Society of the Inner Light

The Society of the Inner Light was founded by the British occultist "Dion Fortune" (Violet Mary Firth ) in 1924. Originally known as the Community then Fraternity of the Inner Light, it became the Society of the Inner Light when incorporated as a registered charity in 1946.

Firth was a member of the Stella Matutina, an outer order of the famous Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Community of the Inner Light was originally intended by Golden Dawn members as a recruitment body for suitable prospects. Firth came into conflict with Golden Dawn leaders, however, and she split away from the parent body. Firth remained warden of the fraternity until her death in 1946.

The fraternity was headquartered in London and maintained a library of occultism and mysticism, including the various works on occultism by Fortune herself. It also organized public lectures and published a monthly journal, the Inner Light Magazine, devoted to esoteric Christianity, occult science, and the psychology of superconsciousness.

The fraternity purchased a site at Glastonbury, long considered a holy place in Britain, a power center associated with legends of Joseph of Arimathea. A guest house was established on this site on the side of the Tor, the famous Hill of Vision supposed to overlook the Isle of Avalon. Here, Fortune could retreat from the continued tensions she experienced from her interactions with the older, male-dominated magic community. The guest house became a meeting place and social center for those interested in mysticism.

After the death of Dion Fortune, the fraternity continued her teachings virtually unchanged for a time, but eventually its scope broadened, embracing a wider range of occult practices and dispensing with the initiation oath. The society recommenced the publishing of The Inner Light as a quarterly in 1993. Website: http://www.innerlight.org.uk.

Sources:

Chapman, Janine. Quest for Dion Fortune. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, 1993.

Fielding, Charles, and Clark Collins. The Story of Dion Fortune. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, 1985. Reprint, Loughborough, England: Thoth Publications, 1999.

Knight, Gareth. Dion Fortune and the Inner Light. Loughborough, England: Thoth Publications, 2000.

Richardson, Alan. Priestess: The Life and Magic of Dion Fortune. Wellingborough, England: Aquarian Press, 1987.