Theory: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as Magickal Initiatory Organization

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the well-known "12 Step Program," used by Millions around the world for the past seventy years seems to function along the same lines as many Magickal Initiatory Organizations which have existed throughout history and still exist today. Organizations like: The Freemasons, The Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), The Temple of Set, The Church of Satan, The Knights of Columbus, The Knights of Saint John, The Jesuits, The Muslim Hashishim (Better known as the Assassins) of the 13th century middle east, The Knights Templar of the Middle Ages, The Mystery Schools of Ancient Egypt and Greece, The Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosicrucian (AMORC), and so on.

AA, like most of the organizations I mentioned, is a spiritual one. It has it's own sayings, books, and rituals, which are unique to itself. Like most other Initiatory Orders it has a progression of "Steps" or "Degrees" which distinguish where a member of AA is in the process of gaining in "spiritual progress," and the larger the degree (what step the member is working on) as well as the amount of time in AA, the more "experienced" a member is often considered by the group and the more accepted.

Again we find AA's custom of recommending that each new member gets a "Sponsor," or more experienced member who has already worked the steps, identical to that of Initiatory Organizations. This "Sponsor" teaches the new member how to progress through the steps and often decides when the new member should move to the next. A similarity we also find with many forms of Indian Yoga where the new or young seeker must commit themselves to a single Yogi or Guru and follow their directions in order to accomplish their spiritual aims. In all of these the new member, upon reaching their goal, is expected to become a "Sponsor" themselves for others.

AA's liturature emphasizes that the success of their organization in creating spiritual experiences and holding alcoholism in remission for the majority its members comes largely due to the power of the "Group" or "AA Meeting." They assert, just as Wiccans, Pagans, Initiatory Organisations, Jesus in the Bible ("Wherever two or more of you gather in my name I shall be...") etc, that when you put people together the sum is greater than the parts. Thus by holding a meeting each member gets to leave with a part of the spiritual energy which has been generated during that meeting. That spiritual energy is raised using group prayer, chanting, repetition, meditation, and the speaking of heartfelt truths. Finally, at the end of an AA meeting, the members form a circle while holding hands and pray together. This is a magickal ritual humans have been performing since the dawn of time and the tremendous success of AA as an organization (While The Freemasons, OTO, AMORC, and others report record low numbers of new members) is a testement, however small, to the power of such actions.

In summary, Alcoholic Anonymous, rather than being an anomoly, a cult, or group of lunatics, could easily be considered a Magickal Initiatory Organization which fallows the same lines and principles which humans have been practicing for thousands of years. Judging by the last seventy years; AA will only continue to grow ("The only requirement for membership in AA is a desire to stop drinking") and succeed as a more egalitarian method of distributing spiritual practices to the masses than it's forefather Organizations, Religions, and Traditions. Meanwhile the more discriminatory Initiatory Organizations (Knights of Saint John, Bohemian Grove, Pacific Union Club, etc...) will only continue to lose membership, prestige, and power, as the age of information freedom continues to dawn.