Tamra Lucid - Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: My Seven Years in Occult Los Angeles with Manly Palmer Hall

MAKING THE
ORDINARY
EXTRAORDINARY

A must-read... this MTV-era story vividly recalls the surreal time when Tamra Lucids hot mess of a boyfriend became an apprentice to the greatest metaphysical scholar in America, Manly P. Hall. Part witty manifesto, part feminist grimoire, part LA love letter, this book brings to life an unforgettable mystical friendship, and the road to magic it reveals is lined with palm trees, red carpets, and night-blooming jasmine. A very important document for anyone interested in the life and legacy of MPH, especially if they wish for a more intimate portrait of the man and his remarkable relationship with his wife Marie, not to mention the politics and inner workings of the PRS. Ive yet to read anything else offering such a wonderfully tender inside perspective.

CAROLINE RYDER, COAUTHOR OFDIRTY ROCKER BOYS

A compellingly written portrait of life with one of the most significant occult voices of the last centurya rare, through-the-looking-glass account of an esoteric circle that quietly impacted the outer world in which we dwell.

MITCH HOROWITZ, PEN AWARDWINNING AUTHOR OF OCCULT AMERICA

Lucid provides a keenly observed account of the southern California spiritual milieu, peppered with scam artists, hungry seekers, sycophants, and bright lights. Importantly, Lucid also highlights the often-overlooked and unsung women working in the background, supporting and often funding the male shining stars of the occult scene. This book is a truly unique contribution to the history of esoteric spirituality in California, providing an honest yet touching snapshot of the spiritual milieu of LA in the 1980s.

AMY HALE, AUTHOR OFITHELL COLQUHOUN

Tamra Lucids warm, engaging, and illuminating account of her years as Halls friend brought back memories of a special time and place and reminded me of just how important and eccentric Hall was. Readers coming to Hall for the first time will get an excellent introduction to him from her account. Those, like me, who remember him will enjoy a welcome reunion with one of the twentieth centurys secret teachers.

GARY LACHMAN, AUTHOR OFTHE RETURN OF HOLY RUSSIA AND THE SECRET TEACHERS OF THE WESTERN WORLD

A lovely, soul-stirring, and heart-wrenching tale, culminating in the curious severing of the student-teacher relationship and subsequent mysterious death of the master. This memoir brought Manly P. Hall and the everyday workings of his society more fully to life than anything else.

MARY K. GREER, AUTHOR OFWOMEN OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

Tamra Lucid tells a story about the spiritual culture revolving around one particular teacher, Manly P. Hall, but her narrative will resonate with all women who have been rendered invisible in male-dominated metaphysical scenes. This book is the first of its kind in that it humanizes Hall, as opposed to lionizing him or probing his weaknesses. After reading Tamras memoir, my regard for Hall the man superseded my respect for him as a sage. This is a quintessential LA tale, a wacky tour of the New Age wilds, and a gripping exploration of the pitfalls of personal divinity, as told by a wise-cracking rebel who drifted into the temple off the mean streets of film noir.

THEA WIRSCHING, AUTHOR OFTHE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE TAROT

Tamra Lucids prose is playful, poetic, and magical, befitting a novelist. Her subject matter is the stuff of great characterscaptivating and ultimately tragic. Yet, it is all true. Manly P. Hall was an enigmatic genius and the genius of Tamra is the ability to capture that world of Manly and Marie, with all its quirks, its vision, and its downfall. This book is beautifully written and the stuff of legend. Tamra lays it out with grace, humor, and empathy. I highly recommend this book.

NORMANDI ELLIS,AUTHOR OF IMAGINING THE WORLD INTO EXISTENCE

Bitten by the Rosenkreutz bug as much as her subject, Tamra writes amusingly, briskly, and sincerely from experience about her engagement with Hall and his Philosophical Research Societydoubtless a boon to history, but the books value exceeds its utility. I greatly enjoyed the breadth of the authors sympathies, her humor, vitality, and her modest, sensible approach, all making for a highly attractive, original, and entertaining book about a transitional period in American esoteric history.

TOBIAS CHURTON,AUTHOR OF ALEISTER CROWLEY IN ENGLAND

Writing with a clear-eyed, intelligent, and often hilarious voice, Tamra Lucid tells the story of the fascinating personalities surrounding Manly P. Hall, a legend from a legendary time in LA history. As a character in the story herself, she takes the reader to the heart of it all. Especially recommended: her portrayal of Marie Hall, Manly Halls wife, and her struggles with the sexism of the time. The world is changing now, and Tamra Lucid is one of its best new voices.

TOD DAVIES, AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF ARCADIA SERIES

... Call me Cassandra for I have preached + prophesied in vain.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

Even when nothing is happening, nothing stands still.... I am not a rock, but a river; people deceive themselves by seeing me as a rock. Or is it I who deceive them and pretend that I am a rock when I am a river?

NINA BERBEROVA

I used to like this town. A long time ago. There were trees along Wilshire Boulevard. Beverly Hills was a country town. Westwood was bare hills and lots offering at eleven hundred dollars and no takers. Hollywood was a bunch of frame houses on the interurban line. Los Angeles was just a big dry sunny place with ugly homes and no style, but goodhearted and peaceful. It had the climate they just yap about now. People used to sleep out on porches. Little groups who thought they were intellectual used to call it the Athens of America. It wasnt that, but it wasnt a neon-lighted slum, either.

RAYMOND CHANDLER

This book is not a biography of Manly Hall. This is the story of seven years of friendship between a wise old man and the girl whose name he could never quite get right. Some of his history will be told along the way, but Im no historian. I just wanted to capture the details of a friendship I treasured.

Dedicated to Arthur Johnson for convincing me I should write it. Love to Ronnie Pontiac for the editing and research and for taking me on this ride to begin with. My sincere thanks to Tod Davies, Normandi Ellis, Thea Wirsching, Danny Goldberg, K. Paul Johnson, Jon Graham, Albo Sudekum, Alcvin Ryzen Ramos, and Amy Hale, for editorial notes and encouragement, and to Waris Hussein for teaching me the art of storytelling. Special thanks to Renee Ravel for the cover photographs, and Edie Shapiro and Kate McCallum for detailed editing.

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