Motivations

MOTIVATIONS

Those
who nervously venture into the Occult without having eradicated from their
minds the former (orthodox) beliefs presumably instilled in childhood will
naturally gravitate to the Right Hand Path. The Right Hand Path is “good”.
Following the Right Hand Path, you will be safe. You will encounter no
“demons”. You will have a lot of fun. You will not achieve any magickal power,
of course, but most Right Hand Path Occultists are sensible enough to realise
that they could not handle power, so will be relieved rather than otherwise by
this assurance.

On the
other hand, those who venture on to the Left Hand Path are (for a multitude of
motivations) seeking Occult power. Most of them resign within a short space of
time. There may be as many reasons as people, but the basic considerations for
failure fall within two categories.

One: the
neophyte who describes himself/herself as “hard-working and eager to learn”. As
Dl’s Adept said in an earlier issue, those are qualities more appropriate to a
junior clerk than to an aspiring Occultist. Work is required, but this is far
more complex than learning by rote. The hard-worker will learn by heart all the
instructions which he/she is given: the one who recoils from hard labour will
endeavour to understand the instructions and the reasons behind them, and that
way they will be assimilated less painfully.

Two: the
play-actor who wants to dress in elaborate robes and enact dramatic rituals.
He/she will retire in disappointment on finding how little importance is
attached to such activity.

Those
who get past the first stage are not susceptible to categorisation but there
are some qualities which seem to be possessed by most, though in varying
degree: for example, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, determination, the
ability to think quickly. Qualities which fit them for the attainment they
seek? Yes, but there is a long way to go yet.

Anonymous
article taken from the Dark Lily Journal No 11, Society of Dark Lily (London
1990).