Won't you be so kind as to tell me what each part of the Rede means and what it's pertaining to?

Question

Bide the Wiccan laws ye must
in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust

Live and let live
Freely take and freely give

Cast the circle thrice about
To keep all evil spirits out

To bind the spell every time
Let the spell be spake in rhyme

Soft of eye and light of touch
Speak little, listen much

Deosil go by the waxing moon
Sing and dance the Wiccan rune

Widdershins go when the moon doth wane
And the werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane

When the Lady's moon is new
Kiss thy hand to her times two

When the moon rides at her peak
Then your heart's desire seek

Heed the northwind's mighty gale
Lock the door and drop the sail

When the wind comes from the south
Love will kiss thee on the mouth

When the wind blows from the east
Expect the new and set the feast

When the west wind blows o'er thee
Departed spirits restless be

Nine woods in the cauldron go
Burn them fast and burn them slow

Elder be ye Lady's tree
Burn it not or cursed ye'll be

When the wheel begins to turn
Let the Beltain fires

When the wheel begins to turn
Let the Beltain fires burn

When the wheel has turned to Yule
Light the log and let Pan rule

Heed ye flower, bush and tree
By the Lady, Blessed be
Where the rippling waters go
Cast a stone and truth ye'll know

When ye have a need
Hearken not to others' greed

With the fool no season spend
Nor be counted as his friend

Merry meet and merry part
Bright the cheeks and warm the heart

Mind the Threefold Law ye should
Three times bad and three times good

When misfortune is enow
Wear the blue star on thy brow

True in love ever be
Unless thy lover's false to thee

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill
An' it harm none, do what ye will

Answer 1

That's not The Rede.

That's Rede of The Wiccae, a POEM, COPYRIGHT 1975, by Gwen Thompson. (Credit where due.)

It GIVES the Rede in it, just like it gives the "Rule of Three" in it.

It comes from an American group, called NECTW, and is NOT what most Wiccans mean when they say Wiccan Rede.
American groups in the 1970s were almost completely out of touch with the British groups that founded Wicca...You won't find this in Traditional Wicca, frankly.


One of its chief flaws is that it quotes the Wiccan Rede (An it harm none, do as you will,) and then uses "an" for "and" in the rest of the poem, creating the illusion that the An in the Rede itself is And, which it is not.

It also has some deliberate mistatements in it, for those who know how to look.

For more information, I suggest these links:
http://www.angelfire.com/rant/ingwitch/prede.html
http://www.orderofthesacredgrove.com/rede.html
http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/rede7b.shtml
http://wicca.timerift.net/rede.shtml

Answer 2

Bide the Wiccan laws ye must
in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust
- You must keep the Wiccan laws with an attitude of perfect love and perfect trust. If you don't completely agree with what Wicca is about, you might want to rethink your choice to follow the Wiccan Path.

Live and let live
Freely take and freely give
- Respect people and Nature. Treat them both as you want to be treated.

Cast the circle thrice about
To keep all evil spirits out
- Witches generally create a circle around them when preparing to do magick. The circle is cast, or made, three times because three is a very magickal number. It stands for the three phases of Goddess and God, and its the number of creativity. In addition, there is the threefold law that says events usually happen in threes.

To bind the spell every time
Let the spell be spake in rhyme
-Witches speak their spells in rhyme because it gives the conscious mind something to do. While your conscious mind is busy listening to the words, you unconscious can tap into your energy and the energy of the God and Goddess - and magick is done.

Soft of eye and light of touch
Speak little, listen much
- Be gentle. Sit back and listen. Wise people don't blab; they listen.

Deosil go by the waxing moon
Sing and dance the Wiccan rune
- When the Moon is waxing, or getting bigger, move around the ritual circle clockwise to bring good things toward you.

Widdershins go when the moon doth wane
And the werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane
- When the Moon is waning, or getting smaller, move around the circle counter-clockwise to take away negativity. Wolfsbane is dreaded because it is a poisonous plant.

When the Lady's moon is new
Kiss thy hand to her times two
- When the Moon is new and has just become visible in the sky again after being dark, salute the Lady and welcome her by kissing your two fingers.

When the moon rides at her peak
Then your heart's desire seek
- When the Moon is full, go after your heart's desire. At that time of the month, you can ask anything of her.

Heed the northwind's mighty gale
Lock the door and drop the sail
When the wind comes from the south
Love will kiss thee on the mouth
When the wind blows from the east
Expect the new and set the feast
When the west wind blows o'er thee
Departed spirits restless be
- These couplets describe various elements associated with the four directions.

Nine woods in the cauldron go
Burn them fast and burn them slow
Elder be ye Lady's tree
Burn it not or cursed ye'll be
- There are nine different kinds of magickal wood that are often burned in the cauldron during rituals - apple, birch, fir, hawthorn, hazel, oak, rowan, vine and willow. But never burn elder. Elder trees are the Lady's trees, and in honour of her they are always spared.

When the wheel begins to turn
Let the Beltain fires
When the wheel has turned to Yule
Light the log and let Pan rule
- The turning of the wheel refers to the cycle of the year. Beltane is one of the year's major Sabbats, or holidays. It occurs in the spring. Yule, another Sabbat, sits on the opposite side of the wheel of the year, at the time of the winter solstice.

Heed ye flower, bush and tree
By the Lady, Blessed be
- Take care of nature, and respect it for the Lady's sake.

Where the rippling waters go
Cast a stone and truth ye'll know
- Watch what happens when you throw a stone into water. The ripples spread out from where the stone landed. In much the same way, your actions, like the stone, send out ripples that affect everyone and everything around you.

When ye have a need
Hearken not to others' greed
- Don't allow the idea of profit to sway you. Don't take money for your magickal work.

With the fool no season spend
Nor be counted as his friend
- People will associate you with the company you keep. If you hang around with foold, you may just be seen as one, too.

Merry meet and merry part
Bright the cheeks and warm the heart
- Basically, this means it's good to be with friends.

Mind the Threefold Law ye should
Three times bad and three times good
- Pay attention to the threefold law. Whatever you do, good or bad, comes back to you three times.

When misfortune is enow
Wear the blue star on thy brow
- When you are in trouble, visualise a blue pentagram on your forehead. The pentagram will protect you.

True in love ever be
Unless thy lover's false to thee
- Be loyal in love, but if the sucker isn't loyal to you, forget about him (or her)!

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill
An' it harm none, do what ye will
- Eight words sum it up - if it harms none, do what you want.

Answer 3

I won't go into it couplet by couplet. But as You have noticed, Lady Tahlea did give HER impressions of the Rede. The Rede holds different meaning to each and every Witch who reads it and holds it to heart. Tahlea's impressions are there for you to read and examine and even if those are NOT her personal impressions, it IS what she goes by and is therefore, totally valid to her.

My suggestion to you would be to read each couplet and contemplate it for yourself and SEE what it says to YOU. for it is YOUR impressions that are the MOST relevant to YOU in your wiccan life.

My impressions are somewhat different from Tahlea's, and just because they're different that doesn't mean EITHER of ours is wrong, only different. THAT is the biggest and best difference between Wicca and the other mainstream Religions. The mainstream Religions are "cookie cutter" Religions. What one feels, ALL must feel in order for there to be cohesion in their Faith. In Wicca, ours is an individual Faith. NO two Witches will get the same relationship between the Witch and Divinity. The ONLY universal part of the Rede is the couplet "Eight words the Wiccan Rede fullfill, An ye harm none, do what ye will". As long as you don't hurt anyone or anything then you can bring your WILL to manifestation.

BB,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 4

If you'd seriously like to talk about the rede, please feel free to message me. No offense, but I'm not going to sit here and shoot an essay into the void. I am more than willing to chat, though. At least then I get to interact with someone.

All the best.

Answer 5

Don't know, but Wikipedia says it was written by Gwen.
Rede of the Wiccae.

Answer 6

Okay, well, I can't tell you what each part meant, because, to be honest, last night, I was thinking of asking this EXACT question. I'm not kidding. Thanks for asking this.

Answer 7

I'll get right on it, buddy.

Answer 8

Kill no trees;
worship them instead!