I know this post may be long but bare with me as it will be worth your time due to it presenting serious philosophical and existential questions that everyone needs to answer on whatever spiritual path you are on.
I’ve been practicing magick for several years now. I have decent experience in left hand path evocation, invocation, spell workings, and qliphothic magick. I spent several years working with chaotic spirits mainly for the goal of understanding philosophical and spiritual questions regarding myself, reality, happiness, and suffering. Long story short I stepped away from the lhp for almost a year now to explore the other side of the tree, the rhp.
I am frightened on existential level by the deep understanding and awakenings I have had over the last year. The realizations that I have had recently pale in comparison to what I had in the years before. Here is my dilemma:
I was taught that at the highest levels of spiritual evolution one has to make the choice between two options. On the one hand there is the right hand path which offers eternal bliss and love, and freedom from suffering for eternity by union with god, (god meaning infinite limitless source consciousness). On the other hand there is the left hand path by which the individual steps outside of this reality (metaphorically) and becomes a god freeing himself from the limitations of god-union and creation.
When practicing lhp magick I struggled to get results with what I wanted which was why I stepped away to explore the rhp. With the recent awakenings I have had my sense of self and ego is dissolving quite rapidly, more than I anticipated. I have tasted the love for reality that I can experience by giving up my personal desires and fears. It scares me. It scares me because it’s too good. Nothing is as satisfying as it is. I thought the benefit of the left hand path was that it offered better pleasures through indulgence of your deepest desires and the right hand path was just freedom from suffering and maybe a little bliss. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The love and ecstasy for reality that can be reached is beyond anything I could have imagined and I know I’m just touching the surface of the water of states of consciousness that can be reached.
Now I question the entire point of the lhp. I thought the lhp offered me liberation from creation whereby I could enjoy the greatest pleasures of life. The rhp apparently does the same and by my understanding something even better. What even is the point of the left hand path? Am I missing something so obvious about reality why the right hand path is inferior to the left hand? Because to me I cannot see any benefit to the left hand path except pointless suffering for temporary pleasures. I don’t understand the point of the dualities of the paths because to me one has to apparent positive over the other. What do you guys think?
Right hand path is generally understood as Theurgy, initiation to partake in communion with divinities of sorts. Left Hand Path is more individualistic, and based in empowering the self for transmutation.
I’m sorry, but your timeline is contradictory. You said you had been practicing for only seven months when you joined this forum in March of 2021. Now, you are claiming to have spent “several years working with chaotic spirits” but then took almost a year to explore the Right Hand Path. Going by what you have said, your total LHP practice would have been for just a year and some change, so where did these “several years” suddenly come from?
First of all this has nothing to do with my post. Second I stopped totally the lhp about 6 months ago. 6 months before that I started working with rhp alongside of lhp. So about a year of rhp and almost 3 for lhp. I don’t know why this is even important. My experience really has nothing to do with the content of my post.
The difference between the right hand path and the left hand path is that the RHP seeks union with the gods while the LHP seeks to become as the gods are. Just because you practice the dark arts does not necessary mean you are on the LHP. There are many on the RHP who practice the dark arts because the dark arts can give them power to change others so they dont have to change themselves. This can even be seen in this forum as many wants spells to just curse their exes and hex people to love them instead of looking at themselves in the mirror. Most people cannot walk the LHP because the LHP is a harsh because it requires that you are completely honest to yourself and there is both the good, the bad and the ugly.
Sounds like you are on the right path for you.
I’ve experienced it the other way around.
I was born into a modern rosecrucean family and although I’ve always kinda went my own way, I have always experienced spirituality from a gnostic/ perennial side of things. Despite my fascination with the occult and lhp. Now that I am actualy practicing lhp I feel I am experiencing a lot more sides to this universe
Interestingly enough I come from it almost from the opposite angle? Like…I started off with a weak sense of self and ego and the LHP helped me strengthen it (believe me, having no ego in the real world isnt going to work). So Im quite happy about that.
Conversely to your experience I have developed a greater “love for reality” by indulging and accepting my desires
I dont think one or the other is more correct. Id say we can take from both sides and maybe some people are more right- and some more left-leaning.
I have to agree with @LvxMferre . Sounds like the RHP is where you should be right now as it seems to give you a lot. Thats good!
Dunno if I can really answer this question for you. The only thing that I could read into what you wrote (and that might very well be just me misinterpreting) is that you seem to have a very positive and maybe 100% positive view of the RHP?
I dont believe this is the case since in my experience the RHP is full of struggles aswell, albeit maybe different ones.
Maybe youre still in a honeymoon phase and havent realized that yet?
Maybe you are already aware of it and Im just going off trail with this?
Let me know either way, Im curious what your views are.
Lhp deals with the external world, it relates to having
Rhp deals with the internal world, it relates to being aka your level of consciousness
They both serve the same master which is you
You’ll see common imbalance on both sides because people are still choosing sides instead of understanding the wisdom and knowledge of both sides, that’s true illumination, because kether is beyond duality…
Not many people practice the true right hand path, the real right hand path teachings aren’t in the hands of a lot of people, it’s been distorted as this Judeo Christian nonsense, when in reality it has to do with the magick of light, consciousness and the Stars…
As humans capable of both love and hate, with many different layers to the soul, we must master all.
I’ve been on both extremes, the only true path is balance… some of the oldest beings in the multiverse will tell you the same, that’s why working with beings like dragons, Lucifer etc. can be very helpful because these are beings that operate through balance between light and darkness
When you work with “RHP” entities they paint broad strokes on the luck of your life. You play magick via themes and flows. This requires following intuition inside yourself to be guided to the external manifestation with minimal effort or disruption. It is a magick of appreciation and it expands through love and gratitude.
With “LHP” techniques, you find causes to your problem and target them. The conditions will change no matter what. But as a result there can be chaos, as any arbitrary disruption in a complex environment has a chance of collapsing the stability or structure that kept it intact. This applies to relationship dynamics as it does to market dynamics. But with chaos there’s potential for revolutionary change.
I’ve turned to using LHP techniques because I want more direct change in my life. But I want to maximally respect the will of others. However there are many that aren’t living in their own will and mask their lack of self-acceptance and fear with projections of “love”. Yet I know people who are strictly on the path of surrender who you could never confuse with being weak. Their acceptance of others doesn’t come from a place of craving reciprocation. It comes from going through Hell and loving anyway.
