The Draconian Tradition is universalistic and claims that its roots are found in all the myths of mankind, where the forces of darkness give humanity access to illumination. It differs from most esoteric traditions by being pole-centered and north-south based, rather than east-west centered. A premise for Dragon Rouge’s system of magic is that the Dragon is an objective reality both inside and outside of man, emphasizing the philosophy’s roots in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word “derk-” meaning “to see.” The Draconian Path is manifested in philosophy and practice related to the symbol of The Dragon. The metaphysical foundation is that the Dragon has an esoteric meaning at its core, a meaning and existence that is non-contextual and archetypical. The Dragon is beyond good and evil, beyond our comprehension, and paradoxically still a phenomenon we can approach and work with magically. The Draconian Path is ahistorical, archetypical, and eternal, while the Left-Hand Path is historical, both in the perspective of other dimensions and in recorded history.

The philosophy and practical-magical core of Dragon Rouge can be defined as the Left-Hand Path. The Left Side has historically been associated with dark and sinister archetypes, gods, entities, intelligences, tricksters, and demons. It is also associated with forbidden knowledge, Faustian ambitions, and wisdom. It manifests in hidden realities, the roots, the underworld, and the black soil in which new things can grow. A Left-Hand Path or dark tradition can, explicitly or implicitly, be found in most traditions. One way to understand it is through dichotomies in Western Right-Hand Path and Left-Hand Path traditions, with ideals such as obedience versus antinomianism, the aim of unio mystica versus the aim of apotheosis, or a patriarchic emphasis versus an emphasis on the dark feminine. The Left-Hand Path denotes the unique, the deviant, the inverse, and the exclusive. Its method is dark magic and antinomianism (going against the grain). In Western terms, it represents mankind exiting Eden to enter the wilderness and new modes of being and existence. However, it is a path and philosophy transcending simplified definitions due to its dynamic nature. In Dragon Rouge, it is always lived, studied, practiced, and manifested within the initiatory context of the eleven degrees of the Qliphoth, around which our magical system revolves. Black Masses, qliphotic invocations, traditional ritual magic, hex sabbaths, and Goetic magic are parts of Dragon Rouge’s system of magic. When set in practice, the Left-Hand Path becomes methodology. Philosophically, Dragon Rouge holds an idealist view with Pythagoras, Plato, and Hypatia as precursors. Additionally, we draws inspiration from the Platonic Academy in Renaissance Florence and later German idealism, with figures like Fichte. Advocates of forbidden knowledge punished by church or society, such as Giordano Bruno and Baruch Spinoza, hold particular importance.