In any religion or social system employing magick, as all employ it in some way, some guide of ethicality is a must, not only for the protection of others in society, but for the health and continued well-being of the practitioner as well. This guide of ethicality must apply both to day-to-day actions as well as to magickal workings with intent, as both will have ramifications for the individual. We believe in the "Threefold Law," or "Law of Return," which states that anything we do returns to us three times over, for boon or bane. Wiccans in general and Spiral Winds' Coveners in particular do not believe in traditional concepts of "good and evil." Although we recognize and attempt to balance all perceivable polarity, all polarity is seen to exist within each thing, person, or Spirit in the Universe, including all Deities. In the view of Spiral Winds, all Gods and Goddesses contain light and dark sides to Their "personalities" just as the Human does. Nevertheless, an ethical code must address these concepts, at least in terms of day-to-day social interaction, to preclude harm to any.

    The central problem in delineating an ethical code arises when we attempt to define the concepts of good and evil, as these definitions vary greatly between cultures. What is anathema in one society is common or even expected behavior in another. The Wiccan in Spiral Winds attempts to define these concepts in terms of the life-enriching or life-denying effects of an action or working. We tend to value the free Will of all individuals (including the self), and their ability to make independent decisions, without imposing our will upon them. As each person is a manifestation of Deity, incarnated for the purpose of gaining wisdom through the solving of problems of their own devising, they must be allowed the opportunity to succeed or fail of their own higher Will. The awesome power that a Wiccan harnesses is viewed as a gift from the God and Goddess, and if misused, can seriously impair the Wiccan’s own growth and even sanity. It is also important to bear in mind that mundane, non-magickal acts bear the same set of moral fruit and are subject to the same moral laws as an intent performed in high ritual fashion. In Wicca, there is no “avenging deity” that punishes amoral acts; there is only the Law of Return, which operates as non-judgmentally as does the Law of Gravity.

    Although Wiccans generally rely on their balanced intuition and conscience as a moral guide, the Wiccan Rede serves as strong advice in support of this level of ethicality. The word Rede means “advice,” no more nor less. It is intended as sound counsel, not as dogma or commandment, as Wicca stresses self-responsibility and accountability for one’s actions. When one is able to recognize that contact with the Divine part of ourselves can reveal a universal consciousness and individual ethical perspective, capable of transcending societally imposed mores, one is able to move beyond the need for ecclesiastical and secular rules, dogma, and commandments, which in fact tend to cripple individual ethical development. Disempowerment of the individual through restriction by religious commandment and morality laws, in defining what actions are proscribed, prevent the individual growth necessary to progress to a universal consciousness. A muscle that is unused will atrophy; blind adherence to external moral codes will cause atrophy of one’s individual ethics in favor of societally dictated mores. This is not to say that societal laws should be disregarded capriciously; but rather that societal laws must be scrutinized in light of a higher code of ethics: one that springs from the Highest Self. In Wicca, we refer to this ultimate code of mores the Will, capitalized to distinguish it from the whim of the individual. The Will denotes the ethical code, as well as the power to manifest it, that is imparted to an individual in contact with their Highest Self, which is in fact the Godhead within.

    It must again be emphasized that the Will as described here does NOT refer to the whim of the individual, but rather that system of internal dictates present within the subconsciousness of each and every individual. Benjamin Franklin was once quoted as saying, "My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins."

    Because Wiccans in Spiral Winds are committed to communion with the Divine present within each of us, we are also highly aware of our own ethics, and we constantly seek to improve them so as to not infringe upon the rights of any individual. For this reason, we do NOT cast curses, hexes, or love spells, as all of these workings are a direct violation of our ethical code.

    The system of moral behavior employed in Wicca obviously places extreme emphasis on self-responsibility. It speaks to what you can do, rather than what you cannot. But this responsibility and individual empowerment comes with a price; the powers invoked in a magickal Wiccan circle are quite potent, with infinite ability to heal or harm. Power knows no moral code, no black nor white; it just is. The onus for responsible employment of this energy falls upon ourselves. At one extreme of ethicality, we disempower ourselves by blind adherence to external rules and regulations; at the other extreme we endanger not only others around us, but our own selves and even our Higher Selves. A Wiccan in Spiral Winds must always, but always constantly strive for middle ground, the center point of the spinning Wheel, minimizing the harm done by their actions.