Ethics of Spellcasting
Ethics and morals for magick? Why?


Well, do you want to avoid any bad Karma? Karma applies to magick just as much as it does to our every day lives. However, what is right or wrong in magick isn't always as clear as it is in life. So here I have decided to provide some guidelines you might want to follow to avoid working harmful magick. I know you say "But I know what is right and wrong when it comes to magick. Just don't harm anybody, right?"
Well, Yes, that is the most basic part. But most people leave it at that: the basics. Then they wonder why they are recieving bad Karma! On this page I will go into some guidelines that I follow, and I suggest you follow as well. I will also give examples in some grey areas.

You already know that we must never harm in any way, including ourselves. But many aspiring witches don't realize that this also includes the controlling of others also. Even the slightest control is wrong. Lets give an example using love spells...
Lets say you are experiencing a time in your life where you don't have someone special in your life and are longing for one, but haven't been able to find someone no matter what you do. The logical next step is to work love magick.
So you go about working your spell. You carefully plan out your ritual, gather all the ingrediants for your spell, then set about working the spell. While working your magick, you picture the person you want...
STOP!
Here is where you could be going seriously wrong! If you are picturing a specific person, your magick is considered controlling, and WRONG! By picturing a specific person, your magick is working on that specific person, changing what this person may or may not feel and think. This person will then act under the influence of the spell, acting other than this person normally would. What happens when the spell wears off? Will they still love you? Probably not.
Here is a better way for this part of the spell. Instead of picturing a specific person, picture the qualities you desire in a person. In this way, you are not working your magick on any specific person, just attracting the qualities you desire to you. Someone with these qualities will come into your life, and a relationship may start. You are not causing someone to love you. You are attracting what you love to you, so that love can come about. This is bound to be a more effective spell than the first, more controlling, version.


Always remember, witches do not do any blood sacrifices. Sacrificing a flower or an object is ok, but NEVER sacrifice a living being, such as an animal or person.


Some witches say it is ok to attack another with magick if that person magickly attacked you first. Is it? This is really a question you should ask and answer yourself, but I will give you my belief and why I feel the way I do.
We are told not to harm magickly. This is covered in the Wiccan rede, and by the basic laws of Karma itself. Besides, if we attack back, we are stooping to the attackers level...somewhere I would rather not be. It is just as effictive to work protective magick. In this way, we are protecting ourselves from harm and not harming another, thus avoiding bad Karma. Another effective proccess is to "send the energy back." This is not working magick on someone else, but rather sending back the energy sent to you in the first place, and causing Karma to take place immediatly, rather than down the road in the long run. This is espicially effective when you don't know who the attacker is.


Also, never work any magick on someone without their permission. This is like a magickal "rape." Even if you are working positive magick, such as healing, it becomes wrong if you do not aquire the subjects permission first. Just ask them. If they say "no," don't do the magick. If they say "yes," go for it! If you don't ask, one must assume they said no, even if you have gotten their permission in the past. Ask each and every time you are going to do magick for someone! NO EXCEPTIONS!

What a good post Lady E. This puts me in remind of a person with whom I was firends and how she thought it was good to use spells against people who had done the wrong thing to her. Although she was not experienced in any way in using magick and she thought that because someone had wronged her it was ok for her to do in return. I did try to explain to her that it was better to protect yourself and ask for universal help with returning all negative thoughts and intentions back to where they came from with love and light, but she would argue the point that it wasn't right to send back with love. So now she is a very lonely person. What you put out, you most certainly get back. I have not spoken to her for almost 12 months now as the negative air around her and in her home was just too much to handle.

So I very much agree and always have that the only way to work is with the permission of the recipient and the thought that everything done is with the highest good sought. Love and light are the most powerful things to work with in my opinion.

Kath

Good point, Lady E.
I have done spells that have absolutely bewildered me with their results. In fact, my first indication that they worked at all was that things suddenly got really weird--weird car problems, bizarre coincidences, a crazy woman stalking me, etc. I stopped to think about just what I was tampering with, and it occurred to me that I really had not a clue. We need to keep in mind that many of mankind's most horrific inventions and discoveries--radiation, automatic weapons, the guilllotine, nitroglycerine and gunpowder, to name just a few--were perpetrated by very well-intentioned men of science and culture whose only goal in life was to make the world a better place for their fellow man.

Blessings.
Monk

Well put Lady E. I think that constant reminders help keep us from wandering astray. Sometimes it's very easy to get wrapped up in things and forget the basics. I also agree that sometimes you don't really realize how much of what you do effects others in SOME way. I think all thoughts of spell casting should have some sort of warning label on them that say "PROCEED WITH CAUTION" , but like so many other things, if they are handled with care, well thought out, executed properly....the results can be well worth the care!

Warmest Blessings

Magick is no different than mundane things.

Sometimes we know only enough to make more problems than what we started with.