Lords of the left-hand path: A history of spiritual dissent

by Stephen E. Flowers

This is an extensive study of Left-Hand Path individuals and groups from ancient times to modern movements such as the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set -- both of which have individual chapters in the book. Ancient paths include the Egyptian cult of Set, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, the Yezidis, Neoplatonists and the Greeks, the Germanics, the Slavs, the Assassins, Dualist sects, the Faustian path, the Hellfire Club, de Sade, Marx and the sinister aspects of Bolshevism. A whole chapter is devoted to Hitler and Himmler and the occult practices of Nazism. Other modern individuals analyzed include Blavatsky, Gurdjieff, Crowley, Spare, Gregorius and Gerald Gardner.

Genres: Occult, Religion, Nonfiction, Satanism, Philosophy, History, Magic

Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

American Runologist and proponent of occultism and Germanic mysticism.

Flowers is an advocate of "Esoteric Runology" or "Odinism", an occultist version of Germanic Neopaganism

Flowers has graduated in Germanic and Celtic philology.

Reviews

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contrary to what you may have heard the left hand path is not about evil. In fact it is the ultimate in individuality. The purpose of the left hand path is to deify oneself and or recognize yourself as your own god. The goal is to survive as an individual entity sometimes even outside of nature. This can be done using a variety of means. Usually the means are antimonian which rebels against the standards of the community in which the magician lives. This could be performed by eating forbidden food and breaking all sorts of taboos. Antimonian actions can be classed as two ways. Dionysian and Apolloian. Dionysian means going over board and excess especially in terms of drinking, eating and sexual behavior. Apolloian is denial of pleasure which is more in line with the right hand path but could be used in the left hand path. The right hand path which is what Christianity, Wicca, Islam and Judaism would fall under tends to aim for annihilating the self identity and merging it with a larger identity.

Edred Thorson does a bang em up job of covering the left hand path which starts during the prehistoric times under the far eastern philosophies and kingdom. The Vedic priests invented their own gods and worshiped them. Interesting to note is that Far Eastern society had a left and right hand path but the right hand path accepted the left hand path right a long side them. Their practices included many meditations and chakra techniques along side many sexual magic techniques.

Going through Western European History we get most of our idea from the Indo_Europeans especially with regard to Iranian mithraism. There idea of a good god and an evil god filtered through the Norse culture and Greek and Roman culture after they learned it from the Iranians. Thing is the Iranians did not really have a left hand.

The author next discusses Gnostic philosophy. According to the Gnostic Christians the God who created this world was an evil god and that above him was a good god who wanted to liberate mankind from the material prison. Satan was sent down to liberate mankind. After all it was the serpent who had Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge. The Gnostic philosophy affected Sufi Islam , Yezidi fire worship and Manicheism. The Cathars who came off the Bogamils were a prime example of gnostic Christianity.

The idea of the devil has under gone many transformations. First he was evil and then he evolved into an idea of rebellion and freedom. The rebel would become a symbol of enlightenment. The left hand path would also go through many transformations. The author discusses many ideologies and personalities. Ranging from the founders of communism all the way to Anton Lavey. That is a whole lot of stuff.

Some of the modern day philosophers and magicians that are discussed is Aleister Crowley, Helena Bratslavsky and the Theosophists,Gudjieff, Ouspenski and Marquise De Sade. The author dedicates the largest chapter to Anton La Vey and his Church of Satan and Michael Aquino who founded the "Temple of Set" Michael Aquino and Anton LaVey are the most poignant example of being Master of the Left Hand Path.

[Shea Mastison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a phenomenal book! I have read a few of Flowers' (Thorsson's) other books; and while I found a bit of questionable scholarship, overall they were good reads: "Futhark..." is a pivotal book for anyone interested in the Runes. This book is easily the best that I've read from him!

He interprets the Left-Hand Path phenomena as well as any scholar out there. Perhaps his insights are more valuable/skewed because of his involvement with the Temple of Set and Odinism; but I thought he was surprisingly objective.

If you find yourself naturally embracing the heterodox, you may want to consider reading this book.

[Adonay Quetzal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, so this is an interesting book to review. So while I absolutely loved the first half of the book, the latter half just dragged on. It became painfully obvious that Flowers pretty much wanted to write a book about the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set but needed to pad it a bit more to make it worth the cover price. The first half covers many different societies, cultures, from various points in history. The language and tone used is very academic and professional which is what really drew me in at first. We then get to the chapter where he touches on Nazi Occultism and he all but gives them a thumbs up. A little gross but whatever. The last two chapters are him pretty much having a literary hard on for the CoS and ToS. Gone is the academic tone and in comes so much biased language that we might as well be reading a recruitment letter. While I don't regret my time spent on the book overall, I definitely won't be recommending it to anyone.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competent, supposedly objective -- though not really, reading of the left-hand path in spirituality.

If you are looking for an entry point into this subject this is a good, if overly popular, one. Plenty of mini-bios and superficial analysis of the practices of those following the so-called left-hand path.

I did not find much in this, for myself, but there is a fair amount for the general and uninformed reader.

3 out of 5 stars with a mild recommendation.

[Fawn Hexe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cogito ergo sum; "I think, therefore I am" was first put forth as an existential idea by Rene Descartes back in the 17th century. Being able to think or consider is what separates us from beasts, but many people back then, as now, would find it easier to be guided by an outside authority on ethics, tastes, all the things which make human beings `enlightened'. Right... according to Stephen Flowers we have the capacity to be much more than the slaves of an objective universe. The differences in these philosophies bring us back to the common descriptions of spiritual perspectives on the universe and how our own motivations determine the magicks means and ends. `Right Hand Path' is the pursuit of Union with God (the goal of most mainstream religions), and usually this is accessed OUTSIDE oneself; "Humanity is to seek knowledge of the law, and then apply itself to submitting tot hat law in order to gain ultimate union with the objective universe, with God, or with Nature" (p.8). This motivation results in the eventual annihilation of the Self or Ego, to make room for the Divine to fill us. Whilst this sounds like a blissful and honorable goal in spiritual progression, I find it somewhat un-genuine to the potentiality I possess. Why bend my Self to the laws of the Universe if I can manipulate the Universe to fit MY Will? Isn't this ultimately what practicing magic is all about? Otherwise we can just call it praying.
As Flowers re-tells the history of LHP application and influence in everything from philosophy, spirituality, to art and governments; adversarial rebellion has been around since the beginning of religious thought. Given in a chronological order allows for the modern story to be told in a way which the reader can easily see the development and evolution from a surprising perspective. By providing a list of certain criteria, each section of the book examines and deconstructs various figures and philosophies from history. What is revealed through the text is an analysis of several historical personages and paths which might be considered `sinister'; such notable personalities such as Aleister Crowley, Karl Marx, and the Marquis de Sade all have SOME applicable qualities, but not ALL.

[k. willows · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book is densely packed with information, as it covers a broad history in only a few hundred pages. For that reason, I found it best to take this book very slowly in attempt to retain what I had read. It's great for a general understanding of some ideologies, however it can be difficult to really understand a complex practice when it is broken down into a couple of paragraphs within a wider chapter.
Overall, this is a great book for a surface comprehension of many left hand practices. While many of the older traditions don't get a lot of pages within this book, the author does provide recommended sources for further reading.

[Cwl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel very bad for teenagers who saw the pentagram on the cover & bought this, only to end up reading about the antinomian habits of Indo-Iranian cultures. The first half, which sites left-hand practices throughout history, is more interesting than the second half, which talks a lot about the Temple of Set's org charts.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed everything except the idea that the Nazi party had any influence over the occult, it was the other way around.

[JHM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much I can add to what has already been written in the overview and previous reviews. Flowers takes his investigation into great detail, and whether that is a strength or overkill will probably depend on how important or interesting a reader thinks it is to determine how well each subject (individual or movement) fits his definition of the Left Hand Path.

If you're looking for sensationalism or how to do black magic, look elsewhere. This is a work of comparative religion.

[JonJon Hock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed a scholarly approach to a very taboo topic. Not for the casual Llewellyn reader.

[Andrea Zanutta · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book!

[Tanner Butterfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best summary of left hand path available. Read it and read the bibliography

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/23/2025: Perpetually behind the times as I am, evidently I posted my review of the original text about the time this revision was published. Now, 13 years later, I can comment on the new version – which I was disappointed to (finally) discover, changed almost nothing. Certainly my complaints about the historical source material can only be amplified by the fact that so much good work had been done in the fifteen years between revisions and Flowers addresses none of it. On this reading, it was obvious to me that his discussion of National Socialism, in particular, takes the minority view that it was a “political religion” and runs without, without even acknowledging the existence of a debate, let alone a near-consensus for the other side. He fails to add any consideration of newer groups like the Dragon Rouge or the Satanic Temple – the latter had only barely begun activity by 2012, so this is a bit unfair to call out, but it would be great, someday, to see a discussion of their activities in terms of a new paradigm for the “immanent” branch of the LHP. The only additions I could see were very slight amendments to account for minor changes within the Temple of Set. I would estimate that about one sentence has been added or slightly changed for every 30-50 pages.

One particularly egregious error speaks to the poor quality of the editing, not really the fault of the author. On page 256 of this edition is a parenthetical “see” reference which was preserved from the original. Unfortunately, what the editor didn’t notice was that it was a mistake the first time around – the “figure 8.2” that it mentions had been removed and the numbers reconfigured. The editor adds insult to injury in this version by referring to a page that has no figure on it at all! (The actual figure 8.2, which again isn’t what the parentheses claims it is, is on page 273, where we are referred to 275.)

At any rate, folks interested in the subject won’t find a better primer, and the division of “immanent” and “transcendent” versions of the Left Hand Path, however self-serving, has become paradigmatic in some circles. Still worthwhile, and this is surely the best edition available, even if it didn’t impress me as much of an improvement in terms of the text.

[Dru · Rating 1 out of 5]

The one sentence review: I got about as far through this book as I did Dianetics.

Longer review: This book has been on my to-read list for a long time. In my early 20s I did a deep-dive into religion and philosophy, ranging far and wide. LaVey's Satanism drew me in for a while, but ultimately time and maturity have led me away from that "Left Hand Path". But still, I wanted more information, and thus this book (written in the 1990s, so somewhat recently after the Temple of Set broke from the Church of Satan...thus those two churches get a strong billing in this book). But ultimately, this book told me from the get-go that it was gonna be a big old fail.

Clues:
(1) the author's wife is "Crystal Dawn". This adoption of such a kitschy name made me roll my eyes, and that was simply on the Acknowledgements page! People who think they are being "subversive" or "left hand path" walkers or whatever who choose "cool" names like this strike me as not terribly serious. I'm sure she and folks like her liked to dress goth, wear long black dusters and play D&D.

(2) He references Magic as if it were real. Let me just let that sit there.

(3) He only uses examples that fit his world view that the "left hand path" is pervasive through history, and skips Chinese, Japanese and Meso-American religions entirely.

I really wanted to like this book, but what I truly learned was that there are now, and have been through history, many people who "buck the system", by putting themselves above community. And all I can think is this--if everybody did this, we'd have anarchy. We'd have "Might makes Right" (another book on my to-read list). Well, as someone who rather enjoys stability, I think it's OK to be a little bit subversive, which gives life flavor, but ultimately one has to be part of the community for humanity to progress.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very valiant attempt at outlining many of the major philosophical schools, branches, and practices of "left hand path" occultism beginning with ancient eastern religions and moving into modern western esotericism. Of greatest interest to me were the sections on Vamachara in Hinduism, specifically the Tantric tradition, which contains many fascinating and odd rituals within the practice of sexual mysticism. Also interesting are the Orphic traditions of the Greeks, and the various locations of the spiritual underworld such as the river Lethe. The book seems to focus predominantly on Hinduism and Buddhism whereas I was hoping to find a little more background information about Kabbalah in Judaism, Hermetic Qabalah in Western esotericism, and the Qliphoth but in a book of this length, there is not room for everything. Indeed one will find sufficient information about Crowley, Regardie, and Blavatsky but for the seasoned occult scholar, probably nothing new. Again, this is more of a general outline of occultism which the author pieces together with his own interpretations and connections between various "left-handed" institutions all the way up until modern times.

[Kelvin Frazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my perspective; The Left Hand Path is the Path of the True Rebel, Antiheroes/Antiheroines & Heroes/Heroines, etc., and Stephen Flowers did a marvelous job on this book. Explaining the Left Hand Path is never easy, yet defining it takes a lot of work. The history was highly vivid with information up towards the modern interpretations of the Left Hand Path (Satanism, and more). The Left Hand Path is about embracing who & what you are on a self-deification level, follow paths that fits your identity, and use the Occult on your own terms. Dr. Flowers made me think long and hard about the Left Hand Path, yet Thomas LeRoy & Phil Schwartz advise me to read this book after watching their videos on YouTube (www.TheSectoftheHornedGod.com). It took me a long time to get this book years ago, and I have finally finished reading it. Arigatou & So it is Done!

[Siegfried · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of what is, where it comes and some "new" developments in the LHP.
There are some parts that I heavily disagree.
For once, I would never put Crowley as a LHP magician. Yes he used sex magic, but other than that? Not much.
There's also a heavy emphasis in the Church of Satan, and it's a great show of why I love the books and hate the people there.
Other than that, great read.

[Anne-Maaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neatly packed info about the history of the left-hand path! Covers all kinds of topics, from past to the present day! Explains in great detail all the different branches of the bygone times. There are two long chapters dedicated to the Cult of Set & to the Church of Satan, and for their founders! In totality a very good & enlightening read!

[Tai Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished this and so glad to have ticked it off my list. An amazing and enthralling work that’s absolutely essential reading for any occultist (especially those on the darker edge of magick). Although I think it would warrant an updated and expanded edition at some stage, this is still the best encapsulation of the left-hand path that I've come across so far. A phenomenal book.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to learn about the Left-Hand path because of an acquaintance's beliefs. This book gives a lot information and, in my opinion, well-written. Although it isn't a subject I would normally read about, nordid I enjoy reading this book, but for it literary work, I give it 4 stars.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buen punto de partida para empezar a indagar en las ideas y contribuciones básicas del Sendero de la Mano Izquierda. Interesante como hila y enuncia autores y bibliografía relevante hasta finales del siglo xx.

[Father of Harlots · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely fantastic book, one of the most valued of my collection. Flowers outlines the history, philosophies and religious aspect of the left hand path, it's a lengthy read but continue with it because it's a must have in my opinion of anyone who admires the occult.

[Ben Neis-Eldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent take on the evolution of the philosophy of religion. And some in depth details on modern occultism! The last 3 chapters on the church of Satan and the Temple of Set are fascinating, as if perhaps Dr. Flowers has some inside knowledge...

[Katta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched but problematic.

[R.J. Huneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fascinating.

[Damian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I think all people who are interested in Left-Hand Path should read it.

[Michael Vaughn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

This is a scholarly and down to earth book. It has made a major impact on my philosophy and spirituality!

[Justin Bregoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good one

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it useful to write notes about books I have yet to read.

[Shadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting work that presents the opportunity to observe the meaning and history (currently the must complete and precise available) of the left hand path philosophy also it gives an insight into the philosophy of the temple of set and how it took from the philosophy of the church of Satan (founded by Anton La Vey). The work is done by a professional that is well versed on the topic who supports his work with an interesting and insightful list of references that reinforce and expand this current work, a masterpiece indeed.