[3] According to occult author/researcher John Coughlin, the Law posits "a literal reward or punishment tied to one's actions, particularly when it comes to working magic".
[7] The Rule of Three has a possible prototype in a piece of Wiccan liturgy which first appeared in print in Gerald Gardner's 1949 novel High Magic's Aid:[8][9] "Thou hast obeyed the Law.
Prior to this, Wiccan ideas of reciprocal ethics were far less defined and more often interpreted as a kind of general karma.
[11] The Rule of Three later features within a poem of 26 couplets titled "Rede of the Wiccae", published by Lady Gwen Thompson in 1975 in Green Egg vol.
This rule was described by the Dutch metal band Nemesea, in the song "Threefold Law", from the album Mana.