In the history of twentieth-century esotericism few women have played such an influential role as Violet Mary Firth, known by the pseudonym Dion Fortune. A lucid and prolific writer, founder of an initiatory order still active today, author of one of the most widely read manuals of Hermetic Qabalah in English, she sought throughout her life to reconcile occultism with modern psychology and with esoteric Christianity.
Origins and name
Violet Mary Firth was born in 1890 at Llandudno, in Wales, into a well-to-do family of steel manufacturers. Her parents belonged to Christian Science, the religious movement that gave great importance to the mind in spiritual life. From an early age she wrote poems and stories.
The pseudonym that made her famous came from the family motto, Deo, non fortuna, "by God, not by chance". She adopted it when she began publishing esoteric writings, keeping her own name for some works of a different kind.
Psychology as a first path
As a young woman she worked at an educational institution and went through an experience of strong psychological pressure from a superior, which she later described as a genuine attack of the will. This episode led her to study psychology. She attended courses in London and worked for a time as a lay analyst at a medico-psychological clinic, in the period when the theories of Freud, Jung and Adler were reaching England.
This training marked all her work: Dion Fortune often described esoteric experience in the language of the unconscious, archetypes and mental images, convinced that the two fields could illuminate each other.
From the Golden Dawn to the Inner Light
Around 1919 she joined a temple of the Alpha et Omega, the branch of the Golden Dawn loyal to MacGregor Mathers, later led by his widow Moina Mathers. In the same period she frequented the Theosophical Society, within which she led a Christian-oriented group.
Relations with Moina Mathers deteriorated, partly because Dion Fortune freely published teachings the order regarded as reserved. After the break she founded, in the mid-1920s, the Fraternity of the Inner Light, later the Society of the Inner Light, based in London and with a house at Glastonbury, at the foot of the Tor, the hill that tradition links to the Grail and to Avalon.
The main works
Dion Fortune wrote a great deal, alternating essays and novels:
| Work | Year | Content |
|---|---|---|
| The Esoteric Orders and Their Work | 1928 | The nature and function of initiatory orders |
| Sane Occultism | 1929 | A critique of the illusions and excesses of occultism |
| Psychic Self-Defence | 1930 | Personal experiences and reflections on psychic influences |
| The Mystical Qabalah | 1935 | An exposition of the Tree of Life and the sefirot |
| The Sea Priestess | 1938 | A novel on the cult of the goddess and polarity |
The Mystical Qabalah is her most enduring work. In it she presents the Tree of Life not as Jewish doctrine in the strict sense, but as a tool of the Western Hermetic tradition: a symbolic map of the levels of reality and of the psyche, to be used in meditation. Each sefirah is described with its divine names, symbols, virtues and vices.
The novels and polarity
Dion Fortune's novels, such as The Goat-Foot God (1936), The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, published posthumously, have been for many readers a first gateway to esotericism. At their centre is the theme of polarity: the relationship between masculine and feminine principles as a spiritual force, expressed through ancient myths and figures of priestesses.
The war and the last years
During the Second World War Dion Fortune sent the members of her society weekly letters with instructions for collective meditations devoted to the spiritual protection of Britain. These letters, published many years later, document how her group lived through those years.
In 1927 she married the physician Thomas Penry Evans; the marriage ended in divorce in 1945. She died in London in January 1946. The society she founded outlived her, changing its orientation over time.
An assessment
Dion Fortune deserves credit for writing about esotericism with clarity and with a strong emphasis on psychological balance and common sense. Some of her claims, such as those about contacts with inner masters or about past lives, belong to the sphere of personal conviction and cannot be verified. But her call for a "sane" occultism, far from sensationalism, remains one of the most relevant aspects of her work.
In short
- Dion Fortune (1890-1946), born Violet Mary Firth, combined studies in psychology and esotericism.
- After her experience in the Alpha et Omega she founded the Society of the Inner Light.
- The Mystical Qabalah (1935) presents the Tree of Life as a symbolic map for meditation.
- In her novels she developed the theme of polarity, and she always called for a balanced occultism.
