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Wiccan Ethics: More than just Harm None

© Karen Mitchell

First off, let's get one thing straight. Wiccan Ethics are more than just the Rede, and the Rede does NOT mean "Don't hurt anything, ever, because if you DO it will come back to bite you three-fold." A lot of folks make that common misinterpretation, and the tap dancing I've seen them do to justify that position would make Gene Kelly jealous. Wiccan ethics are actually a lot simpler than that, and yet a lot more complex. That's the paradox of ethics.

Let's start with examining the "Harm None" couplet of the Rede: An' it harm none, do what you will. Loosely translated into modern English, it means, "If it doesn't cause harm, do what you like." This is not a "shall not" at all. Rather, it's a "shall". Anything that doesn't cause harm is fine to do. That's an enormously freeing statement. It means that we aren't bound by someone else's moral code, only our own. All acts of pleasure are sacred to us.

But what about actions that do cause harm? Isn't that where the "Law of Three" comes in? Yes, and no. The "Law of Three" really isn't a law, per se, and it's hard to find any sources for the origins of this principle in early Wiccan writings, according to a very well-researched paper found on http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics. There are some sources for a "Law of Return", which basically states that whatever you put out you'll get back. Or, in other words: you reap what you sow, good and bad. This makes sense to me, given the physical law of "equal and opposite reaction": whatever you put out into the world will also push back on you.

Of course, this also depends on how one defines "harm". How do we know which actions will cause harm and which will not? I define harm as "deliberately hurting someone or something unnecessarily". The two key words there are "deliberately" and "unnecessarily". Deliberately implies conscious intent. You intend to cause harm with your actions, therefore you're aware of what you're doing and ought to be prepared for the consequences. "Unnecessarily" implies that there are actions that will not cause harm that you choose not to do.

Looking at my definition, you'll see that my concept of harm leaves out key things like killing something to eat it, and self-defense. These are necessary harms. You must kill a plant or animal in order to get the nutrition you need to survive. Sometimes you must hurt or kill something that's threatening you in order to survive. It also leaves out unintentional things, like stepping on a bug or accidentally running over a squirrel with your car. I believe that these actions come without consequence.

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