As I go about my daily routine, I try to understand myself and others. I have a particular interest in human behavior. Television shows, movies, books, friends, and family all reflect humanity. Even the News reflects human behavior. Like the average four-year-old, my biggest question is Why. Why is this happening, why do people behave this way? The one thing about people is our strength in our cognition. The ability think, reason, and problem solve separates us from many other species on this planet or so we think.
Although many may argue that through behavioral studies of animals we are finding that animals have a degree of skills with problem-solving. We as humans have an ability to rationalize through our thought process and have a huge ability to communicate. Some of us are better at these things than others and often these strengths can be our ability to teach and learn.
So, Why is our honor so important and what does it have to do with magick? I used to be very rigid when it came to my honor and because of my honor, I made a gazillion choices or decisions that I wouldn’t make today. Our own honor is based on how we define our version of honor. It goes with our own personal set of morals and values.
- A Hereditary Witch may go by the honor code of the family. The family values and morals set forth and passed down from generation to generation within a family unit.
- A Traditional Witch may go by their own personally defined honor system with personal morals and values as defined by the individual.
- A Wiccan Witch has a moral code of ethics defined by a group as set forth from the beginning of Wiccan practices starting with Gerald Gardner. This can be a guideline of established rules. Technically just one although many seem to apply their own morals and ethics as a set of rules for the entire group.
There may be similarities and differences between all of these groups and other groups as well as individuals but the one thing they have in common is they all have a set of morals and values that define their idea of honor. For many, the whole thing that an individual may use to discover what group they identify with may just be that a particular code of honor matches their own idea or definition of ethics and morals. For some, morals, ethics, and honor must be defined by someone else because it can be a questionable and confusing concept for some individuals who aren’t sure how they are supposed to behave.
I personally identify with the label of Traditional Witch because I adhere to my own definition of honor, ethics, and morals but my practices also closely reflect a Wiccan premise which gives me a Wiccan Flavor. But I often consider that with certain witchy aspects of my heredity or lineage I consider an idea that I may be somewhat of a Hereditary Witch. However, considering I don’t find my family honor, ethics, or morals in agreement to my own, I don’t often identify with a Hereditary craft.
Human beings often aspire to become what we admire. We mimic and emulate what we most admire in others and desire to become. This includes our own definition of what it means to be a Witch, a Christian, a Soldier, A Priest or Priestess, even an Attorney, thief, gangster, or all around badass. Many find themselves constantly trying to fit into a group or label and trying to be something they don’t believe they are or at least, take on the label of their own definition to become what they want to become. That is how we create ourselves. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as it is our own definition and we are being ourselves instead of trying to fit into a label that others are trying to squeeze us into by telling us what we are.
I have read and heard in many places that as humans, we spend a lifetime of reinventing ourselves. For a long time, I tried to define who and what I am by how others wanted me to be defined instead of defining myself. Today, I have learned things about myself that I wasn’t aware of and I am learning how to define myself. In defining myself I learned that I like who I really am. I like my true self and I have been defining what that means to me.
I am a woman with my own set of rules. I know what I think, I know what I believe, and I know how I want to be and if I don’t believe I am that today, I will become what I admire. I will become the strong woman who adheres to what she believes is her truth, her way, and her life. If that agrees with another group great, if not, great. That is what I admire in others and that is what I aspire to be. The best part is that I personally made that choice.
How does this affect my magick? Simple. What I think, believe and do is my magick.
What I think and feel, I define as the same interchangeable part of what is reflected by what I believe and what I believe is reflected in what I DO. What determines how we define ourselves is found in these things. Being a Witch is defined by what we DO. Our honor is seen by what we DO. Everything we are is found in what we DO. What we do is what we are.
How we practice magick defines what we think, believe and most of all it defines us and uses our own definition of honor.
Regardless of what you say you believe, what you DO defines your code of honor. Honor and Magick are of personal consequence and can only be defined by you regardless of which group or label you identify with. Our honor and magick are our own responsibility. Establishing your own definition of honor is part of taking responsibility for yourself. Essentially, it is our own choice based on our own ethical and moral judgment. Even if you claim to be part of a group that adheres strictly to a specific honor system, you will do exactly what you believe in your core being to be right or wrong and you can not expect another human being to adhere to your core belief but only to their own.
In dealing with others, we should be aware that others may not live by the same code of honor, ethics or morals as yourself and therefore can only expect from them what their own honor demands of them.
- These are my rules
- this is how I believe
- this is what I think
- this is how I will treat you regardless of how you treat me because I feel this way
These are all terms of what we do even if we don’t realize it. Your honor and magickal practices are yours alone. They reflect your core belief. They can change as you change and yes, sometimes people change.
What defines you may not define another.
May your path be blessed with self-discovery.
