The Left Hand Path: that is a fairly specific term with a long and pretty straightforward history. It comes from Hindu Tantra, and refers to spiritual practices that involve the use of transgression of social and religious norms for the purpose of spiritual development. It should be noted that in Tantra the Right Hand Path and the Left Hand Path are not mutually exclusive and are not in fundamental opposition. They are both considered equally valid paths to the divine, the Left Hand being the shorter but more dangerous approach and the Right Hand the opposite. They are opposed in method, but united in terms of goal. The term Left Hand Path was first used by Helena Blavatsky to classify religious traditions in the 19th century. It is from her that its use in the occult originates. That is the history and context of the term at least. I personally think if we are going to use a term we need to respect its proper usage and history, and if we are going to apply that term to Western spiritual practices the Satanism of the middle ages would probably fit very well. But in the West there is a problem with our spiritual traditions, the rise of Christian orthodoxy and the church system spelled the end of a healthy Right Hand Path in the West. The brutal persecution perpetrated by the church warped the Left Hand as well as the Right, so what we have now is often not a very healthy Left Hand, its our responsibility to do what we can to correct the mistakes of the past. Take a lesson from our eastern brothers about what a healthy Left Hand Path looks like!
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 07:24:16 +0000
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