broomcloset ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pagan Speak: July 2003 Pagan Speak July 2003 Topic #1 : Hexing vs. Healing (thanks to Syrenichol) Great topic! This is one where witches and Wiccans can get all caught up in and go 'round and 'round. So here are my thoughts to add to the frey. A main tenet of Wicca, in my understanding, is balance. The balance of light and dark, the balance of summer and winter, the balance of the Goddess and the God all seem to be valued and key principles in the Wiccan faith. So if you are looking at the question of hexing and healing from a simple balance perspective, it seems that hexing would and should be allowed. One needs to work with the "dark" as well as the "light." Then of course, the last 8 words of the Wiccan Rede spring to mind (or are shouted at you by some fellow Wiccans): "An' ye harm none, do what ye will." I'll not do into an in-depth debate about the Rede here as that could take days to type out. (you know, I think a discussion of the Rede could really turn into an essay or even a thesis... but I digress) Does this mean that all "negative" and potentially hurtful activity should cease? And how do you know if your activities will be harmful? How do you know whether or not inaction will be more harmful than action? So here are my thoughts on these subjects. I believe self-defense is a valid and sometimes necessary course of action and we all have the personal right to defend ourselves. I believe that there is a line we can cross, though, in defending ourselves that moves from self-defense into "offence." It's when this line is crossed that one is doing more harm than good. If you go over that line, you are tiping that ever precious balance from protecting yourself and those you love into harming another in an unjustifiable way. I believe that every situation in life needs to be treated on a case-by-case basis. Something that is appropriate in one situation is not going to be in another. If you take subject of hexing vs. healing, I believe that hexing can be appropriate in some situations, and definitely not others. I personally believe that more often than not, healing is a more suitable course of action than hexing. Different types of healing for all those involved in a given situation is usually healthier and much more effective than hexing a few individuals. Here's an example: A friend of mine was involved in what her friends called a "negativity ritual" aimed at a particular person. My friend's view of the ritual was that they were going to ask for healing for this person to decrease the amount of negativity with which they seemed to surround themselves. Unfortunately, the other people involved in the ritual were interested in hexing this individual. Now, a feud had been going on between the aimed individual and most of the folks involved in this particular ritual (not including my friend). The people involved in this feud had no interest in any type of healing, either for the individual or themselves. They just wanted to keep the feud going and see this individual taken down. My friend was really upset about this ritual she found herself in as this group of people entirely misrepresented what they wanted to do with this ritual. This is a case where I personally feel that healing would have served everyone much better than a hex. Here was a perfect opportunity to ask the Goddess and God for closure in this issure and for personal healing, and they decided that they wanted to keep the feud fed and offer up their anger and hate to the Goddess and God instead. Uh-uh, I don't think that was the best course of action, in my not-so-humble opinion. And now for another example, an example of a ritual I did that could be considered a hex. In my last year of university, a good friend of mine was attacked, brutally raped, stalked, attacked again, then raped again by a monster of a human being. I have never seen anyone so black and blue as I did when I saw her bruises after the rape. And not only did this individual do this to her, he stalked her to every class she had on campus. He attacked her again late at night after she had gone to the police about the rape. He almost broke her arm that time. Anyway, I think you get the picture. The police were unable/unwilling to follow up on this guy. He basically got away with it and my friend was made out to look like someone who was a lier who needed drama in her life, and that he had a crush on this guy. It was the sickest thing I had ever witnessed, this entire ordeal. So because the police were completely ineffectual at catching or even wanting to catch this monster, another friend of mine and I decided that we would do a binding ritual on this man. In the ritual we asked that whatever harm and pain this person wanted to cause, that it was prevented from hurting anyone else and was turned back on him. We did not say "we want him dead," although I must admit the thought had crossed my mind after what he did to my first friend. We did not say "we hope he has a horrible life." We simply asked that any anger and hate pain he wished to produce would be turned back on him and not hurt others. We haven't heard from him since. Last we'd heard he'd moved to another province with his fianc�. My initial friend has not heard from him at all since either. Did the ritual work? I really don't know. But at least the monster is gone from our lives. I just hope he's not done anything like this to anyone else. :( So those are my stories. To make a long story short (too late! ;), I do not believe hexing is evil and one should never even consider doing it. I believe healing is usually much more appropriate for most situations, and hexing should only be considered as a last resort and only in cases of true self defense. Comments would be appreciated! :) Wyrdsister -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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