The wheel is an important symbol in the Pagan religions. It is used variously to represent the wheel of the year, a reminder of the eight traditional Pagan sabbats, and the eight sacred paths of spirituality. It is also used as a symbol of the list of Pagan virtues. There are eight of them, one for each spoke of the wheel. They are the ideals that we strive for in our lives, the paths by which we find our way to the ultimate enlightenment.

LOVE
Love is for the God and the Goddess and for each other. In order to love we must recognize the divine in each human spirit and learn to appreciate it. Often the hardest task is learning to see that divinity in, and learn to love, ourselves. Learning to appreciate ourselves is the path to the appreciation of others. Take time each day to remind yourself that you ARE the divine incarnate. Love the things that are good in yourself, wrap your mental arms around yourself.
"If you find it not within ye, ye shall find it not without-for that is the nature of all love."

TRUST
Trust is the foundation of love. If there is no trust, then love and truth will not be found. It is often frightening to trust another person. For in doing so, in a way, we give up control. But until you are able to place that trust with another, you are never truly open to them and therefore incapable of true love. In this you must also learn to trust yourself. Learn to listen to that voice within you and know that it is right when it speaks to you.
"Trust thyself:every heart vibrates to that iron string"(Ralph Waldo Emerson).

BALANCE
Seek balance in a personal as well as a universal sense. In a personal sense, each of us must strive to balance our minds and spirits. Through meditation or whatever way you choose, find the calm center of yourself and embrace it. Once you do, all of life's trials will be much easier to bear and emerge from unscathed. Find your balance with Nature, and the Deities. We are each of us a part of the whole, none more or less important than the other. Each person has an essential part to play in the grander scheme of things. There is the balance between God and Goddess, male and female that is present in nature itself and in ourselves.
"The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man."(Euripides)

HUMILITY
The virtue of humility is essential to all the other virtues we strive to. To be open to others and to the Deities, one cannot be full of oneself. A lack of humility keeps you from peace, development, and learning. Once you learn humility, you can be at peace with whatever events come your way, seeing that all events can be a learning experience. Humility teaches us to see the potential in others. A teacher can always learn from a student, and each of us can learn from others.
"...be humble, for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, is beloved of none but itself."(Francis Quarles)

LEARNING
Through learning the lessons the world has to teach us, we may come to better understand the ways of the Divine. Relentlessly pursue higher understanding and you draw closer to the realm of the divine. In your spiritual life, you will come to find that every new piece of knowledge holds the key to the next level of understanding. The more you learn, you will realize how much more there is to learn. It is a constant endeavor, feeding upon itself. The need for learning growing the more that you learn.
"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."(Abigail Adams)

REINCARNATION
To accept and understand the cycle of birth, death, and renewal, is to learn to appreciate the constancy of change in the universe. Reincarnation teaches us hope, and the promise of life renewed and increased. The thirst for knowledge and understanding is explained in the light of reincarnation. Each step you take brings you one bit closer to the Divine realm. All will progress in their own time, for as the wheel is not stationary, neither is the soul. Many Pagan traditions believe that we live again with those we have loved before-
"to meet, to know, to remember, and to love again."

HARMONY
Harmony means to live as one among the cycles of the universe- to see that life continues within and without us. With harmony, we see ourselves as an integral part of all that exists. We see ourselves as the children of divine parentage that we are. All of the universe is woven together, a web if you will. Touch one string and the whole is altered. It is the understanding of this concept that enables you to work magick, for magick is the manipulation of the strings of the universe.
"what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads."(Albert Camus)

TOLERANCE
Tolerance is the understanding that while each individual must follow his or her own heart, and pursue that which they believe, one person's way is not the right path for all, and is certainly not the only way. Through tolerance we learn serenity and patience. Through acceptance of others, and understanding the "whys" of what they do, comes insights and fresh perceptions on the path to greater enlightenment.
"It is thus tolerance that is the source of peace, and intolerance that is the source of disorder and squabbling."(Pierre Bayle)


Examine the wheel, and the virtues it represents. Then examine yourself. Which virtues do you have in the most abundance? Which are you most lacking? With each cycle of the moon, choose a virtue and work to develop it in yourself.

Niamh Mahal
February, 2002