What is Magic? Is it real? Can we use it to impact issues going on in America and the world?
What if magic were real? Not magic quite like a Hogwarts letter arriving by owl, or the sleight of hand and mirrors magic of Houdini, but real magic: A genuine but hidden power that resides within each individual. A power tied to our consciousness and to us as spiritual beings – all connected to a unified group soul of humanity. A power that makes phenomena like telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis and healing abilities not only possible, but inevitable.
What if we were able to meaningfully impact the current unrest and angst of uncertainty in the United States and in the world? Is it possible?
According to Dean Radin (PhD, psychology), Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), bestselling author, and featured scientist in the New York Times Magazine, “magic is real, and science is on its way to understanding it”. In his book, Real Magic (Pnguin Random House), Radin lays down the path to new scientific horizons, arguing that magic is not only a natural aspect of reality but that everyone is capable of tapping into it with diligent practice. His view is grounded In evidence-based laboratory testing and comes from his forty years of experience conducting controlled laboratory studies in universities and industry, including his formerly classified work for the U.S government. His results together with those compiled from a century of scientific research and the understanding of modern day quantum physics, clearly demonstrate that thoughts are things, that we can sense others’ emotions and intentions from a distance, that intuition and intention are more powerful than we’ve ever been taught, and that everyone can tap into the power that manifests the foundation and expression of the physical universe itself!
In his book Real Magic, Dean Radin describes three types of real magic: force of will, divination, and theurgy. For the purpose of this post I am focusing primarily on the first type of magic or “force of will in which your intentions impress into the world and manifest things – shape the world somehow.” He emphasizes the importance of attention, intention, meditation, affirmation and utilizing a specific symbol to help attain a desired goal. (Note: Dean Radin has new book in publication called Enchantment: A Scientist’s Guide to Practical Magic that will be released in October 2025!)
Has anyone ever used meditation, intention and force of will practices for positive impact in uncertain world times before? YES!!
Dion Fortune and the Magical Battle of Britain during World War II
Violet Mary Firth (better known as Dion Fortune) was born on December 6th, 1890 in Llandudno, North Wales. Her chosen pseudonym was inspired by her family motto “Deo, non fortuna” (Latin for “by God, not fate”). After training at a horticultural college, she went on to study psychology at the University of London. This led her to work as a counsellor in a psychotherapy clinic for a number of years – until the rules for certification in psychology was established by a group of men in the field and she was told she could no longer practice. She had always been deeply interested in the esoteric and became a member of a lodge run by Theodore Moriarty (who later became a character known as Dr. Moriarty in her novels). From there she became members of both the Golden Dawn and the Theosophical Society. Eventually she split from these groups when some of their teachings and focus no longer resonated with her. She ended up forming her own group and training school, which was to become The Society of the Inner Light which continues to exist to this day. Dion always had a strong connection to Glastonbury and established a base there as well as in London. She wrote several books both fiction and non-fiction under the pseudonym Dion Fortune. These became the core training texts used by the Society of the Inner Light – and are still used to this day.
Of her non-fiction works on magical subjects, the best known are; The Cosmic Doctrine (a summation of her basic teachings on mysticism); The Mystical Qabalah (an introduction to Hermetic Qabalah); and Psychic Self Defence (a manual on how to protect oneself from psychic attacks). Though some of her writings may seem dated to contemporary readers, they actually have the virtue of being clearer and avoid the deliberate obscurity that many of her forerunners and contemporaries had in their writings.
She died of leukemia soon after the end of the war and is buried in Glastonbury cemetery. Her contemporaries and members of esoteric communities have recognized her today as one of the leading esoteric teachers of the twentieth century. Her teachings are continued in the Society of the Inner Light she founded and in many other groups that have developed since.
On September 3, 1939 (two days after Hitler’s invasion of Poland), both Britain and France as allies of the overrun nation declared war on Germany. Immediately following Britain’s declaration of war, Dion Fortune organized a widespread resistance to Hitler’s gaining power and the Third Reich, through the use of intention, visualization and meditation, undertaken by people from afar across the United Kingdom. She began a series of regular letters to members of the Society of the Inner Light, who were unable to hold meetings due to wartime travel restrictions. With enemy planes rumbling overhead, she organized a series of visualizations and meditations to help each member of the group connect with the Group Soul of humankind in order to formulate “seed ideas in the group mind of the race” for manifesting whatever was for the greatest highest good for humanity, archetypal visions to invoke angelic protection and uphold British morale under fire. “The war has to be fought and won on the physical plane,” she wrote, “Before physical, manifestation can be given to the archetypal ideals” (through connection to the unified Group Soul of humanity). “What was sown” (in focused meditation with the Group Soul) “will grow and bear seed” (in the Group Consciousness of humanity or a nation). She points out that Group Soul is a unifying constant yet Group Consciousness can be fractionated off into groups and shifted with propaganda. As the war developed, this was consolidated with further group work done from afar for the renewal of national and international harmony. For the first time her Fraternity’s doors were opened to anyone who wanted to join in and learn the previously secret methods of esoteric mind-working. With unswerving optimism and compassion, she guided her fraternity through the darkest days of the London Blitz, continuing her weekly letters even when the bombs came through her own roof.
Did the Magical Battle of Britain Work?
During WWII, the Blitz bombing of England (from September 6, 1940–May 10, 1941), sometimes called “The Battle of Britain,” was horrible, destroying over a million homes and killing at least 43,000 civilians, half of whom had lived in London where Dion Fortune and her school was based. The bombing raids over London by The Third Reich was relentless. There were three major purposes for the bombing raids. The first was to terrify the British and keep everyone paralyzed by fear – it didn’t succeed. The second purpose was to bully and intimidate England into an armistice or even an outright surrender. This, too, failed to create hopelessness. The third was to weaken the British defenses so that Germany could invade, turning all of Europe into parts of an empire ruled by the Third Reich. The plans for the invasion, known as Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion) had been all worked out, which included plans for how to administer the country after they took over. People all over England waited for even more massive death and destruction and the end to their way of life. But the expected invasion never happened… Why didn’t it?
Many believe it is Dion Fortune’s work that helped turn the tide of consciousness that had fallen prey to propaganda and had allowed Hitler to rise to power. Her teachings are continued in the Society of the Inner Light she founded and in many other groups that have developed since.
What Instructions did Dion Fortune give for her group’s practice? Could we use the same practice Today for manifesting the Greatest Highest Good for Humanity in America or the World?
Dion Fortune is very clear in her instructions to anyone choosing to take part in the group meditations – which was the first time that she ever shared such esoteric practices outside of her group of advance initiates in her school. The intention for meditation focus was set for each weekly period and were not changed until the end of a 7 day period so as not to dilute the effect. She sent out a regular weekly letter to participating members of the group indicating the week’s focus. She gave specific instructions for how to prepare for the meditation (including posture and breath work) and stated that each person needed to dedicate themself to doing the weekly meditation within the same 15 minute time period of their choice each week and that each should sit facing London (the center of their desired effect). She instructed how upon focusing on the group intention for the week it should be done from a non-judgmental compassionate stance in order to see the ‘big picture’ and not to get caught up in ‘us – them’ or what the results of the focused intention should ‘look like in the physical’ or ‘how it would happen’. She then instructed how to get connected to the Group Soul of humanity through an exercise of opening and staying in the center of the heart. While in the heart-centered connection to Unity and ‘All That Is’, the impulse is for whatever is for the greatest highest good of humanity to occur – and nothing other than that. To that end she instructed for participants to sit in the heart-centered impulsing state for 5 minutes or less as she had concerns that inexperienced or non-initiated participants would begin to have their mind wander and would dilute the focus and thus the power of the group intention. She encouraged that a journal be kept nearby to note their experiences. She then encouraged all members to reenter a meditative state and ask how they might use their gifts and abilities for the greatest highest good of humanity toward whatever the focus of the week was. She suggested that members could sit in that meditation portion for as long as they wished and then to record whatever came to them or information they received for their own personal use or to eventually share with the group if they wished.
Interested in Joining or Creating a Meditation Group in these Trying Times?
I have had a number of people request to participate in a similar group as they report that such a group would allow them to feel less powerless in stressful times. To that end, I have started a national non-partisan focused intention meditation group a la Dion Fortune style!! Go to this link https://shiftyourlife.com/the-magical-battle-of-america-practice-and-weekly-focus/ if you wish to find the details of the weekly focus and join in!! The number of people actively reaching out for the link to participate is growing – and I encourage any and all interested to share the link with others. The meditation is done individually at whatever time daily works best for you and it only takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete for those on a tight schedule.
Although I created both a Private FaceBook group (for those of you still on that platform https://www.facebook.com/groups/1748932908982049) to discuss focus for intentions /people’s experiences during meditations as well as a specific chat on Discord (https://discord.com/channels/1269097601224015934/1340906377371193414 )that you can request to join; I have found the number of participants in the meditation to be growing over time but that no one feels comfortable posting in a social media platform about their experiences due to negative experiences with social media over the past few years. Information will be in a forthcoming Shift Your Life® Newsletter on other future events and activities – so you may wish to sign up for the newsletter to be kept up on the information. You may sign up for the newsletter at the very bottom of the Home Page of our website ShiftYourLife.com
Wishing you Peace, Compassionate Experiences and loads of Light during these amazing times. Never forget that this is Earth School and that we are ALL here to learn from each other and to recognize who we truly are and step into our gifts and abilities at this time. When we remain frozen in fear/anxiety or warring in anger/rage, we sadly are much more likely to only create more of what we are afraid of or angry about. <whispered> A magical battle and intention can go both ways – so use the tools we teach if you need them to be heart- centered prior to beginning this meditative group practice… and seems like we should start with facing toward D.C. …just saying…
Big hugs to you all,
Tracy Latz