Dion Fortune Books in Order
32 books are credited to Dion Fortune, published between 1920 and 2009; 21 of them appeared after Dion Fortune's death in 1946. The first book is Sane Occultism (1920) and the newest is Machinery of the Mind (2009). Publication order is the reading order below.
Dion Fortune also publishes as V. M. Steele, Violet M. Firth.
- Books
- 32
- Published
- 1920–2009
- Pages on record
- 5,653 in 30 of 32 books
- Reading time
- 94–141 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,653 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 30 of 32 titles with a page count on record.
Dion Fortune, born Violet Mary Firth, was a British occultist, ceremonial magician and writer who co-founded the Fraternity of the Inner Light. Fortune attributed that organisation's teachings to spiritual entities called the Ascended Masters, and wrote seven novels alongside a large body of articles and books on occult ideas. The catalogue lists 32 titles running from Sane Occultism (1920) through Psychic Self-Defense (1930), Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart (1934), Practical Occultism (1935) and The Goat-Foot God (1936). Occultism, magic, witchcraft and death recur across the listed subjects. Fortune was born in Llandudno, North Wales, in 1890 and died in 1946.
How many Dion Fortune books are there?
Dion Fortune has 32 books, released between 1920 and 2009. 21 of them were published after Dion Fortune's death in 1946.
Dion Fortune Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 32 Dion Fortune books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Sane Occultism1920 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/419201921/4
- 2The Return of the Ritual1922 · confirmed 1/41922–1/4
- 3The Secrets of Dr. Taverner1926 · 248 pages · confirmed 1/419262481/4
- 4Demon Lover1927 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/419271761/4
- 5Psychic Self-Defense1930 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/419302241/4
- 6Through the Gates of Death1930 · 65 pages · confirmed 1/41930651/4
- 7Glastonbury: Avalon of the Heart1934 · 98 pages · confirmed 1/41934981/4
- 8The Winged Bull1935 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/419352881/4
- 9Practical Occultism1935 · 194 pages · confirmed 1/419351941/4
- 10The Goat-Foot God1936 · 392 pages · confirmed 1/419363921/4
- 11The Sea Priestess1938 · 235 pages · confirmed 1/419382351/4
- 12Moon Magic1956 · 235 pages · confirmed 1/419562351/4
- 13The Mystical Qabalah1957 · 355 pages · confirmed 1/419573551/4
- 14Esoteric Orders and Their Work1961 · 147 pages · confirmed 1/419611471/4
- 15Applied Magic1962 · 116 pages · confirmed 1/419621161/4
- 16Aspects of Occultism1962 · 94 pages · confirmed 1/41962941/4
- 17The Cosmic Doctrine1966 · 227 pages · confirmed 1/419662271/4
- 18The Esoteric Philosophy of Love and Marriage1974 · 104 pages · confirmed 1/419741041/4
- 19Dion Fortune's Through the Gates of Death and Spiritualism in the Light of Occult Science1988 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/419881441/4
- 20Mystical Meditations on the Christian Collects1991 · confirmed 1/41991–1/4
- 21The Magical Battle of Britain1993 · 162 pages · confirmed 1/419931621/4
- 22Esoteric Orders and Their Work and The Training and Work of the Initiate1995 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/419951761/4
- 23An Introduction to Ritual Magic1997 · 200 pages · confirmed 1/419972001/4
- 24The Circuit of Force1998 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/419982401/4
- 25Principles of Hermetic Philosophy1999 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/419992081/4
- 26What Is Occultism?1999 · 199 pages · confirmed 1/419991991/4
- 27Spiritualism And Occultism2000 · 202 pages · confirmed 1/420002021/4
- 28Principles of Esoteric Healing2000 · 168 pages · confirmed 1/420001681/4
- 29The Training and Work of an Initiate2000 · 133 pages · confirmed 1/420001331/4
- 30Dion Fortune's Book of the Dead2005 · 85 pages · confirmed 1/42005851/4
- 31The Arthurian Formula2006 · 248 pages · confirmed 1/420062481/4
- 32Machinery of the Mind2009 · 98 pages · confirmed 1/42009981/4
Dion Fortune books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Standalone books
32 books32 Dion Fortune titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Dion Fortune books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 32 Dion Fortune books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Dion Fortune
Start with Sane Occultism (1920), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Dion Fortune book?
Machinery of the Mind (2009) is the newest Dion Fortune book released so far.
Is there a new Dion Fortune book coming?
No next Dion Fortune book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Dion Fortune at a glance
- Died
- Dion Fortune died in 1946, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Dion Fortune are still being published after Dion Fortune's death in 1946; the newest appeared in 2009.
- Release pace
- Dion Fortune books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 5,653 pages across the 30 of 32 books with a recorded length, a median of 193 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Dion Fortune books, 7 of 32, were published in the 1990s.
What the Dion Fortune books are about
26 of the 32 Dion Fortune books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: occultism is tagged on 17 of 26. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Occultism 17 of 26 books
- Magic 6 of 26 books
- Miscellanea 4 of 26 books
- Occult sciences 4 of 26 books
- Death 3 of 26 books
- Fraternity of the Inner Light 3 of 26 books
- Occult 3 of 26 books
- Supernatural 3 of 26 books
- Atlantis 2 of 26 books
- Non-fiction 2 of 26 books
- Occultisme 2 of 26 books
- Ocean 2 of 26 books