Ethics and Safety

A tradition that claims to change people has to take responsibility for how. Most of what is written about the dangers of magick is theater, concerned with imaginary perils and silent about the real ones. The real ones are ordinary: self deception, neglect of daily life, the strain that intense inner work can put on an unsteady mind, and the harm that people do to one another in groups. This page deals with those.

The ethics of the art

The Western tradition has no single code of conduct, but the same few principles appear in nearly every serious writer.

Consent

Do not attempt to influence another person's will, feelings or choices by magical means. This covers the obvious cases, such as workings to attract a particular person or to harm an enemy, and the less obvious, such as healing or helping someone who has not asked. Offer, ask and accept the answer. The rule protects others, and it protects the practitioner from the habit of treating people as objects, which corrodes the character faster than any other fault.

Honesty

Be truthful about what you have experienced and about what you know. Do not claim powers, ranks or results you do not have. Do not present guesses as certainties when reading for others. Inward honesty comes first: an accurate diary is the foundation of ethical practice as well as effective practice.

Responsibility

You answer for the consequences of what you do, including those you did not foresee. Think before a working about everything its success would involve, and for whom. If you would not be willing to bring the result about by ordinary means, in the open, do not seek it by any other.

Proportion

The art exists to make a person more capable, more truthful and more kind. Work that feeds vanity, resentment or the wish to escape ordinary obligations is moving in the wrong direction, whatever experiences it produces. The old test still holds: by their fruits you shall know them.

Care of the mind

Meditation, ritual and intensive work with the imagination are powerful. For most people, practiced moderately, they are beneficial. They are not harmless for everyone in every condition.

For everyone, the following are sensible limits.

• Increase slowly. Begin with ten to twenty minutes a day. Long retreats and marathon rituals are for people with years of stable practice behind them.
• Sleep and eat properly. Fasting, sleep deprivation and similar austerities destabilize the mind. They are not part of the work described on this site.
• Stay sober. Do not combine practice with alcohol or other intoxicants.
• Close what you open. Always complete the closing of a ritual, and follow practice with something plainly physical: food, a walk, washing up.
• Keep the outer life sound. Work, friendships, money and health are the vessel in which the work is done. If they begin to suffer, reduce the practice.

When to stop and get help

Stop practicing and speak to a doctor or mental health professional if you notice any of the following, and do not resume until they have passed.

• Persistent sleeplessness, or a feeling of being unable to switch off
• Anxiety, panic or low mood that began or worsened with practice
• Feeling unreal or detached from your surroundings outside of practice
• Hearing or seeing things that others do not, outside the deliberate use of imagination
• A conviction that you have a special mission, or that events are sending you messages
• Thoughts of harming yourself or anyone else

There is nothing shameful in this and nothing mysterious. Intense inner work sometimes uncovers difficulties that need another kind of help. Seeking it is part of the work, not a departure from it. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

Care of the body and the home

• Fire. Never leave a candle or burning incense unattended. Use a stable holder on a heatproof surface, away from curtains, sleeves and paper. Keep long hair and loose clothing clear of flames.
• Smoke. Ventilate the room. Incense smoke can irritate the lungs, and people with asthma, children and animals are especially sensitive.
• Herbs, oils and metals. Many plants and substances named in old books are poisonous. Do not eat, drink, smoke or apply to the skin anything on the authority of a magical text. Do not handle mercury or lead.
• Posture and breath. Breathing exercises should be gentle. Stop if you feel dizzy, tingling or faint. Do not hold the breath forcibly.
• Blades. A ritual dagger is a symbol and should be blunt.

Groups and teachers

Working with others can be valuable, and a good teacher saves years. It is also where most of the serious harm in this field occurs. Judge any group or teacher by conduct, not by claims.

Signs of a healthy group

• Questions and disagreement are welcome
• Costs are modest, stated in advance and accounted for
• You can leave at any time without penalty or pursuit
• Your relationships and life outside the group are respected
• The leaders admit ignorance and mistakes

Warning signs

• Claims of exclusive truth, secret lineage or special authority that cannot be examined
• Pressure to pay large or increasing sums, or to give unpaid labor
• Demands for secrecy that cut you off from family and friends
• Sexual attention from a teacher, or any suggestion that intimacy is part of training
• Punishment, humiliation or the threat of spiritual harm for doubting or leaving
• Urgency: offers that must be accepted now

Any one of the warning signs is reason enough to walk away. The whole of the foundational work can be done alone, from books, and for most of history it has been.

The law and other people

Practice within the law of the place where you live, respect property and public spaces, and take account of the people you share a home with. Privacy about your practice is traditional and wise. Deceiving those who are entitled to the truth is neither.

A plain summary

Do nothing in the circle that you would be ashamed of outside it, and bring nothing out of it that does not make you more useful to others.

An editors' rule of thumb