Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) · 53 of 129

7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-g

The European belief of one man, one life, has imbued us with the idea of death as the supreme evil.

Therefore the European very often does not go to his death when he unites with the elements, but his higher self withdraws from incarnation, leaving his body ensouled by a curious kind of intelligent automaton, which deteriorates rapidly.

What ever may be the status of the soul that withdraws, that which is left behind is not nice.

I feel, therefore, that it must seriously delay and distort the evolution of the human Monad if it turns aside into the sphere of the Deva evolution.

It may well be that some of the creatures whom at first sight we might classify as non-humans are really humans who have had a Deva phase in their Karmic record.

There is a very interesting field of research awaiting the person who systematically investigates the past lives of the weak- minded and the mentally deranged.

The pathologies of the Element of Fire are also rare, though it may be that the aimless incendiary and pyromaniac belong to this class.

I have never personally had any opportunity of investigating this type of case.

Algernon Blackwood writes of one in his very interesting story, “The Regeneration of Lord Ernie,” which is published in his volume of short stories entitled Incredible Adventures.

Indeed, this author is exceedingly fond of drawing his inspiration from the Deva kingdom, and has some most interesting studies of the subject scattered through his books.

Any organic geographical unit develops something of an oversoul, and where the differentiation is marked, the over soul may become a very definite entity.

If there are among the inhabitants of the district any who are sensitive to the Unseen, they may form either an affinity or a repulsion for this oversoul.

A great forest has a very marked personality, and there are few white men who can resist its influence, becoming markedly changed and de-humanised if exposed to it for long periods without the companionship of others of their race.

Natives, on the other hand, seem to enter into it and be part of it.

It is well known how often trees are objects of worship in all parts of the world.

They have very marked personalities and strong magnetic fields.

In the spring, when the sap is rising, even non-psychics can often see the aura of a tree.

It can best be seen by getting at a distance of a couple of hundred yards and looking at the sky beyond the top of the tree.

The aura will then be perceived as a whitish cloud, like a patch of lighter-coloured sky, surrounding the top of the tree, and usually swaying gently from side to side.

There is a curious antagonism between elms and humanity, and about orchids all sensitive persons agree there is some thing sinister.

Tropical vegetation, as a whole, is over-powerful for humanity.

Under the tremendous stimulation of the solar fire the elemental forces are concentrated to a poisonous strength.

I am not personally acquainted with the West Coast of Africa, but from what I can gather I am of the opinion that the elemental forces and the atmosphere made by Juju rites are between them more responsible than the climate for earning that part of the world its sinister reputation as the White Man’s Grave.

There are other spots where the climate is equally hot and humid, Burmah, for instance, but there is no other spot that produces the same loosening of moral fibre.

The only place that is at all comparable to it is the Carribbean Sea, which produces, not so much a demoralisation, as a fierceness and violence quite alien to the racial characteristics of the people who go there.

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Themes

Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

The passage extensively describes geographical units (forests, districts) developing an 'oversoul' or definite entity, and trees having marked personalities, magnetic fields, and auras.

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Astral Lightcosmology

The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.

The mention of 'magnetic fields' and visible 'aura' around trees suggests a medium through which spiritual influence is transmitted and perceived.

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Divine Immanencetheology

The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.

The concept that organic geographical units develop an 'oversoul' and trees have personalities indicates the divine or spiritual is present within natural objects.

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Incarnationtheology

The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.

The text discusses the 'higher self withdraws from incarnation' and contrasts European belief of one life with the reality of multiple lives.

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Mechanical Humanityanthropology

Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.

The description of the body left behind as an 'intelligent automaton' that deteriorates rapidly aligns with the idea of a mechanical human state without the higher self.

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Monadcosmology

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The text explicitly discusses the 'evolution of the human Monad' and its potential distortion if it turns aside into the sphere of Deva evolution.

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Possessioncosmology

The state of a person being controlled or inhabited by an external spirit or entity — the entity as subject acting through the person's body, rather than merely troubling them from without. Distinct from haunting (a discarnate soul or place-bound presence that interferes without necessarily entering and controlling a living body) and from spirit_conjuration (an operator deliberately commanding a spirit's appearance, the reverse relation — here the spirit is uninvited and in control, not summoned and subordinated).

The passage describes the higher self withdrawing and leaving the body 'ensouled by a curious kind of intelligent automaton,' which implies a state of inhabitation or control by a non-human entity.

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Soul Migrationcosmology

The transmigration of the soul across lives.

The text references 'past lives' and 'Karmic record' in the context of humans who may have had a Deva phase.

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Related passages · 9 parallels

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