LHP Mage

L H P. Why do these three letters seem to stir up such a visceral response in many modern pagans? In case you don't recognize this abbreviation, or if you've forgotten somehow, it generally stands for Left Hand Path and come with a pretty wide variety of definitions. As far as I have learned, the term originally came from Tantra and represented a way of communing with the divine through a form of sexual ecstasy. That connection with sex magic is enough to designate Left Hand practices as heretical, demonic, and absolutely evil in the eyes of the Christian church and will make many pagans uncomfortable as well. Then, many Satanists began laying claim to the term, Left Hand Path. I think that may have begun with Anton LeVey, but I'm not sure. Since this blog is more editorial commentary than historical research, and because I am not a Satanist, I haven't bothered to look it up. But with the connection to Satanism, LHP also began to take on a more sinister connotation. These days, it seems to be associated with anyone who practices "black magic," another term with a nebulous definition, and many people even assume that anyone who describes themselves as LHP has completely abandoned any ethics or moral compass beyond ego and self-interest. Most people I've talked to that describe themselves as LHP are not amoral sorcerers hurling hexes and curses right and left, however. They tend to view themselves as generally ethical people who are simply not afraid to use magic as yet another tool to improve their lives and, if need be, exact 'justice' from those who cross them. I'm not sure I'm ready to label myself as a "LHP'er", but that description doesn't sound particularly evil to me. There are those who seem to think it immoral, or at least dangerous, to use magic for anything but purely altruistic purposes, but I am not one of them. For instance, I see nothing wrong with working a prosperity spell for one's self, if that is your desire, or working to increase one's attractiveness (not that magic is likely to be more efficient than hygiene and exercise). This post is not a persuasive essay to make a definite point; it is more of an exploration of my own feelings on the subject. I just find it naive, simplistic, and unnecessarily moralistic to bind magic to religious notions (Law of Three, for instance), especially notions that have their roots in religions many of us have forsaken (like Christianity) for the freedom and simple beauty of modern paganism.