Dion Fortune (born Violet Mary Firth, 6 December 1890 – 6 January 1946) was a British

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an ex ...

ian, novelist and author. She was a co-founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light, an occult organisation that promoted philosophies which she claimed had been taught to her by spiritual entities known as the Ascended Masters. A prolific writer, she produced a large number of articles and books on her occult ideas and also authored seven novels, several of which expound occult themes. Fortune was born in

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craig ...

Caernarfonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

, North Wales, to a wealthy upper middle-class English family, although little is known of her early life. By her teenage years she was living in England's

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouc ...

, where she wrote two books of poetry. After time spent at a horticultural college she began studying

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

and

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

before working as a counsellor in a psychotherapy clinic. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

she joined the Women's Land Army and established a company selling

soy milk Soy milk (simplified Chinese: 豆浆; traditional Chinese: 豆漿) also known as soya milk or soymilk, is a plant-based drink produced by soaking and grinding soybeans, boiling the mixture, and filtering out remaining particulates. It is a sta ...

products. She became interested in

esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

through the teachings of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

, before joining an occult lodge led by Theodore Moriarty and then the

Alpha et Omega The Alpha et Omega was an occult order, initially named the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, co-founded in London, England by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in 1888. The Alpha et Omega was one of four daughter organisations into which the ...

occult organisation. She came to believe that she was being contacted by the Ascended Masters, including " the Master Jesus", and underwent trance mediumship to channel the Masters' messages. In 1922 Fortune and Charles Loveday claimed that during one of these ceremonies they were contacted by Masters who provided them with a text, ''The Cosmic Doctrine''. Although she became the president of the Christian Mystic Lodge of the Theosophical Society, she believed the society to be uninterested in Christianity, and split from it to form the Community of the Inner Light, a group later renamed the Fraternity of the Inner Light. With Loveday she established bases in both

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

and

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, an ...

, London, began issuing a magazine, gave public lectures, and promoted the growth of their society. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

she organised a project of meditations and visualisations designed to protect Britain. She began planning for what she believed was a coming post-war

Age of Aquarius The Age of Aquarius, in astrology, is either the current or forthcoming astrological age, depending on the method of calculation. Astrologers maintain that an astrological age is a product of the earth's slow precessional rotation and lasts for 2 ...

, although she died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

shortly after the war's end. Fortune is recognised as one of the most significant occultists and ceremonial magicians of the early 20th century. The Fraternity she founded survived her and in later decades spawned a variety of related groups based upon her teachings. Her novels in particular proved an influence on later occult and modern Pagan groups such as

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and w ...

Biography

Early life: 1890–1913

Fortune was born Violet Mary Firth on 6 December 1890 at her family home on Bryn-y-Bia Road in

, North Wales. Her background was upper middle-class; the Firths were a wealthy English family who had gained their money through the steel industry in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, where they had specialised in the production of guns. Fortune's paternal grandfather John Firth had devised a family motto, "Deo, non Fortuna" ("God, not Luck"), to mark out their ''

nouveau riche ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...

'' status; she would later make use of it in creating her pseudonym. One of John's sons – and Fortune's uncle – was the historian

Charles Harding Firth Sir Charles Harding Firth (16 March 1857 – 19 February 1936) was a British historian. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. Career Born in Sheffield, Firth was educated at Clifton College and at Balliol College, ...

, while her father, Arthur, had run a Sheffield law firm prior to establishing a

hydropathic establishment Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The te ...

Limpley Stoke Limpley Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies in the Avon valley between Bath and Freshford, and is both above and below the A36 road. The parish is surrounded to the north, west and south by the Bath and North E ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. In August 1886 Arthur Firth married Sarah Jane Smith, before they relocated to Llandudno where Arthur established the new Craigside Hydrotherapeutic Establishment. Sarah was keenly interested in

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...

, and while biographer Gareth Knight suggested that both of Firth's parents were active practitioners of the religion, fellow biographer Alan Richardson argued that there was insufficient evidence to support this idea. Little is known about Fortune's time in Wales, in part because throughout her life she was deliberately elusive when providing biographical details about herself. In later life she reported that from the age of four she had experienced visions of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

, something which she believed were past life memories. The Firths were still in Llandudno in 1900, although by 1904 Fortune was living in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, south-west England. That year, she authored a book of poetry, titled ''Violets'', which was likely published by her family. It was reviewed in the May 1905 volume of ''The Girls' Room'', in which it was accompanied by the only known photograph of Fortune as a girl. In 1906, her second book of poetry, ''More Violets'', was published. After John Firth's death, Arthur moved with his family to London. According to Richardson they lived in the area around Liverpool Street in the east of the city, although Knight gives a different account, stating that they lived first in Bedford Park and then

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

, both in the west of the city. From January 1911 to December 1912 Fortune studied at Studley Agricultural College in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

, a horticultural institution which advertised itself as being ideal for girls with psychological problems. Her proficiency with poultry led her to become a staff member at the college from January to April 1913. She later claimed that at the college she was the victim of mental manipulation from her employer, the college warden

Lillias Hamilton Lillias Anna Hamilton (7 February 1858 – 6 January 1925) was a British doctor and author. She was born at Tomabil Station, New South Wales to Hugh Hamilton (1822– 1900) and his wife Margaret Clunes (née Innes). After attending school in A ...

, resulting in a

mental breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

that made her abandon the institution and return to her parental home.

Psychotherapy and esotericism: 1913–22

To recover from her experience at Studley, Fortune began studying

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

. Her initial interest was in the work of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

and

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( , ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, family constellation and birth orde ...

, though she later moved on to that of

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, ph ...

. She studied

and

under

John Flügel John Carl Flügel (13 June 1884 – 6 August 1955), was a British experimental psychologist and a practising psychoanalyst. Training and career Flügel was born in Liverpool on 13 June 1884, to a German father and English mother. Psychoanalytic ...

at the

, before gaining employment at a psychology clinic in London's

Brunswick Square Brunswick Square is a public garden and ancillary streets along two of its sides in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north; the Brunswick Centre to the w ...

, which was likely run under the jurisdiction of the

London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...

. Working as a counsellor from 1914 until 1916, she found that most of those she dealt with were coming to terms with sexual urges that were considered taboo in British society. Through her affiliation with the Society for the Study of Orthopsychics, she gave a series of lectures that were later published in 1922 as ''The Machinery of the Mind''. While working at the clinic, she developed her interest in esotericism by attending lunchtime lectures organised by the

and reading some of the organisation's literature. With her interest in occultism increasing, Fortune became increasingly dissatisfied with the effectiveness of psychotherapy. After the United Kingdom entered the

, Fortune joined the Women's Land Army. She was initially stationed on a farm near to

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

on the borders between

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, before later being relocated to an experimental base for the Food Production Department. There she carried out experiments in the production of

, subsequently founding the Letchworth-based Garden City Pure Food Company to sell her products and publishing ''The Soya Bean: An Appeal to Humanitarians'' in 1925. It was while working at the base that she underwent a spiritual experience and subsequently further immersed herself in Theosophical literature. After doing so, she became preoccupied by the idea of the ' Ascended Masters' or 'Secret Chiefs', claiming to have had visions of two such entities, the

Master Jesus Master Jesus is the theosophical concept of Jesus in Theosophy and the Ascended Master Teachings. Position in the Hierarchy of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom The Master Jesus is one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Theosophy and is one of t ...

and the Master Rakoczi. Her first magical mentor was the Irish occultist and

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Theodore Moriarty. She had befriended him while still involved in psychotherapy, believing that he could help one of her patients, a young man who had been fighting on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

and claimed to be plagued by unexplained physical phenomena. Moriarty performed an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

, claiming that the young man was the victim of the soul of a deceased East European soldier which had latched onto him as a parasite. Fortune became an

acolyte An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

of Moriarty's Masonic-influenced lodge, which was based in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

, and joined his community of followers living at Gwen Stafford-Allen's home in Bishop's Stortford. Moriarty spent much time talking about the lost city of

, a topic that would also come to be embraced by Fortune. Fortune later fictionalised Moriarty as the character Dr. Taverner, who appeared in a number of short stories first published in 1922, later assembled in a collected volume as ''The Secrets of Dr. Taverner'' in 1926. Like Moriarty, Dr. Taverner was portrayed as carrying out exorcisms to protect humans from the attacks of etheric

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s. In tandem with her studies under Moriarty, in 1919 Fortune had been initiated into the London Temple of the

, an occult group that had developed from the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...

. Here, her primary teacher was Maiya Curtis-Webb, a longstanding friend of the Firth family. Fortune later claimed that in the period after the First World War, the Order had been "manned mainly by widows and grey-bearded ancients". She was not enamoured with the

system that had been developed by the Golden Dawn, however it did provide her with the grounding in the study of the

Hermetic Qabalah Hermetic Qabalah () is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Bu ...

which would exert a great influence over her esoteric world-view. It was also through her involvement in the group that she embraced her family's "Deo, non Fortuna" as her personal magical motto. In January and March 1921 Fortune and Curtis-Webb embarked on a series of experiments in trance mediumship. This culminated in an act of trance mediumship that Fortune conducted in the Somerset town of

with her mother and

Frederick Bligh Bond Frederick Bligh Bond (30 June 1864 – 8 March 1945), generally known by his second given name ''Bligh'', was an English architect, illustrator, archaeologist and psychical researcher. Early life Bligh Bond was the son of the Rev. Frederick Ho ...

. She claimed that in doing so, she had contacted spirit-entities known as "the Watchers of Avalon" who informed her that Glastonbury had once been the site of an ancient

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

ic college. Bond subsequently commissioned Fortune to write an article, "Psychology and Occultism", which was published in the transactions of the College of Psychic Science in 1922.

Glastonbury and ''The Cosmic Doctrine'': 1922–26

Glastonbury Tor from north east showing terraces

In September 1922, Fortune returned to Glastonbury to visit her friend Charles Loveday. Along with an anonymous woman known only as "E. P.", the pair carried out acts of trance mediumship, claiming that in doing so they entered into psychic contact with the Ascended Masters; Fortune later identified these as

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

, Thomas Erskine, and a young military officer named David Carstairs who had died at the

Battle of Ypres The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force). During the five ...

. Fortune and Loveday characterised their method of communication as "inspirational mediumship", believing that in this process the Masters communicated through the medium's subconscious mind; they contrasted this with "automatic mediumship", which they believed involved the medium becoming completely dissociated from their own body. It was in this manner that Fortune and Loveday claimed that they received a text, ''The Cosmic Doctrine'', which was dictated to them in segments by the Masters between July 1923 and February 1925. These communications discussed the existence of seven planes of the universe, and were very similar to the ideas promoted in Moriarty's writings, in particular his ''Aphorism of Creation'' and ''Cosmic Principles''. The cosmology present in this book was also similar to that presented in

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. In the following years, Fortune distributed this material among her senior students, before publishing an edited version of ''The Cosmic Doctrine'' in 1949. In August 1923 Moriarty died, and Fortune—who had never been particularly popular among his followers—tried to convince them that she should be their new leader. A few accepted her offer, but many others instead accepted the leadership of Stafford-Allen. Meanwhile, Fortune's parents relocated to the garden city of Letchworth,

in 1922, and it was here that Fortune carried out what she deemed to be additional communications with the Masters through trance mediumship between 1923 and 1925. On 20 August 1924, Fortune, Loveday, and others established themselves as a formal occult group. Fortune appointed herself as the group's "Adeptus", while five acolytes also joined. Loveday—who had inherited a number of properties from his father—sold some of them to fund the group's acquisitions. That year, they purchased a house on Queensborough Terrace in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

to use as a temple and headquarters, renting out some of the rooms to tenants to finance their operation. While the top floors were used as living quarters, the middle floor contained the temple space, and the lower floors held an office and private library. The group soon grew; it admitted four initiates in 1925, six in 1926, and ten in 1927. In November 1926, a second degree was established into which these initiates could progress. In 1924, the group also obtained an old orchard at the foot of

Glastonbury Tor Glastonbury Tor is a hill near Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower, a Grade I listed building. The entire site is managed by the National Trust and has been designated a scheduled monument. T ...

, there erecting a hut and eventually a veranda and series of chalets. At

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the ...

1926, Fortune and several other members of her group were on Glastonbury Tor when they underwent a spiritual experience that produced a feeling of ecstasy among them. They later came to believe that this experience was a result of a messenger from the Elemental Kingdoms, and it greatly influenced their developing beliefs. Fortune's activities—including her leadership of the new group and a series of articles that she wrote for ''

The Occult Review ''The Occult Review'' was a British illustrated monthly magazine published between 1905 and 1951 containing articles and correspondence by many notable occultists and authors of the day, including Aleister Crowley, Meredith Starr, Walter Leslie ...

''—raised concerns for Alpha et Omega leader

Moina Mathers Moina Mathers, born Mina Bergson (28 February 1865 – 25 July 1928), was an artist and occultist at the turn of the 20th century. She was the sister of French philosopher Henri Bergson, the first man of Jewish descent to be awarded the Nobel Pri ...

. After Fortune suggested that her own organisation could serve as a feeder group to Mathers's Alpha et Omega, Mathers expelled her from the order, claiming that this was necessitated by Fortune having the wrong signs in her

aura Aura most commonly refers to: * Aura (paranormal), a field of luminous multicolored radiation around a person or object * Aura (symptom), a symptom experienced before a migraine or seizure Aura may also refer to: Places Extraterrestrial * 1488 ...

. Fortune later claimed that she subsequently came under psychic attack from Mathers, during which she was confronted and assaulted by both real and etheric cats.

The Theosophical Society and the Community of the Inner Light: 1927–30

Later claiming that she was acting under instruction from the Ascended Masters, Fortune and Loveday joined the Christian Mystic Lodge of the Theosophical Society, which was run by Daisy M. Grove. Fortune soon became its president, and under her leadership the group's membership expanded and the readership of its published ''Transactions'' also grew. Throughout this period, she foregrounded the need for a Christian perspective within the Theosophical movement, emphasising the centrality and importance of the 'Master Jesus' in her various articles. She publicly criticised another Theosophical group, the Liberal Catholic Church founded by J. I. Wedgwood and

Charles Webster Leadbeater Charles Webster Leadbeater (; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was a member of the Theosophical Society, Co-Freemasonry, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church. Originally a p ...

, alleging that it was not concerned with the Master Jesus and was instead preoccupied with the Master Maitreya. One of the prominent figures in the Church, Bishop Piggott, accused her of attributing false claims to him in ''The Occult Review''. Amid these arguments with other sectors of the Theosophical movement, she resigned from the Theosophical Society in October. Her Christian Mystic Lodge abandoned its affiliation with the Society and renamed itself the Community of the Inner Light. Within this Community was established a group called the Guild of the Master Jesus, which held regular

church service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day S ...

s on Sundays at their Queensborough Terrace base from 1928 until 1939; in 1936 this group renamed itself the Church of the Graal. Fortune directed many seekers who lacked the self-discipline for ceremonial magical activity to the Guild, whose members were known by one senior Community member as the "teeny-weenies". Emb logo

When

Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti (; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a philosopher, speaker and writer. In his early life, he was groomed to be the new World Teacher, an advanced spiritual position in the theosophical tradition, but later rejected th ...

abandoned Theosophy, causing problems for the Theosophical movement, Fortune endorsed the 'Back to Blavatsky' faction, attacking Leadbeater in print by accusing him of being a practitioner of

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...

. She then involved herself with Bomanji Wadia and his

United Lodge of Theosophists The United Lodge of Theosophists or ULT is an informal and wholly voluntary association of ''students'' of Theosophy. It was founded in 1909, mainly through the efforts of Robert Crosbie. The first ''parent lodge'' of the ULT was started in Los A ...

, through which she claimed to have contacted the Himalayan Masters. She nevertheless was cautious about these Himalayan adepts, relating that although she felt that they were "not evil", she thought them "alien and unsympathetic" and "hostile to my race". Unhappy with the concept of promoting Indian religious beliefs in Britain, she left the group. Subsequently, she claimed that Wadia had begun to psychically attack her. In April 1927, Fortune married Tom Penry Evans—a Welsh medical doctor from a working-class background—at Paddington Registry Office, before the couple embarked on a

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

in Glastonbury. Their marriage was initially happy, although Evans may have been perturbed at having to immerse himself in occultism to a greater extent than he had planned. He was present throughout a program of trance mediumship in which Fortune claimed to be channelling the messages of a "Master of Medicine". Beginning in August 1927, the channelled messages focused around issues of

alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...

and diagnostics and were later assembled as ''The Principles of Esoteric Medicine'', which was privately circulated among Fortune's senior students. Some members of Fortune's group believed that the "Master of Medicine" was actually

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...

, although a later channelled message claimed that this Master's earthly identity had been

Ignaz Semmelweis Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; hu, Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist, who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the "saviour of mothers", he discovered that t ...

. In 1927 Fortune published her first occult novel, ''The Demon Lover'', which received a brief but positive review in ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. The following year she published ''The Problem of Purity'', her final book to appear under the name of "Violet Firth". In 1928 she published a textbook on her esoteric beliefs, ''The Esoteric Orders and their Work'', which she followed with a companion work in 1930, ''The Training and Work of an Initiate''. In 1930 this was followed by ''Psychic Self-Defense'', which contained many autobiographical elements and which was probably her most commercially popular book. According to the historian Claire Fanger, this book was "part anecdotal evidence, part do-it-yourself exorcism manual, part autobiography, and some part no doubt fiction." Fortune and her group focused on 'Outer Court' work, which entailed engaging in publicity to boost membership. They held regular lectures at their Bayswater premises, with Fortune herself lecturing there twice a week for much of 1928. At their Glastonbury property, which they called the Chalice Orchard, they established a guest house and a social centre which was open in the summer, and where lectures were also carried out. In October 1927 they began production of a magazine, ''The Inner Light'', with the initial print-run of 500 selling out in a fortnight. The magazine gained a wide readership, with many subscribers located outside of Britain. Within the group they formulated a three degree system, through which the initiate could progress as they gained a better knowledge and understanding of the group, its teachings, and its rituals. Progress through these degrees could be fairly rapid, with the only requirement being that an individual remain in one degree for at least three months before entering the next. Training in these three degrees was referred to as the 'Lesser Mysteries', allowing a practitioner to ascend into the 'Greater Mysteries'. The membership that they attracted was largely female, with 21 women to only 5 men being members in this period. All members, whether male or female, were initially referred to as "Brother", although this system later gave way to the term "Server Brother". At Midwinter 1928, they ritually established the Fraternity of the Inner Light—a sector of the group concerned with the 'Lesser Mysteries' that they could present to their membership—with Fortune, Evans, and Loveday as its principal officers.

Declining activity: 1930–38

At the vernal equinox of 1930, Fortune declared that—with the 'Lesser Mysteries' and three degree system now properly established—she wanted to turn away from public work and focus on personal spiritual development. At the vernal equinox of 1931, Fortune stepped down as leader of the Fraternity, with Loveday being appointed Magus of the Lodge in her place. During the 1930s, Fortune's emphasis moved away from mediumship and towards ritual, while at the same time other Fraternity members embraced mediumship in order to channel the messages of the Masters. In late 1931, Fortune began mooting the idea of the construction of a permanent base, or Sanctuary, at the Chalice Orchard, and despite the economic obstacles of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

was able to raise sufficient funds. The group experienced a growth in the numbers attending its lectures, subscribing to its correspondence course, and using their private library; conversely, their Sunday services were not very popular, with a move from the morning to the evening seeing no effect. One significant individual who joined the Fraternity was

Christine Campbell Thomson Christine Hartley, better known as Christine Campbell Thomson (1897–1985), was a British horror fiction author best known for the ''Not at Night'' series. She also wrote under the name Flavia Richardson. Mike Ashley , ''Who's Who in Horror and ...

, who had been Fortune's

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

since 1926. Fortune subsequently aided Thomson in separating from her abusive husband, after which she grew close to another Fraternity member, Colonel C. R. F. Seymour, in 1937. Although Seymour became a senior member of the Fraternity, relations between him and Fortune were strained, and during the Second World War he left London and settled in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, terminating his involvement with Fortune's Bayswater temple. By 1933, tensions in Fortune's marriage were tearing it apart. There were rumours that Evans was having extra-marital affairs with other women, while Fortune confided in female members of the Fraternity that she had married him for magical reasons rather than because she loved him. Evans eventually asked for a divorce in order to marry another woman; Fortune was appalled, but did not contest it. Fortune had begun renting The Belfry, a converted

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

chapel in West Halkin Street, where she then took up residence. It was here, during the latter 1930s, that she produced a number of rituals, among them the Rite of Isis and the Rite of Pan. As these and other aspects of her work testify, during the latter half of the decade Fortune had moved in what Richardson described as "an increasingly pagan orientation". Fortune published many articles in ''Inner Light'' magazine, a number of which were collected together and published in books. In 1930, the first such collection was published as ''Mystical Meditations upon the Collects'', in which Fortune emphasised her Christian commitments. In 1931 a number of her ''Inner Light'' articles on

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase ...

appeared as ''Spiritualism in the Light of Occult Science''. In this book Fortune expressed reservations about Spiritualism. She drew a distinction between normal Spiritualist mediums and 'cosmic mediums' such as herself who contacted the Ascended Masters, also arguing that the spirits of the dead should not be contacted without good reason, a view that generated controversy among the occult milieu. In 1934, she assembled a number of her ''Inner Light'' articles on Glastonbury as ''Avalon of the Heart'', while further ''Inner Light'' articles were assembled as ''Practical Occultism in Daily Life'', a book aimed at a general reader. A number of Fortune's articles from ''The Occult Review'' were also collected to produce the book ''Sane Occultism''. Over four years, Fortune also published a number of articles in ''Inner Light'' that discussed the Hermetic Qabalah. These articles were then assembled as the book ''The Mystical Qabalah'', which is widely perceived as a milestone in her esoteric career. While lambasting most of Fortune's works as "rather vulgar pot-boiling journalism", the writer Francis X. King characterised ''The Mystical Qabalah'' as "undoubtedly a classic of the Western Tradition". The work constituted a theoretical discussion based in the Golden Dawn system of correspondences to the Qabalic

Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...

which she had obtained through her membership of the Alpha et Omega group. However, it was also rooted in her own personal experiences and visions; while meditating, she believed that she had visited the various Sephiroth of the Qabalic tree. In 1935 she published her second occult novel, ''The Winged Bull''—which was again reviewed in ''The Times Literary Review''—and in 1936 her third, ''The Goat-Foot God''. In 1938 Fortune wrote a fourth occult novel, ''The Sea Priestess'', which was eventually self-published through the Fraternity after being declined by

Williams and Norgate Williams and Norgate were publishers and book importers in London and Edinburgh. They specialized in both British and foreign scholarly and scientific literature. Williams & Norgate was founded in the winter of 1842 by Edmund Sydney Williams (18 ...

, who had published the previous two. Her final novel, ''Moon Magic'', was apparently left unfinished prior to the outbreak of the Second World War; a protégé later completed it, claiming to have done so through channeling Blavatsky's disembodied spirit, and it was published posthumously. Fortune corresponded with a number of prominent occultists in this period. One of these was

Israel Regardie Francis Israel Regardie (; né Regudy; November 17, 1907 – March 10, 1985) was a British-American occultist, ceremonial magician, and writer who spent much of his life in the United States. He wrote fifteen books on the subject of occultism. Bo ...

, whose book ''The Tree of Life'' was regarded by Fortune as "quite the best book on magic" that she had read. Regardie later publicly criticised her for misrepresenting his works in her reviews of them; she had claimed that his works bolstered her beliefs about the Masters, although Regardie insisted that he was sceptical about the existence of such entities. Fortune also corresponded with

Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn (19 October 1881 – 1962) was a Dutch spiritualist, theosophist, and scholar who gained recognition in the 1920s. She lived in Switzerland for most of her life. Early life Olga was born in London, the first child of Dutch paren ...

, the Dutch esotericist who founded Eranos in Switzerland. She also renewed her interest in Jungian psychology, which was then growing in influence among the esoteric milieu, and was influenced by her reading of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's ''

The Birth of Tragedy ''The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music'' (german: Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik) is a 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as ''The Birth of Tragedy, Or ...

''.

Later life: 1939–46

The outbreak of the

in September 1939 saw some of the Fraternity's members enlist in the armed forces, putting a stop to many of the group's activities. From October 1939 through to October 1942, Fortune organised group meditations every Sunday with the intent of focusing Fraternity members towards the cause of peace. In February 1940, she undertook a visualisation in which she imagined angelic forces patrolling Britain's coast, believing that in doing so she was helping to make these forces a reality. She urged Fraternity members to repeat a

mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

every time the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

began bombing Britain, through which she hoped to call upon "Invisible Helpers" from the "Inner Planes" to aid the people affected. The Fraternity's London headquarters were damaged during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, although roofing repairs were made and the group were able to move back into the building after a week. In August 1940, the group had to suspend publication of ''Inner Light'' as a result of paper shortages in Britain. Tomb of Dion Fortune 2

After the United States entered the conflict in December 1941, Fortune began assembling plans for the post-war period, believing it would mark the dawning of the

. In the spring of 1942 the Fraternity recommenced the Guild's Sunday services, and in March 1943 Fortune announced a new study course for aspiring members. As part of her plans for the post-war period, Fortune began mooting the idea of bringing together all of Europe's occultists to pool their knowledge. She also began discussing the possibility of uniting occult groups with the Spiritualist movement, writing articles that were more favourable towards Spiritualist mediums than she had previously been and meeting with Charles Richard Cammell, the editor of ''Light''—the magazine of the

College of Psychic Studies The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena. History British National Assoc ...

—who then published a favourable article about her. By at least 1942, Fortune corresponded with the prominent occultist and ceremonial magician

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

, praising him as "a genuine adept" despite the many differences between their respective occult philosophies. She later visited him at his home in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, with Crowley's assistant

Kenneth Grant Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byn ...

noting that the pair got along well. In August 1940, Fortune embarked on a further project of trance mediumship, this time with her Alpha et Omega mentor, Curtis-Webb (now renamed Maiya Tranchall-Hayes), in the hope of contacting the same Masters who they believed had aided the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In doing so, they believed that they were channelling messages from an entity known as "the Shemesh of the Aquarian Age". These communications were received between April 1941 and February 1942, and together became known as "the Arthurian Formula"; they provided the basis of much of the Fraternity's 'Greater Mystery' work following the war. The claims produced in these channelled meditations presented the Arthurian myths as racial memories that had been passed down from

, having been brought to Britain by Atlantean settlers after the cataclysm that destroyed their island. It also set forward a threefold system of training: that of

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

and his Round Table Fellowship, that of

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and leg ...

and the Faery Woman, and that of

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First me ...

and the Forces of Love. In late 1945, Fortune fell ill, and was unable to give her scheduled address to the Fraternity on that year's

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

. She died at

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in January 1946, at the age of 55. Her body was transferred to Glastonbury, where it was buried in a funeral overseen by the Reverend L. S. Lewis, vicar of

St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...

. When Loveday died shortly after, he was buried close to her. She bequeathed most of her money to her Society. During Fortune's lifetime, some of the Fraternity members had expressed concerns with regard to the organisation becoming a

personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

revolving around her, and so following her death they did not encourage an interest in her biography. Members of the society have alleged that her successor destroyed most of her diaries, correspondences, and photographs. However, a number of her books would be published posthumously, among them ''The Cosmic Doctrine'', which appeared in 1949, and her novel ''Moon Magic'', published in 1956.

Novels

Fortune completed seven novels during her lifetime. Four were occult and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

themed: ''The Demon Lover'', ''The Winged Bull'', ''The Goat-Foot God'', and ''The Sea Priestess''. The literary scholar Susan Johnson Graf categorises these alongside the work of

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary crit ...

, Charles Williams, and

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...

. The other three were romantic thrillers published under the pseudonym of "V. M. Steele": ''The Scarred Wrists'', ''Hunters of Humans'', and ''Beloved of Ishmael''. Writing thrillers was one of few activities Fortune took part in unconnected to her magical work, and was something she did not publicise. Knight believed these three novels testified to the idea that "she must really have loved writing for writing's sake". An eighth novel, ''Moon Magic'', was left unfinished but completed by her protégé and published posthumously. Fortune saw her occult novels as an important part of her Fraternity work, initiating readers into the realms of occultism by speaking to their subconscious, even when their conscious mind rejects occult teachings. She thus perceived them as a means of disseminating her teachings to a wider audience. Each was related to one of the Sephirah on the Qabalic Tree of Life: ''The Winged Bull'' was associated with

Tiphareth Tiferet ( he, תִּפְאֶרֶת ''Tip̄ʾereṯ,'' in pausa: תִּפְאָרֶת ''Tip̄ʾāreṯ'', lit. 'beauty, glory, adornment') alternatively Tifaret, Tiphareth, Tifereth or Tiphereth, is the sixth sefira in the kabbalistic Tree of Li ...

, ''The Goat-Foot God'' with

Malkuth Modern: ''Malḵūt'' , Tiberian: ''Malḵūṯ'' , Ashkenazi: ''Malḵūs'' , 'kingdom'), Malkhut Malkhuth or Malchus is the tenth of the sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. It sits at the bottom of the Tree, below Yesod. This sephira ...

, and ''The Sea Priestess'' with

Yesod Yesod (Hebrew: יְסוֹד ''Yəsōḏ'', Tiberian: ''Yăsōḏ'', "foundation") is a sephirah or node in the kabbalistic Tree of Life, a system of Jewish philosophy. Yesod, located near the base of the Tree, is the sephirah below Hod and ...

. Fortune's first novel was ''The Demon Lover'', which tells the story of Veronica Mainwaring, a young virgin woman who becomes the secretary to a malevolent magician, Justin Lucas, who seeks to exploit her latent mediumistic powers for his own purposes. Although she falls in love with him, she eventually escapes his entrapments through her devotion to Christianity. Her next work, ''The Winged Bull'', focuses on Ursula Brangwyn, who had been harmed by her involvement in an unscrupulous occult group but meets with Ted Murchison, whom she subsequently marries. The characters in ''The Winged Bull'' are based upon real people in Fortune's life; Murchison is based on her husband, for example, and she modeled Brangwyn after herself. The character of Hugo Astley has been interpreted as a "barely veiled fictional portrait" of Aleister Crowley. Richardson felt that ''The Winged Bull'' was "in many ways the worst of her books". The scholar Andrew Radford suggested that the novel reflected a "zeal in promoting a socially responsible occultism rooted in orthodox gender roles" and demonstrated her growing concern that occultism was increasingly being associated with what she regarded as an immoral cosmopolitan elite synonymous with Crowley and his activities. ''The Goat-Foot God'' revolves around a wealthy widower, Hugh Patson, who teams up with an esoteric bookseller to seek out the ancient Greek god Pan. They achieve this with the aid of a poverty-stricken artist, Mona Wilton, who becomes close to Patson as the novel progresses. Richardson described ''The Goat-Foot God'' as "a masterpiece ... the finest occult novel ever written". ''The Sea Priestess'' is about Wilfred Maxwell, a man living with his mother and sister who learns to commune with the Moon after an

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

attack. He meets with Le Fay Morgan, a spiritual adept, and together they enter an obsessive (on Wilfred's part) but platonic relationship while establishing a temple to the sea gods. Fortune's novels all follow the same basic theme: a heroine – a priestess and initiatrix who is magically experienced and assertive – who meets a man and saves him from himself. In her later novels this entails the duos reconstructing or revitalising a ritual space and working magical rituals to channel cosmic forces and bring them into balance. In her discussion of Fortune's work, Sonja Sadovsky stated that the "unique element" of Fortune's fiction was "the recurring plotline of esoteric romance told from the priestess's viewpoint", suggesting that her female characters provided a template from which female readers could build upon in their own spiritual practice. Sadovsky further suggested that there were two types of priestess who appeared in Fortune's novels, the "Earth Mother" and the "Moon Mistress". According to Sadovsky, the "Earth Mother" was represented by the character of Mona Wilkins in ''The Goat-Foot God'' and that of Molly Coke in ''The Sea Priestess''. She suggested that these characters derived their power from the masculine/feminine polarity and the creative power of sex, and that they also required a male priest in order to initiate them into their spiritual mysteries and to reach their full potential. The second type of priestess, the "Moon Mistress", appeared as Vivien/Lilith le Fay Morgan in ''The Sea Priestess'' and then becomes more dominant in ''Moon Magic''. According to Sadovsky, this is a celibate figure who concentrates her creative powers on training priestesses and dealing with occult matters.

Belief and teachings

Religion and race

Fortune identified her beliefs as being part of what she termed "the Western Mystery Tradition". She adhered to a form of esoteric Christianity, and has been described both as a Christian Qabalist, and as "a devout mystical Christian", albeit "a very unorthodox one". She expressed the opinion that "in any school of Western mysticism the author and finisher of our faith must be Christ Jesus, the Great Initiator of the West", and treated "the Master Jesus" as her personal spiritual guide. She believed that the teachings passed down from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn served the purpose of recovering "sacred mysteries" or ''

gnosis Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it ...

'' that had been overlooked by mainstream Christianity. Accordingly, she had no allegiance to any established Christian churches and was often critical of mainstream clergy. Moreover, she rejected a number of traditional Christian doctrines, such as that surrounding

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

and

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

. There is no evidence that Fortune considered herself to be a "Pagan". However, by the late 1930s, Fortune had developed some interest in the religion of ancient Egypt, but treated it as a preparation for the higher truth of Christianity. In the 1930s her attitude began to change as she became more favourable to pre-Christian religion, likely under the influence of her husband, Seymour, and

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

's '' The Rainbow'', of which she was a fan. By ''The Winged Bull'', she was declaring that pre-Christian gods were just as valid as facets of the divine as the Christian God, and around this time she began to adopt an increasingly critical attitude to Christianity, stating that it had been greatly degraded since its origins and distorted by "those two crusty old bachelors",

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

and

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

. In her next novel, ''The Goat-Foot God'', Fortune had fully embraced the idea of a modern Paganism reviving the belief systems of pre-Christian Europe, referring to this as "Vitamin P" and declaring that it was needed to heal the modern world. Around this time she began promoting the claim that "All the gods are one god, and all the goddesses are one goddess". However, during the Second World War her writings became more pronouncedly Christian once again. Fortune believed in the existence of an underlying commonality between the teachings of Western esoteric orders and Asian religious traditions. Nevertheless, she believed that particular spiritual traditions were allotted to specific racial groups, stating that "the Great White Lodge gives to each race the religion suited to its needs". Writing in ''The Occult Review'', Fortune stated: "Do not let it be forgotten that our traditions are racial. What that great initiate

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as ...

did for the German-speaking races someone must do for those who use a Latin-root language and the Anglo-Saxon tongue." She did not agree with allowing spiritual and magical techniques to transmit between different cultures, believing that to do so caused damage; she for instance cautioned against allowing Western esoteric teachings to be practised in India because "the Hindu dies readily from shock". Equally she strongly opposed the adoption of Asian religious techniques into Western esotericism, distancing herself from occultists who did so. In her words, she must "recommend to the white races the traditional Western system, which is admirably adapted to their psychic constitution". She nevertheless perceived value in Westerners studying Asian disciplines like

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

on a theoretical level, so long as they eschewed any attempt to put these teachings into practice. The religious studies scholar Gordan Djurdjevic highlighted that 21st century readers would likely deem there to be "a strong cultural essentialism and even racial prejudice in her writings", but that ideas regarding the close relationship between "culture, race, and religion" were "a part of everyday discourse" in Britain during her lifetime.

Magic

Fortune was a ceremonial magician. The magical principles on which her Fraternity was based were adopted from the late nineteenth century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with other influences coming from Theosophy and Christian Science. The magical ceremonies performed by Fortune's Fraternity were placed into two categories: initiations, in which the candidate was introduced to magical forces, and evocation, in which these forces were manipulated for a given purpose. The Fraternity's rituals at their Bayswater temple were carried out under a dim light, with Fortune claiming that bright light disperses etheric forces. An altar was placed in the centre of a room, with the colours of the altar-cloth and the symbols on the altar varying according to the ceremony being performed. A light was placed on the altar while incense, usually

frankincense Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus '' Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species ...

, was burned. The senior officers sat in a row along the eastern end of the room, while officers—who were believed to be channels for cosmic forces—were positioned at various positions on the floor. The lodge was opened by walking around the room in a circle chanting, with the intent of building a psychic force up as a wall. Next, the cosmic entities would be invoked, with the members believing that these entities would manifest in

astral Astral may refer to: Concepts of the non-physical * Astral body, a subtle body posited by many religious philosophers * Astral journey (or ''astral trip''), the same as having an ''out-of-body experience'' * Astral plane (AKA astral world), a ...

form and interact with the chosen officers. Fortune was particularly concerned with the issue of sex. In her early works she displayed a prudish attitude regarding sexuality, warning her readers about the perceived perils of masturbation, extra-marital sex, same-sex sexual activity, abortion, and

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...

. The only form of sexual expression that she considered appropriate was that between a heterosexual married couple, and she promoted a form of 'psychic masturbation' to quell any sexual urges that a celibate individual may have. According to Richardson, she was "a prude, at least by today's standards". In her later works she exhibited a more positive attitude toward sexuality, describing the sexual union between a man and woman as the most powerful expression of a "life-force" which flows throughout the universe. She believed that this erotic attraction between men and women could be harnessed for use in magic. She urged her followers to be naked under their robes when carrying out magical rituals, for this would increase the creative sexual tension between the men and women present. Although sex features in her novels, it is never described in graphic detail. Nevertheless, her later occult novels entail depictions of heterosexual sex outside of marriage, suggesting that by this point Fortune no longer believed that sex must be restrained to wedlock. The scholar Andrew Radford noted that Fortune's "reactionary and highly heteronormative" view of "sacralised sexuality" should be seen as part of a wider tradition among esoteric currents, going back to the ideas of

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had a ...

and

Andrew Jackson Davis Andrew Jackson Davis (August 11, 1826January 13, 1910) was an American Spiritualist, born in Blooming Grove, New York. Early years Davis had little education. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, the precursor of hyp ...

and also being found in the work of occultists like

Paschal Beverly Randolph Paschal Beverly Randolph (October 8, 1825 – July 29, 1875) was an American medical doctor, occultist, spiritualist, trance medium, and writer. He is notable as perhaps the first person to introduce the principles of erotic alchemy to North A ...

and Ida Craddock. Fortune was among those who popularised the idea of a division between the

left-hand path and right-hand path In Western esotericism the left-hand path and right-hand path are the dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic. This terminology is used in various groups involved in the occult and ceremonial magic. In some definitions, the Left-Han ...

which had been introduced to Western esotericism by the Theosophist Helena Blavatsky. In doing so Fortune connected her disparaging views on what she considered to be the left hand path to the

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", us ...

surrounding homosexuality in British society. Her works contained commentaries in which she condemned the "homosexual techniques" of malevolent male magicians, and she claimed that the acceptance of homosexuality was the cause of the downfall of the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations. The manner in which she sought to demonise the left hand path has been compared to that found in the work of English novelist

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series w ...

Personality and personal life

The historian Claire Fanger noted that Fortune exhibited a "dynamic personality and confident leadership". Janine Chapman, an esotericist who researched Fortune's life, stated that "in her prime", Fortune was "a strong, magnetic personality" with "an active, intellectually curious mind" who was also "physically imposing". Chapman noted that while studying at horticultural college, Fortune had earned a reputation for having a "keen sense of humor", being particularly fond of

practical jokes A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

. Richardson characterised Fortune as being "honest, and often ruthless with her honesty", adding that she was "an essentially good woman who had strands of darkness within". Chapman noted that she "set an example of super-achievement, self-sacrifice, and personal integrity" and that "sexually, she was modest, faithful, and chaste". In her later years, she earned a nickname among her friends in the Fraternity; "The Fluff". Chapman characterised Fortune's marriage as "rocky", and the marriage produced no children. In later life, there were unsubstantiated rumours that Fortune had sexual relationships with both men and women, and in particular that she had a relationship with Tranchall-Hayes. Fortune did not involve herself or her group in any explicitly political movement or party. The historian

Ronald Hutton Ronald Edmund Hutton (born 19 December 1953) is an English historian who specialises in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism. He is a professor at the University of Bristol, has written 14 ...

noted that in her political and social views, Fortune was likely a High Tory, with Richardson noting that politically, she was "somewhat aligned" to the ideas of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. Graf noted that although Fortune was not involved in the feminist movement and did not associate with feminists, she "thought herself every bit as powerful, capable, independent, and discerning as any man, and she worked to spiritually empower women." When staying at Queensborough, Fortune kept to a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

diet.

Reception and legacy

According to Richardson, Fortune fell into "relative obscurity" after her death, having been overshadowed by her more famous contemporary, Aleister Crowley. The historian of esotericism Dave Evans agreed, stating that Fortune had been "somewhat less" influential than Crowley. Hutton nevertheless considered her to be the "foremost female figure" of early 20th century British occultism, while historian Alex Owen referred to her as "one of the most significant clairvoyants and occultists of the postwar period". Similarly, Knight termed her "one of the leading occultists of her generation", and the anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann referred to her as "one of the most influential twentieth-century magicians". Another esotericism scholar,

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (15 January 195329 August 2012) was a British historian and professor of Western esotericism at the University of Exeter, best known for his authorship of several scholarly books on the history of Germany between the W ...

, said Fortune was an "important heir of the Golden Dawn, and she had a significant influence on modern Western esotericism". Religious studies scholar Stephen Sutcliffe described her as having "played a key role in the cult of Glastonbury in the interwar years", while anthropologist Susan Greenwood thought Fortune's emphasis on a masculine/feminine polarity as the basis for magical working was a significant influence on both later ceremonial magic and Wicca. St johns glastonbury arp

Fortune's Fraternity survived her, and was renamed the Society of the Inner Light in 1946; the change was a legal refinement to help the group achieve charitable status. It continues to operate into the early 21st century. The Society sold the Chalice Orchard, which was eventually purchased by

Geoffrey Ashe Geoffrey Thomas Leslie Ashe (29 March 1923 – 30 January 2022) was a British cultural historian and lecturer, known for his focus on King Arthur. Early life Born in London, Ashe was an only child who excelled all his classmates in academics ...

, and in 1959 sold their Bayswater headquarters after the socio-economic decline of the area, instead establishing a base in North London. While retaining its basis in Fortune's original teachings, the Society has changed its emphasis according to who has led it over the years. At various points it has been heavily influenced by

Alice Bailey Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949) was a writer of more than twenty-four books on theosophical subjects, and was one of the first writers to use the term New Age. Bailey was born as Alice La Trobe-Bateman, in Mancheste ...

's ideas about the Ascended Masters, the ideas of

Subud Subud (pronounced ), acronym of Susila Budhi Dharma, is an international, interfaith spirituality, spiritual movement that began in Indonesia in the 1920s, founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (1901–1987). The basis of Subud is a spir ...

, and the use of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

E-meter The E-meter, originally the electropsychometer, is an electronic device for displaying the electrodermal activity (EDA) of a human being. It is used for auditing in Scientology and divergent groups. The efficacy and legitimacy of Scientology's ...

s. In 1961, the Society adopted a new approach which further emphasised and foregrounded its Christian identity. This generated controversy in the group, with Gareth Knight leaving to form his own lodge based on Fortune's teachings, known as the Gareth Knight Group. In 1973 one of Fortune's students, W. E. Butler, likewise split with the Fraternity to found his own group in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

, the Servants of the Light, which would later be taken over by

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (born 11 June 1929) is a British occult author, third generation psychic, and esoteric practitioner. As an associate of Walter Ernest Butler, she succeeded him as Director of Studies of the Servants of the Light. Early ...

and remains one of the world's largest esoteric organizations in the early 21st century maintaining about 1000 active students. In 1975, another member of the Society, Alan Adams, departed to start the London Group, which was initially based in outer London but later moved to the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

. By the late 1990s the Society's membership had dropped to a few dozen, and under the control of a new warden it invited Knight to return to the group in order to help promote it. Knight agreed, leaving his own lodge to publish two works by Fortune based on her material in the Society's archive, and authoring a biography of her. The 1990s saw a number of pioneering biographical studies of Fortune, including Alan Richardson's in 1991 and Janine Chapman's in 1993. Richardson's book relied heavily on the recollections of Christine Hartley, while the publication of Fielding and Carr was based upon the authors' interactions with older members of the Society. However, in 2007 Graf noted that Fortune had yet to receive much scholarly attention. In the early 21st century, Evans noted that Fortune's work was "still influential in some magical quarters", highlighting that in his experience she was one of only three female ceremonial magicians—alongside

Leah Hirsig Leah Hirsig (April 9, 1883 – February 22, 1975) was an American schoolteacher and occultist, notable for her magical record, ''The Magical Record of the Scarlet Woman'', which describes her experiences as a victim of occult writer Aleister Cro ...

and Jaq Hawkins—that modern esotericists could readily name.

Fortune's literary influence on modern Paganism

The religious studies scholar Hugh Urban noted that Fortune was "one of the key links" between early twentieth-century ceremonial magic and the developing Pagan religion of

. Similarly, the Wiccan high priestess

Vivianne Crowley Vivianne Crowley is an author, university lecturer, psychologist, and a High Priestess and teacher of the Wiccan religion. She was initiated into the London coven of Alex Sanders (founder of the Alexandrian tradition of Wicca) at the age of eig ...

characterised Fortune as a "proto-Pagan". The scholar and esotericist

Nevill Drury Nevill Drury (1 October 1947 – 15 October 2013) was an English-born Australian editor and publisher, as well as the author of over 40 books on subjects ranging from shamanism and western magical traditions to art, music, and anthropology. His ...

stated that Fortune "in many ways anticipated feminist ideas in contemporary Wicca", particularly through her belief that all goddesses were a manifestation of a single Great Goddess. Graf agreed, adding that Fortune's works found "resonance" in the work of the later feminist Wiccan

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author. She is known as a theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

, and in particular in the latter's 1979 book, ''

The Spiral Dance ''The Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' is a book about Neopagan beliefs and practices written by Starhawk. It was first published in 1979, with a second edition in 1989 and a third edition in 1999. It is a ...

''. In researching ceremonial magic orders and other esoteric groups active in the London area during the 1980s, Luhrmann found that within them, Fortune's novels were treated as "fictionalized ideals" and that they were recommended to newcomers as the best way to understand magic. The

Pagan studies Pagan studies is the multidisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of modern paganism, a broad assortment of modern religious movements, which are typically influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of premodern ...

scholar Joanne Pearson added that Fortune's books, and in particular the novels ''The Sea Priestess'' and ''Moon Magic'', were owned by many Wiccans and other Pagans. The religious studies scholar Graham Harvey compared ''The Sea Priestess'' to the Wiccan

Gerald Gardner Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropology, anthropologist and archaeology, archaeologist. He was instrumental in bri ...

's 1949 novel ''High Magic's Aid'', stating that while neither were "great literature", they "evoke Paganism better than later more didactic works". Fortune's priestesses were an influence on the characters of

Marion Zimmer Bradley Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley (June 3, 1930 – September 25, 1999) was an American author of fantasy, historical fantasy, science fiction, and science fantasy novels, and is best known for the Arthurian fiction novel ''The Mists of Avalon'' an ...

's ''

The Mists of Avalon ''The Mists of Avalon'' is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (M ...

'', and her ideas were adopted as the basis for the

Aquarian Order of the Restoration Aquarian may refer to: *Aquarius (astrology), a sign of the zodiac *Aquarian Tabernacle Church, a Wiccan church in Index, Washington, U.S. *''The Aquarian Weekly'', a weekly newspaper in New Jersey, U.S. *Aquarii, Christians who substituted water f ...

, a ceremonial magic group led by Bradley. Her works also influenced Bradley's collaborator and fellow Order member Diana Paxson. As of 2007, Fortune's latter three novels remained in print and had a wide readership. Evans nevertheless believed that her writings were "stuck in their era" in many places; as evidence, he highlighted passages in which Fortune warns her readers that their Indian servants may steal their body waste products for use in the worship of the Hindu goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* = Published under the name "Violet M. Firth"

Fiction

A list of Fortune's fiction works was provided by Knight: * = Published under the name "V. M. Steele"

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * : * * * *

External links

The Society of the Inner Light websiteThe Companions of Dion Fortune website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Dion Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn 1890 births 1946 deaths Ceremonial magicians Hermetic Qabalists People from Llandudno Society of the Inner Light Welsh occult writers Deaths from leukemia 20th-century Welsh women writers