There are many meanings to the two types of hands or paths witches take in their magick, and it only makes me puke the amount of content on this topic. The reason is because it actually means several things at once to many different religious views and non religious ones so when you pin point only the main ones you still come up with a handful of material to read on. To be more specific i'm only going to cover the one i know about and leave you overachievers and readers my sources and sites i find are helpful in this topic to continue your quest in your pursuit of knowledge.
People have to find words to identify themselves and its no different with how we practice magick and how we identify ourselves with that. Like using the terms "white" and "black" magick to express what type of path were laying out or just in general using colors to represent magick we like. There is actually nothing wrong with that in my opinion, personally i was taught energy doesn't have a color and energy is magick, but to each their own. In this case the Left hand and Right hand signify the type of magick you cast as just one example . The Left hand in just about every corner of the world is the hand of evil so those castors practice black magick and from one of my reading materials you don't want to end up in that existence. The Right hand then follows as the counterpart and is the hand of the light and those people are generally more spiritually evolved and only use white magick for the good of the universe and all that honey.
Thats only one view of course feel free to drop your's down below and blessed be! -Baron
I love that you brought this up. I dont like using this terminology as I feel like it specifically targets individuals and stereotypes them. However, in more recent definitions, the right-hand is seen as groups that follow specific ethical codes and adopt social conventions. While the left-hand adopts the opposite attitude, breaking of taboo and abandoning set morality.
I tend to not define the left and right in terms of 'good' or 'evil'.
I see the left as a celebration and empowerment of the self and of human quality. Physical sensation and experience. Forceful expressions of control. Focus on personal conscious choice. And overall exposing, exploring, and invoking human nature.
Meanwhile the right, to me, is about 'rising above' the human. Overcoming human habits. Overriding physical nature through mental discipline. Submitting control, and going with the natural/divine flow to dismiss the concept of the self and connect with 'higher' consciousness.
The left is active, choice based, and about directing energy and intent to affirm the power of the self as an individual.
Meanwhile the right is is passive, submission-based, and about releasing, grounding, and letting go of energies to dismiss the individual self and connect with a collective/universal concept.
I liked your post, but I personally shy away from calling anything "good" or "evil" As a Satanic witch I really don't find it useful to use these labels as they are really STRONG words and make people ansy/
Just my two cents.
All words are strong, they can imply multiple meanings to anyone, one of my points is this exactly, be it you call it love or hate, light or dark, good or evil, they each mean one or the other just like above and below. Some people like using those odd titles, i use them when im trying to help people understand what im talking about, like using the terms white and black magick to imply whether or not your being benevolent or malevolent in your practice, all words are powerful, but we also need them to communicate to help people understand what were talking about. Thanks for all your comments!
