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    Pagan Ethics

    I tried looking around online but I didn't really find anything that gave me what I wanted.
    I was wondering if anyone here could give me a list of basic pagan ethics other then the rede of course.

    I'm looking into pagan ethics because of some recent things that have been going on in my life. I would love to write about them, but I want to see if the things that have been happening lately go against any basic ethical behavior of pagan religions. It would also be great to add to my BOS.

    Thank you!

    #2
    Re: Pagan Ethics

    Defining basic pagan ethics works roughly as well as defining paganism. The many disparate groups have many disparate approaches. The Rede itself is commonly known but not always accepted. A lot of sects have no use for it.
    life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

    Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

    "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

    John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

    "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

    Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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      #3
      Re: Pagan Ethics

      Fair enough. I just don't want to write something that I believe to be unethical and then have a swarm of people after me telling me I'm completely wrong. I think I worry too much.
      What my idea is, is writing about how I find it to just completely dropping someone out of your life for no known reason. To be all sweet to someone, help them, talk with them and then not say anything at all to them about why, or ask them to leave you alone for a little while, and just disappear.
      It's understandable if the person is an actual danger to your physical self, but I didn't do anything. I just exist.

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        #4
        Re: Pagan Ethics

        I think the rede is enough to cover that, provided that your version of it includes "an it harm none".

        Such abandonment can be considered harm. For is it not true that when we interact with another person and express caring for them, we offer them the good-faith idea that we are at minimum friendly acquaintances? Offering such cold negligence isn't something most of us would do to an enemy, much less to a friend. We would do an enemy the courtesy of an "f-off", but not to someone whom we were friendly with?

        It's harmful because it leaves the other person with confusion and hurt for no reason.

        If I were to write about it, I think that would be my personal approach. It's not harmless to subject someone to "the silent treatment". I like the study in which Masaru Emoto ignored some rice, talked to some other nicely, and screamed hatefully at the last... the one to suffer the most was the neglected one. Scientific or not, it says something.

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          #5
          Re: Pagan Ethics

          "Everything you do should be in the goal of personal gain or spiritual growth."

          My rule.

          Check out my blog! The Daily Satanist

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            #6
            Re: Pagan Ethics

            Personally I've always found 'situation ethics' quite useful. Originally I think this came from Christianity but it works well with just about any belief system.
            www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


            Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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              #7
              Re: Pagan Ethics

              Originally posted by PrincessWillow View Post
              I tried looking around online but I didn't really find anything that gave me what I wanted.
              I was wondering if anyone here could give me a list of basic pagan ethics other then the rede of course.

              I'm looking into pagan ethics because of some recent things that have been going on in my life. I would love to write about them, but I want to see if the things that have been happening lately go against any basic ethical behavior of pagan religions. It would also be great to add to my BOS.

              Thank you!
              Pagans are a disparate lot. Trying to get Pagans to agree on anything is like herding cats, nailing Jell-O to a tree, busting a pinata with a cooked noodle, any other metaphor for 'impossible'.

              Pagan ethics are pretty much personal ethics, and personal ethics are usually based around a person's cultural environment and upbringing. The best course of action might be to read Pagan-written blogs and articles. A google search for 'Pagan values month' might be one way to start.
              The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                #8
                Re: Pagan Ethics

                Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                ... Pagan ethics are pretty much personal ethics ...
                I would second this. My own personal system of ethics and morals is exactly that: personal. It's an outlook that I've developed over the course of my life, as opposed to something that I believe because it's the consensus of those with a similar belief system. Granted, it's definitely affected by society and family, but for the most part it's something that's personal to me.

                If it's any help to you, PrincessWillow, I'll share my personal ethical outlook: The things you do either have a positive or a negative effect on you, the world, and the people around you. Whenever you question the morality of something, try thinking about whether it will have a larger positive or negative impact. Weigh the action, in this case abandonment, and decide the positive and negative effects it will have. Does it bring the abandoner pleasure or relief? That is positive. Does it fill the abandoned one with grief, sorrow and loneliness? That is negative. When deciding whether the action is ethical, consider weighing these two sides. It can offer a clearer picture, in my experience.

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                  #9
                  Re: Pagan Ethics

                  My mother is a Pagan. And her motto is, Besides Hakuna Matata, that "an it harm none, do what ye will". She does try to be positive and up beat all the time, for life is too good for negative energies. And mostly, she never wishes evil into others because of the three rules. Anything you do will be done back three fold.

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                    #10
                    Re: Pagan Ethics

                    Originally posted by pjbaldwinjr1 View Post
                    My mother is a Pagan. And her motto is, Besides Hakuna Matata, that "an it harm none, do what ye will". She does try to be positive and up beat all the time, for life is too good for negative energies. And mostly, she never wishes evil into others because of the three rules. Anything you do will be done back three fold.
                    While many people, especially Wiccans, follow these philosophies, they aren't universal to Paganism. Nowadays it's getting more & more unusual to hear people refer to 'the Rule of Three'.
                    The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                      #11
                      Re: Pagan Ethics

                      The Rede is a good starting point, even for non-Wiccans.

                      I also like the Delphic Maxims and the 13 Goals of a Witch.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Pagan Ethics

                        Originally posted by PrincessWillow View Post
                        I tried looking around online but I didn't really find anything that gave me what I wanted.
                        I was wondering if anyone here could give me a list of basic pagan ethics other then the rede of course.
                        The Rede is, mostly, specifically Wiccan. I would hesitate to describe it as a religious ethical code, as in set of behaviours that are mandated by the religion. It's really more of good advice, a guideline. The Rule of Three is closer to an actual philosophical statement of ethics--that you are part of a cycle of cause and effect, and your actions impact you due to this, like karmic philosophy, and thus it's your responsibility to act well within that cycle . The meaning of "three" is variable, though. I personally go with it meaning "in three ways", i.e. physically, mentally, and spiritually.

                        But different pagan religions have different ethical codes. And individuals will have their own personal variations that work for their lives. I mean, in my experience most pagan religions have utilitarian ethical codes. But that's a general trend, not a rule.
                        Which is pretty consistent with pagan and polytheistic thought as a whole. Ancient cultures, for example, had a host of philosophies and such to complement existing religion. The religion of those cultures were social institutions, based more around rituals and "proper" practices than around hard-and-fast beliefs about metaphysics and morality.

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                          #13
                          Re: Pagan Ethics

                          Originally posted by Louisvillian View Post
                          The Rede is, mostly, specifically Wiccan. I would hesitate to describe it as a religious ethical code, as in set of behaviours that are mandated by the religion.
                          I think it just depends on what flavor of Wicca we're talking about.

                          I practice Solitary Eclectic and I use the Rede as the backbone of my religious practice. As far as I know, other (Traditional) Wiccans don't hold fast to the Rede as much but have their own ethical code for their religious practice as well as for each individual coven.

                          I could be mistaken though.

                          I prefer personal values to religious ethics....but that's just me.

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                            #14
                            Re: Pagan Ethics

                            For defining/determining/studying Pagan ethics, I've been referred to "When, Why, If..." by Robin Wood. It's an entire book about Pagan ethics. I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy yet, but it's at the top of my list.

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