As long as the concept of witchcraft has existed, there has been a fascination with and fear of the darker side. Whether it is upstanding citizens fearing hexes and curses or magical practitioners seeking more control over their circumstances through easy routes, humanity has and likely always will be captivated by the darker side of magic. But what do we mean by darker? We use terms like Left Hand Path to refer to these practices, but what really are they? Where did these terms like “black magic” come from? Is it really evil? And if not, what differentiates the practices of the Left Hand Path from that of the Right Hand?
When I first started putting my notes together for this, I had to scrap it and start over. It’s a deceptively simple topic, and the more you consider it, the more times you find yourself asking, “But what about…?” until you are ready to throw your computer across the room and flip the table.
Exactly what the Left Hand Path is will vary depending on who you ask, so instead of starting at the beginning, let’s start with some traditions that are generally considered to be of the Left Hand Path.
Satanism (and by extension Luciferianism). The Temple of Set. Chaos Magic. Black Magic. These are just a few of the western occult traditions considered to be on the Left Hand Path. The thing they all have in common is a focus on the self. Very loosely speaking, we can say that the left hand path is focused on the physical self, while the right hand path is focused on the spiritual and greater community. Some of the hallmarks of most Left Hand paths is individualism, self-empowerment, breaking societal taboos, and generally rejecting authoritarian religions and authority in general. Often, they may include practices that would be shocking to others, such as sex or blood magic, and they tend to have a fairly relativistic morality. Often, if the given path even believes in deities, they have a goal of self-deification.
By contrast, the Right Hand Path, while it does include personal growth, focuses on working with a wide variety of positive entities, such as gods and or angels. Instead of seeking out and wallowing in humanity, most Right Hand paths seek to rise above our physical existence and to improve the world in general. There is a heavy emphasis on goodness and doing the right thing. Some even go as far as seeking a sublimation of the self in the divine. Right Hand paths include most mainstream religions (although even some of those do have left hand paths within them), ceremonial magic, Wicca, and others. It’s worth noting that Right Hand paths rarely take the time to label themselves as such, while Left Hand Paths will often grab that label for themselves, perhaps if only to get there first.
Some of you following along may be calling bullshit at this point. “But I do this, and I’m not a left hand practitioner!” “I do that, and I’m not a right hand practitioner!” I will generally agree with you. In my opinion, the Left Hand/Right Hand dichotomy is flawed and of questionable use. It is highly prone to bias—indeed, the definition of the Left Hand path I gave you is what those on that path would claim. Those on the right would say the left hand path consists of:
- Controlling or attempting to control the will of others
- Focusing on physical results to the exclusion of all else
- Focusing on the self without regard to how your actions will affect others
- Any magical practice which attempts to circumvent the law to the detriment of others
- Making bargains or dealing with entities that actively wish harm to humankind
- Intentionally doing any or all of the above
In short, using magic to be a horrible person, instead of just being a horrible person like normal people are.
In the same vein, the definition of what the right hand path consists of is also what those on that path would claim.
Those on the left would say the right hand path consists of:
- The symbols of goodness
- Virtue signaling
- The sun and light
- Herd mentality
- Submission to god
- Respecting religious authority
That is, being a relentless, holier than thou goody two shoes.
It goes without saying that the human race is exceptionally good at dividing and radicalizing pretty much everything, with occult practices being no exception. And indeed, this is only one of three dichotomies you’ll run across in magical circles, although it does seem to be the most popular one currently. And I do think there is value in covering these splits, as it brings a richer context to the issue at hand.
According to the internet, the entire Left/Right thing was actually started by Helena Blatvatsky, founder of Theosophy and noted spiritualist. Reportedly she pulled it from Eastern practices, as both Buddhism and Hinduism have left hand paths. It caught on, and other noted occultists of the time incorporated it into their practices, stating clearly which side of the line they were on.
Thanks Blavatsky.
The next common dichotomy we see in western occultism—and arguably the most common, as it has seeped into popular culture—is black magic vs white magic, or dark vs light. This is basically your fundamental good vs evil split, with those practicing black or dark magic doing things like curses, hexes, animal sacrifice, death magic, sex magic, blood magic, and the like. Practitioners of white magic generally focus on healing, protection, and working with the divine. This particular split has been starting to fall out of favor due to racial implications and connections. Many African Diasporic traditions, such as Vodoun have historically been considered black magic, which puts a decidedly racist spin on the term. Personally I suspect this is part of why the left/right handed terminology has caught on so well, as it basically refers to the same subset of practices in the same way. Unfortunately, a Left/Right split does not lend itself as well to those who ascribe to neither or both as a Black/White split does. Grey Magic is much more evocative and clearer than the only possible equivalent with handedness, which would be Ambidextrous Magic. Perhaps this merely shows another flaw with the current naming convention?
The third split I would like to cover is arguably more useful, if lesser known and on occasion more insulting. It is that of Low Magic vs High Magic. Generally speaking, Low Magic is practically oriented focusing on the physical plane, whereas High Magic is less grounded and more focused on astral shenanigans and angels and whatnot. Folk magic is a solid example of Low Magic, whereas Ceremonial Magic is your classic example of High magic. This split is somewhat problematic in that the line falls along a class divide and thus can result in some snootiness and rudeness, but I find it more useful as it is more specific as to what is actually done in each practice. If nothing else, it is more practical. The traditional divide of Left vs Right is highly philosophical, and in many cases the same spells and rituals may be done, only for different reasons. For example, if a rapist or murderer remains free due to a lack of evidence and mundane channels fail to bring justice, is it acceptable to curse them? Obviously your left hand practitioner will say yes. Some right hand practitioners may hold firm to cursing being unacceptable, but others may find it acceptable to curse such a person as it would bring justice—they would simply be helping karma bring that person’s bad actions back upon themselves. It would still be a curse either way, only the reasoning and mental gymnastics behind it would be different. Many other practices are shared by both paths as well—while it is not the primary focus, the Right also works on self-improvement and empowerment, often, though not always, with the same techniques, such as meditation or self-examination.
Additionally, using a Low vs High dynamic also complements the Left vs Right, as the Left is generally more focused on the self and the physical plane, and thus more likely to use practically oriented Low magic. Indeed, Chaos Magic, which is commonly considered a Left Hand path (although having studied it I would argue it’s more neutral than anything else) focuses on “whatever works.” Indeed, if your magic does not give results, it’s not properly chaos magic.
As some of you may have noticed by now, I do have some issues with the division of magical and occult practices into a Left Hand path and a Right hand path. I find it an unnecessary and artificial division, and while it may have originally been brought from Eastern traditions where the terms referred to paths more physical and less spiritual, it has been conflated with the good/evil dynamic to the point where it is very nearly Abrahamic. While that may be all well and good for Christian magicians (which do exist, I assure you), it is a division that simply cannot be broadly applied. How do we apply it to ancient magical traditions from Egypt or Greece, which most of our western occultism is based on? It was common practice to use sympathetic magic to dominate the state’s enemies in Egypt. Indeed, one will find many artifacts with bound enemies serving as the handle for a cane or even painted in the soles of sandals as a part of spells to dominate them. If one did this in standard western occult practice it would almost certainly be considered Left Hand magic, yet it was something performed by priests and Pharaoh in its time. And that’s just one historical example, there are many others. For most of our ancient forbearers, life was simply not so cut and dried.
Additionally, as someone who is actually left handed, I find the terminology somewhat offensive. Historically, those who are left handed have been considered weak at best and straight up evil at worst. It is the origin of the word “sinister” for heaven’s sake. Continuing to refer to darker and self serving paths—paths which reject societal norms and often get branded as evil—only perpetuates that association, and frankly, left handed people are quite possibly the least cared about but regularly discriminated group today. It would be nice to be thrown a bone every now and again.
With any luck, I have provided the basics of one of the primary divisions in modern occult practice today, and while I have my bias, hopefully I have given each a fair treatment. I would like to open the floor at this time for questions and discussion.
ADDENDUM: I don’t know why people are so danged interested in “the left hand path.” Bloody edgelords.
The Meandering Path 
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