Discussion of Ethical Scenarios
he following are brief discussions of the scenarios presented at the end of chapter 6. They should be discussed with your teacher, and perhaps with friends whose character and judgment you respect. However, if you are isolated for the moment and have no one to talk to about these matters, these comments may help.
a. A teenage friend says her boyfriend has lost interest in her, and would you please do a spell to rekindle his love for her. Do you agree?
Comments: Magicians are often asked to do this kind of “love spell,” and the answer is always the same: no. It is not right to manipulate an individual’s love (or lack of it) for another; their free will must always be respected. Besides, does she really, deep down inside, want love that has to be forced from another? That is bound to lead to disappointment.
What you CAN do for your friend is healing work to ease the pain of losing that relationship, and sometimes a sympathetic ear is enough. You can also do a spell to “draw the perfect relationship into her life”—one that is perfect for both parties.
b. An uncle whom you love is very ill, and you would like to do some healing magick for him. However, he is part of a religion that discourages magick, and you don’t think he would give you permission to work on his behalf. Would you do some remote healing work anyway?
Comments: A wise magician almost never does magick focused on an individual without their express consent. The exceptions are few: if the person cannot give their consent (because they are out of communication range or in a coma, for example), the magician may use their best judgment in doing helpful magick, adding “with harm toward none, and for the greatest good of all.” If a parent requests healing or protective magick for their own child, that would also be quite acceptable to most magick-workers.
Getting back to the uncle, you can ask permission to work magick for his healing, and respect his decision. You can help him on the mundane level by cooking healthful meals, offering your company, helping pay his medical bills, or whatever.
There is one other way to help. You can raise healing energy and place it in a “reservoir” on the astral plane, then contact your uncle’s Higher Self through meditation and trance. Explain that the healing energy is available for your uncle, and let his Higher Self decide whether to use it.
c. You have been having a lot of problems lately with your job, your health, and your marriage or primary relationship. A friend sends you an e-mail saying, “My group is doing magick to get your life straightened around.” You did not ask for magick and don’t know what she means by “straightened around.” How would you reply to her?
Comments: Personally, I would thank her for her good intentions, but ask that they not do magick on my behalf without checking with me first. Their idea of a better life might not be the same as mine. If they wanted to do magick for “the best possible outcome” for me, “with harm toward none,” I would be fine with that.
d. Someone has been doing a lot of vandalism in your neighborhood—breaking car windows, tagging houses with spray paint, even hacking at trees with a hatchet. A member of your magickal study group suggests that you do a “karmic dumping run” to bring all of the vandal’s negativity back on them right now. You don’t know exactly how that would manifest in the culprit’s life. Would you do this working?
Comments: Interfering with someone’s karma and the Law of Return is pretty arrogant. You are doing magick where you have no idea how the result will manifest—maybe a fatal heart attack for the vandal? Do you really want that for some kid because he is angry and misguided?
You can certainly do protective magick for the neighborhood. You can even put healing energy on the astral for the perpetrator’s Higher Self to use. And you can work on the mundane level to catch him; for example, by organizing a neighborhood watch group.
e. You would like to buy a neighbor’s car, but the price he is asking seems steep. A friend suggests you do a little spell just to nudge him mentally, so he is open to bringing the price down to something more reasonable. Does that seem like an acceptable use of magick?
Comments: Magickally manipulating other people for your own benefit is never all right. Besides, if it ever came out, the reaction would be nasty; even in this “Age of Technology,” most people instinctively know that magick is real—and fear it.
By all means, negotiate with the seller. Offer a lower price, or a payment plan over time, or to throw in something extra, like mowing his lawn for the summer. If he refuses, pay the asking price or let it go. There are lots of other cars for sale.
f. You suspect that a neighbor is abusing her children, though you have no direct proof—just occasional yelling and some unexplained bruises. You read about binding spells that can stop a person from acting. Would you perform one on your neighbor?
Comments: We have entered a gray area of magickal ethics. At first glance this seems entirely appropriate . . . but it is still manipulation of another person. And, what if the spell binds them in ways that you didn’t intend?
Protecting the children is obviously the highest priority. Is there a way to do it without a binding spell? Can you have a private discussion with your neighbor and ask about the bruises and yelling? She may deny abuse, but knowing that you are aware could discourage further abuse, if that’s what’s happening. You could also call your local Child and Family Protective Services agency (it may have another name; the police dispatcher will know). You could do protective magick for the children, obviously. You could do all of these.
Bottom line: take action immediately, before the children are harmed. If no other tactic looks possible or effective, maybe the binding spell will be necessary. If you can, talk to your teacher or another experienced magician about setting it.
g. Your country is at war in a foreign land, and a relative is over there in the military. His wife asks you to “do some of that magic stuff to smash the bastards” he is fighting. If you could figure out how, would you do attack magick against the enemy soldiers?
Comments: Is that the best way to protect your cousin? First of all, hurting or killing some of the enemy soldiers won’t necessarily save your cousin, or are you such a powerful magician that you can take them all out instantly?
Even if you could, remember the Law of Return: what you send will come back to you, but magnified.
It is always all right to protect those you love, unless they are out there harming innocents. How about starting with a very strong protective spell for your cousin, and then doing some magick to bring an end to the fighting? You can also work on the mundane level, politically, by urging your senators and representatives to work for peace.
You might want to read the “legends” about the Grand Coven of Britain in World War II; all the Witches and magicians gathered to block Hitler’s invasion of England, and for whatever reason, the invasion never happened. But even in those desperate days, they did not attack the enemy soldiers magickally.
Have some guidelines emerged here? First, using magick to manipulate other individuals is just nasty. You wouldn’t want it done to you; don’t do it to others. In fact, you can’t do it only to others; it always comes back at you, magnified.
Second, wherever there is an unethical way to deal with a problem, there is also a safer and more ethical way—if you look a little further.
Third, magick is not the answer to every problem; sometimes mundane action on the physical plane is quite enough, and sometimes you will want a combination of magick and supportive mundane action.
Blesséd be.