A moment of celebration

Even while empires fall.

Beloveds! 

In case you missed it during the *checks notes* -find out section in our worldwide lesson on the consequences of disaster capitalism, bitter partisan politics, and the very real contributing factors of human induced climate change, I made a rather innocuous seeming announcement on my social media last week. 

I announced the signature and sale of my 5th book: Black Power and Black Magic/k.

I am unsure in this modern age of fast media, hot takes, and collapsing information systems that there is actual societal use in all my important work centered in a dying art form: books. 

Particularly long form non-fiction books that challenge the status quo of almost any system. People don’t read books anymore, they skim, or ask for AI assisted summaries, or just listen to the author at their worst: babbling on a podcast. They want the “gist” , the takeaway, or the practicum. 

But here we are again. Me staring down the barrel of another unmitigated disaster, or rather another book trying to be born, heedless of whether I survive the experience or not. Books are callous in that way. I am already a chapter and a half deep in this new work and wanted to pause. Breathe. Be grateful. 

I wanted to take a moment, even during this incredibly charged time, when celebration seems insane in light of human tragedy in L.A, designed disaster in DC on full display this week, terror in the French Quarter, to talk to you about celebrations. Celebrating each other and ourselves is defiance in a world that hasn’t offered much reason to celebrate, and liberation from the world of shadows and pitfalls cast by our current state of the union. That yes even in the midst of oppression, tragedy, and pain celebration still has its importance, and to yes: celebrate lil lenny knocking a lifelong dream off their list of “when I grow up.”

Let me start in a beginning.  

You see, I was always strange. I mean since I was a child. One of the first things that happened that indicated to my Mom that I was “touched by the angels” in my childhood was I kept having dreams that came true, or at least I woke my parents up and testified to them at 3 am. These were sometimes often then repeated after the dream came true and it would give me night terrors. I mean in my parents defense it’s hard to believe a 6 year old until I started sharing some of the dreams with my Mom. After awhile she put me in contact with my Aunt Sissy whom I had never met, but my Mom knew as the only person in her family who had ever reported anything like this, and told my Dad’s Aunt Gussy whom was the eldest of my Grandads siblings and practiced yankee hoodoo. I mostly just knew her as the scary “Woo Woo” Aunt who was almost 90 and would slap the life out of you for taking God’s name in vain. 

Like I saw my cousins soul leave his body once in that house when Gussy caught him flathanded, because Gussy had a system with the Saints, the Lord, van van oil, and hundred other trinkets that made sure she hit the lottery, and the “number” every 90-180 days. And she did. Like clockwork exactly what she and the family needed showed up on one of those dozen tickets, and often not a penny more. You were not to disturb the spirits of her house with foolishness! 

Sissy wrote ten-twenty page letters explaining a new Saint every week. Starting with St. Dymphna, to make sure it wasn’t just a disturbed child, or an abused one. While I was both, after writing and praying with Sissy for months she finally said in a letter: having done all that with your whole heart, maybe God has gifted you. She then started my education in the Folk Catholic “Saint Codes.” The way saints could be implored, used, petitioned, empowered, and communicate great gifts into one's life.

With altar, candle, offering, incense, cup of water all the ingredients of sorcery and magic/k.  Between those letters, and a few summers as the one child Gussy felt had the right “heart” to go run her numbers in for her whatever my Mom had cooked up backfired. In what appeared to be an attempt to make the strange kid less strange had the entirely opposite effect. I learned from both family lineages about Saints, Orisha, spirits, invocation, evocation, and how to mask in society. Although those aren't the words they would have used to describe their acts of religious defiance and liberation. 

I learned those words probably the same place you did. You wandered into the library “metaphysical” section, or an occult/metaphysical shop, and picked up a book from the most popular publisher in those sections or in shops to this day. 

Llewellyn Worldwide.  Since 1905 in the Americas they have been a singular voice in this area of spiritual, historical, traditional, and theological exploration. 

Raymond Buckland’s Complete Guide to Witchcraft, Cunningham's Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Waites volumes on the Golden Order, all at Llewellyn. 

For me it happened in Harry’s Occult in Philadelphia at 12th and South st. I would look up at those books in awe, and I would read them. Learn them. Often I have to steal them from libraries, by this I mean I would request them at my local branch, and go way over my limited time. Nerd theft. They never charged me a fine. Those sweet librarians just jostled me to bring em in. This would often happen as I needed to take notes, write flash cards, and thoughts. (pre ubiquitous internet but by this point I had a few online accounts) I would sit amazed at the stories of alchemists of old, the correspondences between Hermes Trismegistus, Ptah of Nubia, and Esu Odara. But mostly I would think about how they completely left out everything Sissy, Gussy, or even I had discovered to be true. How these grand old tomes and recent takes on the old ways seemed like a lot of people trying to re-do rites from European sources as if they were the only true sources. Some even stated the whole point of their order was to bring about “Western Civilizations” most noblest ideals. I mean that dog whistle was so loud it woke up a few of my ancestors' dogs. 

Then to my chagrin I met the few Black practitioners of these arts, traditions, belief system, and faith community that were captured in the historical record, or modern metaphysical how to manuals coming out. The caricature and cartoonish way their stories were portrayed, how they were often treated like charlatans, and then that same book would often use their intellectual labor anyway. Maybe you didn’t get radicalized by the way occult, esoteric, or mystical literature treated Black peoples, but I was. Rather it was the very start of my journey. The early embers that started deeply held fires within. 

 One  lonely afternoon day, the kind of day only queer kids in the 90’s knew in middle school, as thunder boomed and lightning flashed over the EL train, in that lil West Philly branch of  the library something happened. Childish and whimsical. I promised myself I would write a great spell book for Llewellyn, an American Grimoire that would have room for Gussy, Sissy, Me, and the thousands of others scattered across space-time using these arts to survive a clearly oppressive world. One that a kid like me, queer, Black, trans, and spiritually curious can sink their teeth into. 

Last week I signed with Llewellyn and fulfilled lil lenny’s dream. I wanted to celebrate that with you. We dance while empires fall beloved, and take care of each the best we can.

All this to say thank you for your continued  support and love of my work and ……..

Look out for Black Power and Black Magic/k coming your way from Llewelyn publishing 2026! 

P.S-Shoutout to David. Great Agent. Good guy. Over at Hyponymous Literary Agency.

“Black Power and Black Magic/k” (forthcoming from lenny duncan and Llewellyn Worldwide 2026 )is the everyday practitioner's key to the hidden magic/kal history of the United States.

Black Trans queer scholar and bestselling author lenny duncan  uses the space-time bending art of history crafting and the “history of esoteric historians” as an exploration into  the ways in which magic, esoterica, and mystical practices have played a significant role in the fight for liberation, abolition, and human freedom.  Black Power and Black Magic/k delves into the intersection of spirituality, politics, and culture, highlighting the diverse epistemologies and cosmologies that have shaped the American story. By giving the people the tools to do a critical  examination of the historical record, and duncan drawing from their own journey during the 2020 uprisings to find traditional practices as an Osun Priest, as well as their well of experience using non-traditional practices as a Black american sorcerer on the front lines of the battle for human liberation, duncan empowers readers re-enchant their own place in history and offers a new perspective on the struggles and triumphs of marginalized communities. 

Black Power and Black Magic/k is a spirit filled call into the power of ancestral wisdom and practices like divination, protective magic/k, ontological alchemy, conjure, the Orisha, and what they call the “Black Sainted of the Americas,” and  their use in shaping a more equitable and just future in the here and now. “

written in love and liberation

rev. lenny duncan (they/them fatale)