Is Modern Magick Ethical?

Can it be ethical in a modern system to do magick? Some would deny even the possibility.

Sages tell us that working magick is never a good thing, even when it is done with good intention.
Religious leaders claim that it is sinful to try to force God's hand, manipulating unseen energies for personal gain.
Non-Wiccans worry that one person's ability to do magick gives them an unfair advantage. When one person gets what they want, the idea goes, another person has to do without.

These are legitimate concerns. And there is some truth to them.

Modern magick can be ethical. And like anything else, it can be abused.

Definition of Modern Magick

Before we can continue, we must define modern magick - because this article is not talking about sorcery.

Modern magick - spiritual Wicca magick - does not involve blood or sacrifices or elemental beings. Modern magick is aligning yourself with Divine Creative Power, and thus influencing your reality. This is what is often called White Magick.

(To learn more about spiritual magick, please see Wicca Magick.)

Let's explore these questions of ethics in modern magick one by one . . .

1. The Magickal Moral Imperative

Within the framework of the Wiccan Rede, making white magick is not only ethical but ethically imperative.

(Although this changes in the last stages of spiritual development - so the sages do have a point.)

But in the early and even relatively advanced levels of spiritual practice, making magick for your good and the good of others is constructive.

What Modern Magick Is For

Modern magick and spell-casting are really just ways to take responsibility for co-creating your life and your world.

These are necessary actions for the survival of the planet, today more than ever.

It also works to wake you up to more fundamental levels of reality.

When most people walk around all day in the mundane world, where magick doesn't exist and the Divine is only something to think about when dying, this is invaluable.

The Wiccan Rede and Modern Magick

As the Wiccan Rede implies, to refrain from action when someone is being harmed, is to be an accessory to that injury.

When you have Power to change things on a magickal level, you also have the responsibility to do so.

In these perilous days on Planet Earth, we must use all our skills to save ourselves and all beings. Magickal and every other kind.

What About the Sages' Warnings?

There is some truth to the view that making magick at all is harmful.

The greatest concern is with making magick by using elemental beings. Since that is not part of modern Wicca magick, this doesn't apply.

The other aspect of concern is . . . Focusing on the material world is detrimental to spiritual evolution.

This is certainly true in advanced stages of spiritual development.

However, in the early stages, Wicca magick can be a helpful spiritual practice. Provided it is done with awareness and positive intent.

Assuming of course that you do not allow your magickal talents to create a strong attachment to material things. And assuming that magick serves always to remind you of your True Self, and Reality.

2. Taking Control

There is a fine line between taking command of your life and trying to control everything.

This is what the religious leaders warn against. If you are manifesting every aspect of your life, are you working against God's plan? Are you resisting God?

That's a legitimate concern. Resistance isn't in your best interests. Nor does it serve the Divine.

But There Is A Middle Way

. . . Modern magick is not so black-and-white. You can make magick, and still work with the Divine, when . . .

You take command of your thoughts, and set them to work in positive ways.
You consciously align yourself with the Creative Power of the universe.
You make choices in your life and take action - magickal and mundane - to manifest them.
You release your intentions into the Divine Realm, trusting that when it is right for you, it will come.
And whatever does come, you accept it as a gift and strive to learn what you can from it.

Modern magick is not an attempt to control everything. And it's not giving up control and allowing the winds of fate to blow you here and there. It's being a partner in the ongoing creation of your life and the Earth.

3. Do You Deserve To Be Happy And Successful?

This doubt arises because so many people are hungry, cold, scared, and uncared-for.

And it's an excellent question for a Witch to be asking. With "harm none" as our touchstone, we need to be certain that our success doesn't come at another's price.

Thankfully, Magick is magic! It goes beyond the limited win-or-lose reality. Modern magick can easily create win-win situations. Your happiness doesn't have to come at anyone else's expense.

Yet this doesn't put the whole issue to rest . . .

None Is Free Until All Are Free

When one person is lacking basic needs and respect and care, no one else can really be successful and happy.

You may have all the wealth and health in the world, but you are not free to fully enjoy it. There will always be a touch of guilt or fear. . . after all, there but for the Grace of God go you.

This is just one more application of ethical modern magick -

to create balance and success for everyone.

When you are making magick to bring peace and prosperity to all, you are able to enjoy your life with good conscience.

And remember the Three-Fold Law: whatever you sow, you reap. When you create peace and happiness and abundance for others, you are also creating it for yourself . . . Even more powerfully than if you did the spell for yourself directly!

A Starving Cow Can Give No Milk

As long as you are working magick to benefit you alone, it increases your greed and concentrates more wealth in fewer hands. This is not ethical.

But using magick to manifest a life of abundance - which you share with others - is.

As Wayne Dyer says, you cannot be poor enough to make one other person wealthy. And you cannot be sick enough to make one other person well.

The oxygen mask analogy fits here. On an airplane, if the oxygen masks come down, the rule is to put on your own mask first, before attempting to help anyone else with theirs.

It's not being selfish. It's simply practical. If you pass out, you're not going to help anyone.

It is only your own success and happiness that can serve others.

When you are poor or in despair, how can you help anyone else? When you are living in joyful abundance, you are in a fabulous position to help others.

In this way, it is entirely ethical to magickally manifest what you need and want for yourself. As long as you remember to share the bounty.

And you can go one step further, and work white magick for everyone's happiness and well-being. This is not only ethical, it's moral.

Consciously Manifest Your Dreams

What's the best way to ensure your success, happiness, and health? Live your dreams!

The real purpose to magickal power is to be able to manifest your dreams.

This is anything but a self-indulgent or frivolous exercise!

There Is Nothing More Important Than Living Your Dreams!

Your dreams are the Divine's Dreams for you. They are the gifts you've come to offer the world. And believe me, the world needs your dreams!

Keep this in mind, whenever you do magick.

The Slippery Slope

There is a risk in any practice.

In making magick, it is succumbing to the temptation of the senses . . .

Believing that you are the mortal person you think you are.
Believing it's the world that's important, rather than the Divinity it represents.
Believing you are better than others, because of the wonders you can work.
Believing that you deserve everything, at any cost.
Believing that comfort, security, power, and possessions are worthwhile goals.

The Catch

Luckily there is a built-in safety catch.

When you forget these things and begin making magick unethically, you fall away from the Divine. Since the Divine is the Source of all Power, you lose the ability to successfully make any magick work.

And the only way to get it back is to remember.