Letters Please address letters to New Moon Rising or otherwise make it clear that your letter is available for publication. Please let us know how you would like it signed. Opinions of authors in New Moon Rising and especially in the Letters section certainly do not necessarily reflect those of New Moon Rising. Pagans in Recovery Project Are you a Pagan who is in recovery from alcoholism? If so, I would like to hear from you. I invite you to share your ideas and experiences with me. This Spring I am doing a Pagans in Recovery Project in connection with some of my graduate studies. I have begun this project: (1) to examine how Wiccan and other Pagan forms of spirituality can help in the recovery process, (2) to compile and develop self-help approaches for Pagans in recovery to use on their own and/or in groups, and (3) to educate mental health professionals about effective and ineffective ways of doing treatment with Pagans with drinking problems. As part of this project, I will facilitate an art therapy workshop with a Madison-area Pagans in Recovery group and will do a presentation to students and faculty in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I also plan to write up a report about the project, which I will make available to those who have shared experiences, ideas, and information with me as part of this study. To take part, please send me your name, address, and phone number. Please let me know if I can interview you by phone, and if so, when the best times are to call you. Confidentiality is assured. Written accounts of perspectives and experiences also are welcome. Briefly describe your Pagan orientation and involvement. Summarize your Journey of recovery. Comment on one or more of these questions:
In what ways is your Wiccan/Pagan spirituality helping you in your recovery process?
What rituals, meditations, invocations, and/or other spiritual practices have helped you with recovery?
Does your involvement in Paganism present any special challenges to recovery? If so, please describe.
If you have been part of a Pagans in recovery group, describe what group process approaches have been most effective.
Have you disclosed your involvement in Paganism to the therapist(s) you've worked with? Why or why not? If you have, what has been the response?
If you have been in Alcoholics Anonymous as part of treatment, how has this worked for you? Have you adapted any of the language/concepts in AA literature to be more compatible with Paganism, and if so, what? Have you mentioned you are a Pagan to others in the program, and if so, what has resulted? What do you think therapists need to consider in order to help Pagans with drinking problems?
What suggestions do you have for other Wiccans/Pagans in recovery? Pagans who are mental health professionals are also invited to share their ideas, approaches, and experiences with Pagans in recovery. If you know of any journal articles, academic papers, and/or other literature that could be of help to me in this project, please send me copies or cite sources. Please pass the word about this project and encourage Pagans in recovery that you know to take part. Thanks and Blessed Be,
Selena Fox
Recovery Project, Circle Sanctuary
PO Box 219, Mt.Horeb, WI 53572
(608) 924-2216 (leave message) Witch Runs for NDP I've been involved in Witchcraft for eleven years and a Third Degree High Priest in the Craft for eight and over the years I've been a spokesperson for various Pagan and Wiccan activities and groups in Canada. I've also been an active member in Canada's democratic socialist New Democratic Party for six years. I was acclaimed as the party's candidate January 6th in a provincial by-election here in Matsqui, British Columbia, called when the local Member of the Legislative Assembly quit late last year. I'd been the acclaimed candidate for about a week when a reporter with the Vancouver Province decided to do a check through the computer and found my name in a dozen or so articles. The provincial secretary of the NDP, Keith Reynolds, said It is a reason to reconsider his nomination and he did not disclose his religious preference to his executive. Premier Mike Harcourt, the leader of the NDP, said that my religion alone was reason to reconsider my nomination because some call it a cult and it is of concern to me. A huge media tornado ensued centered on the prospect of the NDP religiously discriminating against their acclaimed candidate. I was major national news in Canada for about a week. I was required to submit to a new nomination meeting that I lost, 14 to 16. I behaved as I thought a candidate should behave—I defended the Party and its leaders, defended our traditions, spoke about our politics and policies. This has resulted in our religion being accepted as unquestionably legitimate by the media. The way that it stands at 1 February is that the leaders of the NDP are refusing to apologize to me and to the other members of my religion in British Columbia and refusing to say that they'll make sure it never happens again. That is all that I'm asking for, as well as meeting my lawyer costs, currently a couple hundred dollars at most. I've laid a formal complaint with the BC Human Rights Council. Letters of support and donations can be sent to Samuel Wagar, P.O.B. 2205, Clearbrook, BC, V2T 3X8 CANADA. Remarks about their stand can be sent to BCNDP at 3110 Boundary Road, Burnaby, BC V5M 4A2, faxed to 604-432-9517, or telephoned to 604-430-8600. Samuel Wagar
(MAPHIS) 1994 by Samuel Wagar, P.O.Box 2205, Clearbrook, British Columbia, V2T 3X8 CANADA. All rights reserved save one-time publishing rights, no reprinting for any purpose permitted without the written permission of myself. This notice must be included with the article when it is published.
Pagans for Peace
A magazine for politically active Witches and Pagans—theology, book reviews, letters, upcoming events, peace movements, feminism, ecological analysis and direct action reports, organizing ideas and promoting worthwhile projects, networking. No Kaballah for Klutzes, little poetry and ritual, no graphics, some Big Words and chewy ideas, occasional controversy, and no pandering to the accepted wisdom. Sample copy free, annual subscription (6 issues) $10 ($Can in Canada, $US elsewhere). P.O.B. 2205, Clearbrook, British Columbia, V2T 3X8 CANADA | 
