Ethics
Over the years, folk traditionalists have developed a system of ethics for the practice of the magickal arts. Practitioners have been entrusted with the ability to direct and utilize powerful forces, which means taking on a great responsibility. Thus, there is a set of religious-based and/or ethical directives around the use of magickal energies, communication with the spirit realm, and interaction with the non-magickal community.
Whenever there is a rule forbidding something, it’s because somebody already tried doing it. The action may have been thoughtless, harmful, or even fatal. Think of the signs on large metal trash dumpsters that say something along the lines of “Caution! Do not play on or around.” This is probably because someone once climbed on a dumpster, it fell over, and they got squashed. The sign was later put on all dumpsters so that other people could learn to avoid problems.
Folktales as Cautionary Tales
Many of the rules for British folkloric traditions are found, of course, in folktales. These stories may seem to be simple entertainment on the surface, but quite a few of them contain suggestions or proscriptions about human behaviors. This includes recommendations about the use of magick and interaction with the spirit world.
Folktales give a warning to be nice to people with disabilities because they might be a god in disguise. They advise not being greedy when performing a working because everything the spell has attained might vanish in a puff of smoke. Some folktales caution people to revere nature or historic sites because destroying a sacred tree that is home to pixies will cause all manner of bad luck and problems. Folktales about fairies and goblins tell readers to carry an iron nail or a rowan twig to keep people from becoming possessed—which might be a good idea when trying to focus on a goal, preventing distractions and minor annoyances. There are also lots of fictitious witches who worked magick for harm and got their comeuppance.
A fable is a short folk story with an advisory purpose. It contains a moral, or an adage, proverb, maxim, or saying that clearly imparts a lesson about a desired behavior. For example, Aesop’s Tortoise and the Hare contains the adage “Slow and steady wins the race.” 12 The fable “Belling the Cat” is about a group of mice who agreed to place a bell on a cat so they would be aware of danger.13 However, the mice realized that their idea was impossible, as no one volunteered to put the bell on the cat. The moral is that plans must be evaluated to see if they’ll actually work. These homilies can be applied to the practice of magick.
Not all folktales or folkplays have an obvious moral or proverb. More often, the recommended conduct is implied within the body of a story. For example, the Robin Hood legends, which began as poems, ballads, and plays, communicated that gallantry, rebellion against imperialism, working in harmony with nature, and generosity toward the poor are favorable behaviors. Many folktales emphasize honoring the elderly. Often, gods took on the guise of a helpless beggar to test a hero’s compassion. If the protagonist acted charitably, they were rewarded. According to Sir James George Frazer, a profound theme of many ritual dramas and folk stories is sacrifice.14
Some fairy tales, legends, and stories have multiple layers, and the listener or reader must draw their own conclusions. Over the course of centuries, the folktales’ tropes and ethical standards have seeped into the people’s collective unconscious.
Honor/Enech, Treading Lightly, and Consent
The Celtic tribes, who inhabited Britain from the Bronze Age onward, had many legends and folktales which contained their codes of ethics. Their values included honesty, fidelity, hospitality, justice, and courage. Stories told of the great valor of warriors, landowners who held generous feasts, people who made good on their debts, and wizards who created change to benefit an entire nation. Lovely inscribed posters with the Celtic values, which can be purchased at esoteric shops or printed from the internet, remind us of our ethical responsibilities. All of these qualities comprised a state of anrhydedd, which is the Cymraeg (Welsh) word for “honor.”
The concept of enech, which translates from Irish Gaelic as “face,” relates to putting your best face forward, saving face, facing up to things, and being able to face your family, tribe, and society with a good conscience. Enech was codified into Irish law during the seventh century.15 The Cymraeg word wyneb is a similar construct. Both terms imply honor, pride, not bringing shame upon your family or tribe, and performing actions that ultimately benefitted the community. Enech has connotations of valor, reliability, integrity, and acting with respect. It meant gaining a reputation as an honorable person. This was imparted to British literature in later years as the high concept of chivalry that dominated epic poetry and sagas.
The Matter of Britain, or King Arthur legends, are examples of Welsh folktales and poems that later made their way into literature across Europe.16 They contain examples of honor, bravery, charity, loyalty and noble deportment. These sets of values were used as a guideline for behavior in British society in bygone days; they were not just for magick users, but were applicable to all walks of life. Some of these values made their way into British common law.
Treading Lightly
The honor system for common magick is a bit different from other western esoteric traditions. For instance, many Wiccans utilize a rede, a poetic law, to codify their ethical system, summarized as “Do as you will, as it harms none.” This means to enact your own free will while attempting to cause no damage. However, to actually harm none is not possible. We harm tiny insects whenever we take a step. For this reason, some practitioners of traditional witchcraft usually do not believe in this rede. Instead they elect to use personal responsibility on a per-case basis during the performance of energetic workings.
Those who practice magick must endeavor to cause as little harm as they can to themselves and others. This concept is expressed in the old-line Pagan adage about “treading lightly on the land.” We make a commitment to act responsibly, trying to cause the least amount of harm over the long term. We tread lightly so that we do as little damage as possible not only to the land, but to other people as well.
Another goal is to work and strive for the greater good. This is rather like the Athenian philosopher Plato’s concept of eudaemonia, or human well-being.17 The values, virtues, and concepts of anrhydedd and enech are the attitudes and actions needed to attain this state.
Free Will and Consent
Since we believe that all people have free will, it follows that individuals must have control over their own destiny. Interfering with others’ free will may inadvertently cause them harm. Informed consent is imperative when doing magickal workings with other people. This includes making them aware of intent, the procedures to be used, and the desired outcome. When directing energy for other people, it is also important to secure their consent. Even when performing a healing rite, a practitioner should ask permission of the person receiving the energy.
If a person is unable to give consent—such as a preverbal child, an unconscious patient, or someone who is so badly injured that they cannot talk—then we can speak aloud the intent that our actions will have only positive results. We might give caveats, as in saying that this working is only for the benefit of those involved or will succeed only with the individual’s energetic desire, support, consent, and ultimate true will.
The Law of Return
Most common magick practitioners believe there is a universal law that causes a rebound of energy onto a person who enacts any specific behavior, magickal or otherwise. This is called a turnabout, a swingaround, a blowback, or the law of return. The law of return asserts that every action has a reaction; every behavior has a consequence. A similar concept is found in the science of physics, where Newton’s Law states that each action results in an equal, opposite reaction.18 We view the law of return as a law like gravity … or like the natural laws which govern electricity.
Many folk magick users believe that actions done with thought, care, and honor will return good, beneficial results to the sender. Harmful actions done for malefic reasons can cause equal or greater harm to the practitioner. This philosophy is found in most world religions.
The belief in the law of return has been scoffed at by some individuals, yet the philosophy has genuine merit. A principle of magick called the law of attraction, or the law of sympathetic magick, says that “like attracts like.” This concept is similar to the law of return in that each condition attracts comparable circumstances. Most common magick practitioners believe that energy used for altruistic purposes will rebound onto the sender as positive feelings or beneficial situations, and energy used for harm will bounce back onto the sender as negative conditions and emotions. Because electricity and magickal energy both have more power at the end of the conduit closest to its source, the sender will receive a greater impact than the receiver.
Historically, harmful rites were labeled “black magick” while helpful rituals done for good purposes were designated “white magick.” This may also be called the “left-hand path” versus the “right-hand path.” Some of us no longer use those terms (black or white, left or right) because of cultural sensitivity. Instead, these terms can be replaced by the words malevolent, harmful, malicious, and baneful (instead of black or left) and benevolent, altruistic, beneficial, positive, helpful, and good (instead of white or right).
Some occultists believe that any magick done for a selfish purpose is malevolent, but that’s not necessarily true for self-actualizing spells as long as positive intent and the desire for a mutually beneficial outcome is stressed. For example, a magick user performs a ritual to get a good job based on their skills and merit, stating that no injury will come to the person who currently holds the position. Common magick practitioners must carefully consider their intent, all possible outcomes of their workings, and circumstances surrounding their decisions. We strive to ensure that our actions are beneficial to ourselves and others.
Unfortunately, some magick users adopt no ethical or moral code at all, nor do they take responsibility for their behaviors. They may use “convenience morals,” which means doing whatever is convenient for them at the time. This is different from “situational ethics,” which means considering a certain situation, then using an ethical code to determine how to proceed.
Some individuals take part in workings and ceremonies that they fully realize are intended for harmful purposes. Some who practice an old-line magico-
religion may justify using detrimental practices. They might say, “Our ancestors cursed people,” or “A witch who can’t hex can’t heal.” They might rationalize sending negative energies in the name of justice or for personal gain. They might act disdainful toward the idea of applying ethics to the art and praxis of magick. These types of people are to be avoided. Because of the principle of sympathetic magick, they are a magnet for trouble. Since like attracts like, a harmful action can attract further energy that causes injury—to the sender as well as the receiver.
Malicious workings include activities such as cursing, hexing, or using someone else’s personal energy without their permission. A curse can strike other people associated with either the magick user or their target, including their minor children. Hexes can bind or attach the magick user to the victim, which is often the exact opposite of the desired result. Curses and hexes can be challenging to undo. The common magick practitioners of Ireland and Wales had a belief that a curse that did not “land” on a target could float around in the ether for seven years, then rebound back on the person that cast the malison in the first place.
Here is an example of how cursing someone can go terribly wrong: During the years of witchcraft persecution in Europe, there were very few witch trials in Wales, and only five people were ever executed for practicing witchcraft. Some anthropologists believe that using divination, spells, herbal potions, talismans, and other folk magick was so ingrained in the Cymric (Welsh) culture that people
thought nothing of it. Yet they did not tolerate cursing or using magick for harmful purposes. One woman named Gwen ferch Ellis had performed folk magick for years, healing people and animals, helping with the fertility of crops, and so forth. However, in 1594 her friend became angry at a local gentleman, so Gwen wrote a charm backward for the purpose of casting a maledythion (curse) on him. The paper containing the hex was found in the man’s home. People accused Gwen of using witchcraft to cause problems, and she became the first person ever in Wales to be hanged as a witch.19
The folklore and folk stories of Europe are full of examples of the law of return. In countless fairy tales, those who cast baneful spells or behaved with the intention of harming others usually met a painful demise. In Irish mythology, a baleful witch called Carman blighted the crops and was defeated and imprisoned by the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Carman’s three evil sons were banished, and the witch died of grief.20 In the Scottish version of “Snow White,” which is called “Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree,” a mother sees her beautiful daughter as a rival and tries to poison her. The wicked mother is outwitted and later, she is poisoned.21 Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth goaded her husband into regicide, then went insane. In the story of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), soldiers forced a pregnant goddess to run a footrace. The warriors then suffered birth pangs (labor pains) and thus could not fight, afflicting them at their hour of greatest need.22
Working with Potentially Destructive Forces
Another consideration for a common magick user is taking precautions when working with certain powers. This is because there is a possibility of damage to the self and others. Some examples include creating energetic beings such as a fetch, using blood in magickal rites, and undertaking necromancy, or summoning the spirits of the departed. Once given power, a fetch or psychopomp can survive for some time, possibly causing difficulties for people and systems unrelated to the original participants. Magick involving blood or the spirits of the dead is viewed as harmful by some cultures, yet many traditions speak to their ancestors. For example, moon (menstrual) blood can be used for fertility of a garden. However, blood is an intrinsically powerful substance and may bind the practitioner to the subject of the rite for an indefinite period of time. It also may attract unwanted beings. Caution is advised.
Necromancy itself is not harmful or bad, but it must be done with care. Some spirits of the dead may just want to rest in peace and will resent being disturbed. Others are happy to help. Of course, demanding that a spirit do something can work as poorly as demanding money from your grandmother. It is better to request aid politely and give sincere thanks.
Some individuals believe that doing certain workings for protection, defense, or returning harmful actions to enact justice are acceptable. This can include binding and hexing. Often, it is easier, more expedient, and better to use magick to create the most beneficial situation possible and to prevent harm or impediments.
Don’t Pee in the Magickal Pool
While energy itself is neither good nor bad, the emotional associations of certain energies can have positive or negative connotations. Visitors to sites of great human suffering can sometimes perceive the sorrow, pain, and fear of those who were traumatized at these locations, even if it happened long ago. The “pool” or reservoir of energy associated with these places has a very negative feel.
Common magick practitioners endeavor to tread lightly when doing magick and try to subscribe to an ethical system that emphasizes universal well-being because we believe that using magickal power for harmful purposes can create pools of baneful emotional energy. Cursing someone, hurting an animal to use its pain to fuel workings, or creating a magickal form such as a fetch for the purpose of causing injury can all create a nasty psychic septic tank. It may even pollute the greater magickal pool, contaminating the entire reservoir of communal energy. This can hurt us, our loved ones, and our society.
We also endeavor not to waste power from the energy pool by using magick for what we can accomplish with our own thought or our own physical labor.
Ethics for Interaction with Magickal Beings
Many traditional magick users believe that contact between an individual and certain energetic beings can form a relationship. The connection may be like a benevolent working partnership or an interaction between relatives. Magickal entities are also viewed as sources of power. Therefore, we endeavor to treat these beings with respect.
In British folktales and myths, energy beings are sometimes willing to assist humans with daily activities, like the hob household spirit who helps farmers with threshing grain, or a matron goddess like Dôn, who can lessen the pain of childbirth. In return, there are certain behavioral expectations. Often, the heroes of legend treated the deities and entities as the archetype of a grandmother or the elderly lady next door, a helpful neighbor, a wise consultant, a guild master, or a revered leader. Humans were expected to be courteous and show appreciation. Those who did not were apt to offend their magickal assistants. The entities would no longer provide help.
Many common magick practitioners believe that we should reimburse our sources of energy, similar to how we must pay the electric company that provides our services. Payment can be made by gifts, sacrifices, or reciprocal actions. Tales abound of heroes offering prayers and songs or poetry performed to a deity in exchange for a boon or blessing. At holidays, many folks still leave plates of food out for the ancestor spirits or invite them to join celebrations. Another example is tossing a coin into a well when making a wish or tying a bit of cloth to a tree in exchange for healing. Of course, we thank those who have helped us. Many believe the entities can gain power from human devotion.
Some common magick practitioners believe in appeasing, or propitiating, certain entities. This can mean bribing them to prevent consequences. For example, fairies are given trinkets in order to persuade them to leave humans alone. Spirits of the dead are offered food and things they enjoyed while alive like cigarettes and alcohol, sewing or other hobby tools, poetry and song, and anything that shows appreciation. Many older rites contain sayings and actions to pacify the fairies and spirits.
While some ceremonial magicians see no problem with summoning elementals, spirits, or other magickal beings and giving them orders or commanding them, I do not find this wise. Politeness works much better when interacting with energetic beings.
Of course, politeness and propitiation does not always work with magickal entities. Often historically called evil spirits, demons, imps, or even witches, these malevolent beings can be prevented from doing harm by using spells and ritual objects. Asking for help from an entity with known hostility to humans is also quite unwise. If the being escapes the magick user’s temporary control, what is to prevent that entity from turning on its former master? In the most severe cases, the magickal being might need to be banished or removed from the space where it is causing trouble.
Since people who practice nature spirituality have a relationship with natural beings, we honor and respect them by endeavoring to keep their homes clean and by protecting nature. Common magick users try not to waste resources. We strive to reuse things and recycle used items. While some of us are vegetarians, others eat meat. Meat eaters attempt to use every part of the animal and purchase groceries from cruelty-free farms. We thank beings, including animals, who gift us with their energies and physical bodies. We endeavor to “tread lightly” on the physical plane as well as the spiritual realm.
Our Non-Magickal Neighbors
Another consideration magick users must make is how non-magickal people will perceive our community. There is the reason of enech, or face, of course. We have a duty to positively represent ourselves, our families, our folkways, and all folk magico-religions. Yet there are other concerns as well.
People may have a superstitious fear of magickal practitioners because when they think about witches, they think of curses and baneful spells. This is partially the fault of Hollywood and the portrayal of “bad” witches by the media. It is partially the fault of religious orders that associated witchcraft with diabolism or the belief in wizards’ contact with entities which were said to prey upon humans. People are sometimes afraid of what they do not understand. Because many individuals cannot perceive the unseen forces that we habitually use, they may be frightened by that energy—and by us. When electricity was introduced as a household tool, some people were afraid of it too.
However, there might be a more concrete reason why non-magickal people fear us: They may have run into a magickal practitioner who had no ethical code. They might have been a victim of malevolent intent. Remember Gwen ferch Ellis. Some people might think, “This happened a long time ago. People aren’t afraid of witchcraft these days,” yet I often read in the news about discriminatory acts toward magickal people.
Some might think, “If I curse someone, how would anyone know it was me?” They’re right, they might not get caught. Instead, people might take out their superstitious fear of the occult on their local esoteric bookshop or on a child whose family is openly Pagan. There’s also that law of return to consider.
While some of us may not want to deal with the role of “Pagan ambassador,” we might take the opportunity to interact positively with our communities whenever possible.
A Word or Six about Sacrifice
The word “sacrifice” comes from the Latin word sacer, meaning “sacred.” To sacrifice often involves giving up something, such as part of your meal, energy, a charitable contribution, a material item, effort, and/or an enjoyable pastime such as playing video games. Sacrifices may be permanent or may be done for a set period of time. This is done to show reverence to deities or other entities, to express commitment, and to get the message across that you’re willing to do your share to achieve success in a working. In many magico-religious systems, celebrants pour some wine onto the ground in libation to the gods. Some folkloric practitioners and modern Pagans put food out for the ancestors during a holiday. We bury a crystal when we take wood from a tree to make a wand. All of these are rituals of devotion and objects of sacrifice.
Several older recipes for magickal workings include items such as a dove’s heart for love, the dried remains of a toad, or another animal body part. Some traditions believe in sacrificing an animal to appease or venerate their deities. This is another gray area of common magick practice. We must weigh the potential with the consequences. Anything used in ritual that comes from an animal who died in pain is likely to carry an emotional charge, usually a negative one. There might be blowback from the law of return. In many locations, it’s also against the law of the land.
However, we must weigh the consequence of sacrifice with its benefit. Many of us eat meat from a slaughterhouse, butcher our own food, or go hunting for wild animals such as deer. We thank the spirit of the animal who donated their life for our sustenance. We might give the blood of that animal in sacrifice or use parts of that animal in ritual. This is an area that might require soul-searching, prayer, researching the local laws, and a consideration of one’s own ethical code.
The Lens of Truth and True-Speaking
Many folk magick practitioners believe that everything should be examined through a lens of truth. This means assessing situations critically, including our own motivations, and always keeping an eye toward long-term outcome. It means being totally honest with oneself. Using the lens of truth also means comprehending the natural state of any entity. Snakes can bite, spiders can be venomous, and some fairies can act like a pack of mean teenage girls. Some deities are not benevolent or kind. This does not mean you should squash each spider and banish all energy beings. Instead, it means understanding—and thus respecting—an entity’s true nature. Remember: while snakes may bite, they also eat the mice and rats that destroy human food sources and spread diseases. A deity that is related to death, pain, storms, cold weather, or justice has their place in the legends and mythology of a people.
Common magick practitioners must learn to examine not only our own conscience, but also the motivations of those around us. This includes coming to understand forces that may seem brutal or damaging like storms, aging, or death. We must comprehend the “nature of the beast” when it comes to human greed, violence, and stupidity. Considering long-term consequences is necessary; for example, in the event that a person is doing harm, whether it is beneficial to use magickal strategies such as binding. While we do not tolerate abuse toward ourselves or our loved ones, nor do we send love and light toward criminals, we do our level best to solve problems without using magickal powers for the purpose of causing long-term damage.
We also endeavor to use truth when speaking words aloud. Many common magick users endeavor to practice a way of communication called truth-speaking,
also called true-speaking. When verbalizing words of power, folk magick practitioners should strive to be as accurate as possible, which works hand-in-hand with the magickal principle of speaking one’s word into being. However, true-speaking goes one step further.
We believe that when a person speaks only words of truth, their magickal spells are more easily manifested. This relies on an ad hominem concept of truth, like the Egyptian concept of Maa Kheru or “truth of voice.” When a practitioner says something like “We need rain,” the deities or universal consciousness will hear them and respond appropriately. All of the truthful person’s spoken words will thus come true.
True-speaking also includes making oaths. Swearing an oath or pledging a troth means making a declaration before one’s family, society, and energetic beings. It has the connotation that a person’s word equals their bond. An oath may include an intent to act in a certain manner. It may mean stating that a specific condition is true. Oaths in folklore and literature were sometimes made in the name of god-forms, elementals such as “earth, sea, and sky,” or by the health of the individual or their loved ones. The implication was that if the oath was broken, the bond or surety was forfeit. I speculate that this concept may be behind the saying “His word is his bond.” Breaking an oath could mean consequences, such as a compromise in health, or that the elements or god-forms would enact justice.
In true-speaking, intent must be verbalized mindfully. For instance, if I note “We need rain,” I must also think about how much rain, for how long, and ensure that other locations are not deprived of rain. Another example is a person who requests “abundance.” Do they want an abundance of zucchini, or an abundance of kittens, or an abundance of money in their bank account?
Caution: Do Not Play On or Around
These are activities that most common magick users believe are harmful. They should be avoided.
• Performing magick that goes against someone’s free will
• Magick done with the intent to manipulate someone. Example: a spell enacted to compel a specific individual to do something
• Using someone else’s energy without their knowledge or consent, such as “stealing luck.” This also includes using energetic beings’ life forces
• Doing an act of deliberate harm. This includes cursing, hexing, or otherwise performing a malevolent rite for the purpose of causing damage
• Doing any magickal act out of anger, jealousy, or hatred
• Performing love spells or rites that deliberately bind or enslave a specific person
The following are considered gray areas.
• Doing magick to help someone to heal or positively improve their lives without their full consent
• Performing magick which will protect oneself and loved ones by intentionally harming someone who is deliberately trying to hurt you. Can they be stopped without doing them harm?
• “Rebounding” energies onto someone who has caused harm. It may backfire between them and the magick user or bounce onto another person
• Binding a person and preventing them from doing something harmful to others
• Magickally preventing someone from doing something that is viewed as self-harm. They may need a life lesson. Can they be helped in other ways?
• Blood sacrifices
These gray areas require thought, mindfulness, prayer, meditation, and/or use of the lens of truth. Any magickal act must be done with serious consideration of its long-term effects.
The main concern of ethics is to not intentionally create victims. That about sums it up.
12. Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, trans. William Caxton (London: 1484).
13. Sybil Marshall, “Belling the Cat,” in The Book of English Folk Tales (London: Duckworth Overlook, 1981).
14. Frazer, Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings.
15. S. J. Connolly, ed., “Enech,” in The Oxford Companion to Irish History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
16. John Jay Parry and Robert Caldwell, “Geoffrey of Monmouth,” in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History, ed. Roger Sherman Loomis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959).
17. A. W. Price, Virtue and Reason in Plato and Aristotle (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
18. “Newton’s Third Law,” The Physics Classroom, accessed March 31, 2020, https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-4/Newton-s-Third-Law.
19. James McCarthy, The Story of the First Woman in Wales to be Hanged for Witchcraft, Wales Online, October 30, 2017, https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/story-first-woman-hanged-wales-13816831.
20. James MacKillop, A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
21. Joseph Jacobs, “Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree,” in Celtic Fairy Tales (London 1892), https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cft/cft14.htm.
22. Ciaran Carson, trans., The Tain (London: Penguin Books, 2007).