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Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) · 83 of 129

12. Methods Employed In Making A Psychic Attack-e

The curser declares, “I curse you by so and so.” This is the form of evocation which calls the ensouling essence into the thought- form, thus making an artificial elemental which is endowed with an independent life of its own. If we want to know something of the efficacy of curses, we have only to consider the record of the men who were connected with the opening of the famous Tut-ankh-amen tomb. There are many other cases equally well authenticated. One can become exposed to occult unpleasantness either by thwarting or in some other way falling foul of an un scrupulous occultist, or by getting oneself involved with a dubious occult fraternity. In the case of a quarrel with an occultist, in addition to the ordinary human motives for an abuse of power, one has to reckon with the fact that an adept who is not of the whitest nearly always suffers from that unpleasant psychic disease of “hypertrophied ego.” He will love power for its own sake, and take any defection on the part of an erstwhile follower, or any resistance to his imperious will as a personal insult or even injury. With a trained mind, an angry thought will do damage, and I have known cases of occultists who, out of pure pique, went to extraordinary lengths of spite. One can only hope that they did not really believe in the efficacy of what they did, and were merely playing to the gallery “pour encourager les autres” and ensure loyalty among their supporters. Another thing which is particularly disliked by this type of adept is any attempt on the part of a pupil who has broken with him to make use of what he has been taught. There seem to be no lengths to which a jealous guru will not go in order to smash his chela psychically. In one case which came to my knowledge a concert singer had had “treatment” for the improvement of her voice from an adept of sorts. She finally decided that she would spend no more money on this enterprise, and told him so at the visit which she had decided should be the last. He concentrated his gaze upon her and told her that if she broke with him, as soon as she went on the concert platform she would see his face in the air in front of her, and her throat would close and she would be unable to utter a sound, and that this horrible experience would occur every time she tried to sing until she returned to him and continued to have “treatment” (at a guinea a time). This potent hypnotic suggestion proved effective, and her career was at an end until the spell was broken. The following letter contains a very illuminating experience, and is of value, not only for its account of a psychic attack, but also for its description of the manner in which the attack was combated. “In the winter of 1921-2 I was told (from the Inner Planes), ‘We see your initiation into the Order of the Christ.’ I did not understand very clearly and I waited. “In June, 1922, an Oriental, the head of a great religious Order, came to see me. (I was living in Switzerland.) We will call him Z. I expected great things from him and looked on him as a sort of Master. Knowing that he had met Abdul Baha, I thought to please him by putting A. B.’s photo on my walls, but when Z. entered my room I saw at once that he did not quite like it. We conversed for a while and he asked me several questions. Suddenly he offered me initiation into his Order. I was taken aback and did not feel the inner consent. I said I must reflect.
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Themes
Artificial Elementalpraxis

The magical manufacture of a semi-autonomous entity from the operator's own creative mind-stuff, formulated with sufficient force and sustained attention that it acquires a distinct, independent life of its own beyond an ordinary passing thought-form — directable as tool, weapon, or guardian, but capable of escaping the operator's control if mishandled. Distinct from spirit_conjuration (binding a spirit that already exists, rather than manufacturing one) and from word_power_incantation (the causal force of the spoken word itself, rather than the sustained mental construction of an entity).

The text explicitly defines a curse as an evocation that calls an ensouling essence into a thought-form, creating an 'artificial elemental which is endowed with an independent life of its own.'

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Esoteric Lineagesoteriology

A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).

The text references a 'guru' and 'chela' relationship and an 'Order,' implying a chain of transmission or master-disciple dynamic typical of esoteric lineages.

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Initiationpraxis

The ritual admission of an individual into esoteric knowledge or a sacred order through a formal rite of passage — testing, ordeal, or ceremony — marking a definite before/after threshold in the initiate's status and access. Distinct from hidden_sayings (the doctrine being concealed, not the rite of admission to it) and esoteric_lineage (the historical chain of transmission across generations, not a single individual's admission).

The text describes a specific instance where the narrator was offered 'initiation into his Order' by an Oriental adept and discusses the context of initiation into the Order of the Christ.

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Magical Willpraxis

The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.

The passage emphasizes that 'With a trained mind, an angry thought will do damage' and describes adepts using concentrated gaze and will to inflict harm or hypnotic suggestion.

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Psychic Attackpraxis

The doctrine and practice of one person deliberately inflicting harm on another through trained will, mind-power, or occult technique alone, without physical contact — producing exhaustion, illness, breakdown, or death in the victim; recognised cross-culturally as witchcraft, hexing, or the evil eye, and treated in Western esotericism as a genuine occult hazard requiring diagnosis and defence rather than dismissed as superstition. Distinct from magical_will (the general doctrine that trained volition has causal power, of which this is one malevolent application) and from spirit_conjuration (which subordinates an already-existing summoned spirit, rather than directing the operator's own power at a person).

The passage is explicitly titled 'Methods Employed In Making A Psychic Attack' and details various forms of psychic harm including curses, hypnotic suggestion, and will-based damage.

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Secret Societiessoteriology

Organized, persisting groups — fraternities, orders, lodges — that maintain esoteric knowledge or practices as an institution distinct from public religion or mainstream society, holding 'the keys' collectively rather than through any one master-disciple pair. Distinct from esoteric_lineage (a genealogical chain of individual transmission, not an institution) and hidden_sayings (the concealment of a teaching's meaning, independent of whether any organized body holds it).

The passage mentions getting involved with a 'dubious occult fraternity' and discusses an 'Order of the Christ' and another religious Order headed by an Oriental adept.

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Word Power Incantationpraxis

The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.

The text mentions the curser declaring 'I curse you by so and so,' indicating the use of spoken formulae to effect magical change.

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Related passages · 5 parallels
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 30 (part 4)
Do not they, moreover, sacrifice to this day, to the same " God of Wind and Water? " They do; because special prayers for rain, dry weather, trade-winds and the calming of storms on the seas exist to this hour in the prayer-books of the th…”
Shared concept: Psychic Attack — The doctrine and practice of one person deliberately inflicting harm on another through trained will, mind-power, or occult technique alone, without physical contact — producing exhaustion, illness, breakdown, or death in the victim; recognised cross-culturally as witchcraft, hexing, or the evil eye, and treated in Western esotericism as a genuine occult hazard requiring diagnosis and defence rather than dismissed as superstition. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 88 (part 13)
Shall we still doubt the fact of Arjuna going over to Patala (the Antipodes, America) and there marrying Ulupi, the daughter of the Naga (or rather Nargal ) King? But to the Zuni priests. These receive an annual tribute, to this day, of c…”
Shared concept: Psychic Attack — The doctrine and practice of one person deliberately inflicting harm on another through trained will, mind-power, or occult technique alone, without physical contact — producing exhaustion, illness, breakdown, or death in the victim; recognised cross-culturally as witchcraft, hexing, or the evil eye, and treated in Western esotericism as a genuine occult hazard requiring diagnosis and defence rather than dismissed as superstition. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 65 (part 3)
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Shared concept: Esoteric Lineage — A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 11 (part 7)
yet if you should work out the problem by yourself , it will be my duty to tell you so ." But they never were so worked out, and the results were -- never-ceasing perplexity and mistakes. Even the teaching about the Septenary constitution…”
Shared concept: Secret Societies — Organized, persisting groups — fraternities, orders, lodges — that maintain esoteric knowledge or practices as an institution distinct from public religion or mainstream society, holding 'the keys' collectively rather than through any one master-disciple pair. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LXXI — Of Many Words Joined Together, as in Sentences and Verses; and of the Virtues and Astrictions of Charms|Chapter LXXI, Section 1a
CHAPTER LXXI. Of Many Words Joined Together, as in Sentences and Verses; and of the Virtues and Astrictions of Charms . Besides the virtues of words and names, there is also a greater virtue found in sentences, from the truth contained in…”
Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. (derived)