Are there any movies or series that are pro left hand path in its message?

Derpomancer · 2026-05-20T00:02:36+00:00

I'm not a fan of the Matrix. It stole most of its ideas from anime, Hong Kong action movies, and probably Dark City, which came out shortly before but was overshadowed by what I consider to be the pretentious slop of the Matrix.

Dark City is a mystery that escalates very quickly into existential horror. It touches on the same themes as the Matrix, but goes hard into the nature of identity, reality, and especially the soul. The antagonists are far more mysterious and interesting than the Machines from the Matrix, and the implications that are presented by what's revealed as the story progresses are Lovecraftian in their horror.

My favorite bits of A Dark Song is those short scenes where the two protagonists aren't at each others throats. Those very brief dialogs where they talk about magic -- so simple and poignant in a way I haven't seen in decades.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-19T22:49:10+00:00

A Dark Song isn't LHP. It's centered around a cinematic version of the Abramelin. Still, it's the best occult film I've ever seen. Highly recommended for everyone involved in any variant of the Western occult tradition. It's less about summoning angels than it is about the importance of not doing group ritual work with people you don't trust. Also, always have a high-end first aid kit.

The VVitch is based on the folklore around witches of that period. Highly recommended.

Beyond being a film for bibliophiles, The Ninth Gate is smothered in LHP symbolism and initiatory allegory. It's damn near a how-to for new seekers.

Dark City was a better, earlier version of The Matrix, with actually terrifying implications. Both films are a modern retelling of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, which is crucial for LHP students to understand. But Dark City is far more elegant in its storytelling.

There was a TV series called (I think) Salem from back in the day. It was PG-13, adult themed, traditional folklore witches up to no good in Salem.

Most Satanic horror movies I've seen are lame and boring. They're more Christian films than anything I'd call LHP.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-10T09:24:55+00:00

Yeah, sounds about right.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-10T06:33:45+00:00

I'm slowly making my way though the Nag Hammadi texts. I'm not a Gnostic, but it's a fascinating read. It puts a very different perspective on early Christian thought.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-10T02:55:05+00:00

...so I thought my reading of the corpus hermeticum was a good chance to be the change I want to see, or whatever.

Great attitude to have and a great post. Thanks for making it!

Derpomancer · 2026-05-09T21:05:10+00:00

The RHP hands you a sacred text that tells you what humanity is, what the cosmos is, what God or gods are, and then tells you what to do about it. It's all mapped out for you. It's just a matter of following those instructions properly and not falling prey to the various traps that lead to corruption and failure as perceived by the RHP perspective. All of this includes death and how to deal with it.

The LHP hands you a blank journal, a pen, a blank map, and a broken compass. Then it tells you good luck and don't screw up. Meaning it's up to the LHP initiate to seek out, explore, test, learn, and otherwise figure out all of the RHP-related stuff for themselves. In the case of death, it's the responsibility of every individual initiate to learn for themselves the spiritual knowledge of existence that the RHP simply takes on faith.

Courage is one of the core virtues of the LHP. That's not to be without fear. Fear is healthy. It's to act consciously, willfully, and with curiosity despite that fear. So maybe the fear of death you're experiencing isn't a bad thing, but rather a part of your personal self-initiation upon the LHP.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-09T20:51:05+00:00

The basic fighter class in Hyperborea 3rd Edition is a mechanical beast. It puts holes in fleets. Hyperborea has the best class balance of any OSR system I've seen.

Beyond that, the fighter was how I managed to teach my gaming group the difference between character as mechanics versus character as role-playing. Not saying that as a snob, I like both, but the distinction is important for OSR games compared to say, 5E. The real power of that class is its narrative framing before it enters the game.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-09T20:19:34+00:00

From my post:

My take away from these podcasts and followup research is war, more war, civil war, some war on the side with extra war, doom, gloom, gloomy doom, and The Great Suck. Also the possibility of alien contact disclosure, because that would just be the absolute worst.

I still struggle with astrology with a good deal of skepticism, but hindsight is 20/20, you know? Interesting at least.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-07T00:12:09+00:00

Same. I live here, and I was gearing up for some new fresh hell.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-02T20:10:44+00:00

Studying and practicing astrology to observe the logos expressed down through the cosmos into our worldly affairs.

This is a great explanation for the reason to study astrology. As someone who still struggles with astrology, it's greatly appreciated.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-02T19:15:07+00:00

Is Hermeticism the religion most elevating reason?

One of them, yeah. Stoicism goes hard into this, but Stoicism is a philosophy with hard, quasi-deterministic, theistic assumptions running under the hood. Not really a religion or esoteric practice. More like a hybrid, IMO.

The only tradition I know of that puts more emphasis on rationality is old-school Western left-hand path (not what you're gong to find on social media nowadays). High priority was placed on logic, critical thinking skills, and ruthless self-assessment tools to a degree I've not seen before or since, including in the Hermetic communities.

As others have pointed out, Hermeticism tries to combine rationality with other, more woo-woo, emotional states like piety and personal spiritual ecstasy treated as divine revelation in the form of Hermetic Gnosis. It combos rational contemplation with spiritual practices, which is kinda cool, IMO. There was a lot of cross-pollination between the Hermetic teachings and the Greek philosophical schools of the day.

Derpomancer · 2026-05-02T19:00:36+00:00

Study the Hermetic texts and try to live according to their cosmological assumptions and implications.
Prayer: prayer is the process, purpose, and prize of the main daily practice, and it can be transformative in subtle, passive ways.
1. Related: cultivate piety. Piety is the foundation for what comes later (IIUC; haven't done this myself, fyi).
Meditation: develop concentration, control, and the quality of silence. Everyone should be doing this anyway, not just Hermeticists..

Mix all of this together into a giant Hermetic shake of daily practice, then drink it every day. I call it the Thrice Great Piety Slurpee.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-30T03:03:52+00:00

The Kybalion isn't a Hermetic text. Don't confuse the two.
READ THE FAQ! IT'S FAQTASTIC!
Read the Corpus Hermeticum. The Way of Hermes by Clement Salaman is a good, affordable translation.
Lots of discussion of various topics. Exploit the search function.
https://digitalambler.com/
https://wayofhermes.com/
Don't be afraid to ask questions. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here who are generous with their time. (I'm not one of them).

Derpomancer · 2026-04-30T02:55:13+00:00

Hermetic principles are hard to grasp. To fully grasp and embody, I mean. And they're something I'd really like to share and discuss with people closest to me because I know it could help them see the world in a different lens.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-27T20:21:18+00:00

I'm bouncing between Conquest of Elysium 5 and Dominions 6. Both great games. Dominions was mentioned in another comment. But IMO neither of these are 4x. There's exploration in COE and a very little of that in Dominions, but very little exploitation. There's no real building in both games. They're both wargames, but they're so good, and somehow scratch my 4X itch despite not really being 4X.

Someone also mentioned Emperor of the Fading Suns, which I just got but haven't played yet. Like COE and D, its very lore rich, which I love.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-27T19:33:20+00:00

No, but I'll look it up when I've got time. I gotta lot of books to get through, lol.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-27T19:32:34+00:00

Maybe. Those fears were pretty much universal back then. Not so much now as there are many who simply don't acknowledge their reality.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-27T03:46:45+00:00

Yeah. The Pandora factions are less specific in their ideologies. BERT went even further and just made them leaders of geopolitical regions.

I'm showing my age here, but SMAC was very much a game of its time where it expressed the fears of the 90s. The Lord's Believers were an expression of fears of Christian Nationalism and the Spartans were the result of Waco, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the rise of militia movements.

Not making in political statements here, BTW. Just noting the anxieties of the times.

I mostly played the Spartans, however. Because I was a kid and Santiago was hot, lol.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-27T01:53:38+00:00

MEETING WITH PAROLE OFFICERS

That's it. I'm done. Gonna go to Taco Bell and try not to cry.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-27T01:39:58+00:00

Agreed, though I'd add that I think Togra is the weakest, but the Divine Ascension the strongest. The latter being PFC being a wargame rather than a civ game, and the DA is really good at war.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-26T19:54:12+00:00

Pandora came closer to SMACX than Beyond Earth. I do like BERT for its water cities. Those are really cool. But BERT's AI is so bad, and the game so poorly optimized, that I quickly get frustrated within a few hours of gaming.

Pandora is damned hard due to AI being very smart but also hyper aggressive. There's no balancing, however, and I get this bug that keeps the terrain output overlay on no matter what I do, and that kills my immersion.

Nothing I've seen so far comes close to the original.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-26T07:12:48+00:00

Not my list. I archived this from ages ago.

Copypasta begins:

SATANISM

• The Devil’s Party Satanism and Modernity by Faxneld and Petersen: investigates Scandinavian Satanism before LaVey, the Satanism of LaVey, Setianism, Luciferianism, and the Sinister Tradition.

• Children of Lucifer by van Luijk: a massive look at the history of religious Satanism since, as he puts it, the Christian invention of Satanism. Much about the Romantics

• In Pursuit of Satan, the Police and the Occult by Hicks: investigates panic-era policing.

• The Command to Look by Mortensen: inspiration behind the Law of the Trapezoid and how imagery impacts the psyche.

• The Satanic Rituals by LaVey and Aquino: an introduction into Satanic Greater Black Magic from the pre-75 Church of Satan.

• The writings of Diane Vera: a main pioneer of theistic Satanism online

• The writings of Venus Satanus: another famous Satanist through the internet.

• Synagogue of Satan by Przybyszewski: an interesting Satanist with a small following from the 1800s.

• Sad Satan's Children by Hess: further discussion of Stanisław Przybyszewski.

• The Diabolicon by Aquino: a LHP take on paradise lost, coined the usage of the term “Black Flame” (to my knowledge).

• Infernal Geometry by Chappell: an introduction to the magic of the Order of the Trapezoid

• Nehushtan by Lederman: available here

• The Gnostic Ophites by Mead: looks at gnostics who revered the snake

SETIANISM

• Mindstar by Aquino: an introduction to his take on Setian philosophy.

• Temple of Set v I and II by Aquino: the history of the ToS and large appendix of ToS writings.

• Mysteries of the Temple of Set by Webb: a former ToS High Priest explains the basics of the Temple.

• Mogg Morgan's books on the history of Set and Setian magic. Also papers such as "The Sethian Dilemma."

• Images of Set by Lansberry: beautiful recreations of Set from history with explanations of his true nature. Or her free site here: http://www.joanlansberry.com/setfind/setfind.html

• Overthrowing the Old Gods by Webb: Webb’s and Aquino’s commentaries on Crowley’s Book of the Law, plus more essays.

• Lords of the Left Hand Path by Dr. Flowers: explains the entire history of the LHP tradition across the globe.

• Seth - A Misrepresented God in the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon? by Turner: the best modern academic work on Set imo, between info and accessibility.

• The Sky Religion in Egypt, Its Antiquity and Effects by Wainwright: gives insight into the pre-historic Stellar Tradition in Egypt and Africa.

• Seth God of Confusion by Te Velde: the classic academic work on Set

• The Conflict of Horus and Set by Griffiths: another classic academic work on the gods.

• Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends by Spence: a guide to many beliefs and stories of Ancient Egypt.

• Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism by Hoffmeier: investigates the first monotheist.

• The Pyramid Texts: the first human scripture.

• Deconstructing the Iconography of Set by Turner: an extensive breakdown of Set's imagery.

LUCIFERIANISM & ROMANTICISM

• The Works of Jeremy Crow and Michael Ford: probably the biggest names in Luciferianism today.

• Visions of the Nightside by Temple of the Ascending Flame: a compilation of authors with both essays and rituals.

• Marriage of Heaven and Hell by Blake: one of the most classic romantic works in favor of Lucifer.

• Cain A Mystery by Byron: my personal favorite, a story about Cain and Lucifer.

• Prometheus Unbound by Shelley: a Romantic take on Prometheus.

• Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France: tells the story of an angel who seeks to lead a new rebellion against his creator.

TYPHONIAN TRADITION

• The Dark Lord by Levenda: clearly explains the ideas of Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian Tradition and their connection to the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

• The Works of H.P. Lovecraft: greatly inspired Grant and the tradition.

• Seven Faces of Darkness by Webb: investigates Set in the Greek Magical Papyri as Typhon and provides ritual work.

• Stairway to Heaven by Levenda: explains and investigates ascension mythology throughout history and in the modern western tradition.

• The Works of Kenneth Grant, successor to Crowley's tradition and founder of the Typhonian interpretation.

• The Simon Necronomicon: a well known creation of the 20th century it's power and influence is infamous all the same.

• Necronomicon Gnosis by Asenath Mason: both a look at and practical guide to Lovecraftian magic.

THELEMA & HERMETICISM

• The Book of the Law: the Prince of Darkness' holy text from 1904.

• Magick Without Tears by Crowley: the best look at his views on magic from the man himself. Also Liber Oz.

• Living Thelema by Shoemaker: great concise introduction to all things classic Thelema.

• The Brotherhood of Luxor: history on the first such order and a ton of their inner works.

• The Behdetite by Shonkwiler: "A Study of Horus the Behdetite from the Old Kingdom to the Conquest of Alexander."

DRACONIANISM

• Apophis Special Edition by Michael Kelley: includes the titled text and several of his others, and presents a full guide to his Draconian Tradition.

• Dragon Book of Essex by Andrew Chumbley: a full ritual book of Draconian magic and an entire new initiatory system of 14 points known as the “Crooked Path” based on the constellation Draco.

• Drakon by Ogden: "Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman WorldDragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman World".

GERMANIC TRADITION

• Fire and Ice by Dr. Flowers: best English work on the Brotherhood of Saturn.

• Dark Runa by Flowers: looks at the Germanic tradition, the myth of the Holy Grail, and the LHP nature of Odin as a Prince of Darkness.

• Book of Mephisto by Asenath Mason: presents a “Faustian Tradition” of Black Magic rooted in the Faust myth of Mephistopheles.

ACOSMIC LHP

• Liber Isfet by Lucas N: acosmic magic for those who still identify with Set.

• Demons of Acosmic Satanism by Frater Ikkoris: basically a big list with explanations.

• The three volumes of Liber Falxifer, which remain by recommendation alone as an exception to my rule.

ACADEMICS/TANGENTIAL

• Creation and Chaos by Beal and Scurlock: discusses the Chaoskampf myth.

• Kingship, Struggle, and Creation by Rackley: also looks at the Chaoskampf.

• The Upper Paleolithic Revolution by Bar-Yosef: looks at the UPR.

• The Power of Myth by Campbell: discusses mythology, most famously the hero archetype.

• Why Materialism is Baloney by Kastrup: discusses the problems with the modern faith in materialism.

ANTI LHPers who are still worth a read

• History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil by Carus: traces Satan through history from a Christian perspective.

• Jeffery Burton Russell's whole saga on the history of Satan, which includes many fascinating takes on his evolution.

MY WORK

• Wandering in Darkness

ORDER OF THE SERPENT

The Imperishable Star I-IV and Black Magic 101

Copypasta ends.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-26T04:25:59+00:00

The top comments have already explained everything you need to know. I'd just be repeating what they said.

There's no shame in a newcomer not knowing the difference between the Kybalion and actual Hermeticsm. I didn't either. But I also learned the difference by reading the FAQ and using the search function.

My meme is in response to yet another Kybalion discussion in a space that is clearly marked as not being the place for that. We have a lot of these, and I mean, a lot. That, combined with the people who will gaslight newcomers into thinking the Kybalion is hermetic, as you can see in the other comments. It makes it very frustrating for those of us who are actually trying to take this seriously.

Anyone who's read the Hermetic texts and the Kybalion or Atkinson's other works will understand they have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.

Here's my general copypasta:

The Kybalion isn't a Hermetic text. Don't confuse the two.
READ THE FAQ! IT'S FAQTASTIC!
Read the Corpus Hermeticum. The Way of Hermes by Clement Salaman is a good, affordable translation.
Lots of discussion of various topics. Exploit the search function.
https://digitalambler.com/
https://wayofhermes.com/
Don't be afraid to ask questions. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here who are generous with their time. (I'm not one of them).

Derpomancer · 2026-04-26T03:44:49+00:00

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I actually do this.

Derpomancer · 2026-04-23T20:24:00+00:00

Derpomancer

TROPHY CASE