Below is a questionnaire complied by Caitlin Matthews, in conjunction with her event this August in the UK, where Cressida Prior, Steward of the Fellowship of Isis, will be in attendance. It is meant to help shape the next steps and vision of the Fellowship of Isis post-Olivia. Please read the directions and send your responses to Caitlin (not to me). I encourage you to take the time to fill this out thoughtfully and constructively.
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CONSULTATION DOCUMENT FOR THE FOI RETREAT: VISION OF THE NEW AEON. Whether you are able to come to the retreat in August or not, here is the consultation document, that I promised to put up. You are the first folk to see it publically. (Full details of the course are on this link: http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/…/Magical%20Courses%20Caitlin…. Booking is via info@hawkwoodcollege.com or 01453 759034)
Please return your response to me no later than 1st July 2015, so that we can assess what is arising and make time for these considerations on our retreat. Please email back to Caitlín Matthews on tigerna9(AT)aol.com with FOI RETREAT RESPONSE as your heading.
[Note the brackets and the 'AT' are just to foil spammers and should be removed from my email when sending!] Thank you!
The original intention of this questionnaire was to involve all who came and provide us with a well aimed agenda, but in the light of what has subsequently transpired since it was planned, responses are now sought in a wider and international way, as these will be well considered representations of the wider FOI membership. My aim in calling the retreat was to create a space for us to meet with Cressida, since few know her well, and to help us all reconsider where we are as FOI members and where we are going, providing an opportunity to draw inspiration from each other, from the Goddess and to rededicate to the Manifesto. I hope that all who wish to respond will share this document with anyone who is wanting to contribute here.
Everyone who attends this retreat (and those who would like to contribute, even though they can't come) is asked to please consider the following list of points and questions so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel on arrival but have our thoughts, feelings, ideas and suggestions ready available during the short time we are together. Not everything here will resonate with you, but please consider the points and questions that do, as we value your input. If something vital is left out, please do note it below.
As a member of FOI/the priesthood you have a unique sense of what is needed: please consider how your experience can help maintain the collective strength and vision of FOI in a world that is becoming more regulatory, rushed or restricted. Please keep your answers concise!
A. QUESTIONS Consult your personal experience please:
1. What is your sense of the FOI and its place in the world?
2. What is your sense of your Iseum/Lyceum in your community?
3. What in your opinion is working well in FOI?
4. What in your opinion is not working so well in FOI?
5. Are you known/do you know other members of the priesthood locally, in your country, or abroad?
6. How would such a connection serve both you and FOI?
7. Are there aspects of FOI administration that are unclear to you? (e.g. registration of ordinations/consecrations, what to do in difficult cases etc.)
8. What kind of difficulties have you encountered as a leader of an Iseum/Lyceum?( e.g. ask members to leave due to inappropriate behaviour etc.)
9. What support and guidelines do you feel you lack as a member/ of the priesthood?
10. How and where does your own spiritual vision manifest in community service?
11. What special skills do you bring to the FOI?
12. How has your experience of FOI changed since you were first a member?
B. POINTS Please consider the following points for the benefit of alls:
1. How FOI needs to change or adapt to the different conditions of our world.
2. How FOI responds to special difficulties in different countries where members have wars, spiritual persecution etc.
3. The place of FOI and its recognition in Interfaith work and among other faiths.
4. The provision of more professional celebrancy training skills for public rituals.
5. The ethics required of the FOI priesthood within the community.
6. The FOI Manifesto states that all members are equal in status: how do titles (which are merely functions) change or affect this?
7. The FOI has grown and evolved over the last 40 years. How are its networks and proliferations serving the whole?
C. YOUR SUGGESTIONS Please draw upon your expertise and insight.
D. OPTIONAL: If you wish to, please write your contact details here, especially if you are offering any services to FOI.
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