In Western esotericism, Left Hand and The Right Hand is a dichotomy between two opposite approaches to magic. This terminology is used in various groups involved in magic and ceremonial magic. In some definitions, the Left-Hand Path is equated with evil black magic and Right-Hand Path with virtuous white magic. Other occultists have criticized this definition, believing that the Left-Right dichotomy refers only to different types of work and does not necessarily connote good or bad magical acts.
In a newer definition, based on the origin of the term in Indian Tantra, the Right Hand Path, or RHP, is seen as a definition for magical groups that follow certain codes of ethics and adopt social conventions, while the Left-Hand adopts an attitude the opposite, supporting taboos violations and abandoning established morality. Some contemporary occultists have emphasized that the two paths can be followed by a magic practitioner, because they basically have the same goal.
Video Left-hand path and right-hand path
Terminology
The Right-Hand Path is usually considered to refer to magical or religious groups that follow a certain set of characteristics:
- They divide the concept of mind, body and spirit into three separate entities, though they are interrelated.
- They obey certain moral codes and beliefs in some form of judgment, such as karma or the Threefold Law.
The occultists Dion Fortune and William G. Gray regard the non-magical Abrahamic religions as RHP.
Left Hand Path
Historian, Dave Evans studied the followers of the Left Hand Path at the beginning of the 21st century, made some observations about their practice:
- They often reject social conventions and the status quo, which some people suggest to seek spiritual freedom. As part of this, LHP followers embrace magical techniques that are traditionally viewed as taboo, such as using sex magic or embracing Satan's image. As Mogg Morgan writes, "breaking the taboo makes magic stronger and can lead to reintegration and liberation, [for example] eating meat in a vegetarian community can have the same liberating effects as anal sex in a sexually inhibited straight society."
- They often question religious or moral dogma, instead of following a form of personal anarchism.
- They often embrace sexuality and put it into a magical ritual.
Criticism
Criticisms of both terms are from occultists. The Master of the Sabbati Cult, Andrew D. Chumbley, states that they are merely "theoretical constructs" that are "without definite objectivity", and that nevertheless, both forms can be employed by magicians. He uses the analogy of someone who has two hands, right and left, both serving the same master. A similar sentiment was expressed by Highest Wiccan John Belham-Payne, stating that "For me, magic is magic."
Maps Left-hand path and right-hand path
History of the term
Vamachara
V? m? c? ra is a Sanskrit term meaning "left-handedness" and is identical with the Left or Left-Hand Path (Sanskrit: V mam? rga ). This is used to describe a particular spiritual worship or spiritual practice (Sanskrit: sadhana ) that is not only heterodox (Sanskrit: Nika Stika ) to standard Vedic command, but extreme compared to prevailing cultural norms. These practices are often regarded as Tantric orientations. The opposite term for V? M? C? Ra is Dakshinachara (the glossy "Right Hand Path") used to refer not only to the orthodox ( stika ) sect but to the mode of spirituality involved in spiritual practices that are not only in accordance with the Vedic command but generally agree with the prevailing cultural norms. That said, the left-handed and right-handed exercise mode may be evident in orthodox and heterodox schools of Dharma religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism and is a matter of taste, culture, inclination, initiation, sadhana and dharma lineage parampara ).
Tantra and Madame Blavatsky
The western use of the terms Left-Hand Path and Right Hand-Path came from Madame Blavatsky, a nineteenth-century occultist who founded Theosophical Society. He has traveled across parts of southern Asia and claims to have met many mystics and magic practitioners in India and Tibet. He developed the term "Left-Hand Path" as a translation of the term Vamachara, an Indian Tantric practice that emphasizes the destruction of Hindu social taboos by engaging in sexual intercourse in rituals, drinking alcohol, eating meat and gathering in graves, as part of practice spiritual. The term Vamachara literally means "left hand" in Sanskrit, and from here Blavatsky first coined the term.
Back in Europe, Blavatsky began using the term. It is relatively easy for him to associate left with crime in many European countries, where he already has links to many negative things; as historian Dave Evans put it, homosexuals are referred to as "left-handed", and while in Roman Catholic Protestant countries it is called "left foot".
Adoption into western esoteric tradition
In New York, Madame Blavatsky founded Theosophical Society with several others in 1875. He began writing several books, including Isis Unveiled (1877) where he introduced the term "Left Hand Path." and The Right Hand , expressly states that he himself follows the RHP, and that LHP followers are Black Magic practitioners who pose a threat to the community. The occult community soon grasped its newly introduced duality, which, according to historian Dave Evans, "is not known before" in the Western Esoteric Tradition. For example, Dion Fortune, founder of the esoteric magical group (Society of the Inner Light) also takes the RHP side, making claims that "black magicians", or LHP followers, are homosexual and that Indian servants may use evil magical rituals devoted to the Goddess Kali against the European lord they.
Aleister Crowley further altered and popularized the term in certain occult circles, referring to "Brother of the Left Hand", or "Black Brother", as a person who failed to reach the Magister Templi level in Crowley's ceremonial magic system. Crowley also refers to the Left Hand Path when explaining the point at which Adeptus Exemptus (like his old Christian mentor Macgregor Mathers) chose to cross the Abyss, which is the location of Choronzon and the eleventh Sephira, which is' ath or Knowledge. In this example, the master must submit everything, including the guidance of his Holy Guardian Angel, and jump to the Abyss. If his accumulated Karma is sufficient, and if he is thoroughly self-destructive, he becomes "the baby of the abyss," which appears as the Star in the Crowleyan system. On the other hand, if he defends some ego fragment, or if he is afraid to cross, he then becomes accursed. The layers of him, which he could spill in the Abyss, hardened around him. He was later given the title "Brother of the Left Hand", which would eventually be broken and paralyzed against his will, for he failed to choose voluntary disintegration. Crowley attributes all of this to "Mary, blasphemy against BABALON", and with celibate Christian priests.
Another of the numbers that Fortune considered to be LHP followers was Arthur Edward Waite, who did not recognize these terms, and admitted that they were newly introduced and that in any case he believed the terms LHP and RHP to be different from black and white magic. However, despite Waite's attempts to distinguish the two, the LHP equation with Black Magic is wider spread in Dennis Wheatley's fiction; Wheatley also combined both with Satanism and also the political ideology of communism, which he saw as a threat to traditional British society. In one of his novels, Strange Conflict (1941), he states that:
The 20th and 21st cent later
In the second half of the twentieth century various groups emerged which in themselves described themselves as LHP, but did not consider themselves Black Dynasty followers. In 1975, Kenneth Grant, a student of Aleister Crowley, explained in the Cults of the Shadow that he and his group, Order Typhonian, practiced LHP. The use of Grant takes meaning from its roots in eastern Tantra; Grant stated that it's about challenging the taboo, but it should be used in conjunction with the RHP to achieve balance.
When Anton Szandor LaVey was developing the form of LaVeyan Satanism during the 1960s, he emphasized the rejection of traditional Christian morality and thus labeled his new philosophy to be a Left Hand Path. In his book The Satanic Bible, he writes that "Satanism is not a religion of white light, it is the fleshly, worldly, earthly religion-all of which are governed by Satan, the personification of the Left Hand."
In Russia there is a tradition of Left Hand practice within the Rodnover community under the influence of Volhv Veleslav, and in the Odinist community with Askr Svarte, and in the UK with Nikarev Leshy. Veleslav also wrote many books on Tantra and the Left Hand Path.
Stephen E. Flowers, Ph.D. of the Temple of Set states in his book Lords of the Left Hand Path: A History of Spiritual Dissent There are two criteria to be regarded as the true Lord of the Left Hand Path and they are Self-Deification and Antinomianism.
Usage in Tantra
Tantra is a set of Indian esoteric traditions with roots in Hinduism and Buddhism. Tantra is often divided by practitioners into two distinct paths: dakshinachara and vamachara , translated as Right Hand and Left Hand Path respectively. Dakshinachara consists of traditional Hindu practices such as asceticism and meditation, while vamachara also includes ritualistic practices that run counter to mainstream Hinduism, such as sexual rituals, consumption of alcohol and other liquors. Both paths are seen by Tantris as an equally valid approach to enlightenment. Vamachara, however, is often considered faster and more dangerous than two lines, and is not suitable for all practitioners. The use of the terms Left-Hand Path and Right-Hand Path is still in modern Indian and Buddhist tantra.
Relation of the Left Path to Tantra in Buddhism
Robert BeÃÆ' Â © r's The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motives describes the taboos and extensive cessation that associate the left hand as dark, female, inferior and 'untrue':
"In Buddhist tantra, the right hand represents the male aspect of compassion or skillful means, and the left hand represents the female aspect of wisdom or emptiness.Hand attribute rituals, such as vajra and bell, vajra and lotus, damaru and bell, damaru and khatvanga, arrows and bows, arched knives and skulls, swords and shields, hooks and ropes, etc., are placed in the right and left hands respectively, symbolizing the union of the active male aspect of the skillful way with the aspect of women's wisdom which contemplative.
Both in Hinduism and Buddhism, the goddess is always placed on the left side of the male deity, where he is on his left thigh, while his master places his left arm on his left shoulder and is wearing his left chest.
In representing the image of Buddha, the right hand often makes the mudra active in a skilled way - touching the earth, protecting, not afraid, giving hope or teaching mudra; while the left hand often remains in the passive mudra of the meditative means, resting in the lap and symbolizing meditation on emptiness or wisdom. "
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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