Something many of us face at some point is doubts about the morality of our path. This is largely due to the overwhelming Christian supremacy we face. When Christianity first came to power, there were crusades sent all over the globe and, among other things, one of their goals was to convert people to their faith. A big part of that was to demonize and villify anyone who practiced earth-based religions. They burned their tools and books, they desecrated their sacred places, and they slaughtered their priests and priestesses. Those who remained were tortured repeatedly, only being offered an escape from the torment if they would accept Christianity. Some did. Many chose to die a martyr for their faith, being executed as a pagan, heretic, witch.
The world has changed since those times. We are no longer hunted down in the streets and burned for our practice. We are safe to choose our own beliefs and we do so with courage. We wear the title pagan as a badge of honor. A word they used as an insult is for us a title we claim as an act of defiance in the face of tyranny. We share our knowledge with one another, at least what we have been able to recover. We gather around the fire to exchange stories. We have begun reconnecting to our past and slowly but surely rebuilding. They could not destroy our soul or our people.
Unfortunately, they did destroy our world. Christianity has conquered most of the world. In many countries, especially the US, especially the south and Midwest, Christianity is the status quo. Anything else is considered wrong, bizarre, and blasphemy. It is safe to be a pagan, but it is not accepted. I spoke previously about ways to practice your path without being ostracized and it is necessary, but the reality is it shouldn\’t be. The Christian wave has created an entire generation that views Magick as evil. Even new magicians question or feel guilty about practicing because they have been fed the rhetoric that it is \”of the devil\”. Let me clear some things up for you.
Magick is a tool. It is both an energy type and a means of utilizing that energy. It is not inherently good or evil. Like any other tool, good and Evil is determined by how and why you use it. If you use Magick to harm innocents, that\’s evil. Honestly, using Magick to harm those that aren\’t innocent borders on evil, too, because you can\’t be certain that your perspective is the right one, or the only right one. You may have heard the Wiccan phrase \”An ye harm none, do what ye will.\”. This is the foundation of which all Wicca is built upon. Their core value is first and foremost \”do no harm\”. Many religions that the modern world has labeled \”good\” and \”holy\” preach to kill.
Magick actually has framework within it to discourage evil behavior. It\’s called the Three-fold Rule, or Rule of Three. Basically, whatever you do with Magick will come back to you stronger. Three times, in fact. If you cast spells to help someone, you will be helped too. If you bless someone, you will be blessed. But if you hex someone, if you use malicious Magick on someone, it will do what you intend. But it will come back at you three times as strong after. I don\’t know why or how it works that way. I don\’t know what being put that rule into effect, but I think it is the most elegant, perfectly balanced way to encourage benevolence over malevolence. Our path, the one called evil, has a built in system to propagate positivity and goodness. Christianity sets the only fate-deciding factor to whether or not you ask forgiveness. While the murderer has heaven, the witch has hell. I don\’t speak against others\’ ways of life, as I believe \”An ye harm none, do what ye will\”, but I cannot fathom belonging to such a belief system and calling us the evil ones.
Aside from my ranting, the important take away is that Magick is neither good nor evil, it\’s all in how you use it.