Customer Reviews

My Life With The Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is an autobiography. But it differs from most as it is also a teaching tool, with the focus being magic. It is about personal responsibility and personal growth. It is a book of inspiration as well as failure. It's about being human, becoming a holy man and dealing with the divine. It is a book about the student who becomes the teacher. Sounds interesting but confused? Let me back up and explain.

Amongst his many practices, Lon Milo DuQuette is a Qabalahist, one who studies and practices the Qabalah. No, he is not Jewish. Not everyone who studies the Qabalah is Jewish. He is a magician, in the truest sense of the word.

Mr. DuQuette starts out by giving us his background, his youth, and explains how his parents choices of a spiritual path failed to meet his special, personal needs. Born in time to grow up in the 50s and 60s on the West Coast, he had the opportunity to seek out the spiritual path that made the most sense to him, and allowed him to explore it to the fullest.

Mr. Duquette has a way about him, of looking at a situation, in retrospect, and finding the "meat and potatoes" of why he chose a particular path or project, and making it into hash. We all had adventures at that time. Mr. Duquette had some whoppers. And he admits to them and tells us all about them in a most charming way.

That is what makes this book unique. This is not another dry and dull autobiography by some Ceremonial Magician that becomes an ego trip for the magical and famous. This is a real person exploring magic. He has some spectacular successes on his chosen path, and some stupendous flops. We all learn from our mistakes, and Mr. Duquette is not afraid to admit to his share of a few. He never takes anything so seriously that he forgets to laugh. And he shares this with the reader to our delight.

Each success and each failure becomes a learning experience he shares with the reader, passing on his own brand of validation of experience.

He also shares some of his knowledge in a way that almost anyone can understand. You don't have to be a Qabalahist to follow what he is talking about or doing. Mr. DuQuette lays it out for you in the simplest form, and you may even come away with some understanding of what the Qabalah is all about, without even realizing it. We see the beginnings of a person who will become an excellent teacher.

This is a wonderful book about one person's journey along a magical path. It is a book of exploration, a book of learning and a book to make you realize that we are all human and we are all magical. It is about finding one's path and making the most of our lives. It is full of positive affirmations about life, and is inspiration for those looking at what magic is about.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone considering the path of magic in their lives, be it High Magic or kitchen witchery. And I recommend this to anyone who knows someone on the magical path and wants to know what it is all about. While it is very specific to Mr. DuQuette, I couldn't think of a better teacher for what magic is and is not for those not familiar with magic.

And for those who already walk the path of magic, I recommend this book as an essential part of our learning. We can all use a reminder that we are but human, no matter how much we tend to think we are something more. Thanks, Mr. DuQuette, for that lesson. boudica

Trust me on this one, folks! I read this book and immediately had every one of my personal students read it! They all loved it, not to mention the fact that it gave them hope (and provided a beacon of light) that they WILL succeed; in life AND in Magick. If you take any of my reviews seriously, please make it this one.

This first-hand account of Lon Duquette's Magickal life and personal life is very, very interesting. His whimsical style and unabashed Honesty are thrilling. This amazing man can switch from seriously discussing the intricacies of Magickal operations, to making you laugh until you nearly cry. Every Magickian, Wiccan, Witch and whatnot should own this book for the autobiographical dissertation on how he created his first Wand!

Don't get me wrong, this book isn't written to be placed in the humor section--he obviously takes his Work very seriously. However, Lon has discovered one of the Greatest Keys of occultism (don't take yourself too seriously).

This definitely is not a typical "I'm a big dark, brooding Occultist" story. this guy has his stuff together, and I have it on good word that he is just as jovial in person as he is in real life--yet, can switch to Magickian Mode, as if taking off a hat and putting another on.

I have never enjoyed an autobiography so much. Crowley's autohagiography was wonderful, yet his style is not exactly easy to read....Crowley is more like College Courses of study.

Duquette's book can be read in one sitting, yet leaves a tremendous Impression upon the reader. You really feel as-if you know this guy and could actually talk to him.

I learned a lot of very, very useful information from this great book and I will highly recommend it to every Magickal person I know. The lessons to be learned regarding various Magickal Practices are priceless.

No matter what type of Magick you practice, this book will be a useful addition to your library (tell your friend's to get their own copy, or you'll probably never get it back).

Never has more true nor more entertaining advice been given! This book coursing the history of Lon DuQuette's Life with the Spirits will have you in stitches quite regularly, yet he does sneak priceless wisdom in from the side while you aren't looking. Many people have much maligned Aleister Crowley, a sort of P.T. Barnum of the occult world, but DuQuette succeeds wildly in introducing a different and open-minded side where we can see how Crowley's teachings affect one person and everything they (DuQuette) touch. DuQuette is indeed a scholar of Crowley, but he is also an insatiable comic. Who else could come to the conclusion that J-s-s is his mother's yellow dress a such a young age? If you've read any of his other works, you know you must occasionally suffer him his penchant for allegorical alliteration, it is a petite addiction of his; watch out for those hidden pearls of wisdom. Indeed, his Chicken Qabalesque theory shines through marvelously -- it's all in your head, you just have no idea how big your head really is.

Waiting with baited breath for the movie...

Far and away, Duquette's best book yet. "My Life with the Spirits" documents this authors incredible and oft times hilarious exploits through the realms of modern ceremonial magick. Duquette takes the air out of much of the pomp and mystery surrounding the occult by allowing us a very personal an intimate view into the often chaotic world of the initiate. By offering us such a candid look into the successes as well as the mishaps encountered upon the Path of his magical career, Duquette opens his heart and bares his soul to us with a self-effacing wit and humor that allows each reader a private glimpse behind the veil of the mysteries.

Extremely accessible and an incredibly easy read. (I couldn't put it down and finished it in about 4 hours). This book will have you belly laughing uncontrollably while simultaneously providing you with practical insights into the methodology and practices of such arcane subjects as Enochian and Goetic Magick, Exorcism, and esoteric transformational psychology.

A "must have" for the modern occultist.

When it comes to magical memoirs, two major failings often arise. First, when a magician attains some level of fame through success (much like other artists, this usually happens posthumously), he or she seems to instantly achieve, whether merited or not, legendary status. Objectivity on their life and accomplishments becomes obscured by all the accompanying hyperbole. And second, the works produced about the individuals seem to have a universal lack of wit. Neither of these shortcomings are reflected in the brilliant autobiography My Life With the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician by Lon Milo DuQuette.

DuQuette, who is undoubtedly, like Robert Anton Wilson and Phil Hine, one of the most entertaining authors writing today, skillfully fends off the trait that has spread like a virus through our modern world - the fear of introspection. With both savage honesty and practiced style, DuQuette reveals both the heart and history of a true spiritual seeker. He openly delves into his "agonizing" years in "accepted" religion and, with the fortitude of a soldier gazing at his own battle scars, shares the progress of his metaphysical self through the trenches as well as the Samadhic peaks.

Having dabbled in the entheogenic craze of the sixties and having encountered the truths inherent in the then-newly-emergent flood of eastern traditions, he advanced through the Rosicrucian Order AMORC, the O.T.O. and Crowley's Thelemic system (in fact, his The Magic of Thelema is arguably the finest introduction to Thelemic magic available) and finally into the depths of Dee's Enochian model and modern ceremonial magic. In a time that finds the bookshelves rife with languid how-to manuals on evocation and frustratingly short on personal accounts of evocation, in terms of both successes and failures, the last half DuQuette's book is priceless. The narrative of his evocation of Orobas is the finest account of ceremonial magic, in terms of both objective practice and subjective meaning, that I have ever read. The book itself, whether the reader is schooled in thencraft or simply curious, stands alone among magical biographies.

Frankly, whether your interested in the genre or not, I'd highly recommend this book. It's truly an enjoyable read from beginning to end. I ended up reading this book out loud to my wife while she was pregnant, because I just couldn't keep the little gems to myself. I'd laugh to myself, she'd say "what?" I'd read her a paragraph, she'd laugh... three minutes later, we'd repeat the scenario. After a few times around, we just said the heck with it... read it all out-loud! What a purely enjoyable experience for both of us.

DuQuette's humorous and down to earth writing style is a much needed breath of fresh air to this genre where many take themselves far too seriously. DuQuette understands how to write about life changing activities and heavy philosophies without putting on the much used pompous tone. I can't say it enough, I love this book, I love this author, I love his style. Through it all, you come to feel as if you actually know this man. His style imparts so much familiarity that you come to feel you've known him for years and wouldn't think twice about asking him to coffee if you bump into him on the street.

If I could offer one book to a friend to help them understand this world I live in, it would be this one, without a doubt. It's truly a FUN book, and you can't help but come away with something of value, no matter who you are.

Buy it, read it, laugh and learn! I'd give it six stars if I could.

I bought this book based on a review of a dear friend. I was not disappointed. DuQuette's wit is undeniable! He shares his life from the beginning of his pathworking and takes the reader on a journey through his life, his mistakes, his drawbacks, and his breakthroughs.

I highly recommend this book to the novice in mystacism, as well as those who are well on their paths. There are times when he makes you laugh, and times when you cry with him. A great read!

No other books makes the life of the Magician more accessable than Lon Milo Duquette. There is no hoity-toity kabalistic rhetoric. This is more about living the life of magician, having the doubts, insights, adventures that that path has to offer, and finally reminding you that the Great Work is really never done. I loved it. I couldn't put it down until I read the last page!

I've read Duquette's other books and have enjoyed them, and I wasn't disappointed with this one. It's a slim volume that's easy to read and hard to put down, and I found the accounts of his rituals absorbing and humorous. Duquette doesn't take himself too seriously, which is a plus in my books--there's too much pompous self-righteousness in modern occultism.