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Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) · 99 of 129

15. Physical Aspect Of Psychic Attack And Defence-d

In front of an old-fashioned four-poster bedstead stands a ferocious female armed with a rolling-pin, and from under the valance protrudes the head of her spouse, who says, “Ye may whack me, and ye may thwack me, but ye canna break my manly spirit, for I’ll no cam’ oot.” If the victim of an occult attack concentrates on mundane things he is a heart-breaking proposition for any sorcerer. What is the sorcerer to do if, at the time when he is operating the Black Art, his victim is at the local cinema roaring at the antics of Charley Chaplin? There is an old saying that one nail drives out another. If in fear of in visible dangers, take up a sport with an element of risk in it.
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Themes
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 text describes the sorcerer's operation of 'Black Art' and the victim's ability to resist through concentration, highlighting the role of will in magical interaction.

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Polaritycosmology

The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).

The phrase 'one nail drives out another' suggests a principle of displacement or counter-force operating within the psychic realm.

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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 explicitly discusses 'occult attack', 'sorcerer', and 'Black Art' operating against a victim, defining the core subject matter.

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Related passages · 6 parallels
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Shared concept: Polarity — The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). (derived)
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Shared concept: Polarity — The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). (derived)
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Shared concept: Polarity — The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). (derived)
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Shared concept: Magical Will — 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. (derived)
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Shared concept: Magical Will — 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. (derived)