Shades is another concept not found in most religions, by this we mean that everything is not black and white but shades in between.
We might be asked how much is a person in love with me, well that is not a yes or no question but one of degrees or shades. We might say the person rated you as seven out of ten and you rated them as nine out of ten, therefore at first sight you may feel that you are keener than them, but if they have never ever rated anyone before more than six and you regularly rate people at ten, then I think you can see this is not the case.
Shades may also involve polar positions, take for example two leaders in a war, the winning side writes the history so the loser is evil, and they are good. Had the other side won then the opposite view would have been taken, yet the activities of the individuals would have been exactly the same.
We see around the world freedom fighters and terrorists, democratic governments and other arrangements, all subjective views of situations where the opposite view can also be held.
Good and evil are shades and different people will have different views as to what is evil, and the balancing point. A police officer for example may be so keen to get a conviction that he hides information from the defense of persuades people to become witnesses or falsifies evidence and by this means gets an innocent person convicted. What they may have seen as a good job can in fact be far more evil than the original offence whoever did it. Seeing evil being done to others and doing nothing to right it is something we could all plead guilty of, yet no person is able to right all the wrongs we see on a daily basis, and some institutions are now so corrupt that their is no room for honorable people.
People are capable of whatever they will do, and will at least to themselves justify their actions, and few would think of themselves as evil beings, and the few that do, are often depressed people who lack direction rather than being intentionally evil.
We do not believe like the Christians and Jews in a devil, or evil god, but that we all have choices and it some people who will choose choices which will harm others.
We say that our one law is that you can do what you will, providing you do no harm to any other, and it can be written in any form of words with this meaning.
This given an understanding of the concept of shades means that before every action involving craft skills or magic, considerable thought has to be given to how others might be effected, not just the subject or target of your spell, but those others around them and many unknown to you. This also applies to your non magical actions so you have a life code far stricter than just about any other.
We are not going as far as a fictional time lord, or Startreck image where no changes can be made, or the entire framework of the future will be changed. We are creating a ripple in our conscious world and maybe beyond, and if it is against the tide of things it will be overpowered by stronger currents, so is self correcting over time. We are making very minor adjustments, that in the main will effect few people, and over time they will have other choices and in some cases can choose not to take the opportunities that we put in front of them.
Within TV and film accounts witches tend to be represented from the Christians viewpoint therefore historically shown as evil, but over the last 20 years or so as Christianity has lost a lot of its following and people have generally become better educated, witches have become represented as good. However in many ways this has gone too far to replace the knights of old, and modern TV shows they fight forces of evil, that witches would not accept as existing, using violence and skills that look good with special effects and are instant while real magic is usually slow to operate often taken days or weeks, and not very exciting on film. We also see the concept of white witches and evil witches portrayed.
Real witches have not changed, they are still as always different shades of gray, most with good intentions, going about life as they have from before recorded history, but generally involving now quite a lot more circus and as always enriching their practices with both new skills and also bringing in some of what has been obtained from written accounts from some other traditions and fictional terms and names that suit well with the practices. What would have originally just been a book or ledger, is now becoming routinely called a book of shadows, and the knife has become an atheme, are good examples of this practice.
Witchcraft is a living religion, it evolves, incorporates new ideas and knowledge and is rewritten by new generations. It is tradition in most traditions or paths for a witches ledger or book of shadows to be destroyed when they die, giving each new generation the chance to re experience the miracles that make up the craft.
We have no bible, and never will. Discussions come about from time to time about the idea of having one, but in all cases we decide it would contain not knowledge or inspirational writings, or thoughts of long dead people, but information on how to use your mind, how to carry out research, how to go about discovering for yourself the magic and pointers to allow people to start on the path to self discovery, with an open mind, and tolerance towards all others and to wider consciousness.
Shades is probably one of the most difficult topics to get your head around, but it allows you when you can to avoid polar positions, and question more. Accepting less that is fed from those with less tolerant views and meaning you are less likely to get dragged along by what is portrayed as public opinion, or other views presented by politicians or corrupt people for other ends.
It also helps us to avoid feeling the need to convert others to our beliefs, or that people of other cultures should become carbon copies of our own.
While researching new craft skills or rediscovering old ones, not having to have just a yes or no, black or white helps us to to discover and appreciate the discoveries, while others might have overlooked them.