Seance or Sobriety?

When I first entered an AA meeting with all those people sitting around the table in a circle, it reminded me of a seance. Of course, being very young at the time, I felt like I didn't belong there. I can't even recall all the mumbo jumbo that went on that night, but I do remember that at the end of the meeting an old-timer put his arm around me and pulled me close. At the time I thought, "What's going on here?"