The Wiccan Redes
Bide the Wiccan Redes ye must,
In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust;
Live ye must and let to live,
Fairly take and fairly give;
Form the Circle thrice about,
To keep unwelcome spirits out;
Bind fast the spell every time,
Let the words be spoke in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch,
Speak ye little, listen much;
Deosil go by waxing moon,
Sing and dance the Witches' Rune;
Widdershins go by waning moon,
Chant ye then a baleful tune;
When the Lady's moon is new,
Kiss hand to her times two;
When the moon rides at peak,
Heart's desire then ye seek.
Heed the North wind's mighty gale,
Lock the door & trim the sail;
When the wind comes from the South,
Love will kiss them on the mouth;
When the wind blows from the West,
departed souls have no rest;
When the wind blows from the East,
Expect the new and set the feast.
Nine woods in the cauldron go,
Burn them quick, burn them slow;
Elder be the Lady's tree,
Burn it not or curs'd ye'll be;
When the wind begins to turn,
Soon Beltane fires will burn;
When the wheel has turned to Yule,
light the log, the Horned One rules.
Heed the flower, bush or tree
By the Lady blessed be'
When the rippling waters flow
cast a stone - the truth you'll know;
When ye have & hold a need,
Hearken not to others' greed;
With a fool no seasons spend,
Or be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part
Bright the cheeks, warm the heart;
Mind the threefold law ye should,
Three times bad and three times good;
Whene'er misfortune is enow,
Wear the star upon your brow;
True in troth ever ye be
Lest thy love prove false to thee.
'Tis by the sun that life be won,
And by the moon that change be done;
If ye would clear the path to will,
Make certain the mind be still;
What good be tools without Inner Light?
What good be magic without wisdom-sight?
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill -
An it harm none, do what ye will.
NOTES
Very well known (public domain). WCC has it. Published in Rhuddlwm Gawr's The Way.
Published in an pamphlet called Ottawa Pagan Resources; the pamphlet was organized/written
by our very own Artos. Doubtless many other published sources.
No reason to believe it's part of a "standard" Alexandrian or Gardnerian BOS, but it has been
copied by a lot of people.
Various Aphorisms
For witches this be Law -
Where ye enter in, from there withdraw.
An ye will secure the spell,
Cast some silver in the well.
Enhance thy trance
With drug and dance.
Vervain and dill lend aid to will.
Trefoil, vervain, St.-John's-wort, dill,
Hinder witches of their will !
Upon the clock, dependeth not.
Success pursueth the persistent.
Guilt flees when none pursueth.
Power shared is power lost.
Seek thine enemy in secret.
Thoughts are things: as a man thinkest, so he is.
No one person can accomplish all.
Danger is never overcome without danger.
The past is fixed, yet the future may be bent.
Where communication fails, confusion follows.
Some things cannot be understood by mortal man.
Many such must simply be accepted.
As a man thinketh, so is he.
Remember the Passwords: Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, so trust the
Universe and be at Home everywhere.
You are alone when you think you are alone.
Pray to the Moon when she is round
Luck with you shall then abound
What you seek for shall be found
In sea or sky or solid ground ...
NOTES
These come from various sources
There's no reason to believe that any list of aphorisms is part of the "standard" Gardnerian or
Alexandrian BOS.
Sources of this list are known to include:
The Witches' Almanac
The Grimoire of Lady Sheba
Wicca the Ancient Way
Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft
Add your own; I did. ---Sekhet.
The Tenets
Reincarnation
Learning
Balance
Harmony
Love
Trust
Humility
Tolerance
NOTES
These have become common knowledge in neopaganism, at least in Ottawa.
They don't seem to be part of the Gardneroid stream originally, but some Gardneroid traditions
have adopted them.
Traceable sources include Sybil Leek's The Complete Art of Witchcraft (the only published
source known to me) and the Wiccan Church of Canada (or so I have been told)
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