The Magical Battle of Britain

by Dion Fortune

Immediately following Germany's invasion of Poland, which resulted in Britain's declaration of war, Dion Fortune, founder of one of the world's foremost magical orders — The Society of The Inner Light — initiated a magical programme designed to thwart the expansionsist intentions of the Third Reich.

Now those instruction papers have been released from the archives of her school. Accompanied by a commentary from Gareth Knight, himself a member of Dion Fortune's fraternity, these teachings offer astonishing insights into the workings of a genuine esoteric school and their — until now — hidden yet significant contribution to the Allied war effort.

Genres: Occult, Nonfiction, Spirituality, History, Magic, Witchcraft

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Violet Mary Firth Evans (better known as Dion Fortune), was a British occultist and author. Her pseudonym was inspired by her family motto "Deo, non fortuna" (Latin for "by God, not fate").

From 1919 she began writing a number of novels and short stories that explored various aspects of magic and mysticism, including The Demon Lover, The Winged Bull, The Goat-Foot God, and The Secrets of Dr. Taverner. This latter is a collection of short stories based on her experiences with Theodore Moriarty. Two of her novels, The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, became influential within the religion of Wicca, especially upon Doreen Valiente.

Of her non-fiction works on magical subjects, the best remembered of her books are; The Cosmic Doctrine, meant to be a summation of her basic teachings on mysticism; The Mystical Qabalah, an introduction to Hermetic Qabalah; and Psychic Self Defence, a manual on how to protect oneself from psychic attacks. Though some of her writings may seem dated to contemporary readers, they have the virtue of lucidity and avoid the deliberate obscurity that characterised many of her forerunners and contemporaries.

Reviews

[Kathy Peveler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains about real magic. Dion Fortune and her group meditated at the same time every Sunday afternoon on a subject sent out during the week that basically envisioned an England at peace, an England without German bombers and German bombs. What happened? The Germans never invaded England, Goring and Goebbels never had a clear vision of what to do. This is one of the most powerful books you'll ever read!

[Edward Branley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reads! Dion Fortunes's letters are some of the factual basis for Katherine Kurtz's novel, "Lammas Night"

[Alex Sumner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please follow this link to see my video review of The Magical Battle of Britain. :-)

[didi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, I think it is a blind force, not an intelligent one, and that it finds a channel through the personalities of unregenerate human beings who provide the intelligence it does not possess. I conceive of this dark influence as the accumulation of evil thought-forms in the group mind of the race and place; an evil heritage that has come down undispersed from the dawn of German history and even earlier, and that overshadows the crowd psychology of the German people to this day. There can be no reform of Germany as a political factor in Europe until this dark psychic heritage that contaminates her is dispersed and neutralised. Propaganda that appeals to the conscious minds of Germans is as futile as argument with a lunatic, for it is not in their power to respond. There is one thing, and one thing only that can disperse this dark cloud of ancestral evil and set the souls of Germans free, and that is the Power of the Christ, and we must bring this power to bear. Let us visualise Germany as a vast marsh of human helplessness and ignorance covered by the thick black cloud of ancient evil; the sunlight of the Christ cannot reach it to dry up the stagnant waters and give it health and fertility until this cloud has been dispersed. Then let us see the Angels of the Lord hovering over it and directing lightning flashes at it from the points of their swords. These flashes cause thunder-storms to break out in the cloud; rifts appear, the cloud begins to break up and the Sunshine of Christ shines throughout the land beneath. This method, if persisted with, will soon disperse the cloud, and remember we are striking at the cloud, and not the land beneath it. Once this is dispersed, the healing sunshine will do the rest.

[Samantha Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Dion Fortune. I don't agree with all her ideas, but judging from her writing, she was a woman of integrity, discipline, and leadership. This compilation of the letters she wrote to her magickal order during the second World War was eye-opening and informative. I learned things about meditative practice that apply generally, which is the mark of solid writing.

In terms of the actual magickal battle, my expectations were--well, I didn't consciously know. Despite studying Western Esotericism myself, I imagined rituals done in darkened rooms and chants opposing the Nazis. I've been too influenced by the cartoonish portrayal in movies of the occult seeking Hitler did, and my subconscious expected the opposition to take the same for. The truth, however, isn't like that. Fortune AND Hitler studied the same forerunners as I did (to a point, of course, that being the 40s) -- Blavatsky and Mathers and Crowley -- which kind of blows my mind a little.

Definitely mind-expanding, if a tad dry. Like I said, I love Dion Fortune, but I find her writing a tad bit to get into.

[Durgadas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating glimpse into Dion Fortune and her Fraternity of the Inner Light's esoteric participation in World War II. This is a collection of letters Fortune sent to order members detailing their various meditative initiatives and providing practical instruction and education. A nice aspect of this that stands out from much of her other work is the nitty-gritty aspects of practice that are shared. I love her more philosophical and abstract works, but it was enjoyable and enriching to read the more technical dimensions of this book, which I don't think was ever intended to be published, at least during her lifetime. Given how many feel about the current political climate in many parts of the world, now is a good time to revisit this classic. Even though some of Fortune's ideas haven't aged well, many of the overarching concepts and certainly the occult insights still apply and would be useful today in an occult resistance movement.

[Claudio Yáñez Valenzuela · Rating 2 out of 5]

La lectura de "Guerra Mágica: Batallón Mágico que Combatió a Hitler" de Dion Fortune ha resultado decepcionante. La introducción de David Bizarro no me interesó mucho y me aportó bien poco, excepto tal vez un par de datos que podrían considerarse curiosos. La mención, aparentemente sin conexión, de la película clásica "La Bruja Novata" la percibí como desafortunada e incluso, de alguna manera, insidiosa al asociar una película de Disney infantil con las acciones de Fortune. El corazón del texto, las cartas escritas por Dion Fortune y que constituyen la mitad del volumen, me resultaron carentes de fuerza y con un esoterismo cristiano predominante (acompañado de un sentido común que puede considerarse necesario para la época). En fin, la lectura del texto no logró despertar un gran entusiasmo y no recomendaría su lectura, a menos que se sea fanático de los trabajos de Fortune o se tenga un interés particular en el esoterismo del siglo pasado con un toque de intriga.

[Nick Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting first-hand account of Fortune's magical and meditational practices during the second world war through her weekly and then monthly correspondence with her followers. She discusses various practices aimed at countering the threat of Nazi Germany, such as visualizing angelic presences patrolling the shores of England, connecting with archetypal energies and spiritual beings ("masters") to empower and strengthen their cause, and attempting to cause the enemies to destroy themselves with their own "venom" using occult and Kabbalistic methods. Evidence for the success of their efforts is claimed to be found in the course of events as reported in the press, even sometimes in terms of phrases that appeared in their meditations repeated verbatim. An invaluable document of the impact of the war on esoteric practitioners.

[Brett Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gareth Knight's interjections set the scene for us in history between each of Dion Fortune's original letters to her occult order. Quite an amazing journey that shows the interested reader the foundation of work that previous schools of the occult have put in place.

[Malefica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiene un par de errores historicos en la primera parte, pero lo impprtanate, que son las cartas de Dione Fortune son una joya. Merece la pena releerlas.

[Juli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro muy curioso y con momentos interesantes. No me ha acabado de enganchar la parte narrativa. Demasiada información que se va amontonando y que debes ir digiriendo poco a poco. Me ha encantado la cantidad de de archivo fotográfico que contiene y que da sentido a cada capítulo. Hay que conocer la historia de Dion Fortune y su guerra mágica contra Hitler! Una curiosidad muy bien editada!

[Luisa Aresu · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty helpful nowadays