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Ramsey Dukes on Magic and Morality: "The fact is that most Magicians are, in view of what I have said so far, surprisingly moral people. Indeed, the very fact that moral codes have no place in Magic is the reason why morality plays such an important role.

Remember that I am talking about directions, so when I say that moral codes have no place in Magic I am idealising beyond the horizon. In fact there are moral codes in Magic as practiced. A typical one is Crowley's 'do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law'. Though it sounds to a Religious person like a licence to what the hell you like, it is actually an injunction simply to act according to the wholeness of one's being. There is a variation of this used by some Pagans - along the lines of 'do what thou wilt and harm no-one'. This is a little more cynical (and therefore more Magical?) because it admits the possibility that the wholeness of being might actually intend harm, whereas Crowley's system is limited by a premise that existence is pure joy and so ultimately will work out for the best.

But the real essence of morality in Magic is not such compromises, but rather - as I argue at greater length in my third volume of essays - that when one is stripped of all outer moral codes and injunctions, then you become fertile ground for a discovery of inner moral sense. This is what really happens during the serious pursuit of Magic.

... Magicians too are blessed with the discovery that 'anything goes' does not actually force one to do anything. Indeed, it may only be when given such freedom that we come face to face with our own inner integrity."

S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Revised - an essay on magic - Edited and Revised by Ramsey Dukes (The Mouse That Spins, 2001 onwards) ISBN 0-904311-08-2.

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