The following is an extract from the book TOWARDS THE WICCAN CIRCLE BY SORITA D’ESTE (Avalonia, 2008) adapted from the course notes of the homestudy course by the same name facilitated by the author before it was published as a book in 2007. It is reproduced here with kind permission of the author and publishers. For more information see: http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/221/?page_id=348
(c) 2001-2008 Sorita d’Este, all rights reserved.
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“An it Harm None – Do as you Will”
The Wiccan Rede is the moral code or “golden rule” of the Wiccan Tradition. There are many different versions in circulation, including some long and poetic versions, but the eight words as given above can be considered to be the Wiccan Rede, with the occasional variation of the “you” as a “ye”. Regardless of the version of the eight words you take for consideration, or if you like to develop your own in time, having a golden rule to measure your actions by can be a valuable guide when you decide to wield the power of magickal work. This becomes even more important if you work alone as you will not have a peer group to help keep you balanced and grounded.
The word Rede is an archaic word meaning “to give advice or council” and as such we can translate the phrase to mean “advice for Wiccans”. It is not a rule, but rather some advice from those who have walked this path before us. Each individual should interpret the Wiccan Rede for themselves, it is not a charter to do whatever you feel like doing; instead it stresses personal responsibility. It is your responsibility to “harm none” when you “do as you will”. It is your responsibility to figure out what it means to do your will. And it is you who have to take responsibility for the fruits of all your own actions – good, bad or indifferent; magickal or mundane.
“The Wiccan Rede provides you with a personal guideline which you can use whenever you need to make an important decision. Not just decisions in regard to magickal workings, but also in your every day life. The Wiccan Rede places the emphasis on personal responsibility for all your actions. It says ‘hold on a minute, do you need to do that? How will your actions affect you? Are you sure you want to go ahead?”[1]
Taking personal responsibility means that you cannot blame anyone or anything else for your actions. You are responsible for the things you cause to others, and your environment as well as to yourself. Although of course we are influenced by what happened to us as children or how we were treated by parents and teachers, personal responsibility means taking active decisions to make positive changes to our lives.
You have to make decisions about your own life, regardless of peer pressure, decisions that reflect what you need in your life. It might seem harsh when you first think about it, but applying this philosophy to your life will bring about positive changes for you and is less harmful in the long term. By applying the Rede to your actions you are forced to examine your own ethics. This helps you work out what your views and beliefs on different issues are, and thus develop a sharper picture of your worldview. The importance of the Wiccan Rede today is clearly illustrated through its use in a variety of modern Pagan traditions and the wide variety of variants being used. Its popularity seems to stem from the need for a moral guideline which often manifests in a fear of the uncertainty that practising magick may bring to one’s life.
In addition to the Wiccan Rede, some Wiccans look to the Charge of the Goddess for moral guidance. For this the following lines are particularly apt:
“Keep pure your highest ideal;
strive ever towards it, let naught stop you or turn you aside…”
“For my law, is love unto all beings…”
These lines focus on the need to find and strive ever towards your own personal highest ideals; this means that you of course first need to establish what those ideals are – which is a process that might take a long time. It emphasises that we should be strong in our convictions that what we are doing is right, so much so that we should not allow ourselves to be dissuaded by obstacles in our path. It also highlights the nature of the law as love.
“Let there beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you…”
These are very high ideals to strive for and to integrate all of them into our lives might take many years of personal work and soul searching. It is a good measure against which to test our actions; is what we are about to do (magickal or mundane) something we can claim to be done with beauty and strength? Are we doing so with power and compassion, honour and humility? Does it show both mirth and reverence for those who will be affected and towards the Gods?
Exercise 2.4 – the Wiccan Rede
How do you feel the Wiccan Rede relates to your life? Do you feel it is relevant to your life and follow it?
Or is there a different ‘Golden Rule’ that you live by?
When considering these questions consider the implications of the Rede on what you eat and drink, what you buy, how you dispose of household waste, how you treat your family, friends and work colleagues?
If you wish you can extend this to how you view the legal system and how people are treated for committing different crimes.
