What is initiation to you?

[CelticMoon11]

What is initiation to you? What do you feel 'are' initiations? Are they important on your spiritual journey? What initiatory experiences have you had in your life?

[jcldragon]

There are two types of Initiations. There are the external initiations confered by various organizations & groups, and then there are the internal Initiations, which represent phase changes in one's development of Enlightenment. I consider the latter to be most significant.

Let me give you an example. I have a student, and at first she was always asking me questions. I was happy to answer her questions, because she was always asking good ones. Then she passed through one of the internal Initiations, and things changed. Instead of coming to me with all kinds of questions all the time, she began to apply what I had taught her, and was figuring out the answers to her questions on her own. This is what I had wanted all along, and if anything, we are much closer now. She will still ask me questions, when she is truly stumped, but mostly we just confer with each other, and coordinate our activities. We refer people to each other, depending upon what they happen to need.

[Xirian]

What is initiation to you? What do you feel 'are' initiations? Are they important on your spiritual journey? What initiatory experiences have you had in your life?
I have always thought of initiations as a sort of rite of passage, or moving on to something new. I have found that this happens all the time on my path, therefore, I do not feel that initiations are necessary, because even without them I will grow and learn.

I do feel that initiation may mean more than what I believe it is, for some. The entire year and a day might be thought of as the initiatory period, encompassing the initiation ceremony at the end. However, I still feel the same as I mentioned above, at least for myself.

I also feel that if I had an initiation for every time I felt I was moving on to another phase of my path, I'd be doing them all the time. I feel that when I first started studying my path, that that was initiation enough.

I was once told that the initiation was a way to get you to feel comfortable as part of the group you were communing with, among other things, and to let them know that you trusted their judgment completely. "In perfect love and in perfect trust", right? I think, for me personally, if you're studying on your own, there is no reason for initiation, because I believe that most people trust themselves for the most part.

[MysticWitch]

initiations to me is just a way for a group or a person to recognize ones devotion to their belief.. however I do not feel an initiation is necessary to believe nor to belong. :wave:

[Toby Stimpson]

To me, initiations are useless. In some way, some forms are good...they bind commitments, but I dont think an initiation is necessary if you are in a time of your life where you're vastly changing all the time.

[CelticMoon11]

Bump... I didn't mean initiations just in a religious ceremonial sense I also meant going through life changes, "dark night of the soul" sort of things :) Sorry should have been more clear :)

[Silvana]

I think intiations are a good way to ground yourself to a cause or something you want to change in your life. You're intiating the begining of this new path. It's a good way for some to really focus and say "I'm finally doing this!" You could perform an intiation for any new path you want to travel - be it in your spiritual or mundane life.

[Zephyrstorm]

Like jcldragon said, there are two kinds. initiations gain you membership into a group, give you access to their methods and their processes and give you recognition as a member of their group. These kinds of initiations can be great because they offer places to learn and, theoretically, a place where a person can be more open with subjects that aren't always the easiest to talk about with just anyone. If you know that someone else has been through the same process and methods of practice, it's easier to talk to them.

Now, Initiations are another story. These are the 'dark night of the soul' moments, the epiphanies when you glimpse for that one blessed moment some secret vision of the universe. They can be transformative, and challenging, frightening and exhilerating. But that's all in how you react to them. Some might say they are brought on by the Gods, but I also think sometimes they are just part of living a life.
The trick is that, some Paths try to help you gain access to Initiation through the process of initiation. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

*shrugs* _inabox_

[The High Queen of Faerie]

Well, from what I think, 'initiation' into a certain sect or set of beliefs is simply when you can affirm that you believe these things. You are initiated into knowing these practices and beliefs, being familiar with them... and have a mind enough to explore them.

I'm not much one for high-strung ceremonies, hah.

[WiccanGoddess]

I never did my initiations. I believe that if Gaia really wanted me to Bless myself in that way, she would have given me a signal. I'm more of a Belief Pagan than a Practicing Pagan.