Essays examining the state of magick in the new millennium from one of America's most knowledgeable and engaging authorities.

Angels . . .

The apparent descent of spirits into matter is just an illusion of digressive defects in perception—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 shifts 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.

Demons . . .

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 mischief when our will is ambiguous and our resistance is low. After you have committed an embarrassing act of unbelievable stupidity you are really referring to them when you slap your forehead and scream, "I am my own worst enemy!" As long as they are ignored and uncontrolled, they are as dangerous as hungry beasts in an abandoned zoo.

& Gods of the New Millennium

What pantheon of gods could possibly preside over a world where every man and every woman is a star—self-radiant and co-equal to every other star in the same universe? What powers or agencies still govern an environment populated by independent creative beings? The answer becomes obvious 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 deities: "the absolutely biggest One; the absolutely smallest One; and the One that is everything between the other two."

Lon Milo DuQuette