“Oracularicious” (well, that’s what the blurb on the back of the book says) Lon Milo DuQuette is a ceremonial magician with a sense of humor. In this down-to-earth book, he tells us through stories and a touch or two of magical theory and history how to “use Pocket Change, Popsicle Sticks, a TV Remote, THIS BOOK [sic.], and More to Predict the Future and Answer [Our] Questions.”
Pocket change? See chapter 4, “The Oracle of Ko-Ween.” To illustrate the efficacy of Ko-Ween (perhaps not his best pun) as an oracle, DuQuette tells the story of his participation on a panel at a Pantheacon and how he spent the night before the presentation flipping Ko-Ween and ending up with a message from the hotel coffeemaker. Popsicle sticks?. You need six of them to construct “the fastest and easiest method of consulting the I Ching.” You can also use that ubiquitous modern magic wand, the TV remote control, as your “couch-potato oracle.” Program the remote so that an active channel comes on every time you press the up or down buttons. Turn on the mute. Ask your question. With your eyes closed and probably both hands on the magic wand, move up and down channels. From time to time, turn off the mute and listen to a snippet of a TV program. You want only a tiny sound bite. Do this as long as you are led to and write all the sound bites down. You’ll find your answer.
We can even use the book itself as an oracle. It’s an edgy bibliomancy. On the outer margin of every page is a mini-sidebar with an answer. “Watch your step. They’re watching.” “It won’t help to worry.” “Don’t ask a stupid oracle.” Again, ask your question and with your eyes closed flip through the book until you come to “the right page.”
Before explaining these oracles—plus giving us a brand-new tarot deck (based on Waite-Smith) and the I Ching of Mi-Lo, both of which we can copy without worrying about copyright—DuQuette explains why oracles work. They’re always right. To prove it, he tells us the seven secrets of fortune-telling: (1) You are more psychic than you think, (2) You are the oracle, (3) There is no future—only the Great Now, (4) The oracle is the Superior Intelligence, (5) The oracle is always right, (6) The question is more important than the answer, and (7) Oracles work because they’re perfect. It’s we who may be imperfect, which is why we consult oracles. The most useful chapter in the book is titled “How to be Truthful to Yourself When Reading Your Own Cards.” Read DuQuette’s advice. Try what he suggests.
~review by Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.
Author: Lon Milo DuQuette
RedWheel/Weiser, 2005
