Long ago, when the Old Religion was the Only Religion, the moral and ethical basis of Wicca and Paganism was taught during infancy and childhood, and everyone understood their ethical obligations to the world around them.

With the rise of Patriarchal Religions, ethics and morals were gradually replaced by an increasingly complex code of behaviour. Laws and rules to govern every aspect of life were written down and every letter of the law was strictly adhered to. Lists of ‘do’ and ‘do not’ appeared until people lost all sense of the reasoning behind the laws, and obedience became the highest virtue. At last, the law became everything, to be followed blindly; and most people conformed either to the ‘anything not strictly forbidden is allowed’ camp, or the ‘anything not specifically allowed is forbidden’ camp depending on their own temperament and that of their society.

Anyone who erred in following the code either asked for forgiveness from God, which he granted instantly and completely through his divine mercy; or asked for forgiveness from God, performed the penance his priests required of them, and then were granted forgiveness instantly and completely.

In either case it was God that had to be appealed to, because it was His Law that had been broken.

There are no grey areas here, no moral dilemmas, just right and wrong simple and clear cut. There are no natural consequences for your actions, no personal responsibility for any outcome, no reasoning, no thinking of any kind required; in short no ethics at all, just a list of things to be memorised, and a simple formula of repentance and forgiveness if you forget or decide to skip one.

How simple. How easy. You can see why it caught on. It’s how most of us were raised. But there must be something about it that you don’t like, or you would not be reading this.

Don’t think for a moment, though, that ours is the easier path. On this road, you are required to have your brain with you at all times!

Within Wicca we have no written laws to follow, no codes, no repentance and forgiveness. You may have already encountered the ‘do as you will’ bit, and applied it to some areas of your life. But what if it creates a moral issue?

In the patriarchal society within which most of us live there is always someone or somewhere to turn to - someone who will explain or who will answer questions thus allowing you to experience the heady feelings associated with true freedom.

This is fine, as long as everyone who is seeking has access to a teacher; an actual flesh-and-blood person to have conversations and long discussions with; someone who is an experienced counsellor and practitioner of our Art. Then ethical codes could be discussed, problems could be presented for solving, practice cases could come up, and all of this stuff could be explored and guidance given right along with everything else that makes up our Craft.

But more and more students are learning from books or the internet alone, unable to find a teacher or even to find out how to find one. Many of the books available seem to concentrate on the ‘how to’ instead of the ‘why would you?’ or even ‘should you?’ behind the Craft, while most of the internet sites are more interested in the darker aspects without regard to any moral or ethical sense.

Everything that you do, or don’t do, has consequences that ripple through the world like a pebble dropped into a pond, and you are responsible for them!

There is no instant repentance and forgiveness. The three-fold law is a law like gravity, not a statute. Everything you do, either for good or ill, will come back to you three times. And if you choose to ignore this, or are ignorant of it, or just plain make a mistake, and harm someone the only way to avoid getting three times as much harm back is to run right out and fix it! You have to help them three times as much as you harmed them, as quickly as possible.

Far from acting with complete moral licence, an experienced Witch should be one of the most moral creatures on the planet.

So, for all of you who are earnestly seeking and have no one to teach you, for all who long to be the best you that you can possibly become, for all who are seeking to win through to the light, and all who are trying to find the balance point, ‘listen, and learn to find the wisdom hidden within.’

We are the Wicca, Witches, the secret children of the Goddess. We are a very ancient religion. Some say that our name means ‘wise ones’. Others say it means ‘to bend’. What it once meant is no longer important, for now it means both of those things, and many more besides.

In the dawn times, when mankind was young, we all worshipped the Mother, and Her consort, the Horned God of Fertility and the Hunt. We were simple people then, hunters and gatherers, and we lived in harmony with the earth.

But all things change, and we, too, changed. We learned to work with our Mother to bring forth the food we needed when and where we needed it – we invented agriculture.

As the long ages passed, few still clung to the old ways, and learned the old skills. These were called Priestesses, or Witches, or Wise Ones, and they were feared, for their knowledge and their power.

When the new gods came into the land, and won the loyalty of the people by force and deceit, or by true acts of gentleness and loving kindness (for a good man may be found anywhere – and every religion contains some truth) then the Gods of the old religion became the Saints and the Devils of the new.

For many years we lived together in harmony, but then the burning times began.

During those times, great change was upon the land, and a new light of reason dawned. Many in the ruling classes lost their power, and all who were handy targets – the poor, women, and people whose colour or philosophy did not coincide with the new ruling classes – were used to vent the anger and uncertainty of all the world.

Many were tortured, and countless thousands were killed – and we of the old religion hid for our lives; and were heard of no more, until people thought we were a myth; a tale to frighten naughty children.

Then the laws against us were repealed – for why outlaw a fairy tale? And in a new climate of tolerance, some are stepping forth again; to separate the facts from the fiction, and explain to all the world that we are simple people; who desire nothing more than to grow and learn in peace to honour our Mother, the Earth, and to worship the Gods we cherish in the fashion we choose.

We are a polytheistic religion; we worship the Mother, whom we call the Lady, and her Consort, the Lord, as we have since the dawn of time. There are many aspects of the Lord and Lady, and we celebrate Their rituals using many names.

Our gatherings are rich with chants and legends. Many are as old as the rocky hills. Many are as new as the spring rain. For just as the world grows and changes, with cycles repeating themselves year by year, so our religion grows and changes, and yet the patterns and rhythms repeat themselves again and again.

We do not perform sacrifices on Her altar, for She does not delight in the shedding of blood, but in joy and living. All acts of beauty and love are sacred to Her, and we rejoice in the celebration of life.

We are reverent, but seldom solemn. We glory in laughter, and enjoy our worship.

There are three degrees of initiation in our tradition of the Craft. Witches of the third degree learn to step outside the patterns of the world, and mould them. Much of their time is spent teaching and counselling. (Folk will seek them out, whether they advertise or not. We joke that we walk around with ‘Priestess’ or ‘Priest’ stamped on our foreheads – slightly less ascetically pleasing than dressing in black with a “dog collar” perhaps, but the same result never the less.)

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