The Rules of White Magick
The rules of white magick are very moral. Some witches do practice magick while actively following a religious faith, because there is no need to compromise. You need integrity of the highest order when practicing witchcraft. Christians are afraid they will be damned in hell because they are attracted to magick. The main misconception is that witches worship the devil. In fact the old horned god was a hunting god and witches do not believe in a devil as such.
Witches believe we choose to do wrong and so are accountable for any wrong words or actions. We can’t blame a devil for tempting us, only our inner desires. Witchcraft accepts polarity in the expression of both goddess and god energies. It also recognizes that evil is a fact as much as good and can’t be eradicated once and for all. However, we should all work to increase goodness in the world, and to contain and minimize the effects of those who choose to do harm.
The same polarity is described in Oriental philosophy as yang and yin, each of which contains the seed of the other, god and goddess, male and female, light and darkness, action and receptivity, hot and cold, summer and winter, dry and wet. Neither is better than the other but when one reaches its limits or extremes it must give way to the other, just as day follows night and night day. At the Spring Equinox (around 21 March in the northern hemisphere, six months later in the southern) light and darkness are equal. Thereafter light increases till the Summer Solstice around 21 June, after which darkness begins to multiply till the balance is restored on the Autumn Equinox around 22 September in the northern hemisphere. The darkest nights and shortest days last until 21 December, the Midwinter Solstice, after which light slowly increases once more. In the magickal wheel of the year this dynamic struggle represents our own inner change and dynamics.
In magick, therefore, you are accountable for your actions and can’t just say sorry about three Hail Marys and be absolved. We have to try to put it right or carry the bad deed or karma (another Eastern Buddhist and Hindu concept) with us.