The Left-Hand Path: Transmutation of the Negative Unlike ascetic traditions that reject intoxication and sexuality, the Left-Hand Path (Vāmācāra) seeks to transform the dissolutive into the liberative. Ordinary indulgence in sex and wine weakens the spirit, but the vīra—possessing inner detachment (virya)—uses these very forces to dissolve tamas (inertia) and catalyze transcendence. Title: The Satanic and the Counter-Initiation in Modern Times Tags: #Crowley #Satanism #CounterInitiation #Tradition #Magic #Subversion 1. Satanism as Peripheral Phenomenon – Modern satanism is often a sensationalist distortion, lacking traditional roots, serving as an outlet for rebellious or degenerate impulses rather than genuine esoteric knowledge. 2. Theological Dualism vs. Metaphysical Unity – Unlike the moral dualism of Christianity (God vs. Satan), true Tradition recognizes a higher metaphysical unity where destructive forces (e.g., Shiva) are integrated into the divine order. 3. Perversion, Not Mere Destruction – The essence of satanism lies not in destruction but in blasphemy, sacrilege, and the deliberate inversion of sacred forms (e.g., black masses parodying Catholic rites). 4. Involuntary Evocations – Degenerate modern practices (e.g., chaotic rituals, drug-induced states) risk unleashing lower forces, leading to possession or psychological disintegration (e.g., Manson "family"). 5. Historical Cases of Demonic Possession – Figures like Gilles de Rais exemplify sudden demonic infiltration, where an individual becomes a vessel for dark forces, later collapsing into remorse once the invasion subsides. 6. Sex as a Magical Force – While sex can be a vehicle for transcendence (Tantra), in satanism, it degenerates into profane excess, stripped of ritual discipline and turned into a tool for degradation. 7. LaVey’s Bourgeois Satanism – Anton LaVey’s "Church of Satan" reduces satanism to a banal inversion of Christian morality, mixing Nietzschean individualism