by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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DISCLAIMER: Although this paper contains material relevant to
Gardnerians, the main body is based on a mixture of various Traditional ideas and
attitudes. Many Gardnerians will disagree with many of the concepts described here. If
so, I would welcome a paper by them.
Last year there was an article in the paper about a woman bus driver who had
regular sex with a 14 year old boy. The main thing here is that the woman was a Witch
and questions were raised about if we encouraged such behaviour.
Some time ago, MTV aired a series on Sex in the 90's which described
contemporary attiudes about the sexual behaviour of modern youth. One segment showed
a woman with two husbands. Again, nothing much was said about that until her mother
sought removal of her grand-daughter from the home because the three involved were
Witches and claimed that their religion accepted this.
So, the question that comes to mind is... "Does Witchraft condone such 'non-
traditional' sexual activities?" The answer must be, "How should I know?"
Being a catholic is easy, the church has a long list of what is allowed and not
allowed in or out of bed. Reading that list makes one think of experimenting as catholics
are taught that if you confess, god HAS to forgive you so why not?
Mormons are taught that sex is allowed ONLY within a mariage and ONLY to
have children. This obviously denies one oral, anal, homosexual, masturbatory or
anything else other than the usual "in and out, repeat if necessary to induce pregnancy."
And for those of us in the military, Article 132 of the Uniform Code of Military
Justice goes into detail as to what we, as defenders of the country, are allowed to do and
not do along with the appropriate punishments.
Even the state gets involved in what we can and can not do. For example, in
Arizona, homosexuality and cohabitation are criminal offences. Within the city limits of
Tucson, nudity, even in front of your spouse in the privacy of your own bedroom with the
drapes drawn is illegal. (Ok, it wasn't meant to be that way, they simply messed up when
they wrote the law and never got around to changing it)
So, with all these churches and government agencies spending so much time trying
to regulate our sexual behaviour, the question reoccurs, "What are Wiccan sexual
ethics?" Do we allow for such actions as homosexuality, beastiality, pre- or extra-marital
sex, groupies, jack-and-jill off, etc and etc? If not, where do we draw the line? And how
can we justify the line we do draw?
Since most modern Traditions, at least in America, are based on Gardnerianism
(even Z. Budapest started out by re-writing Sheba's published Book of Shadows
into her Feminist Book of Light and Shadows) this is a good place to start.
When I refer to the BOS, I am referring to those that we all know are derived from
Gardner. This includes Sheba and Farrar.
The first thing that comes to mind is the Great Rite which is, to be blunt, the
Goddess (as personified by the High Priestess) having sex with the Horned God (as
personified by the High Priest) for various reasons that I am forbidden to discuss here.
But if Gardnerians require sex between two people in a ritual setting, then does this not
bring up various questions on it's own? For example:
1) What if the HP and/or HPS are not married? Is this not pre-marital sex?
2) What if the HP and/or HPS are married to other members of the Coven? Is this
not adultry and forces the spouses to watch their loved one with another?
3) What if the HP and/or HPS are married to cowans? Isn't this adultry as well?
4) What if this Rite is done before the coven? Is this not exibitionism and
voyerism?
5) Most of the Gadnerian derived BOS's simply state to do the Great Rite. Not 'you
should consider' or 'it would be nice' but simply "Great Rite". In other words, are we not
forcing two people to commit an act that may be illegal by state law and wrong by the
morals of their sposes?
Most covens sidestep this issue by a simple act of removing that passage from their
BOS. Others allow or require a recent addition what is called the "Symbolic
Great Rite". In any event, the coven is either making a stand "We will not allow the 's-
word' into our religion" or they are simply fence-sitting and refusing to face the problem.
And then there is a passage that coments on having one wife IN the coven and
another wife OUTSIDE the coven. Doesn't this ancourage group marriages?
Again, this is often interpreted to refer to a 'Working Partnership' within the coven,
a partnership that is so necessarily close that the parties may very well be married to each
other. This is why many Gardnerian covens ask the prospective member "Is your spouse
interested and joining as your partner?" If not, the passage goes on to dictate a 'brother
and sister' relationship.
And what about homosexuality? Traditional Witchcraft is based on a male-female
polarity within the coven. The God is Consort to the Goddess, not the Goddess and her
other Goddess girl-friends. The BOS even places a curse on anyone who tries to
work male-male or female-female because it may lead to homosexual relations.
Again, many Eclectic Traditions delete this part from their own workings and the
Feminist Trads even encourage lesbian workings. The simple justification is that
Gardner was a product of his times and his times were homophobic and so that was
written into the BOS. Actually there are reasons for male-female working
partnerships that have nothing to do with this but that is for another essay. In reality, what
the BOS really says is that "WORKING" in same gender partnerhips is wrong.
It says nothing about being gay at all. In fact, one DHC female was lesbian but in Circle
during Ritual she would partner with a male. During Cakes and Wine she would then
revert to her natural inclinations and lounge in any willing female lap. She understood
the concept of polarity and how it was different from heterosexuality.
Now with all this background, what CAN we say about sexual ethics in Wicca? I suspect that as there is no list of do's and dont's (a definite hinderance) in our religion, we have to actually THINK about this. So we must be able to act from a priori assumptions. The Wiccan Rede to which many Traditional Witches ascribe states simply;
Translated into English this gives us to do whatever we want to do BUT we aren't
allowed to hurt anything by our actions.
The second assumption is not based in religion but in the general pagan tolorance
for other ways. Rarely will Traditionals actually insult an Eclectic or Feminist because of
their beliefs. Pagans are required to be tolorant of each other for two main rasons. 1)
Nowhere in any of our 'holy books' does it say that we are the only or even the best
religion and 2) for the simple reason that we have to be tolorant for survival.
So keeping in mind the Rede and pagan tolorance, we can create two rules that will
be probably be accepted by the majority of Witches.
Rule #1: Anything is allowed so long as nothing is harmed.
Rule #2: Anything is allowed so long as it is between consenting adults.
I can justify these by stating that if you get sex by rape or cooersion (including a
love spell which is no different from getting her drunk enough to pass out then having
your way while she is unconscious), you are harming them. And that children are neither
physically nor emotionally mature enough for sex.
Yes, I know that our ancestors were having children at 13 and Juliet was
considered to be an old maid at 14 BUT, these women were usually dead by 25 from
pregnancy induced complications. By waiting until your mid-20's, the survival rates for
women increase dramatically. If a woman is simply property, she is a child-bearer and so
when she dies after 10 years, you can always buy a replacement. BUT if she is a
companion and equal, then you want her to stick around through old age and so simple
survival tactics require that you defer child bearing until physical maturation is complete.
Now that we have our rules, how does this reflect in our real lives? First of all, the
Witch who had sex with a 14 year old boy was 'harming' him simply because he is NOT a
consenting adult and so was too immature to handle a sexual relationship.
The second example with one woman and two husbands is different. Was her first
husband coerced or forced into this relationship? As an example, mormon women
cannot get into heaven unless their husbands pull them in. So it becomes important for a
mormon wife to keep hubby happy no matter what unless she wants to sit on the curb
outside heaved for a few thousand years while hubby cools off. So if a mormon husband
wants another wife, you have to agree or else.
Witchraft doesn't have this so there can be no subtle coersive threats here. And as
it appears that all three are adults and consenting, there is no reason why this can be
wrong by Wiccan standards. It doesn't mean that we condone it, it simply means that it is
not forbidden and is tolorated.
Therefore Wiccan sexual ethics can be applied to any situation so long as the
parties involved are 1) consenting, 2) adults and 3) no harm results. And for details as to
exactly if your own actions are Wiccan or not, think about it and come to a decision for
yourself. BUT do not confuse acceptance and tolorance with condoning.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Writings page.
