The Rede

Hi!

The Wiccan?   

Rede.

I have known many Witches who follow the rede, though sometimes they will call it The Creed.   Some say it's exclusively Wiccan because Witches who are not Wiccan do not follow it.

Clearly that is not true.   I find the Rede to be very useful.   I believe in it 100%.    I would Never cheat, lie, steal, kill, harm an animal, harm a child, etc because It's a firm part of my belief system and also because I do believe that whatever you send out comes back to you but also because harming others is just the wrong thing to do.

There is so much pain in this world.   We should do whatever we can to make the world a better place, not cause more pain it, right?

I was raised with the rede but because the only beliefs I was taught that resemble Wicca are the rede and law of return and the practice of magic, I am not sure that I am Wiccan.   Again, I think it depends on who you ask too!

I prefer to not ask anyone at this point in my life and just call myself a Witch and be done with it.   I think what matters is what feels right to you and that you live the best life you can while doing as little harm as you can do.   

What is harm?

Remember...Just not doing something could be more harmful, as much as actively doing something to harm someone else.   To me, Harm is situational but at the same time....let's examine harm.. 

Take these examples:

Is drinking harmful?      No...Only if taken to an extreme?   I don't know that booze is good for your system ever but I do not think a drink on occasion causes harm unless you are out of control and cause a scene so I would say that harm in this case.

Smoking?   How is smoking a good thing?    How does smoking ever help us?   second hand smoke can lead to cancer as well so you are harming others and the Tobacco industry does test cigs on the animal kingdom so you are doing more harm than good by smoking so I would say, smoking is always harmful and therefore wrong.

Cheating on a spouse?   I would NEVER do this.   I do not see how this could ever be a good thing?   Betray the confidence of a friend?   Sometimes keeping silent leads to more harm...Have to take each case as a case by case study, does doing cause harm, does not doing cause harm?

Christians who think that we have it easy because we don't have a long list of commandments to follow or their holy book have no idea how much thought we put into every aspect of our lives!

Remember to THINK about every action you take and this covers magic as well, think about each spell you are about to do before doing it to decide if it will cause harm!

Blessings!