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witchdoctor · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 31 Location: USA

An Introduction to the Left Hand Path

This is an An Introduction to the Left Hand Path presented here in order to assist in the definition of the "Left Hand Path"; a term often used, but little understood. It's a long one, but it should provide a little food for thought.

Enjoy.

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There has been an awful lot written about the "Left Hand Path", the practices of it, the philosophical standpoints behind it and how one should walk it. What there is little of however, is in depth looks at what the Left Hand Path actually is. It seems to not matter about the origin of the author (and subesequent authority they may give themselves) and how much he can talk about it, the definition of the LHP as an individual entity is far from clear regardless of how many text books you read. Bearing that in mind, I elected to sit down and actually do a bit of thinking for myself, hoping to come up with some kind of substantial opinion of what the LHP actually is and represents. Heh, Satanist that I am I am bound to self thought and introspection as the fly is bound to the spider!

I suppose it would be best to start with "real world" religion. This is because it is in the arena of religion that the term is most frequently brought up. Examples of LHP religious viewpoints could be those of Satanists, Wiccans, Pagans, Occultists, Spiritualists and even Atheists. Of course, the defining religions of the percieved Right Hand Path would be Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and others. Judaism has been deliberately omitted, due to the links drawn up between it and Satanism by the late Anton Szandor LaVey - I get the feeling that particular topic is a taper awaiting a lit match, and needless to say it's beyond the scope of this particular article.

With the lines drawn up, it's worth noting the fundamental differences between both sets of religions. For starters, LHP religions typically cater for their practitioners to create their own doctrines on how to live life. Of course with the RHP, it seems obvious that such doctrine is already strictly laid down and is in fact a set of guidelines for a happy afterlife - that being the promise made to believers. In the case of both paths then, the first direct disagreement between the two would be that LHP religions cater for the sensations of the physical realm we live in, while RHP is about attaining a blissful afterlife. LHP is for the moment, RHP is for the future.

The second main point to note, is that LHP religions are loosely based around the individual. On the other hand, most RHP practitioners seem to adopt a collective stance toward worship and prayer, with congregations very much the norm. This would be difference number two - LHP is for the individual, and RHP is for the collective group. But this is an oversimplification. There are many individual practitioners of RHP religions, and many congregations of LHP path religions. The lines are of course very hazy, therefore I think the main point to take from this is that LHP promotes individual THOUGHT instead of practice, while the RHP is about group thought, indeed following the instructions set in the stone of whatever religious book is pertinent to them.

I would suggest that the further study of these perspectives would be very much like opening a can of worms. There are little other representations that are exclusive to one side or the other, and those that are there are sketchy at best. Ultimately, the point has been made - LHP religion seems to be about the individuals assessment and enjoyment of the physical plane within the confines of his immediate bodily time slot, while the RHP is about the seeking of union with a divine "afterlife" via means of adolation and worship. Again I say that this is by no means a complete study of LHP religious perspectives, however it IS a starter for further study should you so wish.

Now that the percieved logical difference between LHP and RHP religion is put in writing, we are still no nearer the solution to the initial question. What is the Left Hand Path? Why could the names not have been inverted? What is the religious "Path", and why is it the "Left" hand of such a Path that is titled as such? Despite the MASSIVE debate that could occur about what is written above, and the revelations such debate could bring, it provides no help whatsoever as to what the LHP actually is. In order to answer that question, we must look beyond the physical perceptions of religion and see what religion really represents from a spiritual viewpoint.

The study of the Sephiroth (Spheres) on the Tree of Life provides what could well be the answer wer'e looking for. The tree of life is a representation of all the energies in the manifest universe, in accordance with the creative nature of the divine light. These energies are also represented in the physical realm we live in, and as such are as much a part of daily life as they are a fundamental part of the universe. The Tree is split into ten representational spheres, each with a name and a representational energy or emotion. The spheres are Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiphareth, Geburah, Chesed, Binah, Chokmah and Kether. The energies/emotions they represent are material, foundation, splendour, victory, beauty, severity, mercy, understanding, wisdom and crown respectively. These individual sephirah are split into three individual "pillars" on the Tree, with one on the left, one on the right and one in the middle. The left hand pillar is known as "The Pillar Of Severity", the right hand "The Pillar Of Mercy" and the middle is quite simply "The Middle Pillar". Left and right have three spheres each, while there are four spheres in the centre - and this is where the idea of the LHP I'm trying to promote starts to build a little momentum. The left hand pillar has the spheres of Hod (Splendour), Geburah (Severity) and Binah (Understanding). Additionally, there are planetary representations for these spheres and they are Mercury (Hod) which represents reasoning, Mars (Geburah) which represents energy and Saturn (Binah) which represents teaching. I will not go into the middle or right hand pillars here, as it would be a labouring of my point, and would also make a long document even longer. Anyone wishing to learn more about the Tree Of Life and the sephiroth on it, should seek out the works of Israel Regardie or Dion Fortune.

To continue then, you can easily look at the spheres individually starting with Hod. Directly up from the sphere of Malkuth which represents the physical manifestation of the universe, splendour and reasoning tie in quite nicely with the idea of logically assessing the world round about you and marvelling in it's magnificence when it's found. Therefore, the first sphere clearly indicates an appreciation of the physical realm that seems in line with the idea's about the LHP expressed earlier in this article in more mundane terms. Secondly we have the sphere of Geburah. The representations involved with this sphere couldn't be an awful lot simpler - energy mixed with a severity and strength. This can erroneously be looked at as a negative manifestation, with consideration given to the idea that the sphere could be cruel or destructive. But like any other emotion, this would wholeheartedly depend upon how one takes it. I would look at Geburah as more of a fervent zeal with which to look at the world with scrutiny, adapting that which is useful and disregarding that which is detrimental with the severity we mentioned and an absence of regret. Again, this points to the individual critical mind which I pointed out as being indicitive of the LHP from a religious standpoint. Finally, we have the representation of the sphere of Binah. The mixture of understanding and teaching is obvious to anyone, esoterically minded or not. With the scrutiny provided by the emotional input of Geburah, a greater understanding of the physical realm we live in (along with our place in it) can be fostered, to be taught to anyone with an ear for listening. Added to the logical understanding provided by the representation provided by Binah, a well versed walker of the LHP should have the common sense and eloquence to deliver such education. All in all then, the spheres on the "Pillar Of Severity" could clearly indicate what we've already discussed about the common perceptions of the LHP - a critical and logical assessment of the physical realm, along with a keen understanding of the beauty within it and a solidified view based on sternly intellectual personal tests. Oddly enough, there is enough evidence in this interpretation of the Tree Of Life to consider the study near completion. However, there is yet another angle to look at within the jurisdiction of the Sephiroth on the Tree Of Life.

So far we've looked at common perceptions, and with a quick 101 in Qabbalistic studies (The Tree Of Life and it's Sephiroth) we have substantiated where the term "Left Hand Path" may have originated from. However, the idea of pillars is one thing - the idea of an actual "path" is quite another. Again, the tree of life can provide the answer to this question. The Sephiroth are all interconnected to the "Light of creation" via paths between each sphere. It is these paths that may have given rise to the word "path" within our religious connotations. Hopefully, I can provide a short but insightful discussion of these paths now.
We will look at the paths that connect the spheres we've spoken about to each other, and those that connect our "Left Pillar" spheres to the ones of the middle pillar. Again, I will not go into the representations of the middle spheres for the sake of brevity, as it may cloud the points I'm trying to raise with this article. The other main point to note about the paths, is that each one has a Tarot representation, and all of these are emotions and energy representations pertinent to the physical realm. All of the paths on the Tree of Life represent the trumps of the Tarot deck, but we will only be looking at the left hand side for the reasons I've already mentioned.

The first path is that of "Judgement". This represents initiation, which is exactly what any religion is about. To be initiated from one school of thought into another - there need be no more said than that. The next path up is represented by the card of "The Sun". The energy here is that of the concious mind, mixed with intellectual and logical thought. Next we have "The Devil" which is of course very pertinent to the Satanists amongst us! The Devil card represents materiality, sexual nature and libidous intention. Again, as can be seen with the previous two cards this idea is very much entrenched within the physical realm, and the similarities don't stop there. After the Devil, we have "The Hanged Man" with is one of the most expressive cards in the deck. It represents the idea of sacrifice and a descent into the material realm. Sacrifice is typically thought to be bad, but this is not always negative. A person could sacrifice a bad habit for a better one, or bad practices with improved ones. The severity of Geburah which this card is directly attached to incinuates the destruction of the old, for replacement with the new - thus it hints at creation. Again though, this is clearly indicated within the material realm. Progressing further still is "Justice" which represents the idea of truth, honesty and equilibration. It can often mean forward momentum too, which is again indicitive of some of the more mundane points we mentioned about the path earlier. As we move up again, we reach the card of "The Chariot", which is about sublimation, and (like the Hanged Man) the descent into the material realm. As we move one more up the Tree we finally reach "The Magician". This card is the final one up the "Pillar of Severity" and is above all else indicitive of experience. Obviously experience will be gained throughout life in many forms, but I think the card hints at an ATTEMPT to experience things, rather that merely thinking and theorising about them. With that being the final card, the overall theme is blatant - thought, appreciation and experience in the material world. Again, rather striking testimony to what we looked at in the very beginning of this article.

As I near the end of this little study into the roots and meanings of the term "Left Hand Path", I would imagine a summary is in order. From the spheres on the left hand pillar, we get an overall feeling of introspective thought, scrutiny and appreciation of the physical world we live in. Despite the esoteric ideals of the source, there is little of a spiritual nature in there, nor the idea of simple "faith". From our planets, we are again pointed toward thoughts including strength, logically critical thought and an ability to express one's feelings so they can be understood by others. Finally, as we look at the Tarot trumps on the left hand side of the Tree, we are welcomed by familiar representations - the ideas of human (flesh) experience and thought, mixed with the removal of outdated ideas for replacement with advanced and evolved ones. Personal experience and forward thinking and acting are also clear messages to be seen. Near the beginning of this article I claimed that the LHP "...seems to be about the individuals assessment and enjoyment of the physical plane within the confines of his immediate bodily time slot". Throughout the discussion I've presented here, I think such an idea has been substantiated, and in fact refined. It would perhaps be more accurate to say that LHP religious ideas are about the enjoyment of bodily and intellectual experiences, the appreciation and expansion of them, the scrutiny, solidification and subsequent sharing of beliefs, allied with a mind to achieving personal physical evolution. Ultimately, despite the mystical thought behind it, that seems to be a very apt definition of the mundane ideas I shared in the beginning, and the examples I provided pretty much fit the bill. Should one choose to look at the Right Hand Path as an individual entity, there would no doubt be quite a similar set of findings in the offing. From this perspective, it's quite easy to see why there is a difference between the two from a religious viewpoint.