{"id":6736,"date":"2012-06-01T01:10:28","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T06:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=6936"},"modified":"2012-05-28T15:16:37","modified_gmt":"2012-05-28T20:16:37","slug":"book-review-psychic-self-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2012\/06\/01\/book-review-psychic-self-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Psychic Self-Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psychic Self-Defense <\/strong><\/p>\n

by\u00a0 Dion Fortune\u00a0 \u00a9 2001 <\/em><\/p>\n

Red Wheel\/Weiser <\/em><\/p>\n

ISBN:\u00a0 978-1-57863-509-2 <\/em><\/p>\n

272 pages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paperback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $16.95 (U.S.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a classic in the occult literature.\u00a0 That means that everyone knows it; everyone discusses it; but very few people have ever taken the time to actually READ it.\u00a0 Of course it is dry reading.\u00a0 Of course it appears dated (it was originally written in 1930), and difficult to wade through.\u00a0 None of that, however, is important.\u00a0 What is important is that Dion Fortune (nee Violet Firth) was both a pioneering psychoanalyst and a practicing ceremonial magician.\u00a0 This unique perspective allowed her to approach the problem of \u201cpsychic attack\u201d from multiple points of view.<\/p>\n

I first encountered this book over 40 years ago when I was beginning my own training in Paganism and magick.\u00a0 I found it tedious at the time, but suspect now that was simply a result of the combination of\u00a0 being expected to read it and youthful rebellion.\u00a0 This work is \u201cChrist-focused\u201d as was the author herself.\u00a0 Do not let that deter you.\u00a0 However, if you are an easily offended practicing Witch or Wiccan, put this book down and walk away from it.\u00a0 Dion Fortune was a number of things (member of a Golden\u00a0 Dawn lineage and founder of The Society of the Inner Light, in addition to the things mentioned in the first paragraph), but one thing she was not was tolerant of those who followed the path of the Witch (which she saw from a traditional Christian viewpoint).<\/p>\n

If your practice involves the use of magick, however, you need to overlook HER prejudices and take advantage of the information contained within these covers.\u00a0 She has numerous experiences, which she relates anecdotally, dealing with various forms of magickal\/psychic attacks and\/or misadventures.<\/p>\n

There is a tendency in the world of the paranormal to see malice behind every misfortune.\u00a0 If an aspiring occultist\u00a0 has a headache \u2013 it must be a psychic attack.\u00a0 If one loses a job \u2013 psychic attack.\u00a0 If one has nightmares \u2013 ditto.\u00a0 While such attacks are certainly possible, they are in no sense common.\u00a0 The use of \u201coccult powers\u201d to attack someone is, in most cases, overkill.\u00a0 It is far more energy efficient to simply walk up to your intended target and deal with them physically.<\/p>\n

Ms Fortune makes every effort to help the reader to distinguish between the various types of misadventures one may encounter (physical as well as psychic); to determine the root cause and suggest solutions to them; and how to protect oneself.\u00a0 There are a large number of items which she does not explain, however, since she was oath-bound to protect that information.\u00a0 It may seem that, to many modern readers, that explanation is used too often.\u00a0 It is necessary, however, to remember the time and circumstances under which this book was written (originally published in 1930).\u00a0 At the time, and in the society in which she lived, occultism was talked of in hushed tones, in private gatherings of trusted associates, and almost always with a Christian bias.<\/p>\n

In many cases her suggestion amounts to \u201cFind someone more qualified to handle the problem.\u201d\u00a0 That is still good advice.\u00a0 If you aren’t sure of the origin of your problem; if you can;t be sure you are capable of handling the forces and energies involved; if you have ANY doubts, find someone else to give you a hand.\u00a0 It is far better to ask for help and then discover that you COULD have handled it than to go into a situation and discover partway through that you are in over your head.<\/p>\n

This is a useful book, although it is not an absolute necessity.\u00a0 Still…to have it on hand, and to review it periodically would be a good idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Psychic Self-Defense by\u00a0 Dion Fortune\u00a0 \u00a9 2001 Red Wheel\/Weiser ISBN:\u00a0 978-1-57863-509-2 272 pages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paperback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $16.95 (U.S.) This is a classic in the occult literature.\u00a0 That means that everyone knows it; everyone discusses it; but very few people have ever taken the time to actually READ it.\u00a0 Of course it is dry reading.\u00a0 Of course it appears dated (it was originally written in 1930), and difficult to wade through.\u00a0 None of that, however, is important.\u00a0 What is important is that Dion Fortune (nee Violet Firth) was both a pioneering psychoanalyst and a practicing ceremonial magician.\u00a0 This unique perspective allowed her to approach the problem of \u201cpsychic attack\u201d from multiple points of view. I first encountered this book over 40 years ago when I was beginning my own training in Paganism and magick.\u00a0 I found it tedious at the time, but suspect now that was simply a result of the combination of\u00a0 being expected to read it and youthful rebellion.\u00a0 This work is \u201cChrist-focused\u201d as was the author herself.\u00a0 Do not let that deter you.\u00a0 However, if you are an easily offended practicing Witch or Wiccan, put this book down and walk away from it.\u00a0 Dion Fortune was a number of things (member of a Golden\u00a0 Dawn lineage and founder of The Society of the Inner Light, in addition to the things mentioned in the first paragraph), but one thing she was not was tolerant of those who followed the path of the Witch (which she saw from a traditional Christian viewpoint). If your practice involves the use of magick, however, you need to overlook HER prejudices and take advantage of the information contained within these covers.\u00a0 She has numerous experiences, which she relates anecdotally, dealing with various forms of magickal\/psychic attacks and\/or misadventures. There is a tendency in the world of the paranormal to see malice behind every misfortune.\u00a0 If an aspiring occultist\u00a0 has a headache \u2013 it must be a psychic attack.\u00a0 If one loses a job \u2013 psychic attack.\u00a0 If one has nightmares \u2013 ditto.\u00a0 While such attacks are certainly possible, they are in no sense common.\u00a0 The use of \u201coccult powers\u201d to attack someone is, in most cases, overkill.\u00a0 It is far more energy efficient to simply walk up to your intended target and deal with them physically. Ms Fortune makes every effort to help the reader to distinguish between the various types of misadventures one may encounter (physical as well as psychic); to determine the root cause and suggest solutions to them; and how to protect oneself.\u00a0 There are a large number of items which she does not explain, however, since she was oath-bound to protect that information.\u00a0 It may seem that, to many modern readers, that explanation is used too often.\u00a0 It is necessary, however, to remember the time and circumstances under which this book was written (originally published in 1930).\u00a0 At the time, and in the society in which she lived, occultism was talked of in hushed tones, in private gatherings of trusted associates, and almost always with a Christian bias. In many cases her suggestion amounts to \u201cFind someone more qualified to handle the problem.\u201d\u00a0 That is still good advice.\u00a0 If you aren’t sure of the origin of your problem; if you can;t be sure you are capable of handling the forces and energies involved; if you have ANY doubts, find someone else to give you a hand.\u00a0 It is far better to ask for help and then discover that you COULD have handled it than to go into a situation and discover partway through that you are in over your head. This is a useful book, although it is not an absolute necessity.\u00a0 Still…to have it on hand, and to review it periodically would be a good idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}