#witch code

So, hi there!  Witchlings & Arcanites!  While I do my morning smokes and brekky, I’m gunna write this post.  I read another post about how Past Lives, Reincarnation, and Karma are all concepts that were originally in the Asia continent (as in, middle eastern & Chinese, and spreading across that region) and to the point of this, I’ma just talk about how I feel about that.

I’ve never really read a book specifically on Reincarnation but it’s mentioned a lot in witchcraft books, so is Karma.  I believe in one, but not the other- or rather, I think if there is a ‘Karma’ that it would be arrogant of me to assume how a greater force balances the scales, so I don’t bother.  But I do believe in Reincarnation- and I don’t know what the “standard system” to believe in is...  I kinda pulled ideas out of my head of how it could work-- again could-- and went with that.  

So...  What do we do in this instance as witches?  I can’t deny that an ancient concept stolen and bastardized isn’t appropriation.  I also can’t really remove one of my fundamental beliefs from my practice, at least, I’m not prepared to do that emotionally right now.  So what do I do now?  Do I attempt to research the original concept- even though it doesn’t belong to my culture- or do I modify my own concept of Reincarnation and make it my own original thought.  

Here’s another issue: I believe it is possible for two (or more) people to have a very similar idea.  That is not to say that we are not creative, but it is to say that sometimes the human brain and soul works in a pattern that none of us are immune to.  As it stands, since I’ve never researched Reincarnation and I have never shared my own theory of Reincarnation, so right now, this is my ‘original’ idea based off of a word.  I’m willing to say that I’m 100% positive that somewhere out in the world right now is another witch who read the word reincarnation in a book but not any further, and has their own specific definition of what happens in that process.  

Obviously, yes, you can be a witch and that doesn’t come with the spirituality+religious aspect, or can come with just one or the other, for me it’s a threefold package though.  When you’ve got a spiritual and religious aspect you do have to answer some questions, what happens to us when we die, obviously being one of them.  Now I’m not saying appropriate and call it good, but I also think that there’s only so much that can happen and a lot of it’s already been explored in myths (Hel, Hades, Underworlds, etc) and by others.  I also think it’s possible to have what we think is an original thought about one of these avenues already explored- like an alleyway off of the main street.  

I was thinking of buying cards, but after looking at a bunch, none of them really clicked with me. So I decided to make my own! :) Not too bad for a closet/ baby witch!

The suits are on the left and right (stacked), while the major arcana is in the middle and top. I used index cards cut in half instead of printing off a template because I wanted them to be small.

I will go over them in a thin dark marker later, but for now they’re just in pencil. I really liked the minimalist tarot cards, so i took inspiration from them. I didn’t want them to me perfect, and some of them are messier than others which is fine. On some of the cards I just drew what first came to mind. (Like for hermit I did a weird hermit crab lol)

To embody love and light,

To simultaneously heal and grow,

I decree to be the best, witchiest, version of me

Do no harm but take no shit! If I’m not willing to physically do the task I.e. force someone one to love me, the. I shouldn’t cast a spell to do it. But if I was in a dark alley threatened with assault you better believe I’d fight back, so I have no issue with hexing a person in similar instances. My magic multiples my effect, but I definitely own the effect and sometimes you just need to hex a mother…

Unpopular Opinion Incoming 

Anytime someone mentions the rede and me following it, I think they’re ignorant as fuck.  Anytime someone brings up the rede and tries to use it as a behavioral code for others, I think they’re beyond ignorant and have touched stupid.  

For this rare occasion, I’m going to say that I’ve been a studying, practicing witch for well over a decade.  There was one time when I followed the rede; when I thought there was no other choice because all the books I was reading said I had to.  But the thing is, I’ve never been Wiccan, always identified as a witch; so actually, I don’t have to do shit, kthnx.  As an abuser survivor, I don’t want to follow a code of ethics that makes it so I cannot fight back.  

When people go around citing Redes, Codes, etc, just stop please..  I am a witchblr, not a wiccanblr.  It allows these redes and codes to be forced on others and that is not what (as far as I believe) witchcraft is about.  For me, witchcraft is about empowering yourself, not making another live by your whims and wills.  

Remember: 

Your Rede, Your Moral Code, it is important, but you get to decide what it is.  You can even write it out for yourself in your BOS, just like I did.  Ethics are a complex issue, it is a case-by-case thing, definitely, and as you encounter things you can add onto your own personal code.  Witchcraft is a personal journey, and even if you already follow a code or the Rede, you can always make it your own by writing down how you prefer to handle certain situations.  NGL- I straight used a slight combination of 10 Commandments + The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth- is that complicated, maybe, but after I had my basic framework of ~10 easy ethical rules to follow it was easy to build onto it.