cover image Allow Me to Introduce: An Insider’s Guide to the Occult

Allow Me to Introduce: An Insider’s Guide to the Occult

Lon Milo DuQuette. Weiser, $15.95 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-57863-654-9

DuQuette (Low Magick), occult writer and teacher at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y., shines in this delightful collection of “literary appetizers” comprising more than two dozen essays he originally wrote as the introductions to books on the occult. DuQuette shares stories of his youth as a budding mystic and the development of his “dubious reputation as some kind of magical authority,” finds humor in his alternate personality “Rabbi Lamad Ben Clifford,” and expresses sincere appreciation and respect for the work of his mentors and colleagues. His essays have introduced new editions of classic works such as English occultist Israel Regardie’s The Eye in the Triangle, obscure treatises such as Opus Mago-Cabalisticum et Theosophicum, modern workbooks such as Donald Michael Kraig’s Modern Magic, and even a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Readers will laugh at DuQuette’s self-deprecating tales of his own magical education and his colorful personal collegiality with Regardie. Far from fluff, his introductions sketch the broad outlines of core ideas within Western magical thought, including the practices of Enochian magic, Masonry, Qabalah, Tarot, and Thelema. DuQuette’s enthusiastic recommendations and heartfelt analyses will inspire any reader interested in the occult. (Feb.)