I know most chaos people don't follow one path but I do think the 2 categories are still useful..
Here something someone posted in another world -
quote:The Path Direct.... as Spare put it... is to break away and make your own
path. This almost invariably ends up being a bit crooked.
Now personally I cannot even THINK straight... in any sense of the word.
However, most Right Hand Path types tend to classify me as Left Hand Path.
Which is their right, I suppose, but where has that left me?
However, the terminology is still useful. In the Vodun sense, I say that I
can 'work with both hands', because I work magic both aimed at the
community, and magic that breaks the taboos and codes of that community in
the name of personal power and freedom... which in the Tantric sense is
what the Left Hand Path is all about.
In this Tantric sense, Chaos magic is Left Handed, because its magic
(Aeonics) seeks to create change in society rather than maintain the status
quo. In THIS sense I work Left Handed magic, because I am an Anarchist.
However, many of those I work with do not consider themselves Left Handed,
including those of the Vodun/Ifa, or witchcraft
And this is what someone else said -
quote:Pete Carroll calls the 'Right Hand Path' the 'Path of
Wisdom' and is reflective of faith in the Universe.
He also says the 'Left Hand Path' the 'Path of Power'
and is reflective of faith in oneself. He then says the
paths meet in a way impossible to describe.
That word 'impossible' infurates me, because it is actually
quite simple to describe. How can one have faith in
oneself without faith in the Universe that was cool enough
to create you? How can you have faith in the Universe
without having faith that it knew what it was doing when it
made you? Is it not powerful to have wisdom? Is it not
wise to obtain power?
Okay, thats the theory. What about in practise? In
practise there are those that call themselves right hand
path because they hate themselves too much to have
faith in themselves. They don't really have faith in the
universe either. These people are a right pain, and are
always on the lookout for people to project their inner
hatred onto.
Then there are those who mistake the left hand path
for becoming obsessed with having power over other
people. Or becoming addicted to cursing everyone.
This is rare though, generally more common in lhp
hierarchical orders.
Mostly magicians how claim either path actually
practise both. All magic is about the transcendance
of duality, even if the desired result is dualistic.
Actually, I speculate that magical results must ground
themselves in duality, for if they try and stay purely
etheric, then they will stagnate and become religion.
Back in duality the results can be recycled into
something fresh...
Kinda saves me writing anything, but then I am ill - oh and Satan  |
