Rite of Good Health
FOI Initiate Drama

During this rite I substituted salt for a bowl of earth and this led to interesting results. As soon as I placed it upon my feet and hands, it had a tingly effect upon me physically.

After this, the rite instructs the devotee to feel the Earth Power to come up from the earth into the devotee through the spine with glowing warmth. This was not the case for me. Roots came up from the earth, intertwining and covering my entire body from head to toe. The roots then became like bark and I became a tree flowing through the breeze. At this time, Gaea, whom I had just called upon, came to me in a vision.

She touched me on my forehead and that spot glowed causing the root-bark to melt away leaving me “human” again. She asked me to walk with her after calling me by my Witch name. During our conversation, she reminded me that I needed to not worry so much about the future and to keep balanced. In other words, I need to not spend as much time working on my spiritual destiny and remember to spend some time with the physical world, because my destiny is mine and mine alone and it will happen when I do it. Since it can’t happen without me, I need not be in such a big hurry to make it come to be before its time! Very helpful and comforting words indeed for someone who be a bit obsessive at times.



I enjoyed the visualization of Itdalhac, at first, I saw the island at a long distance; then I saw an apple tree close-up (as if I saw the tree from under it); then I saw myself in a rowboat, rowing toward Itdalhac, an island on four pillars. I rowed under the island and looked up wondering how I could get up there? A voice replied for you there is a stairway and a stairway appeared; so I rowed to the stairway. I stepped onto the steps and the voice said release the boat, you will not need it for here you'll stay. I walked up the steps and saw a cavern of beautiful multi-colored stones, then I felt the Earth under my feet. I passed an underground waterfall and went upward. I stood beneath the beautiful apple tree with silver branches and white flowers and a beautiful (almost fairy-like) woman handed me a green apple. She said "you'll live a long and happy life", while I bit into the apple. I noticed noticed the beautiful green trees everywhere and the animals roaming freely and peacefully in front of my view. I felt this is how life should be.



A few days before performing the rite, I read through the contents and suddenly saw one of the FOI elders whom I first saw with the Rite of Rebirth. She is elderly and wears a black robe. Her hair is dark and largely covered by the hood of her black robe. She has a heart-shaped face, deeply sunken cheeks and large, dewy brown eyes. There is both wisdom and gentleness in her eyes, and yet she can be quite stern as well. She told me that it was time to let go of a prior life that I had been holding on to. It was a life that I had spent as a nun, and indeed I have had many visions and “memories” of this life, and often I will sit in a certain way or gesture in a manner that sends my mind right back to that life. Such a lonely, isolating, and painful existence that was. There are certain patterns in this existence that seem to mimic or be informed by this prior one.

Before the rite, I took a ritual shower. The elder was with me again, and placed her boney hands on my shoulder. I have really come to respect the FOI sponsors on the otherside, so when I cleansed the ritual space, I requested that all FOI elders, sponsors, and other allies be present. I suddenly felt as if thousands of assorted beings were standing behind me, and I heard them say, “We’re here!”

The ritual was lovely and went smoothly. I chose a beautiful amulet that I have had for years. It is a Goddess amulet: a curvy figure with arms that come together above the crown of the head, and a spiral on her womb. Although I received this amulet years ago, I never used it until now, and it just feels so perfect to anoint it during this rite.

After the rite, I meditated some and a series of self-defeating thoughts arose within me. Every self-criticism that I harbor about myself seemed to plague me during those moments, and then the elder appeared to “correct” them if you will, generally by saying the opposite. I then recalled the intent of the rite: to heal the spirit so that perfect health may be manifested. I realized then that harboring these thoughts and allowing them to play like a broken record is just one way that I may be jeopardizing my health—and is a sign that I don’t quite have “dominion over my mind.”

That night, as I drifted to sleep, I slipped into the elder’s world, and she put something in my hand. The sensation of her placing an object in my hand jolted me awake. I still don’t know what it is.

The second night (during Dreamtime), the Great Goddess Isis came to me as a golden queen with golden wings. I asked Her to protect my family and me when suddenly I had an aerial view of my home. Although I was inside it, I also had a bird’s eye view of it as if I were in two places at once. Suddenly, Isis grew taller than my home, and Her wings enlarged and embraced the house and all within it. It was a beautiful experience. A few days later, I read the words of Lady Olivia in the Wings of Isis, the Fellowship of Isis Manual: “The Wings of Isis shall ever enfold us: protect us: awaken us to eternal reality.”

The changes within me since performing this rite include the continued ability to defeat negative thoughts with counter-ones—opposing affirmations! Don’t get me wrong: I still slip into moments of self-defeat, but those moments are fewer and shorter than before. I believe that the elder helped me with this, and this new ability will help me have greater control over my mind and, hence, my physical reality.


During the final meditation, I envisioned myself dancing a waltz with my husband in an open meadow in the spring, with flowers and trees in bloom and butterflies fluttering around us. I felt a warmth on my shoulders, like someone standing behind me reassuringly. I was thinking how funny it was that my "happy experience" seemed so odd - since my husband hates to dance. I would have expected to be doing something by myself, like reading.

I heard gentle laughing and saw in my mind's eye a vision of Isis unlike any I've ever seen of Her. She was arrayed in dazzling white, from Her dress to Her brilliant white wings and headdress. Her skin was almost lavender, set off against the white of Her clothing. She was laughing, saying that married women shouldn't feel strange about wanting to enjoy their husbands, even in fantasy.

Then She told me to remember my gifts - that this is the season of new beginnings and that I should seize the moment to write, draw, play, and most of all edit (since I am an editor). She told me to find the joy in my work - that the passion is what makes it special - and that I need to do my work for the love of it, and not to worry merely about pleasing others. By pleasing myself, I will please others too. She told me not to succumb to the laziness - to wear the amulet and let it remind me of the many things I want to accomplish and let nothing stand in the way.

Then She said She was going, but before I felt Her absence, I felt a warmth on my cheeks as if She had taken my face lovingly into Her hands.


The words of the oracle of Dana were especially beautiful and powerful for me. As I read them aloud I sensed the Lady, smiling and bathed in silver light, conferring a blessing on me, freeing me to rejoice in my uniqueness. I've just begun to understand that the qualities that have always made me feel different from others are not flaws, but precious gifts of the Goddess, and it was a revelation to consider Her words connecting that deep level of self acceptance with true health. I considered for a moment just how deep, through how many layers of being, how far in and how far out, the truth of health could go. I could feel a fresh mobility in the life force flowing through me as I understood that my unusual wiring could be something to celebrate, to revel in. I felt like giggling and my whole body relaxed as I smiled back at Her in recognition of the sheer silliness of human beings like myself who forget to love themselves as Her extraordinary works of art, never to be duplicated in all of eternity. Strange that many artists, who see beauty in all that is unusual and original in the world around them, appreciate everything but themselves in that light.

I'd chosen a porcelain pendant imprinted with an image of Brigid for my amulet, one that is very special to me. As I held it over the flame, I was surprised at the reach and power of that single candle, the height and intensity of the heat reaching much farther above its source than I had imagined it would, nearly burning me. As I wondered what that meant, what I could learn from that moment, I considered that perhaps I had at times underestimated my own power, and how inseparably connected to the Lady, my limitless source of power and light, I really am at all times, and have always been, even when I didn't know it, even in my darkest hours of long ago when it had seemed not so. I felt the purity of the flame as I meditated on the words of the faery-woman, whose words were spoken by the Lady, dressed in white, and felt the petals of the white blossoms of the island's apple trees drifting around me to the ground.

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