ETHICS AND INTENT
Before we even begin, the topic of ethics needs to be addressed. Many people feel that left hand path workings are not ethical. Unfortunately, this also is not true. Followers of any spiritual path can be unethical. LetÂ’s say there are a group of well meaning Christians who heard your friend is ill and they are praying for him. While this is a nice gesture, they are also praying for his conversion. To many of us, this would be unethical. It is one thing to pray for oneÂ’s health, and another to be manipulative. While ethics are important, you always need to look at the intent of the person doing the working. Manipulation is manipulation, no matter how you spin it.
Here is a very simple way to explain intent. LetÂ’s think about a knife. Some of you are automatically going to think of a table knife while others might think of a switchblade or a sporting knife of some type.
Let's say I just present you with a knife that is a little bigger than a table knife with a serrated edge. Is the knife good or evil?
A mother can prepare a meal for her child with this knife, yet she could also rob a convenience store. Is it the knife that is evil inherently, or what the owner chooses to use it for? Of course, it is all about the personÂ’s intent. The knife is merely a tool.
Magic is just like that knife. It is not bad or good - it depends on how it is used. When working with the right and left hand path - you need to always address two key issues in your practice - responsibility and intent.
It comes down to your intent and your choices. No fictional devil can make you do anything, and no angel is going to guide you to greatness. A responsible pagan is accountable for his or her actions.
It is fairly easy to talk about the importance of doing the right thing. It is much harder when we have to make choices regarding what is the right thing to do. Too many individuals have been raised by book religions, and they are just taught what is right and not why it is right. By understanding the concepts from both paths, you will be able to make better decisions for yourself regarding both your magical and mundane life. As pagans, we need to know what is the correct action, and why that action is the best choice, why are these two philosophies called right hand and left hand? Where did these terms originate? They do not seem to have distinct origins. Some people believe that the terms Right Hand Path and Left Hand Path and the philosophy relevant to them originated in India.
High Priest of the Correllian Tradition Don Lewis High-Correll explains:
“In India those branches of Tantra which practice symbolic sexual yoga are said to follow “The Right Hand Path” while those who practice literal sexual yoga are said to follow “the Left Hand Path.” That the terms “Right Hand Path” and “Left Hand Path” have come to carry a connotation of “Good” and “Evil” in the West has to do with the anti-sexual bias of certain Christian and Christian-influenced Mystics of the 19th Century AD. In tantra, these terms merely refer to ritual form: in all Tantric ritual the woman begins seated to the right of the man. In tantra that follows symbolic practice she remains there throughout the ceremony. In tantra that follows literal practice, the woman moves to the left side of the man (her natural power side) when the sexual part of the rite begins: hence the term Right Hand and Left Hand.” (Wicca 201. 73)
According to chaosmagic.com:
“Tantric schools of Buddhism,... seek knowledge about the Self, right now in this body, empowering the Self. Most of the great religions of the world are Right Hand Path - the Self is not valued highly and the followers humble themselves and exalt God. The Left Hand Path is the opposite; we exalt ourselves and bow to ourselves first, before bowing to any other God. The Left Hand Path is about drawing the power into the Self -- becoming and acting as a God in one's own right, rather than submitting to a Higher Power or Obliterating the Self and being "one with everything."
As you can see, chaos magicians in the West have profoundly stretched the original meanings.
According to Tani Jantsang, head of the organization, The Satanic Reds, there is a part of Thelemite tradition that explains the idea of the left hand path was taken from lore about Lucifer being God's angel and was seated on His left.
We can also look at the Latin roots of our English language. In the Latin, the word for left is SINISTRUM; This gave us the word sinister. Within that word, we can see the connotations of evil and wrong-doing.
There are some who hypothesize the terms came from this Biblical verse:
And he shall separate them one from another,
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right,
but the goats on his left” (Matthew 25: 32-33)
Those who follow a left hand path often use the symbol of the goat or the goat-headed Baphomet. These individuals will refer to right hand pathers as “sheep” who blindly follow someone else and exhibit a “herd mentality.” You will often hear some refer to themselves as wolves, animals known for their intelligence, care of their families and pack mentality. There is also the innuendo that wolves prey on sheep, and are stronger animals that can survive in the wild.
It may surprise some of you that Taoism, the ancient religion of China is considered to be left hand path. A TaoistÂ’s goal is to find balance and harmony in all things. They believe that the universe is made up of two different energies: yin and yang. This flow between the two is seen as natural and does relate to sex and gender. In fact, the interplay between the male and female, yin and yang, is seen as pleasurable and promotes better health and longer life. While this is a conflict with most of the book religions, Wiccans and left hand pathers agree that sexuality is something to be embraced, and not to be repressed.