Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Addiction, and Recovery

Life, especially everyday life, and overall human life fulfillment, depends a great deal upon a healthy balance in terms of what you do every day, what your short term goals, and long term goals are; or, perhaps dreams for many. Quite simply, eat until you are full, no more, no less!!! Or? Eat until you are slightly less than full, which is ideal, because anything more than that causes you pain (from being too full, to in some case becoming obese, or overweight.) Psychology tells us that we essentially need three things to survive: food (including water), sleep, and a sexual outlet of some sort...lack of any one or more of these things means in some cases either death, or a disturbance in life until the need is in some way met! You cannot do anything exclusively without tiring of it! Life is very much about change; nature, and change, are very much synonymous. You need time to work, time to eat, time to sleep, time to relax, time to be alone, time to dream, and to fantasize...in essence, life cannot be more about any one thing to the point of detriment to other important areas of your life - no one thing can be done exclusively - without causing a disturbance to the self, and often to society, and in the case of alcoholism and addiction, even to family members and loved one's.

An addictive personality, or a “proneness to addictive behavior “, often forms from an “unmet need “ in life, sometimes not even perceptible to the mind of the afflicted (being as it is subconscious, occurring in early childhood perhaps, and beyond the reach of cognitive abilities or memory. Hypnosis, or psychotherapy, is sometimes prescribed.) This “unmet need “ tries to “meet “ itself by means of the self bonding with an activity, a drug perhaps...i.e. a “fix “! In that the “unmet need “ is trying to meet itself, and satisfy itself by artificial means, one becomes addicted to a certain behavior or activity that brings physical gratification instead of emotional satisfaction; a sort of “pseudo replacement “ for the real “unmet need “.

Its' relentless pursuit consumes the whole life, and never does truly fulfill, and leads the addict along a trail of ruins in terms of personal loss, psychological pain, incarceration, death, and hurt loved ones, who are all too often confused by the risky behavior and madness in itself! It goes to show, like any good occult axiom, that “anything done to an extreme carries with it consequences to the other important areas of our life - parts of life that are important to us all, despite our view of their importance to us! “ The damage to and/or loss of these things, and the damage in general caused by addiction, is tragic and sad, especially when it can be eradicated simply by means of abstinence - by not administering or allowing the addict to partake in the addictive activity at all! Like the family would say, “If he has so many problems from using drugs or drinking, why does he continue to use drugs and/or drink?“

Also, with addiction, the “self “ is always essentially aware of its' own predicament, aside from denial, but also unable to truly save itself from its own predicament, since the addict cannot stop, guilt, shameful feelings, and anger and irritation exist constantly, even though sometimes in a minor form! They are constantly in effect for the addict. The pain of addiction spreads to those in close connection with the addict, often affects physical health and dependability, and almost always runs a life into the ground in a myriad of ways, depending upon the object of addiction! Until the addictive behavior is arrested, recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction, or any form of addiction, cannot begin!

Alcoholism and drug addiction are widespread problems in the United States. In America, Twelve Step Programs are an integral part of treatment. Often they go along with alcohol and/or drug rehabilitation, which is in most cases short term. You learn about the damage that drugs and alcohol WILL do to your life, and you are given an introduction to the Twelve Step Program. Unfortunately, the Twelve Step Programs are often described as having “revolving doors “. Addicts attending Twelve Step Programs are often forced to attend, and though they may gain some insight into the nature of addiction, and the Twelve Step Program's method of recovery, pursuit of the program often proves FAR more difficult for the addict or alcoholic to achieve. The failure rate for recovering alcoholics and addicts involved in Twelve Step Programs has been as high as ninety-six percent! I do not know what the recovery failure rate is today!

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, written by “Bill and Dr. Bob “ in the earlier part of this century, has since been adopted to fit recovery programs for drug addicts and people with addictions of other sorts The essence of the Twelve Step Recovery Programs are the Twelve Steps themselves. I am very familiar with each of the “Twelve Steps “, and what they mean, and what it is you are trying to achieve as you work each step. Here are the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. They are as follows:

Step One - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or our addiction); that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step Two - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step Three - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Step Four - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Step Five - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Step Six - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Step Seven - Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Step Eight - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step Nine - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Step Ten - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Step Eleven - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Step Twelve - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Ironically, the practice of the Twelve Steps is very similar both in nature and in approach of other well known religious practices and philosophies; teachings that teach one the values of living an honest and spiritual life. These older studies and practices teach self-discipline, healing, and other so-called “secrets “, and require their aspirants to achieve and maintain a “pure “ life, and promise peace, enlightenment, and even unity with God to their' followers. READ ON...long before Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Healers, Mystics, Magicians, and Occultists also dared to tackle the problem of addiction, or what they referred to as, “obsession “!

There are many, many different religious teachings and practices worldwide. Nearly all of these religions share the same point of view as regards the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Most religions suggest to us that there are forces beyond our understanding, and that these “evil “ forces tempt man into using these substances as they somehow know that pain and suffering will be the result of such a decision. These “evil “ forces (often portrayed as hating both God and Man) try desperately to succeed in tempting human beings to use drugs and alcohol perhaps more to “get back at God “ as opposed to paving the way to darkness for man. The solution, according to religion (and this is not so true nowadays as it was once perhaps), is to closely adhere to the “word of religion “, and to direct oneself in accordance with one's faith in such a way as to subdue and overcome temptation, and drive the evil forces that lay behind such attempts back to Hell! (The above example adheres probably more to the Christian religion than anything.)

A handful of religions do make use of controlled substances (either drugs or alcohol), and they are used in certain religious ceremonies. This has next to nothing to do with addiction! Religious teachings in general would have us believe that giving into the temptation to use and/or abuse of drugs and alcohol is to succumb to the power of evil forces, and that in giving into such temptation is to, at the same time, embark upon a journey into the realms of the wicked; it is to stray far from the Word of God, and His teachings.

To me, it is not really important as to whether or not “evil forces “are the ones' responsible for any persons' headlong fall into the dark world of addiction! Regardless of “who “, or “what “, is responsible for why a person begins to use a substance to the detriment of their “normal “ way of doing things, addiction in itself is a predicament; a phenomenon whose nature and cycle, and the effects of that cycle, are relatively simple to understand separate from religious teachings.

It is beyond the scope of this article to debate the various religious beliefs and practices worldwide; it is also beyond the scope of this article to explain various and proposed religious ties to the occult interpretation of many religious practices, and practice in the occult arts itself. MYSTICISM, MAGICK, and OCCULT PRACTICES IN GENERAL ARE ENTIRELY ABOUT THE APPLICATION SELF OBSERVANCE, AND REQUIRE AN EXTREME APPLICATION OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. THESE PRACTICES ARE DESIGNED TO BRING ABOUT A GREATER LEVEL OF SELF AWARENESS IN THE INTEREST OF ATTAINING KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE SELF TO THE END OF ATTAINING PEACE WITH THAT SELF, AND WITH GOD.

Early on in the study of the occult sciences, a student is required to observe certain practices designed to help him or her gain a greater level of self awareness - many of these exercises develop both the physical body as well as the mind. In the case of “obsession “, which is one way that addiction is defined in terms of occult terminology, the student is required to observe how any form of obsession weighs upon the rest of the life, and how it upsets both the life and the Will.

How do you know if you are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol? How do you know if you are and addict, and/or addicted to other things as well? Quite simply: you will find that you cannot effectively manage your life while using (or more correctly, abusing) your “drug of choice “. Whether it is a drug, or a behavior, or even an obsessive thought, and/or behavioral pattern; if it upsets your other daily activities this often suggests addiction. Keep in mind, also, that even though you may be able to manage your life well enough while living within the confines of an addictive cycle, you can still be “addicted “.

Might I first suggest attending either an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting in your area? (Nowadays, there are also Twelve Step Meetings for other addictions as well.) Should you ultimately find that these solutions do not work for you there are other views and methodologies on addiction that you might also want to investigate.

Twelve Step Programs essentially require that you, in some way, arrive at an honest assessment of your life's predicament, and seek help by giving up your own methods and approaches to treating your own predicament, mentally and physically. Alternatively, you might want to enlist yourself into the sororities and fraternities of the Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn, or even read all of Aleister Crowley's works, and undertake a “magickal retirement “.

Adopting a motto, a magickal name, and endeavoring to discover your True Self are requirements that are set early on in your occult training. You are also required to keep a daily journal, later a dream diary; and you are required to adhere to certain daily practices more out of self-discipline than anything. Observing yourself, writing of your feelings, your goals, and your struggles, are all helpful. Learning to meditate, to breathe correctly, to pray, to ask questions; to practice Yoga, to gain self-control, and to eventually master elements of your own physical body and mind are further requirements for success in these Paths. Addiction is assessed and conquered often in the early stages of development, and therapy of some form is often suggested.

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