Wisdom, Elitism and the LHP

Some Satanists bask in their elitism. I always feel a little bit embarrassed by that aspect of our beliefs. I suppose I have never really liked the idea of elitism; that some people are better, more knowledgeable and more powerful than others for reasons that the “others” have very little control over. I suppose that feeling stems mainly from politics and history and the undeniable truth that various elites have frequently assumed power by foul or illegal means and then abused that power by exploiting and subjugating everyone else without mercy.

And yet the reality of life is that elites always do exist in every aspect of life and they are not in themselves good or bad; they just are. I can run when I have to and I enjoy swimming but the difference between me and an elite athlete is a huge chasm and it would be stupid to pretend otherwise. I don’t question that elite athletes can do and achieve things that I can’t, nor do I begrudge them the rewards that flow from that. In science there are people like Stephen Hawkins (and many lesser publicly known figures) whose grasp of the way the universe works at a fundamental level far surpasses anything I know on that subject no matter how interested in it I may be.  I think the world will be a much safer place with those people designing space ships and power stations than it would be if I was given Carte Blanche!

As an educator I applaud the students who study hard and think it is only fair that they have more success than those who are lazy.

Politicly I am in favour of some kind of democratic meritocracy in which those who are better educated and best suited to certain positions automatically trump those wh0 are not.

So I can’t claim to be anything other than an elitist. Any residual “guilt” for being better in some things than others is a ghost of my Christian up-bringing that needs to be eradicated. The simple truth is that I am a Satanist and I follow a left hand spiritual path because I do actually think this way is better, more honest and more empowering than anything Right Hand Paths have to offer.

In particular, following a discussion with Ravemore (link) it is very clear to me that there are lessons and wisdom that right hand paths are almost deliberately blind to. Specifically they tend to ignore or repress the darker sides of life and of our own character. There is an element of shadow work involved in many religions and occult traditions of the right, it’s true, but they are elitist in the sense that they are rarely if ever even spoken of until a person is deemed to have reached a certain level. For most people everything “dark” is consigned to the shadows in the hope that ignorance and repression  keep it at bay. I don’t believe that gives people the chance to fully grow and learn as people or magical practitioners. It is not balanced and it leaves people dis-empowered.

Left Hand Paths embrace and engage with the darker side of things. We question why things are deemed to be dark in the first place; and who deems them so. Many of us find a beauty in things that wider society believes to be dark and dangerous. After all without the darkness you cannot see the stars. But yes, in the darkness of night where danger may lurk, where secret passions are kept and where the veil between life and death seems more permeable; we are forced to confront the fear, the horror and the savagery that is as much a part of ourselves as the love, the hope and the the kindness that are acceptable to express.

In reality most people strive to find a balance within themselves. Some succeed and some fail. Spiritually orientated people perhaps do this on a larger scale and those of us on a LHP tend to start in the areas forbidden by other paths… But the aim of most of us is to find balance, because with that comes power. Why be half a person when you can be whole?

It is almost taboo these days to admit that you want power; but in truth we all do. We want power to control our lives. We want power to achieve our dreams and ambitions. We want power to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and secure. We want the power to be self sufficient. Satanists and other Left Hand Paths are open and honest about seeking self empowerment and in general we are (or we become) more powerful than many others. We learn magic. We learn psychology. We become quite adept at managing and manipulating people and situations for our own gain.

Satanists are certainly a minority. Indeed all left hand paths added together are still a minority. But yes, we are in a sense an elite. We know things that other people don’t. We can do things that other people can’t. We tend to have a confidence that many people lack.

But we are not a closed elite. Whatever wisdom we have, whatever knowledge we have acquired, whatever lessons we have learned are out there and available to anybody with the courage to look for them.

---