I feel called this evening to have a word about the threefold law that a lot of people follow in neo-pagan magical traditions.  This law states that whatever we visit upon another person will return to us threefold.  Threefold good or threefold bad, depending on what we were up to.  I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and where it came from and the fact that there is no evidence of any kind that magical people more than a hundred years ago ever discussed any such thing.  Modern traditions have become interwoven with new age karma concepts, and that’s not all bad.  A golden rule or moral code amongst magickal practitioners is not all a bad thing.

But do we take it to the point of the ridiculous?  When I hear a woman who was beaten half to death by her husband say, “I don’t know…should I do a banishing? What if I don’t do it with enough love?  What if I am angry when I cast it?  Will it rebound on me?”  Some of this is just common sense. First of all, one should not be dinking around with spells when there are immediate legal and physical options at hand…like the police.  Having said all that, when one gets to a place where magickal work is concerned, why would anyone be afraid to do something that they know they are justified in doing, in defense of themselves, or their loved ones or any innocent person?

This is how I look at it, and not everyone agrees……

Let’s say I am in a parking lot and someone attacks me and my children.  I am carrying my gun.  I am going to shoot his ass, period, point blank, no doubts and no regrets.  Was I right to do it?  Hell yes.  Was I even within my legal rights under Michigan law to do it?  Hell yes.    Am I still going to have some problems because I did it?  Hell yes.  They are going to arrest me.  A prosecutor may not be sure it was self defense so they may formally charge me so it can get hashed out for sure.  I may have to spend attorney fees and go to trial. God willing, I will be acquitted.  It is going to suck, it will be stressful and it will be expensive.  But will it be worth it?  Hell yes.  I did what I had to do.  My children are safe and no price is too high to pay for that.

So I ask, why should it be any different with energetic or magical work?  Even if there is some kind of price to pay to do what you have to do, isn’t it worth it?  This is part of the wisdom of being  a witch.  Deciding WHEN to intervene with spellwork, WHETHER to intervene at all, and if so, HOW.  This discernment is something that makes one a grown person and a mature magical practitioner.

In reality, a serious witch is going to do what she has to do to get through life….just like the “real” world.  And sometimes, in the real world, we have to be a bad ass.  And as they say, “As above…so below.”  If the situation calls for ass beatings, magickal or practical, be not afraid to beat asses, I say.

Do what ya gotta do- no more, no less.