{"id":494,"date":"2016-07-08T08:46:33","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T22:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?p=494"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:32:52","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:32:52","slug":"ethics-intent-vs-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2016\/07\/ethics-intent-vs-consent.html","title":{"rendered":"Ethics – Intent vs Consent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I have posted about ethics before<\/a>, but that was back in 2012 and sometimes it is worth re-exploring an idea.\u00a0 This past month or two has seen some division within the Pagan, or more specifically, the Occult community, mostly because of the hexing of Brock Turner.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve noted that ethics is a tricky thing for us in the occult business.\u00a0 I have spoken of someone I know who would do Reiki on people whilst giving them massages \u2013 they obviously consent to the massage, but they don\u2019t even know about the Reiki let alone consent to it.\u00a0 There would be some people who think this is okay, it\u2019s a positive thing, healing, therefore there is nothing wrong with this, nothing unethical about it.\u00a0 A lot of us would disagree \u2013 consent is consent, to do this to someone is wrong and unethical.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know what it could do.\u00a0 Some people have physically bad reactions to Reiki.\u00a0 Some people would be against it on a spiritual\/religious level, to perform Reiki on them would be to taint them, make them impure in the eyes of their religion and God\/s.<\/p>\n

This can be likened to mainstream medicine.\u00a0 How would you feel if some doctor jabbed a needle full of medicine into you without your consent?\u00a0 How would you feel if you found out they were crushing up pills and putting them in your drink, so that not only do you not to consent to the medical treatment, you don\u2019t even know it\u2019s happening? These are violating actions, no two ways about it.\u00a0 We can say \u201cfor their own good\u201d but we all know how we would feel to be on the receiving end.\u00a0 Reiki and other forms of \u201cgood\u201d magic are similar \u2013 just because we think it is positive and \u201cfor their own good\u201d, that doesn\u2019t mean we have the right to violate them.<\/p>\n

So ethically speaking, performing so called good magic on someone, without their consent, is not good.<\/p>\n

But then we move on to things like hexing and cursing<\/a>.\u00a0 In these consent goes out the window, it\u2019s not even a minor fleeting consideration.\u00a0 Can you imagine it?<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, would you please consent to me placing a hex on you?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, okay then.\u00a0 No hexing today friends!\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ha! Yeh it doesn\u2019t work that way.\u00a0 Asking defeats the purpose, which is to, well, violate consent.\u00a0 The whole point of a hex or curse is to place upon someone, something they do not want.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Positive actions require consent.<\/p>\n

Negative actions require non-consent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if you ignore either rule things go a little wonky.<\/p>\n

Things that hurt you are not always bad things, sometimes they are healing.\u00a0 Medicine is the best example for this really \u2013 think a burn victim having to endure the pain of having their burnt skin removed, painfully, agonisingly \u2013 but if it isn\u2019t done, if it isn\u2019t removed and cleaned the consequences would be way worse.\u00a0 The act of harm here is an act of healing.\u00a0 Irradiating someone would be bad in normal circumstances \u2013 but if it is done properly to defeat cancer, it is a good thing.<\/p>\n

Conversely healing people can lead to harm.\u00a0 As above in the forced medicine example, it\u2019s a violation and harms us psychologically and emotionally.\u00a0 But more than that, forcing a person who is in constant pain and who is dying anyway, to prolong their life because it is against your personal sensibilities to let them die, is harmful to them.\u00a0 Their pain is prolonged by your futile fight to save their life. Forcing healing onto them is harmful.<\/p>\n

And it works this way in magic too.<\/p>\n

Healing magic, if not consented to, could be considered a hex.\u00a0 It is magic done to someone, without their consent, possibly to their detriment, no matter our intentions.\u00a0 Something magically forced onto someone could be harmful and thus, technically, a curse or hex.<\/p>\n

Harmful magic, if consented to, could conversely be considered a form of healing.\u00a0 It is magic done to someone with their consent, which means they want it \u2013 which would mean, in cases like Brock Turner, they recognise there is something wrong with them that needs to change \u2013 and the consequences of a hex is the way they think it would best come about and fix their problem.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We often talk about how intention matters.\u00a0 What we intend is the thing that matters most.\u00a0 If we intend good things, then it\u2019s all good.\u00a0 If we intend bad things, then it\u2019s all bad.\u00a0 But in the end our intentions are meaningless in the face of the power of consent.<\/p>\n

The most well-intentioned thing can become the worst thing, if it is done to someone without their consent.\u00a0 While the worst intentioned thing could be the best thing, if it is done to someone with their consent.<\/p>\n

So intent matters, sure.\u00a0 But consent trumps that in some cases. \u00a0It\u2019s probably a good idea to remember that before we do things on the basis of good intent. \u00a0Of course, the idea of anyone actually consenting to a hex is a bit out there, but you never know!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Healing
It\u2019s kind of like yin and yang really.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most well-intentioned thing can become the worst thing, while the worst intentioned thing could be the best thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,39],"tags":[101,20,32,59],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-religious-philosophy","tag-ethics","tag-opinion","tag-paganism","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nEthics - Intent vs Consent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The most well-intentioned thing can become the worst thing, while the worst intentioned thing could be the best thing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2016\/07\/ethics-intent-vs-consent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ethics - 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