by Don Lewis
Many non-Wiccans have the impression that Wicca is a religion with no moral teachings. This is not true – though Wicca, like other religions, does have some members who pay less attention to its moral teachings than others.
Many years ago when I was a teenaged Wiccan I saw an episode of the Phil Donahue Show (which will tell you how long ago this was) on which a number of Wiccan leaders of the day appeared, notably Selena Fox. A member of the audience made the comment that it sounded to them as if Wiccans had no moral concepts. I found this rather appalling.
My response to this was and is that Wicca is very concerned with moral ideas, though our ideas of morality differ in some points than from of Christians. Where Christians and some other religions focus much of their moral teachings on sexual issues, namely sexual prohibitions, Wicca has a very open attitude toward sex. Sexuality between consenting adults is not of itself an issue in Wiccan morality – unless someone is being harmed, as by the breaking of vows, intentional deception, or cruelty, in which case it is the harm rather than the sexuality that is the moral issue.
Other than our more open attitude toward sexuality, which we regard as a sacred gift of the Gods, Wicca’s view of morality is not strikingly different from most other religion’s view of morality. Things like stealing, rape, and murder are as morally wrong in the Wiccan religion as they are in all other religions. WHY these things are wrong in the Wiccan moral view is however different from the reasons which might be attributed by some other religions.
Many religions attribute their moral teachings directly to their Deity, as channeled through a prophet, and equate them with Divine Law. In Wicca, moral teachings and Divine Law are different things. The Wiccan Rede, which teaches “Do As You Will But Harm None” is a moral teaching: the Threefold Law, which shows how our actions return to us multiple times (“Three” being understood as “multiple”, not as literally “three”) through the Karmic attachments those actions create, is Divine Law. The former is created by humans out of their advancing moral understandings and reflects human needs independent of cosmic principles (For example the Wiccan Rede is not the principle governing nature): the latter is a cosmic principle whose origins and operation is not dependent upon human understandings.
Karma, the Threefold Law, Destiny, Fate, - whatever you might choose to call it-is a universal principle that acts regardless of our teachings. This universal principle has been discovered over time, and understanding of it deepens constantly – but while our understanding of it may change, its nature does not.
On the other hand, Wiccan moral teachings such as the Wiccan Rede or the Nine Virtues are created by people as a kind of social contract: to govern behavior in such a way as to create a better world. Moral teachings are certainly influenced by cosmic principles, and exist in part to help bring us into better balance with cosmic principles, but are themselves uniquely human and subject to change and evolution as human understandings grow.
Our actions create karmic attachments that pull us back to them until the lessons they offer are learned, however many incarnations that may take – this is the Threefold Law. The “three” in the Threefold Law of course must be understood as representing plurality rather than literally “three” – we repeat our Karmic lessons as many times as necessary, often many more than three times.
The Wiccan Rede, “Do As You Will But Harm None” exists to help us avoid forming such Karmic attachments in the first place, an aspect of the Rede which is directly connected to cosmic principles: but it also exists to illustrate contemporary Wiccan ideas of how to act morally, an aspect of the Rede which is connected to social contract rather than cosmic principle.
Social Contract is the idea that we agree to certain behaviors in return for certain behaviors: we agree not to steal in return for society protecting us from theft: we agree not to murder in return for society protecting us from murder: in the Wiccan Rede as a social contract we agree not to harm in the expectation that we will be protected from harm by others who follow the Rede. Of course religiously there is the added expectation of being protected from harm on a cosmic level by not having created karmic attachment to harm.
Here again we have a difference from some other religions. If the Wiccan Rede is not a Divine Command, why do we follow it? I have heard members of some other religions say that if they were not afraid of Divine retribution they would not be moral people. As Wiccans we do not fear Deity in the first place – why then should we be moral people at all?
The answer is that moral behavior, as derived from the Wiccan Rede, is good for its own sake: the results of moral behavior, which are a better world in the present and better karma for the future, are far better than the results of immoral behavior, which are short term gain but future degeneration. The satisfaction derived from following the Rede— which shares happiness with others and magnifies it-are far greater than the temporary selfish happiness of creating harm.
Wrong vs Evil
In Wicca we do not believe in “sin” or “evil”. This causes some people to think that we have no sense of Right and Wrong. This is due to sloppy use of language.
Because in certain religions “sin” and “wrong” are used in very much the same way, members of those religions sometimes think they mean the same thing – though this is not what they themselves formally teach. “Sin” according to Judeo-Christian religion, is anything that separates a person from God. Many things in Judeo-Christianity are considered “sins” which would not ordinarily be considered “wrong” – and some things that would ordinarily be considered “wrong” are not considered “sins”. “Sin” is a very different concept from “wrong”.
In Wicca we believe that Deity is within the person –that all people, and all things, are ultimately manifestations of Deity through the Monad, the Soul, and the Incarnation. Because Deity is within you, you can NEVER be separate from Deity. You can forget Deity is in there, but Deity is no less there because you may not be aware of it. Consequently we can have no idea of “sin” because nothing can ever separate us from Deity. The same is true for “evil”. Although many people of other religions use the word “Evil” as if were exactly the same word as “bad” they are in fact very different terms. The idea of “Evil” is the idea of a cosmic force that inspires harm or bad behavior in opposition to Deity. This is completely contrary to Wiccan teaching in several ways: as Wiccans we believe that Deity is within all things, therefore nothing can ever be in opposition to Deity, because all things ultimately come from and are motivated by Deity: and because we believe that all things have a reason and a place in the Divine Plan, attributing unpleasant occurrences to “Evil” is not acceptable.
Does the non-existence of “Evil” mean that as Wiccans we do not believe that anything is “bad”? Not at all. Many things are “bad” – but not because of a cosmic “Evil” force inspiring them. They are “bad” because they produce bad effects, both socially and karmicly speaking.
It is bad to murder for any number of social reasons, including the effect on the victim and their family as well as society itself – not to mention creating a karmic attachment that will bind the murderer until the lessons of the situation are learned. In Wicca however the responsibility for murder belongs to the murderer, and not to a putative “Evil” force in the Universe.
Wicca also rejects the pairing of "Good and Bad" as polar opposites, which is found in some other religions. Rather we agree with the Aristotelian view that “Good and Bad’ represent a continuum in which Good lies at the center and Bad lies at either extreme. Thus "Bad" will be seen to be either too much of a Good thing or too little, rather than the opposite of a Good thing.
Learning is a Good Thing. However when we think of learning as a continuum and look to either extreme end, we will see how this same Good thing can be a bad Thing. At one end too little education is ignorance, a Bad Thing. But at the other end of the continuum too much education can become pedantry, fossilizing ideas into the forms already learned and making new learning and intellectual growth impossible – also a Bad Thing.
Thus not only we do we reject the idea of an external force of “Evil” operating to do bad for its own sake, we also have a different understanding of the relationship between Good and Bad and how a quality or situation can move from one to the other. This creates a very different way of thinking.
The Wiccan Rede
The preeminent Wiccan moral teaching is the Wiccan Rede: “Do As You Will, But Harm None” or “An It Harm None, Do As You Will”. This is the one moral teaching most all Wiccan Traditions agree on, though there are a few who don’t and even among the majority who do agree the meaning of “Harm” is a subject of great disagreement.
In the Correllian Tradition our understanding of the Wiccan Rede is simple and easily stated: the Rede should not be “interpreted” and as a result can only be understood in light of the ordinary meaning of the word “Harm”. By this understanding you must consider whether a thing would normally be considered “harm” by common definition – not by broad extrapolation. This understanding of the Rede is both practical and livable.
Some Wiccans interpret the Wiccan Rede in a very Jainist manner, feeling that “Harm None” means avoiding anything that might cause any sort of physical or emotional pain to any creature. Some people interpret the Wiccan Rede so broadly that it cannot be lived by, bringing the Rede into disrepute in many circles – because after all, by the extreme interpretation of “harm” you cannot eat (because everything eaten must first die), you cannot breath (lest you accidentally harm tiny microbes or bacteria) you cannot speak (lest you hurt someone’s feeling) in short, you cannot live at all. Clearly, this cannot POSSIBLY be what is actually meant by the Rede.
Another interpretation of the Rede holds that you must never, ever, interfere with another person’s free will in any way. And yet, the mother whose young child wants to put their hand directly upon the red hot stove burner MUST interfere with the child’s free will and prevent the injury. Similarly, if someone is trying to rape or murder you or a loved one (or anyone, for that matter), do you NOT interfere with the rapist/ murderers free will by resisting and if possible escaping? As a society do we NOT interfere with the rapist/murderer’s free will by imposing and enforcing laws against rape and murder? This too cannot POSSIBLY be what the Rede really means.
Stopping the young child from putting their hand on the burner may interfere with the child’s free will and may even (probably) momentarily hurt their feelings – but NO ONE would ever define it as “harm”. Prosecuting and imprisoning the rapist/murderer definitely impinges upon their free will to rape or murder, and the process may hurt their feelings – but NO ONE would ever define laws against rape and murder as harm. Indeed, in the ordinary sense of the word, most people would say that you do “harm” by not restraining people from such actions.
Where Does the Wiccan Rede Come From?
The origins of the Wiccan Rede are shrouded in mystery, and more than this in controversy.
It is said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and those with a little knowledge would no doubt insist that Gerald Gardner must have made the Wiccan Rede up out of whole cloth.
However despite the strident insistence of some, the story is nowhere near that simple.
The Wiccan Rede reads: “An You Harm None, Do As You Will” or “Do As You Will But Harm None”. “Rede” by the way has nothing to do with the word “read” but is an old word meaning “advice” or “counsel”.
The phrasing of the Wiccan Rede leaves little doubt but that it is a corollary to the Law of Thelema, a point which I think would be rather hard to argue for the Law of Thelema is “Do As You Will”. Adding “But Harm None” to “Do As You Will” is a pretty obvious modification that could have been made by any sensible person.
The Law of Thelema is quite old – it comes from the novel “Gargantua” or “Gargantua and Pantagruel”, written by the great French satirist Francois Rabelais (1494–1553). Gargantua is not at all an obscure work: it was and is a staple of European classical writing, known in former years by most well educated persons.
Written in early modern French, “Gargantua” is over 400,000 words long and was published in five volumes between 1532–1562. The title character, Gargantua is a giant, and the King of Utopia. He is the son of the giant Grangousier and his mother is Gargamelle the daughter of the King of Butterflies. Gargantua’s son is Pantagruel. The many adventures of Gargantua and Pantagruel satirize many aspects of human life and society in a manner very similar to Jonathon Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” – which also features a macrophiliac theme.
In the novel Gargantua establishes the Abbey of Theleme as a reward for Friar John, in recognition of Friar John’s efforts in the war against King Picrochole of Lerne. The abbey of Theleme is presented as a kind of hedonistic Utopia. The Abbey accepts women on an equal status with men, and has only one rule: “Do As You Will”.
Because of the general currency of “Gargantua” the Law of Thelema was well known and shows up in a variety of places through the centuries as a maxim of free-thinkers.
In the metaphysical movement the Law of Thelema was given new impetus when restated by Aleister Crowley in his famous Liber Legis, or “Book of the Law”. The Liber Legis was supposedly channeled by Rose Crowley from the Spirit Guide Aiwass in 1904. The Liber Legis includes an elaboration of the Law of Thelema, to whit: “Do As You Will shall be the whole of the law, for Love is the Law: Love under Will”, generally simply expressed as “Do As You Will”.
To Crowley “Do As You Will” did not mean what it first appears. To Crowley it meant not that you should do anything you wanted, but rather that you only ever could do what you actively Willed – and particularly what came from your True Will, a concept comparable to our Higher Self. This very esoteric interpretation was not generally understood, however. Crowley’s writings were popular throughout the metaphysical community – the lines between Traditions were not nearly as strong as they are today - but many people misunderstood Crowley’s actual teaching and took “Do As You Will” in a very literal way.
Most people agree that Aleister Crowley was involved in the formation of the modern Wicca movement, though how and when is extremely controversial, as is everything about the origins of the modern Wicca movement. The older view holds that Crowley was involved in one of the Temples answering to George Pickingill, but was dissatisfied with the preeminent role of the High Priestesses and as a consequence left. Crowley is supposed to have known a number of early modern Wiccans including Lydia Beckett and Sybil Leek, and certainly many early modern Wiccans were admirers of his work. However Crowley was a bit too extreme for many of these people, and the idea that a corollary of his Law of Thelema amended with “And It Harm None” should trace to one or more of them is no stretch of the imagination.
In recent years other views of Crowley’s connections with modern Wicca have become current including the popular Ceremonial view that Crowley “invented” Wicca intending it to be merely an arm of Ceremonialism with Gerald Gardner as his flunky – but died before he could put it in place, leaving Gardner to carry on alone: and the popular Gardnerogenesist view that Crowley acted as an advisor and ghostwriter for Gardner when Gardner “invented” Wicca. In either case the Wiccan Rede would then be presumed to trace not to a third party’s corollary of Crowley’s Law of Thelema but directly to Crowley himself.
However, the idea that the Wiccan Rede could have taken form as late as these theories suggest is thrown a bit of a curve by the famous “Wiccan Rede” poem. Originally called the “Rede of the Wiccae” – “Wiccae” being the earlier plural of “Wicca”- the poem sets out Wiccan ideas in 26 rhyming couplets, ending with the maxim generally known as the “Wiccan Rede”.
This poem is attributed to a Bostonian Priestess named Adrianna Porter, said to have written it around 1939 when she was already quite an old lady –she was in her nineties when she died in 1946. Many of the aspects of the poem are out of step with modern Wiccan practice – which is only to be expected considering how far the modern Wiccan movement has evolved in the years since the Blv. Adrianna wrote the poem. That the Blv. Adrianna could include the Rede in a work of that date suggests that it is a corollary of the Law of Thelema created either in reaction to Crowley’s version of the Law or directly in reaction to Rabelais, and not a late creation of Crowley’s or a creation of Gardner’s.
Gerald Gardner himself was quite explicit in his idea of where the Wiccan Rede might have come from, and his version is different from all of the above. According to Gerald Gardner, who always steadfastly claimed that the Rede predated him, as he claimed most Wiccan teachings did, suggested that it might have been derived from a different French novel: “Les Adventures du Roi Pausole” by Pierre Louys. Much more obscure than Rabelais’ Gargantua or Crowley’s Liber Legis, “Les Adventures du Roi Pausole” tells the story of the fictional King Pausole and his utopian realm. Among the principle themes of the book is “Free Love”. In the book King Pausole attempts to synthesize the ancestral laws of his land into one moral teaching, the result of which is a single two-part law which reads: “I. Do no harm to thy neighbor. II. Observing this, do as thou pleasest”.
While this is certainly possible, it seems like a pretty obscure origin and the wording is quite different from the Rede as we know it – unlike the Law of Thelema. That the Rede arose as a response to the popularity and real or perceived misuse of the Law of Thelema seems much more likely.
In any event, the sentiment expressed by the Wiccan Rede is pretty universal. “Do As You Will But Harm None” is very much the same sentiment expressed by Christians as “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You,” and in various other ways by religions around the world: it is a natural human desire.
What does the Wiccan Rede mean?
Obviously our real question is not “Where does the Wiccan Rede originate?” but rather “What does the Wiccan Rede mean to us?”
We have discussed the origins of the Rede in part to show that the idea has been percolating about in society for rather a long time before taking shape as the Rede, and in part to show that there is no definite point of origin. Because there is no definite single point of origin, it is no surprise that there is no single definite understanding of the Rede, but varying definitions according to specific Traditions.
As we have said, the Correllian recension of the Wiccan Rede requires the Rede to be understood according to the ordinary meaning of the word “Harm” and allows no interpretation of this. “Harm” has a pretty clear meaning in ordinary use, and as established by custom: that meaning does not extend to the extremes that some people would like to take the Wiccan Rede to.
Pressed to come up with a simple explanation of “Harm” we some time ago defined it as “Unprovoked or egregious damage.”
Killing a virus with antibiotics is not Harm. Killing bacteria when you clean your bathroom is not Harm. Hurting someone’s feelings is not Harm, unless it is through intentional cruelty. Serving in the police or the military is not Harm. The term Harm never meant things like this in its ordinary usage. “Harm” can only be extended to include these things through the most extreme interpretation –and as we have said, the Rede is not to be interpreted.
So what DOES Harm mean?
We all know what is normally meant by “Harm”, but putting it into words is not so easy for most of us. “Unprovoked or egregious damage” is pretty succinct, and as a definition of “Harm” is pretty helpful – but some examples will perhaps serve better to illustrate what this actually means.
If someone walks up to you and hits you for no reason, they have done harm – that is pretty easy to see. But what of your reaction?
If someone walks up to and hits you for no reason, and you hit them back, have YOU done harm? Certainly not. No ordinary definition of “Harm” would suggest that this is “Harm”. In striking you, the other person has declared that THEY consider you an equal opponent, and have willingly incurred your response that they have themselves demonstrated as acceptable to them by initiating the exchange. A fair fight between equals is never Harm, and when a person starts a fight it must be assumed that the fight is fair in their eyes. This too is ultimately a pretty clear answer.
If someone walks up to you and hits you for no reason, and you beat them to a bloody pulp, have you done harm? This is a harder answer: most often the answer is yes, because the response is out of proportion to the situation. But what if this person has beaten other people severely, and given you reason to believe that they will do the same to you? Then beating them to a pulp may be merely self-defense. However in general ones response to such a situation should be in proportion to the threat displayed, and an excessive response would be considered “Harm”.
Virtue
As we have said earlier, Good and Bad are not opposites, but rather represent a continuum with Bad at either end and Good in the middle. Thus moderation is always the Good choice. This view is quite ancient, having been beautifully articulated by Aristotle in antiquity.
In Correllian Wicca we have a set of Nine Virtues which we encourage. These are inspired by similar sets of Nine that have come down from various sources in the ancient world, as well as by the idea of the Enneagram and the Nine Monads. The Correllian Virtues encapsulate our ideas of proper morality.
It should be noted that no person can perfectly embody all Virtues, nor should any person be expected to. People, by definition, are human and must be viewed as such. Rather Virtue is the goal we aim for and manifest to the best of our abilities.
The Nine Virtues of Correllian Wicca
Honesty
The First of the Nine Virtues is Honesty. To be Honest is to be straightforward in one’s dealings, to tell the truth and abide by one’s word. Honesty allows people to trust one another, and makes it easier to deal with one another.
However like all qualities, Honesty exists in a continuum in which both too little and too much are Bad. The person who has too little Honesty is deceptive, untruthful, and crooked in their dealings. The person who has too much Honesty can be inconsiderate or hurtful to other through extreme candor or through indiscretion, or through repeating what though true should have been confidential.
Generosity
The Second Virtue is Generosity, whether generosity of act, thought, or feeling. Generosity allows movement and encourages growth – both in the world about the generous person, and also within them. Generosity of action makes for generosity of spirit, and so the generous help themselves as well as others through their Generosity. Generosity can be expressed through sharing -whether sharing resources, ideas, or emotions. But Generosity can also be expressed through allowing – allowing freedom of action, thought, etc. Another way to describe Generosity is Freedom.
The person who has too little Generosity is miserly in thought and action, and has too little movement in their heart. The person who has too much Generosity however is profligate, giving everything away and finding themselves with nothing left to share.
Sincerity
The Third Virtue is Sincerity, or being true to yourself and truly embodying what you believe. Sincerity is walking the walk as well as talking the talk, both internally and externally. The sincere person is at pains to make sure that their internal self and their external self are in alignment. Another way to describe Sincerity is Integrity.
The person who has too little Sincerity hides their true self, often even from themselves. They are alienated from their true nature and their true motivations, and may not understand the reasons why they do things. The person who has too much Sincerity however may be so highly aware of their own nature as to be unable to consider other people or external conditions, falling into hubris and placing their own ideas and ideals above all other things.
Courage
The Fourth Virtue is Courage, or the ability to meet and overcome challenges. Courage is what allows us to go forward in the world, even when we are afraid. Courage permits us to grow and to accomplish. Courage allows us to see that perceived barriers can be overcome, perceived limitations transcended.
The person who has too little Courage is cowardly – that is, they are ruled by their fear and imprisoned by it. The person who has too much Courage is foolhardy, disregarding reasonable fears and failing to properly consider or prepare for actual dangers.
Service
The Fifth Virtue is Service, the desire to help others and to create better situations in the world around one. Being of Service is a willingness to pitch in and improve circumstances and better situations. By helping others and improving their world, we often find that we improve our own world as well. If Courage allows the individual to move forward, Service allows the group to move forward.
The person who has too little sense of Service never extends themselves for others or concerns themselves with the wider world, allowing bad situations that they might have been able to improve to instead worsen. The person who has too much sense of Service however may give so much of themselves that they find themselves enslaved to others needs, neglecting their own.
Practicality
The Sixth Virtue is Practicality, or considering the outcome of one’s actions and acting accordingly. Practicality allows us to use knowledge or past experience or to judge how best to create favorable outcomes to our actions, as well as to foresee unfortunate consequences and avoid them. Practicality allows us to spare ourselves and others much pain by applying to present or future circumstances the wisdom we have gained from lessons already learned.
The person who has too little Practicality does not consider the consequences of their outcomes and so frequently experiences bad outcomes and often repeats unpleasant situations. The person who has too much Practicality however can be imprisoned by expectation, never being willing to take a chance, make a change, or venture into uncharted territory.
Modesty
The Seventh Virtue is Modesty, which is to allow room for the recognition of other people and their skills and achievements, rather than promoting your own character, skills, and achievements to the detriment of others. Modesty manifests as moderation in self-estimation and self promotion, an avoidance of egotism and braggadocio. The modest individual, being confident of their knowledge and abilities does not need to brag about themselves, and still less needs to denigrate others, but rather shows their worth through competence.
The person who has too little Modesty is arrogant and focused only upon themselves and their own accomplishments. The person who has too much Modesty is self-negating, not valuing themselves or their actions, and as a result denying the world what they have to offer.
Compassion
The Eighth Virtue is Compassion, or understanding and sympathy for others. Through Compassion we not only help others, but grow emotionally ourselves. Through Compassion we gain understanding of others’ needs, and increase our own understanding of others and their situations, allowing us greater insight into our own inner nature and outer situations. Acts motivated by Compassion build a better world both improving the lot of others, and often by stabilizing difficult situations which might otherwise grow worse, affecting all around them.
The person who has too little Compassion has no understanding of others and consequently can be hard-hearted and may be cruel. The person who has too much Compassion, however, may find themselves enabling the bad behavior or abusive actions of others by being too understanding of these.
Piety
The Ninth and final Virtue is Piety, by which we mean Right Relationship. Piety is the respect and consideration appropriate to any relationship. In religious terms Piety is the respect and devotion of the person toward their Patron Deity, or toward the ideals of their faith. Filial Piety is the respect and devotion of children toward parents, and in a wider sense of persons toward their families – whether family by blood or by choice. One can also have a pious attitude toward education, career, law, etc. … In short, Piety refers toward the social bonds on which society is built.
The person who has too little Piety has respect for nothing, and destroys all they touch through not caring about the consequences to personal and societal relationships. The person who has too much Piety can turn personal and societal relationships into rigid and fossilized forms, ultimately destroying them by preventing any sort of growth, change, or adaptation.