RR Pod E32 Dr. Joel Bordeaux: Zeena's 'Left-Hand' Path from Satanism to Buddhism

Rejected Religion Podcast

Full Episode Notes
My guest this month is Dr. Joel Bordeaux.
Joel is a specialist in South Asian religions with a PhD from Columbia University (2015). He has published on East Indian Śākta traditions, early modern Hindu statecraft, Nath Yogi literature from Bengal, and Tibetan Buddhism in Anglophone popular culture. He is a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden, The Netherlands, and a member of the research group Body and Embodiment in the Middle Bengali Imaginary based at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.
As Zeena Schreck, the famous daughter of Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan, was recently interviewed by Jordan Peterson, I immediately thought of Joel and a presentation he gave three years ago about Zeena and her then-husband Nikolas as they relate to Tibetan Buddhism, Tantra and Left-Hand Path practices. I asked Joel if he’d like to re-visit this topic and to flesh it out, further expanding on this, in light of the recent media attention that Zeena has had. He graciously agreed.
In this discussion, Joel first gives a background of Anton LaVey & the environment of the Church of Satan wherein Zeena grew up, leading to Zeena taking the role of spokesperson for the Church during the Satanic Panic years, and then the circumstances that led to Zeena leaving the Church to forge her own path.
This takes us to other projects that Zeena and Nikolas were involved in, such as Radio Werewolf and the Temple of Set, their break from that group to form their own group called the Sethian Liberation Movement or ‘The Storm’. Joel discusses in more detail the concepts of tantra and left-hand path traditions that are used in their practices and beliefs. Another important factor that is discussed is the role of Traditionalism within all of Zeena’s work.
In closing we discuss our takeaways from Zeena’s interview with Jordan Peterson. I hope you enjoy this conversation!
PROGRAM NOTES
Joel Bordeaux | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Taking the Left Hand Path to Tibet, by Dr. Joel Bordeaux || HHP Student Association (youtube.com)
Spotlight Dr. Joel Bordeaux - Batman, Buddhism & Bricolage: Grant Morrison & The Dark Knight (youtube.com)
(99+) Joel Bordeaux | Utrecht University - Academia.edu
(99+) From Bauddha Deśa to Śākta Pīṭha: Re/Locating the Hindu Goddess Tārā | Joel Bordeaux - Academia.edu
A Cultural History of Hinduism: Volumes 1-6: The Cultural Histories Series Karen Pechilis Bloomsbury Academic
- Volume 4: A Cultural History of Hinduism in the Age of Empires
Edited by Valerie Stoker, Wright State University, USA
--Politics and Power in the Age of Empires, Joel Bordeaux (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Unmasking Buddhism | Wiley
Full Interview: Zeena Schreck Interviewed by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson Podcast EP471 (youtube.com)
All Music and first edit: Daniel P. Shea
End Production: Stephanie Shea