True Will

"An' it Harm None, Do What Ye Will"
Those words are an intrinsic part of the Wiccan faith, and yet what do they mean? Really?

I discussed before that An Harm it None, meant that we must seek to choose the path that will harm no one, even ourselves. What about the other half, Do What Ye Will?

To many people this simply means to do anything you want, as long as no one is harmed. I think that while in essence they are right, they have missed the deeper meaning. We, each and every one of us has a True Will, a purpose in life. Through magick, among other means, we can discover our True Will, and work towards fulfilling it.

A quote from Jim Garrison pretty much sums it up for me:

"You can read a thousand books, or talk to a hundred teachers, or attend as many seminars and workshops as you care to, but if you never apply what you've learned, it doesn't do anyone a bit of good.That need for action is essential in life, in spirituality, and in magic. The driving, motivating force behind all actions is will. We all make choices. We all make decisions. We all have our own unique will that makes us who and what we are. Your will is an intrinsic part of you. Your will is the one thing that is truly yours in this life, or rather you are its expression, your life is the direct consequence of your true will.

Destiny, fate, and karma are all reflections of the true will. Destiny is the acceptance that the will is predestined, but in truth it is more open-ended than that. Will is a direction, but we remain free to choose how we accomodate this direction."

You might think that your True Will would be difficult to follow, or a restriction that you will chafe at, but this is simply not so. Remember that our True Will is a part of us, actually it is at the core of our personality. It is the foundation upon which we are built, our most basic, deepest drive. It is the drive behind everything we think, do or say. The key is to be aware of it, and to follow it, rather than to be ignorant of it and constantly forced to react.

When we feel most at peace with the universe this is because we are following our True Will. When you are ill, stressed out, overworked, or just in a foul mood, it is as a result of not following your True Will. Those, along with anything else that irritates you, gets your dander up, or depresses you, are the little messages the universe sends telling you to get with the program. You may not recognize it, but even little things that seem completely unrelated are part of the universe trying to tell you something. Maybe next time you cut your finger slicing vegetables you might think about what it is that you might be doing wrong. Or maybe next time you look in the mirror and see a zit.

Do not confuse your true will with simple wants and desires. Our true will is not always what we want, often it is the exact opposite. When you have a choice between doing what you feel is right, even when it is to your detrement, and doing something to your benefit, you are facing a choice between will and want. Choose accordingly.

What does our True Will have to do with magick?
Simple, before we can work any magick, we must make sure to the best of our abilities that it is in accordance with our True Will. Otherwise, at best the magick will fail, at worst we could be in for some serious repercussions, the universe, embodied by the Lord and Lady, will set things right.