Initiations and Self Initiations, New "Traditions", and Mysterious Rites.

Welcome to my blog, this is Elhoim, and here my post.

First, what is initiation? 

• In the 1580s, from the term French initiation or directly from Latin initiationem (nominative initiatio) "participation in secret rites," noun of action from past participle stem of initiare "originate, initiate," from initium "to beginning".

• Initiation is a rite of passage that marks entry or acceptance into a group or society. a transformation in which the initiate is "reborn" in a new role. Examples of initiation ceremonies might include Christian baptism or confirmation, Jewish benei mitzba, acceptance into a fraternal organization, secret society or religious order, or graduation from school or training of recruits.

Sources here: 

• Cassidy, Frederic G., and Hall, Joan Houston, eds., Dictionary of American Regional English, Harvard University Press, 1985-2002.
• de Vaan, Michiel, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, vol. 7, of Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, Alexander Lubotsky ed., Leiden: Brill, 2008.

The initiation or No Initiation.

Depending on each point of view this may or may not be valid, and each point of view has background behind it.

For many, initiation is essential, necessary, and obligatory (I include myself) to be part of certain rites and groups, because initiation symbolizes commitment and respect with the tradition in which you are getting involved, and commitment is such a popular term. as ignored that many prefer to omit in their practice, but the commitment is the test where the initiate says "I am here, I am committed to this and with each step of the process."

For many others, initiation is not necessary, and they consider it an "obstacle" that keeps power in the hands of the "gatekeepers", since they consider that knowledge should be free, free, accessible, and lacking all kinds of limitations, to be able to be read and found even from the tablet.

The social drawback with both views

As in all blogger posts, each individual writes from her point of view and experience. Here is my point of view.

The only drawback that I personally see with the Initiation process is that many times the leader, or the person in charge, is not the most suitable person, at least that has been a very visual and my experience for many years in the rites. in which I am a part, but in recent years I have found myself with the luck of meeting good leaders who in other orders are fair and much more qualified.

Note here: Surely there must be other drawbacks, I do not see them from my short field of vision, if you consider that there are, I invite you to write them down in the comments of the post and not in social media, to keep the discussion focused on a single place, and thus not force myself to reply to messages everywhere.

The drawback with not being started and still getting into practice. Besides spending the day accusing everyone of "Gatekeeping" via Twitter, it is the lack of commitment of the individual. Orders that require initiation are generally (and mostly by context) orders of enormous cultural value that represent worship and practice from a specific time, vision, or culture, and when Gatekeeping ends and the initiation process is Ignored, these mystery cults end up being commercialized on a grand scale (falling 100% of the time in promoting cultural appropriation) just to bring some fame and a little extra money to some people.

Although many people feel honestly interested in being part of a cult, they are also often closed the doors, because according to the person in charge of leading the initiations, this person is not qualified, this can often be due to limitations in the original rules of the cult, or because they simply do not see in the individual who seeks to be initiated, a truly committed or trustworthy person to guard the secrets and mysteries of the cult.


For example:

• A white male of French or Italian descent who is entirely unaware of the traditional Aboriginal Lucumi rites, but offers private classes on African gods and Orixas (which are not part of his daily practice or worship of him).

• A white woman of Scottish, Irish, or British descent, who speaks openly about tribal shamanism, the spiritism of the natives in South America, or the esoteric practices of Brazil, entirely based on some books written by some German anthropologist who has visited none of these countries.

• A man living in Uruguay or Costa Rica, who was never initiated into any esoteric order, but based on his reading of a couple of books on Wicca, decides to create his own "traditional Wiccan" order, perform initiations (charge for these obviously), and make a name for yourself based on all of this.

The aforementioned examples are the example of events that occur practically daily in the esoteric community, and surely they will not stop happening today or tomorrow. But it is an issue on which we must be vigilant.

“Tribes often have initiations. Initiation into the Bapedi tribe of South Africa is normally seen as a stage in which a boy must be taught masculinity and a girl femininity. In some African tribes, it takes boys about 3-4 months to participate in rites of passage and girls about 1-2 months.

Australian Aboriginal tribes used to have long periods of time to help groom adolescent males, teaching them the tradition before they were ready to attend large elaborate ceremonies at the time of initiation when they were finally recognized as full men. right in your society. "

~ Miller, William Ian (1995). Humiliation: And Other Essays on Honor, Social Discomfort, and Violence. Cornell University Press. ~ Self-Initiation and New "Traditions".

My personal point of view (this is me pretending that someone cares about my point of view, lol) I don't enjoy speak over "self-initiation", not because I do not believe in the power of its process, on the contrary, I am sure that if there is enormous power in the act of performing a ritual that evokes energy and impregnates yourself in it, but I do not think it should be called initiation or self-initiation, because you cannot (or should not) initiate yourself into something that does not exist until you were initiated into it, the truth does not sound very logical.

What self-initiated people do most of the time is to perform a series of rituals to evoke or conjure some type of deity or a specific spirit, and then lead others to perform the same rituals, but... If this person I perform these rites alone, how do you know that you (being "initiated" in these same processes) are performing exactly the same rituals? Does anyone know that this person performed them originally?

However, what many here criticize is the pursuit of fame by people, I am pretty sure is not always about fame, many times people seek to be part of an esoteric tradition with real interest, but circumstances are not in their favor (geography, language barrier, cultural barrier, etc...) and then these people end up creating groups or "traditions" that lead to the mixture of their studies, and after some time they form their own coven and circles to teach others. 

That doesn't really bother me, I personally believe that if there is enormous power in the performance of these kinds of rituals, and much more power when the commitment is real, I have been performing all kinds of rituals for almost three decades to delve into the mysteries of various spirits and deities, many of them with very good results, some of them have not had the same effect, but I would not dare to call it "Initiation", because as I mentioned earlier, you cannot start in something that does not exist until You have been initiated into it, that is not a tradition, it is an order, traditions carry ethical and cultural weight, not to mention centuries of practice, for that reason they are "traditions", it is not something you take out of your hat one day to other.

Then, how does self-initiation work?

In religious terms, it could be a divisive opinion, something does not exist, you "believe and promote" having discovered it, you create the rituals, you give it a name, you start it, then you promote it, it sounds quite "centrist".

In esoteric terms, these processes perfectly fulfill their function, lead the initiative to immerse himself in the understanding of a superior force, in the search through the constant study of being a better person/citizen/sorcerer. And these kinds of orders lead to commitment, brotherhood, teamwork, and after a few decades, they can worthily be considered truly traditions, when finally it is something that more than one or two individuals have put into practice during a long period of time.

It is also important to take into account that many of these traditions are created to reflect the prolific magical life of their creator, as the Alexandrina tradition is a reflection of the esoteric mysteries of Alex Sanders, or the Cabot tradition is a reflection of the impressive level of consciousness and experience in witchcraft by Laurie Cabot.

All "traditions" are born somewhere, although they have been born in the basement of the parents of the founder of the tradition after reading a couple of brochures of some convention !!, But surely, many of these esoteric currents or magical paths that today are very popular, represent not only the culture of their founders but also their ethical and moral principles.

It is also important to note that many of these traditions are created to reflect the prolific magical life of their creator, as the Alexandrina tradition is a reflection of the esoteric mysteries of Alex Sanders, or the Cabot tradition is a reflection of the impressive level of consciousness. and experience in witchcraft from Laurie Cabot.

Initiation Rites

They are the set of beliefs, rituals, symbolic elements, and traditions, which are carried out during the initiation of the individual. They can (according to each tradition) include for example fasts, physical and mental exercises, interrogations, songs, prayers, periods of silence and rest, ceremonial dances, animal sacrifices or symbolic sacrifices, etc.

All traditional orders have their own initiatory rites that characterize them, some with long periods of time, others with fairly short periods of time. Some orders and traditions can charge large sums of money for the provision of these rituals and all that they entail at the level of space (rental of the place), time (days of work), assistance (all other individuals already initiated that are part of the process), and a long list of, etc... which can include food and drinks, specific clothes and costumes, ornaments, etc, etc, etc...

Example of some initiatory rites of my participation.

1994, Initiated into "Espiritismo Tradicional Venezolano" (Venezuelan Traditional Spiritualism).
It is the common magical tradition of my native country, usually, people are started young enough to have enough maturity and experience, when the time comes to perform the "hidden rites of Sorte" that must be performed ten years later.

This order has 51 different paths, from the path of the fairies to the path of the night witches, the path of the ascended masters (which are not the same ascended masters portrayed in Metaphysics or Thelema), the order of the animas, and the order of native sorcerers (Choroni and Warasu), among many others.

2002/2003 Started in Candomble
A traditional religious order from Brazil to which I was lucky to be accepted, especially since they tend to be quite hermetic, based on my learning here I offered a theoretical workshop on the history and culture of Candomble for the Witchsfest USA and Hexfest in 2020.

2003/2004 Started in Lucumi / Santeria
Perhaps the most widely recognized Afro-Caribbean magical tradition in the world started on the Oxala/Obatala path, and in my experience, the tradition with the most rigorous, complex, and strict initiatory rites. Also in my own experience, and during several years initiating others in my native country, note that not all are qualified for it, many resign during the eight days of the initiation rite, and many breach half of the rules of the first year of "Yaworaje”.

Note here: If you cannot for 365 days, live without looking at the cell phone, looking in the mirror, or you are not able to eat and sleep on the floor, and dress entirely in white (clothes, underwear, sheets, towels, shoes, etc..) during that same period of time, you are not cut out to be initiated here.

A video about new traditions and Initiatory rituals.

Now here below I leave you some names of some orders that I know by reference that you should find out and that promote study and tradition, if any of them are not mentioned here, let me know by DM to add them.

• Cabot Tradition (by Laurie Cabot)
• Alexandrian Tradition of Witchcraft (by Alex Sanders & Maxine Sanders)
• Gardnerian Tradition of Witchcraft (by Gerald Garner)
• Dianic Wicca (by Zsuzsanna Budapest in US)
• Welsh American Tradition (???)
• Blue Star Wicca (by Frank Dufner)
• Maindelhill Wicca
• Braided Wheel Tradition
• Odyssean Tradition

To close the post, here below I leave you the links to my most recent books (Hey don't judge me, a little self-advertising doesn't hurt anyone) and the link to my previous posts.

Books:

• The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags CLICK HERE
• Manifestation Magic: 21 Rituals, for Abundance, Prosperity, and Wealth CLICK HERE

Posts:

• Seven ways to avoid those "witches war", and what exactly is a "witch war"? CLICK HERE
• Oshun and Yemaya, Goddesses of Love and Luck. CLICK HERE
• Bohíque, the all-powerful witch doctor of the Taino Indians. CLICK HERE
• Smudge with Sage is not the only way to do energy cleansing. CLICK HERE
• Protection Magic Spells. CLICK HERE

with true love, Elhoim Leafar.

  Copyright © 2021 by Elhoim Leafar De Jesus.

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