Question: So tell me, what do you feel are the most important points of Pagan ethics? Which one(s) speaks loudest to you?

Okay, ethics of me. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to answer this question, but I believe it has something to do with finally sitting down and figuring out what I stand for. I’m 25 – before, I could have shrugged and said something about the fleeting nature of youth and how I was not ready to figure out what my ethics were. Now I have to, and I find it’s almost uncomfortable because I am both trying to figure out what the “right” answer is (i.e., the answer “YOU” want to hear) while at the same time saying to myself that really, it’s MY decision. So now I have to cowboy up and make a stand, and I’ve found that actually, some things are really important to me, and some things I could care less about. Which is, in itself, a kind of relief – I’ve given myself permission to believe and not be so danged tolerant all the time – which is exhausting, really.

I also had a battle picking a small number of ethics to go for. Simplicity is a good thing, and I did not really want to end up with a 10-point bulletin list of ethics. I think when there’s too many ethics to follow it can be easy to slip up. I don’t really want myself to say it’s okay when I slip up, because I have 20 other ethical values to choose from.

Virtues I Stand For:

1. Truth and being honest. This is important to me. At the core of myself I really, really dislike people who are not honest (although I seem to have made a distinction between liars and people who don’t know better). I dislike false advertising claims, people who will avoid mentioning the elephant in the room because they don’t want to offend anyone, and people who will tell you that you’re really not THAT fat, even though you’re on a diet to lose about 20 dress sizes. Flattery is… dishonest, in some ways. I’d rather have someone tell me upfront that they don’t like me, and they never will, because I’m too loud or whatever, than to pretend to my face that they like me. (That said, I don’t do subtlety well – hit me with the 2×4, please!)
2. Having said that, compassion is important for me. I don’t think that you need to be brutally, hurtfully honest just as an excuse to be mean – Dr. House on House, M.D. is such a jerk, even though he’s 100% honest. Work towards honesty, I guess, but keep in mind that some people react better than others to complete honesty. There’s ways you can word things to get your point across without being nasty about it. You can be honest and tolerant at the same time.
   
3. A focus on the environment, and environmental sustainability is also important. One of the things I have noticed with watching the sunrises and sunsets is that my awareness of the world has increased. I feel more awake to things, and I think that one thing Paganism in general have to offer the rest of the world is this awareness and understanding that we are as much part of nature as a sea cucumber is. So for me, a very large part of my faith is going to be focused on environmentally sustainable practices.
4. Freedom and responsibility of personal choice are also good values. I like being able to make decisions for myself, but it’s also important to be responsible and stand up for what I have chosen. If my word is to be honest, and to be considered my law, then I must hold myself bound and accountable to it. Otherwise that makes my word about as useful as a gum on a shoe.
5. Balance is a virtue that I liked, but I have to admit that it is one that I am not particularly aware of or following. I am not very healthy at the moment, nor do I have a good work-life balance. I didn’t really care about it before, but in recent weeks it has come to a head (I contracted flu, although not H1N1) and I have been sick. As I laid in bed, wishing someone would come along and put me out of my misery, I also realized some things. Namely, I’m a bit young to be a candidate for a heart attack, but if I don’t shape up and get myself, my stress levels, and my work life in balance – well, I could have a heart attack. Or a serious health issue. I need to take care of me, if I expect to take care of others.

I noticed that my ethics list didn’t really include the words “harm none”. That’s because I figure that if I’m going to be stupid enough to cause harm, then by my own code of ethics I’ll need to own up to it and work to fix or balance the harmful act.

I also noticed that I had no really Wiccan or magically-focused ethics in my list. That would be because for me (at least, right now) I believe that magic is kind of…. not needed? Kind of hokey? I’m Scully-ing on this. This is likely because when I hear the word “magic” I tend to see in my mind things like spellcraft and myself, alone, waving my arms and stamping about a Circle. In my head it feels stupid. I’d rather pray and work physically towards my goals. It makes more logic sense to me to do that.

a whisper and a brush of snow

It finally snowed. It started late last night, and by the time I woke up at 7 this morning the world had changed. Seven centimeters of pure, lush sticky wet powder, perfect for snowballs and snowmen alike. And it kept snowing.

Driving, of course, is a challenge. But we carry on anyway. I happened to return to Edmonton today with Sandy and her Little Man, Tara, TW, and Betty. It was all our days off, so we went in, right through the snowstorm.  Some amazing driving skills by Sandy… I am impressed with her ability to keep cool in the face of some of the worst of Edmonton’s drivers.

I don’t know. For someone who’s been in and out and in and out and all right bloody around the Great Big City I can safely say I am getting sick and tired of it. But there’s shopping to be done, and I like the company of the others, so I went.

On the way home, though (after Sandy dropped me off at the corner – don’t worry, Mom picked me up) I was able to drive slow through the snow. There won’t be a plow out here for a while, at least.

And then, under the stark ice moonlight, and the starry skies, I saw them. They were in my neighbours field, at the crossroads, searching the snow for some food. There must have been about fourty of them: a herd of glorious, shaggy, graceful elk.

During the time I was staring at the elk, I should have been watching the road. Luckily, I turned my gaze back at the right moment to shout “deer!”. Mom deftly braked and skidded to a stop.

The pair of does were crossing the road. One had made it across and was standing in the ditch, watching the other one bound across. Younger deer slipped as she came into the ditch, and fell on her butt. She stood up, unsteady, and older doe (I am assuming on their ages, here) reached out and they touched noses.

It was quiet, and fleeting, but even through the fogged-up-windshield you could clearly read concern and affection into the “kiss.” It is a moment I will not forget, either the elk herd or the deer.

Later, as I was waxing enthusiastic about it all, my Dad sort of ruined the moment by saying:

“You were able to sense they cared a lot for each other, and that was just the one deer falling down. Imagine the pain they feel when their fellows are shot down, or slaughtered on the highway by careless humans.”

It really made me think. Then it made me cry, even though I’m aware that crying is not helping anything. Then I went out and made extra piles of hay for the deer, even though I wouldn’t normally, as hay is not cheap to come by. That eased my mind, some. I wish there was more I could do, but unfortunately, it’s illegal to go about hunting and killing rednecks  – although some days, you find it an almost comforting thought.

I’m quieter now, writing and relaxing. The wind is softly blowing the chimes about, and behind me is the soft crackle of the fire winding itself down.

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I know I’ve been pretty quiet lately in general. That’s because I’m over at The Pagan Online Campus, working my way through a beginner’s Wicca course. I have to take this one and another one before getting to the good stuff. (Which I gather is similar to actual college.) So I’m working my way through the assignments, and I’ll likely post some of my notes from the class here. I’m finding I’ve started to reexamine some basic parts of my thinking, as you’ll see in my next post on ethics.

Until then, take care. Drive safe. Your life – and perhaps, some one else’s – depends on it.