An initiation is a
mark of having moved from one situation or status to another. Often, this word
is interpreted as a ritual marking acceptance into membership of an
organisation. A number of Wiccan and other pagan traditions have grades in
their memberships, and may conduct an elaborate ceremony, including a formal
oath taking, to mark the changes of grade of membership.
In what are often
termed ‘Mystery Schools’ (‘secret orders’
or ‘secret societies’, if you prefer), and the more formal or serious
spiritual (which includes “Wiccan and
other pagan traditions”) / psychic / metaphysical initiations, there may be
an actual or implied threat of dire consequences should the oath be broken.
Most of these are
theatrical baloney.
Some, however, are
more serious, owing to the nature of the commitment. For instance, if you swear
to – to choose a ridiculous example – stop a sword falling on someone, and then
pause to scratch yourself or go watch a TV, the sword will fall, the someone
will be injured or killed, and you’ll have all sorts of consequences as a
result of the combination of a stupid oath and a gross dereliction of duties.
Genuinely spiritual
initiations, in my view, accept our human frailties and the possibility of
failure, taking a mature – rather than a primary school yard – approach. There
will be consequences, but most of those will be borne by you as a simple result
of your failure, much as failing to get out of the way of a speeding car will
result in death or injury.
The primary school
yard type approach (“If you tell, we’ll
steal your lunch money/not talk to you/kill you and yours unto the 7th
generation” – select as appropriate to the ridiculous situation being
considered / encountered) is, in my experience, most often found with those
who are, basically, up themselves and trying to lord (or lady!) it over others. There will be a formal, solemn
aspect and ‘flavour’ to a genuine ceremonial initiation, but it will be
recognisably different to the schoolyard rubbish.
Now, I have used the
word ceremonial quite a bit in the preceding paragraphs of this definition.
Initiations may actually be experienced completely without any formal ceremony
at all, simply by living one’s life. (Some
are also experienced on the astral and other nonphysical levels, but that is
yet another aspect to this topic.) These are recognisable by the extreme
testing that may happen beforehand – the real version of what many ceremonies
are trying to recreate. (As, in my
opinion, should be the case: I don’t know ANYONE who is capable of a safe and
effective recreation of such testing in a ceremonial setting.)
As of the time this
definition was written, I’ve touched on this idea in the following posts:
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