The Ten Commandments and the Craft

Ariel

I never gave up my first religion when I became a witch. Rather, I allowed myself to reinterpret my religion according to the spiritual principles which are more significant to me as an adult. It is very helpful for those of us in the Craft who were raised in Judeo-Christian religions to look at all of it from a Craft perspective occasionally. There is nothing intimidating about the bible; there is nothing intimidating about what Jesus taught. Do yourself a favor and don't let fundamentalists co-opt Christ, the Bible or any spiritual concept. They are here for witches too. The bible is an old BOS, which was never allowed to remain in tact, but wise people can still read between the lines!!

I call them: "10 Old Spiritual Principles"

I Thou shalt have no other gods before Me

There is only one God. In the Craft, God is revealed to us in a different form than what the Hebrews and Christians perceived him to be. We are pantheists, God is omnipresent. To put another god before God means to put anything (i.e. making money) before your spiritual life. Another way in which we put other gods before God, is to see only the little personalities in ourselves and others rather our divine selves. We must remember that we are all divine, and try to see past our differences and connect with each other's souls. God is not picky as to the name and form we feel comfortable seeing her as. Bottom line in this principle: don't put fear before love.

II Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth

This is a redundant reassertion of principle number one. Worshiping an idol or graven image is seeing any physical manifestation (and this includes any book i.e., the bible) as having any real holy power. Instead, we must remember that all things in the mortal world are merely reflections of a greater spiritual principle. If we bow down to sex as being the source of our good, it is an idol; if we bow down to money as being the source of our good, it is an idol. if we bow down to religion as the source of our good, it is an idol. Does this mean these things are bad? Absolutely not, but it is important that we realize that they are tools for us to use, not gods for us to worship. Nothing is the source of our good save God. And God's relationship with each of us is no one else's business. We and she can talk in whatever language we need to in order to get our work done here.

III Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain

This is an important principle from a magical perspective. If we use holy names in vain, we dissipate their power for our use. Many covens and traditions have secret names for the God and/or Goddess; I know ours does. That is this principle in action.

IV Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

Well Duh!! I don't know of any group of religious people who adhere to the Sabbat(h) more adamantly than witches!!

V Honor thy father and thy mother

Well isn't that what this whole thing is about? Our divine mother and father are our first priority. In honoring our earthly mother and father, it is important to remember that most resentments that we hold against the world usually stem from some sort of unresolved issues that we have with our parents. Once we have healed these patterns, life works much more smoothly for us and our relationships take on a deeper connection. For many people, this principle could better be stated: "forgive your father and mother."

VI Thou shalt not murder

Another obvious truth. Many pagans take this principle all the way into being complete vegetarians. Most witches I know are enthusiastically involved in celebrating life. It is an obvious statement of Karma.

VII Thou shalt not commit adultery

Again, what we do comes back to us multiplied. If we are in a committed, monogamous relationship, committing adultery is highly unethical. If we are in an open relationship, or are single then we would be advised to make sure that our partners are single or in open relationships as well. This really is another no-brainer. It could be restated: "be honest about your sexual relationships and with your sexual partners, and honor your commitments to them."

VIII Thou shalt not steal

We don't even need to go here. We all know about this.

IX Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

This is a principle which many in the Craft community could use a little brushing up on. Gossip and rumor spreading is a pernicious habit. Nothing good can ever come of it. The Craft has really started to come around about being more and more ethical in regard to this principle, and I am happy to see it.

X Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's

To covet anything is to rob our energy to receive anything good for ourselves. When we are jealous of the successes of others; we are creating a huge energy barrier preventing us from receiving our own blessings. This is a basic metaphysical law: the more joy and happiness we have for others, the more joy and happiness we create for ourselves.

Bottom line here is that the ten commandments were reduced into an easy one-liner by Jesus: treat others the way you want to be treated. We say what we put out returns to us multiplied.