Liber ab Tres I (Book of Three—Part I)^57
Three times bad...
Ah, remember that forbidden fruit, the citron which gave Ash and Elm the ability
to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil? There is a tremendous argu-
ment in the Wiccan community: Most are very quick to say that Wicca does not believe
in the existence of evil. If one were to redefine the word evil I might agree, but looking
in my dictionary, I have to believe evil does indeed exist in this world. It exists in the
hearts of men.- Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
- Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
- Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
- Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
- Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper. 1
Now, I do with all my heart believe Wicca is a religion, but just for the sake of
argument, let’s see if Wicca can be a religion without a belief in the dictionary defini-
tion of evil.- If there is nothing that is ‘morally bad or wrong,’ then there is nothing that
is morally good or right. That is to say, one could not identify something as
being day if there exists nothing that can be identified as night. So, if Wicca
is a religion which does not believe in evil, it can have no sense of morality. - If Wicca does not acknowledge that one can cause ‘ruin, injury, or pain,’
wouldn’t it be just a little bit nonsensical to warn within the body and end-
ing of the Wiccan Rede that one can indeed cause harm? - If Wicca does not believe that one might face future misfortune, why would
we incorporate divination into the Wiccan Rede? I cite what is contained
in most versions of the Wiccan Rede: ‘Where the rippling waters go, cast
a stone and truth you’ll know.’ If Wicca does not believe in evil, we are
again nonsensical. Of course, we could believe that when we discover the
truth of the future, all events that take place there are good. But in that
case, we would be just a little bit overly optimistic for my taste. - If we do not think anything can be ‘bad or blameworthy by report,’ do we
not say things such as child molestation are bad? Should we not report
such matters? - Ah, maybe we are saying that anger and spite do not exist.
In my view of Wicca, we can say we strive not to promote evil. We can say that we
do not worship evil. But what folk are trying to express in saying that evil does not exist
is that Evil (note the capital E) does not exist. Wiccans do not acknowledge any one
name for evil, any one personification because, like giving a name to the Nameless
One, the moment you do you have devalued life. For certainly if there is a master of
Evil, there are his or her servants.
On the existence of evil in the hearts of men, the ancients were rather clear. They
believed it existed. Again, we see that three is the number of Humanity. Only here wei WB Chap 02.p65 57 7/11/2003, 5:49 PM