Written as my final paper for a course on Hindu doctrines and theologies. Graded A+ by my wonderful and knowledgeable professor, otherwise I wouldn’t presume to post on this topic.

The term “left-hand path,” translated from the Sanskrit “vamachara,” was probably brought west by Helena Blavatsky in the 19^th century.[1] The phrase was absorbed into Western esotericism and quickly combined with European assumptions about “leftness.” “Sinister” is Latin for “left,” and Kabbalists had written about the demonic “left emanation” long before Blavatsky’s time.[2] In the west, the “left-hand path” quickly became associated with Satanism and “black magic.” Aleister Crowley solidified the western definition of the “left-hand path” to connote magical practices which solidify the ego, rather than leading to absorption in the oneness of the universe.[3] Though Crowley saw this as a negative, subsequent western magicians, such as Michael Aquino, have embraced the idea of a spiritual path that preserves individual ego.[4] This focus on the maintenance of selfhood is the most significant philosophical difference between vamachara tantra and the left-hand path in western magic.

Notes on Perspective, Terminology, and Methodology

This is a Comparative Theology paper written by a practitioner of left-handed western magic. This perspective is very empathetic towards vamachara, but is also prone to overidentification with it, which can lead to distortions and to colonizing behavior. To counter these tendencies, I will draw upon Dr. Rita Sherma’s suggested framework for what she calls “Interreligious Theological Reflection.”[5]

For purposes of clarity, this paper will henceforth refer to left-hand and right-hand practices originating in India as vamachara and daksinachara respectively, and to parallel western practices with the English terms left-hand and right-hand.

Because of the influence of east on west, comparing vamachara to the left-hand magic is both inevitable and problematic. The influence came about largely under circumstances of colonization, appropriation, and resultant economic inequality during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. However, there may also be older and deeper reasons for similarities between vamachara and the left-hand path. Judaism and Christianity are not originally products of Europe, but of the Middle East. The cultural and geographic proximity between Indian and Abrahamic religious traditions was, at one time, much greater. Judaism specifically has a history of flourishing in India free of persecution.[6] There are marked similarities between Jewish kabbalah and vedic (and later tantric) philosophy, which are probably not accidental. Kabbalah is one of the main influences on western esotericism. Exactly how these older Indian influences may have traveled west via kabbalah is a topic that needs much more study, and is unfortunately outside the scope of this paper. However, because it seems foolish to believe that such similarities in philosophy are purely coincidental, I will assume the existence of complex cultural exchanges between east and west predating colonization and the appropriations of Blavatsky and Crowley.

There are additional issues when comparing vamachara to the left-hand path, which has been primarily equated with “black magic” and “Satanism.” There is a long Christian history of turning other people’s gods into demons. This tradition reaches all the way back to the Bible.[7] It was perpetrated by colonizers against the gods and peoples of India. The Dictionnaire Infernal, a 19^th century catalog of demons, casually includes Kali[8] and Garuda[9], with shockingly racist illustrations, alongside familiar Abrahamic demons like Asmoday and Beelzebub. Leo Taxil’s hoax text The Devil in the 19^th Century, which describes a fictional world-wide Luciferian cabal of Freemasons, includes depictions of Brahma devotees as Satanists.[10] (The anti-Hindu stereotypes portrayed by Taxil are in fact the same ones infusing the much later popular text Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom[11].)

Of course, there is a difference between how a Christian thinks of Satanism and how a Satanist thinks of Satanism. Western practitioners of the left-hand path do not see Lucifer as evil, but as a god of knowledge, carnal pleasure, and spiritual liberation. His role can seem superficially similar to that of Shiva, with his feminine consorts, such as Lilith and Na’amah, occupying seemingly parallel roles to those of Kali, Durga, and other manifestations of Shakti. These left-hand practitioners do not see these parallels as insulting to tantric deities, but as celebratory and inspirational. Anton LaVey includes Kali and Shiva on his list of “Infernal Names” alongside many other deities and demons his wishes to invoke in a positive sense.[12] Aleister Crowley equates Kali with Lilith in his mystical odyssey The Vision and the Voice.[13] Unfortunately, such usages remain appropriative, and even though they are meant to be reverent, they come across as insulting in the context of Christian demonization of these gods.

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