Screw that, I'm still hiding.

In this country, if you're not a hypocrite (aka Christian) , you're wrong.

During the days when we were abused, in America they hung witches, and they crushed one to death. However in Europe, they did burn, whether you were an avowed witch or not, if they thought you were and wanted you to be, then you were going to burn. In Cologne, they burned 9,000 witches in one day! Many of the "witches" were children some 9 years of age clinging to their parents. In one report, it was said that the square in Cologne looked like a little forest because of all the erect stakes, and all the fodder needed to set the fires.
I am grateful that we don not have to succumb to this anymore and that we have the right to practice our chosen paths.
Theological debates usually end up with one side finally putting the hammer down and professing their faith blindly even to dogmatic details. Just because a certain church says so and so was "assumed up to Heaven," where is the proof of this? There is none; it's all a matter of faith, and people from those religions HAVE to adhere to these dogmatic ideals because their church says so.

Perhaps it would be more acceptable if certain things in the Wiccan religion did not have such negative connotations. Example: "witch", "coven", "spells", and the use of the "pentagram"

The Wiccan Rede and Threefold Law:
"Rede" is derived from an Old English word "roedan" which means to guide or direct. One common version of the Rede is:

"An it harm none, do what thou wilt."

"An" and "wilt" are Old English words for "if" and "want to."
["If it harm none, do what you want."]


The Rede states that a Wiccan is free to do what ever they want to, as long as it does not harm themselves or anyone else. Harm is normally considered to include manipulation, domination, attempts to control, physically injure, emotionally harm, or hurt another person or group in any way.

The Threefold Law (a.k.a. the Law of Return) adds a reward for those who follow the Wiccan Rede, and a punishment for those who violate it. The law states that:

"All good that a person does to another returns three fold in this life; harm is also returned three fold."

(similar to other religions)

The Rede and Law obviously prevent a Witch/Wiccan from doing harm to themselves or to others, taking harmful drugs, etc. "This belief constantly reminds us that there are many consequences to our actions and we must consider all possible outcomes before acting. The Wiccan Rede thereby binds Wiccans to do the right thing."


Comparing the Wiccan Rede with behavioral rules of other religions:
The Wiccan Rede is one of many Ethics of Reciprocity which are found in essentially ALL of the world's religious texts. In Christianity, the Ethic of Reciprocity is sometimes called the Golden Rule. It urges believers to treat other people decently. For example, in Christianity, three of the 50 or so Gospels which circulated in the 1st century CE state:

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6:31, King James Version.

History of the Wiccan Rede within Wicca:
John Coughlin researched the writings of Gerald Gardner (1884-1964) and Doreen Valiente (1922-1999). These are the two individuals who are generally regarded as the founders of modern Wicca. He found the first reference to a ethical criteria similar to the Wiccan Rede in Gardner's third book: "The Meaning of Witchcraft." 5 He wrote that Wiccans:

"...are inclined to the morality of the legendary Good King Pausol [sic], 'Do what you like so long as you harm no one.' But they believe a certain law to be important, 'You must not use magic for anything which will cause harm to anyone, and if, to prevent a greater wrong being done, you must discommode someone, you must do it only in a way which will abate the harm'." 6

It appears that King Pausole was a character in a novel by a French writer, Pierre Louys, called "The Adventures of King Pausole," published in 1901.


"Demanding tolerance between covens as well as toward the outside world, Doreen spoke the Anglo-Saxon witch formula called the Wiccan Rede or wise teaching: 'Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfil, An' it harm none, do what ye will'."

Aleister Crowley supposedly adopted the Wiccan Rede into his teachings, but he obviously did not adhere to them. His life was filled with sexual perversions, drugs, black majik, and violence.

In the aftermath of all that death, it still proved that public and religious hysteria could have been the death of anyone: especially if you were insane, beautiful, or wealthy. I never knew anyone from this period, corroborated or not, but I feel for them, even up to this day. The thought of children being burned alive is a ghastly vision.
Numbers are only estimates; who knows how many other Innocents were murdered just for the sake of say... being beautiful and then suffering a rape?
The important part of this is not to see who's right or who's wrong; we share knowlege because we want to be better informed. The total number of Dead is unimportant for the most part (oh, it is important because it gives us a bird's-eye view), but more so because of what the WORLD had learned from it. In fact, many still are in the process of denial, looking upon anything "strange" so suspiciously.
The perseverance we live with regarding our faith is a testament to those who had to die, and we hold this "flag" up because we have the right and choose to worship whom we wish, and when, and how.

How was everyone's Beltane? I was gonna ask, but the thread had gotten seriously INTENSE! That's what I was hoping for! Constructive and POSITIVE feedback. So, c'mon now... Beltane is usually pretty hip coz' Pan and Dionysius are afoot!
Blessed be... Jimy

There are more than one type of Druid. Plus, now there's neo-druidry.