Tips for Living Wicca: Your Daily Bomb #3- More 'Wiccan Rede' Revelations

The Daily Bomb was explained in detail in this first Daily Bomb post here. 

In a nutshell, there is a terrible epidemic of misinformation in Wicca... and it is important that Wiccans start correcting it (even if it means re-examining your previous ideas). 

#3 The Wiccan Rede wasn't part of Wicca until around the 1970s, and not all Wiccans pay attention to it. 

You might still be picking yourself up off the floor after yesterday's post when I explained that the real Wiccan Rede is, and always has been 8 words, so I'm sorry if this new bomb knocks you over again. But, again, this is not just merely my opinion-- it's a pure, proven fact. 

When Wicca started, there was no Wiccan Rede... if you don't believe me, look up Gerald Gardner's Book of Shadows... you will not find the Wiccan Rede in it, anywhere. 

Look up any Wicca book or article or video (if you can find one) from before about the early 1970's, and you will not see hide nor hair of it. 

Ask a Gardnarian, who can confirm that the rede was not originally part of Wicca, and that not all Wiccans follow it.

Let's put the Rede in perspective for a second: the word 'rede' means 'advice'. That's all it ever was-- advice, from one Wiccan, in the very late 1960s, that got much more popular a couple of decades later. 

• It was NOT some kind of foundation for the Wiccan religion. 
• No ancient Pagans or Witches were uttering it. Or heard of it.
• It was never meant to be a commandment in Wicca. 
• It was never meant to be a prime directive in Wicca. 
• It was never even meant to be a major piece of liturgy in Wicca.
• And it was never universally accepted by all Wiccans as the pinnacle of our morality. 

These notions didn't even exist in Wicca until around the 1990s and later. 

A lot of Wiccans (mostly traditionalists) still don't use the Rede, and many more place very little emphasis on it. 

What's more, people who find that a shocking revelation probably don't understand what the rede means very well. You probably think it means you shouldn't do harm, right? 

Well, it actually doesn't mean that at all. But I'll drop that bomb tomorrow. 

My Tip for You Today:  Spread the word. 

Discuss.