Kabbalah as a Key to the Trickster path and healing on the Left hand path.
Over the past several weeks I have entered a new level of hermit mode I didn’t know existed within. Those that I held as close relationships have been fizzling and I feel ever more the need to keep to myself. Peoples’ shadows are operating at an all-time high and acknowledging the polarity may be part of the answer to this affliction.
This morning, I found myself contemplating the Left-hand path – the esoteric path which many identify as a path of individualization; one that is dark, demonic, and Satanic. Various traditions such as the Eastern Tantric tradition of Yoga hold onto the idea of both a Right Hand Path and a Left Hand Path. In one, the practitioner is focusing on the eternal end goal of uniting with the Supreme being (insert your preferred title here: GOD, CREATOR, SPIRIT). Meanwhile the more elusive Left Hand Path strives to reach beyond God – dare it be said: they BECOME GOD.
I fancy the example quoted from Karlsson’s book, “Qabalah, Qlippoth and Goetic Magic”:
“The Right Hand Path (RHP) follows the river into the sea, while the Left Hand Path (LHP) goes against the flow back to the spring. The LHP goes backwards and against the stream. When the magician reaches the spring, he has the possibility to alter the direction of the river and create a new river if he wishes to.”
Breaking this down to a biological human level, you could say that engaging the Left Hand Path means you are operating from the right hemisphere of your brain. This hemisphere is known to support the function of creative thought, imagination and artistry. No wonder so many creative minds have been deemed devil-worshippers. Though I suppose in a way they were; it requires courage to embrace the opposition – within and without.
For many years I have identified myself as a healer and caregiver of those moving through their personal healing journey. Working as a nurse for over a decade with people in crisis and then transitioning into a more holistic approach as a medicine woman, I have seen my fair share of humanity’s challenges. I took it upon myself to support others and spread the light.
Yet over the past year I have come to realize that my medicine is not for the faint of heart.
The morning’s contemplations led to realizations that the world is in dire need of evolution and that in my opinion is the role of the Healer. What better way than to be the Trickster?
Cultures have told the story of the trickster in many ways over millennia. With the Norse tales of Loki doing his very best to counter the Aesir (gods) and their RHP plans, to the many indigenous stories of trickster healers like the Sioux’s Heyoka, and even the story of Lucifer the rebellious angel the falls from heaven. The story of an opposing force in the macrocosm is the mirror for humans on earth to explore their inner and societal map.
From a Qabalistic perspective, we can see the power of the Left hand Path on the Tree of Life
Qabalists look at the tree in two main ways: the first is to face the Tree and see that on the left is the Pillar of Severity and on the right, the Pillar of Mercy. The second is to imagine yourself backing into the tree so that the left pillar then becomes your right-side body, and the right pillar your left.
We will take the first position, facing the tree.
The 3 spheres (Sephiroth) on the left Pillar of Severity are Binah (Understanding), Geburah (Severity) and Hod (Splendor). They correspond to Saturn, Mars, and Mercury respectfully. Binah is known as the Divine Mother and is the 3rd Sphere on the Tree; it is from her that all existence is born into the physical (through the 4th Sphere – Chesed). She is the womb from which creations come to life.
This sphere is meant to be a passive energy, yet the irony this is that this feminine Saturnian energy has been perceived as negative throughout the centuries, leading to damnation of women in many unconscious religions. Have you ever wondered why the evil snake in the Garden was so highly connected to Eve – it was the wisdom of the snake that birthed new understanding within HER, and thus the fall of mankind down the tree to the Kingdom of Earth (Malkuth – the 10th Sphere).
To embrace the feminine, to embrace severity, to embrace the trickster, to embrace all that is counter, is to embrace the Left Hand Path – The Pillar of Severity.
True healing comes when you can float along the Tree of Life as it applies to your personal life; embracing the path of both the right, the left, the middle and everywhere in-between. This is the path of the trickster healer: they strip away the weight of expectation on their walk along the path of consciousness and speak from a place of power, even when it is not understood or accepted by others.
Karlsson sums it up yet again:
“The Qabalistic, metaphysical evil is, at the same time, both a destructive force and a force of creation to which man must turn if he wants an individual existence. Man is separated from God in the Creation and from his mother at birth. Most religions offer to shepherd man back to a utopian, original state. The dark path instead guides man into a second birth in which knowledge is attained, and he becomes like a god, just as the Serpent in the Garden of Eden promised. According to the Qabalistic view on evil, power and knowledge are the keywords that illustrate what the dark side has to offer.”
I will leave you with this question: Are you willing to embrace your power?
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