threefold law ye should, three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is anow, wear the blue star upon thy brow.
True in love ye must ever be, lest thy love be false to thee.
In these eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
‘An ye harm none, do what ye will.
(Published in the Green Egg magazine in 1975)
The Wiccan Rede is a poem. Being a poet myself, I know that the true meaning of any poem lies with the poet and as such, the reader will have to accept the fact that the interpretation that follows will be the interpretation of the Rede according to Lady Sirius.
Finding corroboration in books and on internet sites for my original interpretation has proven difficult, if not nearly impossible. Every second site on the Internet and the majority of books published do contain the Rede in one form or another, but I could find none analyzing the poem comprehensively. It appears that only the last two lines of the Rede is receiving attention and that extensive writings exist on these. Perhaps it is defensive, perhaps it is informative or perhaps it is the easy way out.
Still, it is an interesting – and in its own way -, beautiful poem and to Witches all over the world, of great importance. Who wrote it and when was it written? That is open to debate. I have seen the Wiccan Rede accredited to Lady Gwynne Thompson’s grandmother – A. Porter, but in analyzing the poem one gets the feeling that it comprises of bits and pieces put together by different authors at different times. There is also a small dispute as to when it was written. A poem from antiquity it is not and the academic analysis still continues to this day to determine if it is