Sybil Leek and the 6 Tenets of Witchcraft

In some forms of traditional witchcraft, there are six basic tenets – and that’s not TENANTS, with an AN, but TENETS. These are simple principles, or guidelines, meant to help practitioners lead positive and spiritually fulfilling lives. Do you have to follow them? Of course not!

Although they vary somewhat from one tradition to the next – just like everything else in modern Paganism – they are nearly always similar in spirit and intent. This particular list was created by the late author Sybil Leek as an outline of the basic guidelines of her spirituality. While not universal to all belief systems, these six principles can be a valuable tool for self-discovery – and that goes for people of just about any religious background.

Balance

Balance is found in all things. We find it in nature all the time. If balance can exist in the natural world, surely we can find it within ourselves. Our physical selves, our emotional state, and our spiritual plane… by finding the right balance of these three parts of our lives, we can live as better human beings. When our balance is thrown off, that’s when we begin to suffer. Too much of anything sends us off-kilter — for example, someone who takes on too much emotional baggage will begin to feel physically unwell. Someone whose spiritual needs aren’t being met can feel emotionally fragile. Without balance, it’s nearly impossible to be a well-rounded person.

Harmony

Harmony is something we must give ourselves. It’s not something others can attain for us, nor is it something that we can gain without effort. Don’t rely on other people to provide for you! Harmony is a gift to our soul, from our soul. How do we interact with others? Do we allow the shortcomings of the people in our life to negatively affect us? Are we forever blaming other people, and making excuses instead of finding reasons? If we are, then we are lacking harmony and must re-evaluate our lives, and our perception of what things are. To truly find harmony, we have to stop looking around us and begin looking inside us. To this effect, harmony really has to work hand in hand with the concept of balance.

Trust

A key part of many NeoWiccan paths today is the concept of perfect love and perfect trust. To someone who is spiritually whole, trust is a many-layered principle. It not only means trust in those around us, but also in our gods and in ourselves. Trust isn’t blind, but it sure does involve faith. For example, we may know that the gods walk with us and guide us; we trust them to do so because of past experience, not because someone has told us to believe this. Trust is being willing to close your eyes and fall, knowing the person waiting to catch you will actually do so.

Humility

When we stand before the gods, we know that we are imperfect, and they know this too — and yet they still manage to tolerate us and guide us. We’re pretty much flawed as a species, and yet we often try to be the best we can. This paradox, then, is an example of humility. It’s the knowledge that while we may be mere lowly mortals, we are also deserving of love and happiness and opportunity — and the chance to make the world a better place, not only for ourselves but for others. As part of this process, we must love ourselves, because if we don’t, who will?

Tolerance

Tolerance may be one of the least acted-upon principles of many modern belief systems. While many people espouse the virtue of tolerance, many refuse to actually be tolerant. They make blanket statements about people whose religion doesn’t coincide with their own. To tolerate someone else’s belief doesn’t mean to put up with it begrudgingly; instead it means to accept their right to choose differently from us. We’re all human beings, and all connected to the Divine; this factor makes us part of the cosmic whole. When in we look at the concept of “do no harm” — and this includes with our words as well as our actions — we refrain from doing harm not because a rule tells us so, but because it’s the right thing to do. After all, what goes around comes around.

Knowledge

Finally, there is the tenet of knowledge. Without knowledge, there’s no growth, no chance to evolve. While we can read books and take classes until the cows come home, true learning also comes from life experience. To advance on a spiritual plane, we must accept the fact that we just don’t know everything there is to know. If we don’t want to stagnate, we have to continue to learn and grow. Once we refuse to learn anything new, it’s pretty tough to develop as a spiritual being.

A final note: It’s important to remember that, much like other guidelines found in modern Pagan religions, this list doesn’t apply to every path. Not all witches adhere to these tenets. If you are an eclectic practitioner, you may want to look at this list and see how it can be applied to your own belief system.