Personal Ethics

I've been thinking a lot about personal ethics lately.  I don't hold to any romantic NeoPagan notions of "An It Harm None..." but I do have certain standards I hold myself to.  They are as follows.

All is permitted. 
What I have I hold. 
There is no magic without sacrifice.
Strive for Perfect Love and Perfect Trust within the circle.
Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law.

My friend Orius of The Mad Angry Pagan blog shared a quote with me concerning ethics that I find sums up my personal ethics fairly well:

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." ~Robert A. Heinlein

Not how it works.

I do not believe in the threefold law of return. I do not believe in the law of one-for-one return. I do not believe in tit-for-tat, and I do not believe in karma. There is no cosmic abacus keeping track for us. There is only action and reaction: magic and sacrifice. Sometimes we pay dearly for a small act of love and grace. Sometimes there is no payment needed for large acts of hatred and cruelty.  Who can say why Fate spins the patterns she does?

What I do is not for fear of Hell or Karma or threefold return. What I do is my Will. I  can choose to do right or wrong by my own standard of what is ethical.  

PBP - E is for Egregore

Egregores are spirit forms created by a magician with a specific purpose.  They are typically not self-sustaining, and require offerings of thanks, or some other energy exchange in order to function. I have been witness to the creation of several egregores, from Mabel the Parking Goddess, to Lobo: Wolf Lord of Riches.

To create your own egregore you will need to identify your need, and then create a magical set of symbols to activate and charge the entity.  Let's use my friend "Lobo" as an example...

First we identify our need.  The objective here is fast cash, so we need something swift and clever that has ample resources.  We decide to use the form of a wolf holding a large bag of money.  Lobo, we decide is this wolf's name, and because he is so wealthy, he is dressed in a tuxedo.  Come to think of it, he looks just like that old Warner Brothers cartoon wolf in his dapper tux, top hat, and cane.  We howl to call forth Lobo.  Aaaaooooohhhh!!!!  Now Lobo needs something to charge him.  It could be as mundane as brushing our teeth, or as wild and energy-soaked as having sex, but Lobo is special, and should only be called under special circumstances.  Therefore, we decide to use the song "Happy Birthday to You" as an offering to Lobo.  Anytime we sing "Happy Birthday to You" Lobo gets charged up -- and can bring us presents!

Lobo is a bit silly, yes, but is illustrative of how simple egregore creation can be.