A few days ago I posted a link for this week’s episode of Christian’s show Hex Education that discussed the issues of curses, hexes, and revenge magick. I had also talked about this a little bit on one of the first After Hours Radio shows that I was on earlier this month.  When we did that show my thoughts were a bit disjointed and I’ve actually received a few messages and emails asking me to explain why on the radio show I seemed to be against cursing but then was pro-hexing in support of the Hex Ed show.  I heard a replay of that episode of After Hours and I recalled that when we were having the discussion I had meant to clarify some of what I was saying but the discussion got sidetracked and I didn’t get to really explain my mixed views on the subject.

I will admit that I have mixed views on the practice of cursing.  On one side I do believe in the idea of justice and not standing by watching people take advantage of myself or those close to me.  If this means having to throw down a hex, so be it.  However I don’t believe in cursing or hexing just because someone has annoyed you or done something stupid or silly that has pissed you off.  I see curses and hexes as the “big guns” meant to be used in certain situations and not just because someone caused you to be a little annoyed one day.

One of the things that I agree with completely that was discussed on Hex Ed was the idea of karma vs. justice.  I agree that it seems more that Wiccans believe in karma, working with these situations from the point of keeping the karmic impact first and foremost, where as non-Wiccan Witches often are more about justice, fixing the wrongs that they encounter in their lives.  It might help to first look at the meanings of these words.

Justice – the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments

Karma – the force generated by a person’s actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person’s next existence

Looking at these definitions, both taken from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, give us a framework to consider.  So we could say that someone who is focused on justice works to actively maintain a just balance in this life while someone who is focused on karma is more likely to be passive in this balance and possibly more concerned with the next life than this one.  From my experience those who rest on the side of karma they often feel that while everything happens for a reason it’s not really their place to “get involved”, so to speak, when bad things happen.  This isn’t the case for everyone, and it’s hard to place a blanket statement on any of these things, but I’ve heard more than enough times from Wiccans and other magickal practitioners who don’t agree with the idea of justice through the Craft talk about how they get walked on, taken advantage of, and emotionally drained from those around them and feeling like “well, karma will get them eventually” and that they have to leave it at that.

Personally, that doesn’t work for me, but your mileage may vary.

I do believe in karma, but I don’t believe that a belief in karma means that you have to sit on your hands when someone does you wrong and hope that they get what’s coming to them, especially in the next life.  That actually has a very Christian feel to me (turn the other cheek, being judged in the next life, etc).  I actually believe that by using our power as Witches, as you will, to fight on the side of justice and helping ourselves and others can actually be beneficial to our karma.

For example, back a handful of posts ago I had advised someone on the use of a Hoodoo beef tongue spell to help prevent someone from possibly sharing some damaging information in a court case that could have caused her and her family some real problems if this person spoke against her husband in court.  I received a handful of emails from people saying that I was wrong to share that spell with this woman, that I was going against the Three Fold Law, and that I was possibly allowing this woman to work to prevent justice rather than restore it.  I will admit freely that this spells goes against the Three Fold Law and the Wiccan Rede, but for me this isn’t a problem as I’m not Wiccan and don’t follow these concepts in my work.  It’s up to this woman who asked for the spell as to whether or not this would work for her and her ethical guidelines.  For me, it’s fine, and hence I shared it.  But I also think of it this way; if what her husband did was truly wrong he’s going to get what he deserves for his actions one way or another (for all action there is a reaction).  Is it possible that the damage done to their family through a conviction would be irreversible?  Does she have a right to at least try to protect her family?

This is where things get complicated, and really I think that’s how it’s meant to be. I don’t think this is all as simple as the Wiccan Rede, the Three Fold Law, or the concept of karma make it sound.  Naturally all the responsibility and repercussions for this situation and any spellwork done to try and change the course of things will lie in the hands of this woman and her husband.  If he’s truly guilty of something I do believe he’ll receive a return for that, but if the woman really feels in her heart that this third party’s actions are driven by a desire to cause destruction to him and their family, then I think she has a right to defend herself and her family.  But again, she’ll need to take responsibility for whatever might come as a result.

I said on the After Hours episode that I wouldn’t ever do a spell to cause physical harm, to maim or kill another person.  I have to clarify that to say that at this point in my path I would never do that sort of work. I add that caveat because I’ve never had a reason to do something like this because I’ve never been justified to take such an action.  Does that mean I can realistically say I would never do it?  No.  But at this point I’ve had no reason to.  I do, however, stand by the statement that I made on the show that I would never, for any amount of money, cast a spell like that for someone else.  My Craft ethics cannot be bought.

I’ll also say that I do believe in the old Witchcraft adage that “She who cannot hex, cannot heal.”  There is a fine line between the two sometimes and you need to know when you’re crossing that line.  When we work with herbs for healing, for example, there will always be a point where ever so slightly too much of something can kill you and you need to know when you’re at that point.

So in the end I think that you can completely and truthfully in your heart feel justified to cast a hex or curse, then do it. This is big work that takes a lot of focus, energy, and emotion which is why it’s a “big guns” type of work and not something that you do just because someone stole your lunch from the communal fridge at work.  I don’t think being a “good witch” means you have to be a doormat.

Two books I’d recommend checking out on this subject are:
Pagan Anger Magic: Positive Transformations from Negative Energies by Tammy Sullivan
Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions by Dorothy Morrison