Wiccan Weaving

01 Feb 2007: We should "will" to be Healers

Any Wiccan is going to know the Rede, or at least, the part of the Rede that contains the injunction against harm:

An' it harm none, do what ye will.

The subject of the Rede has provoked many writings, most revolving around the fact that "do as you will" does not mean "do as you whim". It's an important distinction! A few writings have delved more deeply than others. A notable example of that is Judy Harrow's Exegesis on the Rede, a short piece, but one that contains the salient points. It was written in 1984, however, being published widely in 1985. There have been updates, but the last one was in 2002. Additional writings on the subject, also by Harrow, include An It Harm None: high-choice ethics (2000) and Do What You Will: best-choice values (2000).

There are other writings, as well. Robin Wood, the artist has produced a book called "When, Why... If" that addresses the subject of Pagan ethics. The book is also rather dated, published in 1997. To her credit, Wood has posted some additional thoughts on the book on her web site, listing the things she'd have liked to put into the book, had she known back in '97.

One thing that most of the writings, and in particular those listed above, have in common is their reticence when it comes to being specific about what to do, ethically, as a Wiccan. Harrow comes closest, but the focus of her and Wood's writing is more on how to determine what behavior should be followed, rather than on what should be considered desirable. The Wiccan religion has no dogmatic holy writings with which one must agree, or else suffer some eternal fate, and what I'm about to write isn't intended to become such a thing. However, looking at the tenets of our faith, we see certain patterns of belief that should translate into actions, and it behooves us to recognize it.

We Wiccans should devote ourselves to healing. We talk a good line about this, but rarely follow through in any meaningful manner. Most of us (the ones I've met in my experience) live unhealthy lifestyles, being frequently overweight due to non-medical reasons, eating food that should never touch our lips, engaging in a variety of intoxicants that do nothing to truly improve our lives. And these are just examples of physical issues that affect only ourselves! When we start to widen the circle of awareness to include non-physical issues (mental, emotional health) and/or the effects we have on others (immediate family, community, etc.), then the list grows. I won't bother to list the many, many such impacts. I'll only say that I know too many Wiccans who give lips service to "healing" while they live destructively. We do not walk the walk.

This must change. We must devote ourselves to healing, to being Healers. It is not enough to recycle, and then claim you're healing the planet. We must work to become educated on what healing needs doing, how best to do it, how to actually perform that healing service once it has been determined. This is no trivial task! Many lifetimes could be spent on this learning alone, let alone actually doing what we've learned.

Once we have learned more about healing, we must extend that healing touch to everything we do. Everything... no exceptions! We must apply the healing ethic to our physical selves, improving our diet, losing excess weight (not for its cosmetic value, but for the health benefits), exercising and getting more sleep. Our minds should be given the same treatment: exercising it by learning something completely new and different, engaging in strenuous mental exertions, meditation. Our emotional state should be assessed for its health, and work undertaken to heal the emotional wounds we all bear. Our spirits should be cared for, by regular practice of our faith on both personal and communal levels... the latter where possible, the former always.

There is more to be Healers than simply saying so. And our desire to be Healers should lead us to pursue whatever arts are needed to become more of a Healer, always more!