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June 13, 2005
The Rede
David Piper has an excellent essay at the Pagan Library on the Wiccan Rede and its meaning and consequences. Too often in the Wiccan community, misinterpretation of the Rede is a symptom of badly-constructed logical (and ethical) thought in general, and this often leads to the "fluffy bunny" kind of Wicca. There are two problems with "fluffy bunny" Wicca: it turns off people who can think and who are willing to embrace personal responsibility, and it attracts those who cannot think through or accept the consequences of their actions. Consider: beginning with the statement "Here is our one primary guidance, and we know that it is completely impossible to live up to in real life", what ethical system can you build which is internally self-consistent and does not permit any act to be justified no matter how horrific?
Our High Priest when we were with a coven formulated the Rede as "Do what thou wilt, an harm none", which is a formulation discussed in the essay. His reasoning (not discussed in the essay) was that there are two parts to the Rede: Truth and Love. Truth must come before Love, because failure to adhere to Truth leads to failure to accept responsibility, which in turn leads to ill-considered actions - ostensibly done for Love - that cause real and lasting harm.
One thing I wish David Piper's essay would have discussed in more detail is the role of "will" as opposed to "want". Piper conflates them in its translation into modern English, as do many Wiccans I've met. But the two are different words: will implies an effort, a striving to attain, while want simply implies a desire. This is a reinforcement of the counsel towards personal responsibility: only you can obtain your desires, and only by active effort. What you want does not simply come to you, but must be brought about by your effort. And this is logically consistent with the injunction to least harm, because what comes to you without effort is generally what is taken from another's effort. If that is not a gift, freely given, then the person whose effort created that which you have taken is harmed by your taking. If you do what you want, without regards to the others' conflicting desires, it is all too easy to cause harm.
(Thanks to Wicca News International for the link.)
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