Sexual Fantasy, Magic and Demonic Sex

One of my most popular blog articles of all time is one that I wrote on the Incubus and the Succubus. For some reason this article has gotten the most attention on the internet compared to any other, despite the fact that I have basically dismissed this kind of encounter as a poor surrogate for the real thing - sex with a human lover. I was bemused by this strange popularity and I couldn’t figure it out, until I found by accident that there is a whole cadre of lefthand path magicians (mostly male and typically young) who are advocating and even boasting about these kinds of encounters. Not being a Christian or a member of the Abrahamic faith (nor an avowed Satanist), I find these kinds of sidelines to be strange artifacts of a previous epoch. Really, if it wasn’t for the fact that we live in the post-modern age I would swear that the middle ages are alive and well.

So it seems that getting your kicks from an incubus or succubus encounter is something of a fad amongst some young LHP magicians, and it is even advocated and hotly advertised by someone with the stature of Eric Koetting. I discovered a rather hyped You-Tube video where Eric expounds on the topic of how to have sex with an incubus or succubus. You can find it here. There are, of course, plenty of other examples out there in the Internet (such as the Goetia Girls et al), but I will leave the gratuitous searching to those who are looking for amusement or titillation. This is a subject that doesn’t particularly interest me, most likely because I have found that “real” sex with a real woman is for me much more profound than engaging in some form of mental (or real) masturbation. I would also have to say that a long-term relationship is much more interesting and rewarding in life than some sweaty, quickie grope, grind and release. I am not against sex, and in fact, I am really quite in favor of any kind of “real” sexual encounter that is legal and based on mutual consent.

Don’t get me wrong, I am also a fan of erotica in its various forms, and in fact, my lady and I engage in the sharing and perusal of such media. However, we see it as stimulating fantasies not to be confused with the reality of human sexual relationships. I would suspect that this kind of reality is foundational to all persuasions and types of legal and natural human interactions. Sexual activity can be a great good, and it is also healthy for people to engage in it and thoroughly enjoy themselves. Sex can also be the means to higher states of consciousness, and there is such a thing as sacred sexuality. Since we all have within us an aspect of Deity, then consensual sex between loving individuals takes part in the union of Deities in sacred emulation of the One. That is how I see and personally define sexuality.

Fantasy, and sexuality in the mind, is an important and powerful component of physical sex, as well as many other creative endeavors, such as magic. It is often said that good sex starts in the mind where is it is empowered and amplified over time before it becomes a reality. Some fantasies, though, should probably remain in the mind and not be pursued in physical reality. I will leave that kind of judgement and discretion to the reader to ponder for themselves.

I do admit that I have had powerful erotic experiences in my magical workings, particularly when I have encountered various aspects and manifestations of the Goddess, to whom I am a spiritual and magical devotee. Most of those kinds of events occurred when I was younger and more sexually vital, but it is something that I have experienced in later times. However, that is an encounter with Deity, and the love relationship between the Goddess and myself is an important and powerful part of my spiritual and magical work. It can be inspiring, thrilling and it can even be terrifying, but throughout, it is a component of Deity that I can only experience through my own particular Godhead, or Atman. It is not a surrogate for a real human relationship, and it is not something that I can even talk about in any detail because it is so intimate and profoundly meaningful to me.

Perhaps that is what Eric and other LHP magicians are talking about when they get into discussing their sexual encounters with spirits. Angels and demons have a mythological history of cavorting with human partners, and there are many other examples in the religions of the world today. Still, without the same degree of reverence and sacralization, I doubt that these experiences are the same as what I have experienced. For me it is the conscious realization of the union of human and deity, occurring as it does through the medium of the higher self, or God/dess Within. I now realize that it is a manifestation of my Atman through which I have had powerful visions of sexual union. It produces in me a kind of exalted spiritual ecstasy. Through these experiences the poetry of Rumi, Kabir, Hafiz and others is powerfully acknowledged and realized. I am exalted by these occurrences, but I must also admit that they happen to me without necessarily being sought or pursued. The spiritual lover that Rumi discusses in his poetry is, of course, God, and it is the profound submission to this love that brings forth spiritual ecstasy and the visionary experiences of the highest states of consciousness.

Having had these kinds of experiences, I still sought for a life partner and life-long love, and I feel lucky and grateful that I found her. Receiving the love of the Goddess is a profound experience, but living in a loving relationship with a woman is a profound fulfillment of that spiritual connection. I believe that this is also true for anyone who is a lover, both on a physical and spiritual level, and their beloved, whether of the opposite or the same gender. Love is love, and the freedom to love is the greatest of all freedoms. Yet true love, especially the love of God, requires the lover to submit to that love in order to be exalted. It is a profound paradox, but it is also a great truth.

What I don’t see happening with the LHP obsession with the incubus or succubus is anything remotely like what I have experienced in magic or in life. I have received comments from readers telling me about their passionate encounters with spirits, demons, angels, or whatever, and yet they don’t seem to be exalted, transformed or even fulfilled by the encounter. It makes me sad to read these comments and emails because what it says to me is that there are some very lonely and desperate individuals out in the world who are seeking love and have only found it in their imaginations. They seem to project that imagination somewhat into the physical world, but it is not reciprocated by a real human lover - it remains a shadow of reality. 

I know what it is like to be desperate for love, and I know what it is like to be hurt and betrayed by false lovers. But I find this kind of encounter with a quasi fantasy spirit to be poor and meager fare for the body and soul. Maybe I don’t understand, that’s always a possibility, but maybe the world is full of a lot of lost souls who can’t find real love in any other manner.

Anyway, I can’t judge such individuals because I am not wired in the same manner. What I do believe is that what they are doing and experiencing is not even meaningful to me. It would be like having a romantic evening with a blow-up doll, and not a particularly good one, either. It is just ego inflating and seems like just a form of mental masturbation. I guess that I have failed the test to become a bad-ass LHP magician because I find this kind of activity to be silly and juvenile. Maybe others see it as cool and spunky, but to me it is empty and vain.

I hope some of the folks who have been avidly reading my article on demonic sex will realize that I think it’s not cool and awesome. It is, in fact, nothing more than some moronic juvenile activity that allows those who pursue it an excuse for seeking and obtaining a real relationship with a human being. I rest my case.

Frater Barrabbas

Dark Side of Madison Avenue - Perspectives on E. A. Koetting

One of the most vilified magicians on the internet today is found in the personage of Eric Koetting, who goes by the moniker E. A. Koetting. He is ridiculed, called names, vilified by the hosts of Western based occultists and magicians. He is also called a complete fraud, hoaxer and all-around poster child for what is supposedly wrong with the nefarious Left Hand Path. I haven’t seen a week pass without someone ridiculing his marketing hype or launching personal attacks on him. There is even a Face Book page devoted to ridiculing Koetting and disparaging his various claims. 

If it weren’t for the fact that I have had some conversations with this man and can claim to know him a little I would have to agree with those who decry his excessive marketing hype and his diabolic teachings. I happen to know that Eric isn’t really a fraud, that he does know how to successfully work his form of magick, and he can also teach others to use it, too. Eric isn’t a genius and some of his ideas and pronouncements have been shown by others to be quite false, particularly when he talks about subjects outside of his purview. Whether you hate what he is saying and promoting through his internet marketing persona or disagree with this methods, I am certain that to some people, particularly disaffected millennials, Eric is a valuable resource for learning and mastering a form of LHP magick.

Eric claims that he can teach anyone who is willing to apply himself to become a “living God” with all of the powers and perquisites that such a vaunted state entails. In promoting this kind of quick path to total fulfillment, one must assume that Eric is selling a system that he has used himself to become a living God. Since we live in a fundamental Christian religious based culture, making such a claim is strikingly inflammatory and goes deeply against the grain of the basic values of our Christian heritage. Making such claims can only be couched in forms of Satanism, since to claim to be a living God is to abrogate that status from the supposedly true God of Christianity. The rule of thumb is that if you oppose God and set yourself up as his replacement, then you are modeling the behavior associated with Satan himself. You are, in a word, emulating the Devil. Of course, from my perspective, replacing one autonomous absolute monotheistic Deity with another one, even if it is yourself, is merely perpetuating what I think is inherently wrong with monotheism itself.

Still, I am certain that this outrageous claim gives some particularly young and disaffected men quite a thrill to contemplate becoming a living God (and thereby overthrowing the religious status quo), but it also very likely to be misunderstood. If all you know about religion is what you rejected as Christianity then any contrary religious claim can only be perceived as a form of Satanism. So, it is easy to label what Eric is selling as over-the-top Satanism to rebellious, puerile and immature youths who are often enough disparaged and labeled as archetypal “losers.” Can Eric help these young men out of their cultural rut? That, of course, remains to be seen. He is reaching a group of people that other occultists aren’t as successfully acquiring.

In contrast to Eric’s marketing is the rest of the magical community who either finds some amusement in these media broadsides, or who are astonished, outraged and quite put-off by anyone making such ridiculous claims. It is apparent to me that the self-satisfied and smirkingly arrogant cast of the occult and magical opposition to Eric’s claims were never the intended audience for his advertising hype. Even so, they none-the-less engage in ridicule and ad-hominem attacks instead of soberly examining what Eric is really selling, and how his message is both a boon and a problem to the occult world as a whole. I am also quite certain that Eric couldn’t care less what these members of the various competing occult schools think of his marketing tactics and messaging, since he appears to be quite successful at acquiring a fair number of adherents to buy his classes and engage in his teachings. If these marketing ploys weren’t working then I suspect that Eric would have changed them so that they would be successful. What I or any other number of magicians and occultists think is really completely irrelevant. Eric has his market pretty well defined and amongst a certain set of individuals, he is a “rock star” and someone to emulate.

Unlike some of his most virulent detractors, I have actually read some of Eric Koetting’s books. While I have found them to be pretty much rudimentary and based on LHP themes and tropes, it is also apparent that he has acquired his knowledge the old-fashioned way - he has experimented and worked magic for many years. Even so, Eric’s knowledge of the occult and magic is evolving, and there are a number of things that he has stated which I know are erroneous,  incomplete or superficial. Perhaps that is the nature of writing things down or the fact that Eric is learning as he progresses through his spiritual and magical process. I know that I have made mistakes and have written things that I later found out were wrong, so I can’t condemn someone for making analogous mistakes or writing something erroneous.

So the question is whether or not Eric is completely off-the-wall and a total fraud, selling his lore to low information millennial magicians, or that perhaps his ideas have some foundation in modern occultism. Since I already know that Eric Koetting is not a fraud and that his knowledge has been earned by a long period of experimentation and practice, I will not join the bandwagon to condemn what he is doing or ridicule him. I won’t do this because what he is presenting to his defined public arena comes awfully close to my own perspectives and practices. There are many differences between what Eric and I do as functioning magicians, but essentially there are more points in agreement between us than differences. I found this out when I talked with him a while back, and I happen to know where we are in agreement and where we are divergent. So, rather than ridicule or vilify Eric, I will, instead, explain in my own terms why he is proclaiming the things that he does in his internet persona and how that impacts the rest of us who also work magick. I think that this is more productive because there is a bit of Eric Koetting in all of us, and that is why he provokes outrage from so many established practitioners.

What Eric has done is to simply conflate four topical areas that are typically kept distinct and separate from each other. It is the nature of that conflation and the associated marketing excesses that has produced the internet persona of Eric Koetting and his training regimen. Eric is the exemplar of a kind of dark-side or night-side Madison Avenue promotion. If P. T. Barnum were alive today he would have highly approved of Eric Koetting’s marketing style.

The four topical domains that are being conflated by Koetting are:

• Tales of Power - these are the out of context stories that magicians tell each other about their paranormal experiences and exploits with strange powers, spirits and Godheads.

• Self as Godhead - it is the objective for all magicians to ultimately assume Godhead, and both the right hand and left hand paths have their own methods of obtaining this sublime state.

• Advertising Marketing - anyone who is in the business of selling their teachings will use some kind of marketing and advertising to reach potential customers.

• Left Hand Path Perspectives - these are the ideas, practices and overall theology of the left hand path. Often, the rhetoric displays a high degree of antinomianism, inversion of basic cultural values and anti-establishment sentiments.

Most magicians engage in some or even all of these topical areas, since they represent the cultural domain of ritual or ceremonial magick. Most of the magicians I have met engage in telling tales of power. All magicians are seeking some kind of union with the Godhead, however they might define that entity.

Any magician who is selling their teachings will engage in marketing, and at the very least will promote their path and methodologies over those of other magicians. A good salesman will promote themselves without denigrating others, but as we all know from watching media based advertising, this is hardly the typical form of promotion. I suppose it’s all too easy to add a bit of hype to one’s marketing message so that instead of an honest (and boring) promotion for a product or service it becomes the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Additionally, left hand path magicians often engage in talk that sounds quite strange to those who are not part of their antinomian perspective. This is where demons are good, angels are bad, performing nefarious forms of supposed black magic is good, successfully summoning and constraining demonic spirits is an important challenge, and amplifying the self as Godhead over any other creed or deity is a basic predilection. For those who are not so disposed to the left hand path rhetoric, such claims and beliefs must seem quite foreign or even diabolic.

As you can see when these topical areas get conflated with each other then the message also gets quite distorted and mixed up. This is particularly true if the need to aggressively market one’s methodology and public persona pushes the envelope for maintaining a certain degree of factual balance and realistic representation. When you take the Left Hand Path’s left-over perspectives on elevating the self to the status of Godhead and you add a considerable layer of marketing blitz cheese to sell your ideas and yourself, and sprinkle over it a fair amount of tales of power and season it with a distinct peppery flavoring of left hand path diabolism, then you will get a marketing recipe identical to what Eric Koetting is currently doing.

None of what Eric is saying when he is selling himself and his teachings is inherently wrong or fabricated; but taken as a whole, it is quite misleading, distorted and even harmful. In elevating himself in such a manner, Eric has unwittingly become one of the magical gurus that he has talked about needing to kill in order to achieve one’s goal. The irony here is that in telling his erstwhile disciples that they need to kill their gurus, he is setting himself up as a target for his own students. In order to truly grow and achieve their potential, Eric’s students will have to overcome his amplified persona and overly hyped methodology and find their own path at some point in their magical careers.

One would assume that Eric expects this to happen, that is, if he doesn’t believe his own PR and remains down-to-earth. However, the problem with creating such a powerful public image is that it becomes all too intoxicating and seductive. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, so the saying goes, and many a public figure has succumbed into believing that they are indeed the exalted personality that they are promoting. I hope that Eric doesn’t succumb to this fatal flaw, but the odds and human nature are against him. Still, the overly inflated claims that Eric is making and his various You-Tube discussions about black magick, supposedly killing people, invoking a demon that gets out of control and possesses his wife, and other such tales of power could be construed as proof that he is losing control of his marketing hype and overly identifying with his media persona. Only time will tell what will happen to Eric and his overly ambitious program, but from my perspective, the future doesn’t look particularly good.

I think that one of things that Jake Stratton-Kent said about Eric Koetting and his media blitz is that the only thing a person needs to do in order to begin to master Goetic Magick is to select one or a few of the more reputable copies of the traditional grimoires and then begin to practice and experiment with the rituals and mechanisms found in those books. Over time, a periodic and steadfast practice will teach the erstwhile student magician more than joining or engaging with any of the much vaunted traditions, organizations or reputed teachers.

While I am also a proponent of the self-made magician, I do believe that exploring other groups or individual teachers is not inherently a bad thing. As long as students understand that their path and process belongs solely to them, and that organizations, teachers and even books are a temporary aid that they can engage with (or not) to help them accomplish their end, then they will be able to maintain their freedom and continue to achieve their ultimate goal. Getting seduced or side-tracked by some overly inflated magical master is one of the major pitfalls that all magician students face as they follow their path. 

A good teacher will tell his or her students that their special relationship is temporary and subject to limitations, and additionally, leaders of a good organization will tell their members that when they are no longer learning or growing within that group then it is time to leave and move on to other possible paths. A bad teacher or leader will insist that their way is the only way and that meek obedience is the only acceptable behavior.

So, as a final note, we should ask the following question. Is Eric Koetting a bad teacher? I can’t really answer that question because I haven’t been one of his students. When I have talked with him he seems to be quite down-to-earth and never talks about how great he is or how powerful his magical system is compared to others. That may be because he is talking with another experienced magician and not a beginner, or it might be the way Eric really thinks and behaves outside of his persona.

However, I believe that everyone sees Eric’s marketing blitz and media persona as problematic, particularly if such a ploy backfires and makes Eric an adherent in his own cult of personality. He has sensationalized Left Hand Path magic which doesn’t need any more hype than what the misinformed public has already given it, and this will cause many of us who are magicians and who follow our paths discretely to look like fools. We will probably be painted with the same brush in the eyes of the public, even though we are practicing and promoting ourselves in a very different manner.

Runaway marketing knows no boundaries nor limitations, so it is only a matter of time before Eric becomes noticed by more mainstream media and thereby manages to make us all look bad. Think of the impact if or when Eric Koetting is interviewed by FOX news, or when they do a program about him and his teachings. Of course once that happens, Eric will be quite the example of evil black magicians to the Fundamentalist Christians. No matter how it is spun it won’t look good at all, and for those of us who are public figures we will have to answer a lot of stupid questions that we would rather not answer since the truth is actually more complicated than the general public would be able to understand. I, for one, don’t look forward to this likely future event, and I hope and pray it never really happens.

Frater Barrabbas

Madness of Kenneth Grant, Evils of Choronzon and the Filthy Qliphoth

Just recently a reader posted a comment to an article that I wrote some time ago about the Qliphoth, Kenneth Grant and other similar topics. You can find that article and its associated comments here. This reader, who goes under the title of “Magic In Music,” seems to have a real aversion to things having to do with Goetic spirits, Kenneth Grant, the Qliphoth, and anything involving the left hand path. He claims to be a Thelemite, but most Thelemites I know are actually quite sympathetic to the left hand path, if not in fact practitioners of this tradition.

Here’s what Magic In Music had to say about my article.

“It's fine to use Grant as a reference for all this stuff until you realise [sic] and understand that he was mad as a hatter. Why was he mad as a hatter? because he had fallen in the abyss and become prey to ‘CHORONZON’.

Why anyone wants to mess with this filth is beyond me. The qliphoth need to be addressed, certainly, but not raised up as ideals and gods. They are the false parts of self that a Thelemite works to liberate themselves from, not to worship.

Insanity and death follow the adept who toys with the qliphoth unprepared. Be warned!”

Now I can understand this perspective, since it was one that I also believed in a while back. I had some concerns with the publication of a useable version of the Grimoirium Verum and also found it troublesome because it required a blood link with a demonic ambassador. However, over time I found that some of my own practices were very much steeped in the left hand path and that I also, as witch, had connections with Deities that would be considered at the very least chthonic, and at worst, diabolical. I could hardly criticize what one group of Goetic magicians were doing when I was heavily involved with the fallen angels of the Nephilim. I had behaved as an unwitting hypocrite, even though my intentions were good. It took a close personal friend, who also happened to be an initiate of Palo Mayombe, to really set me straight.

Spirits are, after all, just spirits, and each is unique. Some spirits are volatile (hot) while others are quite stable and consistent (cool), and this variation can be found whether the spirit in question is a supposed angel or demon. Also, in the world of the Spirit, which is an extension of the domain of the One, all spirits are beyond the polarity of good and evil since they must, by definition, be ultimately aligned to the One. This is an important rule to consider whenever thinking about supposed evil demons and good angels. That perspective might be appropriate to a Christian mythic belief system, but it fails completely when one actually seeks to deal with spirits in an objective manner. What this does is put to the question the whole foundation of the tradition of grimoire magic. If you aren’t a Christian who believes in the spiritual polarity of good and evil, then the descriptions and qualities associated with lists of demons found in grimoires are completely useless. 

Perhaps one of the most difficult things that confronts any occultist/magician is learning to de-Christianize the myths and beliefs that accompany the path of darkness and the underworld, and realize that it is just Christian based propaganda. It’s OK to believe in a polarized world of good and evil if you happen to be a Christian, but if you are a Pagan, Witch, or even a Thelemite, then such mythic world views present quite a problem to achieving anything like a balanced and objective view of the spiritual world. While this holds true for Goetic demons, it also holds true for the supposed Qliphoth. Once again it depends on your religious perspective. If you are a fundamentalist Christian who sees the world as battle ground between good and evil supernatural forces, then demons and the Qliphoth would be operationally defined as a source of evil in the world. This, of course, would also be true if the student were an orthodox Jew or a pious follower of Islam. Even so, it boggles my mind why any pious and orthodox adherent of a monotheistic faith would ever traffic with forces and sources of evil.

How something is evaluated depends on the perspective of the occultist or magician. Based on that assumption, here’s what I actually said in my blog about the Qliphoth. Notice that it is speculative, but also based on some practical experience.

“The Qliphoth could simply be the outer shell or husk of the corresponding Sephiroth, and in actuality, it would function more like a socket or the bottom foundation of a specific Sephirah. In other words, the Qliphoth are the backside or unconscious dimensions of the Sephirotic Tree of Life. I believe that Kenneth Grant was the first to propose this interpretation in print, even though Michael Bertiaux has insisted that he first proposed it as a part of the deep esoteric qabbalistic descriptions in his traditional lore (Monastery of the Seven Rays).”

So, it would seem that according to my perspective, the Qliphoth and the Sephiroth are indelibly fused together, with the Qliphoth functioning as the chthonic or backside of the Sephiroth. They can’t really be separated, but the Qliphoth can be experienced if the magician uses either the portal of Daath or the portal of Malkuth. These portals open the magician up to what could be called the psychic and spiritual underworld, a place where the mysteries are realized, all potentials are to be found and transformative trials to be undergone. It is the place where the dead reside as well as important ancestors (both genetic and spiritual) as well as the host of earth-based spirits, hidden treasures, daimons and many other amazing and mythological creatures. Witches and pagans should be comfortable with this domain since their magic circles open up into it, and all initiations supposedly take place within it. To regard this domain as a place of filth, evil, madness and danger should be seen as quite strange for any magician not affiliated with the most polarized spiritual viewpoint.

If Choronzon is a great devil, then like all devils, he (or she) resides in the underworld, dispensing trials of initiation as well as teaching us the greater lessons of life through pain and pleasure, just like all so-called infernal spirits. Also, if any magician endeavors to realize the highest levels of spiritual and magical achievement (which is the ascension to the realization of the God/dess Within), then he or she must pass through the Greater Abyss and its associated underworld. This is not a process that is instantaneous, instead it takes many years and forces the candidate to undergo the greater cyclic trials of light and darkness many times over. Some may succumb to delusion or despair, while others are empowered and attain full self-mastery. Still, the greater lesson is the integration of light and darkness into a wholeness, the One within each of us. To achieve self-mastery, we don’t either cut away parts of ourselves nor do we have to overcome those parts of us that are deemed bad. Instead, we embrace all aspects of ourselves to become whole and complete, and that is accomplished by the greater power of spiritual love, especially the love of and for our internal deities.

Now that we have discussed these not so simple occult based facts, can we really consider Kenneth Grant to be “mad as a hatter?” Is it true that anyone who traffics with Goetic demons, the underworld of the Greater Abyss or the Qliphoth will become insane or dead? A friend of mine once said that in order for occult or magical practices to make one mad, one would have to be either mad already or at least borderline crazy. Magic can produce illusions and delusions, but it takes a real physical change in one’s brain chemistry to suddenly go insane. It’s an easy thing to say, “Don’t mess around with evil spirits or you will go crazy,” but it hardly seems more than just a bit of Christian propaganda.

Was Kenneth Grant certifiably insane? I really and truly doubt it, and in fact I would consider this judgement to be completely erroneous. Perhaps even laughably silly. Whether you like Grant’s writings or hate them, he knew what he was doing and he wrote books to bring back a balance between the left hand and right hand occult paths. (For that fact alone we can forgive him of his excesses and exaggerations.) Both the left hand and the right hand paths are legitimate paths for self-realization, personal empowerment and ultimate union with the One. All magic is ultimately a sacred art form, regardless of whether the magician is working with powers and energy forms, simple formulas, angels, earth-based spirits, pagan deities, monotheistic godhead attributions, or Goetic demons. Even a negative magical intent doesn’t detract from the fact that all magic is sacred, regardless of its use. It is also true to say that all magic is inherently neutral, and that it is the actual intention and directive of the magician that lends it an ethical consideration. 

Of course, don’t take my word for this open minded perspective. You can find the same opinion in the writings of Eric Koetting, an actual representative of the left hand path. Here is a short article that he wrote to fight back against what he considers the overarching and absolutist opinions of the Christian society that we live in. You can find it here.

Finally, in looking over Magic In Music’s blog it would seem that he has an issue with anything tainted by the left hand path. He tends to focus on modern music (such as the group Tool, who I consider to be quite an excellent occult rock band) and also some elements in culture. Yet he often talks about these topics with an obvious bias. I feel that this is kind of sad because he is otherwise very shrewd and well informed, but it unfortunately represents the common exoteric urban occult perspective that is overly simplistic and quite naive. My hope is that Magic In Music will be able to open his mind over time and see that the left hand occult path is legitimate and even progressive, just like the right hand path. We who either fully follow the left hand path or who are immersed into it because of our traditions are neither mad, endangered or dangerous to others. No one ever stays the same and opinions do change over time, and I am a good representation of how one can change over time. Maybe Magic In Music will see the error of his ways and modify them.

Frater Barrabbas

Various Assorted Thoughts and Considerations About Ritual Magick - Part 1

This is part one of a two part series consisting of various assorted thoughts about recent blogsphere topics.
 

It’s nearing the end of the month, and there are a number of small topics and comments that I would like to present to my reading public. I have truly enjoyed all of the comments and responses that I got for my article on non-duality, and I have a few comments of my own to add and also clarify what I said previously. Additionally, I have recently got a copy of Mr. E. A. Koetting’s more recent book “Ipsissimus” where he discusses the concepts and ideas of enlightenment ala the Left Hand Path. As I read deeper into his material, I will, at some point, deliver an opinion on his work. Despite the fact that I don’t actually consider myself an adherent of the LHP philosophy, I am also not disposed completely to the Right Hand Path either. I would also like to put forward my opinions about the issues of the reality of spirits, the verification of evocation, and literary piracy v.s. online freedom (the SOPA/PIPA controversy). There are a lot topics here to briefly discuss, and they are mostly unrelated, hence the title “Various Assorted.”


Multiple Paths to Enlightenment

In October of last year, I posted an article entitled “Path to Enlightenment Through Magick,” where I explained my perspective on achieving enlightenment through the artifice of performing theurgistic magickal rituals, which I call ordeals. You can find that article here, in case you want to review it. I have forged a path, although it is not thoroughly tested (I am not yet “enlightened”), which would take me to a place that is decidedly between the objectives of the Right Hand Path and the Left Hand Path, making me a proponent of neither. I should quote this passage, taken from another blog article here, which pretty much sums up how I seek to achieve my objective by following neither ethical orientation.

“This is particularly true because I consider myself neither a follower of the left hand or the right hand path, being a denizen of that shadowy grey area that is more a practical reality than an alliance to some path or persuasion. I aspire in my magickal workings to integrate the HGA or Bornless One into my own self, and thus elevate myself to the level of a godhead, however thinly or briefly. This is certainly a lefthand path perspective. However, I also give veneration, offerings and worship to my ancestors and my gods, thus making me a follower of the right hand path.”

First off, I would like to state that following a particular dualistic path (RHP or LHP) is probably overly simplistic. Practical approaches to the practice of ritual magick and its ultimate goal of union with the One would require any magician to forge a path that is unique and specific to his or her life path, keeping in mind the inherited legacy and the various virtues and flaws that each individual possesses. What this means is that a theoretical discussion based on ideals typically breaks down to practical necessity, and that there are as many different paths to that ultimate goal of spiritual unity as there are individuals who might seek it. Unlike mysticism, or mystical traditions and paths, the path of the traditional magician likely doesn’t exist. There are certainly traditions that form the foundation of any practitioner in regards to their inherent practice, but ultimately, every magician worth his or her salt will leave that tradition behind in order to create something specific and unique to themselves. So while there are specific and set mystical traditions, there appear to be no set magickal traditions in regards to higher level pathways and practices. This also means that the division of RHP and LHP becomes meaningless after a certain point in a magician’s development.

As I have stated in my recent article on monism, it is through our own internal godhead that we are able to perceive the active role of Spirit in the world, and it is when we become truly aware of our own godhead, and fully activate it, that we gain an intimate connection to that overarching Deity which acts as the ultimate source of all things. (We will talk a bit more about this issue later in this article.) Therefore, as far as functioning as a ritual magician and performing theurgistic ordeals, the primary purpose and task is to awaken the godhead within one. Once that awakening and merging of consciousness occurs, then we can proceed with the combined mystical and magickal tasks of completing that union with the One.

I think that the division of paths, and the ideation of RHP or LHP are useful discussion tools when one is below the level of achieving full union with the inner godhead. At that point and beyond, such distinctions are probably useless.

(A tip of the hat to my reader and commentator, Nik64, who gave me the inspiration and idea to write up this point.)


Further Thoughts About Non-duality, Magick, and the Qabbalah

One of my readers (Josh) had some real issues with what I had recently written about non-dual perspectives (i.e., monism) in regards to magick and a pagan based religious idealism, stating that monism was somehow restricted to a single viewpoint and that it excludes all other perspectives, which he called “pluralism.” I don’t really know where he got this idea from, since I couldn’t find in my article where I stated that my perspective and view was singularly correct, and that all others were somehow false. Here’s a small segment of what Josh said in the comments section of my article.

“The problem with monism (one view and one view only) is that those coming from a monistic viewpoint always try to demonize other views as dualism or dualistic, even when there is a multiplicity (more than two) views.”

I really think that Josh was thinking about his objections to “monotheism” rather than “monism,” and they are actually quite different. Stating that a certain deity is the one and only godhead (and all others are false) can create a closed system that eliminates the consideration of other factors, or other godheads and their spiritual creeds. Monotheism can produce exclusionary spiritual systems that negate pluralism. Adopting a mystical perspective seems to eliminate the possibility of believing in the exclusive truth of one’s religion, and it also separates or makes a distinction between individuals who espouse a faith based perspective or experience Spirit directly from those who are merely believers. Through the artifice of stating that both the internal and individual godhead and the ultimate unified source are co-equal and the same is to enshrine both a unitary perspective as well as a pluralistic perspective. Many variations of monotheism as they are practiced in the West exclude the possibility that the individual is also a distinct godhead in their own right, since such a perspective (“All art God) would violate the integrity of a strict monotheistic creed. Throughout the ages, there have been more than a few mystics who have been murdered or taken to task by narrow minded sectarians of their own creed, and that would include Jesus of Nazareth himself.

Lao Tzu says it quite well when he writes in the very first chapter of the Tao Te Ching:

“Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestation. These two spring from a common source, but differ in name.”

According to Lao Tzu, the mystery or paradox is the One that is actually None, and the pluralistic perspective sees the Spirit alive and thriving in all things. I believe that the same ability to embrace the One and the Many exists in all forms of mysticism, and is important in regards to ritual magick, too. So I don’t think that there is an absolutist perspective in monism, but there certainly can be an absolutist perspective in monotheism and extreme sectarianism.

I also stated that my personal perspective was based on the pagan theology that I originally accepted as a part of being a practicing witch. As a traditional Alexandrian witch, I believed in the existence of a Goddess and a God, and that when joined together, they became a kind of union that has no name or characteristic. Traditional witchcraft (ala BTW) embraces a kind of “dual-theology,” and that only some of its adherents (such as myself) will hold that there is something that transcends them both. Not everyone in my tradition believes that the Goddess and the God are forever joined into a fusion that is greater than the sum of their parts. Yet once I grew beyond the boundaries that were defined by Alexandrian witchcraft, I also discovered the reality and necessity of individual and distinct pagan Deities, since there seemed to be many qualities to the overall aspect of deity in my experience, and these many qualities could be easily realized through a form of pagan polytheism.

What I found after many years of practicing witchcraft and paganism is that the concept of a dual-theology is just one way to perceive the concept of polytheism. There is also a true polytheism that sees many different gods and goddesses as distinct personalities, and there is the concept that all of these deities coalesce into a single unity, which I call the One. All of these perspectives are true and correct, but also limited and only conditionally true. Deity is, by nature, paradoxical, so any one single definition, model, description or perspective limits something that is unlimited, indefinite and infinite. Therefore, I would think that by making this statement I am embracing both a monism and a pluralism simultaneously. How I can do that (and get away with it) is to state that what is being described can’t be described. As Lao Tzu says in the first chapter:

“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things.” 

Curiously, this whole issue of monism, monotheism, plurality, polytheism and the individuation of the Godhead has been getting a fair amount of buzz in various blogs, most specifically in the collected web journals that make up Patheos. Gus diZerega, who is the author of “Pagans and Christians,” brought up some very interesting points about how monotheism has some problems when characterizing their Godhead as being completely separate and distinct from everything, as a Deity that is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent, while still being capable of being loving, directly experienced and intimate. These opposing perspectives are merely labeled as part of the paradox of a deity that is both immanent and transcendent, but there are some real problems to this perspective that labeling it all as a paradox does nothing to resolve. You can find his article here.

Anyway, I think that I have more succinctly stated my beliefs and perspectives on this topic, and so I can rest my case and move on to other topics. The only reason why I have been working on this topic and its related perspectives in regards to the practice or ritual magick is that when I have experienced the highest states of consciousness that I am able, the resultant state is unity. At that veritable peak of my magickal experiences, I am able to sense how everything is connected together, and that within that union I have found the ecstatic bliss of the One. I believe that it’s pretty hard to dismiss what I have experienced, and correspondingly, it’s pretty hard to adequately explain it using words or mental models.


Finally, I would like to announce that I will be attending a weekend intensive at the local Twin Cities store, the Eye of Horus, with John Michael Greer. He will be conducting a three day series of classes on pagan ceremonial magick. I will be very interested in learning to hear what John thinks about this topic, since he has recourse to much of this material written in its source languages, a skill to which I am quite deficient. These classes will be taking place on Friday, January 27, through Sunday, January 29. I will write up a critique of this class and let you know what I think of it. I am certain that it will be interesting and rewarding. I have been corresponding with John for a few months now, and I have found his letters to be refreshing, interesting, compelling and sometimes, quite humorous. He is another one of those remarkable men and women, and I encourage everyone to seek out these kinds of people and learn everything that can be learned from them. It is an excellent methodology for self-enrichment, and ultimately, if you have rubbed elbows with enough remarkable men and women, you may become one yourself. 

(To be continued..)

Frater Barrabbas

Final Farewell to Kenneth Grant

I recently discovered that Kenneth Grant, a noted and somewhat famous occultist and writer, had passed from this world to the next. Mr. Grant died on January 15, 2011, although many of us were not aware of it at the time. So I am putting together this brief eulogy to celebrate his great accomplishments and to note his passing at the ripe old age of 86. (Kenneth Grant: born 1924, died 2011.)

Mr. Grant was probably best known for his Typhonian trilogies, a series of 21 books that examined the dark side of occultism and magick. Grant was probably one of the first to attempt to give African Religious Traditions an occult context, and he also lionized, for a short time, the obscure and infamous occultist, Michael Bertiaux. He also was one of several individuals who claimed, for a time, to be the Outer Head of the Order of the O.T.O., a claim that produced a rather famous series of law suits, which in the end, he lost. Grant also knew Aleister Crowley during World War II, although that time period characterized Crowley’s declining years, both as an occultist and an elderly man. Crowley died in 1947, but the youthful Grant lived on to take up the torch of Thelemic magick, and to cultivate and evolve it into a profoundly post modern perspective. Grant also knew and was friends with Austin Spare, another amazing pagan occultist and artist.

At the present time, I can’t recall anyone else who was such a masterly proponent of the Lefthand Path than Grant, and his books very likely inspired a whole generation of LHP magicians and occultists. It was through Grant’s books that the Left Hand Path took on a particularly irresistible glamor. However, many of Grant’s techniques used to link together various obscure practices and beliefs were tenuous at best, fictional fabrications at worst. Grant also took the literary creations and fantasies of the infamous Lovecraftian Chthulhu Mythos and brought them into a supposedly respectable occultic context, which became rich fodder for chaos magicians everywhere. He was also deeply involved in resurrecting the writings and artwork of Austin Spare, and probably singlehandedly kept that work from succumbing to complete oblivion. His wife, Steffi Grant, added her darkly themed ink drawings to the burgeoning collection of “night gallery” artwork, which was always included on the cover and in black and white picture prints in the middle of each book. This artwork had as much impact on readers as the various odd and obscure occult concepts that Grant sought to darkly illuminate in his books.

Grant left a powerful and irreparable stamp on the practice of ceremonial magick and occultism, and those who practice chaos magick, emulate the practices of Austin Spare, seek to integrate ATR beliefs and practices into their western occultism and magick, develop a system of magick based on the Necronomicon and the Chthulhu mythos, practice lefthand tantra, or who seek a deeper understanding and appreciation of the writings of Crowley, owe him a great debt of gratitude. Grant seemed to leave no stone unturned, and he managed to forge together the dispirit threads of post modern occultism, science fiction and fantasy, horror fiction, exotic ethnic traditions and obscure antiquities, producing a blend of dark occultism and Lefthand Path practices. If you have even the faintest attraction to the dark side of occultism and magick, then Grant is likely your spiritual godfather, whether or not you have read his books.

I started to collect and read Grant’s books back in the late seventies, when the “Coven from Hell” that I belonged to decided that it should branch out into lefthand path occultism and magickal practices. I had to start with his first set of books that were already in print, but soon caught up and read every book up to a certain point. I recommend several of his books, which I consider to be classics and important reading material for anyone who is interested in having a well rounded occult background. The following list of works authored by Grant are just a small part of my recommended reading list, although some may be out of print, very expensive or quite difficult to find.

“The Magical Revival” (Weiser 1972) - This was Grant’s first book that set the tone for all of the books that were to follow. At this juncture, Grant was interested in extending the occult concepts and practices of his mentor, Aleister Crowley. He also introduced to the world the writings, artwork and practices of Austin Spare.

“Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God” (Weiser 1974) - The second book goes further into producing deeper revelations of the Thelemic current, focusing on aspects of sex magick, dream control, the Qliphoth and left hand tantra, which is a part of what Grant calls the “Ophidian current.”

 “Cults of the Shadow” (Weiser 1976) - The third book breaks the ground of revealing the background and connections of the infamous and secretive Lefthand Path, including forays into various African religious and magickal practices, Voudoun (with an emphasis on the Petro rites), lefthand tantra from India (Vama Marg), and numerous other reputed traditions both east and west that were infamously tainted with the lefthand path. It is in this book that Michael Bertiaux is introduced to the occult community. Grant even went so far as creating an African version of the Tree of Life, something that Bertiaux had also been working on.

“Nightside of Eden” (Muller 1977) - The fourth book is probably one of the great classics of lefthand path occultism. It is in this book that Grant attempts to pull together a complete system of the Qliphoth with all of its associated symbology and chthonic spiritual entities. Grant’s main premise is that the Qliphoth is nothing more than the backside or unconscious shadow of the Tree of Life, and that a knowledge of the Qabalah is incomplete without a corresponding knowledge of the Qliphoth, which exists as the core and the source of everything spiritual or material.

“Outside the Circles of Time” (Muller 1980) - The fifth book takes the knowledge and concepts forged in the previous two books and brings them together by tying in yet another source, which is that the lefthand path has its origins in extraterrestrial influences. According to Grant, we have not only been visited in the past by extraterrestrials, our entire corpus of dark occultism as well as even some of the genetic anomalies of sorcerous individuals have been due to periodic intercession and intercourse with extraterrestrials. This is where Grant begins to pull themes and ideas from H.P. Lovecraft into his work, as well as introduce the occult world to the workings of a group of magicians in Cincinnati who had proposed a new aeon of the Egyptian goddess Maat. I thought that this was also a good book, but Grant’s ceaseless proofs involving Gematria and other very obscure occult evidence seemed at times to be grasping at straws.

“Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare” (Weiser 1975) - Another excellent book by Grant. This book revisits some of Spare’s writings and reproduces a lot of Spare’s artwork. Grant attempts to categorize and give a more rational framework for Spare’s occult beliefs and practices, but the deeper examinations are contained in the above books. This book had quite a variety of Spare’s artwork beautifully reprinted, much of which had not been in the public purview for half a century or more. If you want to get a real insight and perspective into Austin Spare through his artwork, this is probably one of the best books on that subject. The artwork is carefully reproduced and given a greater critical and logical context that Spare himself was unable to provide in his earlier writings.

Kenneth Grant also produced his own versions of the books by Aleister Crowley “Magic in Theory and Practice” and “Book Four,” combining them together to produce a work entitled “Magick.” I never purchased a copy of this book, so I can’t make any recommendations for it. Grant had an interesting perspective on Crowley, and in some ways seemed to understand him in a deeper and more profound manner than compared to the writings of his other students and torch holders. In all, Grant published more than 21 books, although most of what he published I neither purchased nor read, since the bulk of it came out after the above six books. 

Beyond the above list of works, Grant, in my opinion, began to produce books simply for the sake of marketing himself and selling them. Very little ground breaking material surfaces from these works, and it would seem that Grant’s brilliance finally succumbed to telling tall tales and producing a fictional account of his occult world and experiences. Particularly painful is Grant’s writings about the “Mauve Zone” and his animating of much of Lovecraft’s fictional writing into supposed occult revelations. I found the books, “Hecate’s Fountain” and “Outer Gateways” to be nearly useless and even somewhat silly. I stopped buying and reading Grant’s books after attempting to read these two awful tombs, and decided that he had finally come to the end of producing anything revelatory or even useful in a practical sense.

Grant cranked out many more books, but I only gave them a cursory glance when I ran across them in occult bookstores. I felt that I had the best of what Grant was to produce in his long life, and had no regrets about not purchasing any more of his works. He had faded somewhat from the focus of my work, but his revelations and accomplishments with the six books listed above stand as a foundation to the work that I am doing, and the work that many others are doing. We all owe Kenneth Grant a debt of gratitude for all of the amazing things that he did give us in his literary career.

Frater Barrabbas

Good Part of the Dark Side of Magick

I have been gently pilloried for my statements regarding hard core Satanism, saying that often followers of the left hand path end up being darkly transformed by their negative preoccupations. Of course this is really an extreme example and my target has been hard core Satanists and others who blithely use the trappings of “evil” and “darkness” to shroud their obvious lack of ability and competence. I used Anton LaVey as a prime example, but of course, there are always other sides and many variations to this argument. LaVey is a poster child for what is wrong with hard core Satanism, but what of the other variations and gradations that make up the Left Hand Path? The world isn’t black and white, and since I have said that I don’t believe in the moral values of an absolute good and evil, then am I not guilty of being something of a hypocrite to make pronouncements against followers of other paths? Have I thrown out the proverbial “baby and the bath water” as some have stated?

First let me say that what I have discussed in my previous articles have been the extreme cases and the potential for harming oneself. Will it dissuade hard core followers of this path to change their ways? Absolutely not! It may dissuade the beginner from considering such a path and that is my objective. However, there are followers of the Left Hand Path who are reputable, intelligent, brilliant and masterly in what they do. I refer to members of the Temple of Set, chaos magicians, Luciferians, Typhonians, adherents of the Dragon Rouge order, goetic magicians who espouse diabolic paganism or Afro occultism, and a host of others. All of these individuals may or may not be classified as Left Hand Path followers, but they are individuals who seek the dark side of magick for their own spiritual and magickal fulfillment. I understand, appreciate and applaud this preoccupation, since it isn’t that different from my own. However, such individuals stand in stark contrast to the classical “in-your-face” Satanist. I have valid misgivings about individuals who take upon themselves the cloak of superstition, fears and paranoia of their Christian neighbors in order to empower themselves, and I would warn beginners to seek some other path than that of the classic Satanist. However, it was never my intention to lump all of these various groups and individuals into one faction, but that seems to be how my previous article was interpreted.

A point has been made by the blog writer “Von Faustus” in his article about this very issue that those who seek the darkness in occultism and magick are following an antinomian process of contrast and engagement, or as Faustus puts it “engagement with the beliefs of the status quo, even if it is the process of rejection.” Of course, for those who have never heard of antinomianism, it’s a theological term that literally means “unlawful” or the belief that the achievement of salvation does not require the careful following of laws of a religiously defined morality. Another term for this practice would be “unorthodox.” Gnostics were accused of being “antinomian”, and so were other sects of Christianity by their more orthodox peers. Christianity was born out of Judaism through antinomianism. Perhaps an easier way to think of this term is that a person may either obey the tenets of their religion or break rules in order to discover new vistas and different perspectives. I believe that anyone who is a practicing occultist could be said to be practicing a form of antinomianism, especially those who espouse a form of neopaganism.

In my previous article on the left hand path I discussed how morality is, in my opinion, bankrupt and that the practicing ritual magician must forge his or her own ethics and personal guidelines. These can be shared but there are no absolute spiritual laws or rules, so one can’t dictate magickal and spiritual ethics to another without being either misguided or a hypocrite. The term “unlawful” can be taken many ways, from the breaking of social taboos, religious laws of orthodoxy or even civil laws. Anyone who lights up a joint of marijuana, has a few drinks and then drives, travels over the speed limit, crashes a gate at a concert, cheats on their income taxes, or does any number of minor and possibly annoying social or illegal acts is acting in an antinomian manner. However, where I draw the line is in the perpetrating of serious civil crimes. I may find unethical conduct to be antisocial and problematic, but serious crimes are the concern of all members of a society. The definitions of serious crimes may vary from society to society as well. I would be judged quite harshly for my religious beliefs and magickal practices if I happened to live in Iran or Saudi Arabia.

This brings us back to the discussion of the Left Hand Path. If I don’t accept the moral dogma and superstition of monotheistic religious groups and institutions, then I am, defacto, functioning in an antinomian manner in regards to my occult beliefs and magickal practices. It doesn’t matter if I distinguish myself in some manner from followers of the so-called Left Hand Path, we are all in the same group as far as orthodox authorities are concerned. In a word, all of us are considered automatically culpable and liable to sanctions and religious persecution if ever our society suddenly becomes ruled by a Christian theocracy instead of a secular non-religious representational democracy. We are all vulnerable, and also, despite our many divergences and differences, we are kindred spirits. If one of us gets persecuted, then we all stand the possibility of persecution.

In my opinion, one of the ways that some individuals could inflame a social pogrom against all pagans and magicians is to practice a kind of “in-your-face” Satanism, to engage in political fascism, anarchy, racism, and to inspire fear, loathing and hatred in those who choose to be members of the conservative religious orthodoxy. Playing on other people’s fears and superstitions is not only dangerous for the individuals doing it, but it’s dangerous for the rest of us as well. Thankfully, most people are discreet about their magickal and occult practices, but the few who inspire public hate and terrorism are a problem for all of us. A case in point is the incidence of church burnings and murder in Norway during the early 1990's, instigated by the lyrics and music of rock bands of a genre called “Black Metal.” Thankfully, the movement was isolated to a given locality and lasted for a short duration, but a larger scale occurrence in the U.S. would have severe repercussions for anyone practicing magick or neopaganism.

This was the point that I was trying to make when I said in my previous article: “However, to engage in an adversary relationship with your native culture is to also inadvertently mine the rich strata of xenophobia, alienation, hatred and self-loathing.” Also: “So it’s for this reason that I believe that followers of the left hand path, particularly those who espouse forms of Satanism, are ultimately twisted, warped, alienated and forced to either change (and conform) or become society’s great losers.” I do believe that I have a valid point in making these pronouncements, but I am referring to the extreme case as a kind of warning to all of us who practice magick. It does not mean that I am condemning anyone who engages in the practice of “dark” magick or diabolic pagan practices. There is a place for all of us at the table of neopagan occult religions, and I respect all who faithfully practice their alternative religions and magick in peace and good will. This is particularly true because I consider myself neither a follower of the left hand or the right hand path, being a denizen of that shadowy grey area that is more a practical reality than an alliance to some path or persuasion. I aspire in my magickal workings to integrate the HGA or Bornless One into my own self, and thus elevate myself to the level of a godhead, however thinly or briefly. This is certainly a lefthand path perspective. However, I also give veneration, offerings and worship to my ancestors and my gods, thus making me a follower of the right hand path.

What exactly is that dark magick that is being practiced by many, including members of the left hand path? I would classify it as a form of chthonic spirituality. Many of the deities honored and worshiped in these systems represent forces and spirits from the underworld. This would include goetic demons and other dark mythic beings, as well as deities such as Typhon, Apophis, Set, Anubis, Hades, Persephone, Pluto, Lilith, Samael, Teitan, Lucifer, Baphomet, Baron Samedi, Papa Legba or Eleggua, the Ghede - the list is endless. As diverse as this group is, what they have in common is that they represent the forces of death, darkness, the unknown and the unresolvable mysteries in human existence. They are a counter force to the light, the rule of law and reason, representing that human nature is clearly directed by impulses from both the light and the darkness. Those who engage in dark magick are only seeking to redress the imbalance in our culture that is so focused on the light, and to dispel superstition, the fear of the darkness and the unknown. Such practices are as integral to the art of magick, neopagan religion and occultism as are any exoteric praxis or faith. I would label these systems of belief and practices as highly beneficial, representing the positive or good part of the dark side of magick.

So to allay the concerns and assuage the feelings of others on spiritual paths that are different than mine and who may have interpreted my words as insulting, I offer this clarification. I have in no way condemned any of the traditions of the so-called left hand path. I have a great deal of respect for individuals who follow paths differently than mine but who none-the-less have made magick their spiritual discipline and practice. Such individuals are my brothers and sisters and I do not judge or criticize their paths.

However, I feel the need to give a warning to all of us that we are a distinct minority in the U.S., and unlike Europe, we don’t have a culture that is only lukewarm towards its established orthodox religions. In America, politics and religion freely mix, creating a potentially toxic and lethal combination. In the U.S., individuals and groups have been persecuted for their religious beliefs and practices at various times, particularly if the power elite feel themselves threatened by ideas, beliefs and practices that are not only different from their own but are being promoted in a highly aggressive manner. What happened to the Mormons in the early and middle 19th century has been repeated with other groups, so we must take these sobering thoughts into consideration and use discretion and common sense when operating in society.

Frater Barrabbas

Thoughts About the Left Hand Path and Dark Workings in Magick

I have decided its time to discuss the topics of negative magick, dark workings, justifiable retribution, personal ethics and integrity and the left hand path, generally. We have skirted around this issue by discussing tangential issues, so I thought that we should tackle it head on.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” - so says the New Testament of the Bible, in what is called the Golden Rule. It would seem logical and ethical to assume that this rule should be adopted into everyone’s life. Then there is the Wiccan Rede - “Eight words hath the Wiccan Rede, An it harm none, do what thou wilt.” If the world were a perfect place and people acted in a proper and ethical manner, then these two sayings would be indispensable and part of the expected behavior for all. They are, instead, guidelines or suggested ideals for model behavior. I won’t go into discussing the Christian maxim that one should turn the other cheek when assaulted rather than strike back, because I am not a Christian and because I don’t believe that it works. Certainly, Mohandas Ghandi and Martin Luther King used techniques of civil disobedience that relied on nonviolence in order to take the moral high ground in civil disputes. This does not apply when dealing with individuals. Unfortunately, we live in a cruel world that doesn’t forgive stupidity and seems to reward the rapacious and the ruthless. Most of us just want to get along and live our lives in relative peace and prosperity, but there’s always someone or a group who makes that difficult.

 I also don’t subscribe to the classification of “white” or “black” magick, since the intention is what motivates the spirits, power or the mind, depending on the theory of magick employed. Magick is, therefore, neutral - the intention is what can be judged as either good or evil. I don’t even like using those terms since they are couched in morality, which is determined by one’s religious beliefs. Since I am pagan and a witch, my definition of good and evil will not be quite the same as how a Christian, Jew or Muslim would define them. In fact, to many people, any magickal working is illicit and unsanctioned, meaning that it is likely to be considered “evil.” If we throw away the terms white and black magick and good and evil, what do we have left to guide us in the labyrinth of right and wrong actions? The answer to that question is that we have our ethics, which is a body of rules and boundaries that we use to guide and judge our interactions with others.

I could easily write a book on ethics, and the truth is that they are, by nature, fluid, changeable, context sensitive, practical and used in a case by case manner. That means that no rule is absolute and that all boundaries are voluntary. These rules are established by necessity and built up by experience, usually from making mistakes and acting in an unethical manner. Most of these rules are based on common sense and many of them are backed up by actual civil laws and social responsibilities. Everyone has a collection of rules that they abide by and many know the rules that govern a modern society. However, when it comes to working magick, a new set of rules must be determined, since there is little in society that can guide one in these practices. These rules have to be developed by the individual practitioner, so it’s really a waste of time for me to attempt to list them here like a collection magickal Ten Commandments. However, I can discuss a few common sense rules that I try to use when working magick.

I basically live by the ethic that one should live and let live - in other words, don’t try to fix every problem or right every wrong. There’s just too many of them even in an ideal existence. Instead, carefully and strategically choose your battles and then play to win. If someone is minding their own business and peacefully following the direction of their life, who am I to either interfere or get involved, unless of course that person is breaking civil laws or interfering with my personal business. If one avoids getting involved when someone is committing a crime, then it becomes a matter of aiding and abetting, for which one can get in almost as much trouble as the one who is the primary perpetrator. There is such a thing as civil responsibility, however poorly that is perceived in the present time.

So with that being said, I think that most will agree that my ethics aren’t much different than the average person’s. Where I might draw a softer boundary is that I try not to judge people or situations unless I have all of the facts. If someone has lots of tattoos and dresses and affects an attitude like a “hood”, I will reserve judgment on them until they actually do something offensive. After all, I may look just as strange, weird or disagreeable to them. Being a witch and a pagan has made me sensitive about judging people too quickly, since it’s been done to me all too many times.

All of this is pretty much logical and sensible and many would agree with it. Where I part company with many is on the subject of magick. You see, I don’t believe in turning the other cheek when someone aggressively goes after me or seeks to do me harm. Same goes for my loved ones, family and friends. I will use whatever means I have to protect myself, my family and loved ones. In such a mode I could even be defined as being absolutely ruthless, and I will use magick and whatever other means I have to protect myself, my associates and my interests. So that means I won’t turn the other cheek when someone seeks to smite me. I also have a number of magickal rites and tools at my disposal if such a thing is required. There are negative spirits, negative planetary aspects, negative intentions to imprint magickal energy and harmful psychological ploys that can be used, if they are warranted. Because these things can be used for good as well as ill, they can’t be labeled “black magick.”

However, I have found that a dispassionate examination of the situation before deciding on a plan of action is required. I also believe that whatever I do, I must be fully justified, not only to myself, but to the Deities that I serve as well as to my friends and family. Doing something that my close associates would disagree with or greatly frown upon, not to mention going against the expectations of my spiritual alignment with the Godhead, would be quite foolish, perhaps even self destructive. Possessing over three decades of magickal knowledge forces me to be cautious and to use a dispassionate and objective perspective if I were to use magick to harm others in order to protect myself, since I could probably do a lot a damage. The right degree of force and the correct mechanism requires some pretty sober thinking and certainly can’t be adequately done while angry. For this reason I can count on one hand the number of times that I have used harmful magick to protect myself.

I know some folks who delight in using negative spell work to settle petty scores and to get revenge for minor infractions. I find that behavior unethical and really unnecessary. Often, the most severe thing that I might do is cut myself completely off from someone who is using me or habitually lying to me about his or her motives. Sometimes doing nothing but letting someone else's stupidity, greed and avarice work against them is the right action.  We also need to know when to use the legal system to redress injustices and pursue civil litigation. But the only way to properly judge this kind of situation is to do so when not angry or emotionally compromised. 

Then there is the topic of diabolism. This topic involves one’s spiritual alignment, which is another way of asking what aspects of the Deity does one personally relate to? Some magickal practitioners don’t have any spiritual alignment, but many do. It’s often joked about that one man’s god is another man’s devil. Yet because I don’t believe in good and evil, it would be illogical for me to consider someone who is worshiping a different deity than me as either categorically wrong or evil. In other words, if someone is worshiping Satan, I wouldn’t consider that person to be essentially evil. This is because there is no entity named Satan in my spiritual pantheon and because paganism tends to embrace all gods from all religions as valid. I also don’t personify the light and darkness as good and evil; they are both an equal part of the natural world. To me light is knowledge, revelation and manifestation - darkness is the mystery, place of transformation and hidden (occult) knowledge. But some folks personify light as good and darkness as evil, and they take sides, as if it were some kind of sport.

However, Christians, who do believe in a spiritual hierarchy that places Satan as an evil adversary of God, would consider a worshiper of Satan to be evil. Satan is an entity that has a prominent place in the Christian spiritual hierarchy and anyone who claims to worship him is taking on all of that cultural and spiritual baggage whether they realize it or not.  The same is true of demons and other spirits who are aligned in an adversarial role with the Christian God. Judaism and Islam have the same spiritual perspective as Christianity when considering spiritual adversaries, they just don’t give them as much power and importance. In Islam, Satan is a caricature, a buffoon, since he apes the prophets and mankind, but has no wisdom or understanding of God - he is a deceiver and the lord of lies. In Judaism, Satan is actually Samael, the chosen adversarial advocate of the Lord. Demons are considered by Jews to be unredeemed spirits who must submit to the power and authority of God.

What this means is that if someone wants to worship Satan or any other dark godhead that has a negative role and reputation in another religion’s spiritual pantheon, then they will have to deal with all of the cultural prejudices associated with that godhead. I believe that taking on an adversarial role is exactly what might motivate someone to worship the devil. It would certainly have a shock value and an impact on other people’s opinions and expectations, especially in the U.S., which seems to be forever embroiled in sectarian differences and prejudices. Some have written a great deal about how adopting a diabolical spiritual path and alignment is completely legitimate and just another perspective amongst many. Perhaps they are correct, but their Christian neighbors will neither agree nor respect their choices in how they worship.

A secular society is supposed to allow everyone the freedom to worship as they see fit, but that still doesn’t stop people from being prejudiced against those who are either different or selectively contrary. To be a proponent of the left hand path is to take on the whole social system and all of its collective spiritual values. Some may glorify in this avocation, others may find it a way to empower themselves, to build a reputation of being dark and basically negative - as opposed to nice and wholesome (the cultural norms). However, to engage in an adversary relationship with your native culture is to also inadvertently mine the rich strata of xenophobia, alienation, hatred and self-loathing. Being always against what everyone else is for takes a certain kind of mind-set, and it has its costs. A lifetime of dealing with massive amounts of cognitive dissonance will eventually defeat someone, since there is little chance of turning the world’s opinion around to one’s personal spiritual beliefs.

So it’s for this reason that I believe that followers of the left hand path, particularly those who espouse forms of Satanism, are ultimately twisted, warped, alienated and forced to either change (and conform) or become society’s great losers. Anton LaVey, the head of the Church of Satan, did not die a rich and powerful man, mourned by a nation of followers. He died in obscurity and poverty, much to the chagrin of his few remaining followers and contrary to his legend. It’s interesting to note that he had avowed in his writings fascist pronouncements of being in alignment with the power elite. That kind of cozy relationship with powerful men was more the kind that a fundamentalist Christian preacher might have than the head of the Church of Satan. So followers of the left hand path are much more likely to be on the outside of the corridors of power, if they happen to make their beliefs public. As a friend of mine put it, “Just how much real power do LHP magickians get? What happens to them in the end? Do they stay devoted to the infernal powers or do they move on? If they move on, how is their mental state - are they capable of functioning within society?” These are brilliant questions, yet they are ones that I can’t answer, I can only ponder them.

Then there is the issue of whether or not one should magickally deal with obviously negatively aligned spirits, such as devils and demons. I have been criticized as being too alarmist about current trends in the dealing with goetic demons. I myself have performed evocations of these entities and have found a constructive use for them. I also know other magicians who have used them in a balanced and constructive manner, while others would never have anything to do with them. Obviously, I believe that making use of these entities is not quite the same as forming a bond with them, something that I would never do.

I make a distinction between those entities that I treat as part of my personal and religious godhead and those entities that are not a part of that godhead. As I have pointed out previously, all spiritual entities, whether aligned or nonaligned, merge to form a union of all spiritual being. Godheads are different than spirits, though, where the one is worshiped and the other is summoned or commanded and constrained. There is a big difference between them, and from a personal perspective I would never confuse the two. So for this reason, I would find myself in agreement with the Renaissance magus: to give worship to God and to command the spirits from a position of superior power and authority. Even if the entity that I am dealing with is in an exalted position, such as one of the super-archangels (Seraphim or Cherubim), I will still empower myself to command that entity into appearance. I will also seek to control the magickal operation from beginning to end. I won’t give up my personal invested authority or power nor surrender myself or my will except to the Deity. I see the Holy Guardian Angel as a personal representation of the Deity, a microcosmic reflection of myself, or the God/dess Within, so I may also surrender to that entity. What this means is that I will not give offerings, worship or devotion except to the Deity. I may honor other spirits, such as ancestors, demi-gods, heros and heroines, but I will only give devotion and worship to the Deity.

That being said, I also believe that others who may do something different, such as worship Satan, devils or demons had better define their spiritual hierarchy in such a manner so that these entities are actually gods, or there will be some serious problems to deal with. They should also conduct themselves in such a fashion that they retain control over what they are doing when working magick or things will go terribly awry. What our culture believes and accepts as true creates powerful trends, thought forms and even defines what’s good and evil, whether we like it or not. As a witch and pagan I have had to deal with this issue for many years, but I at least am witnessing some changes in the culture and the beginning of acceptance. Those who espouse a diabolical magickal system are not so lucky and have to deal with the consequences of taking on the entire cultural religious system and ultimately not succumbing to its forces. I wish them luck, but the odds are definitely against them.

Frater Barrabbas