Another week, another late blog! So here is the story: life threw
us a curve ball, and I spent yesterday trying to catch it. I always
intend to write my posts ahead of time, and have only managed it a
couple of times, and this week was not one of those times. I had
picked my topic before writing the last post, kind of a 'flip side of
the coin' concept, so as much as this weeks topic fits into what is
going on right now, that is sort of coincidental.
Before I talk more about why it applies to my situation, let me talk
just a bit about my thoughts on harm. Harm none is one of those
mini-phrases that gets tossed around a lot. If you talk about any
type of hex, love spell, compulsion, or pretty much using magic on
anyone besides yourself, I bet you will have someone quote you 'harm
none' as if it were some kind of truism. I have a lot of problems
with harm none.
Firstly, not everyone follows it, so trying to use it as a way to
tell other people how to act...well isn't that breaking the rule?
Lets assume for a minute though that you feel it is something you
should follow. If you take it at face value, how can you follow it.
Harm is a very broad term, and technically most of what we do in a
day causes 'harm'. If I were to follow the letter of this law, I
couldn't eat meat. What really bothers me about the vast number of
people who quote this is that most really haven't thought about it.
I think harm mainly comes in two forms: intentional and by neglect.
Intentional harm is what hexing is. Your goal is to cause harm to
someone or something. By neglect, harm is caused when you take an
action and you don't think it through and harm befalls someone else.
The first is pretty cut and dry. Either you choose to cause harm or
you don't act. The second can be a bit trickier. There might have
been no way for you to know that your action would harm someone else.
Or you could just have been hasty or hadn't bothered to really think
about what the consequences of your actions would have been.
I don't follow harm none. I also don't go about hexing people left
and right. I think it would be wonderful if we lived in a world
where no one tried to hurt other people, however sadly we don't. And
yes, it is often possible to be the better person and overlook
slights, or find a way to resolve a situation that doesn't involve
acting in kind. But sometimes, there is no other path. Sometimes
you get backed into a corner and the choices are to act in a way that
may cause harm or to let harm be caused upon you (or your loved
ones). I can turn the other cheek a lot, I can take a lot of abuse,
but there is a line that can be crossed and I won't be a victim.
So what stops me from just doing whatever I want and using whatever
means I have at hand to get my way? Pretty much the same thing that
stops me from shoplifting, hitting people or doing other harmful
actions. The things we do have consequences. Sometimes those
consequences are easier to see from physical actions. If I go up to
someone on the street and try to take their wallet, I know that they
will probably try to stop me. The reaction is both immediate and
obvious.
Energy work can be much more subtle. Sometimes the results come in
obvious ways, and if we try to do something to someone else, it may
literally backfire and we may end up the target of our own working.
Most of the time, it tends to come back in other ways. Guilt can be
a powerful repercussion that is often underestimated. When I do
something that I know was not done for the right reasons (especially
if I tried to justify it to myself and convince myself that I was
acting in a proper way), even if nothing else happens, I will have to
live with my guilt. In my book, if I feel guilty or shameful after
doing something, then I shouldn't have done it in the first place.
And I don't think actions stand alone either. If I do a working with
the best intentions and then find out later that I had caused harm
through my actions and I do not take further actions to help
alleviate the harm I caused, then I am still causing harm through my
inaction.
I think emotions need to be mentioned as well. There is a pretty
solid debate for whether or not workings should be done while
emotionally charged. Emotions can lend a lot of power, but they can
also cloud our judgment. I think part of knowing whether you should
work while emotionally charged comes with knowing yourself. I tend
to be pretty hasty if I act without proper consideration. I do dumb
things in the heat of the moment. But I also know that emotions give
me great strength. My personal method is to ride the emotion and see
where it wants to lead me, then step aside from it and take the time
to really think about whether or not what I want to do is smart. If
I decide it is something worth doing, then I build the emotion back
up and use it to fuel my work. If my original action is not
something I can live with, then I may work on finding an alternative.
At the very least, I always give my emotions an outlet, as I know
that if I don't, and they end up bottled up, then I can't always keep
as level a head as I might like.
I had a hard week. I found out some news that is going to impact my
daily life quite hard for much of the year. And I very much wanted
to lash out at the people who I felt were responsible. But in this
case not only would it not help, but I'm also not exactly sure who is
behind it all. While I definitely could work something up that would
be more like a seeker, looking for anyone who acted with malicious
intent, at this point all that would do would be to keep the issue in
my mind.
I view magical offense just like I view physical offense. Most of
the time, it is not an appropriate response. Most of the time, I
never need to become violent. Even if someone brings violence to me,
often the situation can be diffused without taking it to the next
level (which is safer for me as well). But once in a while, violence
is necessary. I am not a violent person in my daily life. People
around me don't wonder if I might all of a sudden just go crazy and
start hitting things. However, a lot of people who know me well also
know that if the situation became dire that I would do anything and
everything in my power to end it as quickly and finally as possible.
I take this same attitude into my practice. If you back me up
against a wall, I will respond. But unless someone deliberately
targets me and won't let up, I have no need to act against others.
My live works so much better when everything is in harmony.
Ultimately I don't believe in the threefold law. I don't think there
is some kind of mystical balance out there that measures out and
makes sure things are equal. I definitely don't think that our
actions always return to us multiplied, that just doesn't make any
sense in my mind. What I do think is that if you take an action, you
should be prepared to pay whatever price that action requires. If
you feel the need to make excuses or justify your actions, then you
probably weren't really committed to it or you didn't feel like it
was worth the price. My goal in life is to be at peace with myself
and that means not doing things that leave me conflicted.
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