- If you've never heard of Wicca before, you may be slightly confused as to what the ******** I'm talking about when I talk about the common misconceptions, simply because you won't have heard the misconceptions.
If you have heard of Wicca before, there's about a 99% chance that you've heard information about it that is different from ours. This information, along with an explanation of why it is complete and utter bullshit, will be included below. You are, of course, free to debate with us. In fact, it is encouraged.
If you believe that you are Wiccan, there's a 99% chance that you, yes you, have been working under a misconception, and that you do not understand what Wicca is. Right now, you are probably thinking, Oh ********, this girl is going to start telling me that Wicca is the religion of Satan and that Jesus loves me. I'm not Christian, for starters, and I don't find any religion to be particularly evil.
For the latter two, I personally suggest that you temporarily forget that you know anything about Wicca. Because you probably don't. There is, of course, a fourth option:
You are an honest-to-goodness Wiccan, with a first degree or higher, or you are working on your first degree, or are going to as soon as you find a coven/turn 18. If so, please, for the love of god, talk to me. I always appreciate the insight of those who are actually Wiccan.
Wicca 101
What is the elemental weapon of ether, b***h?
1 - In the beginning, there was...?
Gerald.
Wicca For the Rest of Us
Wicca began with a man named Gerald Gardner in the mid 20th century. Many people give the year 1954 as its inception, because this is when Gardner published Witchcraft Today. Gardner had, however, already published High Magic's Aid in 1949 under the pseudonym Scire, and it was not until 1959, in The Meaning of Witchcraft, that he mentions the word "Wica".
Gardner claimed that in 1939 he was initiated into the New Forest Coven by one Dorothy Clutterbuck. Whether this coven ever existed is still in question today, and if it did, how old it actually was. Gardner claimed it to be part of the Old Religion - he even had Margaret Murray write the forward of Witchcraft Today.
The simple fact is that much of what Gardner taught in his books were derived from ceremonial magic. Gardner was a brief friend of occultist Aleister Crowley (they met only a year before Crowley's death) and a member of the OTO (Ordo Templi Orientis). But Gardner's views of magic and religion did vary from that of ceremonial magic. Among other things, Crowley taught that magic was the power of will, while Wicca puts the origins of magic in the God and Goddess.
Gardner's Wicca was much more male-oriented than modern Wiccans associate with the religion. The increased female-orientation stated with his student, Doreen Valiente.
Gardner claimed that in 1939 he was initiated into the New Forest Coven by one Dorothy Clutterbuck. Whether this coven ever existed is still in question today, and if it did, how old it actually was. Gardner claimed it to be part of the Old Religion - he even had Margaret Murray write the forward of Witchcraft Today.
The simple fact is that much of what Gardner taught in his books were derived from ceremonial magic. Gardner was a brief friend of occultist Aleister Crowley (they met only a year before Crowley's death) and a member of the OTO (Ordo Templi Orientis). But Gardner's views of magic and religion did vary from that of ceremonial magic. Among other things, Crowley taught that magic was the power of will, while Wicca puts the origins of magic in the God and Goddess.
Gardner's Wicca was much more male-oriented than modern Wiccans associate with the religion. The increased female-orientation stated with his student, Doreen Valiente.
[cite]
NOTE: The website I cited above is an excellent source of Non-oathbound Wiccan Lore, and of Wiccan history as well. However, I do not agree with the author's definition of what Wicca actually is.
It's important to note that Margaret Murray, who wrote the theory of the Old Religion, was debunked years ago.
Wicca For the Rest Of Us
Much of the nonsense you might hear uttered about the history of Wicca started with an anthropologist named Margaret Murray. She was published in the 1920s, as were some lesser known supporters. You will see her name in the bibliographies of many, many books on Wicca. I generally take mention of her as a reason NOT to purchase a book. What the Wiccan books that cite her generally fail to mention, however, is that she and her theories were thoroughly discredited several decades ago due to a painful and unprofessional lack of evidence.
Was she a sham?
Murray never claimed to be Wiccan or Pagan or a follower of the Old Religion, so she had nothing to gain from deception. She probably honestly thought she was promoting historical truth.
What did she teach?
She believed, in short, that there was an ancient Old Religion in Europe far predating Christianity and that it secretly survived for centuries despite the Church's attempt to destroy it, culminating in the great witch-hunts, or Burning Times.
One of Murray's theories was that this secret pagan cult practiced voluntary human sacrifice. Every nine years a believer had to die. She puts forward several such victims, including King William Rufus (William II) of England, Saint Thomas Becket, and Saint Joan of Arc. Yes, note the "Saint" in two of those names.
Rufus was a bore of a man and detested by nearly everyone during his life, so much so that his body was quickly secured and buried before anyone could defile it. He died on a hunting excursion, when a friend "accidentally" shot him with an arrow. Ironically, historians tend to think it really was an accident. Murray suggests that this friend was in fact a fellow pagan carrying out Rufus's wishes: they had already willingly separated from the rest of a hunting party and were therefore alone.
Similarly Becket's murderers were in fact fellow pagans, according to Murray, flying straight into the face of all accepted history of the saint. Becket was a personal friend of King Henry II, and Henry arranged for him to become archbishop of Canterbury, as the politics between Church and State were not at their healthiest at the time. But Becket had a change of heart. Perhaps it was simply a bit of a power trip for him, or perhaps he did indeed experience a religious reverie. Regardless, Becket began opposing the King much as his predecessor had, until one night, while drunk, Henry famously uttered, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" Four knights took this to be an order, rode hard to Canterbury, and murdered Becket in his own cathedral. Henry was profoundly wracked by guilt, was censured by the Church, and submitted to a whipping by Church officers in penance.
The only odd fact of this whole story is that Becket had warning of the knights' arrival, and when his subordinates attempted to spirit him away, he refused. But instead of accepting this final act as submission to God's will, Murray spins this fantastical and quite illogical tale of secret religions and pagan sacrifice.
Joan of Arc's story is the most bizarre of Murray's fables. Instead of having her fellow pagans slaughter her, she allowed herself to be captured and burned at the stake at the hands of the Christian Church. What religious purpose can possibly be served at the hands of a non-believer? And if this rather sophomoric religion that Murray depicts merely needed a death, then did she not simply fall upon her sword, poison herself, even throw herself from a high wall? Instead she was tortured, humiliated and possibly raped before suffering one of the most horrific and painful methods of execution possible.
To make such claims without a shred of evidence is just plain irresponsible. To take two great heroes of someone else's religion and claim they were in fact pagans is outright insulting. And even if this crazy religion did actually exist, why on earth would modern Wiccans want to be associated with it? I've never seen a Wiccan claim Joan or Becket as among our ranks, but the idea that we would associate ourselves at all with Murray's nonsense is depressing.
Was she a sham?
Murray never claimed to be Wiccan or Pagan or a follower of the Old Religion, so she had nothing to gain from deception. She probably honestly thought she was promoting historical truth.
What did she teach?
She believed, in short, that there was an ancient Old Religion in Europe far predating Christianity and that it secretly survived for centuries despite the Church's attempt to destroy it, culminating in the great witch-hunts, or Burning Times.
One of Murray's theories was that this secret pagan cult practiced voluntary human sacrifice. Every nine years a believer had to die. She puts forward several such victims, including King William Rufus (William II) of England, Saint Thomas Becket, and Saint Joan of Arc. Yes, note the "Saint" in two of those names.
Rufus was a bore of a man and detested by nearly everyone during his life, so much so that his body was quickly secured and buried before anyone could defile it. He died on a hunting excursion, when a friend "accidentally" shot him with an arrow. Ironically, historians tend to think it really was an accident. Murray suggests that this friend was in fact a fellow pagan carrying out Rufus's wishes: they had already willingly separated from the rest of a hunting party and were therefore alone.
Similarly Becket's murderers were in fact fellow pagans, according to Murray, flying straight into the face of all accepted history of the saint. Becket was a personal friend of King Henry II, and Henry arranged for him to become archbishop of Canterbury, as the politics between Church and State were not at their healthiest at the time. But Becket had a change of heart. Perhaps it was simply a bit of a power trip for him, or perhaps he did indeed experience a religious reverie. Regardless, Becket began opposing the King much as his predecessor had, until one night, while drunk, Henry famously uttered, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" Four knights took this to be an order, rode hard to Canterbury, and murdered Becket in his own cathedral. Henry was profoundly wracked by guilt, was censured by the Church, and submitted to a whipping by Church officers in penance.
The only odd fact of this whole story is that Becket had warning of the knights' arrival, and when his subordinates attempted to spirit him away, he refused. But instead of accepting this final act as submission to God's will, Murray spins this fantastical and quite illogical tale of secret religions and pagan sacrifice.
Joan of Arc's story is the most bizarre of Murray's fables. Instead of having her fellow pagans slaughter her, she allowed herself to be captured and burned at the stake at the hands of the Christian Church. What religious purpose can possibly be served at the hands of a non-believer? And if this rather sophomoric religion that Murray depicts merely needed a death, then did she not simply fall upon her sword, poison herself, even throw herself from a high wall? Instead she was tortured, humiliated and possibly raped before suffering one of the most horrific and painful methods of execution possible.
To make such claims without a shred of evidence is just plain irresponsible. To take two great heroes of someone else's religion and claim they were in fact pagans is outright insulting. And even if this crazy religion did actually exist, why on earth would modern Wiccans want to be associated with it? I've never seen a Wiccan claim Joan or Becket as among our ranks, but the idea that we would associate ourselves at all with Murray's nonsense is depressing.
[cite]
1.1 - Um, ceremonial magic?
Yes, ceremonial magic. As you may or may not know, the type of magic that Wiccans use is the type commonly called Ceremonial Magic. A few of you may be confused by this: after all, Silver Ravenwolf never mentioned ceremonial magic, and from the name, it doesn't sound like it could be done using the Teen Witch Kit. But enough of my pretentious babbling.
Ceremonial magic is generally considered the most complex form of magic. This has obviously been bastardized as the religion continues to be watered down: Wicca seems to have gone from complex ritual and elaborate magic theory to chanting over a green candle to make more money.
Ceremonial magic is commonly associated with and inspired by Hermeticism, which is the practice (and study) of magic, specifically that associated with writings attributed to the god Hermes Trismegistus, the syncretism of the greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. Astrology and Alchemy are both parts of ceremonial magic and Hermeticism. As for Alchemy, I think it should be known (for those who don't feel like clicking the links) that Alchemy is NOT the same as science. It is a precursor to chemistry and science, yes, but since it was created before the scientific method and does not involve the scientific method, it is not really scientific. It's more of a philosophical practice than a scientific one: which is to say that it was less geared towards literally turning lead into gold, and more concerned into taking symbolic 'lead' (which is to say, a common person) into symbolic 'gold' (like a priest or king or deity, etc.).
The group that is often considered to be the most influential to the development of ceremonial magic in our time is The Golden Dawn. This group also heavily influence Wicca.
1.1.1 - Um, the Golden Dawn?
Yes, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Found in London in the year 1887 AD by three British Freemasons by the name of Dr. William Robert Woodman, Dr. William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers.
Israel Regardie, a famous member of the Order,
"The Order of the G.D. [Golden Dawn] is an Hermetic Society whose members are taught the principles of Occult Science and the Magic of Hermes."
It is important to note that the Golden Dawn is not a religion. People of many religions have joined the order (including Christians - indeed, Christian symbolism has heavily influence ceremonial magic) in the past and there is no specific belief required for members. It is an order for practitioners of ceremonial magic and people who wish to grow spiritually.
1.2 - Triste, your history is wrong. I thought...
Nope.
But Wicca is older than Christianity!
Wicca was never male based! Ancient Wiccan societies were matriarchal!
Wicca was simply hidden for thousands of years, that's why there's no evidence of it!
If you have any other issues with my history, please post them in the thread, and they will be addressed.
2 - Ok, whatever. But what do Wiccans actually believe?
Oh, all sorts of neat things.
2.1 - Do they believe in God?
Yes, but not the same God that others may believe in. They believe in one God and one Goddess, and as such are ditheistic. As to the nature of these two deities, here are the words of Gerald Gardner himself.
Gerald Gardner, the aforementioned founder of Wicca,
Now G. (the Goddess) had never loved, but she would solve all mysteries, even the mystery of Death, and so she journeyed to the nether lands. The guardians of the portals challenged her. "Strip off thy garments, lay aside thy jewels, for nought may ye bring with you into this our land." So she laid down her garments and her jewels and was bound as are all who enter the realms of Death, the mighty one. [Original footnote: See Note 2(page 159). This concerns the practice of binding after death.]
Such was her beauty that Death himself knelt and kissed her feet, saying: "Blessed be thy feet that have brought thee in these ways. Abide with me, but let me place my cold hand on thy heart." And she replied: "I love thee not. Why doest thou cause all things that I love and take delight in to fade and die?" "Lady," replied Death, "'tis age and fate, against which I am helpless. Age causes all things to wither; but when men die at the end of time, I give them rest and peace and strength so that may return. But you, you are lovely. Return not; abide with me." But she answered: "I love thee not." Then said Death: "As you receive not my hand on your heart, you must receive Death's scourge." "It is fate, better so," she said, and she knelt. Death scourged her and she cried: "I know the pangs of love." And Death said: "Blessed be," and gave her the fivefold kiss, saying: "Thus only may you attain to joy and knowledge."
And he taught her all the mysteries, and they loved and were one; and he taught her all the magics. For there are three great events in the life of man -- love, death and resurrection in the new body -- and magic controls them all. To fulfil love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved ones, and you must remember and love her or him again. But to be reborn you must die and be made ready for a new body; to die you must be born; without love you may not be born, and this is all the magic.
[cite]
NOTE: This website seems to be broken as I am writing this. That's really, really not good for me, because I don't actually own the things cited on the website. If anyone else A) owns them and can cover me or B) knows another website where Gardner is directly quoted, please contact me.
Gardner
Authentic witchcraft is certainly not black magic, because witches do not even believe in the devil, let alone invoke him. The Old Horned God of the witches is not the Satan of Christianity, and no amount of theological argument will make him so. He is, in fact, the oldest deity known to man, and is depicted in the oldest representation of a divinity which has yet been found, namely the Stone Age painting in the innermost recess of the Caverne des Trois Freres at Ariege. He is the old phallic god of fertility who has come forth from the morning of the world, and who was already of immeasurable antiquity before Egypt and Babylon, let alone before the Christian era. Nor did he perish at the cry that Great Pan was dead.
Secretly through the centuries, hidden deeper and deeper as time went on, his worship and that of the naked Moon Goddess, his bride, the Lady of Mystery and Magic and the forbidden joys, continued sometimes among the great ones of the land, sometimes in humble cottages, or on lonely heaths and in the depths of darkling woods, on summer nights when the moon rode high. It does so still.
Secretly through the centuries, hidden deeper and deeper as time went on, his worship and that of the naked Moon Goddess, his bride, the Lady of Mystery and Magic and the forbidden joys, continued sometimes among the great ones of the land, sometimes in humble cottages, or on lonely heaths and in the depths of darkling woods, on summer nights when the moon rode high. It does so still.
Wicca is, simply put, the fertility cult that worships the Lord and Lady of the Isles. These two deities, male and female, are often refered to, in non-oathbound Wiccan Lore, by the names of various historical gods and goddesses. Their true names are oathbound mysteries revealed only to initiates of lineaged covens. Gardner, for instance, occasionally refers to the Lord as Janus, and the Lady as Diana:
Gardner
Hence the Lord of the Gates of Death is also the phallic deity of fertility, the Opener of the Door of LIfe.
This is why the witches' god was incorporated into the Roman pantheon as Janus, the two-faced god who was Guardian of the Gates. He and his consort Diana are two of the oldest deities of Western Europe, and Diana is named in the Canon Episcopi of the early tenth century as being the goddess of the witches.
This is why the witches' god was incorporated into the Roman pantheon as Janus, the two-faced god who was Guardian of the Gates. He and his consort Diana are two of the oldest deities of Western Europe, and Diana is named in the Canon Episcopi of the early tenth century as being the goddess of the witches.
Other 'names' of the goddess:
Gardner
"Dame Habonde" was Abundia, the Goddess of Fertility, and "Bensozia" was "Bona Socia", The Good Neighbour". All these terms are titles of the Witch Goddess, and euphemisms for her real name, even as her followers, the witches, are referred to as "les bonnes dames". Other terms for the Goddess were "La Reine Pedauque", the Queen with the Goose-Foot (the "goose-foot" being itself a euphemism for her sigh, the Pentagram); and "Frau Hilde" or "Holda" in Teutonic countries.
It is important to note that Wicca is not necessarily pantheistic - while Gardner associates the god and goddess with many deities, he does not associate them with all other deities. No, YHVH (the Christian God) is not an aspect of the Lord, no is Kali an aspect of the Lady.
Deoridhe
Also, as an FYI, the Maiden/Mother/Crone model of goddess upon which the Wiccan Goddess rests/is formed appears to have come from Robert Graves' book The White Goddess. Historical triple goddesses were not age and fertility based.
The 'Maiden/Mother/Crone' model is one commonly used among Neopagans in general. The maiden is the aspect of childhood, adolescence, beginnings, purity, virginity, independence, and courage. The mother is the aspect of motherhood, protection, fertility, growth, and sexuality. The crone is the aspect of old age, wisdom, change, transformation, death, rebirth, and banishing.
These three goddess aspects generally correspond with phases of the mood. The maiden is the waxing phase, the mother is the full moon, and the crone is the waning phase. People often associate a 'Dark Goddess' with the fourth phase.
The Wiccan Lady is indeed a moon goddess with three phases (aka a triune goddess), just as the Lord is a solar deity with two phases (aka a diune god). It is extremely important to note that the Lady is NOT, I repeat, NOT an Earth Goddess. She is not Gaia, and she is not the mother earth. Wiccan deities are celestial, not terrestrial - that is to say that they are based within the sky, not the earth itself.
2.2 - Do they believe in Heaven and Hell?
Take it away, Gerald.
Gerald Gardner
I do not think that primitive people were as afraid of death as many people are today. Living closer to nature, their psychic powers were more active, and they were used to the idea of communicating with their dead relatives and friends. They looked upon it as quite a natural thing. Hence the witches, among whom this ancient creed is still preserved in a fragmentary form, do not regard the Horned God in his form as lord of the Gates of Death as a terrifying being, nor have they any conception of a burning "Hell" such as some Christians envisage.
Their idea of the After-Life is rather that of a place of rest and refreshment, where people await their turn to be born again on this earth. This, of course, is the concept of reincarnation, which is widely held among primitive people of all kinds. To them, the most logical place for the souls of new-born babies to have come from is the Land of the Dead, where there are plenty of souls awaiting another body. Hence the Lord of the Gates of Death is also the phallic deity of fertility, the Opener of the Door of LIfe.
[...]
Dr. W., Wagner's Asgard and the Gods: the Tales and Traditions of our Northern Ancestors says of Holda "...that those who were crippled in any way were restored to full strength and power by bathing in her Quickborn (fountain of life) and that old men found their vanished youth there once more."
This is precisely the witches' Goddess of Rebirth and Resurrection; and it is the same tale which was told about the magical cauldron of the Ancient British Goddess, Cerridwen. The inner meaning in both cases is the same; the Goddess's gift is rebirth in a new body, reincarnation. "With sturdier limbs and brighter brain, the old soul takes the road again." Incidentally, this may be the inner meaning of the old British tale of Avalon, the Place of Apples. Every old Celtic tale speaks of the after-world as a place of apple-trees, but nobody seems to know just why.
If the reader cares to make the experiment of slicing an apple across, he will see the answer: the core forms the sign of the Pentagram, the symbol of the Goddess of Rebirth and Resurrection. "Avalon" was the place where souls went to rest between incarnation on earth. To this day, in the witch ritual, the Priestess first stands with her arms crossed on her breast and her feet together, to represent the God of Death, and then opens out her arms and stands with feet apart to represent the Goddess of Resurrection. In this position the human body resembles the figure of the Pentacle, or Pentagram. Because it was the place from which the old and weary soul was reborn in a young body, with its strength and courage renewed: Avalon was also called in the Celtic "Tir-nan-Og", the land of Youth.
The purpose of contacting the gods was to keep contact with the forces of life, and these were identical with the forces of magic and fertility.
"The divine itself is without needs, and the worship is paid for our own benefit. The providence of the Gods reaches everywhere, and needs only some congruity for its reception." (Compare wit the witches' idea that man had to do something to "build a bridge", so to speak, between himself and the Gods).
Their idea of the After-Life is rather that of a place of rest and refreshment, where people await their turn to be born again on this earth. This, of course, is the concept of reincarnation, which is widely held among primitive people of all kinds. To them, the most logical place for the souls of new-born babies to have come from is the Land of the Dead, where there are plenty of souls awaiting another body. Hence the Lord of the Gates of Death is also the phallic deity of fertility, the Opener of the Door of LIfe.
[...]
Dr. W., Wagner's Asgard and the Gods: the Tales and Traditions of our Northern Ancestors says of Holda "...that those who were crippled in any way were restored to full strength and power by bathing in her Quickborn (fountain of life) and that old men found their vanished youth there once more."
This is precisely the witches' Goddess of Rebirth and Resurrection; and it is the same tale which was told about the magical cauldron of the Ancient British Goddess, Cerridwen. The inner meaning in both cases is the same; the Goddess's gift is rebirth in a new body, reincarnation. "With sturdier limbs and brighter brain, the old soul takes the road again." Incidentally, this may be the inner meaning of the old British tale of Avalon, the Place of Apples. Every old Celtic tale speaks of the after-world as a place of apple-trees, but nobody seems to know just why.
If the reader cares to make the experiment of slicing an apple across, he will see the answer: the core forms the sign of the Pentagram, the symbol of the Goddess of Rebirth and Resurrection. "Avalon" was the place where souls went to rest between incarnation on earth. To this day, in the witch ritual, the Priestess first stands with her arms crossed on her breast and her feet together, to represent the God of Death, and then opens out her arms and stands with feet apart to represent the Goddess of Resurrection. In this position the human body resembles the figure of the Pentacle, or Pentagram. Because it was the place from which the old and weary soul was reborn in a young body, with its strength and courage renewed: Avalon was also called in the Celtic "Tir-nan-Og", the land of Youth.
The purpose of contacting the gods was to keep contact with the forces of life, and these were identical with the forces of magic and fertility.
"The divine itself is without needs, and the worship is paid for our own benefit. The providence of the Gods reaches everywhere, and needs only some congruity for its reception." (Compare wit the witches' idea that man had to do something to "build a bridge", so to speak, between himself and the Gods).
An interesting point concerning this was brought up by TeaDidikai:
TeaDidikai
Triste-chan
TeaDidikai
2.2 - Do they believe in Heaven and Hell?
I contest part of the assertion in so much as they do not ?believe in it at all?, within the context of the 161 Laws and law 35:
I contest part of the assertion in so much as they do not ?believe in it at all?, within the context of the 161 Laws and law 35:
35 of the 161 Laws
And if any break these Laws, even under torture, THE CURSE OF THE GODDESS SHALL BE UPON THEM, so they may never be reborn on earth and may remain where they belong, in the hell of the Christians.
As for the 161 Laws, I'll add something in about them mentioning hell, though to be honest, I would take Gardner's more official writings over the 161 Laws. There's always the possibility that the 161 were speaking metaphorically or something, and at any rate, Gardner broke those laws. They're important but not necessarily strict dogma, IMO. I would say you can disregard much of the 161 laws and still be Wiccan.
2.3 - Do they have any laws, like the Ten Commandments?
Why yes, they do. They have 161, in fact.
The 161 Laws, also known as the Old Laws.
Quote:
Theoretically, this was passed down through the years within the coven that introduced Gardner to Wicca. The problem is that no one's sure if the New Forest Coven even existed or, if it did, how old or organized it was. Even Gardner confessed what they taught was fragmentary.
It may be that the Old Laws are largely the work of Gardner himself. The Old Laws did not even come to light until 1957, when a disagreement broke out over Gardner's continued interviews with the press, despite his own rules concerning secrecy. Doreen Valiente and another covener created the "Proposed Rules for the Craft", which included a stipulation concerning the granting of interviews.
Quote:
...As a reply, Gardner claimed that these "Proposed Rules" were unneeded, since the Craft already had a set of traditional laws. He then sent his coveners "The Old Laws", a rambling document containing rules, cautions, practical advice and a smattering of theology. Ms. Valiente doubted the authenticity of these "The Old Laws" and strongly opposed them.
However, large sections of the Old Laws did appear, if not word for word, at least in concept in Gardner's Witchcraft Today in 1954.
The other interesting fact to note is the correctly used archaic language used in the Old Laws, which makes the Old Laws perhaps unique among Wiccan documents. The language, however, is uneven, employing both modern and archaic phrases. This has led to the theory that Gardner may have assembled the Laws from multiple older fragments.
It should also be noted that while the Old Laws speaks only of the punishment of burning for witches, England mostly hung their witches. Scotland, however, did burn them.
The version below is based on what is believed to be a version typewritten by Gardner himself. Many other versions, with varying spellings and word usage, also exist.
The Old Laws are sometimes broken up into the 161 Laws or 161 Rules of the Witch.
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If you actually read the old laws, you may find them somewhat disturbing: at times it becomes a guide to avoid torture, which seems paranoid, to say the least. It can even seem sexist. In reality, even Gerald Gardner ignored many of these laws (the laws about not telling anyone that you're Wiccan, obviously) and even the most hardcore traditionalists are unlikely to follow them completely. They are, however, a handy guide for dealing with conflicts within covens, among other things.
In addition to these 161 Laws, there are other laws attributed to Wicca, though few of them are actually canon. People just have a tendency to call anything involving magic 'Wiccan' whether it truly is or not.
One of these laws that is accepted as canon is called...
2.3.1 - What? What's it called? scream
The Wiccan Rede. 3nodding "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will." That's the Wiccan Rede.
Now, pay attention, because this is very important: The Rede does NOT command Wiccans to 'harm none.' The Rede technically does not prohibit anything - it merely says that anything that hurts no one is NOT prohibited. It is obviously impossible to 'harm none,' as we kill microorganisms unconciously with each breath we take.
Most Wiccans take the philosophy a step farther and take it to mean 'harm as litle as possible.'
Note that the Wiccan Credo (A poem that starts "Bide the Wiccan Laws we must // In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" and ends with the Rede) is NOT the Rede itself. It is also a bunch of nonsense, frankly. It sounds nice but has no meaning.
Phoenixfire Lune Soleil
"An it harm none, do what ye will." Despite popular belief, this does not mean "as long as you don't hurt anyone, do what you like". In actual fact, if you look at Crowley's meaning of "do what ye will", it means to act upon your true Will's desire (what is needed spiritually, not what is wanted on a materialistic level), and in the Wiccan Rede this means that so long as no-one is harmed (including yourself) by your actions, one can achieve what you truely need.
Aleister Crowley, the creator of Thelema, had a similar law, which was simply 'Do as thou wilt, that is the whole of the law.' Of course, 'as thou wilt' was, as Phoenix says, not simply what you felt like doing at the moment, but what you wanted spiritually. Apparently, if everyone knew their true will and followed it, there would be perfect harmony. Thus, 'harm none' is implied in the context of Thelema.
Crowley was considered a powerful influence on Wicca and on the occult in general.
The Simple Version for those who didn't get that:
Phoenixfire Lune Soleil
The rule of harm none technically isn't a rule to harm none. The first indication is the title "Rede" - rede means advice, and advice isn't known for it's infalability.
Apart from that, it says "an it harm none, do what ye will". That would mean "if it doesn't harm, it's permitted", it doesn't say "if it harms, it is forbidden".
There is a difference between those two statements:
"If it doesn't harm, it's permitted"
This indicates that an action which doesn't harm is ok to do, but it doesn't say that actions which do cause harm are not allowed.
"If it harms, it is forbidden"
This is directly saying that certain actions are forbidden to do, but this is not what the Rede says.
A basic interpretation of the Rede would be encouragment of harmless acts, but it washes its hands of anything harmful and leaves it up to the Wiccan to decide if they should do it or not. So basically, if it causes harm, it's your choice: you aren't bound by any rules that say you shouldn't do it.
Apart from that, it says "an it harm none, do what ye will". That would mean "if it doesn't harm, it's permitted", it doesn't say "if it harms, it is forbidden".
There is a difference between those two statements:
"If it doesn't harm, it's permitted"
This indicates that an action which doesn't harm is ok to do, but it doesn't say that actions which do cause harm are not allowed.
"If it harms, it is forbidden"
This is directly saying that certain actions are forbidden to do, but this is not what the Rede says.
A basic interpretation of the Rede would be encouragment of harmless acts, but it washes its hands of anything harmful and leaves it up to the Wiccan to decide if they should do it or not. So basically, if it causes harm, it's your choice: you aren't bound by any rules that say you shouldn't do it.
