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Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) · 100 of 129

16. Diagnosis Of The Nature Of An Attack-a

HAVING considered the purely physical factors in a psychic disturbance, we may now come to the consideration of its genuinely psychic factors. We must always bear in mind, however, that because physical disease is found, it does not necessarily eliminate the psychic factor. A physical condition, such as an abnormal state of the blood, may cause a low form of psychism and put its victim in touch with evil astral conditions. Science may call it delirium or hallucination, but the occultist calls it pathological psychism and can do a great deal to relieve it, either by closing down the psychic centres, or by excluding evil psychic influences from the environment of the patient so that the spirits he sees shall be angelic instead of demonic, and cause him happiness instead of distress. The psychic centres forced open by a diseased blood-stream perceive anything that comes within their range of vision. Therefore let us ensure that nothing save what is pleasant shall come near them. We may not be able entirely to keep him off the Astral, but at least we can ensure that his wanderings shall be in a safe and pleasant part of the Astral. People do not realise the extent to which the wanderings of delirium can be directed and controlled by suggestions whispered into the ear of the sick person. We can companion the sick man in his astral wanderings and make our voice heard among his visions, by our knowledge driving away the evil presences that threaten him and guiding his dreams into the way of peace. At the commencement of our diagnosis we must distinguish between three broad classes of psychic disturbance: those which are a by-product of physical disease, those which are due to malicious human action, and those which are due to non-human interference. The first type should be readily picked out by the doctor if, as has already been advised, recourse has been had to him as the essential preliminary. Moreover, he will also be effective in eliminating the frauds, for people moving in psychic circles and familiar with their terminology may simulate a psychic attack either in order to borrow money or obtain hospitality, or out of pure love of notoriety, a far commoner motive for human aberrations than is generally realised. Frauds usually either fade away or recover quickly when threatened with a physical overhaul. Those who decide to chance their luck are pretty quickly caught out by the man who has served his time in the out-patient department of a general hospital. The diagnosis which the occultist has to make therefore lies in distinguishing between the attack of an incarnate mind and the attack of a discarnate mind. There are two ways in which he can do this, and he ought to use them both, so that they countercheck each other. He ought to get at least two independent psychics to psychometrise the case, and he himself ought to make his own diagnosis entirely from the case-history interpreted in the light of first principles. It is a great mistake to mix the psychic and the scientific. They are apt to neutralise each other. Let one person do the psychism and another the observation, and let proper precautions be taken to prevent the results of the clairvoyant investigation being vitiated by suggestion, or by the thought-reading of previously conceived opinions held in the mind of any of the persons concerned. It is therefore a good thing to send off the specimens for psychometrising at the commencement of an occult investigation, before any opinions have been formed. It is not the simplest matter in the world to take psychometric specimens properly. I have seen a man bring a lock of hair belonging to someone else out of his pocket, where he had carried it about for a couple of days, and hand it over for psychometry. It was of course so thoroughly impregnated with his own emanations as to be useless. A psychometrical specimen should be some object thoroughly impregnated with the vibrations of a person.
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Themes
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 passage explicitly references the 'Astral' as a realm where wanderings occur and where evil or angelic spirits can be encountered, treating it as a substantive medium of psychic experience.

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Divinationpraxis

The ritual practice of discerning hidden knowledge — future events, concealed causes, or the will of higher powers — through a structured technique applied to cards, lots, astrological configuration, entrails, oracle, or other sortilege, rather than through direct unmediated insight. Distinct from gnosis_direct_knowledge (unmediated inner apprehension of ultimate truth, not a technique applied to an external medium) and cosmic_sympathy (the underlying doctrine of hidden affinity that many divinatory techniques presuppose, rather than the practice of consulting it).

Psychometry is described as a method to diagnose the case by reading objects impregnated with a person's vibrations, functioning as a form of divination.

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Etheric Projectionanthropology

The doctrine and practice by which the etheric or astral double separates from the physical body, at will or involuntarily, to act, travel, or encounter other entities on a plane subtler than the physical — remaining tethered to the body by a silver cord, and capable of returning physical injury (bruises, exhaustion) sustained while thus projected. Distinct from linga_sharira (the static doctrine that a subtle form persists as a template) in describing its active operative use, and from shamanic_journey (a trance-journey framed within a shamanic ritual complex, undertaken to return with knowledge, songs, or a recovered soul) in being a Western-esoteric technical practice with its own physiology of cord-attachment and reciprocal wounding.

The passage discusses 'astral wanderings' and the sick man being on the Astral, implying a separation of consciousness or subtle body from the physical state.

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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 text implies the use of will and knowledge to 'drive away evil presences' and guide dreams, suggesting the operator's volition affects the psychic environment.

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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 entire passage is dedicated to diagnosing the nature of a psychic attack, distinguishing between physical causes, malicious human action, and non-human interference.

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Vibrationcosmology

The Hermetic doctrine that nothing rests — matter, energy, mind, and spirit are a single continuum differing only in rate of vibration, from the grossest matter to the least material spirit. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (affinity resonating BETWEEN separate things) in being a claim about what constitutes any one thing in the first place, and from magical_equilibrium (Lévi's operational balancing technique, which presupposes some vibration doctrine rather than stating this general principle).

The text discusses objects being 'impregnated with the vibrations of a person' as essential for psychometry, aligning with the Hermetic doctrine that matter and spirit differ by vibration.

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