To be blunt, your magic is your own and no one has the right to tell you what you can and can't do with it. Your teacher will instruct you according to your age and advancement based on their tradition; your coven leader will guide and your elders will advise. But in the end--maybe now or maybe years from now when no one is there to give instruction--you will make the decision and you will do what you want.
This is one of those important lessons that seem to get lost amongst the chatter of rules and regulations for "real" witches. I tell you now that there are no actual rules. You will find the limits on your own by testing them. One of the most painful parts of this journey, however, is that, like the prophetess Cassandra, you will never be able to make another person fully convinced of your own vision. They, too, must learn alone.
But therein lies the beauty that is at the heart of magic: it's an experience, and because of this, it belongs both to your higher self as well as your mundane body. You simply cannot dictate--to the open air or on the printed page--that only one may use it, for neither will obey.
In my time, I've broken every rule in the book:
- I've cast curses, love spells, and other sprawling manipulations
- I've done so for pay and often on people I've never met
- I've turned down "good cause" magic because the individual wasn't willing to meet my fees
- I've taught minors how to cast their own spells
- I've published secrets and shared my BoS publicly
But, you know, it's also something I do for personal reasons, as well, and I've been just as determined to use my own judgment in private as I am to the public. To this end, I've cast spells that were totally ruled by my own amusement. I've made sure annoying people were made to look foolish in public; I've won contests and prize drawings just because I wanted free stuff; I've made people call me on the phone, apologize first, and compliment me when I'm feeling blue. I've done silly little things like making people trip or blurt out a secret, just because I felt like it. One a more pleasant note, I once met a woman who looked at my then 8 months pregnant belly with a bittersweet expression because of how much she longed for a child of her own. So I touched her belly and used my skills to make it ready for a new occupant. She didn't ask for a spell, I didn't have to cast it, and some would say I shouldn't have done it at all. But I wanted to, and it brought a good dose of magic to her life as well as my own. This isn't so deadly serious, folks; it's as much a work as it is play!
So this is me hereby giving you complete permission to use your own inner set of rules to use your magic as you see fit. If you mess up, you'll learn. As you learn, you change. If you run afoul of a stronger spellcaster, you'll hurt. If someone else tries to run afoul of you (which seems to be the real fear behind all these rules), you have no choice but to become the stronger spellcaster.
Now that you know you are free, get out there and play!
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