Angels, Demons & Gods of the New Millenium: Musings on Modern Magick

by Lon Milo DuQuette

The apparent descent of spirit into matter is just an illusion of digressive defects in preception--a cascade of consciousness, each level forgetful of the level just above it. Initiatory landmarks such as the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel aren't steps upon a ladder; rather they are shift of consciousness-awakenings. You could say the rest of the universe has already pulled its act together and is just waiting for you to wake up to the fact. Like it or not, we all come hard-wired with a complete set (twelve six-packs) of Goetic demons. They are units of untamed natural forces within ourselves that we have ignored, denied or disowned. They surface to work their mischeif when our will is ambiguous and our resistance is low. After you have committed an embarrassing act of unbelieveable stupidity you are really referring to them when you slap your forehead and scream, "I am my own worst enemy!" As long as they ignored and uncontrolled, they are as dangerous as hungry beasts in an abandoned zoo. What pantheon of gods could possibly preside over a world where every man and every woman is a star--self-radiant and co-eual to every other star in the universe? What powers or agencies still govern an enviornment populated by independent creative beings? The answer becomes obviuos when we grasp the fact that we are running out of cosmic elbow room. When all is said and done, worshippers of the New Millennium are left with three fundamental "the absolutely biggest One; the absolutely smallest One; and the One that is everything between the other two."

Genres: Magick, Occult, Thelema, Magic, Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Spirituality

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1997

About the author

Lon Milo DuQuette is an American singer-song writer, author, lecturer, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western Hermeticism.

Born in Long Beach, California and raised in Columbus, Nebraska, he was an aspiring studio musician and recording artist in the 1970s, releasing two singles and an album, Charley D. and Milo, on the Epic Records label.

He married to his high school sweetheart, Constance Jean Duquette. They live in Costa Mesa, California and have one son, Jean-Paul.

Since 1975 he has been a National and International governing officer of Ordo Templi Orientis, a religious and fraternal organization founded in the early part of the 20th century. Since 1996 he has been the O.T.O.'s United States Deputy Grand Master and one of the most visible members of the Order. He is also an Archbishop of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O.

Reviews

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

DuQuette is a bit of a guilty pleasure. On the one hand his apple pie-occultism rubs my fur pretty hard the wrong way and on the other hand he makes obtuse ideas very accesable. (hmmm... both hands appear to be the same hand...)

Anyway, saw him speak years back in SF and got so sour about his self deprication and sillyness it took me almost a decade to pick up one of his books. Not bad... I guess...

[Jennifer Kneif · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always had a mixed relationship with DuQuette's style of writing, having read several of his books in the past. On the one hand, he manages to convey the most important information about a subject in a very clear and simple kind of language – unlike authors such as Crowley or Kenneth Grant, whose works are riddled with a vast amount of allegories, metaphors and other embellishments, so that the side stories can easily distract from the main content. On the other hand, I have found his books that I have read in the past rather dry, and his proclaimed wit has always eluded me; other than the occasional self-deprecatory remark and amusing comparison with real-life situations, his work tends to be very factual and in a style which I found rather tedious – but that is obviously a personal opinion. I have nevertheless given his previous books five stars, simply because of the valuable information that they conveyed in an easily understandable form.

This book is different. It had me captivated from the start, and his witty charm really comes out in every single chapter. I found it exceedingly difficult to get my nose out from its pages, even at the expense of missing out on my valued sleep and other pleasures.

The only thing that is unfortunate is that there used to be a colour foldout containing the 72 names of God and their associated angels and demons inside the book, but the publisher apparently decided that it was too expensive to include it in future editions. A graphic of the foldout is available on the internet, albeit in rather low resolution, so a friend of mine (who bought the book at the same time as I did) has contacted Lon for a better quality version, and hopefully we will hear from him soon.

This is a book that I can seriously recommend to any occult student.

[Rory Tregaskis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of interesting concepts but I'm not quite ready to start evoking demons. You get an over view of subjects like Gematria and Kabbalah which may lead you on to further reading, but are not quite deep enough to really understand them.

[Nancy McQueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise book on the cyclical transformations of the Gods, written with clarity and a wicked sense of humor.

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

DuQuette here writes with simplicity that makes complicated aspects of occultism much simpler and still retains their core. My only issue is DuQuette here does get a bit too polemical at times and in ways that undermine his credibility on occasion (for example asserting Hell is part of ‘Chrislemew’ beliefs when Jews don’t really believe in Hell). Still overall it is solid.

[Mehdi Hassan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The topic is serious and controversial to say the least but the author keeps the tone so light, one might say, he magically instils demons into the reader's head. Puns aside, the book covers reasonable breadth and history about occult society.

[william m manzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful piece of work on the history of ceremonial magik and really puts the timeline into context. He pulls you into the whole concept and makes sense of so many Kriss crossing timelines . So much more information laid out in easy and understandable way.

[Claudio Yáñez Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Wow! Este libro de Lon Milo DuQuette es un trabajo espléndido y muy iluminador. Altamente recomendable.

[pedrazaluan · Rating 5 out of 5]

the boock is very good

[Stefanie Taiclet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an interesting and informative read and a great beginner information with insights for the experienced practitioner.

[Eric Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple & clear introduction to Thelema; it's philosophy & the Magick of the New Aeon. "Musings" is a very modest word for the amount of fundamental information that is communicated concisely and with extraordinary clarity. The chapter on the Emerald Tablet of Hermes is worthy of special mention, as in the enclosed chart of all the attributions of the 72 Pentads (5° divisions) of the Zodiac.

Combined with Mr. DuQuette's "Tarot of Ceremonial Magick", one has a profound "Key to the Universe" of Magick -- and I mean that; it is not an empty commendation.