Okay, so I have been reading a multitude of posts recently about the portion of the Wiccan Rede that a good number of witches take to heart. Im sure you all know what I am talking about. "An it Harm None, Do What Thou Will." It has been thrown back and forth lately and I decided to throw my opinion out there for those who want to hear it. (I like to pretend that people actually like to hear my opinion, but I know the truth.) Now, I do not consider myself a wiccan, but i think that the rede is a good thing for even witches to follow, as long as they follow it in the right way.
Personally, i believe that the rede should not be applied to every day life and every situation. The idea of not harming anyone was taken from the original idea of the rede and stretched beyond belief. I am not, by any means, saying that it is okay to harm someone in any situation. I am saying that the idea of "harm none" is may out of control. I have met people, and read blogs of people who take the rede so much to heart that they would not even do harm if it were to protect themselves or their families. I dont agree with this point of view at all.
I am also coming from the point of view of a Pre-Veterinary Medicine major. I am going to be a veterinarian within the next six to eight years, and that job would require me to cause pain in order to help animals. I am going to have to euthanize animals, and i see no issue there as long as it is better for the animal. (this is a whole different blog topic that i am not going into here.) I am going to have to draw blood, and place IV's and many other things that will knowingly cause the animal pain, but will also get it on the way to healing and getting better. This is not the place to apply the rede.
I recently broke up with my girlfriend. It hurt her a very great deal. I am an empath, I can feel how much it crushed her. It needed to be done. For my own sanity and to help her in the long run. I knowingly hurt her, and i dont think that I will receive any negative effects for it. This is not where the rede should apply. There are countless times in ones life in which you will have to hurt someone, and its just part of being alive in our society. It cannot be escaped.
Where should the rede be applied? It is very simple, and i think it has more to do with the original intent of the rede than anyone realizes. Magick. It is as simple as that. Magick can be a very powerful thing, and can easily be used to harm someone. There are also cases in which it accidentally harms someone. I think that the main idea of the rede is saying, do whatever magick you want, as long as you are not knowingly harming someone. Magick has many uses, and us witches put them to use. Personally, i will never perform magick that will knowingly harm another living thing, it just goes against my morals.
Thats my opinion on the rede, feel free to refute me or just send happy supporting comments.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Cunning Folk?... I think not
So I recently had an experience on Facepook that had me thinking quite deeply. but first ill talk a bit about myself as I have not posted in a while.
I am a single man. I have recently dumped my girlfriend as I was not happy with the situation. We are trying to be friends, but who knows how well that will work out. Girls are kinda crazy.
I am back in Findlay and already hitting the books hard (or they are hitting me, i should say). This is going to be a rough semester considering my schedule consists of general chemistry 2 lecture, physics 2 lecture, cell biology lecture, statistics, gen chem 2 lab, physics 2 lab, cell bio lab, and physiology of animal reproduction and growth. The only class of which I like is repro. It is going to be a very labor intensive semester for me and I need A's so y'all will know why if I am scarce.
now back to my topic...
I have recently gotten into joining pagan facebook groups in order to meet new pagans and give what i have to offer to those new, starting off witches so as to avoid a whole new generation of witches following the teachings of Silver Ravenwolf or Fiona Horne. I found one that seemed innocent enough. There were only a few members and the administrator of the group seemed to be a well-informed young man who posted a lot of accurate, factual information in his groups feed. So i read some of what he posted and I posted information about my two favorite shops aswell as a quick bio about myself.
The admin seemed to take a liking to me, and immediately friend requested me and sent me a message outlining what his purpose was with the group. Honestly, he had me running for the hills at this point. First of all, what kind of idiot is going to friend request someone just based on their little bio on a facebook group, that seems dumb and careless, but it stopped suprising me the more i thought about and read his message. What was his plan you ask?
He wanted to collect a group of witches to be his "cunning folk," and people can contact him via the facebook group or email with a problem that needed magickal help and he would dispatch a witch of group of witches in order to perform the necessary magick for a fee to be determined by the witches involved. He even talked about performing services over the net. ( I sure hope that you are facepalming as badly as I was when I read this crap). So essentially, this man wanted to be a pimp and for us self-respecting witches to be his hoes. I have a problem with that.
For those of you who dont know what "cunning folk" are, Sarah Lawless wrote a lovely article about them. http://witchofforestgrove.com/2009/09/17/cunning-folk/. You can learn a little about the idea of cunning folk if you so choose
Now, I know that in olden times, witches would perform services for people in exchange for some sort of payment whether it be food, animals, shelter, etc. This was in a time when magick was taken far more seriously and people were far less intent of suing for all that they can get. In today's times, there are so many people who are afraid of being screwed, and there have been many cases of fraud witches milking naive people for all that they have. There are too many people out there who could pose for witches and take advantage of the average person out there. If you ask me, the administrator of this group is putting himself in a precarious position, and he could be quite liable for the witches that he so naively pimps out.
Personally, I do not agree with charging for one's magickal workings. I have been told that this idea of not charging for ones work is of North American origin, and I feel that it is a very good idea. I perform tarot and oracle readings for people and I do not ask for anything in return. I look forward for the ability to practice and work on my abilities and build various skills. I would glady work magick for people that I know, but i would not charge for it, I just dont agree with such things.
Another issue that was raised in my mind is the fact that magick works best when there is a connection between the witch and the one requesting work. I am all for the mixing of natural remedies and such, and they are effective no matter who uses them, but magickal work is not so universal. It is never as strong as when the witch and "client" have some sort of connection. One would have to be a quite powerful witch in order to work magick on a complete stranger. This brings up more liability issues for the administrator of the group.
As far as online magick, thats just a whole new issue of stupidity that I do not have space for unless I want to make this blog into a novel. I think that it is utter bull and thats all you need to know.
I think that the owner of this group does not realize what he is doing or the trouble that he could get in if his witch-pimp idea comes to fruition.
Honestly, I want to know others opions on this topic. You know how I feel, and I want to know how you (my whopping two followers (love you guys)) think.
thank you for listening to me bitch
Iolair Stormwing
I am a single man. I have recently dumped my girlfriend as I was not happy with the situation. We are trying to be friends, but who knows how well that will work out. Girls are kinda crazy.
I am back in Findlay and already hitting the books hard (or they are hitting me, i should say). This is going to be a rough semester considering my schedule consists of general chemistry 2 lecture, physics 2 lecture, cell biology lecture, statistics, gen chem 2 lab, physics 2 lab, cell bio lab, and physiology of animal reproduction and growth. The only class of which I like is repro. It is going to be a very labor intensive semester for me and I need A's so y'all will know why if I am scarce.
now back to my topic...
I have recently gotten into joining pagan facebook groups in order to meet new pagans and give what i have to offer to those new, starting off witches so as to avoid a whole new generation of witches following the teachings of Silver Ravenwolf or Fiona Horne. I found one that seemed innocent enough. There were only a few members and the administrator of the group seemed to be a well-informed young man who posted a lot of accurate, factual information in his groups feed. So i read some of what he posted and I posted information about my two favorite shops aswell as a quick bio about myself.
The admin seemed to take a liking to me, and immediately friend requested me and sent me a message outlining what his purpose was with the group. Honestly, he had me running for the hills at this point. First of all, what kind of idiot is going to friend request someone just based on their little bio on a facebook group, that seems dumb and careless, but it stopped suprising me the more i thought about and read his message. What was his plan you ask?
He wanted to collect a group of witches to be his "cunning folk," and people can contact him via the facebook group or email with a problem that needed magickal help and he would dispatch a witch of group of witches in order to perform the necessary magick for a fee to be determined by the witches involved. He even talked about performing services over the net. ( I sure hope that you are facepalming as badly as I was when I read this crap). So essentially, this man wanted to be a pimp and for us self-respecting witches to be his hoes. I have a problem with that.
For those of you who dont know what "cunning folk" are, Sarah Lawless wrote a lovely article about them. http://witchofforestgrove.com/2009/09/17/cunning-folk/. You can learn a little about the idea of cunning folk if you so choose
Now, I know that in olden times, witches would perform services for people in exchange for some sort of payment whether it be food, animals, shelter, etc. This was in a time when magick was taken far more seriously and people were far less intent of suing for all that they can get. In today's times, there are so many people who are afraid of being screwed, and there have been many cases of fraud witches milking naive people for all that they have. There are too many people out there who could pose for witches and take advantage of the average person out there. If you ask me, the administrator of this group is putting himself in a precarious position, and he could be quite liable for the witches that he so naively pimps out.
Personally, I do not agree with charging for one's magickal workings. I have been told that this idea of not charging for ones work is of North American origin, and I feel that it is a very good idea. I perform tarot and oracle readings for people and I do not ask for anything in return. I look forward for the ability to practice and work on my abilities and build various skills. I would glady work magick for people that I know, but i would not charge for it, I just dont agree with such things.
Another issue that was raised in my mind is the fact that magick works best when there is a connection between the witch and the one requesting work. I am all for the mixing of natural remedies and such, and they are effective no matter who uses them, but magickal work is not so universal. It is never as strong as when the witch and "client" have some sort of connection. One would have to be a quite powerful witch in order to work magick on a complete stranger. This brings up more liability issues for the administrator of the group.
As far as online magick, thats just a whole new issue of stupidity that I do not have space for unless I want to make this blog into a novel. I think that it is utter bull and thats all you need to know.
I think that the owner of this group does not realize what he is doing or the trouble that he could get in if his witch-pimp idea comes to fruition.
Honestly, I want to know others opions on this topic. You know how I feel, and I want to know how you (my whopping two followers (love you guys)) think.
thank you for listening to me bitch
Iolair Stormwing
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