We started with a wonderful dinner, some of the Temple of Isis Priestesses and I sat with Lady Olivia at the round table. All others could have time at the table with Olivia after that, hopefully changing, allowing everyone to have a turn. Every day, at every meal, different people were seated at Olivia’s table, giving all a chance to spend special time with her.

At the appointed time, we all assembled in the theatre for the dance of the Goddess Mut. Leema, once again, as she has done for many convocations, came forth as the actual Goddess herself, dressed in coppery wings with the appropriate headdress, the combined crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt and the feathers of a vulture plus the proper diadem emerging from the front of the amazing headdress. She danced on stage after a lovely girl who was to be ordained portrayed a vulture and danced around the audience who were seated in a circle. She had a way of looking into our eyes that was almost hypnotic.

Then Olivia began her journey, taking us on a special, magical journey into other dimensions, as only she can do. What a gift she has in that way, as it all is channelled directly from the Goddess. It is her own special connection to spirit that comes through and transformed the vibrations in the space we were sharing.

The final thing we did that evening was to pass cards bearing photos and descriptions of various animals from a deck, illustrated by the artist, Susan Seddon Boulet. Each person read their card and identified with the animal card they had chosen in various magical ways. I got the spider and strangely it was that very evening a new tarantula was brought to me to add to the vivarium. It was a Mexican red leg that I had been wanting for some time. We teach the public about the spiders and insects in the vivarium and help raise public awareness about the many species that are endangered or nearing being placed on the endangered list.

On Saturday morning some of us assembled in the Grand Temple to be taught Qi Gong by Jan Seaforth, who had us flying like vultures. After breakfast Linda Iles gave a presentation on the Goddess Mut, with particular focus on the vulture crown and the meaning of the double crown of ancient Egypt. Mut was the only Goddess to wear this crown. We learned more in depth about who Mut was through the timing of her two great festivals and through the symbolism of the Red and White crowns of ancient Egypt. Then Leema gave a talk on how she created her new book and I spoke of the beginnings of Isis Oasis and told of how
our vivarium womanfested in just about a day. Then we all went down to the vivarium.
 
After lunch we all got to hear from deTraci Regula, author of The Mysteries of Isis who told us all about her dealings with condors, for she was very involved in their reintroduction as they were on the brink of extinction. We all adopted different creatures from material she gave us and I got the Jagerundi which I had just recently read about myself.

Our keynote speaker was Marguerite Rigoglioso Ph.D, and she spoke of the possibility of women procreating through parthenogenesis. This immaculate conception idea was explored and it was reported that the Goddess Mut, mother of Khonsu, the moon God, had given birth to everything through herself in that way. Other Goddesses in Ancient Egypt and Greece were also discussed in connection with this topic. We all enjoyed her talk and especially the wonderful sandals she wore.

Then a gathering occurred at the Dining Pavilion after lunch so all participants could learn of the symbology of eggs consistant with our theme of the vulture. We had Emu eggs for some to paint. While they were doing this, they learned about Egyptian signs and symbols that could be used to decorate the eggs. A group of us who were in the play of the evening stayed in the theatre to rehearse. This went well and we felt ready to do our parts after dinner.

The play was quite good, with visuals of the four elements and Leema, dressed in her Mut costume commanding each element to come forth to complain about what the humans were doing to them. Two young dancers who were to be ordained the next day, danced divinely around Mut’s throne. The costumes of the elements were very effective in portraying each element. The elements were portrayed by Arisa Victor (air), Zarita Zook (water), Justin Howard (fire) and deTraci Regula (earth). Each performer did their part wonderfully and the evening ended with everyone being more informed about the problems the world possesses. Some said it was the best play ever. After that Kiya with her sidekick Ka gave us an oracle that lifted our spirits before bedtime.

We had a silent breakfast to usher in the sacredness of the Gnostic Mass that Elizabeth Kelley does with her entourage of spiritual helpers. 13 vultures were seen flying overhead as we made procession to the Grand Temple. This was most unusual, to see so many vultures at one time circling in the sky overhead, on a grey and misty morning, with no thermal head winds. deTraci found a vulture feather walking from the Nesu House to the Dining Pavilion just a few minutes before this. After the mass, the lines were long to receive the bread and wine that were offered. It felt very special as each came for a blessing of the smiling priestesses. It brought tears to all our eyes, as it always does.

This was followed by a young man named Bradford that came to play his crystal bowls and chant for us. A perfect ending for the afternoon. We were astounded by the beauty of his performance and Willow, one our priests, fell in love with him.

After that we all got into our ordination mode, changing costumes, talking about what it means to be a priestess, etc. At 3 P.M. Lady Olivia took the stage for her ordination ritual where she brought about 20 people into the fold of the Fellowship with wands, stole and crown. Bradford accompanied with crystal bowls and Hoda danced during an intermission the dance of the Goddess Isis. After our dinner feast we viewed a film called Dreamtime which all enjoyed.

Monday morning we entered the Grand Temple for the adoration of the Goddess Mut and were profoundly astonished at the amazing altar Zarita had created, including a sacred lake or Isheru of turquoise silk that wound around the altar with lotuses and papyrus. Her hand-out of the names and titles of Mut was beautiful. The ritual was the perfect ending to the spectacularly wonderful Convocation that was created on these three sacred days.
 
After the entire event was over we had a meeting of the Temple of Isis which brought up what had been done in the year and what was to be done in the future. I am mulling over several ideas - (1) to carry on as before, (2) to create a Women artists in residence program or (3) to do neither and just rest - but can I afford it? Nothing much was resolved of this question and I knew I must seek the answer soon. I was waiting for guidance.

Tuesday, a woman named Lin Daniels came. She is doing a thesis on the late Kay Gardner, a well known feminist musician and singer, and priestess of both FOI and TOI. Lin interviewed Olivia about her knowledge of Kay. I too, knew her and helped to get the Maine group, giving advice and support to Kay who lived there. In honor of Kay we all sang songs to invoke her spirit as a camera woman recorded this interview. That evening we all had leftovers for dinner as Olivia, deTraci and Linda stayed on. We were all floating down from the heights of the convocation.

In the morning after breakfast we all went to the Salve where we got wonderful things as usual and then went back to the Oasis. Lady Olivia was packing. Mona Lisa came with the children and joined us for dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant and I asked Lady Olivia what to do. She choose not to be direct about the answer but said that in her castle no one stays but only just visits and she thought it could be alright if I did the artist retreats.

Wednesday morning, Olivia left with Mona Lisa who delivered her safely to the airport for her flight to Phoenix. Mona Lisa took my sister Caryl to the home of her daughter, Leslie.  

Later that morning deTraci, Linda, and I left for our planned pilgrimage to Mt. Shasta. It had rained heavily the day before but this morning things were a bit lighter and no heavy rain was predicted. Warren and Zarita were going to come as well, the day after. Our journey took us through clear lake with wonderful watery vistas along the winding road with just light rain from time to time.

We stopped at the Brown Bear Restaurant in Willows for lunch and were delighted at the whimsical bears that decorated the entire place. They served a very good lunch. We drove on and as we observed the sky it was getting that unique purple gray color it gets after the rain and the sun was peeking out from time to time. I stated “It looks like we are going to get a rainbow.“ Then we all started singing, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’

Just then I looked to the left and there in the sky was a large and beautiful rainbow and I quickly told everyone to look to the left and we all were awed by the vision which took quite a long time to fade. We all were delighted with its magical presence and the synchronicity of our calling it forth.

Then we arrived via instruction from my GPS at the Dream Inn, where Tom Pierce had arranged for us to stay. It was a Victorian house with lots of Victoriana inside. Linda and deTraci shared a room with twin beds and I got one of my own with a queen bed. We met Tom and Linda Pierce at the Inn and Aya at the Brown Bear Restaurant in Town where we dined on some light fare after our lunch in Willows. I had a Bear Claw, Linda ordered the Huckleberry Ice Cream, we decided to share and created something unique...yum.

Thursday came and we rose rested to begin the day with a shopping spree...first a really good thrift store and then all around the town. The crystal shop was divine, with a multitude of rooms filled with quartz crystals of all dimensions including crystal bowls, some with color which I had never seen. We visited Linda Pierce in her Book store after a sandwich in the little coffee shop where Tom told us to go. Then we went to the Shasta Resort where we heard a rather obnoxious lecture from which we obtained nothing of importance. After that we had a delightful Italian dinner at Strings with a shared desert they called
chocolate lasagna...We were most gratified by this meal.

Friday came and Warren and Zarita now showed up as well as Aya and we all went over to visit Zenon who had invited us to his church where he works on his amazing stained glass. He showed us all around very graciously and told us to visit Castle Lake, which he said looked like Avalon, and it did indeed. We were delighted with this landscape...clear water, with a rock looking something like a castle looming behind it and twisting roots of trees looking like goddesses or vultures which we photographed. Another lunch at Brown Bear before going to the home where Aya now lives. Aya has been a friend of mine since the 1950’s. We met in Venice, California. We had lost touch with each other. Then a mutual friend told me I should contact her as she was now in Northern California and she was also into the Goddess.

I was amazed that she and I, now both 77, had ended our lives going in this route, She had written a book called “The Way of the Warrior Priestess” and I “The Goddess Bade Me Do It.” When we met I convinced her she needed to be ordained in the Temple of Isis and the Fellowship of Isis and to come to convocation. That was a number of years ago. Since that time she visited a friend in Mt. Shasta and found a house for sale that she, on a whim, decided to buy with money she inherited from an aunt who died. Little did she know that the house was once owned by a priestess in our Temple, the late Barbara Westlake, who had passed away in 2007. Since that time the house had been prepared for sale, and for nearly a year had been on the market. Aya did not know Barbara and we thought it was a very unusual coincidence Aya would buy Barbara‘s house.

We came on this trip to bless the house which now belongs to Aya. It was a big transition for the house, Barbara had kept it very austere, doing yoga classes in the living room. Now it was filled with artwork, statuary, books and teddy bears galore. We invoked Barbara and spoke to her as though she was there and assured her that the house was now occupied by another Priestess who promises to start a Temple in this space. We all sat in the space set aside as a Temple and drew cards that happened to be also Susan Seddon Boulet cards, but these were Goddess Cards. They all were apropos to the house blessing and then we went around the rooms with sistums and tambourines to clear the energies of the house and give it new life.

Then we went to Dunsmuir where we met with Starsheen, once known as Lynne McCabe and now as Michael. He is in the process of changing changing from female to male. He showed us his Temple, with beautifully painted interior and intricately decorated altars, situated in an outbuilding in the backyard of his property. We took photos of the house and temple and met Starsheen’s cats, including one named Turbo Tut.

Zenon joined us for dinner later that evening as did Tom and Linda Pierce and we sat at a long table. The food was expensive and not good, all dishes tasting the same. We ended the evening at Aya’s house. She was to serve us pumpkin pie and ice cream. Opening the pie container was hilarious as it was discovered that it was a frozen pie and had to be baked for an hour. It was all runny as it had not been frozen and we poured the goop into the crust and baked it. Meanwhile we had the ice cream and tea with some Fig Newtons I had brought, along with Pecan Sandies provided by deTraci. deTraci arranged the cookies on the plate to look like Stonehenge. Zenon seemed to enjoy all of this merriment immensely but none of us wanted to wait for the pie so we all went away before it could cool sufficiently.

Saturday came and Warren, Zarita, deTraci, Linda, Tom and his wife Linda all went for a drive up the Mountain. We stopped along the way to talk to Aida who had the Gatehouse Inn where I had wanted to stay initially. We did meet and talk to Aida about a number of esoteric things and also about my changing the status of Isis Oasis. She said that more permanent people could be a nightmare and went on to describe how she could not rid herself of a current tenant. She showed us around and it would indeed be a fun place for 7 people to get together. There was a major sweat lodge in the back of the property which is what the lodge is known for. She had a lot of pots of flowers tucked away getting ready for the onslaught of the cold weather and the snow. She apologized for them not being out. She told me she would never leave this place and considered it her life’s work as I do mine.

Then we drove on as far as we could go up the mountain. We stopped at Bunny Flats where snow had already lined the road. We tried to build snow women but the snow was too cold without mittens. Going back we once again lunched at the Bear, now without Tom and Linda Pierce, for they were going home to prepare dinner for us and Zenon. We went to explore the park where there is water from a waterfall and babbling brook, which are the head waters of the Sacramento River. I filled my water bottle with this sacred elixir ... Then we went on to the Peace Garden. Here, some private citizens had created a wonderful place where anyone was welcome. There was a Labyrinth made with earth mounds covered with creeping thyme, you could reach from a path lined with stones. There was a secluded space to sit and meditate with a statue of Kuan Yin where we took pictures, and wandering further there was a peace pole with an area where there were a bunch of prayer flags flying with sayings for peace. Beside this was a box holding ribbons and pens to write our sentiments to create our own prayer flags.  All of us created our own prayer flag to hang with the colorful array of those swaying in the gentle evening breeze.

Soon it was time to visit Linda and Tom Pierce. Linda had made three delicious soups, salad and a chocolate birthday cake as it was Tom’s birthday in a few days and this was a party for him. They live in a condominium with a great view of the mountain. Tom is to be 85. Their place was pleasant and we were amazed that she told us she had to drive 80 miles to Redding in order to go to Trader Joe’s where she obtained the chocolate covered almonds that they served us.

After this we went to Zenons place where he had arranged for us to see the movie of Olivia sent by the Englishman who is producing it in Ireland at the Castle. The movie was most enjoyable and we ended the evening by eating the pumpkin pie set on a round table in which the sword Zenon was given lay, along with the humorous pie. Zenon fancies himself to be Merlin and is quite convincing. All of us enjoyed him and I think it is good that Aya has found a new friend. He wants to go to Ireland soon for a trip and will meet up with Lady Olivia there and also wants to meet Aya’s friend the famous singer Donovan who lives in a castle not far from Olivia. He is very happy to envision these trips to these castles happening soon and you can just visualize him there as he is certainly castle material.

We all joined hands at the table and wished good things for everyone. We left early Sunday so I could visit my friends Roberta of the Kirshner WIldlife Foundation who harbors Lions and Tiger and even Ligers and Tillons at her place, along with lots of other creatures, who need rescue. Barbara, an ordained Bast priestess, met us there too and we all went to lunch and shared stores until we headed home, happy that we escaped the rain and saw only fabulous scenery along the way. Dinner back in Healdsburg at Happy Times Chinese Restaurant with our favorite waiter. End.

About the Author: Loreon Vigne is a member of the ArchPriesthood Union and Grand Commander Union of the Fellowship of Isis, in which she has long been both a member and an ordained priestess. She founded the Temple of Isis at Geyserville, California in 1996. The Temple of Isis is a legally recognized church which offers legal minister status for FOI priesthood members. Loreon writes: "We honor the Goddess Isis, who equates with Mother Earth, and has been worshipped longer than any other deity known on this planet." Loreon also owns and manages the property named Isis Oasis in Geyserville, a retreat center which houses two active temple buildings, the Isis Chapel and the Main Temple. http://www.isisoasis.org/temp1/docs/about.htm