Making appropriate protest when we feel that unnecessary damage is being done to the environment – and not just because we don’t want something in our neighbourhood. Deciding what is appropriate protest can be quite difficult, but it is worth remembering that protests made with enough support, at the right time to the right people, through the formal system, are more likely to succeed than something newsworthy just as the bulldozers move in. A lot of publicity at that late a stage will not save a lost cause! Remember, politicians count one well-written letter as representing the views of 100 people.
FREEDOM OF SPIRITUAL CHOICE
We believe that everyone is entitled to their own spiritual beliefs, so long as they harm no one else. This means that people are entitled to practise whatever they believe is right for them as a religion, spirituality or faith, as long as they do not harm anyone else or use any kind of force or coercion to persuade others to take up those beliefs. Witchcraft is a non-proselytizing religion, which means we do not seek converts. Speaking personally, that means I am quite happy to explain what I believe and what I do, and if you choose to read this book that is your choice, but I would not force you to do so.
Witches do not feel that it is necessary to change the way other people approach their version of the divine, nor that it is important to be one of a large number of others all believing the same thing. Other faiths do not always feel this way and many seek to change the way those outside their faith believe. They seek converts, believing that theirs is the ‘one true faith’, and to this end they preach to the young, often from pre-school age onwards. They will frequently express as fact beliefs which are a part of their faith.
However, part of allowing everyone to follow their own beliefs is the concept of informed choice. Hence Witches prefer to encourage their children to examine many belief systems objectively, fostering questioning and discussion. I would not prevent my child from attending, for example, a church, although I know of few other religions whose members would be prepared to find out what happens at a Wiccan festival, let alone allow their young to attend.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
We believe that what you say and do is your own responsibility. We believe this is true for everyone – although we do not force people (or even expect them) to believe the same. You can blame no outside agency – whether the Devil or your parents! – for making you behave the way you do.
Whilst we are all, to a certain extent, conditioned by what has happened to us in the past, once we reach the age where we can think for ourselves, we have the choice and ability to change our behaviour in our future. To do this we must first of all understand ourselves and what makes us react the way we do. Say you come from a background where physical punishment (for example smacking) was used to deter bad behaviour, it is possible that this is the way you will react when your own children are naughty, but you can choose not to react in this way. If on the last two occasions you told your friend a secret they let it out and you had a fight, you can choose to avoid this next time by not telling your friend, rather than blaming them for being loose-tongued. If you drink too much alcohol and do something stupid you cannot blame the drink – you drank it. All these are elements of personal responsibility.
Another aspect of this is taking responsibility for the effect you have on other people – but only so far as your responsibility goes. As an example, if you are in a relationship with someone who is very attached to you, but you no longer feel strongly for them, then obviously your responsibility is to end the relationship. If you take to heart the Wiccan Rede, then you will do so as gently as possible, without causing unnecessary pain, whilst still being as honest as you can. However, if that person then runs off and joins the army and gets killed in action, whilst it is natural to feel some guilt, that is not your personal responsibility. Their feelings and subsequent actions are their personal responsibilities. Choosing to do what is right for yourself regardless of how others may feel at first seems very harsh. But it is an important part of personal responsibility to be personally honest and in the long term it does a lot less harm than pretending to be someone you are not or to feel something you do not.
Furthermore, personal responsibility includes knowing when not to get involved in the affairs of others. Imagine that your best friend has split up with her partner and comes to you with a tale of woe, telling you how badly he treated her. Of course you can sympathize and comfort her, but what you should not do is then rush round to everyone you know spreading stories about what a nasty person he is and how he should be avoided. First, you only know one side of the story and however honest you think your friend is, her perceptions will be coloured by her feelings, especially in the heat of the moment. Secondly, whatever happened in their relationship is their personal responsibility, not yours. Your responsibility as a friend involves being there for your friend, not in being everywhere else and stirring up everyone else. This is very hard to achieve, especially when someone close to you feels seriously offended, but wisdom often lies in doing less, not more.
THE WICCAN REDE
One of the ways in which personal responsibility is emphasized is through the Wiccan Rede. This is the rule that Witches strive to follow and by which they measure their actions. As mentioned before, it is a positive morality, rather than a set of ‘don’ts’ or ‘shalt nots’. The Rede comes in many forms, some poetic, some lengthy, but however it is expressed, it always contains the same key phrase at its heart: ‘An’ it harm none, do what thou will.’ This rather archaic phrasing (often modernized to ‘And it harm none, do what you will’) simply means that you should do what is right for you in your life, but that in doing so you should try not to hurt others. Now obviously there are times when doing what is personally right will almost certainly hurt someone else, but here you are required to make your own moral judgement – to consider, accept and live with the consequences.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
As a Witch, you are also responsible for your own personal development, for fulfilling your own potential. This means continuing your development throughout your life. It may mean taking up some form of adult education, whether to make up for opportunities lost or to set out in a new direction. If you find yourself headed in a direction which is wrong for you, then you are responsible for changing course! It does mean working at obtaining all the skills that you need to make your life as fulfilled as possible. Above all it means that if you decide on the path of the Witch, you are responsible for learning and growing on that path. You cannot expect others to do it for you or to you. You must seek the teacher(s), you must ask the questions and you must expect to set the pace.
In the Craft this means that you will need to choose the specialities you wish to learn, find the books and set your own time scale for taking on new knowledge and skills. You may not find the ‘right’ teacher for some time after you have made the decision to walk this path, so it is up to you to start work immediately. Many believe that the teacher does not appear until the student is ready.
If, in time, you do find a group or Coven to work with, the High Priestess will not tell you what to learn and when. She will not give you any more help than you ask for and she will certainly not do the work for you. If you seek to learn she will guide you in your studies, but she will expect you to be the driving force.
WE ARE EACH OUR OWN PRIEST OR PRIESTESS
Linked to this is the belief that every individual has the right and the ability to communicate with the divine for themselves, that we do not need an intermediary to intercede or interpret our Gods and Goddesses for us. We do not need a specialist ‘priestly