Cyber Cauldron

For each of us life is a journey for some it is an easier journey and for others it a difficult one. Now it can be a tricky situation for a coven or group that has a person who suffers from a mental illness. One of the main reasons is that a person with a mental illness can have their ups and downs, which can cause minor disruption to a group meeting due to their non-attendance.

Now mental illness still has a very negative image in public and private life and it is people’s own fears, which cause most of the issues. Now many people do not understand much about mental health and that lack of understanding causes prejudice. The fact is that many off us will experience a period of mental illness in our lives the most common of these being depression.

For pagans and witches we know that the body and mind can become unbalanced and with the correct herbs and medications the body can be returned to health but very few pagans and witches have the understanding to deal with mental imbalance and like most people shy away from mental illness.

But the sad thing is, we as pagans and witches are truly skilled at assisting people with mental illness.  Most therapies for mental health patients involve talking therapy and most pagans and witches are skilled listeners either naturally or through training. As pagans and witches we should be more open to assisting mental health now I know that the PF does healthcare support work but although it mentions disability it does not mental health or mental disability.

I think this is more to do with the public option of mental health and witchcraft I can remember a client when I worked in mental health going to see a psychologist for a minor mental health problem during the session the client talked through their problems shared some of the personal beliefs which where pagan after the session the psychologist wrote in the report client lives in a fantasy world of gods and demons. Their minor issues was blown up from a simple illness requiring talking therapy and maybe some anti depressives in to a large scale mental illness filled with delusions and although it was quickly halted the person still has on their file lives in a fantasy world.

The ignorance of personal beliefs and mental health can cause great distress to both the professional and the client. Only by understanding can we put to bed our fears over mental health. We have to learn that mental illness and the people who suffer from them are more than capable of having a “Normal” life.

Now I know many pagans who have a mental illness who work tirelessly at helping others with their issues but nearly all of them work within social care or health and hide behind their job many fearing to expose them selves as pagans.

The main problem with mental illness is that it cannot be seen or explained clearly and no one really knows how one contracts a mental illness so it’s a bit scary for most. Over the last few years’ mental health as taken a role in trying to get other to understand that people with mental health issues can live very productive lives in fact many famous TV and film stars have come forward saying Hi yes I am a Star but I also suffer from …(depression, bi-polar etc). Famous People Who Have Had Mental Illness

Hans Christian Anderson, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Winston Churchill, Kurt Cobain, Charles Darwin, Emily Dickenson, Thomas Edison, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Betty Ford, Paul Gauguin, King George III, Johan Goethe, Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, Ignatius of Loyola, Thomas Jefferson, John Keats, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, Michelangelo, Florence Nightingale, King Saul, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Isaac Newton.

Now I know many pagan paths will come up with the excuse that people with mental health problems have energy that just not conducive to magickal or ritual working those are the same groups that would not let gays attend for the same reasons.

No I am not saying let your local paranoid Schizophrenia patient with a knife fetish join your circle what I am saying is don’t dismissed them without asking a few questions such as how do your symptoms manifest? is their any sign we should look for? What should we do if you start to become ill?

As pagans witches group and coven leaders we are responsible for our group and our community and the world at large, it is the way we treat people that set us apart from others.

Now not matter what path you follow your ethics will set down how you should behave and I am sure not one pagan path actively discriminates against a persons disability or gender or sexual orientation in this day and age and if there is they will soon die off and be replaced with a off shoot doing the correct thing. But I am not sure if any group promotes support for the mentally ill or has a set of ethics that helps coven leaders or group leaders deal with mental health so I have come up with a set of ethics, which can be used.

Ethics for those wishing to join with mental heath issues.

1. This group is open to accepting persons with mental heal problems
2. Those joining with mental health problems are required to inform the “HP or elder” of their illness including but not limited to-
   1. Diagnosis of illness
   2. Symptoms that indicate a cycle of the illness
   3. A list of things that need to be done if illness recurs.
3. HP or elder will meet with the new member to discuss any issues at least once per month.
4. New members are required to inform HP or elder when things begin to get tough.
5. During the first year the new member is required to inform the whole group of their illness and share their experiences good and bad.
6. Progression through the coven will be done at a pace that suits the needs and support level of the member.
7. Any member causing distress to another member will be disciplined within group guidelines.

Just because some has a label of having a mental illness it should not define them as being mental I sure if one of the famous people above wanted to join your group you would not say no. People with mental health problems can make great witches, pagans or anything else they choose to be.

Related articles

• mental illness and violence (commonplacebook.com)
• What is a Pagan and Paganism? (cybercauldron.co.uk)
• Group Ethics (cybercauldron.co.uk)
• Pagan Family, USA (cybercauldron.co.uk)
• Cyber Cauldron facebook code of ethics (cybercauldron.co.uk)

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