by Lin Barrett

Created on: July 22, 2009

The primary ethical dictum within Wicca is the Wiccan Rede: "An you harm none, do what you will."

Those eight words translated into modern English become: "If you don't hurt anybody, you can do whatever you want." This seems to be a much looser set of ethical guidelines than it actually is, but Wicca treats its followers as if they were adults: you can, in fact, do anything you want to do, so long as you are willing to take the karmic hit for your actions.

Why don't Wiccans spend most of their time zapping thoughtless motorists who cut them off, people who cut in front of them in supermarket lines, etc., etc.?

Where Wicca differs from most other religions is that it demands of its practitioners the achievement of enough emotional maturity to set the ego's needs of the moment - revenge, lust, greed - at their true worth: nearly nothing.

Wicca also sees all living and non-living beings as interconnected. If I harm you, or disrupt the natural functioning of that pond over there by urinating into it, I've peed into my own life as well. This powerful sense of union with everything about them is enough to prevent many Wiccans from doing harm; some become vegetarians in response to this view of life.

For the emotionally mature Wiccan, one of many reasons not to harm another is that harmful actions will come back to bite the malefactor. Whatever else causing harm may do, the malefactor will be saddled with memory and knowledge: I did that. Sometimes, karma is that simple.

There is also the Wiccan Three-fold Law: What you do for good or for ill will return to you multiplied by three. Few bad acts are worth three times their weight in negative karma.

But what if the damage done by another is long-lasting or even permanent? The Wiccan's faith assures him or her that The Powers That Be will take care of it appropriately, and no action is necessary. Wiccans are also aware that it might be their own karma which is being worked out!

The exception to this rule is spellwork designed to prevent or stop the exploitation of the innocent. Few Wiccans have issues with performing a spell to catch or incapacitate a rapist or other thug terrorizing a community, for example. That is not revenge, but protection, and it's assumed that the thug's own karma will specify the form the "stopping" will take.

Wicca derives from witchcraft, which is an intensely practical form of belief. The balance of the Wiccan Rede reflects this, consisting of couplets which are specific to the faith and are, in fact, instructions on performing rituals correctly. However, one of them reflects the wisdom inherent in the eight-word Rede itself:

"Live thou must, and let to live/Fairly take, and fairly give." In this couplet we find the knowledge that we are, in fact, all in this together, and that you are a person whose hopes and dreams are as important to you as mine to me. Therefore, I shall treat you as I hope to be treated. It's the witches' Golden Rule.

Knowing the Wiccan Rede, and acting in accordance with her or his faith, the wise Wiccan harms none.

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