Long ago, I was hanging out with a group of people I knew from the Pagan Student Association at my alma mater. We came from a lot of very different paths, and at one point a guy who focused a lot on ceremonial magick was talking about his intent to cast a curse on somebody who had deeply harmed his sister. At that point an older woman who practiced Wicca began to lecture him ominously about how he shouldn't do that, as he will experience the effects of this curse three times as intensely back. Ultimately, they were really civil about it, but this discussion stuck with me because, at that point in my practice, I'd deconstructed from the Threefold Law so long ago that I had forgotten anybody actually still believes in it. To this day, it's one of those things that I don't really think about, until a Wiccan who has not deconstructed it brings it up, whether in the form of a stern lecture at somebody who said they were going to cast a curse, or as a naïve and terrified inquiry, like "Wait... I thought Witches didn't do that?? What about the Threefold Law????"
I think it's important to be clear here that I am not here to proselytize the good word of baneful magic. The ethics of curses and other magic intended to harm or control another person are, in my opinion, up to personal interpretation. I believe it's perfectly fine to use magic in defense against your oppressors and those who are harming you. There are people who do not believe it is acceptable and will never do it. If you are in that camp, that's fine! I am not the kind of Witch who looks down upon non-cursing Witches or says things like "if you can't harm, you can't heal." This is a personal moral decision, in the same way it is a personal moral decision whether or not it's acceptable to physically hit somebody who hit you first.
But I will tell you, unequivocally, that the Threefold Law does not exist. There is no natural law that is going to multiply any bad thing you by three and send the same back to you, nor are you going to get rewarded thrice over for doing good. This does not happen in the mundane world, and it does not happen when you cast spells. But I'd argue one further: Believing in the Threefold Law is morally dangerous. It's one of those things that a few Witches contrived to convince the wider public that we aren't a threat to them because we would never risk such profound spiritual retribution over a hex, but it doesn't make sense once you apply even a few seconds of critical thinking to it.
You can observe, in real time, throughout the whole planet, throughout all of human history, that there is nothing out there that works like the Threefold Law is supposed to.
We can observe the existence of kings, billionaires, slave-owners, CEOs, and innumerable others who have large profited comfortably off the systematic oppression of others, their whole lives, with no repercussions at all. Did the Threefold Law not exist yet when Andrew Jackson marched thousands of Indigenous people to their deaths? He died in his late seventies surrounded by family and friends. Does the Threefold Law not apply to Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk? You can NOT tell me that Henry Fucking Kissinger, who recently died at the age of 100, got back three times the evil he put out! You can probably think of plenty of people who have committed atrocities but still lived perfectly comfortable lives. Are you suspecting that all of these people were terrorized by the haunting memories of the crimes they committed, so terrorized it would equals three times the suffering of all the people who died on their watch? Absolutely not.
Conversely, how many people have suffered their whole lives who did nothing of the sort to deserve it? In a universe with some benevolent force doling out three times as much good for good done and three times as much bad for bad done, why are there children dying of malnutrition because their parents can't afford food? Why are there people dying because their insurance companies denied coverage for procedures that would have saved them (and why are their CEOs still getting bonuses)? You can NOT tell me that every homeless person out there got that way casting a curse on their sister's abuser. It is brazenly obvious that this is not how the world works.
So, other than just the blunt obviousness of the non-reality of the Threefold Law, what's the practical issue here?
Well, when you subscribe to any ethical model that says "people naturally get what they deserve," it poisons your perception of what ethical behavior is. It encourages you to think things like "Well, if somebody is really wealthy, it must mean they're doing something right." This is the same kind of poisoned thinking that is overtaking American Christianity, through the frankly heretical belief in Prosperity Gospel ("It's God's will for his followers to be wealthy, so if somebody is wealthy God must favor him, what was that about a camel and the eye of a needle? I'm sure the 'needle' was actually a door and therefore it is quite easy for a rich person to get into heaven, right?"). And speaking of Christianity, it's worth mentioning that punitive systems of ethics--that you shouldn't do bad things because you will be punished, whether by an eternity in Hell or Karma in the next life or some invisible force bringing you bad things in this life--are more commonly used against other people than as encouragement for oneself. Many devout Christians frankly fantasize about non-Christians burning in Hell; the threat of Hell is not a deterrent to their own behavior, because they have designed Hell to be for other people, not them or people they like. And while Wiccans certainly are not that extreme, it is very easy to simply claim the Threefold Law doesn't count for that thing you are doing, because when you do it, it's not bad.
Around twenty years ago or so I read an article I can no longer find about Pagans and Wiccans in the military. In it, they interviewed a Wiccan man who, in his whole explanation of Wiccan beliefs, made a comment suggesting the Threefold Law and all that Harm None stuff don't count in wartime. This really stuck with me, because it was one of the most offensive things I'd ever read... what the fuck do you mean the Threefold Law doesn't count for a soldier during wartime? You cannot possibly believe that the intrinsic moral fabric of the universe just stops applying when you are the one holding the gun. While we're at it, in a universe where the Threefold Law existed, why would wartime even be a thing? What is the triplicate retribution for being a warmonger? Has somebody asked the Threefold Law where it goes during wartime? Has anybody audited the threefold punishment records of George W. Bush lately?
But if you try getting inside this Wiccan soldier's head a little, the likelihood is the same as it is when anybody else uses spiritual validation for their behavior: "Harm None" and the Threefold Law don't apply here because I'm on the "right" side of this war. And my Wiccan colleague from earlier, lecturing my friend who was planning to curse somebody, I can guarantee she does harmful things she thinks doesn't count, because she thinks she's doing them for a good reason. And you know, maybe she's right. But she did not need a vague moral code or the threat of bad things from the universe to make that decision.
You should not be basing your behavior on whether or not you think the Universe is going to punish you for it. You should do what you truly believe is right, because it is right to do that.
To conclude here, I'm not somebody who really thinks it's any of my business what kind of Witchcraft you practice. You don't have to use any magic you don't want to, including curses, even in the context of oppression. But if you're still believing in the Threefold Law in particular, you should consider the ramifications of that, or at the very least avoid using it to threaten other Witches to follow the same moral code you do. This simply is not how the universe works.
Happy Trails,
Wolfpeach