Alchemy & Left Hand Path

[Sutekh]

Excuse me for being naive, but what does left hand path philosophy have to do with Alchemy?

[deviadah]

I think this thread might help you:

Why is Alchemy LHP? (http://forums.abrahadabra.com/showthread.php?t=1574)

:cool:

[Alex_Bennett]

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Excuse me for being naive, but what does left hand path philosophy have to do with Alchemy?

The Left Hand Path as defined by Tantrika, where the term originated, means practical or real rather than symbolic - the meaning of Right Hand Path. What this means is that the Left Hand Path deals directly with the divine rather than require a mediator.
For instance in Left Hand Path Tantrik ritual the couple would be naked and actually engage is sex as part of the rite. In the Right Hand Path Tantrik ritual this is all done in symbol for instance in the Gnostic Mass of Aleister Crowley also known as Liber XV.

In The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosencrutz, the two spiritual initiatory paths are referred to as the two priestesses, Alchemia and Theologia. This is the Western equivalent of Left and Right Hand Path, with Theologia or the path of religion being represented by the Hierophant and it's corresponding magickal path being usually in the form of a pyramidic hierarchical initiatory tradition. Alchemia on the other hand is the difficult path, the path of the loner, the experimenter (to use a Newtonian phrase). It is represented by the Charioteer in the Tarot and has no place for orthodoxy as it is a directly link to godhead, not a steady training mechanism.

In Crowley's Holy Books the Left Hand Path is referred to as the Phoenix Wand while the Right Hand Path is the Lotus Wand. This is symbolic of the spiritual growth in the respective paths. The Right Hand Path is a steady growth that takes time, patience, and humility and is along the lines of religious life. The Left Hand Path is resorted to when one doesn't have that option and nothing short of a miracle will do. It risks madness and soul destruction but to those who survive it's strict tests and they are in the real world not some astral escapism, it brings you into direct contact with godhead face to face.

I wouldn't recommend it over the Right Hand Path to beginners as it is not for all, I have seen people not survive it and I would rather they had stuck to regimented practice. To those like myself that have no choice it is a necessary ordeal that without we would have no real understanding of nature in a spiritual sense and all spiritual endeavour would be a mere fantasy, much like its modern critics.

The Left Hand Path as I know it has nothing whatsoever to do with Nazism or other such failures or religious protestors like Satanism. It is not Black Magick in the conventional sense even, being amoral in essence rather than immoral. It is simply the study of reality rather than the study of the world we would like it to be (religion). Left Hand Path Magick is more a purely scientific study of Magick with no devotionalistic mysticism to distract for what is in front of you, your life and of course more importantly, your death.

Alex

Love is the law, love under will.

[Kuroyagi]

I wouldn't recommend it over the Right Hand Path to beginners as it is not for all, I have seen people not survive it and I would rather they had stuck to regimented practice.

It is simply the study of reality rather than the study of the world we would like it to be (religion). Left Hand Path Magick is more a purely scientific study of Magick with no devotionalistic mysticism to distract for what is in front of you, your life and of course more importantly, your death.Great info and historic knowledge there though this quite deviates from my own practical take on "magic(k?)". The 19th century is over, you know...;)

[Neshamah]

The Right Hand Path is a steady growth that takes time, patience, and humility and is along the lines of religious life. The Left Hand Path is resorted to when one doesn't have that option and nothing short of a miracle will do. It risks madness and soul destruction but to those who survive it's strict tests and they are in the real world not some astral escapism, it brings you into direct contact with godhead face to face.

This is my experience, exactly. Having walked the RHP exclusively for many, many years, I felt that I needed a miracle in order to continue (to walk, no matter what Path I was on). Madness seemed a 'reasonable' risk in the face of eternal stagnation. So when I reached that chasm across which no bridge stands, I lept.

Thank you for the post, Mr. Bennett.

Light, Life, and Love.

For a Peace Profound,

Neshamah

[m1thr0s]

The Left Hand Path as defined by Tantrika, where the term originated, means practical or real rather than symbolic - the meaning of Right Hand Path.I think that definition is nearly 100% accurate, though we might nix *real* (as a loaded term) and I also think we do have to emphasize *devotion* (bhakti) as a key element on the right. The LHP has the advantage (and disadvantage) of believing in nothing, with the possible exception of Self and the inviability of Self.

Once we start splitting hairs all our definitions begin to wane, however, and this is something important to be observed. The LHP is not without its symbols and either side might rely upon *prayer* as a means of piping in directly to the Divine, though the nature of this *prayer* may tend to vary.

I think it is this crossover phenomena that makes it so difficult to stabilize any one definition for very long, yet, in general, a difference of emphasis remains...

If alchemy has been lumped on the Left (in the West, at least)...it is probably mainly due to its commitment to scientific method in the pursuit of noble truths that makes this so...something that put it unavoidably at odds to the Church from very early on.

great post Alex...thanks for the thoughtful reflection.

m1

[sethur]

Couple of points, the first not so serious, the second more so.

Alchemy means The (AL) Khem (chem) art (the y ending), Khem being the Arabic name for Egypt. Khem, though, literally means Black, so Alchemy is The Black Art, which sounds pretty LHP to me!

Seriously though, Tantric adepts were still expected to be married to their partners, outside some of the more secretive orders. In the Indian marriage ceremony the woman begins standing to her future husband's right, then after 9 circumambulations of the sacred flame, she stands on his left. Thus left and right hand refers to practices that can or should only be done by the married partners, and those that anyone can, morally, do.

The idea that Tantrism in India was ever some sort of sex orgy is a big miss, the Tantrics of the Brahmanas might fall from this form of chastity but they suffered for it. Married Tantrics were supposed to stay celibate in mind and body except during Tantric ritual - and apparently it made them great lovers.

[m1thr0s]

It is interesting to weigh in how much simple cultural bias may affect things in all of this. The notion of the left hand as the "bad" hand isn't limited to western culture at all but may have been inherited from other parts of the world stretching back who-knows how far. Left-handed people have to be very careful in India, for instance, not to inadvertently offer their left hand to shake a person's hand, since in India the left hand is the *unclean* hand...and is literally the hand one wipes their ass with in that culture.

These peculiar biases may even have a limited survival strategy associated to them in some instances, though in truth these are superstitious behaviors that have more to do with proper hygiene than any sort of innate *badness* or *uncleanness* associated to the left hand itself. Still, these are powerful forces, once set in motion, that can take a very long time to be rid of and can even cross cultural boundaries and be adopted by people who have no reason at all to buy into them, other than social convention itself!

m1thr0s

[sethur]

The bias against left-handed hand shaking in India derives from Moslem/Arab culture, the left hand is used to wipe your bum, with sand, when in the desert. Offering the left hand thus became an insult, and Hindus learned that if a Moslem did it there was an implied insult.
What Scouts do in those countries I don't know.

[MythMath]

Similarly, when a thief was caught and had his (right) hand excised
as a punishment, it 'severely' affected his future social status in a
very mundane way, as no one would want to share food with
someone who wiped and ate with the same (left) hand...

Sinister, indeed... :p

[Alex_Bennett]

Couple of points, the first not so serious, the second more so.

Seriously though, Tantric adepts were still expected to be married to their partners, outside some of the more secretive orders. In the Indian marriage ceremony the woman begins standing to her future husband's right, then after 9 circumambulations of the sacred flame, she stands on his left. Thus left and right hand refers to practices that can or should only be done by the married partners, and those that anyone can, morally, do.

The idea that Tantrism in India was ever some sort of sex orgy is a big miss, the Tantrics of the Brahmanas might fall from this form of chastity but they suffered for it. Married Tantrics were supposed to stay celibate in mind and body except during Tantric ritual - and apparently it made them great lovers.

I read a few Tantras and in a couple there was a list of suitable women to engage in sexually with. Whilst the list does include wives it also includes, dancing girls, all yoginis, prostitutes, other peoples wives and even untouchable street women. In fact the only unsuitable woman was a chaste one. This makes sense as chastity is after a male quality and that which seperates us from animals, whilst in women in just makes them frigid.

Western Tantra is both where the fantasy of orgies and the reality of the Western imposition of morals and values resides. This is nothing like real Tantra, which is all things really. I agree that it is not just sex orgies but it is also not really against them either.
In India Tantra is regarded with the same suspicion in as the Occult is in the West and has a similar meaning, unlike its hyped up Western meaning. Many Tantrics are in Indian prisons these days thanks to the modern Victorian values of today’s India. In 1300s India things were very different. Sex before and outside marriage was just about tolerated as was women wearing little or in deed no clothing. The caste system was in disuse; the modern parallels with the West go on. The 1300s was the height of Tantra, which was started about 900ish by Matsyendranath and his student Goraknath. It was a movement that grew to throw out the oppressive Vedic thought of more than a 1000 years previous. They had a word 'Svecchachara' which means the law of doings ones will and I even found a Cake Of Light recipe in one Tantra, the Shri Matrikabhedatantra.

All this implication that Tantriks were into peace, vegetarianism and love 'man', is utter bollox. They were into exploring the body, psych and soul to the utmost. Taboo breaking is the norm, some gurus would make their students eat beef or in the case of Aghoris human meat fresh from the burning grounds (crematorium).

To bring this back on topic a little, there is a book The Mutis Liber a famous alchmical text, called the Silent Book as it has only pictures and no words. In this book you have the Alchemist and his Sorror Mystica engaged in a series of ritual acts and preparations. At the beginning the Alchemist is noticably agressive and during the process he bocomes more, for want of a better word, spiritual. The Sorror Mystica on the other hand starts out all demure and ends up 'on fire'. They are basically sharing each other's essence in order to overcome the block to true perception that sexuality can be. This is exactly the same purpose that sex and sex ritual has in Tantra. You cannot be liberated from sexual desire unless you indulge it.

Svecchachara,
Siddhanath

[m1thr0s]

hey, thanks for the history primer AB! Seriously, it's great having new people coming in that have taken the time to do a little homework...I'll need to look into this Shri Matrikabhedatantra more carefully. That's actually very amazing...Do What Thou Wilt?

Man, that's a much better report than f*cking François Rabelais...rooted in much more than mere philosophy, simple hedonism, utopiansism, etc... Tantra is the technology of consciousness for xst sake...I don't know when people are gonna finally start getting that. More importantly perhaps, like any other technology, it's continuously evolving, rapidly adjusting itself to make way for new knowledge and the demands of necessity.

m1

[deviadah]

To bring this back on topic a little, there is a book The Mutis Liber a famous alchmical text, called the Silent Book as it has only pictures and no words.
Nice... I forgot about this!!!

It can be bought here: Mutus Liber Series (http://www.alchemywebsite.com/bookshop/prints_series_mutus.html)(in color)

And looked at for free here: Two versions of the "Silent Book" of Alchemy, presented side by side. (http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_mutusliber.htm)

There are many such series (although they might have different aims) like Aurora Consurgens (http://alchemy-forums.forumotion.com/symbolism-and-imagery-f7/aurora-consurgens-t154.htm) and the 'Azoth' Series by Valentine (http://www.alchemywebsite.com/bookshop/prints_series_val_azoth.html).

You cannot be liberated from sexual desire unless you indulge it.
Spot on - and it reminds me of the exploits of Dashwood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Dashwood,_15th_Baron_le_Despencer)!

Welcome to AF!

:cool:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h18/deviadah/forum/mutus15.jpg