The Wiccan or Witches Rede

Abide by the Wiccan Rede you must,

In perfect love and perfect trust.

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:

An it harm none, do what you will.

Unless in self-defense it be,

Ever mind the Rule of Three.

Keep these words in mind and heart,

The most common way you will see the Rede is "An it harm none, do what ye will" or other similar wording. The one presented here is a fuller version that explains in more detail what that short little sentence means. This "short little sentence" is *the* rule of all witchcraft and the most important thing to always practice.

I will break it down into its components and explain each part so that you understand exactly what it means.

Another meaning this often has is a sort of "honor among witches." If you are a student, you trust your teacher to guide you, and you give respect; if you are a teacher, you trust your student to want to learn, and you give respect. You try to keep compassion in your heart toward other living things, and to give others, especially other witches, the benefit of the doubt. (This is important to keep in mind in this era of "witchwars" and bearers of the One True Way...in perfect love and perfect trust, we honor everyone's right to "do as they will" unless they do harm.)

Lines #3&4 - Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An it harm none, do what you will.

Here is the substance of the Rede and why often times you will only see the one line "An it harm none, do what you will". I have also seen it shortened to just "An it harm none." "An" means "if" not "and" here which is a common misunderstanding of the "poetry" of this line. The rest of this line is added clarification by way of poetry.

This means that you can do whatever you want to in life so long as you never do anything to harm another or yourself. This could be a simple thing like doing a spell to give someone a hang-nail to a major thing like doing a spell to kill someone, it doesn’t matter, you should not do it. It applies to yourself or other people, animals, plants, the air, whatever, again it doesn’t matter what it is- you are to harm *none*. It also applies to spells or general everyday things.. as in don’t do addictive drugs or self-destructive things or cut down and kill a tree just for the fun of it or drive in a car that pours out huge clouds of pollution into the air or kill an animal just for the sport of it.

It's a lot like the Hindu law of ahimsa and the Hippocratic oath to "do no harm." The latter is not a coincidence, since historically witches were the keepers of herbal lore and often acted as lay doctors and healers. Like ahimsa, the Rede actually becomes impossible to live by if carried out far enough: if by breathing you kill thousands of microbes, if by eating you kill animals and plants, how can you fulfill the Rede? Some traditions solve this by adding "For the goodwill of all." In other words, the important thing is to try to do what's best for all concerned, including yourself. In this version of the Rede, the problem is solved by the next line, "Unless in self-defense it be." The harm you do in breathing and eating preserves your life, so it is acceptable. In situations where harm cannot be avoided, the important thing is to maintain respect and compassion for those who are harmed. So, for example, many Wiccans who eat meat say a prayer of thanks to the spirits of the animals who died to provide the meal, and some lobby for humane treatment of animals.

Lines #5&6 - Unless in self-defense it be, ever mind the Rule of Three.

Here is an important clarification of the Rede. The common thought is, well I’m in a situation where if I do not harm/kill this person this person will harm/kill me. The Rede is not made to undermine the primal human nature of self-preservation. If you are faced in a situation where it’s kill or be killed or other type thing than by all means defend yourself! If there is another way out besides violence try to take that route first though. The Rule of Three is also called the Threefold law or karma. What that means is when you do something it will come back to you three times more than it went out from you. This goes both ways-good and bad. If you do something good for someone you will have returned to you something three times better. If you do something bad to someone it will come back to haunt you three times worse than you did to them. A side note here.. some people don’t believe as strongly in the Threefold law as others and you will often hear arguments about it, such as "what's three times worse than death" or other such things. So, basically, the general message of these lines is to always remember that your good or bad actions have consequences (whatever and however severe they may be) and you should always mind them but if you have no other option than do what you have to in self-defense.

Lines #7&8 - Keep these words in mind and heart, and merry meet and merry part.

These lines are also fairly basic. You always want to think about the Rede when doing things, both spells and every day things. Have the Rede in your heart means to do nice things all the time-like the proverbial helping an old lady cross the street or holding a door open for someone or simply smiling at people on the street. Simple acts of kindness that help you live by the Rede. To remember not to do spiteful or hateful things like pinning a car in that cut you off in the parking lot or hollering at a store clerk just because they’re out of your favorite shampoo that’s on sale or worse. Merry meet and merry part is a traditional way to end all meetings and circles. The full line is "Merry meet and Merry part and Merry Meet again". A common greeting is simply "Merry meet". It's pretty self-explanatory really. You are saying that you meet politely and nicely, you part on good terms and when you next meet you meet on friendly terms. This is also a little bit of a spell to me in that you are wishing the ability to meet this person again and that it be a good meeting. Now this does not mean that the reasons you are meeting are good- it could be for a Handfasting or a funeral- it just means that when you meet each other you meet and part on good terms.

There are many versions of the Rede ranging from the simple "Harm None" or "An it harm none do as ye will" to long pages of pseudo-middle English. A lot of these include more rules and explanations of things related to Wicca besides the Rede. We have chosen this eight-line version for our tradition because we feel it covers the most important aspects of the Rede without getting into all the extra things that will be covered separately later.