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fo r~ O u e s t ~ for Dion Fortune JANiNE CI-lApMAN by FOREWORd KENNETIi GRANT SAMUELWEISER, INC. York Beach, Maine Firstpublishedin1993by SamuelWeiser,Inc. Box612 YorkBeach,Maine03910 Copyright©1993JanineChapman Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmitted inanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,with out permissioninwritingfromthepublisher.Reviewersmayquotebriefpassages. Library ofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Chapman. [anine, 1944- QuestforDionFortune / by[anineChapman p. em. 1. Fortune,Dion. 2. Occultists--England--Biography. 3. FraternityoftheInnerLight-Biography. I. Title. BF1408.2.F67C48 1993 133'.092--dc20 [Bl 93-10006 OP ISBN0-87728-775-9 MG ThecoverwascreatedfromaphotographofGlastonburyTortakenbytheauthor. Typesetin10pointPalatino PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 999897% 959493 10987654321 ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsoftheAmerican NationalStandardforpermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterialsZ39.48-1984. In Memoryof W. ErnestButler 1898-1978 CONTENTS Forewordby KennethGrant ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv Booksby DianFortune xxi Chapter1 The QuestforDianFortuneBegins 1 Chapter2 Mr. Butler'sVoicefrom Across the Ocean 19 Chapter3 KennethGrantandIsrael Regardie 37 Chapter4 SettingFooton EnglishSoil 59 Chapter5 Evelyn HeathfieldandHelahFox: MemoriesofDianFortune 63 Chapter6 Ernest Butler and the Real Secrets ofDr.Taverner 105 Chapter7 Ritual atthe Tor: AGlastonburyPilgrimage 133 Chapter8 Fortuneand Crowley: KennethGrantReminisces 143 Chapter9 VioletFirth'sPsychic Attack: TheMysterySolved 161 Epilogue 181 Selected Bibliography 185 About the Author 191 FOREWORD "The word which shall come to save the world, shall be uttered by awoman.... Hers isthe light ofthe heavens, and thebrightest of the planets of the holy seven. She is the fourth dimension; the eyes which enlighten; the power which draweth inward to God. And her kingdom cometh; the day of the exaltation of woman. Andherreignshall be greaterthanthe reignofman." Soprophe sied AnnaKingsford, acelebratedmysticofthe 19thcentury.The visionmaybe true, or it may not, andalthoughwomanand man are designated metaphors for intuition and ordinary cognitionit has acuriouslymodemring. Some suchnotionno doubtinspired [anine Chapman to set out on her quest for Dion Fortune. Like Anna Kingsford, Dion Fortunewas at one time a memberof the Theosophical Society founded by another visionary, Helena Blavatsky. Unlike Blavatsky, however, Fortune's life was not a series oftempestuousadventurescrying outtobe seizeduponby numerousbiographers, soChapmansetherself ahardertask. Like many occultists, Fortune discouraged the personality cult,and althoughsheherselfhadan unusuallystrongpersonality, she did notallow it to color her technical writings. In her novels, however, we obtainfrequentglimpsesofastartlinglyunorthodox and skillful occultist who succeeded in gaining access to other worlds, otherdimensions, throughanadaptationofEasterntech niques usually associated with Tantric yoga. This amalgam appeared tobeatvariancewith thetiltofher frequently expressed preferenceforthe WesternEsotericTraditionasepitomizedinthe Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, to which she also once belonged, and itcreatedinher adichotomy whichbecomesevident on comparing her instructional writings with her fiction. In Fortune'sdaycertainopinionswereconsideredacceptableonly if _/[anineChapman expressedthroughthe mouthsoffictionalcharacters. Inhernovels shewas freetogive rein toherinmostnatureandthey focus upon herthe light ofKingsford's prophecy. Werecognizein Fortunea dedicatedpriestess, apriestess of Isis-asBlavatskybefore her hadbeen-ofIsisunveiledandbear ing her Secret Doctrine. Fortune, too, had her Cosmic Doctrine, concerned, as was Blavatsky's, with vastcyclesoftime, alienlife wavesandsuperhumanentities.Werealize, soonenough, thatwe are confrontednotwith the anomalyofa female priest-anotion asgrotesqueasthatofamalepriestess-butwithagenuinevehi cleofthe mysteriesofOldIsis,ofthe moon, the sea, the fertile and barren earth, and also of a New Isis whose radiant influence is emanatingfrom dimensionsbeyondthe rangeofourmerelygeo centric conceptionsofthe universe. Yetasidefrom Fortune'sfar-flung flights to otherworlds, in controlled trances wardedby fellowinitiates, shebroughtaspecial message for halfourrace. Speaking throughher magical person ality, LilithLeFay,she declaresin one ofhernovels, "Icarneback to the world yet once againas the priestessofthe GreatGoddess bringing with me the memory of forgotten arts, one of which is the art ofbeingawoman." Itisinthis role thatshe inspirestodaysomanywhoreadher books andendeavortoputinto practicethe magical arts andskills that she taught. She was undoubtedly the first major Western occultist actually to demonstrate the role of woman as an active initiatorinto theMysteries,ratherthanasapassive vehicleoftrans mission from elemental and trans-mundane forces. Prior to Fortune,nowoman-includingBlavatsky, Kingsford,Besant, and Bailey-hadpublicly andpointedlydefined themechanismofsex ual polarity in the service of practical magic and sorcery. Such teachingwaslackingin theTheosophicalSocietyasinthe Golden Dawn,the twochiefsourcesofArcaneKnowledge inthe Western hemisphereinrecenttimes. AleisterCrowleyalone wasthrowing lightuponthis area ofoccultism, whichisstillheld tobe ashighly dangerousnowas itwaswhenFortunewaspublishingherbooks in the 1920s and 1930s.She was, of course, aware of Crowley's knowledge of these matters and of their connection withTantra.