Disentangling the Left and Right Hands
"I was born with 2 right hands and 2 left hands."
INTRODUCTION
A great source of confusion for nearly any spiritual seeker is that Right Handed magic and Left Handed magic have been the subject of immense cultural confusion, both in the mass consciousness, and in occultism itself. Below are my own notes in my personal attempt to disentangle them in my mind, by separating out Left/Right Handed into the two distinct dichotomies.
AESTHETIC SCHISM [GREEN/RED]
Left handed magic is the red hand reaching down into the earth, carving or digging, perhaps with a sword in its hand. It is the magic-material and is thus has its reputation for getting results, however it is also a tool of peril, for as the hand forcefully carves into the earth, the greater risk for malpractice under the blade, much like how a surgeon wields great power over life and death which must be used responsibly. The spirit of the Left hand is material telos, ultimate purpose, and its job may be the Surgeon.
Right handed magic is the green hand reaching upward into the sky holding nothing: no binding contracts, no curses, totally unbound by karmic chains. It calls to invoke the primordial beingness of the sun, a cosmic energy shared asking nothing in return, if we are only able to receive that energy and reflect it unto another. Yet in this divine beingness, no outcome is assured, for we all become plants in the sun’s garden. The right handed magic is an empty handed prayer spoken to a silent sky, a wreath in the hand of Columbia, a call for peace for peace’s sake. The spirit of the right hand is angelic blessing, and its job may be the herbalist.
MORALITY SCHISM [WHITE/BLACK]
Left handed magic is the black hand of kratocracy, or might makes right. Whatever you can get away with to assist yourself is correct, no matter how ruthless or selfish. Truth’s only purpose is its benefit to you, like light bent and warped around a gravity well. The left handed magician surrounds themselves in karmic chains bound to the necks of others hoping to pull them to steer the boat of their own destiny.
The right handed path is the path of radiance, completely letting go any desire to sacrifice others for the greater good, and is thus traditionally associated with pacifism such as the Saints in the west or the Bodhisattvas in the east. If the Left handed path chains themselves to others through negative karma hoping to wield that karma to steer the ship of their own destiny, the right handed path lets go of the chains entirely, hence the relevance of meditation as a practice: becoming still, becoming unpossessed by the chains of karma which push and pull.