Wicca is a religion that recognizes the laws of nature and the universe as an integral part of life. Besides these natural laws, there are few written tenants that transcend the divide between tradition-defined and eclectic Wicca. Most use the Wiccan Rede, for guidance, and interpret these writings with their personal understanding and experience. Others may belong to a tradition or coven that defines a certain ethical or moral code.
At The Firefly Academy, we teach for eclectic practitioners that may either desire to be solitary or to work with a group. With this considered, each person defines their own exact ethical code by which to live, however guided by the understanding of the Wiccan Rede and other writings. I must mention that I was taught by a coven, yet I do not follow or teach the ways of any specific tradition. You may find that this lecture is tainted with my own beliefs and practices. On that note, this lecture will be written from my own interpretation, and I ask that you keep this in mind.
Aleister Crowley was an infamous mystic, who lived in the early 20th century. We should note methods were questionable, but his writings had an impact upon Gerald Gardner and his group. Personally, I feel that Crowley was a mixture of crazy and brilliance, and that comes out in almost everything that he did. In LIBER AL vel LEGIS, Crowley scribed, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” These words heavily influenced:
The Wiccan Rede: “And ye harm none, do what thou wilt.”
When we discuss the Wiccan Rede, we enter a discussion of morals, ethics, and values. Though very short and seemingly simple, it has left for many interpretations of what exactly it means. Harm none, do what you will. There are many questions we can ask. Our human existence makes it complicated. What is considered harming? What is included when we say “none”? What if we did not intend to harm? Does that mean we can do ANYTHING as long as we are not harming anything? What happens if we do harm something? Who keeps track of all of this?
Not specifically written, this guideline indicates that Wicca is a self-policing religion. It is maintained that we must be aware of what we do, think, and feel, as well as take responsibility for our positive and negative actions. The most effective way of understanding and putting this law into effect in our lives is awareness. We need to become aware of how we effect the world around us, as well as think through the effects of our actions before we carry them out.
Harm is anything that has a negative effect on someone or something. This includes physical injury, as well as moral injury (i.e. manipulation, domination, emotional harm, etc.). Harm occurs in many degrees, and is closely coupled with intent. In the scheme of this, most would agree that a “little white lie” holds less weight than murder. Also, Intending and planning to murder is much worse moral offense than killing in defense.
Harm can be caused directly to something as well as indirectly to something. In Bee Movie, the main character sues humans to get back all of the honey that humans stole from bees. The bees ended up with so much honey that they became lazy, and no longer worked with the flowers. The result was that the flowers did not get pollinated and all died. Indirectly, this one little bee caused the flowers to die. In the end, he took responsibility for his actions, and set everything right. That is definitely a big lesson in thinking our actions through first.
Though “none” indicates zero, nothing, nobody, it includes most everything. As a result of our lectures sessions, we have discussed that an existence without harm is not possible. With that in mind, we can begin to divide harm into several categories. There are harms that are intentional, unintentional, and part of the natural process of survival and balance. Obviously, this means not to harm other people. Something unspoken, yet recognized, is to not harm yourself. Do not abuse yourself, allow yourself to be healthy and happy. Do not harm the planet. Do not harm the universe. Care for the things in which life energy resonates, such as animals, rocks, and trees.
Of course, this creates some form of contradiction just by typing it. Somehow, the energy that powers my home and internet, the plastic and electronics that make up my computer, as well as the cement from the building that I live in, and the waste that I produce all have some form of indirect harm on the planet. By driving my car, I cause small harm to the earth. Though we are from many different countries and cities, I will assume that your society is somewhat like mine. We are apart of these societies, because it would be nearly impossible for us to function otherwise. It is possible for some people to live a life that does not harm the earth, but not for all of us. It is important to be aware of how the way we live impacts the earth, and strive to make a small imprint. I am afraid that none of us can escape the harm we cause as a society and global community, no matter what kind of life we live. We can only seek to lessen the degree to which it occurs, or to take with reverence, and give back to the earth.
In The Spiral Dance, Starhawk wrote, “While the Craft recognizes that life feeds on life and that we must kill in order to survive, life is never taken needlessly, never squandered or wasted. Serving the life forces means working to preserve the diversity of natural life, to prevent the poisoning of the environment and the destruction of the species.”
When it comes to the self, we can overlook a lot of harm that we cause. Our spiritual experience is affected by our physical state. The amount of physical activity that we participate in, the state of our nutrition, the amounts that we take in various substances (alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and other drugs) can all have a negative effect on our lives. However, by figuring out what we need more of, what we need less of, and what we should rule out all together, we can better take care of ourselves, and be more effective in the spiritual realm. In Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Scott Cunningham stated, “It also ensures that you’ll be in good condition to take on the tasks of preserving and bettering our world, for concern and love for our planet play major roles in Wicca.”
Yes, “harm none, do what you will” says that we can do ANYTHING as long as we are aware of our actions, think them through, and be willing and ready to accept the consequences or give back if necessary.
When harm is done, a common tenant couple with the Wiccan Rede is the Threefold Law. Similar to the eastern philosophy of karma, this concept is based on cause and effect. To sum it up, that which you put out into the universe comes back you to times three. This applies to positive, negative, and everything that falls in between. We live in a place were death often brings new life, where the tides come and go, and where we all experience ups and downs. What we put out comes back. A popular phrase says, “Do unto other others as you would have others do unto you.”
There are times when NOT acting is harming, even with the best intentions. A commonly-cited scenario, which just popped up in one of our Mystical Forest discussions, is a shooter coming into an establishment, and a person who could have stopped the shooter fails to act. This one person did not stop the shooter, because he or she felt it wrong to harm someone else, even under the circumstances. But, the shooter went on to kill 10 people, even though it could have been prevented. In that situation, not harming caused a greater harm. The tenants and writings that we look at are merely guidelines. They cannot apply in all situations. You are responsible for being aware of when to act and when not to act, as well as what the outcome will be. Just as if you get pulled over for speeding, ignorance of the situation is not a defense, and will not get you out of a ticket.
“Every man and every woman is a star.” In my copy of The Book of the Law, the introduction says that each person is, “an aggregate of…experiences, constantly changing with every fresh event, which affects him or her subconsciously or consciously.” And that the object that you see is never the same one that I see. This indicates that we all have unique experiences, and events impress upon us differently, creating us each our own universe. The way we look out upon the physical world is through these experiences, or a window of events, and our morals and ethics will be affected by this.
I feel that “The Book of the Law” is worth reading: http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/engccxx.htm
The Ardanes, “Old Laws”, or the 161 Laws, were introduced by Gerald Gardner, and the original document was suspected to have been created by Gardner himself. Some of these laws are controversial, and others unnecessary. I had not encountered them until doing further research on the Wiccan Law. A discussion has developed on this topic in the forum: http://firefly.mrooms.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=137
More information on the 161 Laws: http://wicca.timerift.net/laws/161.shtml
Some further reading for later:
http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/rede1.shtml
http://realmagick.com/articles/12/12.html
*NOTE: This lecture was originally written as the Wiccan Law. Throughout my years of training and study, I was taught that the Wiccan Law is “And ye harm none, do what thou wilt” and that the Wiccan Rede was the longer prose version. I never gave it a second thought. However, through our discussion on this lecture, it was brought to my attention that a law is a law, which provides for little exceptions, and that a rede is a guide. I agree with this statement, so I have adapted this lecture to reflect.
Questions:
1. What are your thoughts?
2. How do you interpret the Rede? Similar or different from my point of view?
3. Do you disagree or agree with any of the above parts? Why or why not?I
Tags: Wicca
1. What are your thoughts?
Ya got about a decade?
2. How do you interpret the Rede? Similar or different from my point of view?
I interpret Rede (not “the Rede” but just “Rede”) very differently than just about every single Witch or Wiccan or Pagan in existence. It is because of how I understand the mystery that is the rune (“mystery” or “whispered secret”) Raidho, from whence cometh the very word “rede,” which is an Anglo-Saxon word and is one of the holy mysteries of the elder futhark.
3. Do you disagree or agree with any of the above parts? Why or why not?
I’d have to write an entire essay around it…
PS: “Law” and “rede” are not the same things in Northern European philosophy, by the way. This is indicated by the presence of two completely different runes in the elder futhark that express both concepts.
One of those runes is Raidho, from which comes the Anglo-Saxon word “rede.” Raidho, the fifth rune of the elder futhark, is the mystery of “rede,” of “counsel,” of “advice,” of “the way we do things.”
Tiwaz, the 19th rune of the elder futhark (and the first rune in the third aett), is the rune that is the mystery of the Law, of Universal Justice, of duty, of what MUST be done (as opposed to “what could/might be done”).
Tiwaz is the mystery of the greatest patterns in the universe, whereas Raidho is the mystery of something more casual, not as strongly binding upon the individual.
The runes Raidho, Nauthiz and Tiwaz do have similar ideas behind them – they all describe actions…actions that should/could be done (Raidho), need to be done (Nauthiz), and will be done (Tiwaz). They get progressively more intense, with Raidho or Rede being the “mildest” and Tiwaz being the “harshest.”
So many thoughts here…
Anyway, why should it matter to a Wiccan what Northern European philosophy believes about this?
Because it is the Northern Europeans – specifically, the Anglo-Saxons – who gave the world the very word “wicce/wicca” which eventually became our modern English word “witch.”
The futhark is an integral part of the culture and thought patterns of the people out of whom grew the very concept of a “witch” at all.
The 24 characters of the elder futhark are the holy mysteries of the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon people, in very much the same way that the 20 Mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary describe the Christian mysteries. The mysteries of the elder futhark are still an integral part of the way native speakers of English think; those mysteries are built into the very language and we use those words all the time.
Therefore it has occured to me at least that (and here’s my rede or advice to any who are reading this) any witch worth their salt (and who wants to do honor to our ancestors) would immerse themselves in deep study of these 24 mysteries – these are the mysteries of your people. The elder futhark is odal/inheritance (yet another one of the mysteries/runes), passed down to us through the generations.
We are holding spiritual gold in the form of the runes. And not just faddish runes that someone came up with two years ago and is trying to make a fast buck off of. We have runes which have been fed energy for close to two thousand years. The elder futhark in the form that we know today dates back to at least 50 C.E. – a mere 50 years after the birth of Christ. It might even date back further than that; the Meldorf Brooch is one artifact that has an inscription of the rune row on it that dates back to 50 C.E.
These are our mysteries.
This is our legacy.