Dion Fortune’s Psychic Self-Defense – Part IV

A lot of what we today would call “mind games” are very much part of the arsenal of many psychic attackers. Such a person is usually close enough to the victim to know at least some of what makes her/him tick. Such people are very good at gaining their victim’s confidence, or eliciting their admiration. Once that happens, it is very easy for them to play upon their victim’s fears or desires, and begin preparing the soil in which they will cast their psychic weeds.

Psychic attacks require a great deal of energy on the part of the attacker, and therein lies one key to defense. If you know, or suspect, that an attack will take place at 8 p.m. on the night of the full moon, then an excellent strategy is to go see a thoroughly engaging film at that time. It’s quite draining to psychically attack someone. But if other people surround the victim, are engrossed in an epic adventure story, and not paying attention, then the attacker may find himself all dressed up with nowhere to go.

It is also risky to psychically attack someone. As with any magical operation, the person doing the working must fill her/himself with emotion powerful enough to send out to the universe. If an attacker works up the required frenzy of rage, hatred, cruelty, etc., those forces will respond. But if those forces are rebuffed, then they will turn on the one who summoned them in the first place.

Another thing to remember about psychic attacks is that they are comparatively rare. Dion Fortune encountered a case of alleged psychic attack that turned out to be nothing more than constipation! She also describes cases that were not really psychic attacks, but actually what she termed “psychic parasitism”, in which one person in a relationship (or several) seemed to suck the life out of the other. I have heard of such people jokingly referred to nowadays as “psychic vampires” but, according to Fortune, actual psychic vampires are able to project an astral body, and inflict their harm deliberately, whereas psychic parasites aren’t intending to do any harm; what they do comes about purely from their own needs, rather than any malice directed towards the person they are affecting.

This book really opened my eyes to what can actually go on in the unseen world around us. However, as with any book, it is wise to be aware of the time and place of writing, as well as the background of the author. Dion Fortune came from a Christian Science background. Her occult training was in Western Esotericism, and she was a very Christian mystic. This book was published in England in 1930, 21 years before the last of the laws against witchcraft were repealed in that country. This is why, in my opinion, Dion Fortune is careful to distance herself from witches in this book, and why so many of the defenses she describes call on “the Christ”. I must also mention that some of her writing reflects the white upper class privilege in the pre-World War II British Empire. That being said, I found it very engrossing and educational reading. I now understand why my mentor insisted that I read it.