Threefold Law?

Honestly, the Threefold Law, to me, returns to Christian Concepts of "Sin" and "Retribution to the Wicked".

It states that whatever energy you send out returns to you, either triplified, or affecting you on three levels of being. So don't send out magics linked to Personal Gain, Spite, Vengeance, or anything Harmful or Manipulative.

To me that just sounds like God punishing the Sinful all over again. And it comes back to the timeless struggle of avoiding punishment and taking as much reward as possible.

Are we not past that already?

Shouldn't the law be different? We believe that God/dess is Immanent in all things including us and our fellow human beings. Therefore we are Divine as well, as are all things within creation, from your Lover, the chair you sit in, the random animal flying into a nearby tree, the tree itself, and even the wo/man who angered you with seemingly unjust actions towards you.

Seeing how God/dess is within everything, shouldn't the law be, instead, to avoid Baneful Magics, not out of fear of Punishment, but out of Love and Respect for all things created by Deity.

(For example: I will not manipulate my jilted boyfriend into sleeping with me, because I love him, because he is a child of the Gods, because he is blessed by Our Mother who is in the heavens and IS the heavens. And for that, I respect him in his decision.)

That and if we do perform Baneful magic, whatever happened to personal responsibility for our actions? Instead of relying on some grand cosmic scale in the sky counting our sins and virtues and delivering punishments or rewards as it sees fit; why not measure for ourselves whether it was worth the risk to create wealth for ourselves or return someone's negativity back at them?

Our collective morality, while nice and pretty, seems to be for the wrong motives.

Any thoughts?

The three fold law is really like a checks and balances system when pared with the Wiccan Rede. It's designed to let you know that if you put something out, it will come back, this works whether it's good or bad, not just in the cases of bad.

However, we should avoid Baneful Magics, not out of fear of Punishment, but out of Love and Respect for all things created by Deity. This is how the three fold law is to be interpreted. Sadly, there are some out there that do not follow it like this.

On the note of the whole personal gain thing, the way I was taught to do magic is to do it in threes. Your First spell should be for nature, and healing the land, the Second spell is for a loved one or someone who needs the extra boost and the Third spell you cast should be for yourself, this is to keep everything balanced. No matter how you spin the magic you work, there will always be something of personal gain that will come from it, rather it be good karma, or otherwise.

On the note of how the three fold law works, there are several different beliefs on it, it will either come back three times as a strong, it will influence you on three levels, or even it will influence you as long as it needs to for you to learn your lesson.

It's because of this though that we have to ask ourselves, "How would I feel if I was on the receiving end of this, and I personally look at the Three Fold Law as a way to take responsibility for your actions, whether good or bad, and as witches we need to understand that if we do something bad, there we will have to answer for it.

I do agree it does have a feel of the concept of Sin, but the Three fold law is to remind us that we need to take responsibility. According to John Coughlin the Law posits "a literal reward or punishment tied to one's actions, particularly when it comes to working magic". The law is not a universal article of faith among Wiccans, and "there are many Wiccans, experienced and new alike, who view the Law of Return as an over-elaboration on the Wiccan Rede."Some Wiccans believe that it is a modern innovation based on Christian morality.

What you are forgetting though is that before christinaity the phrase, "You Reap What You Sow" not only meant for the harvest, but it was a reference for what you put out will return. The Three fold law isn't about sin and retribution, it's about taking personal responsibility for your actions and having to deal with the consequences, whether those consequences be physical, spiritual (ex: karma), or even emotional.


I hope this clears a few things up, I honestly have to say I think I might have rambled a bit, lol.

Why then, if we are all Divinity gazing back at itself, do we need a checks and balances in the first place?

How is it claiming responsibility if some other force is determining the consequences of our actions?

I just do not see the necessity of it.

Why then, if we are all Divinity gazing back at itself, do we need a checks and balances in the first place?

Because not everyone is aware of such a connection, and needs to learn this lesson with practice and time. To realize this connection is to bring about a true connection with divinity and the divine within, and there are some who can't learn this connection, nor can some actually make the connection.

How is it claiming responsibility if some other force is determining the consequences of our actions?

Because it ends up being your subconscious punishing you for your misdeeds, and until you learn your lesson it will continue.



I do like this topic, and it makes for wonderful debate, so if there is anyone else who'd like to chime in, please feel free to.

Simply put it's designed to maintain balance, because as humans, we are far from being perfectly balanced with the world we live in. The pollution, global warming, etc... proves this.

As you said, you should do your first spell for nature, second spell for someone else, and third spell for yourself. So does that mean that if you do that, that there will be no three-fold after the casting of the third spell(for yourself spell)?

There will still be three fold, but you can do magic for yourself. You can't not do magic for yourself at any given time, because as humans we think of all the ways casting a spell for another can benefit us in the long run. It's perfectly fine to cast a spell every once in a while for yourself to help your situation improve or to bring about appropriate conditions to grow spiritually.

the way i remember it
~ the good
~ the bad
~ what comes back

its probaly wrong but it works for me :)