"One who seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others and in harmony to nature." ~~this is #8 from the Principles of Wiccan Belief written in 1974 by the council of American Witches and reprinted in To Ride a Silver broomstick by Raven Silverwolf.
This particular definition resonates with me greatly. It contains alot of meaning in need of unpacking.
What does it mean to control?
What are the forces within?
What does it mean to live wisely and well?
What is harm and what is not?
What does it mean to live in harmony with nature?
What does it mean to control?
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/control
I find this one interesting from the above link: An instrument or set of instruments used to operate, regulate, or guide a machine or vehicle.
Control is a tool witches can use to "operate, regulate or guide a machine or vehicle," and that vehicle/machine is the witch him/herself. Is this the so called "magic" of a witch? The tool that guides the vehicle? What is the nature of that tool? Is it spells, psychology, energy manipulation, environmental manipulation? I think these things are the meat and potatoes of the tool. It must begin with psychology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviors.
As a witch one must study and examine his/her own mental functions and behaviors using academia and science. That is pretty deep. I think it perfectly mirrors number one in The Thirteen Goals of a Witch written by Scott Cunningham. 1. Know yourself. At least the modern concept behind this statement. Dr. Marchand gave a lecture at Wright State University in her Greek Mythology class. She explained that this is one of the phrases inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi as described by Pausanius. This means to understand your own position in relation to the gods before entering and requesting an oracle. One must know the natural order that the God is always above human!
Modern understanding of Know Yourself means to be introspective and reflective. Ask the why's behind the behaviors. Why do need solitude for recharging myself. Why do I pull away from people - get recharged? Why do I care about this topic? Why do I enjoy one thing but dislike another? It's a daunting and demanding task to understand the tool of my own mental functions and behaviors.
The definition of control that I have chosen to use here requires some level of intellectual persistence and pursuit. Increase the brain function, use it flesh out the whys behind the actions, thoughts and feelings.
This leads to the forces within. All the whys are those forces. The thoughts, desires, likes and dislikes, needs, wants etc. These are the things that drive behavior. So know what the questions are and know the driving factors behind action. Control is the tool used to manipulate the forces or the driving desires within the self in order to live wisely and well.
What does it mean to live wisely and well? The following is taken from somewhere on the internet when I typed wisdom into Google.
https://www.google.com/search?q=wisdom&oq=wisdom&aqs=chrome..69i57j0j69i65j0l3.1282j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8
wis·dom
ˈwizdəm/
noun
- 1.the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.
I continue to build upon the definition:
control is the tool used to manipulate the forces or driving desires within the self in order to live with experience, knowledge and good judgment!
Knowledge and good judgment can only come from the acquisition of experience. Experience means living through it yourself, and cannot mean that someone has told you about this or that. You must personally experience it, feel it, survive it, enjoy it, and know it on your own.
Good judgment comes in knowing or foreseeing the outcome of a given situation and opting to choose the direction with the most positive outcome. Of course positive is a subjective state that differs from person to person. The positive outcome can either be to the benefit of the one in which case the person can be selfish or it can be to the benefit of others and/or all.
In either case one must determine if he or she finds the greater benefit in choosing the option that is best for him/her alone or for others. This choice will depend on the situation at hand and a person can choose either path for any given situation but not be stuck with one path (the self or others). This is not static, but a dynamic and fluctuating experience.
Being wise leads one to live well. Living well is inclusive of financial, ethereal, spiritual, physical and mental components as well as many others I'm sure.
Ok WHAT IS HARM? and WHAT IS NOT HARM?
I take the rede at its definition (can't remember where I found it) to mean advice or guiding principle, not to mean absolute law.
Part of the Wiccan Rede that is heavily debated in the "witch" community is harm none.
Naturally, causing physical damage to another is harm, that is un-debatable in my mind. But, does intention come into play with physical damage as well as other forms of damage? I personally believe it does. If I accidentally elbow a person, I didn't intend to cause any harm or damage, but I still did. Does this mean I've broken some commandment or went against good advise? Nah. If I yell at someone and hurt their feelings, I have caused harm. Is this going against the rede? maybe, it's again subjective. If my intention was to make that other person feel bad, to hurt then yes. Is this a forgivable action? If I'm contrite and apologetic sure. It doesn't mean the other person will be accepting and forgiving, that action depends on them.
One can cause harm without touching another person and causing physical damage, it simply depends upon intent. If the intention is to cause harm then one is not executing wisdom and certainly not using his/her toolbox properly at least in my opinion. This person is not living wisely or well. The karmic law at play here is that this person will receive the proper punishment times 3. The law of reciprocity is HUGE in ancient Greek writings. When one gives one receives. It's that simple. It might be selfish to only act in a way that causes the effect to be positive for oneself. It's a choice, nothing is accidental really. Using the tools to cause a positive return on the investment is using wise judgment in controlling the forces or desires within.
Live in harmony with nature? How? Know thyself. Gods - Humans - Animals. That is the ancient Greek order of nature. To be harmonious is to be perfectly balanced between the Gods and the Animals. Know your place in that order and live accordingly. Do I sacrifice my own life because a God desires it? Do I sacrifice an Animal to save a human? Simple questions with not so simple answers. I have animals that I put above many humans and would not sacrifice them for 99.9% of the humans on this planet. I'm messing with the balance of harmony in my own natural world. I would sacrifice myself for the good of Ekho, Sadie and Ayvah, and Patience and Isabella. These animals have a special place in my heart. Ekho has my soul. She is my spirit, my companion, my nurturer, my familiar. She knows me, she knows when I need her love. Ekho is young and spirited and of course she behaves accordingly, but when it comes down to my deep emotional and physical needs, She Knows Me!
What does this mean? I think that is best saved for another blog :)
To wrap this rambling mess up:
I unpack the above statement....
A witch uses his/her toolbox (spells, psychology, examination, knowledge, judgment) to regulate and guide his/her own desires in order to live making good choices based upon experience so as to live in harmony with nature, to find the natural order in the universe and balance his/her actions according to that harmony and to do so without intentionally causing harm to any other being!
