Path: shell.portal.com!shell.portal.com!not-for-mail From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva) Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc Subject: MKuhner: Threefold Law (Was Re: Please explain the threefold law) Followup-To: alt.religion.wicca,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc Date: 20 Nov 1995 13:11:34 -0800 Organization: Portal Communications (shell) Lines: 36 Sender: tyagi@shell.portal.com Message-ID: <48qqu6$rqu@jobe.shell.portal.com> References: <48b4tn$pe8@nntp4.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: mkkuhner@phylo.genetics.washington.edu (Mary K. Kuhner) NNTP-Posting-Host: jobe.shell.portal.com Xref: shell.portal.com alt.magick.tyagi:4886 alt.pagan:132861 talk.religion.misc:187921 [from alt.religion.wicca: mkkuhner@phylo.genetics.washington.edu (Mary Kuhner)] My take on the threefold law is that it represents three different ways in which your actions affect you. I don't see it as specific to magic, but as a general reminder (not a law like a physical law) of the ways in which consequences happen. (a) Effect on self: everything you do affects you personally. If you do something you think you shouldn't have done, you weaken your own will, you may experience guilt, you lessen your own self-esteem and honor. If you do something without thinking it through, you reinforce a habit of sloppiness. (b) Effect on others: most things you do affect someone else directly. If you harm someone, you will have a hurt and hurting person around, and that will have consequences--they may look for revenge, or just poison the atmosphere with their distress. (c) Effect on society: many things you do have a cumulative effect on the community you live in. If you harm someone, you will help convince others that it's an unsafe place, that it may be better to strike first rather than trusting. Each theft leads to more locked doors, less charity towards strangers. So the "threefold" part of the law, as I see it, is a reminder of these different levels of consequences. It's all too easy to look at an action just in terms of its effect on the "victim". "He deserved it, so it was okay for me to hit him." This formulation of the law reminds me that I had better consider other consequences--will this action hurt me? Will it contribute to making my community a worse place? Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@genetics.washington.edu -- I do not receive posts from the following systems because they tolerate abuse of Usenet: interramp.com psi.com scruz.net If you wish me to see your message anyway please use email.