[Opinion] The Climbing and the descent of the Sephiroth & Qliphoth do not reach the same "truth"

[Mira Malverick]

I think of this topic back on what I heard Lon Milo DuQuette speak about this topic, that by going on the path of the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, at the end point you will reach the same destination.
But is that really true? In retrospect, I think that if each are done so by following what the traditional view of the left hand path and right hand path, that advocate for different spiritual goals, I think that by inevitably following down the deepest immersion of each path, you attain very different things, the godhood that is attained by the qliphoth and sephiroth are very different forms of looking to the divine.
I must clarify first that when i refer to left hand path and right hand path I am excluding the original ones that come from the east, so when i say lhp and rhp it is of the western occult tradition, I say that because people may bring them up to argue what is outside the point i wanna make.
The rhp and lhp desire very different things, and their virtues do not align. On a practical level, many magicians explore such things on a more grounded level, while also holding their compatible selves with normal mundane reality, so things tend to not be taken on the extreme, on the rhp this is less relevant, but its more relevant speaking about the lhp and the qliphoth, because the energies, frequencies and virtues contained in each qliptha are very violent and volatile at their essence, so its normal to find the counsel that those who explore the Qliphoth do so in a grounding level, it is not so different to demon INvocations as far as bringing forth their archetypal forces within oneselves for a specific alchemical transmutation of the self, be for a ongoing change or transformation, or just for the realization of particular goals. For that reason alone, i can "see" how people may then climb the Qliphoth in such a manner and then make a modest claim about each reach different mature paths for a similar spiritual realization, of which i will stop such claim right now to say this is not true, and why do think this? grounding can be mature, practical, usefull, and provide growth and even transformational for magicians, but I think the purest of essence is what speaks the truth of what the path culminates to be at its deepest level, and the Qliphoth through the left hand path self deification perspective is a path that is unapologetic individualistic that at its extreme its alien, its isolating and profoundly detached from mundane reality.
Those aspects are of course part of the left hand path naturally, rebellion is one of the first things you find in the left hand path, but here is why i bring the distinction... the godhood of the qliptoph authentically goes all the way, its not a mature grounding let me take the energies in a manner i can be most practical with them for a cute growth in here and for whatever materialistic goals i may have, the real qliphoth self deification looks alien to anything the right hand path path of union proposes, which is virtuous, which is harmonius, its collective, virtuous and surrendering.. to go all the way in the qliphoth without holding back turns you to a form of deification that detaches you completelly from social contracts notions, culture, collective mindset and more, which is why in my opinion, i disagree that the 2 godhoods are the same truth, the individuals couldn't be more different at each extreme.

 

[thytheban]

The argument holds. DuQuette's "same destination" idea is a charming reconciliation that neither path would actually endorse if you followed either one to its logical end. One dissolves the self into the All. The other deifies the self against the All. That's not two roads up the same mountain, that's two people who disagree about whether the mountain should exist.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Clearly I need to do more reading about this. I always thought that the Qliphoth were the Sephiroth drained of their meanings, not an actual path of any sort.

 

[Suayakoat]

I'm not that well versed into the Kabbalah or that Jewish mysticism in general but I have an idea that might turn out to be illuminating as to the query you have posted.

I have said it before in different others threads dedicated to the left hand path and the right hand path distinction but I guess repeating it never comes too late. So, I (personally) believe the most basic distinction between what "modern" esoterica and occultism call left and right hand paths comes from their ultimate destination rather than anything else. I do believe (but consider that to be a believe of my own only) that there are two possible fates for every Soul that inhabits this Universe, this Creation, this form of existence. Once is you essentially "walking away" from it as a Creator on your own right invested in creating ever novel Creations on it own. Yes, that would literally mean you turning into the God of another Universe, of another Creation, of another form of existence. The alternative is to decide to merge with the current Creator of this Universe and become nothing but a thought in His head devoid of any volition on its own. I believe this is the ultimate goal of the right hand path, while you becoming a God is the ultimate goal of the left hand path. As you can see two very different and distinct path leading to very different outcomes. What would you choose ultimately rests only within yourself and the same is true for any Soul in this Universe. Period!

So that is what I think is the ultimate truth behind the two paths and I believe that certain malevolent forces inhabiting this world have kept that secret hidden for millennia since they very deeply fear its revelation to humanity. But that is another matter and I excuse myself for digressing. The point I want to make is that this is the ultimate truth about the fate of any Soul in the Universe and therefore it must be at the end of any spiritual route aiming at disclosing the truth. Therefore, it must be at the foundation of any sort of mysticism one should want to indulge into and thus speaking about it should illuminate all eschatological questions you would have had in mind. Am I correct?

 

[HoldAll]

In my opinion, there's an unfortunate tendency in occultism to see dichotomies and polarities everywhere while ignoring overlaps and excluding vast areas where opposites are either hard to detect or non-existent, thereby imposing a static two-dimensional grid on something that is multi-faceted and protean at the expense of real understanding.

It has become common knowledge by now that the qliphotic Tree of Death is a 20th century invention. Even as an innovation, it's not simply the flip side of the Tree of Life. Enough polarities can be found on the Tree of Life itself, e.g. between Din/Geburah and Chesed. Originally, the qlipoth ('husks', 'empty shells') were pure evil. Let's remember what was meant by 'evil' in the holy books of all ages: war, pestilence, famine, death, not 'cool evil' as in horror movies or heavy metal songs. 'Evil' meant sky-high infant mortality, mutilation, pogroms, rape, genocide, starving to death. That's what the qliphoth represent. My usual example: the opposite of a good meal is a bad meal; the qliphotic equivalent, however, would be food poisening at and stomach cancer at worst. When the ancients wrote about evil, they meant evil; it's only us in modern times, kicking back on the couch in the privacy of our safe well-heated homes with full fridges and all kinds of emergency services just a phone call away, who are unafraid and curious about what's basically inimical to human life.

My own reading of the (alleged) RHP/LHP dichotomy is that the LHP only came into being thanks to LaVey and Aquino. The LHP developed a distinct ideology, the RHP never did - it's simply the path everybody else is on, provided they bother to self-designate as RHPers at all and don't choose an eclectic freestyle approach like many of us here.

My impression is that the LHP offers more freedom when it comes to methods and practices. The LHP may include the option of working with the Tree of Death but it's by no means mandatory, the Tree of Life offers sufficient spiritual challenges to keep you busy for life; RHPers, on the other hand, will shun the Tree of Death at all costs. Or take this overlapping I mentioned at the beginning: both RHP and LHP adherents may practice hatha yoga - for different reasons, with different goals in mind, but they'll both cultivate their bodies in doing so.

I've often wondered about overt antinomian behaviour though. The idea may be a holdover from the Sixties where the deliberate breaking of taboos was seen as a means of deconditioning. However, I don't think such isolated acts of rebellion can have a real, lasting effect. The LHP is more about independence of mind, I would say, and it's a long-term goal that doesn't necessarily include pissing everybody off.

What it all comes down to in the end is self-transformation. It's all well and good to hold it up as a pious ideal in theory but less easy to implement it in practice. Tree of Life, Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Death, 'alchemical transmutation of the self' all sound very grand but let's take an entirely mundane example: fear of flying. How can you transform a person afraid to death of air travel into one who actually enjoys the experience? How can one get from gut-wrenching anxiety to a genuinely carefree attitude (and I don't mean just making a brave face)? It will be a transformation on a profoundly instinctual level, and many underestimate what's really involved in the Great Work or whatever you call it and pride themselves for being successful in papering over the cracks.

The RHP/LHP dichotomy has stopped being useful a long time ago, if it ever was, and chaos magic has blown it sky-high anyway. As in all other areas of life, people will use what works and discard what's merely fanciful and impractical. Philosophy can give you ideas but actual implementation is an entirely different matter.