Dion Fortune - Psychic Self-Defense

And when the magical operation is over, what then? Will the operator be left to enjoy his victim in peace? Is IT LIKELY?

This is the mystical basis of the story of Faust. The Devil might be not only willing but anxious to enable Dr. Faustus to win Margarita, but he came for his soul at the appointed time. We may also remember that if Margarita had not responded to the lure of the Jewel Song she would not have fallen a victim. The weak spot in the defence was after all in her own nature.

We have considered the modus operandi of telepathic suggestion in detail because it forms the real basis of every kind of occult attack. Whether it be a discarnate entity, a being of another order of evolution, a demon from the Pit, or merely the panic-stricken soul of a selfish friend, clinging to the life of form regardless of consequences, in all cases the opening gambit is the same. Until the aura is pierced, there can be no entrance to the soul, and the aura is always pierced from within by the response of fear or desire going out towards the attacking entity. If we can inhibit that instinctive emotional reaction, the edge of the aura will remain impenetrable, and will be as sure a defence against psychic invasion as the healthy and unbroken skin is a defence against bacterial infection.

It happens sometimes, however, that a rapport has been formed with the attacking entity in a previous incarnation, and therefore it holds, as it were, the key to the postern. Such a problem is a very difficult one, and external assistance is needed for its solution. The difficulty is increased by the fact that the victim is often disinclined to allow the break to be made, being bound to the attacking entity, whether discarnate or incarnate, by bonds of fascination, or even genuine affection.

A case with which I was acquainted throws so much light on various aspects of psychic interference by incarnate souls operating out of their bodies that it is of value to quote it at length.

In the summer of 1926 I saw in the papers a short paragraph describing the death of a certain man and his wife, which took place within a few hours of each other. A couple of years previously I had been consulted by a friend of the wife, who was deeply perturbed about the state of affairs, and suspected psychic interference. The wife, Mrs. C. we will call her, had begun to be troubled by nightmares, waking up in a state of intense fear, hearing the echoes of menacing words ringing in her ears. At about the same time the husband, Mr. C., developed what at first sight looked like epileptic fits. A careful diagnosis by specialists, however, determined that although epileptiform, they were not true epilepsy. Epilepsy is due either to a congenital tendency, whose nature is not fully understood by medical science, or to some injury or disease of the brain. In congenital epilepsy the disease shows itself early in life; in fits due to disease, other symptoms are present which can be detected by a physical examination, such as changes in the eye that are revealed by the opthalmoscope. The diagnosis can therefore be definitely established. Moreover, there is one sure sign by means of which an epileptic fit can be distinguished with certainty from a hysterical or psychic seizure. In true epilepsy the urine is involuntarily voided in the course of the fit. This is a sure sign, and when it is absent we are safe in saying that the fit is not epileptic, whatever else it may be. This is a useful point for those who have to deal with the pathologies that afflict the psychic temperament, for they will see plenty of seizures, and a sure method of distinguishing those that are of organic origin is very useful. We must not, however, conclude that all cases of such incontinence are epileptics, for there are many other causes, both organic and functional.

In the case of Mr. C. this cardinal symptom was lacking. The attacks, moreover, always took place in sleep, and it seemed as if they were more of the form of severe nightmare, verging on somnambulism. It was a curious factor in the case that Mrs. CS nightmares usually heralded Mr. CS attacks.

These occurrences showed a certain cyclic regularity, occurring about once a month. In the case of a woman this would naturally be referred to the twenty-eight day cycle of her nature, but in the case of a man, no such explanation was forthcoming, and we therefore had to look for another twenty-eight day cycle to explain his periodicity. The only other cycle of this period is that of the phases of the moon.

We were then confronted by a correlation of epileptiform attacks, which had no organic basis, the nightmares of a second person, and the phases of the moon. Some theory had to be found which would resume these three and explain their inter-relationship.

A dream is commonly the first way in which psychic manifestations make themselves known, the subconscious perceptions being reflected into consciousness in this form.

It is held by many occultists that congenital epilepsy, as distinguished from that due to tumours of the brain, has its roots in the operations of black magic or witchcraft in which the sufferer participated in a past life, whether as practitioner or victim, the fit being an astral struggle with a discarnate entity, reflected on the physical body by means of the well-known phenomenon of repercussion.

The moon plays a very important part in all occult operations, different tides being available at different phases of her cycle. Persephone, Diana and Hecate, all aspects of Luna, are three very different persons.

It therefore appeared probable that as the physical investigation had drawn blank, a psychic investigation might yield fruits. One was performed. And with the following results.

Nothing at all was discerned with regard to Mrs. C. She was merely what lawyers call an accessory after the fact. But the psychic trail of Mr. C. was soon picked up and followed, and it appeared that in his last incarnation he had been associated with two women, mother and daughter, who had practised witchcraft for his benefit. The younger of the two women had been for a short time his mistress. Mother and daughter had paid the penalty for their crimes, but their male partner had escaped.

The diagnosis was as follows: It is the younger witch that is at the bottom of the trouble. It is her astral visits which cause the seizures of Mr. C. and the nightmares of Mrs. C., and they correlate with the phases of the moon because certain phases are favourable for the operation she performs and she therefore takes advantage of them. The question now remains, is this woman in incarnation or not? That is to say, is the midnight visit paid in an astral body projected from a living human being, or by an earth-bound spirit which has succeeded in evading the Second Death?

Mrs. C. had by now been taken into the confidence of the mutual friend who was concerned for her welfare, and lent a ready ear to the suggestion that some psychic influence might be at the bottom of the trouble, for this explanation coincided with her own intuitions in the matter, intuitions she had not dared to divulge for fear of ridicule.

When asked if she could identify anyone in the circle of her husband's acquaintances who might prove to be the younger witch, she replied immediately that she could with out any difficulty identify both the women, and told the following curious story.

The older witch she identified as her husband's mother, an aged lady who occupied a suite of rooms in their house. For this inoffensive old creature Mrs. C. had always had a peculiar horror and repulsion, although admitting there were no rational grounds for it, and honestly endeavouring to do her duty by her. So great was her horror of the old lady that she would never remain in the house after her husband had left for his office in the morning, but went out herself to her club if she had no other engagement.