Pagan Ethics: Intent vs. Wiccan Rede
Paganism teaches you to follow your heart and to take responsibility for your actions. There is no good or evil. There is only the intent that one has when committing an action; and no one but that individual can know what is within their heart but that person.
First: Within Paganism, there exists a concept which is referred to as "Returning Energy. "This is very similar to Newton's Law: For every action their is an opposite and equal reaction. However, once the energy is sent into motion, many things can occur to it while it is within its travels, and so the reaction may be greater or less than the initial action... It is such that the whole of the action is the sum of its consequences.
Then there is: Karma, which is an Eastern concept, and translates roughly to "experience". Quite often, Pagans attempt to equate karma with "Returned Energy", and further expand on this by initiating what is referred to as a three-fold law of returned energy, which means that what ever actions are done come back to that person in triplicate. Wicca is the only tradition within Paganism that embraces this the three-fold law. As a personal note, I feel that the idea of the three-fold law is a good thing if combined with other philosophy's ie: personal ethics. If someone chooses to believe in the three-fold law all on its own, let it plague their lives and not mine. The three-fold law is rather masochistic all on its own. Folks wonder why they are always sick and have no money.... I mean if you think about it, it is impossible not to harm someone somewhere with something you do or say.
Instead, in most Pagan traditions the emphasis is placed on the intent of the action. Energy is not constant. This means that the energy can have many things happen to it along the way including: deflection, absorption, transformation, etc. The intent of the action sets the kind of energy which is released when the act was committed.
Wicca is the only tradition within the Pagan faith that follows the Wiccan Rede or three-fold law, as it is commonly called. The Rede was written by Gerald Gardner. Most Pagans do not need to be told what is within their own heart by someone who wrote a book.
Things are brought into perspective of survival and intent of the individual. Many Pagans look at this in terms of protection of clan, family, and self. So, many will take action to curse or hex if wrongfully provoked.
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