Now, we take a giant leap forward in time—to the 20th century—in order to find another example of an Isiac who describes for us an interior state. And again, it comes in the form of a novel, a novelized account of the work of Dion Fortune as a Priestess of Isis.

Many of you may know Dion Fortune. She is a critically important Priestess of Isis. I know of a number of modern priestesses who came to Isis specifically because of Dion’s books. And, in fact, that was her intention. She wrote in the early 20th century and was born in the era of the equally important Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. More on that later…perhaps…if you’re interested.

Dion was a multi-talented occultist and teacher. The special focus of Dion Fortune’s magical work with Isis had to do with the Moon cycles as reflected in women and which she believed offered healing to men. She taught that women and men must awaken to the natural magic of the cycles that are an integral part of our lives; that we must open ourselves to the flux and reflux power of the Moon Goddess in order to bring balance and spiritual healing to our souls and to our lives.

Sound familiar? I think many of us today would agree—and perhaps some of us are already following in Dion’s footsteps, trying to make the change. To Dion, the Great Goddess Isis is both the source and the Divine teacher of this esoteric knowledge. She is the Goddess of the Moon. She is, quite simply, the Divine Feminine.

Dion’s Isis work is novelized in her books, The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic. Both are about the magical awakening of a man to the Goddess Isis through the medium of Her priestess—who is, of course, Dion’s own alter-ego.

You’ve probably heard one of the most famous aphorisms from one of her novels: 

All the Gods are one God, all the Goddesses are one Goddess, and there is one Initiator.

Yeah, Dion wrote that.  

Dion and her priestess-character championed the need to restore the Divine Feminine to our society. She was convinced that the lack of the feminine “moon-force” was throwing modern civilization off balance. I believe she intended her work to serve as an example to women of a Path which empowered the human feminine by drawing upon the Divine Feminine.

Thus the magical work that Dion describes in these novels is precisely what she considers her work as a Priestess of Isis to be: helping to return the Moon Force, the power of the Divine Feminine, to the world.

The descriptions Dion gives of the rituals and the preparations for them give us a notion of what real magic is like—one of the very, very, very few such records that we have. Dion describes the influx of energy produced as the Goddess indwells the priestess like this:

Then behind me, there began to be a warmth and a power. Isis was formulating. Above my head I saw Hers. I was no longer conscious of the agony in my hands [they were being gripped tightly by the Priest] or the strain on my body. All I felt was the power flowing through me in electric heat.

This kind of powerful and intimate contact with Goddess has beneficial effects. The priestess felt herself revitalized and her priest is blessed, too. The energy of the Goddess cleared away…

“all the obstructions and blockings and tangles in his nature.” Like Osiris, he was reborn of the Goddess. He was a man “utterly re-made” ready to “sing with the morning stars.”

Both priestess and priest are revitalized, changed, and placed in touch with their Higher and Truer Selves.

Yes, I agree, these are rather sparse examples, separated by many hundreds of years. But they are precious. They tell us what it was—IS—like inside when Isis comes into your heart.

Let us share some more stories like this…so that we do not lose these precious hints. Let us record them for those who come after us.

I’ll tell you one, if you tell me one.