The Wiccan Rede

Bide within the Law you must,

In perfect Love and perfect Trust.

Live you must and let to live,

Fairly take and fairly give.

For tread the Circle thrice about

To keep the unwelcome spirits out.

To bind the spell well every time,

Let the spell be said in rhyme.

Light of eye and soft of touch,

Speak you little, listen much.

Honor the Old Ones in deed and name,

Let love and light be our guides again.

Deosil go by the waxing moon,

Chanting out the joyful tune.

Widdershins go when the moon d0th wane,

And the werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane.

When the Lady's moon is new,

Kiss the hand to her times two.

When the moon rides at her peak,

Then your hearts desire seek.

Heed the North winds mighty gale,

Lock the door and trim the sail.

When the wind blows from the East,

Expect the new and set the feast.

When the wind come from the South,

Love will kiss you on the mouth.

When the the wind whispers from the West,

All hearts will find peace and rest.

Nine woods in the Cauldron go,

Burn them fast and burn them slow.

Birch in the fire goes

To represent what the Lady knows.

Oak in the forest towers with might,

In the fire it brings the Gods insight.

Rowan is a tree of power

Causing life and magick to flower.

Willows at the waterside stand,

Ready to help us to the Summerland.

Hawthorn is burned to purify

And to draw faerie to your eye.

Hazel - the tree of wisdom and learning

Adds its strength to the bright fire burning.

White are the flowers of Apple tree

That brings us fruits of fertility.

Grapes grow upon the vine,

Giving us both joy and wine.

Fir does mark the evergreen

To represent immortality seen.

Elder is the Lady's tree,

Burn it not or cursed you'll be.

Four times the major Sabbats mark

In the light and in the dark.

As the old year starts to wane

The new begins, it's now Samhain.

When the time for Imbolc shows,

Watch for flowers through the snow.

When the wheel begins to turn,

Soon Beltaine fires will burn.

As the wheel turns to Lamas night,

Power is brought to magick rite.

Four time the Minor Sabbats fall,

Use the sun to mark them all.

When the wheel has turned to Yule,

Light the log the Horned One rules.

In the spring, when night equalls day,

Time for Ostara to come our way.

When the Sun has reached it's height,

Time for Oak and Holly to fight.

Harvesting comes to one and all

When the Autumn Equinox does fall.

Heed the flower, bush, and tree,

By the Lady, blessed you'll be.

Where the rippling waters go,

Cast a stone, the truth you'll know.

When you have and hold a need,

Harken not to others greed.

With a fool no season spend

Or be counted as his friend.

Merry Meet and Merry Part,

Bright the cheeks and warm the heart.

Mind the Threefold Laws you should

Three times bad and three time good.

When misfortune is enow,

Wear the star upon your brow.

Be true in love this you must do,

Unless your love is false to you.

These Eight Words The Rede Fulfill:

"AN YE HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL."

This is the Wiccan Rede, the code which all Wiccans repeat and follow. The last eight words are our law that can never be changed. "An' Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will." As long as we harmed nothing living or with a soul, we could do what we wanted to do. The only time we ever harmed anything is in self defense or in the defense of others.

This novel, nor any succeeding novels, is not to convert people. It is just to open you minds to the various religions around you. So many of us are growing in or have grown in a house that never mentioned other religions in more than just passing. Even then, it was most likely in a negative way. The media has twisted our views of Muslims only because of a singular group that claims to be Muslim but isn't keeping in the peaceful way that are taught in the true religion.

Pagans have been called Satanist even though they are the furthest thing from it. Wiccans called heathens for worshiping the energies that created and generate the earth as a whole. Shamans were condemned for practices that are no longer used today for the most part. This is called unfair judgement.

Just because a group of people do somethings that are extreme doesn't mean that the religious group they claim to be a part of does the same. I have always said, every religion has a golden rule that we all follow. Each is just a variant of the same meaning. "An' ye harm none, do what ye will." (Wicca), "Do onto others as you would have done onto you." (Christianity),"Woe to those... who, when they have to receive by measure from men, they demand exact full measure, but when they have to give measure or weight to men, give less than due." (Islamic). See? All religions are meant to be peaceful. You can say a war is in the name of a religion but I doubt the god or gods that the religion worships would ever had truly wanted war.

Humans are the worst possible, yet the best possible, creatures to be put on this earth. We cause chaos and destroy nature but we push forward to make new discoveries that change the world for the better. We're a contradictory race, we say we want peace yet we cause war. In this life, we contradict each other so often but we don't notice it. One for vegans, one for omnivorous meals. Someone calls for ban of fire arms, another for the right to bare arms. Our society is just like that every day. It's just that simple.

Here we can be like this but we have no reason to really fight each other. We all just want to live in peace. We all just want to be happy. I am going to tell you this, the more we fight, the more of the world we destroy before the next generation is in charge. It is awful to think about. I don't want my daughter living in a world were almost all the forests have been depleted, where naturally clean water is nonexistent, where the temperature is higher during the summer day than it ever had been and lower during a winter night then when I first remember a Texas snow.

Here is another note, this work is fictional. All characters, places, items and names have been created by me. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, item or names is coincidental. Mentions of artists, musicians and works are under the free use copyright law, where as long as the people are truly credited for their achievements if they are mentioned in this story. I will not say I own any of the songs, artwork, books, bands, artist or authors mentioned in the story unless I actually made them up.

With that, I hope you enjoy the story. If you don't, you'll never have to read it again, but just give it a thorough chance. It is only fair, considering I took the time to write it and find a way to publish it. I'll leave you with the reminder that this isn't meant to convert, just mean to open minds to more religions. May whoever you believe in bless your soul.

Rowan

About 2 millennia ago a woman named Lynnia Ingle got tired of seeing and hearing religions being bashed. She wrote letters to world leaders and trustworthy news sources. Eventually many were published. People who read the letters eventually started sending their own. These letters called for a reform in how their religions were viewed.

The world leaders saw that this wouldn't die down and started to exchange letters with Miss Ingle. The more letters that were exchanged, the more of how much she had thought of this was revealed. The newest letters called for a large, really enormous, reformation of the education systems of the world.

Miss Ingle wrote that students between the ages 4 and 15 should attend a nonreligious public school, where they would be taught the history and differences of religions in a nonbiased form. She also wrote that once a year, the students who had turned 16 should take a test that would show which religion, if any, they connected to the best. It would still be their choice in the long run, but the test would be to help those who were not sure.

After choosing their religion, they would attend a private finishing school in their chosen religion that would last five to six years. During their last two years, they would start deciding upon what they would like their profession to be. For those aspiring to be doctors, scientist or the like, they would go through further schooling. Those who wished to go into journalism, teaching or writing would go through a training program instead.

Miss Ingle had not only gave the world a way to fight against the religious ignorance but also gave them a way to stop the educational malpractice. Every country around the world was striving to achieve the educational standard that she had outlined. There were a few who had to finish their education in the old style but the were glad that they would be the last of them.

This is what we are told at the beginning of each school year, how the school system was reformed. How the world was changed by a woman who had a great idea. We honor Lynnia Inge's work at at the beginning of each school year with an opening fair. The fair show what jobs there are in certain religions. They even gave us basic outlines of training for different jobs.

This was just the beginning of the new world.