For most individuals, initiations are a mysterious and misunderstood idea. Furthermore, modernization has crushed many ancient rites of passage.
You may already be familiar with the following Initiations:
- Christening
- Baptism
- Bar or Bat Mitzvah
- Induction into any institution
- Your first day of school
- University Matriculation Day
- Graduation Day
- The rigorous training of the armed forces
- The first day of a new job
- Joining the local Golf or Rugby Club
- The Freemasons
- American Fraternity Houses
- The Mile High Club
In new employment, the Initiation may simply consist of learning the ropes, being taught processes, and being told where to place your coffee mug and what time the in-crowd work until is. You usually receive a special tome containing obscure laws and regulations that no one ever reads. There could even be an initiation fee.
Medicine, physics, chemistry, reading, mathematics, writing, astronomy, and anatomy were all formerly occult secret arts, according to history. In today’s environment, you were probably inducted into the majority of them before you turned 16.
Definition from The Oxford Dictionary:
Initiation [v] to begin and admit a person to secrets, mysteries, or science through initiation rites. The Latin root initium literally means “to begin.” As a result, it’s a rite of passage ceremony, which marks an individual’s change into a higher, more desired degree of identification.
Initiate [n] the person who has been initiated
Assume you wish to join a private social club for members only. You can walk up to the building, but unless you are a member, the people at the door will turn you away. If you have a buddy who is already a member, however, you will be able to go up the steps together and get a warm welcome. You now have access to higher powers [in this example, the social, economic, and prestige rewards of club membership] as well as the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual transformations that initiation brings.
If you don’t have a friend who is already a member, your only option is to keep going to the club, making your presence known, attempting to schmooze the doorman, and occasionally peering through the window to see what’s going on inside. People achieve this by reading literature and carelessly trying things out.
Unfortunately, literature does not bring enlightenment; only experience may bring realization.
Membership, companionship with like-minded persons, and access to deeper and broader levels of knowledge and power are all part of the initiation process. Numerous of your new contacts are likely to be past Initiates who are no longer with us, according to many systems. In terms of tangible benefits, initiation is useless. Instead, it enables you to start a new system or practice.
The following are examples of practical training:
Toughening, strengthening, and cleansing the physical body is a program that should be followed. Exercises, breathing, and postures are commonly used to achieve this.
Controlling your emotions is a skill that can be learned. Feel the full gamut of emotions, both good and bad. Accept and let go of the unpleasant, and revel in the pleasant. Never succumb to the whims of uncontrollable emotion.
Training the mind to concentrate on what you want and to block out distractions. Sharpen your laser-like focus. Develop self-discipline and a single-minded focus on your goal. This is one of the functions of ritual and ceremony. If you have the discipline to practice every day, you’ll soon find out. Learn how to meditate and commit to doing so on a regular basis.
As Aristotle advocated, the conscious study of logic and philosophy gives you the whole spectrum of reasoning on all logical levels.
Develop and make use of your imagination. What the mind can imagine, it can accomplish. The spark of imagination is required for all physical manifestations.
Science begins with facts from previous experiences and then looks for principles to explain them. Experimentation leads to learning. When I see it, I’ll believe it. To prove that something is real, the proof is required.
Esoteric research begins with the guiding principles, then looks for evidence to back them up in the form of reference experiences. Experiments follow knowledge. I’ll believe it when I see it. To know something is real, you must have faith.
Spiritual initiation is the process through which a teacher or mentor grants a pupil access to higher layers of knowledge and practice [sometimes referred to as secrets].
This is said to produce a fundamental shift in the person being initiated into the worlds of mysticism and esoteric study. The initiator, who possesses a certain power or state, passes it on to the initiate. This is a symbolic death and rebirth because it is both a beginning and an end when the learner progresses to the next level.
You would frequently be given a new name, a magical name. One of the numerous reasons for this was to emphasize your new identity.
Devotion to the mystic, occult insight and communion with natural forces are all part of being fully initiated. It also brings with it a sense of fraternity and comradeship among the members of the organization or family into which you are inducted. Because mystic, magical, and psychic powers are not inherent, they must be learned and practiced. If you’re willing to put in the effort, the training and guidance are available. Regrettably, more individuals read about esoteric research than engage in it. The true test of spiritual initiation is how they display it in real life, not how much knowledge they have intellectually. What matters is what you do.
Dion Fortune, a member of The Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn [a magic group founded in the 1880s], prolific novelist, psychologist, Christian, and psychic, lived from 1891 to 1946 [actual name Violet Firth].
She advocated for an Initiate to live a regular life rather than being locked away in a hidden order. Do you recall where Obi-Wan Kenobi resided? You don’t want to be known as the oddball in the woods!
You also don’t want to be a fair-weather devotee. You know, the kind who is pious on Sundays but slacks off on generosity, forgiveness, and moral fortitude from Monday to Saturday!
The thinking of an initiate should be oriented on the approach into which he or she has been initiated. So, regardless of where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing, the techniques philosophy is always in the back of your mind.
The first big initiation occurs with your birth, the second comes from your teacher, and the third and most essential are the lessons you gain via your life experience and learnings from your Higher Self.
The actual issue is one of authority, specifically who is in control and what their aims are. This is frequently abused, and all the horror stories you may have expected to read in this post can be found there.
And it’s the same inside as it is outside. Be careful of the Initiate who lacks money, has a bad relationship, or has emotional baggage. The symptoms of the inner causes are generally the outer manifestations of the repercussions. If a person is poor in the mundane, they are likely to be lacking in the esoteric as well.
Finally, many people believe that becoming an initiate takes three lifetimes. As a result, the sooner you begin, the better!
