The ethics of the Gaia Tradition, like those for Wicca as a whole, are not based on some set of "universal moral laws," but are given in one clear, simple, guideline known as the Wiccan Rede. ("Rede" is an old word meaning "advice" or "counsel.") The basic form of the Rede is:
An (if) it harm none, do as thou wilt.
There is also an expanded, poetic form of the Rede, stating:
Bide the Wiccan laws ye must
In perfect love and perfect trust;
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
An it harm none, do what ye will.
Lest in thy self-defense it be,
Ever mind the rule of three.
Follow this in mind and heart,
And merry meet, and merry part.
The "rule of three" is that whatever you do will come back to you three times. Some Wiccans interpret this to mean that you will get back three times the good (or bad) that you give out; others interpret it to mean that you will receive your "reactions" on three levels: physically, emotionally, and mentally. In either case, it provides a solid foundation for why following the Rede is a good idea.
As we see it, the Rede forbids the harming of any living thing unnecessarily, by action or lack of action; and neither pride, nor anger, nor lust, nor power, nor profit, nor revenge can ever justify need. Because of the simplicity of the rule, there are only two ways to transgress it -- what the Christians would call "sins": harming any living thing needlessly, and violating another person’s will.
We must, of course, have food. Wiccans understand that when we take life, plant or animal, for food, we are following the plan of Nature for life on this planet. Life feeds on life here; we approach with reverence those other beings whose lives we take to sustain our own, and express our gratitude to them for helping to sustain us. We hunt for food (whether in the forest or the grocery store), but we do not hunt for "trophies" to mount on our walls.
The Rede is not nearly so simple as it first appears. What, for example, is meant by the words "harm," "none," and wilt" (will)? Each person must determine these for him/herself. There is also the issue of awareness -- of knowing, and then taking into account, the consequences of one’s actions, even the indirect consequences. Some of the questions that must be answered are:
Violating another person’s will means making that other person do as we wish him or her to do, or preventing another person from doing what s/he wishes. Doing this is forbidden, whether by physical force, emotional coercion, intellectual trickery, or any other means -- except when necessary to defend ourselves or someone who is unable to defend him/herself. We value ourselves, and we know that we have no right to expect others to value us unless we are willing to value them as well.
One of the classic examples of violating someone else’s will is the "love spell." It is within the Rede to do whatever you can, with magick or mundane action, to attract love -- and lover(s) -- to yourself. But it is a violation of will to try to coerce, with any kind of action, a certain specific person to love you. First, it’s a bad idea: the person is almost certainly not what you wish her to be; in fact, most of what you like in that person, you have probably "projected "onto him or her from your own preconceptions and needs.
Second, if that person’s love for you is in some way coerced, how will you ever be sure that what s/he expresses is real? In other words, what you wind up with would almost certainly be something other than what you want, and probably not real anyway. Remember the rule of three? It is a far better idea to ask, and work, for real love, even if you all you can do for now is sing, along with The Music Man’s Marian the librarian, "Good night, my someone, good night."
Following the Rede, rather than a rigid, formalized set of "moral laws" has some interesting implications:
Ethics also hold an important place in the Gaia Tradition’s philosophy because of our understanding of the relationship between spirituality and sexuality. In today’s culture, there are many people, of both genders, who are sexual predators. These people will use any means they can to achieve their own sexual ends, including deception and rape. Gaia covens must, therefore, be very careful to screen prospective members for this perversion, and to keep watch for signs of its encroachment within the coven and its members.
The Christian writer Joseph Fletcher wrote a book, Situation Ethics: The New Morality in 1966, in which he tried to make the kind of statement found in the Rede, but from a Christian perspective. One of his chapter headings, "Love is the Only Norm," expresses his thesis fairly well. Of course, the Christians of the day weren’t too pleased with such a radical interpretation of their laws of morality, and Prof. Fletcher's book had very little lasting impact on the Church. Nonetheless, it shows that these ideas have been around for quite a while.