The War Letters of Dion Fortune edited by Gareth Knight

Immediately following Britain's declaration of war in 1939, Dion Fortune began a series of regular letters to members of her magical order, the Fraternity of the Inner Light, who were unable to hold meetings due to wartime travel restrictions. With enemy planes rumbling overhead, she organised a series of visualisations to formulate "seed ideas in the group mind of the race", archetypal visions to invoke angelic protection and uphold British morale under fire. "The war has to be fought and won on the physical plane," she wrote, "before physical manifestation can be given to the archetypal ideals. What was sown will grow and bear seed." As the war developed, this was consolidated with further work for the renewal of national and international accord. For the first time the Fraternity's doors were opened to anyone who wanted to join in and learn the previously secret methods of esoteric mind-working. With unswerving optimism she guided her fraternity through the dark days of the London Blitz, continuing her weekly letters even when the bombs came through her own roof.

Long out of print and much sought after, Skylight Press is very pleased to be re-issuing this fascinating and important book. Introduction and commentary by Gareth Knight.

"A compelling portrait of an adept practising the magic of the light for the sake of the nation." – Alan Richardson

ISBN: 978-1-908011-45-9
Copyright: The Society of the Inner Light/Gareth Knight
Language: English
Pages: 180  
Binding: perfect-bound paperback
Interior print: black & white, with a few diagrams
Dimensions: 15.2cm wide × 22.9cm tall (6 x 9 in)

Published February 28th 2012

£12.99

$19.99

Review excerpt from Magic of the Ordinary:

Consisting largely of her weekly and monthly letters to members of the Fraternity of the Inner Light during the early and middle stages of World War II, the book is exceptional in many ways. Firstly, the context. What we have in these letters is a evidence, real and concrete, of how a magical fraternity functioned and even thrived under the most onerous and trying circumstances – that of a nation at War. And we must remember this was not a nation going to war on a distant front but rather a war where the distinction between civilian and military effort collapsed and the whole of Britain’s resources were part of the war effort. It is hard to imagine today, just as it is hard to imagine our magical rituals being interrupted by aerial bombardment, as what happened with Dion Fortune. ... In this time of national and world peril, with the group mind of the nation sensitive and open, non-initiates and initiates alike were taught the secret methods of magic and mind working. The book reveals exactly the instructions given, how the magic worked and the results that ensued. Even today with the nuts and bolts of magic plastered over the Internet, these workings and meditations have a potency and presence on the written page. ... The letters here show collective and transpersonal magic in action; the bringing through of spiritual and evolutionary principles into the collective group mind, to produce actual changes in consciousness, religion and even politics. The results of the Fraternity’s efforts are evidentiary as time and time again the principle they worked for found itself manifest very quickly in the actual life of the nation. In addition the book reveals the workings for the Angelic Presences that patrolled the boundaries of Britain on the inner levels, keeping it safe from invasion.

... Of importance also is the glimpses the book shows of Dion Fortune the woman as well as the magician. Revealing a reflective and philosophical side of the author, the letters show a person committed to service and truth, and more than once a countering the oft-repeated views of classism and racism we still hear today. ... The letters in this book reveal an adept of great purpose, power and skill. Each sentence enriches us, as it enriched her pupils, transmitting more than the words and intellectual meaning alone. There is dexterity and fortitude here, and wisdom unlike most of today’s modern works on the same subject. Moreover during this period she also wrote the material collected into The Circuit of Force, the most profound book on the dynamics of the etheric vehicle yet produced. Despite being bombed, despite all the travails of war and the dispersal of her adepts, Dion was clearly still on her contacts, still writing, still training and still serving the tradition that was her life. This was her finest hour.

Customer review from Amazon US:

"Through reading this book, one learns how to become a channel or conduit that allows higher spiritual forces to come through and be played out in this world. It is a pivotal and timely book that will reach out to those touched by our present day global situation, providing an informative and reasonable way of allowing us to work in conjunction to make change a reality. The book shows both instruction and method in a very clear and understandable way, making it usable for the novice and experienced alike. Anyone interested in the evolutionary progress of our race and planet should invest in this book, for there are seeds of potential in the teachings that will lead to a deeper understanding of how the inner world works, and how we might be able to increase our awareness of it. In addition to Dion Fortune's text, Gareth Knight, one of this day's most respected and foremost spiritual instructors, has written an interesting synopsis of world events as they were happening alongside the work of Dion Fortune and her group. It is quite amazing to see the outer and inner correspondences, and once more proves that all is connected, and that we only see played out before us a very small part of what is termed "reality," which is really only a tip of the iceberg, being the final effects of a long chain of inner events. I highly recommend this book for the collector, the silent inner worker interested in service to humanity, or anyone just interested in how the power of thought and mind might be effective to produce tangible change and improvement."