Dion Fortune (1891-1946)

The magical name of Violet Mary Firth, a British occultist and author whose books still influence modern Witchcraft and neo-Paganism. A prominent occultist of her time, Fortune was an adept in ceremonial magic, and was perhaps one of the first occult authors to approach magic and hermetic concepts from the psychology of Jung and Freud. For some Witches and Neo-pagan her fictional works are considered more important than her non-fiction, because they are filled with Pagan themes and rituals.

Fortune was born into a family of Christian Scientists. In her teens she begun exhibiting mediumistic abilities. During her early twenties she worked as a law analyst at the Medico-Psychological Clinic in London. Her interest in exploring the human psyche led to her being psychologically attacked. This occurred in 1911, when she was 29. She worked in a school helping the principal who took a great dislike toward her. When going to tell the woman that she was leaving her job, the principal subjected Fortune to vindictiveness, telling her she lacked self-confidence and was incompetent. Later Fortune said the woman also had conveyed this psychic attack through yoga techniques and hypnotism which left her a "mental and physical wreck" for three years.

This type of psychological violation resulted in her initial study of Freudian and Jungian psychology. At first she preferred Jung over Freud, but as she continued her study Fortune concluded that neither psychiatrist adequately addressed the subtleties and complexities of the mind. Thus, for her, the answers lay in occultism.

Fortune joined the Alpha and Omega Lodge of Stella Matutina, in 1919, an outer order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and studied under J. W. Brodie-Innes. She had classes with the wife of S. L. McGregor-Mathers, one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, which again left her feeling psychic attacked. She felt Stella Matutina in 1929 and left to found her own order, the Community (later Fraternity) of the Inner Light. At first the order was part of the Golden Dawn, but later separated from it.

Following this Fortune worked as a psychiatrist which brought her in contact with other psychic attack victims. Being a prolific writer she poured her knowledge into both novels and non-fiction works. She derived her pen name from the magic motto which she adopted when joining Stella Matutina, "Deo Non Fortuna," ("by God, not chance"), which became shortened to Dion Fortune. Her works are classics and continue to be popular.

During the time when she lived in Glastonbury Fortune became deeply interested in the Arthurian legends and magical-mystical lore which is centred there. She wrote of Glastonbury in Avalon of the Heart.

As a result of her experience with psychic attack Fortune concluded that hostile psychic energy can emanate both deliberately and unwittingly from certain people and that one can mentally fend off such energy. Her work Psychic Self-Defence (1930) is still regarded as the best guide to detection and defence against psychic attack.

The work, The Mystical Qabbalah (1936), perhaps her most famous book, contains her discussion of the Western esoteric tradition and how the Qabbalah (see Kabbalah) is used by modern students of the Mysteries. The true nature of the gods, she said, is that of magical images shaped out of the astral plane by mankind's thought, and influenced by the mind.

From the "Magical Battle of Britain" Letter No. 50, November 24th, 1940

The initiate works by what he is rather than by what he does, and the higher the grade, the more passive he appears to be on the physical plane. Should he take action thereon, he abrogates his power to operate on the Inner Planes, for one cannot be positive on both planes simultaneously.

The initiate is what he is by virtue of the possession of certain basic qualities which are perfected by training. Firstly, he must not be self-centred, but in sympathetic relationship with all manifested life. Those who seek occult knowledge in order that it may help them in their troubles are a step nearer the Path than those who seek it to satisfy a desire for knowledge, and these are not yet on the Path. They may, it is true, receive help if there is a prospect that, being helped they will make spiritual growth, but the work of those who train for initiation is not to help people, but to equip them to be helpers. Who would enroll as air raid wardens as casualties lying on stretchers? So those who seek occult knowledge in order to find help in their troubles are apt to find the dose too strong. Just as the ancient Hebrew law required the priests of the Temple to be without maim or defect, so those who represent themselves for higher initiations must have worked out their personal troubles and find equilibrium and freedom before they dare to come to the altar. They are helped to do this work in the Outer Court and the Lesser Mysteries, but they may not enter upon the Greater Mysteries until it is done.

The initiate of the Greater Mysteries is known by his serenity and impersonal attitude in all the relations of life. He knows how to be still and let the powers he has set in motion carry out the work. He knows how to await the ripening of souls and not force a premature development by personal pressure. The initiate never goes about doing good; he never trespasses uninvited upon the spiritual privacy of another. He acts by what he is, not by what he does. He works on himself, makes something of himself, and then the forces that radiate from him without effort on his part bless and illuminate. If he is calm, he calms his environment. If he has wisdom, those who are in his company unconsciously take on his attitude and he has no need to proffer unsolicited advice. Because he knows the reality of eternity, he is content to let time do its work. He is characterized by two things, the power to be still and wait, and the power to stand absolutely alone. Until we know how to be still, mentally as well as physically, we cannot handle power; and until we know how to stand absolutely alone in perfect equilibrium and contentment, we cannot accomplish the works are done in polarity. Finally, the initiate is prepared to work without seeing result, playing his part on the Great Plan that unfolds through the ages of planetary time.

Fortune's other major non-fiction works include Sane Occultism (1929); The Training and Work of an Initiate (1930); Through the Gates of Death (1932); Applied Magic; Aspects of Occultism; and Spiritualism in the Light of Occult Science. She published Machinery of the Mind (1922), under her given name.

However, it was her novels that greatly captivated the attention of the modern Pagans and Witches. Particularly The Goat-Foot God ((1936), which concern the powers of Pan, a Horned God, and offers a wealth of details concerning leys; The Sea-Priestess (1938) which concerns the powers of Isis, the moon goddess, and has been employed by modern Witches for inspiration in creating rituals and invocations. Her other novels are The Secrets of Dr. Taverner (1926) about an adapt that runs a nursing home; The Demon Lover (1927); and The Winged Bull (1936).

Fortune married a Dr. Evans. She died in 1946.

The Fraternity of the Inner Light continues to be based in London, but now is known as the Society of the Inner Light. It offers techniques in the Western esoteric tradition. The Society stresses that Fortune was not a Witch, nor was she involved with any coven; and the Society is not connected with Witchcraft in anyway.

Source: http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/f/fortune_dion.html