Many years ago, on an email list called “AmberandJet”, someone asked questions about a few of the lines contained within the Rede Poem.

Here is a question for you all that a contact suggested I ask, well, because none of us are sure of its roots. I have a very long version of the Rede, which includes the sacred woods and the Sabbats, more of a teaching rune. In it, there are two lines I am wondering where the roots came from”When the Lady’s moon is new, kiss the hand to her times two.” Okay, why? What does it represent?

And “When trouble is enow, wear the blue star on thy brow.” Figuratively? Literally? Is there a meditation which this is geared towards or something else? I am an untrained Seeker that is tired of shuffling through the watered-down versions of eclectic wicca presented to the western world. Tons of questions, not a whole lot of people to ask! Go figure*g*

A version of The Wiccan Rede

As Lady Gwen stated in her article Wiccan-Pagan Potpourri, “there are many different traditions and many different redes.” The version mentioned above may or may not be related to the NECTW version, but the lines being asked about are certainly in the NECTW version.

In NECTW, the Rede poem has double meanings throughout – an inner and outer sort of thing. The first question is answered in part that it involved blowing a kiss to the moon. As to the second question, the only answer I can really give is “yes”.

Meditate on the Rede would be the basic advice that all NECTW Elders would give you. “Wiccan-Pagan Potpourri“, which is the original article by Gwen Thompson from Green Egg that included the Rede can be found on this site, linked in the “Suggested Reading”.

Although there are numerous websites with a number of different versions of the Rede and its meanings, there are a few I can recommend to you for additional understanding and interpretation:

• The Wiccan Rede: A Historical Journey by John J. Coughlin – I actually highly recommend John’s entire website and the book that has come out of his research, details of which can be found on his site.
• The Internet Archive of Karl Lembke’s pages on the Rede
• The Internet Archive of Shea Thomas’ Wiccan Rede Project
• The Wiccan Rede Project, a collaborative set of essays at The Magical Buffet
• The NECTW website