What is Evil

What is Evil

I am protected by your might
Oh Gracious Goddess, day and night.

Thrice around the circle's bound
Evil sink into the ground.

This is part of a strong protection spell provided by, I believe, Scott Cunningham. The problem with this is... how much can it really protect us from?

My first thought was spiders. What could be worse than spiders? These creatures are capable of inspiring in me such abject terror that I cannot even move, can scarcely breathe. Fear of them keeps me indoors at night, every night, greatly inhibiting my ability to worship in a circle. Fear of them haunts my darkest dreams, and they are the center of my worst nightmares. You know, the kind that is so bad that your mind shies away from even imagining it.

Okay, so I have a chronic case of arachnophobia. Well, sort of. The problem with this diagnosis is that I think crabs are cute, even adorable. But whatever. This certainly doesn't mean spiders are evil. In face, some cultures think that they are good luck. Christian tradition tells of the story of the Holy Family's flight from Herod. Supposedly, as they hid in a cave, spiders wove such webs over the entrance that the searchers decided that nobody had entered in a long time. Spiders saved Jesus from a very, very early death.

Spiders are out.

What about murderers? Rapists? Well, that depends on the rapist or murderer, doesn't it? Either the person has some psychological condition, which, unfortunately, means its not entirely their fault, they have an ulterior motive that is, perhaps, selfish, but certainly not evil..... Madness or greed. Greed is insidious, undermining the efforts of the weak to push it away. It's not really a murder or rapist's fault he's weak of mind, is it? As for madness, nobody chooses to be mad. Perhaps evil is there, but the person about to rape you isn't really evil, at the root of it.

Rapists and murderers are out. Crap. We're running out of ideas.

Well, what about the evil intentions of a.... satanist! Yeah, that's it! Because satanists are evil, right? Errr, maybe. Satanism is a religion of material gain. Remember that bit about greed? Yeah. Well, what about those people in big black coats who run around threatening to hex people? Are they evil?

Probably not. Probably they feel that the only way they can control a situation and gain respect is by threatening people and 'acting cool.' Misinformation is not tantamount to evil, nor is low self esteem.

So where's the friggin evil here? People are always talking about evil! They are charms, talismans, amulets, spells, potions, herbs, incantations, whole gods and goddesses devoted to combating evil! Not to mention millions of books. It must exist!

I don't know, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what this spell WILL protect me from.