Lon Milo DuQuette (born July 11, 1948), also known as Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford and by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Lamed, is an American writer, lecturer, musician, and

occultist The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western

Hermeticism Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretism, syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. This system e ...

Early life

Lon Milo DuQuette was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

and raised in

Columbus, Nebraska Columbus is the county seat of Platte County, Nebraska, situated at the confluence of the Loup River, Loup and Platte River, Platte rivers roughly 85 miles (137 km) west-northwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha and 75 miles (121 km) northwe ...

. 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 Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

label. He and his partner Charles Dennis Harris, aka Charley Packard (now deceased), opened for Hoyt Axton,

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...

and performed with

Sammy Davis Jr Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which tou ...

Career

In 1972, DuQuette quit the music business and for the next 25 years he pursued his interest in

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

, particularly the work of

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

(1875–1947). He is on the faculty of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in

Rhinebeck, New York Rhinebeck is a village (New York), village in the Rhinebeck (town), New York, town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metr ...

where he teaches ''The Western Magical Tradition''.

Ordo Templi Orientis

Since 1975 DuQuette has been a National and International governing officer of

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult secret society and hermetic magical organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, ...

, a

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

and fraternal organization founded in the early part of the 20th century. Since 1996 he has been O.T.O.'s United States Deputy Grand Master. He is also an

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O.

Writing

DuQuette began writing professionally in 1988 and has since published 19 books (translated in 12 languages). Many of his books have been dedicated to analyzing and exploring the works of

, an English occultist, author, poet and philosopher. He has written a number of successful books on topics in the Western mystical tradition including:

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

Qabalah Hermetic Qabalah () is a Western esotericism, Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoter ...

ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of Magic (supernatural), magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories t ...

k, the Enochian magick of Dr.

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

, and Goetic spirit evocation. He is perhaps best known as "an author who injects humor into the serious subjects of magick and the occult." His autobiography, ''My Life with the Spirits,'' is currently a required text for two classes at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

, Chicago.

Return to music

A 2005 gift of a ukulele re-ignited DuQuette's interest in music. Two self-released CDs and a new record contract followed. In 2012, DuQuette released ''I'm Baba Lon'' on Ninety Three Records, his first studio album in 40 years. On September 3, 2012, Ninety Three released the follow-up, ''Baba Lon II''.

Personal life

DuQuette is married to his high school sweetheart, Constance Jean Duquette. They live in California and have one son.

Works

Books

*DuQuette, Lon Milo: & Aleister Crowley, Christopher Hyatt: ''Enochian World of Aleister Crowley: Enochian Sex Magick'', New Falcon, 1991. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: & Christopher Hyatt: ''Sex Magic, Tantra & Tarot: The Way of the Secret Lover'', New Falcon, 1991. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: & Aleister Crowley, Christopher Hyatt: ''Aleister Crowley's Illustrated Goetia: Sexual Evocation'', New Falcon, 1992. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Tarot of Ceremonial Magick: A Pictorial Synthesis of Three Great Pillars of Magick: Enochian, Goetia, Astrology'', Weiser Books, 1995. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Angels, Demons & Gods of the New Millennium'', Weiser Books, 1997. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''My Life With the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician'', Weiser Books, 1999. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford: Dilettante's Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist'', Weiser Books, 2001. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema'', Weiser Books, 2003. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot'', Weiser Books, 2003. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''The Book Of Ordinary Oracles'', Weiser Books, 2005. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''The Key to Solomon's Key: Secrets of Magic and Masonry'', Ccc Publishing, 2006. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Enochian Vision Magick'', Weiser Books, 2008. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Low Magick: It's All In Your Head... You Just Have No Idea How Big Your Head Is'', Llewellyn Publications, 2010. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Ask Baba Lon: Answers to Questions of Life & Magick'', New Falcon Publications, 2011. *DuQuette, Lon Milo & Bratkowsky, James M: ''Revolt of the Magicians'', Orobas Press, 2011. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Homemade Magick: The Musings & Mischief of a Do-It-Yourself Magus'', Llewellyn Publications, 2014. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Son of Chicken Qabalah: Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford's Mostly Painless Qabalah Course'', Weiser Books, 2018. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''Allow Me To Introduce: An Insider's Guide to the Occult'' Weiser Books, 2020. *DuQuette, Lon Milo: ''An Accidental Christ: The Story of Jesus as Told by His Uncle'', Llewellyn Publications, 2023.

Music

*''Charley D. And Milo—Charley D. Harris and Lon Milo DuQuette'', Epic, 1970. *''I'm Baba Lon'', Ninety Three Records, 2012. *''Baba Lon II'', Ninety Three Records, 2012. *''Gentle Heretic'', Ninety Three Records, 2013. *''Sweet Baba Lon'', Ninety Three Records, 2015.

Other media

*''Lon Milo DuQuette's Enochian Magick - The Art of Angelic Evocation'', Hooded Man Productions. 1994. *''Magical Egypt'', Cydonia, Inc. 2000. *''Qabalah For the Rest of Us'', Cydonia, Inc. 2002. *''The Great Work'', Cydonia, Inc. 2008. *''Lon Milo DuQuette Live and Uncensored—Tarot Kabbalah & Oracles'', Cydonia, Inc. 2005. *''The Call—Dieter Müh and Lon Milo Duquette'', HaemOccult, 2009. *''Tarot of Ceremonial Magic Deck'' which was revised 2020 by Next Millennium

Notes

External links

*
Duquette's Writers Net ProfilePaganNews.com Interview with Lon Milo DuquetteOC Music Scene Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duquette, Lon Milo 1948 births Living people 20th-century American bishops 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American bishops 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American Thelemic bishops American Thelemites American occult writers Enochian magic Members of Ordo Templi Orientis Musicians from Long Beach, California People from Columbus, Nebraska Writers from Long Beach, California Writers from Nebraska