What is Karma?

Last Updated on December 28, 2019 by Coven of the Goddess

Although many people in the West are often heard to talk of ‘negative’ or ‘bad’ Karma, few people truly understand it.

Deeds and Intentions

Karma basically involves our own deeds and intent, and the condition of our Karma is a reflection of whether those deeds and intentions were either good or bad. It does, though, probably help to learn that the concept of Karma often concerns those who have beliefs that involve reincarnation. This is because we can have bad Karma, not because of something bad we have done in this life but simply because our pre-incarnation self did! Karma, if you will, is genetic in nature. So, what you also have to remember is not just that your previous self can affect your future existence, but that your actions in this life can also affect you in the next!

Moral Self- Governance

This is often where Wicca is compatible with the concept of Karma because a Wiccan believes they should be judged by their behavior rather than words that promise good intentions. They also believe that their behavior should be self-governing, in so much as that they are not directed by a higher authority or deity to behave well, but that they know themselves which actions are good and which are bad.

Like Attracts Like

When our behavior or intentions are bad, this is when we attract negative Karma, and when we practice good intentions, we attract good Karma. Yet we do not, either with good or bad actions, attract an equal amount of the same. With Karma, is it a case of like attracting like. So, if you have attracted bad Karma, that in itself will attract even more bad Karma. Once these wheels of negativity are in motion, they are often difficult to stop. Bad Karma not only continues to attract multiples of more bad, but it also stops good Karma from getting through and benefiting our lives by injecting some positivity into it.

By the same token, though, if you perform good deeds or you act with good intention, then good Karma attracts even more. Luck and good fortune smile down on those whose Karma is of the good variety. A dense, good Karma also acts as a shield in resisting bad Karma entering our lives.

Generational Karma

Of course, the action-reaction equation relating to Karma is not instantaneous. This often results in our inability to see, or sometimes even to understand, why our lives seem to be negatively affected or possibly even blessed. Neither is it easy to see why our lives might appear blighted when we have only performed good deeds and acted with good intention, yet many people fail to realize that our suffering could be due to the bad acts of a previous incarnation.

In contemporary society, we have become accustomed to instant gratification no matter what the situation, so it is often difficult for us to comprehend that what we do now may affect us long into the future. It is even more difficult to comprehend that what we do now may affect us in a practical way in a next life. Yet once we come to understand this is how Karma works, we are likely to behave in a manner that shows we understand that we might be punished or rewarded for our actions at some point. Knowing also that we get our just rewards, either good or bad, purely by self-governance rather than relying on the mercy of a higher authority, can also remove the possibility of being absolved of our actions.

There are ways though of cleansing Karma if it is full of negativity, but this will only be successful if future acts and intentions are those of the good variety.