SOLIDARITY

From the neck upwards…?

If you received a letter stating: “It is my intention to bring together the various factions of the Left Hand Path”, what would you do?

(a) think “it’s a good idea but he hasn’t got a chance”:

(b) file it in W (Wastepaper Basket);

(c) think “Lucifer protect us from such fools!” (or words to that effect).

If the Left Hand Path got “united” (never mind how), I would go away and form something else. There are certain Satanists with whom I would not dine, much less share a magickal experience. I am not referring to pseudo-Satanists, nor am I intending any criticism of table-manners; quite simply, they bore me stiff.

There are as many methods as there are groups, and anyone starting out on the Left Hand Path has a variety of choices (he/she may not get it right first time, but it’s all useful experience). Even the orthodox religions have recognised that, within their own confines, they must offer some divergence of practice or dogma. If the Left Hand Path vouchsafed one way only (it matters not if that was the right way, though who on Earth or anywhere else would be the judge?) it would mean that fewer people had a chance of getting where they want to go.

Another problem is that none of the (very few) Adepts capable of directing such an augmented structure would be prepared to take on the job. The New Improved Left Hand Path Union would have to be left by a less highly-qualified being who was willing to accept the responsibility because he thought it would be a good thing if someone did it; not exactly a recipe for success. Or it would be administered (Satan help us!) by a committee. There might even be adopted the fashionable democratisation, which has brought about the phenomenon of a High Priest (or whatever titles) who does not claim supreme authority. Hard to understand why that is not more popular, it’s a really cushy number. He has all the glory, despite his modest disclaimers, but, when something goes wrong, he has plenty of people to blame.

One small consolation, the New improved etc would not be taken over by a megalomaniac because the Left Hand Path has an uncanny habit of puncturing inflated egos. We know that no-one else can promise us dominion over the universe; when we have dominion over ourselves, everything else follows. There remains the uncomfortable realisation that the New Improved etc would be run by someone who, however sincere his (or her) motives, is not really up to the job.

I’m old fashioned; I would rather kneel at the feet of a true Adept who knows where he is going (and, also important, where he has been) than be accepted as an equal colleague by a poseur. This only applies to my Occult quest; if I lived under a despotic government, I would be at the barricades. Which illustrates a vital point: we - any of us - will tolerate a lot more from a High Priest than from a President or Prime Minister. But let us not suspend too much of our critical faculty; that would benefit neither pupils nor teacher.

And the Great God Unity is a false idol, as phoney as… but the next item of iconoclasm can wait until the next article.

Comment by the Adept when he read the foregoing article: To know where one is going needs knowledge of the future, The future is fluid and only solidified by the actions of today.

Anonymous article taken from the Dark Lily Journal No 10, Society of Dark Lily (London 1990).