For My Best Friend....

Just like in the non pagan community, sometimes pagans and wiccans find themselves battling addiction, like a very close friend of mine right now. Her addiction, however, is not drugs or alcohol but the father of her youngest daughter. He has been serving time for a methamphetamine addiction and other unmentionable offenses and is due to be released here very soon. It's so very difficult to watch her as she deals with the anger, pain and lack of hope that she's experienced in the past several years. She has been working a program that supports friends and family members of those with addictions and has made so much positive progress in learning who she is, her place in this world and how she fits into it now as a healthier outlook on life has taken roots.


Because most pagan spiritual paths encourage balance, harmony and personal responsibility.... for some pagans, recovery is more than just "getting better... it becomes a part of the spiritual practice itself." For a lot of pagans fighting addiction (whether it be their own or that of someone close,) the problem lies not in the twelve-step program itself, but in the interpretation of how those twelve steps should be followed. She has chosen to use the term "higher power" and it has worked out very well. She didn't get hung up on the terminology but forged ahead in making a better life for her children and herself.

Addictions are dark and terrible places to become trapped in but for the families and friends, it becomes a cycle that is not so easily broken. It takes inner strength, courage and a deep desire to rise above the pain and anger to a place where it is decided that things are going to change. I deeply admire my friend for choosing to stand up and say "No more" and draw boundaries for herself and her children. I feel so helpless sometimes because it is a journey that only she can take, I can only stand by to cheer her victories and give hugs when days are grey and stormy.

I by no means condone those with addictions and their lack of taking responsibility for their choices or actions, in fact it makes me ill. I witnessed the terrible devastation that is left in the wake of these addictions first hand as a child of nine and I see it now in the eyes of my friend and her girls. The thirst for justice screams in my head daily but I also remember that it is not my justice to take which makes it much more frustrating. So to my buddy..."Take heart, I will be there when you need my shoulder to cry on... I will be there in the sunshine and the rain...I will be there when you doubt your strength...I will be there!