Thoughts
on the
Left-hand Path

History of the Term in Spiritualism.

Spiritualism is a peculiar movement. Over the last five Centuries Protestants, and even Catholics, have steadily removed from their practice anything that smells of Witchcraft — meaning it in a bad way, of course. This left these great traditions empty, meaningless, without hope or faith. With the rise of reason as a method to find meaning, the average soul went looking for faith and hope in some odd places. they rejected what Nature has placed right in front of their noses. These same folk were still mindful of their Christian heritage, and took care to season anything new that they learned with it. For the Catholic, this was rather easy, because while the laity wandered away from the occult aspects of the religion, the priests maintained it. For the protestant, these wonderings were the keep sake of Christian mystic movements, such as the “Order of the Golden Dawn” and the Freemasons, among others. While Classism embroiled Europe in revolution after revolution, Briton, who was ferreting out as much of the world as she could maintain, found a wondrous shining star in India. The Americans, who were hungry for traditions and anything newly old, joined them, and found the East and India a pearl of refreshment.

Among the many movements that were assembling and warming their engines, Theosophy quickly organized under the Crown of England, largely encouraged (though not directly) by Queen Victoria. When this honored movement got its start after the Mason revolt, they set out to decide what their path entailed. They took their cue from the parable of “the Goats and Sheep” from the orthodox Gospels (Matt. 7.25). They then placed on the Right-hand Path everything they agreed with, and what they wanted nothing to do with, they placed on Left-hand Path. The problem with this practice is with an act or philosophy may find itself on both sides of the path. Because someone doing the deed was not “one of us,” the Movements would deem their motives dubious, and so of the Left-hand Path. This prejudice is like any other, in that it stops the process of thought. Such efforts serve two deceitful functions. It will separate “us” from “them,” and make “us” feel good about it. This only promotes and maintains an egocentric elitism that makes “us” feel superior by making “them” look inferior. Because the image is a fantasy, the “superiority” is also a fantasy, and is self deceiving. Next, because of the way we rationalize the paths, “we” can make the things we want to do the adventures of “The Great White Brotherhood.” “We” don’t want to be the bad guys. “We” just want the forbiden cookie. The Right-hand Path is focused on the good of the community, so the White Witch justifies her actions by saying “it is for the good of the community.”

Within the reawakening and reformation of that movement that Christians and Right-hand Pathers would call “Satanic,” we would define the Left-hand Path quite differently. Because the Left-hand Path does not have an “Absolute Evil and Good” doctrine, the notion that this is evil and that is good does not automatically make sense to us.

Biological Analogy.

We can clearly note that the left-hand side of the brain operates the right hand. We may also note that the right-hand side of the brain operates the left-hand. This operational definition for both paths may be drawn from this.

Both sides of the brain look at the same information and process it a little differently. Knowledge of this comes from those unhappy opportunities where a patient’s brain has been damaged, just as most of our understanding of the brain. While the dinosaurs were romping on the Earth our mammalian ancestors developed a keen sense of smell. This required an incredible memory system that could calculate who the smell belonged to, how old it was, and where it came from. This sort of calculation power required a larger brain, and a bit more conscious effort than fish or reptiles required. For humans, the hemispheres work together in harmony to accomplish what they are meant to. For us, and other predators whose eyes are aimed in the same direction and sharply focused, both sides of the brain get the same lesson at the same time. In a horse, a wrangler can teach a horse something on one side of the body, then have to start all over with the other. This is why most horses like you to get up on one side, but not the other. You see, climbing on a horse’s back is a predatory act, and horses are acutely aware of them being dinner, even if we forget that we are the diner. Instinct tells them to run when something is jumping on their back. The skilled wrangler knows this and can get a horse out of their instincts, and into their heads. Humans are lazy, too. Once we get the Left side of the horse to accept us, we stop and let the other side remain terrified. I guess we figure if we get the left-side going, the right-side is bound to catch up.

Tai Chi Tu Analogy.

Lao-tzu observed that we often do not find evil, until we look for good. Any attempt to rationalize a system of philosophy runs this risk. For example, we can make something straight, only by assessing it as crooked. It is our Western passion to love the “Rational Catalog and Filing of Data” and to fear the “Irrational Holistic Observation.” This is the case to a lesser degree, even in the East, or the I Ching would not function well. Here in the Western tradition it has become crusted over with words, and so become very inflexible. Governed by Zoroaster’s assessment of good and evil, “and never the two should meet,” we strive at least to be good, even if we have to justify our motives to do so.

Left-hand Path and Right-hand Path Rational Relations.

The following is a list of comparisons of the Left and Right paths. I am drawing on the “hunter gatherer” societies that existed before civilized notions of gendered roles took effect. We should remember, that these “hunter gatherer” distinctions are not across the board in their application. In the Congo, where game is plentiful and easily caught with a net, the women participate in the hunt, and the men gather whatever is laying around. In Europe, if the hunt were a direct confrontation with the beast, the hunt was a “gender role” activity where we would not allow women. Yet, if there was any “bush beating” a woman is just as capable of scaring a deer into the net as a man is. So, the following rational analogy will fail when applied too literally.

Male Hunter and the Hornéd God.

In some “hunter gatherer” societies game is dangerous. Among humans, Nature builds males to face such dangers with our aggressiveness and greater capacity for strength. Adolescent males are restless, and can’t sleep until the wee hours of the morning when game has itself gone to sleep. In hunting for that ever elusive aurochs or elk, the male will strike out and blaze new trails and discover new territory. If his survival instinct is intact, he will know that his next fight with that boar may result in his death. Then again, he may never find his prey, and come home empty handed and empty stomached. To do all this, he must have a keen awareness of his environment, especially of himself. The successful hunter will have grown, mentally and physically, and will have learned to think with his body. No weapon is any better than the mind who wields it. When it comes to making children, the man can be done with it in a single act. What keeps him around is his hope that he can do it again.

Female Gardener and the Trifidic Goddess.

In those “hunter gatherer” societies, the hut would be relatively stable and ready to use day after day. In gathering food, the women would be successful more times than not. Where Nature builds a man for strength, Nature builds a woman for endurance. If a man had to endure anything similar to birthing, we would probably die. Because of the ease of “gathering,” the woman took on duties that her time allowed. She could tan the hides of the animals the men brought home, and even find something artistic to do with the hide. When it comes to making children, the woman can enjoy the single act with a man. If they are successful, her work will have only started. Her body will do what it can to ensure the survival and proper development of that child, even at great mortal risk to the herself. Even after partition, a mother’s work is not entirely done. For all mammals, postpartum gestation is a reality. Some birds are the only other animals who must feed their new born. Even for those who don’t, they must teach the young what to eat, and how to find it. For humans, postpartum gestation can take as long as another year, during which we must care for and nurse the helpless child. Though a man can help with this, Nature has ill equipped a man to handle some things. I mean, we do have paps, we just can’t get them to work right. In the end, it is the woman who is not only the foundation of societies, even of cities, she is the reason that men come back home, even if he hasn’t brought home the bacon.

Why Do Left-hand Pathers and Right-hand Pathers Not Get Along?

No society, no individual is truly found on the Left or Right paths. Some of us lean more to one side or the other. The problem is simple for both, yet somewhat different. For the Right-hand Pather, the individual is dangerous, rocking the boat and risking everything for personal gain. The answer to this is that the individual who is willing to risk everything to evolve and become more than society tells him he is will bring that new vision back to society. Still, by way of thanks, that society will take what he brings, and sacrifice him on the altar of public opinion until he or his vision is dead. For the Left-hand Pather, boundaries and fences are uncomfortable. We are not happy with the status quo, and are always asking if there is something more. To the Left-hand Pather, the huddling masses are mindless mobs with a thousand heads and no brains. The Left-hand Path values the individual who can solve problems for themselves. It seems to us that the Right-hand Path just likes to redefine the problem so that the problem isn’t one anymore. Yet, while we must live alone, we can get lonely on the Left-hand Path. This is why we form societies and seek fellows with whom to hunt. In the end, we will return to the society that gave us our life, and disseminate what we have learned. Having done so, the rest may have an opportunity to grow. Frankly, I doubt the staunchest of Satanists would turn down their mothers or wives chocolate cookies when they are so fresh and gooie.