This Witch's Rede: Laws of Balance

For the first few years of my study of witchcraft, I thought I was Wiccan. I read Wiccan books, studied up on gods, learned the Rede, and tried to find a tradition to place myself in. After a while, I realized that Wicca as a religion just isn't for me. In fact, religion and I just don't get along very well period, no matter what religion it is.

But I just couldn't give up witchcraft. A witch I am, and a witch I always will be! After all, you don't have to be Wiccan to be a witch, and you don't have to be a witch to be Wiccan either. So I decided to let go of Wicca and continue on with my practice of witchcraft.

Some people I know thought I was abandoning a light path for a dark one, so to speak. They thought I just wanted the witchcraft without any of the rules or guidance or accountability that (supposedly) comes along with being a part of a religion. But that's actually not true at all.

In fact, I'm a firm believer in karma. I've posted about it here before. Just because I don't worship a god who will punish me if I disobey him doesn't mean that I am not concerned with the consequences of my actions. I believe that there is a strong force out there that requires balance in all things. If you do something to upset that balance, such as intentionally cause harm to someone else, it will come back to you in some form in order to restore the balance that was tipped.

Even actions as simple as a small spell for attracting money. That money has to actually come from somewhere. Love spells are the same. Are you messing with someone else's free will in order to get something you selfishly want? That's going to cost you in the long run. Nothing is without consequences.

Some believe in the "rule of three," in which whatever you put out into the universe is going to come back to you three times. I'm not sure I believe it's quite that severe. That itself seems to be an upset in balance. Think of a scale full of pennies on each side. I tip the scale on my side because I want some of those pennies. What happens then? The scale certainly does not lean three times as heavy in the other direction. Balance is restored if an equal amount of weight is emptied from the other side.

This is my idea of a rede. I believe that the universe, or "karma," will find a way to restore all balances that were upset or otherwise messed with. Sometimes it's such a severe imbalance that it springs into action and knocks you on your ass. Other times it's a slow process and may not happen for a while. But it is always corrected eventually.

I'm quite sure that not all witches share this belief. Some don't live by any rules at all, while others have very strict rules they abide by. I may not worship a god, but I can certainly govern myself when it comes to right and wrong.