WITH THESE EIGHT WORDS
THE WICCAN REDE FULFILL:
"AN IT HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL."
Copyright 08/17/92 by Servants Of The Elder Gods,
Rocky Mountain Coven and James C. Taylor
OVERVIEW. The purpose of this paper is to look at the Wiccan Rede,
at the types of conduct it excludes, and at the type of conduct it
requires. We will begin with a detailed examination of the wording
of the Rede itself, which presents as "pseudo-archaic" but actually
makes excellent use of the specific meanings of several archaic
words which have no real equivalents in contemporary English. We
will then take a look at the two sections of the Rede, and see why
they are presented in their proper order as written. Finally, we
will examine various uses of magick and see how--and if--they
adequately measure up to the standard of the Rede.
THE VOCABULARY OF THE WICCAN REDE. As mentioned above, the Rede
appears to be presented in a pseudo-archaic or "phony ancient" form
of English. Is this simply harmless foolishness, or is there some
excellent reason for the vocabulary selected? Let's take a look
at the Rede, word by word.
AN: This word is commonly mistranslated as "IF", which is a
significant error. The word "AN" is more accurately
translated "JUST SO LONG AS".
IT: This pronoun refers to whatever it is that you are
thinking of doing.
HARM: This refers to anything which either you or any other
person involved or affected by "it" would regard as loss,
damage, pain, discomfort, injustice, invasiveness, or
prevention, relative to the situation existing before
"it" was done. Anything which goes against another
person's free will, even if it intends them good, would
constitute serious harm.
NONE: This ought to be self-explanatory. "None" is an all-
exclusive word. If you harm anyone or anything,
including yourself, including a small rock in Trenton,
New Jersey, you have harmed "some", not "none".
DO: To perform whatever working is contemplated by "IT",
above.
WHAT: The meaning here is "Whatever", and refers forward.
YE: The archaic PLURAL form of "you". The current word "you"
denotes both the singular and the plural; the archaic
word "YE" is always plural. We shall see, later on, that
this is no accident.
WILL: To will something is to exercise your intellectual
decision-making power to determine the course of action
which you feel to be the best. "Will" has little or
nothing to do with "wish" or "want" or "desire". It is
not an emotional inclination or feeling. It is the
employment of reason to make a decision based upon your
best judgment.
THE TWO SECTIONS OF THE WICCAN REDE;
A. SECTION ONE: "AN IT HARM NONE".
Why does the Wiccan Rede not say, "Do what ye will, an it harm
none"? There is a reason why the "An it harm none" comes
first in the Rede, and that reason is that "An it harm none"
is intended to come first in your own thinking, as a Wiccan
initiate and practitioner. If you or any Wiccan begins with
"Do what ye will", I assure you that you, like the
Fundamentalists before you, will find a way to excuse and even
to justify anything you take it into your head to do! Knowing
this about human nature, the Lady inspired the Rede to be
written as it is, with the "An it harm none" to come first.
The Wiccan Rede's "An it harm none" has parallels in many
disciplines. Perhaps the most significant parallel is found
in the Hippocratic Oath taken by every physician before s/he
is certified to practice. The first part of the Hippocratic
Oath binds the physician "First, to do no harm." It is
sobering to realize that magical ethics, as set forth in the
Wiccan Rede, are or should be so similar to medical ethics,
an issue with such a powerful effect on so many lives.
When we read of a physician who has violated his medical
ethics, we read this with outrage toward him and with empathy
toward those patients who suffered inadequate care because the
physician violated his ethics. It is more sobering to realize
that future generations will regard violations of magickal
ethics with the same degree of outrage, and rightly so.
B. SECTION TWO: "DO WHAT YE WILL."
Even without the first part of the Rede, "Do what ye will" is
most certainly not a blanket permission to do whatever you
desire to do. As one Wiccan High Priestess has observed,
"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Seems like I've heard that before, but it's certainly true
when you're talking about using real magick to accomplish real
goals in the real world.
When we realize the kinds and orders of results, both expected
and unexpected, both knowable and unknowable, which eventuate
from almost every human action, it would seem the better part
of both valor and wisdom to never do anything at all,
especially not anything which is done with spiritual power
guided by no more than human wisdom! Unfortunately, to do
nothing is also a choice, and the results of inaction are
often far worse than the results of even ill-considered
action. This is why the second half of the Rede demands that
we make a decision and act upon it, as well as conforming that
decision to the requirement that it harm none.
THE STANDARD OF THE REDE. Please note that the Wiccan Rede
contains no loop-holes whatsoever. The Rede does not say, "An it
harm none to the best of your knowledge." The Rede also does not
say "An it harm none to the best of your ability to discern whether
it will harm someone."
The Wiccan Rede does not say these things, or anything similar to
them. It simply says "An it harm NONE, do what ye will." This
means that YOU, once you have committed to live by the Wiccan Rede,
are committed to be solely and totally responsible for any harm
resulting from ANY ACTION YOU TAKE, MAGICKAL OR NOT.
Paul Seymour's forthcoming book begins with some strong cautionary
notes concerning the use of magick. One of the examples he gives
is particularly tragic, and concerns a young man who worked a
simple and apparently harmless "money spell". The spell worked,
and the young man got his money--he inherited it, when his parents
were both killed in an accident shortly after he worked the spell.
Paul does not say in his book if this young man was a Wiccan
initiate. If he was, then in addition to his sorrow and loss, he
has had to live with the fact that, by the standard of the Rede,
he is ultimately responsible for the death of his parents.
When you commit to live according to the Wiccan Rede, you commit
to conform your entire life, not just the magickal, mystical and
religious aspects of it, to the standard set by the Rede. Never
again will you be able to act impulsively or without considering
the results of what you do. Never again will you be able to act
or even speak in thoughtless irritation or anger. Instead, you
will come to consider the implications of every word you speak, and
of every routine action you do. For it is not just by magick that
we can harm ourselves or others; everything we do, and everything
we say, has the potential to help or harm others, and to help or
harm ourselves.
It is also important to note that the Rede sets up a standard which
prevents us from harming ourselves as well as others. Other
religions, including Christianity, regard it as virtuous to suffer
harm for the sake of another, even to die so that another person
might live. The Wiccan Rede does not permit this. You are to harm
none, and this means that you are not to harm yourself, even for
the sake of doing good for someone else.
To some, this may seem like a selfish standard. But think about
it. Would you wish to benefit by someone else's injury or death?
Of course not! If you did derive some benefit, such as an
inheritance, from the death of another person, would you feel good
about this? Well, some people might, but probably you would not.
Therefore, in a very real sense, you yourself are harmed by a
benefit you derive from the injury or death of another. True, the
harm is emotional, but it is entirely real.
Wicca recognizes that human beings are social creatures. What does
harm to one, does harm to all in varying degrees. Therefore, it
is imperative that each person strive to harm no one, himself or
herself included.
Finally, it is significant to note that word "ye" in the statement,
"Do what YE will." This is the ancient plural form of "you", and
it means that your individual will is assumed to be in accord with
some other will, instead of acting entirely on its own.
What is this other will which, together with yours, comprises the
"ye" in the Rede? Well, if you are working in a coven, it could
well be the combined will of the members of the coven. But this
would not apply to those who are working on their own, and it is
not the highest or best meaning, even for those working in coven.
How does one act, so as to be certain to harm none? Not by
refusing to act, since inaction is itself a decision, and often
causes far more harm than even rash action. Not by delaying action
until the time for it is past, because that is the same as
inaction. And not by relying solely upon your own human wisdom,
either.
The best way to act, so as to be certain to harm none, is to call
upon the Goddess and/or the God, and to hand to Them the power you
have raised, together with the situation you have raised the power
to deal with, and say, "You are holy, good, and wise, and know how
to use this power to help and not harm. Do Your will in this
situation. That is my will, that Your will be done." And thus the
Rede is fulfilled: For the "ye" who will are yourself and Them-
selves, who are good, and love humanity, and who always act for the
highest good of all.
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