| Ethics & Etiquette |
When we speak of ethics and etiquette in relation to paganism what are we referring to? Are we
speaking of outdated rules and actions that no longer have meaning and we only give lip service
to? I don't believe so. Ethics and etiquette are living, breathing codes of life, shaping our
actions in relation to each other, and ourselves. They are a guiding force in the way we live our
lives.
Let us first look at ethics. Ethics are defined as -a set of principles; moral philosophy; rules or
standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession; human duty; a
particular system of principles and rules concerning duty, whether true or false; rules of practice
in respect to a single class of human actions; motivation based on ideas of right and wrong; the
philosophical study of moral values and rules.
When we begin to speak of ethics, we need to realize that this can be a very touchy subject. We
are human after all, and we want to think our ethics are the correct ones. While there are
generally accepted community ethics, it is personal ethics that make up who we are. And these
are not the same for each person.
Before we begin to discuss in depth community and person ethics let us first look at the Rede,
the most common code of conduct among Wiccans.
Bide the Wiccan law ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust;
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill;
'An ye harm none, do as ye will';
Lest in self-defense it be, ever mind the rule of three;
Follow this with mind and heart;
And merry ye meet and merry ye part.
Every Wiccan knows the Rede. Our major guideline of ethic is here. And the reason for
disregarding this ethic, as well as the consequences of breaking it foolishly. When we extract
the line most popular -An ye harm none, do as ye will' and begin to dissect it, we have to wonder
"Is this an ethic we can every achieve?"
"I believe the Rede is a standard of living, like all ethics, and one that is an impossibility to
achieve. The goal is to live as closely to the Rede as possible. In the attempt to do this, we
begin to analyze our actions. We follow the path of LEAST harm. Thus, we begin to live
conscious of our actions, and how they affect the world around us. And here comes the REAL
lesson of the Rede. It forces us to have personal responsibility. Once you have acknowledged
that the Rede is a goal to work for and not a given situation, and have taken of the blinders that
let you go around smug and happy that your religion is so sweet it makes your teeth itch, you
can get down to the work of making your life an ethical one. What this involves is considering
each decision in the light of the Rede before you decide upon a course of action. You do this by
looking at all the possible consequences of that action and whether that will cause harm to any,
choosing the path that causes the least harm and, (THIS IS THE KEY) accepting the
responsibility for the consequences of your actions whether intentional or unintentional. " -
Lark, HPS of Tangled Moon Coven.
Wicca is a path of that stresses personal responsibility. We strive to live in an aware state.
When we do this, we recognize our free will, and the free will of others. If we ignore the lesson
of personal responsibility, we fail to realize our true spiritual potential and our true spiritual will.
As we begin our path, we must develop a set of personal ethics, while maintaining a respect for
the ethics of the community we are becoming a part of. Some community ethics are very well
defined.
-Don't attempt to harm another or interfere with their free will.
-Always act in a way that will reflect well upon your path. Never do anything that will bring harm
to the Craft.
Since Wicca is a very open path and we do not believe in 'ONE RIGHT WAY FOR ALL'
regardless of your tradition, most of the ethics defined by community are concerning harm to
others, and harm to the Craft.
But to begin a spiritual path, and to follow it every day of your life, you must develop your own
set of personal ethics that define the way you live. No one can tell you what your personal ethics
should be. Your teachers, mentors, High Priestess and Elders can all recommend both in word
and deed ethics that work for them. You may be given a 'Book of the Law' that governs your
group or tradition. If you are a solitary Neo-Wiccan, you may read on the net, or in a book,
acceptable codes of conduct, or ideals. But you cannot take someone else's ethics and make
them your own. You must do some soul searching, and decide how you feel about things. Now I
am NOT suggesting that you ignore your High Priestess, or your teachers and mentors. I am
suggesting that you should always temper wisdom with personal experience. You must come to a
point that you are willing to question what you are taught, to grow in your own self. Through
this, your own sense of ethics and morals will come.
Now, here comes the biggie. What do you do when your personal ethics are in direct conflict with
accepted community ethics? For example-it has become a phenomenon in the pagan community
to love everything white and full of light, and shun everything dark and full of shadow. It has
become unacceptable to speak of negative emotions like anger and envy. It has become
unacceptable to feel hate towards another person, wish that a murderer would get the death
penalty, which that rapist would get castrated by a bunch of angry women. Some of us fondly
refer to this a fluffy bunny Wicca, no offense to anything fluffy, or bunnies. We are taught to
love unconditionally because we are all brothers and sisters, connected to each other and every
living thing. We are taught that if we experience these emotions, maybe we aren't all that
spiritual, and especially not as much as Miss Crystal love and light. We are often looked down
upon if we say something like 'I am so damn mad at my ex husband I could smack him'. The
response I myself have heard to such comment is 'my my, now THAT wasn't very positive'.
Well, guess what. It WASN'T. Now I am not saying that you should indulge in these emotions
and wallow. They can be deterrents to developing a sound spiritual identity because they are
'negative' in the sense that they are base emotions that drain your energy and are not conducive
to the Work. But they also teach us lessons that can lead to spiritual epiphanies.
Life is a balance between light and dark. Nature is both beautifully creative and frighteningly
destructive. Inside of a single human there is light and shadow, and to be totally balanced we
must learn to face both, experience both and therefore learn from both. So back to the original
question. Let's say you don't feel that you are evil if you feel anger at another person or what
have you. What do you do when community ethics conflict with your personal ethics? In my
opinion, as long as what you are doing does not come into direct conflict with the good of the
general community, or does not manipulate or purposefully harm another person, then your
personal ethics should come first. You should not do something maliciously to another person.
When you do this, you are not only harming yourself, but you are harming that person, and at
times the rest of the community depending on what you do.
Do ethics change over time? Do you think that the ethics of our ancestors of 100, 200 or even
1000 or more years ago are the same as what they are now? I believe that ethics are a revolving
and ever changing system. Some become outdated, and some we should always keep. For
instance, it has only been in the recent public knowledge of Wicca in the last 60 years or so that
the belief of 'An ye harm none, do as ye will' was known. In times past, a witch who could not
curse, could not heal. Societies have not always believed that you should not harm another
person, or that interfering with someone life was a bad thing. The old wise woman of a village
was sought out for every reason from fertility, to love, to revenge. It has been in our time only,
with the resurgence of beliefs and the discrimination that we face, that we have adopted some of
the common ethics we now have. In the society that we now live in, and the information that is
available there is no longer a large need to seek out the crone of the village and ask her to grant
you revenge on your enemy. This is the perfect example of how ethics change with time. At one
time it was ethical for old men to mate with young girls. In our culture, it is no longer ethical.
So ethics change, and so they should. Change is the only constant in the universe. Without it
we grow stagnate and our lives become filled with rot and decay. Change blows in new thought to
help recreate our lives, our beliefs and yes, even out ethics.
The other common code of conduct that we hear of in the Pagan community is 'Do what thou wilt
shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the Law, love under will.' This comes from Aleister
Crowley, from his book entitled 'The Book of the Law'. Now knowing some of the things that we
do about Crowley, it's almost humorous to think of him in a discussion of ethics, except to point
to what not to do maybe! But, this is a very powerful outlook on developing your own set of
personal ethics.
In my understanding 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love
under will' does not mean you may do as you wish and that is it. It is speaking of your TRUE
will, your TRUE purpose in life. And if you are following your true or higher will and purpose
you will not come into conflict with another's will so therefore you do not have to worry about
stepping on anyone else's toes. So you don't have to worry about harming another, because you
are in touch with the divine and you are following your own spiritual path and will, which will not
cause harm or conflict with another. Of course, we still have conflicts with people. One way to
look at this is as a spiritual lesson for either you or the other person. But if you are seeking to
control another or harm another, this is not your true will. This is based upon the belief that
every person is an individual, and as an individual you should be true to your own nature or
consciousness. You must find your true will and make all of your actions subservient to the one
great purpose. This again leads to conscious living.
If ethics are codes of personal and community conduct, then etiquette is a code of social conduct.
Etiquette is defined as -the practices and forms prescribed by social convention or by authority;
forms of conduct prescribed by polite society; code of correct conduct; also decorum denotes
conformity with established standards of manners or behavior; the forms required by good
breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the
proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society; rules
governing acceptable behavior.
Just like Emily Post and polite society, we in the Pagan community have behavior that is
expected from us in how we interact with that community. In my opinion, etiquette is something
sorely lacking in many Pagans. They are not taught certain things about how we interact with
each other. This could be because maybe you didn't have a teacher, or your teacher didn't know
them either. Or it could be because you or those who taught you just didn't care, it wasn't
important to them. But I feel that etiquette is VERY important. It keeps us civilized, it aids us
in how we interact and it shows the outside world that we know how to act.
Beyond the mundane world and its social etiquette take a look at some things that are
considered good manners among the Wica and the broader pagan community.
1. You should never touch someone else's magickal tools and items without their express
permission. If you see something you like and want to touch, then ASK. Don't just hold out
your hand for it, or just pick it up. A person leaves an imprint of their energy on what they
touch, and they may not want someone else's energy on their magickal items. This includes
athames all the way to stones and jewelry. And do not take offense if you ask and are told no.
2. The way you live reflects on our whole community. You should always respect others, no
matter their path. Inside your own religion thee is a certain higher respect given each other, as
Children of the Goddess. This comes from a basic understanding of the hardships of the path,
and the process we all go through in some way to evolve. It can be equated to any secret society
and it's initiation process and path of self-discovery. This path is not for everyone, and if you
take it seriously, will change your life in ways you could never imagine. Any path that causes
growth can be difficult. And we link with others that are going through the same thing we are
and take strength from and learn from them.
3. We endeavor to hold ourselves to a high standard of living our spiritual lives that the
mundane world does not. Therefore we support each other, lending a hand when the pitfalls of
the world come about.
4. When someone gives of themselves to teach or guide, we recognize that person's giving, and
respect it. Not all of us are called to teach, and those who are offer a valuable service that should
not be taken for granted.
5. When you are called to teach or guide, you have been given a very serious part to play in your
community. You should never abuse it in any way. It also does not mean that you may use it as
a way to gain power over, or look down upon any other person. We are all where we should be on
our path, and it does not mean a thing that you have 10 or 20 years of service and someone else
has 1. We are all equal in the eyes of the Gods. And if you are a teacher, you are held to an
even higher state of conduct. You must never involve yourself in anything that could cause
harm to your students or to the Craft. You should never do anything that would bring a bad
light on us. For instance, you should never become romantically involved with one of your
students. You should not condone the use of illegal drugs, or alcohol if the person is not of age.
You should not use your position to control your students, or make them dependent on you. The
goal is to aid a person on this path. You supply the seed as a teacher. You cannot take them by
the hand and learn from them, or be easy on them when you should be honest.
6. In that same light, those who would be considered an elder in our faith are given a large
amount of respect. The wisdom that is gained from following this path for 10, 20 or 30 years is
an asset to our community, and we should respect the Elders of the community for what they
have learned and what they teach us.
7. Due to the advent of the internet, there is a phenomenon growing among new seekers that is
very disturbing. It involves not understanding the hard work it takes to learn the Old Ways, or
the dedication and self sacrifice those who follow, and especially those who teach and guide give
to the path. From this lack of understanding, new seekers think they can go to any page on the
net, learn what they can and be done with it. It also leads them to think that they can ask for
what they want, and someone will just hand it over. For example, I have been asked to send
someone a copy of my BOS. This shows me that the person requesting this has no idea of what a
BOS is, what it stands for and the process that is gone through to acquire it. This is flat out rude
to begin with. This person wants their religion hand fed to them. They want to skip the hard
work, the dedication, the pitfalls and the trials, and get right to the reward. This is simply not
how it's done. This person wants the secrets and mysteries handed to them on a silver platter,
without having to leave the comfort of the computer chair and work for them. This isn't
possible. And I am here to say STOP. Be mindful of what you are asking. You can't go to the
net, read a page or two, then go ask someone for their BOS, or even ask them to teach you.
There must be effort on your part. You are not an adept after reading a page, or a book, or even
ten books. The mysteries cannot be handed to you on a silver platter and you are a master of
the universe. This is what I call lazy Wicca, and through lazy Wicca you will never come to
experience the mysteries, because they come through dedication, hard work and a personal
dedication to the Gods.
8. Those who are out of the closet must NEVER give away the secrets of their brothers and
sisters. You should never give any personal information. You should never tell the secrets of a
coven, who it's leaders are, who the members are or any other information. We must honor our
vows and protect those who for whatever reason have chosen to remain hidden from the eyes of
the world.
9. For those who are out of the closet, your life and your actions must be above reproach in the
eyes of the world. As an open pagan, you may be the only one that a non pagan every sees.
They will see every Pagan in you. So in all things you must be truthful. You must live with
dignity and honor.
In our discussion of ethics and etiquette the point I am trying to impress upon you is this: We
have become a society who thinks that we may do as we please, act as we please and there are no
consequences. We fight with the Christians. We complain about how they fight amongst
themselves. We sneer at them when they point to another of them and say how that person is
wrong and they way they practice is wrong. And yet, WE DO THE SAME THING.
When I meet a fellow priestess, I treat her with respect as a person, and doubly so as a priestess,
since I know how hard that path can be, to have dedicated your life and your service to the Gods
and the Old Ways. If I meet someone who has been walking the path for 20 or 30 years, I
respect that person because of the knowledge they have obtained in that time. That is not to say
my 10 years is less, or they are 'more spiritual' than me. It is saying that this path is not an
easy one all the time, and to have lived it every day for that amount of time is deserving of
respect. I was taught as a child to respect my elders, and I believe that is still a valid lesson.
The elders of this path can teach us things that we have never even thought of. At the same
time, as an elder, you should always remember what it was like to take your first stumbling
steps on this path, and how you may have longed for some guidance. It is just as wrong to be an
elder, and act as if you know everything, or someone who is only 20 or whatever age could never
be a spiritual person. We all must remember our ethics and etiquette, and encourage each other
every day.
We have forgotten to practice our personal ethics, and have thrown etiquette out the window.
We have forgotten Emily Post and Miss Manners, and have went on about our merry little way to
fight like cats and dogs, without even offering basic human respect for those with diverging
views, and this troubles me. It is a plague that is infecting our community. The Witch Wars
continue. We struggle to make our way the right way, even if we don't realize we are doing this.
We forget the very basic teaching that we are all connected, and that all paths are valid, as long
as they fulfill our spiritual needs.
Let us remember our ethics. Let us live our lives with honor, treating all of life with respect.
Follow your own path, without interference into another's. Work hard, study hard and receive
the blessings of a life well lived.
(C) Morgaine 2001
speaking of outdated rules and actions that no longer have meaning and we only give lip service
to? I don't believe so. Ethics and etiquette are living, breathing codes of life, shaping our
actions in relation to each other, and ourselves. They are a guiding force in the way we live our
lives.
Let us first look at ethics. Ethics are defined as -a set of principles; moral philosophy; rules or
standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession; human duty; a
particular system of principles and rules concerning duty, whether true or false; rules of practice
in respect to a single class of human actions; motivation based on ideas of right and wrong; the
philosophical study of moral values and rules.
When we begin to speak of ethics, we need to realize that this can be a very touchy subject. We
are human after all, and we want to think our ethics are the correct ones. While there are
generally accepted community ethics, it is personal ethics that make up who we are. And these
are not the same for each person.
Before we begin to discuss in depth community and person ethics let us first look at the Rede,
the most common code of conduct among Wiccans.
Bide the Wiccan law ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust;
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill;
'An ye harm none, do as ye will';
Lest in self-defense it be, ever mind the rule of three;
Follow this with mind and heart;
And merry ye meet and merry ye part.
Every Wiccan knows the Rede. Our major guideline of ethic is here. And the reason for
disregarding this ethic, as well as the consequences of breaking it foolishly. When we extract
the line most popular -An ye harm none, do as ye will' and begin to dissect it, we have to wonder
"Is this an ethic we can every achieve?"
"I believe the Rede is a standard of living, like all ethics, and one that is an impossibility to
achieve. The goal is to live as closely to the Rede as possible. In the attempt to do this, we
begin to analyze our actions. We follow the path of LEAST harm. Thus, we begin to live
conscious of our actions, and how they affect the world around us. And here comes the REAL
lesson of the Rede. It forces us to have personal responsibility. Once you have acknowledged
that the Rede is a goal to work for and not a given situation, and have taken of the blinders that
let you go around smug and happy that your religion is so sweet it makes your teeth itch, you
can get down to the work of making your life an ethical one. What this involves is considering
each decision in the light of the Rede before you decide upon a course of action. You do this by
looking at all the possible consequences of that action and whether that will cause harm to any,
choosing the path that causes the least harm and, (THIS IS THE KEY) accepting the
responsibility for the consequences of your actions whether intentional or unintentional. " -
Lark, HPS of Tangled Moon Coven.
Wicca is a path of that stresses personal responsibility. We strive to live in an aware state.
When we do this, we recognize our free will, and the free will of others. If we ignore the lesson
of personal responsibility, we fail to realize our true spiritual potential and our true spiritual will.
As we begin our path, we must develop a set of personal ethics, while maintaining a respect for
the ethics of the community we are becoming a part of. Some community ethics are very well
defined.
-Don't attempt to harm another or interfere with their free will.
-Always act in a way that will reflect well upon your path. Never do anything that will bring harm
to the Craft.
Since Wicca is a very open path and we do not believe in 'ONE RIGHT WAY FOR ALL'
regardless of your tradition, most of the ethics defined by community are concerning harm to
others, and harm to the Craft.
But to begin a spiritual path, and to follow it every day of your life, you must develop your own
set of personal ethics that define the way you live. No one can tell you what your personal ethics
should be. Your teachers, mentors, High Priestess and Elders can all recommend both in word
and deed ethics that work for them. You may be given a 'Book of the Law' that governs your
group or tradition. If you are a solitary Neo-Wiccan, you may read on the net, or in a book,
acceptable codes of conduct, or ideals. But you cannot take someone else's ethics and make
them your own. You must do some soul searching, and decide how you feel about things. Now I
am NOT suggesting that you ignore your High Priestess, or your teachers and mentors. I am
suggesting that you should always temper wisdom with personal experience. You must come to a
point that you are willing to question what you are taught, to grow in your own self. Through
this, your own sense of ethics and morals will come.
Now, here comes the biggie. What do you do when your personal ethics are in direct conflict with
accepted community ethics? For example-it has become a phenomenon in the pagan community
to love everything white and full of light, and shun everything dark and full of shadow. It has
become unacceptable to speak of negative emotions like anger and envy. It has become
unacceptable to feel hate towards another person, wish that a murderer would get the death
penalty, which that rapist would get castrated by a bunch of angry women. Some of us fondly
refer to this a fluffy bunny Wicca, no offense to anything fluffy, or bunnies. We are taught to
love unconditionally because we are all brothers and sisters, connected to each other and every
living thing. We are taught that if we experience these emotions, maybe we aren't all that
spiritual, and especially not as much as Miss Crystal love and light. We are often looked down
upon if we say something like 'I am so damn mad at my ex husband I could smack him'. The
response I myself have heard to such comment is 'my my, now THAT wasn't very positive'.
Well, guess what. It WASN'T. Now I am not saying that you should indulge in these emotions
and wallow. They can be deterrents to developing a sound spiritual identity because they are
'negative' in the sense that they are base emotions that drain your energy and are not conducive
to the Work. But they also teach us lessons that can lead to spiritual epiphanies.
Life is a balance between light and dark. Nature is both beautifully creative and frighteningly
destructive. Inside of a single human there is light and shadow, and to be totally balanced we
must learn to face both, experience both and therefore learn from both. So back to the original
question. Let's say you don't feel that you are evil if you feel anger at another person or what
have you. What do you do when community ethics conflict with your personal ethics? In my
opinion, as long as what you are doing does not come into direct conflict with the good of the
general community, or does not manipulate or purposefully harm another person, then your
personal ethics should come first. You should not do something maliciously to another person.
When you do this, you are not only harming yourself, but you are harming that person, and at
times the rest of the community depending on what you do.
Do ethics change over time? Do you think that the ethics of our ancestors of 100, 200 or even
1000 or more years ago are the same as what they are now? I believe that ethics are a revolving
and ever changing system. Some become outdated, and some we should always keep. For
instance, it has only been in the recent public knowledge of Wicca in the last 60 years or so that
the belief of 'An ye harm none, do as ye will' was known. In times past, a witch who could not
curse, could not heal. Societies have not always believed that you should not harm another
person, or that interfering with someone life was a bad thing. The old wise woman of a village
was sought out for every reason from fertility, to love, to revenge. It has been in our time only,
with the resurgence of beliefs and the discrimination that we face, that we have adopted some of
the common ethics we now have. In the society that we now live in, and the information that is
available there is no longer a large need to seek out the crone of the village and ask her to grant
you revenge on your enemy. This is the perfect example of how ethics change with time. At one
time it was ethical for old men to mate with young girls. In our culture, it is no longer ethical.
So ethics change, and so they should. Change is the only constant in the universe. Without it
we grow stagnate and our lives become filled with rot and decay. Change blows in new thought to
help recreate our lives, our beliefs and yes, even out ethics.
The other common code of conduct that we hear of in the Pagan community is 'Do what thou wilt
shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the Law, love under will.' This comes from Aleister
Crowley, from his book entitled 'The Book of the Law'. Now knowing some of the things that we
do about Crowley, it's almost humorous to think of him in a discussion of ethics, except to point
to what not to do maybe! But, this is a very powerful outlook on developing your own set of
personal ethics.
In my understanding 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love
under will' does not mean you may do as you wish and that is it. It is speaking of your TRUE
will, your TRUE purpose in life. And if you are following your true or higher will and purpose
you will not come into conflict with another's will so therefore you do not have to worry about
stepping on anyone else's toes. So you don't have to worry about harming another, because you
are in touch with the divine and you are following your own spiritual path and will, which will not
cause harm or conflict with another. Of course, we still have conflicts with people. One way to
look at this is as a spiritual lesson for either you or the other person. But if you are seeking to
control another or harm another, this is not your true will. This is based upon the belief that
every person is an individual, and as an individual you should be true to your own nature or
consciousness. You must find your true will and make all of your actions subservient to the one
great purpose. This again leads to conscious living.
If ethics are codes of personal and community conduct, then etiquette is a code of social conduct.
Etiquette is defined as -the practices and forms prescribed by social convention or by authority;
forms of conduct prescribed by polite society; code of correct conduct; also decorum denotes
conformity with established standards of manners or behavior; the forms required by good
breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the
proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society; rules
governing acceptable behavior.
Just like Emily Post and polite society, we in the Pagan community have behavior that is
expected from us in how we interact with that community. In my opinion, etiquette is something
sorely lacking in many Pagans. They are not taught certain things about how we interact with
each other. This could be because maybe you didn't have a teacher, or your teacher didn't know
them either. Or it could be because you or those who taught you just didn't care, it wasn't
important to them. But I feel that etiquette is VERY important. It keeps us civilized, it aids us
in how we interact and it shows the outside world that we know how to act.
Beyond the mundane world and its social etiquette take a look at some things that are
considered good manners among the Wica and the broader pagan community.
1. You should never touch someone else's magickal tools and items without their express
permission. If you see something you like and want to touch, then ASK. Don't just hold out
your hand for it, or just pick it up. A person leaves an imprint of their energy on what they
touch, and they may not want someone else's energy on their magickal items. This includes
athames all the way to stones and jewelry. And do not take offense if you ask and are told no.
2. The way you live reflects on our whole community. You should always respect others, no
matter their path. Inside your own religion thee is a certain higher respect given each other, as
Children of the Goddess. This comes from a basic understanding of the hardships of the path,
and the process we all go through in some way to evolve. It can be equated to any secret society
and it's initiation process and path of self-discovery. This path is not for everyone, and if you
take it seriously, will change your life in ways you could never imagine. Any path that causes
growth can be difficult. And we link with others that are going through the same thing we are
and take strength from and learn from them.
3. We endeavor to hold ourselves to a high standard of living our spiritual lives that the
mundane world does not. Therefore we support each other, lending a hand when the pitfalls of
the world come about.
4. When someone gives of themselves to teach or guide, we recognize that person's giving, and
respect it. Not all of us are called to teach, and those who are offer a valuable service that should
not be taken for granted.
5. When you are called to teach or guide, you have been given a very serious part to play in your
community. You should never abuse it in any way. It also does not mean that you may use it as
a way to gain power over, or look down upon any other person. We are all where we should be on
our path, and it does not mean a thing that you have 10 or 20 years of service and someone else
has 1. We are all equal in the eyes of the Gods. And if you are a teacher, you are held to an
even higher state of conduct. You must never involve yourself in anything that could cause
harm to your students or to the Craft. You should never do anything that would bring a bad
light on us. For instance, you should never become romantically involved with one of your
students. You should not condone the use of illegal drugs, or alcohol if the person is not of age.
You should not use your position to control your students, or make them dependent on you. The
goal is to aid a person on this path. You supply the seed as a teacher. You cannot take them by
the hand and learn from them, or be easy on them when you should be honest.
6. In that same light, those who would be considered an elder in our faith are given a large
amount of respect. The wisdom that is gained from following this path for 10, 20 or 30 years is
an asset to our community, and we should respect the Elders of the community for what they
have learned and what they teach us.
7. Due to the advent of the internet, there is a phenomenon growing among new seekers that is
very disturbing. It involves not understanding the hard work it takes to learn the Old Ways, or
the dedication and self sacrifice those who follow, and especially those who teach and guide give
to the path. From this lack of understanding, new seekers think they can go to any page on the
net, learn what they can and be done with it. It also leads them to think that they can ask for
what they want, and someone will just hand it over. For example, I have been asked to send
someone a copy of my BOS. This shows me that the person requesting this has no idea of what a
BOS is, what it stands for and the process that is gone through to acquire it. This is flat out rude
to begin with. This person wants their religion hand fed to them. They want to skip the hard
work, the dedication, the pitfalls and the trials, and get right to the reward. This is simply not
how it's done. This person wants the secrets and mysteries handed to them on a silver platter,
without having to leave the comfort of the computer chair and work for them. This isn't
possible. And I am here to say STOP. Be mindful of what you are asking. You can't go to the
net, read a page or two, then go ask someone for their BOS, or even ask them to teach you.
There must be effort on your part. You are not an adept after reading a page, or a book, or even
ten books. The mysteries cannot be handed to you on a silver platter and you are a master of
the universe. This is what I call lazy Wicca, and through lazy Wicca you will never come to
experience the mysteries, because they come through dedication, hard work and a personal
dedication to the Gods.
8. Those who are out of the closet must NEVER give away the secrets of their brothers and
sisters. You should never give any personal information. You should never tell the secrets of a
coven, who it's leaders are, who the members are or any other information. We must honor our
vows and protect those who for whatever reason have chosen to remain hidden from the eyes of
the world.
9. For those who are out of the closet, your life and your actions must be above reproach in the
eyes of the world. As an open pagan, you may be the only one that a non pagan every sees.
They will see every Pagan in you. So in all things you must be truthful. You must live with
dignity and honor.
In our discussion of ethics and etiquette the point I am trying to impress upon you is this: We
have become a society who thinks that we may do as we please, act as we please and there are no
consequences. We fight with the Christians. We complain about how they fight amongst
themselves. We sneer at them when they point to another of them and say how that person is
wrong and they way they practice is wrong. And yet, WE DO THE SAME THING.
When I meet a fellow priestess, I treat her with respect as a person, and doubly so as a priestess,
since I know how hard that path can be, to have dedicated your life and your service to the Gods
and the Old Ways. If I meet someone who has been walking the path for 20 or 30 years, I
respect that person because of the knowledge they have obtained in that time. That is not to say
my 10 years is less, or they are 'more spiritual' than me. It is saying that this path is not an
easy one all the time, and to have lived it every day for that amount of time is deserving of
respect. I was taught as a child to respect my elders, and I believe that is still a valid lesson.
The elders of this path can teach us things that we have never even thought of. At the same
time, as an elder, you should always remember what it was like to take your first stumbling
steps on this path, and how you may have longed for some guidance. It is just as wrong to be an
elder, and act as if you know everything, or someone who is only 20 or whatever age could never
be a spiritual person. We all must remember our ethics and etiquette, and encourage each other
every day.
We have forgotten to practice our personal ethics, and have thrown etiquette out the window.
We have forgotten Emily Post and Miss Manners, and have went on about our merry little way to
fight like cats and dogs, without even offering basic human respect for those with diverging
views, and this troubles me. It is a plague that is infecting our community. The Witch Wars
continue. We struggle to make our way the right way, even if we don't realize we are doing this.
We forget the very basic teaching that we are all connected, and that all paths are valid, as long
as they fulfill our spiritual needs.
Let us remember our ethics. Let us live our lives with honor, treating all of life with respect.
Follow your own path, without interference into another's. Work hard, study hard and receive
the blessings of a life well lived.
(C) Morgaine 2001
