I. VAMA MARGA Foundations Of The Left-Hand Path - staticfly.net

sufferings on the cross, and the obsessive focus of his adherents on his
excruciating humiliations, makes it abundantly clear that exoteric Christianity
is actually based on an esoteric cult of pain/lust with subterranean roots in
magical initiation. Such frequently observed similarities between ancient
initiatory ordeals of pain and the desires that motivate the contemporary
sexual fetishist indicate that the sex-magical impulse runs deep beneath the
superficial expression of mundane eroticism that defines the more common
strata of human sexual experience.
Indeed, many a novice, recreational S&M practitioner has been
shocked into seeking more than simple sexual diversion by accidentally
turning on the internal switch of the sinister current while pursuing his or her
mundane fetish. Often times a superficial or fleeting curiosity in "alternative"
sexual practices such as S&M or body modification paves the way to
authentic spiritual epiphany. The great awakening of Bodhana came to
Siddartha while sitting under the Bodhi tree; it has come to others while
being suspended and pierced by his or her dominant.
Recoiling From The Herd
The fact that piercing and body modification for strictly decorative and
aesthetic purposes has become a commonly accepted trend demands
comment. From the perspective of the left-hand path magician, any time a
formerly esoteric or little-known practice is adopted enthusiastically by the
pashu herd, a certain amount of skepticism about that practice must naturally
arise. Every piercing, tattoo and body modification cannot be considered
automatically to possess a magical character; indeed, as these phenomena
manifest in mass society generally they are quite distinctly unmagical. Very
often, body modification in its most common application does not even fulfill
an inner sexual fetish, it can simply be a superficial fashion statement.
After all, in most urban environments in the industrialized Western
world, the outer symbols of sexual rebellion enjoy a previously unthinkable
high profile. The style of once forbidden sexual practices such as S&M or
various forms of fetishism have become intrinsically interwoven with
fashion. Highly organized and commercialized "scenes" devoted to bondage
and discipline, vinyl and leather, and a host of other increasingly acceptable –
but once "deviant" – sexual pursuits are hardly noticed anymore in hundreds
of cities.
Genital piercing, tattoo, scarification, and other body modifications
previously consigned to a small and secretive underground of fetishists, have
become firmly established staples of youth culture economy Like hundreds of
other taboos borrowed over the decades from once marginal elements of
society for the entertainment of the bored middle class, these erotic
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adornments have advanced from the hidden status of perversion to become
ubiquitous rites of passage for adolescents eager to simultaneously shock
their parents and celebrate their nascent sexuality.
In a certain sense, the left-hand path sex magician can only welcome
the banishing of any erotic taboo. The increasing freedom afforded to the full
expression of human sexuality in all of its diverse manifestations has also
allowed the left-hand path to be more openly discussed and studied, as well
as widening the frontier for all sexual exploration. However, the tendency for
an increasingly homogenized market-driven hypercapitalist culture to
transform what was once psychosexually potent, transgressive and thus
magically liberating into bland, one-size-fits-all commodities at a stupefying
clip also has its obvious drawbacks.
While an interest in such momentarily au courant erotic hobbies may
provide a frisson and an instant identity, the initiate understands that the
socially defined role of "rebel" or "eccentric" is as much of a stereotype
uniform as any other, and magicians should be able to operate efficiently in
any guise that a specific situation demands. The costumes of anti-social