This post has me thinking about the Wiccan Rede. About how it could be misinterpreted, or misunderstood.
I’ve had many people state that no one can possibly know if something would harm someone. The point, as I understand it, is to not knowingly harm another. Not to purposely do something that harms someone else. If your actions have harmed another in a way that you did not anticipate or even think would harm them, you will receive what is necessary from the Goddess & God to learn from your mistakes.
In Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Scott Cunningham states that under no circumstances should you work magic for someone without their express knowledge and permission to do so. Working magic for someone without their consent can be considered a form of harming them. While some may not feel that way, I have always felt it was more ethical to ask than to simply start casting away. Granted, when I was just starting out, I cast a few spells for healing for my mother, without her permission. That was before I discovered that casting spells for people without their permission was unethical.
But to return to the Rede, how do we truly know if something will harm another? Well, we could always start out by meditating on the magical working we’re about to undertake. Think long and hard about it. If we start to get bad feelings about doing it, perhaps that should be a sign that there’s something not right with our intentions. Perhaps without meaning to, we are going to harm another. I think common sense should be one guide, and our loving Goddess & God another. Let them help you decide if what you are doing is right.
I think the Rede is deceptive in its simplicity. What, exactly, does “harm none” mean? Does that include harm by words, harm for another’s own good and tough love. Does that include the rare situation when you might have to harm one person to preserve another? Does it account for doing harm to another person to keep them from an as yet greater harm, tackling someone out from in front of a bus, for instance. Does it automatically include an imperative for action or can you harm someone by inaction?
I think that’s part of the beauty of the concept and the one of the greatest strengths of most Pagan concepts of morality, their brevity encourages exploration and contemplation.
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