{"id":10271,"date":"2014-10-01T01:10:45","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T06:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=10636"},"modified":"2014-09-20T11:08:24","modified_gmt":"2014-09-20T16:08:24","slug":"tink-about-it-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2014\/10\/01\/tink-about-it-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Tink about It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Initiation & Dedication<\/strong><\/p>\n

For as long as I\u2019ve been active in the pagan community certain themes or questions keep coming back. In forums, blogs, study groups and now in Facebook groups people come up with the same old issues. That\u2019s fine, it\u2019s the natural cycle of things. One of those topics is initiation.<\/p>\n

Let me start with a recurring misconception, that can be disputed by grammar and common sense. You can NOT initiate yourself, that\u2019s simply impossible. The definition of initiation can slightly differ from source to source but the essence remains the same. Initiation is a process and\/or ceremony by which a person is admitted to an organization \/ group or to knowledge. This is typically done by someone else: members of the group or people who already have the knowledge. Hence, you can\u2019t initiate yourself. You can\u2019t introduce yourself to knowledge you don\u2019t have. You can\u2019t welcome yourself into a group you aren\u2019t part of yet\u2026
\nWhen the above definition is given, you can sit and wait for the next question to pop up: \u201cIf that\u2019s true, then who initiated the first member, the first witch?\u201d The answer is simple. No-one did. That doesn\u2019t make the definition less valuable though! Someone has to start a group or tradition; that can be one person or more. Knowledge is gathered, experiences happen and the first person or original group decides to keep that knowledge and experiences to themselves as a group. Only people who become part of the group can share in this: a person has to be initiated into the group. Some groups initiate a person from the moment they make the commitment and become part of the group. Other groups require a certain time of study beforehand, or a test. Every group has its own requirements.<\/p>\n

So you can\u2019t self-initiate, but there is an alternative for solo-practitioners. You can do a self-dedication in which you can dedicate yourself to the gods, or to your own path. This is by no means less than an initiation; it\u2019s simply something different. A dedication can be a wonderful and valuable experience. You can write your own ritual, or you can perform an existing one. For example, in \u201cA Witch Alone\u201d Marian Green describes a way to prepare and perform a self-dedication and Scott Cunningham offers one in his book \u201cWicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner\u201d, but there are more examples to be found online and in books. Personally, I did several dedications at various times in my life. I see a dedication as a commitment to myself, my path and the gods. I wrote my own rituals for it, using ideas from books and others but moulding it into my own thing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dion\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(quote from Dion Fortune’s \u201cEsoteric Orders and Their Work and the Training and Work of the Initiate\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(British traditional) Wicca is initiatory by definition and thus initiation is a very important ritual. You can\u2019t blatantly ask for a first degree initiation, it is offered to you when you are considered to be ready for it. It\u2019s more than just a ritual to become part of the coven and the wicca community. It is a rite of passage, a personal journey, a consciousness-altering experience, a commitment with rights and obligations, and so much more. Initiation into the mysteries is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.
\nAs with everything these days, you can find the complete rituals on the internet. Although I\u2019m good at finding stuff online, I deliberately and consciously decided not to look for them. That was a challenge, because I like to have control and be prepared by knowing what\u2019s coming. It is much better though to go in without knowing, trusting yourself and your initiator(s). Perfect love and perfect trust if you will. Let go, give in, surrender to the moment. If you\u2019re able to do just that, it will be worth it.<\/p>\n

Of course wicca isn\u2019t the only tradition that works with initiation. Lots of other pagan traditions, paths, communities or whatever you want to call them have their own system. Every group is free to model it according to their own ideas. Some choose not to perform official initiations, but just have a welcoming ritual. Others have one or more degrees of initiation, each with their own requirements and purpose.<\/p>\n

When talking about initiation in the pagan community, another question often pops up: is initiation necessary to be a witch? Well, that completely depends on whom you ask\u2026 Some will say it is absolutely necessary, others say it\u2019s not. Nobody is wrong. It all comes down to which path you prefer. When you choose (British traditional) wicca, then yes: initiation is necessary. There are also paths that don\u2019t require initiation, and groups that have inner and outer courts in which inner court is initiatory and outer court is not. \u2018Witch\u2019 and \u2018wicca\u2019 aren\u2019t protected terms, so anyone can use them, initiated or not. They definitely don\u2019t mean the same to everyone though, which can cause some discussion. Likewise, \u2018initiation\u2019 doesn\u2019t always mean the same to everyone. A traditional coven won\u2019t acknowledge the initiation of an eclectic coven, but it will accept the initiation of another coven within the same tradition. And then there\u2019s something called an \u2018initiation by the gods\u2019, but that\u2019s a subject for a new column someday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Initiation & Dedication For as long as I\u2019ve been active in the pagan community certain themes or questions keep coming back. In forums, blogs, study groups and now in Facebook groups people come up with the same old issues. That\u2019s fine, it\u2019s the natural cycle of things. One of those topics is initiation. Let me start with a recurring misconception, that can be disputed by grammar and common sense. You can NOT initiate yourself, that\u2019s simply impossible. The definition of initiation can slightly differ from source to source but the essence remains the same. Initiation is a process and\/or ceremony by which a person is admitted to an organization \/ group or to knowledge. This is typically done by someone else: members of the group or people who already have the knowledge. Hence, you can\u2019t initiate yourself. You can\u2019t introduce yourself to knowledge you don\u2019t have. You can\u2019t welcome yourself into a group you aren\u2019t part of yet\u2026 When the above definition is given, you can sit and wait for the next question to pop up: \u201cIf that\u2019s true, then who initiated the first member, the first witch?\u201d The answer is simple. No-one did. That doesn\u2019t make the definition less valuable though! Someone has to start a group or tradition; that can be one person or more. Knowledge is gathered, experiences happen and the first person or original group decides to keep that knowledge and experiences to themselves as a group. Only people who become part of the group can share in this: a person has to be initiated into the group. Some groups initiate a person from the moment they make the commitment and become part of the group. Other groups require a certain time of study beforehand, or a test. Every group has its own requirements. So you can\u2019t self-initiate, but there is an alternative for solo-practitioners. You can do a self-dedication in which you can dedicate yourself to the gods, or to your own path. This is by no means less than an initiation; it\u2019s simply something different. A dedication can be a wonderful and valuable experience. You can write your own ritual, or you can perform an existing one. For example, in \u201cA Witch Alone\u201d Marian Green describes a way to prepare and perform a self-dedication and Scott Cunningham offers one in his book \u201cWicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner\u201d, but there are more examples to be found online and in books. Personally, I did several dedications at various times in my life. I see a dedication as a commitment to myself, my path and the gods. I wrote my own rituals for it, using ideas from books and others but moulding it into my own thing.     (quote from Dion Fortune’s \u201cEsoteric Orders and Their Work and the Training and Work of the Initiate\u201d)     (British traditional) Wicca is initiatory by definition and thus initiation is a very important ritual. You can\u2019t blatantly ask for a first degree initiation, it is offered to you when you are considered to be ready for it. It\u2019s more than just a ritual to become part of the coven and the wicca community. It is a rite of passage, a personal journey, a consciousness-altering experience, a commitment with rights and obligations, and so much more. Initiation into the mysteries is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. As with everything these days, you can find the complete rituals on the internet. Although I\u2019m good at finding stuff online, I deliberately and consciously decided not to look for them. That was a challenge, because I like to have control and be prepared by knowing what\u2019s coming. It is much better though to go in without knowing, trusting yourself and your initiator(s). Perfect love and perfect trust if you will. Let go, give in, surrender to the moment. If you\u2019re able to do just that, it will be worth it. Of course wicca isn\u2019t the only tradition that works with initiation. Lots of other pagan traditions, paths, communities or whatever you want to call them have their own system. Every group is free to model it according to their own ideas. Some choose not to perform official initiations, but just have a welcoming ritual. Others have one or more degrees of initiation, each with their own requirements and purpose. When talking about initiation in the pagan community, another question often pops up: is initiation necessary to be a witch? Well, that completely depends on whom you ask\u2026 Some will say it is absolutely necessary, others say it\u2019s not. Nobody is wrong. It all comes down to which path you prefer. When you choose (British traditional) wicca, then yes: initiation is necessary. There are also paths that don\u2019t require initiation, and groups that have inner and outer courts in which inner court is initiatory and outer court is not. \u2018Witch\u2019 and \u2018wicca\u2019 aren\u2019t protected terms, so anyone can use them, initiated or not. They definitely don\u2019t mean the same to everyone though, which can cause some discussion. Likewise, \u2018initiation\u2019 doesn\u2019t always mean the same to everyone. A traditional coven won\u2019t acknowledge the initiation of an eclectic coven, but it will accept the initiation of another coven within the same tradition. And then there\u2019s something called an \u2018initiation by the gods\u2019, but that\u2019s a subject for a new column someday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}