So I just acquired E. A. Koetting's Works of Darkness book; quite an excellent read and truly a poisonous little manuscript in that it makes the dark side sound very tempting.
However, upon further reflection I find myself nervous about the introductory ritual suggested within: that of visualizing a black mist forming outside one's self and subsequently inviting this black mist of evil and Darkness within your own body. "The darkness which you have brought into yourself can never be expelled. The evil can never be shaken, although your conscious awareness of it will fade with time." This sounds very much like willingly inviting a demon or negative entity to possess you; is this a wise thing to do? After all when most of us invoke spirits we make sure to test them and become satisfied that we know who we are inviting within our own energy body; this ritual, however, seems to give the opportunity for any metaphysical creepy-crawlie to gain control of your mind just so long as it adopts the physical appearance of a black mist. And why would a true black magician, as someone who seeks power over everything, want to be under the control of something else?
The concept of allying one's self with the Powers of Darkness also seems questionable. Pure Evil and darkness, by its very nature, sounds like it cannot be trusted to uphold promises or ensure your own well-being. Koetting argues that "an unspoken yet mutually understood pact is drawn between the Sorcerer and the Powers of Darkness the moment he chooses the Left Hand Path, and is strengthened and cemented in eternity with each working," making it seem as if the black magician will always remain in control of the demons that he or she summons. But how can we ever trust that these negative entities will keep their end of the bargain? Many other books on the subject of demons warn against working with them for this reason alone... Arcane Lore by Scribe 27 offers a much more logical explanation:
"Believe it or not, some evil magicians actually go above and beyond binding spells, Voodoo dolls, and Gypsy curses. They actually are so foolish as to form a pact with a powerful negative Intelligence in order to increase their evil influence over others--and some of the stupid fucks are under the delusion that they actually "command" this force! Indeed, the Intelligence may very well feign acquiescence at first, in order to fool the sorcerer in hopes that he'll eventually drop his guard. The Intelligence might even pretend to be afraid of certain words or icons, in order to further delude his "master" as to the extent of his "control." However, as time passes, the Intelligence will progressively drain more and more of the sorcerer's vitality, and make increasingly difficult to meet demands (usually for various forms of ritualized sacrifice, which generally involve torture, so as to produce pain and fear related energies upon which the entity can feed), until the sorcerer finally proves unable or unwilling to continue the relationship. When this eventuality comes to pass, the evil entity will amuse itself for a time by feeding off the pain and fear of its former "master," before finally disposing of him and seeking out another potential dupe to seduce with false promises of "power.""
Your thoughts? Any successful experiences with the initiation ritual from WoD or workings with demons? Is the left hand path a means to achieve ultimate power or instead merely a trap for the unwary?