part of the rite, and all participants received inspiring visions and oracles from The Goddess.

After sharing reports of the visions and inspirations people had got during the journey we had a short break.

Before lunch Rev. Erik from the Iseum of Isis Seschat in Berlin had given a most inspiring talk on his Isian pilgrimage through Egypt. The talk had been accompanied by most wonderful pictures of the sacred places of Ancient Egypt.

After lunch the visitors could enjoy the stall of Coco´s magical bazaar, where she presented Goddess jewelry, designed by her and statues and altar decoration for the shrine of The Goddess.

Rt. Rev. Barbara from the Lyceum of Bastet and Dana in Solingen has offered a workshop on matron goddesses, which included a soul´s journey during which the participants could find insights and inspiration for their individual spiritual quest on the spiral path of The Goddess.

I had offered a workshop on Goddess Astrology, a method of spiritual practice based on one´s birth chart, which I had developed as an astrological help for pilgrims on the spiral path of the Goddess. As members had asked for deeper understanding of this, I have planned to offer a workshop on Goddess Astrology during the 2nd weekend of December (December 13th and 14th), where we are going to deepen the understanding for the planetary energies through meditation and soul´s journeys.

In the evening we celebrated Lughnasadh with the initiation of our dear members Sina (Iseum of Artemis and Lugh, Murrhardt), Maria (Iseum of Isis and Seschat, Berlin)and Frank (Iseum of Isis and Horus, Meppen) into the Druid Clan of Dana.

The soul´s journey at the end of the ceremony had been very intense for all participants.

At the end of the rite all participants sang together the „Song of Dana“, for which I had written the lyrics. The tune is from Pentangle´s Folk Song „May the Circle be unbroken“, and Rev. Frank had worked out a simple and fitting tune to accompany the singing on the guitar.

Afterwards the company went to celebrate until midnight at the local pub Runkelkrug, which has a lovely and pagan friendly atmosphere.

Sunday´s programme had been opened with a Rite of Isis, genuinely presented by Rev. Frank from the Iseum of Isis and Horus in Meppen.

Later the day I had offered a talk on local herbs and their use in the healing tradition as they had been passed on by the Wise Women of Teuto-Forest until about the 19th century, when industrialisation reached our area.

After lunch we gave the accolade of the Noble Order of Tara to our dear members Sina, Maria and Rev. Frank.

The 4th Symphony for The Goddess as a whole had been felt as a very intense spiritual and emotional impression by all members.

Let me quote from an article which had been written by our dear members Gisela and Erik from Berlin: "... this was a small but highly energetic get-together full of heart-felt joy; an opportunity for friends of old to meet again and for the newcomers from the last years to make FOI-friends. The whole weekend felt like a happy family-meeting...”

Before we parted we stood in a circle of:

“heart to heart and hand to hand,
Round of Tara, here we stand -
hand to hand and heart to heart -
merry meet and merry part ...
and merry meet again!"

We are looking forward to the Goddess Day in Berlin, which is going to be organised by Rev. Erik and friends from the Iseum of Isis-Seschat.

About the Author: Rt. Rev. Claudia Wehmeyer has been a member of the Fellowship of Isis for more than twenty years. She and her husband Thomas head Tara Hedge College which is comprised of a community of Iseums, Lyceums, Priories and Groves concentrated mainly in Germany and Switzerland, along with other centers they helped to establish throughout Europe. Claudia helped to translate portions of the FOI liturgy from English into German, and in her own words has provided a place where “newcomers may find guidance, information and a working rainbow network of Isian/Danaan pilgrims on the spiral path of the Goddess.” She is one of the organizers of the first international pagan and Goddess conventions on the European Continent, with Olivia Robertson attending the latter. Claudia is one of the publishers of three goddess based magazines, 'Hinkelstein' and 'Heckenkurier' which focused on the religion of the Goddess worldwide, and 'Zeit der Goettin,' a German language Isian journal.