Dione Fortune’s Psychic Self-Defense – Part I

Recently, my mentor strongly suggested that I read Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune. I was a little surprised because, while I was sure that psychic attacks between warring practitioners must occur, the only ones I’d met who – in my estimation – were adept enough to actually carry out a psychic attack wouldn’t do it, even if I angered them, which I hadn’t. However, I figured that there had to be a reason why my mentor suggested this book, even if it was merely to recognize the signs, just in case I managed to annoy an adept with fewer scruples.

It turns out that there are many more types of psychic attack than I thought, and you don’t need to be adept in the occult to utilize several of them. In fact, that is why Dion Fortune wrote the book in the first place. At the time the book was published (1930), psychology was really hitting its stride as a valued science. At the same time, there had been a resurgence of interest in the occult. The result was that certain skills, like hypnotism, which had heretofore been kept relatively secret – or at least contained – were being used and taught by people who were more interested in manipulating others than in helping them. Dion Fortune herself, fresh out of school and in her first job, was the victim of just such a manipulator.

Let me reassure you that this book is not a hymn to paranormal paranoia. In fact, it is one of the most down-to-earth books on the occult that I have ever read. The best way to describe this book is to tell you to think of the person in your life who has the greatest amount of common sense (which, truth be told, really isn’t all that common), and the least tendency to flights of fancy. Now, imagine that person calmly relating how she accidentally conjured a wolf thoughtform while thinking of Fenrir, at the same time that she was really angry with someone. That’s what this book is like; it is filled with the most bizarre experiences told in a very straightforward, easily understandable style. What most people would consider nonsense, written in an engagingly no-nonsense manner.

After leaving the job where she was psychically attacked, Dion Fortune studied psychology. When psychology couldn’t explain some of what she was seeing, she became interested in occultism. She managed to retain a healthy skepticism, which kept her from falling under the sway of the kind of occultists who were more interested in notching their bedposts than in contacting the Inner Planes.

To Be Continued…