We often forget that whatever we are as spiritual beings, that spirituality is underpinned by the bio-chemical reality of our physical existence.  As such there is a very wide range of things that can affect our perceptions, moods and even spiritual awareness.  These include food substances (like chocolate); 'beneficial' herbs (like camomile tea); poisonous plants ( which may or may not be illegal depending on where you live and what they are); prescription pharmaceuticals; legal drugs, (like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol); and illicit substances (again varying somewhat depending on where you live).  There are also things like incense, illness, stress, coitus, sleep deprivation, hormonal cycles, and fasting which can have profound effects on us; effects which we are not always fully aware of.

I am fairly confident that ALL of these things have  been intentionally used (or serendipitously responsible) for enhancing or otherwise modifying spiritual experiences - both in and out of ritual.  Does this make the resulting experiences invalid, or less real?  I don't think we can say it does: Anymore than we can judge another's perception of pain.  Spiritual experience, like pain, is what the person says it is.

So where do we draw the line?  I am not convinced that the final word in making these choices and decisions should be down to legislation. Laws change according to local custom and political whim. Lest we forget, there are still parts of our world where witchcraft is illegal, and even carries the death penalty.  So, just because there is a law saying that a certain substance (or practice) is prohibited it does not diminish our responsibility under the Rede for taking our own choices and actions - even if, in some circumstances, that may place us outside the letter of the law. 

Equally, just because something may be legal doesn't mean it is a good idea!

I wish to be very clear that this doesn't mean that I advocate the use of drugs or alcohol in ritual, or otherwise: In fact quite the opposite.  In this regard, I equate ritual with driving a car.  When driving, my physical ability is amplified and augmented by the mechanical power of the car, so I can get somewhere more quickly and easily, and possibly do more good because of that.  At the same time the possible negative consequences of a lack of concentration are amplified, for me and for others, if I have an 'accident'.

Ritual is similiar - in that it is a means of amplifying and focusing the will. As such, I wish to be fully in control of my will, and my perceptions, espechially during ritual. For me that means avoiding alcohol and drugs.  In a nutshell, if I would not happilly drive while tired or influenced by a substance, then neither would I take part in ritual under those same circumstances. 

Peace & Blessings

Josephus.

One often doesn't think of prescription medications and their side-effects, when discussing drugs and alcohol, but certainly some have effects, as you noted, impairing one's effectiveness during ritual.  This might be awkward in group ritual, but I wouldn't tell anyone not to attempt private ritual, though, if they were on medication--I assume the worst that could happen would be nothing, rather than connection.  Am I correct? 

As for the effectiveness of drugs and alcohol, I have only connected with deity when in my right mind, and I don't understand how a fuzz of alcohol on the brain is supposed to enhance ritual.  I don't do drugs, so I have no opinion on their effectiveness, but I imagine it's the same:  they impair the brain's normal functioning, and therefore impair one's ability to connect with the divine (unless worshipping Dionysius?).  One thing I have noticed, though, is that while drinking strong coffee and contemplating esoteric matters, I was able to come to understandings that I hadn't before.  I'm not saying, go out and get jazzed on coffee.  I just suspect that as a mental stimulant, it hurried along what was already in my mind.  Has anybody experienced this?

As for cakes and ale, it doesn't have to be cakes or ale.  Cookies and milk.  Crackers and juice.  Fruitcake and hot chocolate.  Bread and water....  One lady I have corresponded with on a different site simply kisses the cup as it comes to her in the circle, then passes it on, as she and alcohol are a bad mix.  Her gesture is accepted in her circle, and it would seem acceptable to me.

Coven Council: Online Junior Student Representative

hi all i feel very strongly against alcholism and what it can do and can't do ! yuo see john is an alcholic and i went through yeras of sheer hell ! and afetr he got off alchol he turned to perscriptipn drugs that made him act not like himself at all you have to be careful when using percribed drugs or you or someone elses you love or perhaps a d=stranger could end up paying the price for you to dance wioth the devil himself! now if your a cancer patient or have a cronic illness during rituals and sabbaot/esbats it 's fine to be pain free as long as it doesn't enter fear with your ablity to think clearly on what is going on at that present time. and alchol well i don't drink but an occasional drink like for cake and ale will that's your preferance as long as it s a glass not a whole bottle you will be drinking! a sip or two doesn't hurt no one un less you are an alchoplic like john1 one sip for him and i'm gone and he's off the wagon and it's like a lays potaoto chips you can't have one you have to have more! so at special occiasions or an occasionaly sociable drink /I can ubderstandBut just to get plasterd or three sheets in the wind makes that person like like a total messed up fool! john has been sober now from alchol going on 13 years now! and i'm proud of him, i gave him an automateum me or the boze. well proudly to say he chose me! and he's been drug free 2 years now ! i still walk on egg shells when he has to have pain meds cause i do speak up and say he was hooked on them for 10 years and it was so emberraseing so again i made him choose me or the drugs i won again and i do love him so much and our wedding anniversary wil;l soon be here we will be married 30 something years and i'm not planing on going anywhere except by his side all the way! i'm in this marriage for the long haul! so no to Drugs and No to alchol use in circle if it's a boze party! you don't drink in church to get your self in a stooper and besides it's au insult to the lod and lady to make a glutten out of ones self1 Blessed be tempeststar