Need help on deciding LHP or RHP

New Magician Help & Introductions
1

Hi all,

I need advice on the left-hand path vs the right-hand path. Due to recent circumstances of a bad investment that:

  1. Was done under pressure of my ‘lifelong friend’
  2. Caused me to leave my job that while not doing terribly well, could have kept me employed
  3. Went sour due to alcoholism on the part of the other party and pot abuse on my part to deal with it
  4. Now has me with no money and no job
  5. Without friends taking me in, would have left me homeless, and am for the most part still ‘homeless’
  6. Has me still paranoid on the part of the ‘lifelong friend’, due to some details I won’t divulge
  7. Has me in a silent rage that I cannot shake
  8. Has me left bitter and turned my back on God.
  9. Has left me with no money or insurance for my antidepressants and anti-convulsant prescriptions.

Turned me to look into the Goetia. I then looked at some works on the left-hand path, including Koetting, Crowley, Ford and others including ONA, OTA, O of P, and others; while still looking into Hermetic organizations.

I was in a complete day and night rage of the circumstances that occurred in February, had me flee for my life in May, and still not comfortable or filled with love like I used to be. I started reading the Solo Black Mass and could not finish it as it made me fearful and sick to my stomach.

I dont know what path to take, but am leaning back to the RHP to try to have me salvage what is left of my soul, if it has not been lost at this point.

I need honest opinions from people who are experienced on either path for a considerable number of years.

I have no money for psychiatry and have no desire to go to a state hospital, which is why I looked toward the Goetia in the first place, feeling that prayers fell on deaf ears, if it is even there in the first place.

I really need immediate change for the better in my situation, to keep me from turning to crime or the state hospital.

Thanks.

James
(Fuego)

2

If your on the verge of a mental break down or needing care from a state hospital I’d steer clear of magick until your stabilized. Work on getting past or coming to peace with the 9 issues you listed then if your still interested in magick go for it.

Read the works of some of the authors you mentioned while you deal with your problems, issues and worries about your soul may get cleared up. Start out with some meditation and introspection/contemplation.

3

Yeah you might want to try to stabaliaze a bit first.

Though for me, I am neither righjt or left, I try to balance out the elements of both as both are nessecery for the universe and working with both, I have been told by the powers that be will bring the greatest yield for me. But who knows you could be different so you’ll just have to wait and see.

4

Hi Fuego, in my experience the most healthy path is the one without labels. I mean you must find a balance between all aspects of your psyche: the “good ones” an the “bad ones”, in some specific phases of your development you may want to work with light or dark energies. For the process you are right now, meditation, zazen, breathwork, mindfulnes and vipassana can help you a lot (in conjunction or separetely just look what is more suitable for you), also invocation or asumption of godforms with is a great practice to change the conciousness also for invocations you can work with any kind of gods, entitities or archetypes. You can also stablish a regime for daily practice that include meditation and some ritual of your choice. I think the power is inside nor in the path you choose, the paths are only tools and you can use them both. BTW I am taking prescriptions too but at the same time I am trying to resolve all the causes (the root causes) of my problems through spirituality and magick and both are helping me to find the balance and power I need.

5

Well, things are looking up. All of a sudden my rage lifted and I became a bit clearer. My roommate called me and informed me about a local job vacancy (a restaurant), I walked down there which helped to clear my mind a bit even though I could have drove there, and despite a few interesting characters along the way I got there and back safe and sound. I talked with the owner and laid out what I could do, I start in a few days for cash pay. I also have a few other pending jobs, so I have to do a bit of juggling for interviews to do. Also on the way, I noticed a sign for Phlebotomy career training, $500, all certification and supplies included. I’m not a medical minded person, but the IT field I’ve been in for 18 years can be absolutely frustrating at times, and not the most exciting job to talk to women about.

Anyway, for anyone who wished me well or did something otherwise, I thank you, and your seal(s) once I know your names, shall be exalted from my hands, heart, mind and soul.

Thanks,

Fuego.

6

NOTE: while I was typing this reply, you posted a report of recent success. Regardless, I’ll still post my thoughts for the benefit of anyone who reads them.

You are the only one who can determine if you align with the left or right hand path.

I assume you’re asking for help, because you don’t know the difference.

The 2 fundamental points of contention between the two philosophies are:

  1. Self-deification / serving a deity

Either you are becoming your own god and defining your own ethics to fulfill your own magick ascent, or you are worshipping an alleged god and adhering to its morals in hopes of uniting with it

  1. Selfish / selfless

You are either performing magick to improve the conditions of your life, or you are performing magick to improve the conditions of other people’s lives

Using these two comparisons, you can find out whether you tend toward black or white magick.

Of course, the complexity increases when you face a situation like:

The girlfriend of a black magician falls ill. If the sorcerer heals her, is he performing white magick, because he’s improving someone else’s quality of life? And if so, is he no longer a true black magician?

Or, is he performing black magick, because healing and keeping her alive continues to satisfy his personal desire for a romantic partner?

Again, asking other people whether you should decide to become a LHP or RHP adherent is silly. Instead you want to ask what the differences are and decide for yourself, based on your personality.

Turned me to look into the Goetia. I then looked at some works on the left-hand path, including Koetting, Crowley, Ford and others including ONA, OTA, O of P, and others; while still looking into Hermetic organizations.

With the exception of the Goetia and E.A. Koetting, all you’re going to find in the resources you listed is an endless mystical stew of mythology and psychology and symbolism, and very little magick.

If you want help, then you need to provide us a list of goals you want to accomplish, then we can provide magick instruction for performing a variety of divination, evocation, and spellcasting to achieve them.

7

Greetings Fuego,

I’ve been on this forum for four months. Invested heavily in this with untold hours of practice, forum time, watching videos…etc.

I then invested money into BALG Divination course and loved this thing sooo much I pre-paid some money toward the Evocation course.

My power has doubled. As of today, I have a hard bound copy of The Collected Works which I acquired by using techniques I learned here.

Long story short - invest some time into the forum and get to know people. Invest into the BALG catalogue and get RESULTS!!!

As far as the LHP vs RHP proclivities…these are just generalities. As Timothy clearly pointed out in the “ethics” argument below, it really doesn’t matter in some cases. Also, what ever your Path ends up being is YOUR path. This isn’t like you have to decide and you can’t EVER work with an angelic entity if you consider yourself LHP.

As you will soon see here on BALG, most Adept’s use whatever method fits THEIR will the BEST depending on the job! With that being said, LHP vs RHP are like a lot of things in life…just guidelines man.

There are no rules here! If you are a person who likes to make up their own rules and question ethics/morality…you may lean more toward LHP.

I concur with Timothy regarding the personality types…a lot of truth to that. At the end of the day however, what really counts is:

  1. Your own experience
  2. Knowing what’s in your heart
  3. *****Most importantly…are you HAPPY???

Be well dudey!

M

8

Thanks all. All my life I never wanted to really hurt anyone or anything(okay, reptiles and insects not included), but times change as life changes, and so does our thought and character.
I started reading Techniques of High Magic when I was 14, then that, The Magus and the Golden Dawn til I was 21, then took a turn down LaVey avenue, then a right to the Wicca Gardens. Seriously though, I have read a lot. Fear kept me from really practicing anything but Low Magic.
Sometimes though you have to stand up and fight. Most of my life was flight, due to the Golden Rule, but sometimes the "smash them on the other cheek’ applies to the situation.
I am without money, or I would get the eBook, then buy every Koetting book I can get my hands on. I think the LHP is possibly my calling.
But … what got me (and someone was posting about ethics of the black mage - if it includes hurting women and children, murdering, stealing, etc) about the Solo Black Mass was what amounted in writing in killing a child and raping an old lady. Someone apparently never emotionally grew up at the time of the writing of that, but sure as hell experienced major trauma to write something like that.
I prefer a Luciferian approach, of the BALG approach, it appears to me more intellectual and wise, and about standing up for yourself.

What was odd the other night – after a previous day of rage and continuing into early morning hours, a thunderstorm occurred. I live across from an abandoned factory. From daylight now, nothing like what I saw exists. Last night there was a black line from the ground up to the sky, like a one inch veil pulled from the earth, but no stars. Lighting would flare up like explosions as opposed to a streak or fireworks. But there were no explosions, smoke or anything else, except for some mist behind the tall black line.

Anyone ever experienced that vision? I was listening earlier that day to multiple theta and gamma binaural beats at once with high and low frequencies, as I have no third eye ability that I can know of at this time. Long ago I had some minor ability and experiences, but its like it was sewn shut and locked from me.

My impressions of the past anyway.

Anyway, thanks again for the responses, I consider them all carefully and appreciate them.

Fuego

9

Timothy, I appreciate your comments as well, and you have made me think quite a bit more. In regards to healing, my nieces have become ill, and this was really my first impulse to pick up a book on magick after at least ten years prior. The comment about selfishness vs selflessness hits home quite a bit, and the lifelong friend of mine I mentioned told me that by reading the Goetia to try to help heal them in some way actually was a curse on them.
Thats not my intent.
I was raised a Christian, so thats really all I know and am pretty well programmed on that. When it comes to someone else, I will gladly sell my soul so to speak, in order to save them. However, there is always the problem of the trickster.
I do have visions of a better world, where only money, power and political groups like Monsanto that stand in my way. This is also one more thing I have against the God I grew up with, the sadistic nature of how things were, are and apparently will be. My vision of being able to feed everyone in my state, then my country, then my continent and so on becomes nil in power if the bastard decides to pull the famine seal. This then really makes me wonder who the trickster is.
I digress from what you said. I will have to think carefully on this in regards to the intention/goals. Obvious ones leap to mind, health and protection to my friends and family, opened door to prosperity for me, increased power to turn my visions into reality (this in hard, my visions are meant more in an utopian goal then my thoughts, my thoughts would turn earth into hell in some cases). I will have to think carefully on this.

Thanks though.

Fuego.