Up: [[Compulsion]]
Course: The Spiritual Paradox of Addiction with Ashok Bedi for Jung Platform
Created: 2022-11-27
Updated: 2026-03-29
Alcoholics are the simplest example because they are going for the spirit in the bottle, but [[Ashok Bedi]] and [[C. G. Jung]] before him say that what an addict wants is a connection with the numinous, a connection that goes beyond mundane, day-to-day consciousness.
The only way an addict can heal is through reclaiming a spiritual dimension of life. I suspect that’s what depth psychology and [[Tarot]] are for me. Bedi says that addicts have three options for reclaiming the spiritual dimension.
1. Get High — Meet the spirit. Food can sometimes do this.
2. Get Low — Zone out. If you descend beyond Hell, you’ll meet your soul.
3. Get Out — Beyond your normal experience where you can experience the divine. This is the option that is pursued through psychedelics.
> [!Orbit] Elizabeth Gilbert in *All the Way to the River*
> … all addiction is a form of misplaced worship (p. 514)