Witchvox Article

Author: Howard Winkleman
Posted: December 9th. 2012
Times Viewed: 1,662

Knowledge is power; there is no disputing this fact. However, no matter how much you know there is always a certain amount of burden associated with such things. Such as when, for instance, one decides to drink to excess on a work night -- you KNOW full well how you�re going to feel the next day upon waking -- even armed with the knowledge of how this is going to affect you adversely. If you do not implement the use of this information, it can serve you not. So goes ALL knowledge, and I feel this is especially true of spiritual and philosophical erudition.

At some point, when the pen leaves the page, there is a glimmer of hope in the back of the mind of someone who writes their article, book, or sometimes a small library of self-potentiating occult wisdom. The hope is that you will not just buy his/her book. Very few occult authors are able to make a descent living, let alone live "high on the hog" by their writing alone. Theirs is a labor of love; they do it because they want to make a difference in our lives. They know something that�s very exciting to them and want to share that moment with you.

We all know that many paths can lead to water, and this is why the market on this subject is so diverse. Beneath this grand, all encompassing roof called the occult, reside two distinct and powerful pillars which hold it aloft: the right hand path, and the left hand path. Beneath them are a whole slew of foundational blocks, each one being the individual, aboriginal, spiritual fountainheads from which this wisdom has sprung forth from times immemorial. Under the roof supported by the pillars, built upon said foundations, are multitude of new age and neo-traditional possibilities for one to explore. Finding the right house for our spirits to dwell can seem a daunting task, as well it should.

The question now becomes, where do I go from here? What do I hope to get from my study of the occult? This is firmly and solely placed upon the individual as there is really no correct or incorrect answer. The right hand path's "Thy will be done" is comfortable for the majority. They are used to it; the major established religions of the world, wishing to control every aspect of your being, have always taught this. �Do not trouble yourself with worry; you don�t have to think, just follow the herd� mentality, guidelines, rules and regulations set down by them and everything will be fine. "Let go and let god" is the maxim they have for you.

Now, how are you supposed to develop as a spiritual individual under these circumstances? You're not. You�re just supposed to fall in line with the others. Not to fear! As the left hand path has a challenge for you! A challenge and a command. Well it's not much of a command, more of a mission statement really, and that�s: "MY will be done"! Yes, how frightening indeed! Maybe not at first glance so frightening, but when you stop and think about what that really means, you should shudder. What IS my will? How do I find it? What do I do with it once it has been established?

Well, so much for "Let go, let god" right?

Things may seem so complicated now, but they are not. There are only two core components of the left hand path. The first is simply antinomianism, wherein you consciously decide to shirk the societal norms of conventional spirituality in favor of your own personal graal quest, seeking the grandest of treasures. This path-less-travelled is less travelled for a reason: it can be a dreadful burden (at first) as you will be required to put forth more effort than imaginable if you are going to take the reigns from a god and I don�t care if it's a Jewish carpenter, an Irish guy with antlers holding a torc and serpent, a one eyed god of battle and magick, or the dead but dreaming god of the depths. Once you take responsibility, and decide to do this, you will have to " get loose of Laeding" and "dash out of Droma" as did the god of embittered determination, the wolf Fenrir. Let his tale be a cautionary one.

Be ever alert upon the road, even among your closest friends, as you grow upon the path and gain in all manner of strengths. Always watch the world around you. It would love to lay it's own Glepnir for you. His was a story of betrayal, and eventual revenge, because people feared what they could not control. You on the left will be viewed the same way if you prove too strong for their fetters of alienation, shame, or even emboldened threats of a fiery punishment for your tenacity.

The right hand path has no application in the real world. You are left with a kiss and a promise. You simply wait to die for your payday. The left, on the other hand (pun intended) , requires you to "be all that you can be" (as went the Army's slogan when I joined way back when) . If you do not, you are merely a keyboard commando in message forums or on Facebook, putting out one flowery declaration on how wise and enlightened you are after another for naught. Feeding off of the responses you get from people, you never have, and likely never will, meet in the flesh. They will cling to every word as they have found a prophet. They will hope as they have many times before that "this is the one". "If I get this guy�s book, it will change my life". Will it? Of course not. No more so than any of the others did unless YOU change the way you�re reading it, and the way that you see, hear and feel all things.

If you�re seeking, you will continue to seek, until such a time comes as you realize that the words of any author, no matter how insightful, can only point you in the right direction. You can watch all the fight videos in the world, but until you have felt the sting of an opponents fist connecting with your jaw and the flesh of the midsection give way under the force of your undercut, you only have right hand path "faith", not left hand path certainty.

It's not the book that grants gnosis, at least not beyond the initial developmental stages where we lay the groundwork and explore. Eventually, there comes a sticking point. This is the place where looks no longer matter; you can only meditate and perform rituals in your chamber or forest so many times. Sooner or later it will strike you: is this it? Is this what it means to be a witch, magician, or whatever you like to call yourself?

For many, I suppose it is. But for others like myself, we will not be satisfied. It is fine and dandy to declare oneself a master or high priest of this or that tradition; so mote it be, pyramid schemes. You can blather on for hours upon hours on your chosen subjects. You have, after all, poured over magical texts for years. But how has it changed your life really? Aside from believing you have the niftiest hobby of all your friends, how has it changed it for better or worse? In the real world?

I know a woman. We have had a bit of a falling out , so excuse me for being a little biased and bitter toward her situation. She has however fallen prey to exactly the thing I warn against here: blind faith. This lady is a fluffy new age shop owner who, during our last visit and conversation regarding philosophy, became a bit disenchanted with me. It was not enough to respectfully disagree, she was so convinced that her way was the only way that she may as well have been any random church lady. In her frustration, she began bragging to me about how she got the powers to "snap to" for her. She claimed she got almost immediate results to her every petition, sounding very �Potteresque�, if you ask me.

We had this conversation in front of a few of her customers/fans, whom she read cards for and sold various goods to. The subject really left her lacking adequate response and presence. She seemed to be at a loss for what to say (I simply asked her how she can know beyond a shadow of doubt that service to her external forces can be superior to seeking the ability to do the same yourself by drawing the unseen forces through herself, i.e. effectively becoming god) . She only quipped �that cannot be done, can it�?

I suppose I should not have put her on the spot in front of clients, but she in very childlike fashion decided to declare that "her powers" were the real ones and I am only deluded. I left it at that, but could not help but wonder. If this is true, why have I been able to overcome and surmount major obstacles in my life? Why have I pulled myself from a veritable abyss to where I stand today? I have accomplished self-mastery to a degree that she only can talk about. I through my approach, can gain or lose 20 lbs at will, build up a double body weight bench press, maintained a 20-year relationship with the love of my life, find gainful employment in a terrible economy (even despite having faced periods of outlawry on more than one occasion) and generally exercise my will.

Take control! Take responsibility! Exercise your will (Thelema) , and become (Xepher) , that which you should be, to advance in the mysteries (Runa) , and finally awaken to a place where the self-potentiating occult wisdoms of the left hand path are more than mere words. Let them live in and through you. You must first master yourself if you are to have any chance of mastering the world around you. The left hand path dictates that you evolve constantly, always strive for the next level. Erase all doubt from your mind, rid yourself of all things that are not conducive to your goals. Be the thing that it is you desire to be. This starts in your own mind (microcosm before macrocosm) .

So move your point of reference to inside. Do not worry about what anyone else thinks. View yourself as Alpha. This means no more apologizing, or seeking the approval of others. Surround yourself with those people and things that are the pinnacle of what you seek. This is called "riding the tails of the comet" in the powerlifting world; it will only benefit you to train with those of advanced levels of achievement. Then you will begin to manifest, into the real world (macrocosm) , the things willed upon the microcosm, or as above, so below, if you prefer.

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Howard Winkleman

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