The Fallacy of Karma
This article originally featured in The Diabolist, the UK Journal of The Left Hand Path.
'Mind ye threefold law ye should, three times bad and three times good'
This basic premise from the Wiccan Rede is a simple one, perform an act of goodwill and it comes back on you threefold, and likewise so should you conduct an act of malice. In essence this law is a reinterpretation of Kriyamana Karma, which is that Karma 'being made' in everyday life, either bearing tenable fruit in the here and now (arabdha), or laying dormant (anarabdha) to be accounted for in subsequent rebirths in the form of Sanchita, or 'accumulated' Karma. The origin of this philosophy of Cosmic reward and retribution can be traced back to the early Upanishads (c.1500 BCE), which constitute part of the Shruti ('what is heard') scriptures supposedly received by divine means by the Rishis, the sages of Ancient India.
By including this specific, quantifiable recompense in its claim that actions bless or curse the user three times over, a display of Dogmatism is added to the neo-pagan movement that in places outshines its Osirian forebears. The Judeo-Christian tradition, despite being the most evident materialization of the Age of Osiris, is even less specific than the Wiccan systems in the relationship between behaviour and its exact effects, merely stating 'those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it' (Isaiah 4:8).
To the Black Magician, constraints such as Universal Karma, and the Threefold Law of Return are recognised for the tools of superstition, fear, and control that they are. Robert Svoboda (1986) states that if you possess true understanding of the concept of Karma, you 'will be so scared of [it] you will think a thousand times before doing anything at all; so deep will be your fear' (Svoboda, 1986, p.183). Karmic principles are a means to repress individual responsibility, and self-sovereignty and act as a cattle prod to help keep the herd in line.
The rejection of Karmic principles in magic would seem an anathema to many of a 'White Light' persuasion. This is because no differentiation is made between their behaviour being held accountable to the punishments and rewards meted out by the Karmic laws of Cause and Effect in the Macrocosm, and behaviour being derived solely from strongly developed personal ethics founded in the microcosm. Ultimately this is a cop-out on the behalf of such persons who are intrinsically automatons rather than autonomous, and cannot assume full personal responsibility and control of their actions. An example of this lack of responsibility can be seen in the sense of fatalistic apathy that certain adherents of Karmic culture can display towards addressing wordly injustice in a fitting worldly manner. Watts (2004) notes that some Buddhist cultures fail to recognise the importance of retributory justice, due to their beliefs that Karma will equal the imbalance. He also comments on the belief that those who are suffering injustice should not be aided as they are paying the price for the ill-pursuits of previous existences. The rigid application of Karmic Principles as an excuse for inaction and apathy reveals the ugliest face of such beliefs. When the principles of Karma are reapplied as a metaphor for a social-interaction based model of behaviour, whereby our actions towards others contributes directly to their own actions towards us, it becomes a far more valid system of philosophy. This reapplication gives man the power and the responsibility to govern the laws of cause and effect to his own will.
In the rejection of the existence of Cosmic Karma, the grounded Black Magician adopts solid, honourable ethics to prevent Self-destruction. Such life codes are only available to those who form the individual empowerment to reject the goal of Self-annihilation through Moksha, salvation, or disintegration into the Universe. The most essential traits for a successful magician in this category are a discerning mind, pragmatism, and a well-realised sense of Self. With these traits come the realisation that magic is dangerous, and its use should not come at the risk of destroying or severely damaging its user.
In realising the power and freedom of autonomy, the Black Magician becomes selective in the use of magic, thinks through every possible result, and only acts if every eventuality has been explored. Due to issues of repression and cultural doctrination, those who shun the Left Hand Path find it difficult to contemplate a magician who can act in accordance with their Will without being haunted by the ghosts of their acts. The 'pure' White cannot contemplate how a magician who utterly rejects the law of return can be anything but a monster, believing them to have no conscience, or soul, where the truth of the matter is that there is infinitely more 'soul' involved in the recognition of the true nature of the Self than there is in blind obedience to fearful and oppressive rules. Failing to acknowledge this leads to being at odds with one's own Being, and therefore full of insecurity and uncertainty.
Denying the validity of traditions such as the Law of Return does not mean the Black Magician should use his art indiscriminately. Crowley (1929), stated that works of love and hate have a habit of backfiring on the magician. This may initially appear to concur with the Threefold Law, however it should be seen as a warning to those who would perform magic in the heat of passion. Magic can intensify emotional states if misapplied, and should therefore be avoided if the motivation for performing it has not been first rationally explored. Don Webb provides an excellent example on the dangers of using magic in an unexplored manner:
You cast a spell to make Shelly fall in love with you. She does so and you find out that she is obsessive, jealous, and stupid. So you cast a spell to get her out of your life, and you are transferred to Moosejaw, Alaska in December, so you cast a spell for a better joband so on in widening spirals of disaster'. (Webb, 2004, p12).
The dangers of magic are clear. It is a powerful tool. But applying Dogma to that danger, and stating that there is a linear relationship to 'evil' acts and threefold Cosmic revenge, is both repressive and flawed. The LHP magician rejects the common, dualistic portrayal of Good and Evil, realising such things are purely subjective to opinion and taste. The Left Hand Path magician sets his own limits and values, then cultivates them to adapt to the laws of the mundane world. In seeing a spectrum of colours rather than monochrome, ideas such as the threefold law can only ever be rejected. All 'good' acts are capable of causing harm, and all 'evil' acts capable of doing good. The binary thinking of the White Magician and RHP religions is too rustic to be accepted, and thus principles of Cosmic Karma are rejected in favour of caution, good sense, and personal ethics.
Even if one wholly rejects the idea of divine justice, the essential principles behind the laws of cause and effect should not be discarded. We must remember that as we send ripples into the world we can, by error of judgement, misdirect those ripples. This means they can come back to bite us when we're not looking if we aren't careful, thoughtful, or responsible enough. Rather than being interpreted as some form of divine retribution however, it should merely be seen as learning from our own mistakes.
'if harm it does, do what ye must.'
References
Crowley, Aleister (1929), Magick in Theory and Practice. Castle Books.
Svoboda, Robert E. (1986), Aghora: At the Left Hand of God. Brotherhood of Life.
Thompson, Gwynne (1975), 'The Wiccan Rede' - The Green Egg Magazine, (Originally thought to be a poem by Thompson's grandmother Adriana Porter, year unknown).
Watts, Jonathan (2004), Karma for Everyone: Social Justice and the Problem
of Re-ethizising Karma in Theravada Buddhist Societies: World Fellowship
of Buddhists Review, October 2004.
http://www.bpf.org/tsangha/tsm03report/Karma%20Book/wattskarma.html
Webb, Don (2004), Mysteries of the Temple of Set. Runa-Raven Press.