The Right Hand Path, Left Hand Path and the Fundamental Characteristics of a Left Hand Path Practitioner
Since there is often confusion regarding the Right Hand Path and Left Hand Path what does and does not qualify someone as a Left Hand Path practitioner I thought I would provide some insight. The following is taken from Stephen Flowers'
Lords of the Left-Hand Path
. I am using this source because it is widely published, largely value neutral and open about this being a contemporary and functional means of differentiating approaches to Spirituality that none the less has resonances with differentiations in a wide variety of cultural setting.
First some simple definitions that are necessary for this discussion
objective universe: The part of existence which can be sensed and quantified. It is the mechanical/organic cosmic order characterized by its regularity and predictability, by the presence of laws. subjective universe: The ''world" of any sentient entity within the universe. There are as many subjective universes as there are sentient beings, each is the particularized manifestation of consciousness within the universe.
How the subjective universe is seen as relating to the objective universe is, as you will see, the fundamental means of differentiating whether something is of a Right Hand Path or a Left Hand Path orientation.
right-hand path: The path of union with universal reality (God or Nature). When this union is completed the individual self is annihilated, the individual will becomes one with the divine or natural order. Originally Translated from Sanskrit dakshinamarga, "right-way." left-hand path: The path of non-union with the objective universe, the way of isolating consciousness within the subjective universe and, in a state of self-imposod psychic solitude, refining the soul or psyche to increasingly perfect levels. The objective universe is then made to harmonize itself with the will of the individual psyche. Originally translated from Sanskrit vamamarga,."left-way."
As you can see there is no inherent moral element to either of these Paths. Rather they are about how one defines and determines the course of action to be taken with the individual, isolate self.
Now for an outline of the fundamental qualities of a Left Hand Path practitioner.
There are two major criteria for being considered a true Lord of the Left-Hand Path-- Deification of the Self and Antinomianism. The first of these is complex: The system of thought proposed by the magician or philosopher must be one that promotes individual serf-deification, preferably based on.an initiatory magical scheme. This first criterion will be seen to have four distinct elements: 1) Self-deification-- attainment of an enlightened (or awakened), independently existing intellect and its relative immortality. 2) Individualism-- the enlightened intellect is that of a given individual, not a collective body 3) Initiation-- the enlightenment and strength of essence necessary for the desired state of evolution of self are attained by means of stages created by the will of the magician, not because he or she was "divine" to begin with. 4) Magic-- practitioners of the left-hand path see themselves as using their own wills in a rationally intuited system of spiritual technology designed to cause the universe around them to conform to their self-willed patterns. The second criterion, antinomianism, states that practitioners think of themselves as "going against the grain" of their culturally conditioned and conventional norms of "good" and "evil." True Lords of the Left-Hand Path will have the spiritual courage to identify himself with the cultural norms of "evil." There will be an embracing of the symbols of conventional "evil," or "impurity," or "irrationality," or whatever quality the conventional culture fears and loathes. The lord of the left-hand path will set himself apart from his fellow man, will actually or figuratively become an outsider, in order to gain the kind of inner independence necessary for the other initiatory work present in the first criterion. The practice of this second criterion often manifests itself in "antinomianism," that is, the purposeful reversal of conventional normatives: "evil" becomes "good," "impure" becomes "pure," "darkness" becomes "light." Literally antinomianism implies something "against the law." But the practitioner of the left-hand path is not a criminal in the usual sense. He or she is bound to break the cosmic laws of nature and to break the conventional social laws imposed by ignorance and intolerance. But in so doing the left-hand path practitioner seeks a "higher law" of reality founded on knowledge and power. Although beyond good and evil, this path requires the most rigorous of ethical standards. These standards are based on understanding and not on blind obedience to external authorities.