Post by Naphula on Apr 8, 2004 21:04:46 GMT -5
Here is an old article of mine you might find interesting - it should at least restore a bit of interest in this forum...
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.
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.