I cannot count how many times I have received emails or my Guest Book has been signed and someone has asked me for spells. Why? Because I do not keep a spellbook online. But what are the reasons for this and are they based on a time of secrecy.
Spells have always been handed down from Mentor to Novice and it was tradition to hand down your BOS to someone you trusted to keep the contents safe. Was this tradition formed only from the secrecy required during the burning times and the witch hunts or was it based on a more traditional way of passing down knowledge.
We all know that BOS had to be kept secret during certain times in history. But from my leanings I have found that it was traditional not to hand out spells to just anyone. Even in covens today initiates must go through the 1 year and 1 day initiation period before being allowed to participate in the casting of certain spells. So why is this done? To make sure the initiate understands the implications of using the spells wrongly and to make sure that no one is allowed into the coven that would use the spells wrongly. And to be certain of their dedication to this way of life.
Yes I do know that their are Magic shops in almost every town now and that with online bookstores it is relatively easy for the curious to get their hands on spells. But does that make it right for those of us that follow the Wiccan Rede to pass out this information to strangers on the Internet without taking responsibility for who we are passing it out to.
As I have said many times it is not the Magic that is good or bad it is the person that uses it. And an innocent seeming spell in the hands of someone with an evil heart could cause bad things to happen with our nice spells. So should we take responsibility for what we teach and stop providing access to our spells to those that are not known to us. Or should we look at it as if they want them that bad they will find them somewhere so it isn't our responsibility.
Well if the people I get requests from (usually minors and young people with out the resources or ability to get their material elsewhere) have to leave requests for spells in my GB then they obviously are not getting it elsewhere. So I think it is our responsibility.