Challenge: Describe what the Left-Hand Path is in Colloquial Language!

[KJP665]

Hello All,

I am in no sense an expert, only an interested individual. I've read "Lords of the Left Hand Path", "Demons of the Flesh", "Uncle Setnakt's Essential Guide to the Left Hand Path", "Mysteries of the Temple of Set", All of LaVey's books, A bunch of other works by Stephen Flowers, I've read Michael Aquino's Black Magic, I've watched all of Jason King's youtube videos as well as Michael W. Ford's. I also read "The Left Hand Path" by Tapio Kotkavuori and "Postmodern Satanism" by Jason King. I have a good sense of what it is, but there's a lot of different views and emphasises etcetera depending on who your reading. Also, it is often complicated/obscured by mystical talk, mysticism, symbolism, mythologies, and jargon. What I would like to discuss is the left hand path in colloquial language. Let's demystify the left hand path. Who's up to that challenge? I would love to hear what people have to say about this topic.

 

[KJP665]

The left hand path - where does it lead, and from where did it take you from? Does it have an end or is it an endless path?
Colloquially, I'd say it takes you from immaturity to maturity. And this process of maturing is an endless one (and difficult!).

Everyone is born into the right hand path but, during the teenage years the majority of people (if not everyone) gets a taste of the left hand path; however, as they get older they slip back into the right hand path - and that's where the majority of people stay. Now, a minority of people battle their way back onto the left hand path; however, throughout life they are constantly being sucked back into the right hand path and continuously need to battle their way back to the left. It is often said that the right hand path is a path of stasis and the left hand path is a path of dynamism. An analogy made is that of a river, the one who is 'going with the flow,' i.e., being taken where ever the river may lead is on the right hand path, while the one who is swimming against the current, i.e., going the way he chooses instead of letting the river decide is on the left hand path.

Colloquially, the right hand path is living life by values, beliefs, prejudices and goals given to you by family, culture, religion, community, education, government, media, advertisements, etcetera, etcetera WITHOUT challenging these values/beliefs/prejudices/goals and choosing which to accept and which to reject, WITHOUT expanding your horizons and discovering other values/beliefs/prejudices/goals that you can choose to accept and reject, and WITHOUT entertaining the idea of possible new values/beliefs/prejudices/goals that you can create yourself and choose to accept and reject. Now, the process of challenging, discovering, and creating values, beliefs, prejudices and goals to live by is a maturing process, and the left hand path can be said to be the path of challenging, discovering, creating, and evaluating values, beliefs, prejudices, and goals to live by and actually living by them!

Thoughts?

Sincerely, KJP

 

[AnnaCzereda]

Bleh.

Have you ever tried to walk using only one of your legs?

No? Then try it.

You'll reach enlightenment like Buddha.

 

[KJP665]

Sorry, I'm not after 'enlightenment.' I just want to discuss the left hand path without the usual jargon.

 

[crossfire]

Exploring your mind (soul searching,) including your dark side, in order to work on any problem areas that prevent you from being whole.

 

[Adramelek]

The left hand path - where does it lead, and from where did it take you from? Does it have an end or is it an endless path?
Colloquially, I'd say it takes you from immaturity to maturity. And this process of maturing is an endless one (and difficult!).

Immaturity to maturity is indeed part of it. When one makes the deliberate decision to walk the Path of the Left, they have decided to take control of and full responsibility for their own life. To live life on their own terms and not the dictates of some non-existent tyrannical god. To walk the LHP is to orient one's self on the highest and best things that make up one's life. Its about working towards mastering ones own existence; becoming an alert, oriented, and balanced individual capable of causing change in accordance with ones own Will. Left Hand Pathers are born explorers and goal setters, who tend to prefer exploring the more obscure aspects of the human psyche.

 

[Mindmaster]

LHP is a nebulous term. There is a spiritual LHP and then there is an atheistic LHP that is mostly anti-status quo. You will find the spiritual LHP in the guise of Tantra, Theistic Satanism, Setians, Dark Pagans who follow Hecate, Lilith, or similar. The atheistic LHP is mostly LaVey Satanists, some Luciferians, and the post-modern crowd (Satanism 2.0, if you will). These have completely different goals obviously... I'll even go out on a limb and throw Chaos Magicians in there because they even are typically revolting against the conventional occultists as well as the cultural norms. (Yay, me...

Anyway, that being said all of these little divisions have their ideas about what is going on and none of them are necessarily any righter than the others. The only requirement for being LHP is rejecting the cultural mind control paradigm... Banish false moralities and values, do magick and prosper, spit in Jehovahs eye, etc... These themes are common to the LHP... Mostly, the LHP is where you are at once you actively revolt against spiritual slavery... Thus, that can take many forms.

 

[KJP665]

I appreciate y'all contributing to my thread.
I have a question pertaining to a little thought experiment but, I suppose before I get to that, I need to ask some preliminary questions first.

Is consciousness (or awareness) a prerequisite for the left hand path?
My answer to this question is yes; however, it is only that - a prerequisite, just because one is conscious or aware does not mean one is on the left hand path, because the LHP requires action and if you are not taking action you are not on the path.

Is consciousness (or awareness) a prerequisite for the right hand path?
My answer to this question is no. One doesn't need to be aware of a damn thing, they can just be bouncing around like a pinball in a pinball machine and still be on the right hand path. The RHP does not require any effort, in fact, the path could be characterize by a lack of effort (or a lack of awareness).

This brings me to a conclusion:
The left hand path REQUIRES awareness + effort.
The right hand path REQUIRES neither awareness nor effort.
This leads me to say that if an individual is aware but, doesn't put in the effort - that individual is on the right hand path. This is to say the individual in question is a coward, and the left hand path has no room for cowards.

Here lies the heart of my inquiry.
If the left hand path is 'self centered' (not necessarily derogatory), and the right hand path is 'other centered,' does it matter what acts or actions are actually being carried out as long as it's aligned with the respected focus - that of self or other?

To ask this more directly, if an individual is conscious/aware and acts according to his/her own will does it actually matter what those acts are to be considered on the left hand path?

I would very much appreciate hearing what you all have to say regarding this post.

Sincerely, KJP

 

[Adramelek]

Awareness of Self and effort of Will are the hallmarks of the Left Hand Pather. The LHP Magician is aware of himself as a conscious singular mind who continually expresses and works towards the supreme manifestation of his own mind and Will within the Universe, for without practice the force of mind and Will stagnates.

It is also an essential practice to keep a certain balance between the two universes, the objective and the subjective. To keep one foot in the objective universe (the real, manifest universe) and the other in the subjective universe (individual perception of the manifest, and the non-manifest or the yet to be manifest) in this great Work called Life - the mastery of one's own existence or Being.

Furthermore, in the work-a-day world we all must adhere to certain societal rules/laws; so long as you are aware of what you are doing, (and in some instances being manipulated into doing), you are indeed a Walker of the Left Hand Path. Some of us wear "masks" sometimes while swimming in the sea of humanity so that we may move hidden and more freely in our quests and journeys. What you see, sometimes, isn't necessarily what you get.

 

[crossfire]

I appreciate y'all contributing to my thread.
I have a question pertaining to a little thought experiment but, I suppose before I get to that, I need to ask some preliminary questions first.

Is consciousness (or awareness) a prerequisite for the left hand path?
My answer to this question is yes; however, it is only that - a prerequisite, just because one is conscious or aware does not mean one is on the left hand path, because the LHP requires action and if you are not taking action you are not on the path.

Is consciousness (or awareness) a prerequisite for the right hand path?
My answer to this question is no. One doesn't need to be aware of a damn thing, they can just be bouncing around like a pinball in a pinball machine and still be on the right hand path. The RHP does not require any effort, in fact, the path could be characterize by a lack of effort (or a lack of awareness).

This brings me to a conclusion:
The left hand path REQUIRES awareness + effort.
The right hand path REQUIRES neither awareness nor effort.
This leads me to say that if an individual is aware but, doesn't put in the effort - that individual is on the right hand path. This is to say the individual in question is a coward, and the left hand path has no room for cowards.

Here lies the heart of my inquiry.
If the left hand path is 'self centered' (not necessarily derogatory), and the right hand path is 'other centered,' does it matter what acts or actions are actually being carried out as long as it's aligned with the respected focus - that of self or other?

To ask this more directly, if an individual is conscious/aware and acts according to his/her own will does it actually matter what those acts are to be considered on the left hand path?

I would very much appreciate hearing what you all have to say regarding this post.

Sincerely, KJP

You are letting the LHP be defined by the RHP here, which would then make it a branch of the RHP if that was the case.

Each individual is unique, with a unique set of challenges to overcome. Hence, the necessary nebulousness of LHP definitions.

 

[KJP665]

Adramelek, I really appreciate your post. It is very relevant to my curiosity and offered clarity - please forgive me for not being satisfied and feeling the need to dig deeper.

"Awareness of Self and effort of Will are the hallmarks of the Left Hand Pather."
I completely agree but, I need to ask for clarity - while awareness of self + effort of will = left hand path (or am I missing something?), does a lack of awareness of self OR a lack of effort of will = right hand path? This question alludes to another question - Are there other paths? My assumption driving my inquiry is that these two paths are objective realities, that they are as real as night and day, and that the subject of religion (really of human behavior) can be cut down the middle and placed - perhaps not neatly - but certainly placed either on the right or left based on objective criteria; the criteria possibly being - awareness of self & effort of will.

"The LHP Magician is aware of himself as a conscious singular mind who continually expresses and works towards the supreme manifestation of his own mind and Will within the Universe, for without practice the force of mind and Will stagnates."
This is very useful to me; it is so well said, so elegantly phrased. I enjoy reading it; it's full of information.
"...aware of himself as a conscious singular mind..." - My interpretation of this is that a mind can be either conscious or unconscious, singular or plural, and to be on the left hand path you need a 'conscious singular mind,' any other combination would put the individual on the right hand path.

"...who continually expresses and works towards the supreme manifestation of his own mind and Will within the Universe..."
This is my favorite part, the part I'm most interested in - the behavioral part. And the LHP can really be broken down into two components - the cognitive and the behavioral - and both are necessary to be considered a Left Hand Pather. The way I interpret the above quote is one needs to continually express and work towards one's own self determined values, standards, virtues, goals, preferences, etcetera, because that IS one's mind and will and the constant expression and work adhering to one's mind and will NECESSARILY manifests them into the universe. I would appreciate comments regarding this interpretation.

"...subjective universe (individual perception of the manifest, and the non-manifest or the yet to be manifest)..."
Would it be accurate to call this the imagination?

"...long as you are aware of what you are doing, (and in some instances being manipulated into doing), you are indeed a Walker of the Left Hand Path."
The stereotypical view of the right hand path is that of conformity - whether it's conforming to other's expectations, virtues, standards, etc. However, it seems what you are saying - and which I believe - is that conscious conformity - with self determined values, goals, etc. in mind or in pursuit of said values etc. - is indeed, still the left hand path.

My conclusion is this - that on the left hand path one establishes self determined goals and standards to live by and continually expresses and works towards those goals and standards, and that it doesn't matter what those standards or goals are as long as they are self determined.

Comments/Questions/Criticisms are all welcome.

Sincerely, KJP

 

[KJP665]

Sorry, Crossfire. Could you tell me specifically where you see me allowing the LHP be defined by the RHP here. I'm really curious and you might be on to something. So if you can walk me through it I would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[crossfire]

Sorry, Crossfire. Could you tell me specifically where you see me allowing the LHP be defined by the RHP here. I'm really curious and you might be on to something. So if you can walk me through it I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Using it for comparative purposes and allowing it to steer (in a negative/contrarian way) the requirements for LHP in this snippet:

Is consciousness (or awareness) a prerequisite for the right hand path?
My answer to this question is no. One doesn't need to be aware of a damn thing, they can just be bouncing around like a pinball in a pinball machine and still be on the right hand path. The RHP does not require any effort, in fact, the path could be characterize by a lack of effort (or a lack of awareness).

This brings me to a conclusion:
The left hand path REQUIRES awareness + effort.
The right hand path REQUIRES neither awareness nor effort.
This leads me to say that if an individual is aware but, doesn't put in the effort - that individual is on the right hand path. This is to say the individual in question is a coward, and the left hand path has no room for cowards.

I've seen plenty of "LHP herd mentality." (I call them caprapeople (for goats) instead of sheeple. Both sheep and goats are herd animals...)

 

[Mindmaster]

It doesn't necessarily immediately become a problem for the LHP and RHP to live together (Tantra, Aghoris) both exist within the Hindu ideas of spirituality.

The RHP involves a few sure fire features that apply to all of that school of thought:

1) Homogeneous divine conceptions shared via groups - Shiva, Jehovah, Pan-theism, Animism, Panenthism, etc... Where the (god)ess(ess) are is is relevant, or even who they are. You can even qualify here if you are an Atheist, and touting scientism. Any absolute stance lands exactly on the RHP.

2) Divine Law - Karma, Wiccan Rede, The Scientific Method (in the case of scientism), Ten Commandments, etc. - again in terms of absolutes. Nothing exists outside the conception or is allowed.

3) Divine Retribution - Offending the deity of choice in case #1 through violation of laws in #2 involves a penalty for daring to offend it. You will reap as you sow, you will receive 3x what you give if you do bad things, or you will go to hell to pay for your sins as penalty for your misdeeds. If in the case of scientism everything not working according to the first two rules is deemed psuedo-science (this is really the scientism keyword), imaginary, or other steps are used to demean subjective experience of others - in this case the scientism advocate simply takes it upon themselves to become the judge and jury.

In all cases, these ideas are self-refuting... Even in the new science religion where only things objectively provable are true which of course logically contradicts itself.

The LHP is really a direct rejection of these concepts en totale. The methods a person uses are simply up to them, but the focus is clear -- stop polluting ones being with arbitrary and inconsistent ideas while using possibly taboo processes like magick to defy the status quo and resist cultural infections by being in proximity to the mouth-breathers. By consciously stepping away from the flock you are no longer subject to the neurosis they inspire, and from there can manifest your desires without nearly as much resistance.

The only truth about issues 1-3 that sticks is, "Who ****ing knows?" But, humans like certainty and will destroy themselves trying to prove it... Just look at the death count during any period where the religious fundamentalist or governmental right wingers take over. The LHPer doesn't fall into these traps really -- at least if they are really on the path and not pretending.

 

[KJP665]

Mindmaster,

Your take on the LHP & RHP is refreshing because it is different than my own; however, I'm having problems with it.

Homogeneous divine conceptions shared via groups, Divine law, & Divine retribution - and the scientific method meets this criteria; the scientific method being: defining a question, constructing a hypothesis, doing experiments, analyzing data, & drawing conclusions. Mathematics would also meet this criteria as well as logic. Now, I may be misinterpreting what you are saying but, if you are saying someone on the LHP rejects everything that meets the RHP criteria (Homogeneous divine conceptions shared via groups, Divine law, & Divine retribution) and if the scientific method meets this criteria then the individual on the LHP should be by necessity a very irrational person - not subscribing to science, not subscribing to mathematics, not subscribing to logic, not subscribing to grammar, not subscribing to language! All of these things are very certain, have their own laws, etc. I mean, would you call these things an absolute stance?

Edit - Isn't saying the LHP accepts no absolute stance itself an absolute stance?

 

[crossfire]

I'm getting away from colloquial language here, but I hope this will help to clarify:

Freeing oneself from allowing the memetic cultural "truisms" (Buddhists call this Maraa) to program your thinking and thinking for yourself instead.
​

 

[Mindmaster]

LHP should be by necessity a very irrational person - not subscribing to science, not subscribing to mathematics, not subscribing to logic, not subscribing to grammar, not subscribing to language! All of these things are very certain, have their own laws, etc. I mean, would you call these things an absolute stance?

Edit - Isn't saying the LHP accepts no absolute stance itself an absolute stance?

I think you are losing my meaning or rather applying it into other things. The argument with "science fact" is only in the terms of absolutes and not realizing that they are "maybe truths" which are subject to change as we discover more information. They are only certain in the sense that we haven't found information to refute them, but we must allow ourselves to do so or we fall victim to the same toxic thinking the rest of humanity is addicted to. It is acceptable then for the LHP person to emulate or use an accepted truth as a means to operate, but it isn't acceptable for them make it a dogma. Thus, using the information consciously in such a way as to be a convenience isn't a problem insofar as not realizing that other possibilities may exist.

The difference is the LHP isn't a fixed point in space it is a meandering line from where you are now and where you will be the day you die. There is never a point where you can sit there and think, "Hey, I think I finally know it all!"

 

[KJP665]

Mindmaster,

I understand and I agree with you. Science requires interpretation and those interpretations can be wrong.

And Crossfire,

I also agree with you; the LHP requires mental emancipation. And I think everyone agrees with that assessment; I don't think there's any argument there. But I believe I'm receiving resistance when I say that the LHP also requires behavioral emancipation. Or another way to put it - in the case that the argument is made that mental or behavioral emancipation can never fully be achieved - is that the LHP requires striving for mental & behavioral emancipation.

Am I correct to say that y'all don't agree with the behavioral part?

 

[crossfire]

Mindmaster,

I understand and I agree with you. Science requires interpretation and those interpretations can be wrong.

And Crossfire,

I also agree with you; the LHP requires mental emancipation. And I think everyone agrees with that assessment; I don't think there's any argument there. But I believe I'm receiving resistance when I say that the LHP also requires behavioral emancipation. Or another way to put it - in the case that the argument is made that mental or behavioral emancipation can never fully be achieved - is that the LHP requires striving for mental & behavioral emancipation.

Am I correct to say that y'all don't agree with the behavioral part?

The "action" part is not always easily seen. For instance, the majority of my "going against the flow" occurs within my own subjective mind--breaking habits or patterns of thinking I want to break, and in cultivating new habits and patterns of thought I want to establish. Since no one else can see into my subjective mind, then that would certainly put a damper on using "effort-behavior" as an objective criteria for classification purposes. Likewise, outward objective behavior of "going against the flow" cannot be taken as evidence that the person is also putting forth the same effort within their subjective mind. (I consider confusing the subjective with the objective to be the very definition of delusion, so great care must be taken when it comes to behavior criteria, imo.)

 

[crossfire]

The "action" part is not always easily seen. For instance, the majority of my "going against the flow" occurs within my own subjective mind--breaking habits or patterns of thinking I want to break, and in cultivating new habits and patterns of thought I want to establish. Since no one else can see into my subjective mind, then that would certainly put a damper on using "effort-behavior" as an objective criteria for classification purposes. Likewise, outward objective behavior of "going against the flow" cannot be taken as evidence that the person is also putting forth the same effort within their subjective mind. (I consider confusing the subjective with the objective to be the very definition of delusion, so great care must be taken when it comes to behavior criteria, imo.)

Actually, to add: I remember Carl Jung writing something about failure to consciously do the individuation work will manifest as unconscious projection into the objective--so outward behavior might actually be considered to be a sign that the individual is not putting forth the subjective effort. Of course, this should be approached with skepticism. You can really go out of your mind with such speculation, imo.