Craft Ethics

The ethics of the Craft are more positive than negative.

Rather than being exhorted with a plethora of "thou shalt not's," the Craft is guided by principles more along the lines of "blessed be they who".... The Craft is a joyous creed; it is also a socially and ecologically responsible one. Pagans delight in the world and their involvement in it on all levels. They enjoy their minds, psyches, bodies, senses, and sensitivities; and they delight in relating, on all planes, with their fellow creatures and the Earth herself. Pagans believe in a joyful balance of all human functions.

This outlook is perfectly expressed in the Charge of the Goddess, which is an integral part of many rituals of many Witches....

"Let my worship be within the heart that rejoices; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals, and therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you."

This provides a model of balanced ethics which presents light qualities that are positive and not restrictive. Compassion means empathy, not condescension; humility means a realistic appraisal of your own stage of development; reverence means a sense of wonder. The Pagan is always conscious that compassion must be partnered with power, humility with honor, and reverence with mirth.

Love of life, in all its forms, is the basic ethic of the Craft.

We are bound to honor and respect all living things and to serve the Life Force. It has been said that we all serve the God/dess, even if only as compost.

Paganism recognizes that life feeds on life. We must kill in order to survive, but life is never taken needlessly; never squandered or wasted. To ensure survival of the species, females are not hunted as game; for they share the sacred bond of motherhood of the Goddess.

Serving the Life Force also means working to preserve the diversity of natural life, preventing the poisoning of the environment and the destruction of the species. The world is seen as the manifestation of the God/dess; therefore, what happens in the world is important because the (symbolism and/or ideal of) God/dess is directly affected.

While the seasons of the year renew the Goddess, she needs the participation of her creations to keep the cycle going. This is the real function of the Sabbats in Witchcraft and many other Pagan traditions; they reinforce the ties between humankind and the planet that gives us life.

Unlike other "gods" that allow humanity to exist at their sufferance, The All needs us just as much as we need it.... we are partners in the pageant of Life.

Justice is seen as an inner sense that each act brings about consequences that must be faced responsibly.

This is based on the belief that all things are interdependent and interrelated. Therefore, we are all mutually responsible, because an act that harms anyone harms us all.

This is summed up in the form of a law known as Karma, which dictates that all actions bring about changes. For every cause there is an effect, and for every effect there is a cause. Also, "as above, so below; as below, so above".... many people define this differently. For me, it means (again) that all the universe is interconnected. Therefore, what one does directly affects all else. Therefore, our actions should always be carefully thought out before being taken, in order to ensure the least amount of harm is done to ourselves and others.

(There is a saying in many traditions of the Craft that illustrates the effects of Karma known as the "Threefold Law of Return".... "Whatever is sent out is returned three times over." .... I don't personally believe in the "Threefold Law" because it just doesn't make sense to me, mathematically. Energy is energy, and what you send out can very well come back to you in one form or another, but it's only the law of Cause and Effect. To me, the "Threefold Law" is only a sort of amplified "Golden Rule.")

Honor is a guiding principle of the Craft; it is an inner sense of pride and self respect.

Refusing to do anything which would make you ashamed of yourself strengthens your will and leads to the self respect that comes from setting your own course, guided by your own inner sense of right or wrong. This makes you rightfully proud of past accomplishments and encourages you to stay on course.

The All is respected and honored in oneself and in others. Women are respected and valued for all their qualities; as are, equally, men. The Self, one's individuality and unique way of being, is highly valued. Like nature, the All loves diversity; oneness is attained not through losing the Self, but through realizing the Self's potential.

Self development and the full realization of one's unique yet many aspected potential is a moral duty for a Pagan.

Life is seen as a gift from the All, and it is up to us to push the evolution of humankind. If suffering exists, it is not our task to reconcile ourselves to it. We must work for change in all ways at hand. That which helps this evolution to come about is seen as good and desirable, while actions that thwart it are to be avoided because each of us is a factor in the cosmic evolutionary process.

Each of is IS the God/dess, the source of Life, the All. We all are creation and destruction; positive and negative; male and female.... the main goal of the Pagan is to achieve a balance within these and all realms of Life.