Drugs, Alcohol and the Pagan Community

1986 by Anna Moonowl

Making Choices, Taking Chances: Drug and Alcohol Use in Ritual The issue o drug and alcohol use and abuse in the Pagan Community has not been addressed o ten and is !robably contro"ersial# Des!ite all the current media co"erage o these sub$ects, %&"e only seen them addressed once by Pagans ' at a C() *esti"al wor+sho!, Abby ,illowroot&s -The )o"ernment ,ants to .ee! /ou 0toned- 11982 C() )rand Council3# Peo!le choose to use or a"oid many substances or a "ariety o reasons, including allergy or other medical indication, con"iction or !ersonal !re erence# 0ome o those most commonly a"oided are certain medications, other drugs, !reser"ati"es, tobacco, alcohol, salt or sugar# % will ocus here on alcohol and drugs4 !lease note that % am not ma+ing moral $udgments on their use# 0ur!risingly, at many Pagan unctions it seems !eo!le orget that others may ha"e made usage choices# 5"en !eo!le who are adamant in en orcing tobacco anti' smo+ing household rules may ail to understand someone else&s desire to a"oid e6!osure to mari$uana smo+e# % ha"e been !resent at rituals where e"eryone else got stoned into near'catatonia, and the air was thic+ with smo+e# % now try to discretely in7uire i there will be drug use in"ol"ed in a ritual be ore % go# % % don&t get a negati"e res!onse 1-% don&t +now- doesn&t hac+ it3, % stay home## %t may be airly straight orward to a"oid drug use at gatherings, but alcohol use is wo"en dee!ly into Pagan ritual and custom, as well as being inesca!able in modern society# 8itual drug use is uncommon ' alcohol is common!lace# (ther than the choice not to drin+, some !eo!le cannot use alcohol or "arious reasons# These in"ol"e medical reasons ' including alcoholism# ,hat about alcoholism9 %&m not a s!ecialist, but %&ll gi"e a try at a descri!tion# Alcoholism is a !rogressi"e, atal disease that causes s!eci ic biochemical and neurological changes and damage# There is a genetic lin+ in the susce!tibility !attern# The alcoholic&s body does not !rocess alcohol in the same way as a non' alcoholic&s does# To6ins are !roduced in the alcoholic&s system that are not in the -normal- drin+er&s# This is cou!led with a gri!!ing !hysical addiction# Peo!le who are alcoholic usually ha"e these biochemical changes and the addiction long be ore they show ob"ious signs o the disease, e"en to themsel"es# Alcoholism is not caused by o"er'drin+ing, nor is it due to emotional or !sychological !roblems# %t is usually the cause o such !roblems, as the disease ollows its ine"itable, ultimately atal !rogression# Conser"ati"e statistics show that one !erson in ten is alcoholic# Anyone who would li+e the straight acts about this disease rom a medical !oint o "iew should read :nder the %n luence by ;ames 8# Milam, PhD# and .atherine

.etcham 1<antam <oo+s, 198=, >=#9?3# %t&s written in a layman&s terminology and is com!elling reading# Many alcoholics are ortunate to ha"e been diagnosed, and ha"e recei"ed treatment# The act is that once one&s body has begun the biochemical changes that occur with alcoholism, one can ne"er again use e"en small amounts o alcohol 1or certain other drugs3 without re'triggering or maintaining the chemical addiction res!onse and the disease !rogression# %t&s a matter o li e and death# ,hy is this im!ortant to Pagans9 Two reasons immediately come to mind# *irst, as a !riesthood one o our res!onsibilities is counseling and re erral# Alcoholism and substance abuse cause serious internal and inter'!ersonal disru!tions, and unless we can recogni@e it we cannot guide those in need to a!!ro!riate treatment# 0econd, because there are so "ery many Pagan rituals, easts, gatherings and esti"als where ood and drin+ is o ered that contain alcohol# %&m not recommending that we all become tee'totalers, but there are many occasions where alternati"es ha"e not been o ered, and could ha"e been, es!ecially in ritual settings# %&"e seen brandy'soa+ed ca+es and whis+ey used as ca+es and wine, or e6am!le# 0ometimes it&s hard to tell i an item contains alcohol 1what i you&"e got a stu ed nose93# % the alcohol content is disco"ered, one can easily be aced with a choice o bowing out o a ritual, o ten a ter it has begun# %t can be embarrassing or rude, declining the Cu! or sni ing the Ca+es be ore ta+ing one, as well as lea"ing one with a eeling o s!iritual incom!letion at not being able to !arta+e ully in a ritual o one&s religion# %&"e tried -anointing- with wine rather than drin+ing, but it&s $ust not the same# Aon'drin+ing alcoholics usually do not introduce themsel"es to all they meet with, -Bi, %&m <obC;ane, %&m an alcoholic and %&d li+e you to !oint out anything that has alcohol in it so % can a"oid it#- 0ome Pagans who would li+e to attend o!en rituals or esti"als a"oid them or this reason# (n the other hand, not e"eryone who chooses to a"oid alcohol is alcoholic# %t remains a !ersonal choice# % would li+e to see Pagans routinely o er a choice to !eo!le attending rituals ' a choice to a"oid alcohol, drugs or sugar, and still !arta+e ully in worshi!# Bow about a non'alcoholic drin+ being o ered with the ,ine9 Bow about a biscuit or crac+er being o ered with the Ca+es9 Bow about mentioning i drugs will be a !art o your ritual when you in"ite someone9 (r !erha!s a tradition could e"ol"e to label -substance' ree- gatherings as such4 how about it9 ''
8e!rinted rom htt!DCCwww#totse#comCenCreligionC!agansEandEwiccansCse6drugs#html

How I "Heal"
by Matrika of PAN - the Psychic Awareness Network

You asked what forms of healing people do and included things that might not be considered healing in the usual sense !ell" one of my special interests is Pagans in #eco$ery %his is a group of Pagans who are in &'-step reco$ery programs - Alcoholics Anonymous and other self-help groups that are based on A A such as (amblers Anonymous" Al-Anon" Narcotics Anonymous" )$ereater*s Anonymous" Adult +hildren of Alcoholics" ,motions Anonymous etc etc etc If you can think of an obstacle in your life or somebody else*s" chances are that someone somewhere has started a &'-step program to deal with it %he problem is that many Pagans" -eminist Priestesses" .hamans" /ruids" and any other type of Magickal folk you can think of" often don*t feel comfortable in AA and these related groups !HY0 %he meetings +1)., with the 1ord*s prayer or the "our father" and ha$e many +hristian o$ertones taken from the general culture" although they are technically supposed to be non-sectarian in their spiritual approach Many Pagans in these groups find that they ha$e trouble applying the steps of reco$ery in the conte2t of what they belie$e to find reco$ery for their specific problems %his is particularly difficult in cases of Alcoholism and /rug addiction and these problems /) e2ist to a great degree in the Pagan3Magickal communities - in which A A and Narcotics Anonymous are often the most successful treatment approaches a$ailable to the a$erage person and that feeling e2cluded from them can mean death" insanity or 4ail to the person who does not find the help they need !hile li$ing in New ,ngland I wrote a series of articles on how to apply the steps of reco$ery in a Pagan3Magickal conte2t in HA#5,.% - a popular newsletter for the +raft in that region" which is now becoming nationwide %he last of these was printed in Yule of &676" 4ust before I left to mo$e here At the same time I disco$ered PA(AN. IN #,+)5,#Y had been formed on a national basis in )hio and had a list of a large number of people" as well as nationwide contacts for networking 8Pagans in #eco$ery is published for 97 :: a year - address Pagans in #eco$ery Newsletter c3o ;ekki <=:: . # >=<" New Marshfield )HI) ?=@<<A An interesting note is that we both started doing this work separately and originally I also had a network called PAN%H,I.%. IN #,+)5,#Y Neither of us had known of the others e2istence at the time of starting the work and taking these names Pantheists in #eco$ery has since merged with the national network" as I saw no need to duplicate their e2cellent efforts Another interesting note is that" in my case" doing this was inspired by B A + . - an organiCation for Bewish Alcoholics" +hemically dependent people and their .ignificant others It had been founded for the same purpose by some Bewish folks in A A in New York +ity and has now spread across the country" to +anada" and to Israel with se$eral thousand names on their mailing lists %hese people also felt the need for support to integrate their reco$ery program with their religion because they were non-+hristians A $ery special part of this e2tended "healing" work for me is that I ha$e the support of my partner Doren" the sysop of PAN" who is my partner both in the +raft and in our li$es together Although he is not himself in any of these reco$ery programs" he has been $ery helpful and supporti$e of my work in reaching out to other Pagans who are also in these groups --rom httpE33www creati$eanime com3Firia3wicca3;G)G.3(eneral3Magick3howiheal t2t