… and yet another attempt to answer them.

Prepared by Magus Thom Potter; AA, AS. [1998, 2003].

What is a Pagan? What is Witchcraft? What, or Who Is God to You? What Is Magic? Are You Satanists? What Are Your Ethics? Home Education? Other Authorities A Pagan Glossary Reading List The Dragons’ Nest Back to Where You Where.

Riverside, California National Discussion Other Recomended Groups

What Are Your Ethics?

Pagan morality is subject to the honest dictates on her or his heart. (See 1 Corinthians 11.30 - 32 for similar conditions for Christians.) With enlightenment comes a terrible burden. We weigh our responsibilities with less flexibility. No one scolds a child as severely for dropping and breaking a glass filled with milk as an adolescent would be. We expect an adolescent to be wise enough to control her or his hands and not drop the glass.

Morals are the right things to do. Ethics are society’s arguments for doing the right things. Ethics are the rules, standards, or moral principles adopted by an individual or group to govern conduct. We may expect that following these standards will lead to what is best for human life collectively. Often this term is used in more specialized sense of being the set of standards followed by the members of a profession. A Pagan is morally answerable only to the dictates of her or his own conscience. Traditionally — guided by the absolute love of Nature — Pagans heal, teach, guard, lead, and counsel, just like any other human. Some of us are like “spiritual parents,” caring for our community. The Universe is not safe; though life is wondrous at times, sometimes it just is not fair at all.

Despite what some may say, Alternative Cultures of Faith do have codes of ethics. In fact, I would venture to say that because ethics are among the primary functions of any religion that anyone who has had a few moments of religious thought will also have an ethical code. There are fundamentals for ethics that hold for anyone. Take the ethics of stealing, for example, that is the ethic that stealing is immoral. One may refuse to steal because, “God said so!” The other refuses to steal because it harms the owner, maliciously keeping what the owner has a right to possess. In either case, the presence of a god within the life of the logician is of little real consequence. If a soul encounters an existential crisis that results in a rejection of their god then what has really changed? The first now has no outside authority to appeal to or to be accountable. The other is not likely to change his or her ethics as their authority came from within.

See my essay, Freedom, for more on this subject. Please see my Current Project on this subject; Pagan Apologetics at the Pagan Ministers’ Counsel

What about the So-called, “Wiccan Rede?”

“An it Harm none, do as you will,” [Gerald Gardner]. Sometimes mistakenly called the “Witches Rede,” this code of Ethics is good advice, though has its flaws.

This seems drawn from the teachings of Aleister Crowley, who worded it as “Do As Thou Wilt.” His original intent was that the soul should do as they thought best, and leave another soul to do the same. The usual Thelemic greetings are “Love is the Whole Law,” which gets the response, “Love under will.” Thelema, is Greek for will.

The addition of, “an it harm none” is often misinterpreted. If you get the job, that means someone else did not. Not harming someone would be difficult under this circumstance. You got the job, someone else must go on and look elsewhere. If they got the job, then you, and someone else, must look elsewhere. For all you know, that someone else may get a better job (for them) than the one you got.

Witches are human, (really, we are). We are subject to all the emotions and whims of beast and god. Magic is dangerous, even in the hands of a sharpshooter. It does not take long to learn that power can be addictive. The Wiccan Rede serves to school the ignorant away from abusing this new found power.

The flaw arises when the Rede becomes a dogmatic crutch. A Witch is a guardian, defending innocence and guiding the ignorant. If criminals have terrorized a neighborhood — such as a slum-lord — a Witch will often feel compelled to bring the terrorist down. In the face of the Witches Rede, one may want to restrain themselves from acting. By allowing myself to become a victim, I have created two great errors. I am made less human. That is, I become little better than a host to a parasite. Then, I encourage the “victor” to abuse another. As a Witch, I refuse to allow this to happen! If that requires a dynamic and fatal use of Magic … well, that is the decision of the Witch involved.

See The Wiccan Rede Project for more details.

Other “Frequently Asked Questions” answered by other authorities.