Wiccans have the rede, “an it harm none, do what ye will.“ From: Rede Of The Wiccae (The Rede-poem) Lady Gwen (Gwynne) Thompson, Green Egg magazine Vol. III. No. 69 (Ostara 1975) as part of a longer piece called "Wiccan-Pagan Potpourri." [n.1] [n.2] [n.3]  (For the rest of the story check here: 
The Wiccan Rede Project:   http://www.pagan.drak.net/sheathomas/ 
it is pretty interesting.) There is also the whole Three-fold law of whatever you send out you are going to get back. (That’s three-fold not three times.  Fold a paper in thirds three times and you will get the point.) Other groups have other guidelines but you are hearing about ethics from my point of view. Because of this, my experiences will color this everything I say. I also strongly suggest you read: ONLY IF NONE BE HARMED Getting Specific about Magical Ethics by Judy Harrow which can be found at http://members.tripod.com/Grey_Cat/blackmag.htm

So does this mean if I am not harming anyone I can do what I want? See what constitutes harm is pretty murky. I think most people can agree forcing someone to love you is a big mistake. But other areas it’s not so clear. Some would say healing is always non-harmful. This I don’t agree with. So what if living for the person would be in their opinion worse then death? Would the healing be non-harmful to him?

For me, the rede has been expanded from “an it harm none, do what ye will.  to “an it harm none, do what ye will but if I do harm someone either inadvertently or deliberately then I will take responsibility for my actions. This blends over to other aspects of my life. If I start screaming like a manic at someone, when I haven’t been really listening to what he has been saying, I can’t say he made me do it. Now, I might point out what he said which set me off and why I was so angry, but he is not responsible for my losing my cool. When you use magic, you are responsible for what happens. It’s not something you can pass the buck onto someone else. That is how I chose to live my whole life not just my magical life. There have been times when taking responsibility for my actions has been embarrassing and very public.

Remember when you have the power to do good, you have as much power to do evil.  Magic, power, energy in and of its self is not good or evil. It is how you use it that makes it so. Some would say, “never attack magically.” But I have found that a bit unrealistic. First and foremost I am a healer and a damn good one. I am not claiming to be the strongest one ever but I am good. For a long time I absolutely refused to touch magic which I felt was too aggressive. See I didn’t realize that in every good healer there is a touch of warrior just as in every warrior there must be a touch of healer for compassion. When I do healing for a disease I am essentially attacking it. I’m killing or ripping out the stuff that is causing it and replacing it with stuff that is beneficial to the person. For me the only two ethical reasons for attacking magically. They are healing as I have stated and protection of others or myself. Protection is even further limited by the fact that the other person must have struck the first magical blow. If the attack is against myself it is even further limited by the fact, the person has to get through my defenses and past my protectors.

One thing you have to remember is that magical attacks are not common. Not every bit of bad luck, bump bruise or cold is the result of someone going after you. I say this because sometimes when a person gets to a certain point he or she starts seeing attacks out of life just happening. I’m not above that happening. And I have had more then one person check them out to see if they are cursed. I will also admit I went though a brief period of that myself.

Honesty is the next point in ethical behavior I would like to address. First off I would like to state that there is a difference between lying and keeping something a secret. I would think that is obvious but some people just don’t get it. Of course for myself I have a built in physical reaction to lying. If I lie too much, I get stressed, which leads to physical illness. (It was a hard-learned lesson.) I will admit other types of stress will lead to the illness as well but lying is one I have totally under my control. If you must have a selfish reason for being honest, well there is always the fact that being dishonest will royally screw up your ability to do effective magic. Magic is based on what you are willing, visualizing and saying what you want to happen. If you make a habit of lying, you’re not toning your will with the strength of truth.

Secrets though are a traditional part of magic, be they oath bound secrets of a tradition or not telling someone what exactly the spell is you have hanging up on your wall. If questioned either “I can’t tell you” or giving part of the truth can work well. (It’s something I made for my wall.) It’s a balancing act but it’s not flat out lying.

You also need to remember the forces you are working with are real. You are working with real energy and any spirits you encounter are also real. You also have to realize that not all beings you encounter are friendly to you. Use of magic can and will attract notice if you do it often enough. This is why I use circles, for protection from beings that are not quite friendly as well as I would like to join me.

There are also plenty of other things I have forgotten to add at this point but with this I will end for now.