TRADITIONS

 

Definition of Tradition:
Guidelines for relationships between groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large.

Synonyms of Tradition:
Guideline, principles, practice, etc.

These notes are from recovery in AA and/or related 12 step programs.
Readers are encouraged to click external links for more detail.
We hope you find them helpful.

Love in fellowship.

The Twelve Traditions provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the Traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson.

During its first decade, AA as a fellowship accumulated substantial experience which indicated that certain group attitudes and principles were particularly valuable in assuring survival of the informal structure of the Fellowship.

In 1946, in the Fellowship’s international journal, the AA Grapevine, these principles were reduced to writing by the founders and early members as the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. They were accepted and endorsed by the membership as a whole at the International Convention of AA, at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1950.

During an era when large-scale publicity was causing new groups to spring up like popcorn on a hot griddle. Many a power-driven ego ran hog-wild among us in those days
It was the Traditions which finally brought order, coherence, and effective functioning out of the anarchy which threatened us with collapse.” –AA Co-Founder, Bill W., June 1960/”The Language of the Heart,”  The Language of the Heart/Grapevine

The Principles of the Twelve Traditions
Tradition One: Unity
Tradition Two: Trust
Tradition Three: Identity
Tradition Four: Autonomy
Tradition Five: Purpose
Tradition Six: Solidarity
Tradition Seven: Responsibility
Tradition Eight: Fellowship
Tradition Nine: Structure
Tradition Ten: Neutrality
Tradition Eleven: Anonymity
Tradition Twelve: Spirituality
The 12 Traditions of AA are a set of guidelines for how the organization should function. The 12 Traditions first appeared as a set of principles in 1946.