Asatru has the Nine Noble Virtues:
There are Nine Virtues endorsed by Ar nDraiocht Fein (ADF):
| Truthfulness | Veritas |
| Tenacity | Firmitas |
| Respectibility | Honestas |
| Mercy | Clementia |
| Humanity | Humanitas |
| Humour | Comitas |
| Gravity | Gravitas |
| Frugalness | Frugalitas |
| Industriousness | Industria |
| Liberality | Liberalitas |
| Dignity | Dignitas |
| Dutifulness | Pietas |
| Prudence | Prudentia |
| Wholesomeness | Salubritas |
| Spiritual Authority | Auctoritas |
| Sternness | Severitas |
| Freedom | Libertas |
| Safety | Salus |
| Courage | Virtus |
| Justice | Iustitia |
For Kemetic Reconstructionists (ancient Egyptian pantheon) the Goddess, Maat (truth), represents the ideals of civilization, law, and order. Thus Kemetic ethics are based in this Egyptian concept of Maat.
Some Kemetic Reconstructionists use the 42 Ideals of Maat: 1
1. I honor virtue
2. I benefit with gratitude
3. I am peaceful
4. I respect the property of others
5. I affirm that all life is sacred
6. I give offerings that are genuine
7. I live in truth
8. I regard all altars with respect
9. I speak with sincerity
10. I consume only my fair share
11. I offer words of good intent
12. I relate in peace
13. I honor animals with reverence
14. I can be trusted
15. I care for the earth
16. I keep my own council
17. I speak positively of others
18. I remain in balance with my emotions
19. I am trustful in my relationships
20. I hold purity in high esteem
21. I spread joy
22. I do the best I can
23. I communicate with compassion
24. I listen to opposing opinions
25. I create harmony
26. I invoke laughter
27. I am open to love in various forms
28. I am forgiving
29. I am kind
30. I act respectfully of others
31. I am accepting
32. I follow my inner guidance
33. I converse with awareness
34. I do good
35. I give blessings
36. I keep the waters pure
37. I speak with good intent
38. I praise the Goddess and the God
39. I am humble
40. I achieve with integrity
41. I advance through my own abilities
42. I embrace the All 2
In all cases, adherents are expected to behave ethically within these guidelines.
Other Neo-Pagan groups have own ethical/moral standards. Many ethically grounded Neo-Pagans attempt to master the "basics of being a decent person."
For everyday life, here are my own standards--be honest, be kind, be polite, be gracious. These are ones I was raised with. (Sometimes people pick with me over the terminology, "gracious," or "graciousness." I am not using this terminology in the context of flower arrangements and which fork to use.)
These can be broken down into the following--
Anyone who would like to send me a list of their group's ethical/moral standards, please do so at jesterbear@verizon.net
1 The 42 Ideals of Maat are adapted from a text in the Pert Em Hru (known to the ancient Egyptians as The Book of Going Forth by Day). This particular text from which they were adapted was found in the Papyrus of Ani. The Papyrus of Ani was a manuscript created in the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt.
There are some who claim that the orginal lines of this text, often called the "Forty-Two Declarations of Purity," represented a codified ethic of Maat. Other Egyptologists argue that although concept of Maat was a guiding principle the text of the "Forty-Two Declarations of Purity," in Pert Em Hru did not represent any sort of codified ethic.
2 Dr. Harvey Spencer Lewis, Ph.D., of AMORC (Ancient and Mystical Ordo Rosae Crucis ), introduced the Goddess, Maat, into the modern order of Rosicrucians.Maat symbolizes truth and ethical behavior. Spencer Lewis (Frater Profundis XIII) determined the addition of "The 42 Laws of Maat" as a special part of Monographs of AMORC, in order to crystallize Maat's ethics in the mind of Rosicrucian students. The ankh (life, breath) held by Maat is the Sacred Key for the Eternal Life.
The Rosicrucians are a fraternity of mystics. The order is not a religion and, therefore, not a form of Neo-Paganism, although some of its members may be Neo-Pagans.
There is Stregheria and stregoneria which are forms of Italian Witchcraft; these practioners do not follow the Wiccan "harm none" though there are guidelines about what is appropreate and what is not. However, it is important to remember that not all the practioners of Stregheria and stregoneria consider themselves as "Pagan" or "Neo-Pagan." Some work with spirits and saints, some only with saints, and some work with Italian deities. (It's complicated.)
If you are interested in magical systems, practitioners of Thelema in the OTO (Ordo Templi Orientis) follow Crowley's "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will." Thelema is a spiritual philosophy, sometimes refered to as a religion, involves spirits, including Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit.
Then, there is the practice of hoodoo, which is USA Southern folk magic. Hoodoo is a collection of magical and spiritual practices, and most of the practitioners of hoodoo consider themselves Christian. Without question the magic system of hoodoo does have those who can be called "two-headed doctors" or those who "work with both hands." Those practitioners "do hex." They use "hot foot spells," "goofer dust," "damnnation powder," "breakup spells," "flying devil oil," etc. Yet even hoodoo is tempered with the Southern maxim: "May all your curses, like chickens, come home to roost."
Somewhere in the vast writings of Cat Yronewode, she mentioned that people ask her Can I hex someone? Her answer was "Yes, if it is justified..." (quoted from memory)
IF... "Aye, there's the rub," as Shakespeare had Hamlet comment to himself.
Aside from that rather obvious point, I am a bibliophile. I have numerous cookbooks that I have never made a recipe from. I have numerous spellbooks. I have spellbooks containing all sorts of spells, including hexes.
I didn't buy these commercially sold spellbooks for any hexes written in them; I bought them for all the other information written in them. I adore history books, some of which have recipes for food I would never cook and spells I would nver cast. For example, I would never bother with 16th century spells against a toothache "Galbes, galbat, galdes, galdat," or rabies "Irioni khirrioni, effer kuuder fere." Neither would I be interested in using a 19th century spell to separate a husband and wife. I also have a cookbook with a recipe for the Southern dish, Blood Pudding or Black Pudding; I can guarantee that I am never cooking up something like that.
Yes, sadly, that can happen. Some people--certainly not many--do come into Neo-Paganism with no ethics whatsoever, neither personal, social, nor professional. After being in this incarnation for a half century, I've realized people are people and it is almost impossible to keep a few jackasses from wandering into a group. The only solution when that happens is to deal with it.