So I was going to make this a video but since I can’t seem to come up with a thing to talk about, I thought I would cover this topic here. If you don’t have a copy of the Rede to refer to, I do have it here on site.

I often come across people all over the net who seem to interpret the Rede in one fashion. What I am about to say about the Rede is simply my interpretation and I do honestly ask that you take a moment to consider it. Especially if you are Wiccan and hold to interpreting it like the mass public does.

So the Rede. It’s long. Very long. In my practice I don’t hold to it in it’s entirety. I suck at rhyming so my spell work doesn’t tend to rhyme unless I am testing out a spell I find in a book or online. And the nine woods for the cauldron? yea, not that either. First off my cauldron is way tiny and could only hold splinters of wood. Secondly, I am not sure that I have access to nine different woods. So I don’t hold true to that either. But I do take in consideration what direction I am going in at various phases of the moon,  for my personal rites. And yes, I have a thing for circling 3 times. But the biggie of course is the final line, probably the most controversial line of them all “And it harm none, do what you will”.

From non-pagans I most often hear “Oh that means you can do whatever you want”. Yea, I guess so, but not exactly. From non-Wiccans and Wiccans alike I hear, “that means you can’t harm people with hexes and negative spells”. Sorta, but not exactly.

Ok here is what I take it to mean;  I have to take into consideration my actions and how it affects me and the people around me. It’s sort of like a spell checker (ha ha ha a SPELL checker, get it? Come on you know that’s funny!). But not even just spells but my everyday actions. It is in a sense “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. The one thing that I find that people forget to think about is how does it affect ourselves. Before doing a protection spell on my children and taking time to consider if it will harm them is fine and all. But if another person is purposely trying to harm me and I do a spell against them, well that falls within the Rede. In a lot of ways, it doesn’t matter if they get hurt in the process because you have to pick the lesser of “evils”. Why should I suffer just because someone wants to harm me and I refuse to cast a spell on them because it might go against the “harm none” rule? Let me give a clearer example:

Let’s say John Smith has decided he really doesn’t like me for any number of reasons. He is making it his mission for me to lose my home. Let’s say he works for the bank where my mortgage is. Maybe my mortgage payments disappear? I can’t prove that Smith has done something with them but my instincts tell me he did. So I cast a binding spell to keep him from taking my payments. Works for awhile but maybe this guy is really losing it and decides to encourage some neighborhood kids to vandalize my home and this time I banish him. Next thing I hear is his boss found out his antics (or maybe other things he was doing) and fires him. Now let’s say he was the only working person in his home, supporting his wife and two children. Now the man and his wife can’t get a job due to economy. His kids aren’t necessarily getting 3 meals a day and they are about to lose their home.

Ok now granted my scenario is not perfect. I am simply trying to point out that maybe we don’t see the effects of our spell work. Once John Smith lost his job, I probably wouldn’t know what was happening to his wife and children after the fact. I did in a very real sense cause harm to the man and his family while protecting my home and my family. In this case, I don’t see it as going against the Rede at all. To me the Rede leaves a very gray area. Now if you are someone who gets mad because the neighbors have a tree hanging over your fence, you never say a word to them, then hex them…..that goes against the Rede in my eyes. But when you are making an effort to protect yourself from harm and inadvertently harm another, you can’t help that. As much as it would pain me to say it, the outcome of the scenario above would actually be necessary to teach a life lesson, treat others as you wish to be treated. Mr. Smith was a not-so-nice  guy and had a not-so nice outcome.

I also want to clarify that I meet Wiccans who don’t follow the Rede at all. Wicca may have “rules” and “laws” but they aren’t dogma, meaning we aren’t required to adhere to them to be Wiccan.

So there it is, my interpretation of the Rede. Please share if you view it differently!

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