aren’t always based on fact. In the course of your life you might meet five or six other people with whom you feel the same tie, despite your current involvement. Can they all be soul mates?
One of the difficulties of this concept is that if we’re all inextricably tied up with other persons’ souls, if we continue to incarnate with them, we’re learning absolutely nothing. Therefore, announcing that you’ve found your soul mate is rather akin to stating that you’re not progressing on the incarnational spiral. *
One day you may know, not believe, that reincarnation is as real as a plant that buds, flowers, drops its seed, withers, and creates a new plant in its image. Reincarnation was probably first intuited by earlier peoples watching nature.
Until you’ve decided for yourself, you may wish to reflect upon and consider the doctrine of reincarnation.
* These are Celtic terms. Some Wiccans call this place Summerland, which is a Theosophical term.
* I realize I’m in dangerous water here again. Still, I’ve met many, many people who’ve made such announcements—only to tell me privately, “Boy, was I wrong.”
10
Concerning Initiation
MOST SHAMANIC AND magical religions utilize some sort of initiation ceremony whereby an outsider becomes a recognized member of the religion, society, group, or coven. Such rites also mark the new direction that the initiate’s life is taking.
Much has been made, publicly and privately, of Wiccan initiations. Each Wiccan tradition uses its own initiation ceremonies, which may or may not be recognized by other Wiccans. On one point, how-ever, most initiates agree: a person can be a Wiccan only if she or he has received such an initiation.
This brings up an interesting question: Who initiated the first Wiccan?
Most initiation ceremonies are nothing more than rites marking the acceptance of the person into a coven, and her or his dedication to the Goddess and God. Sometimes “power is passed” between the initiator and neophyte as well.
To a non-Wiccan, the initiation might seem to be a rite of conversion. This isn’t the case. Wicca has no need for such rites. We don’t condemn the deities with which we may have attuned before practicing Wicca, nor need we turn our backs on them.
The initiation ceremony (or ceremonies, since in many groups three successive rites are performed) is held to be of utmost importance to those Wiccan groups still practicing ritual secrecy. Surely anyone entering such a group should undergo an initiation, part of which consists of swearing never to reveal their secrets. This makes sense, and is a part of many coven initiations. But it isn’t the essence of initiation.
Many people have told me that they desperately need to undergo Wiccan initiation. They seem to believe that one cannot practice Wicca without this stamp of approval. If you’ve read this far, you know that such isn’t the case.
Wicca has been, up until the past decade or so, a closed religion, but no more. The inner components of Wicca are available to anyone who can read and understand the material. Wicca’s only secrets are its individual ritual forms, spells, names of deities, and so on.
This needn’t bother you. For every secret Wiccan ritual or Goddess name there are dozens (if not hundreds) of others published and readily available. At this moment, more Wiccan information has been released than ever before. While it once may have been a secret religion, today Wicca is a religion with few secrets. *
Still, many cling to the idea of the necessity of initiation, probably thinking that with this magical act they’ll be granted the secrets of the universe and untold power. To make things worse, some particularly narrow-minded Wiccans say that the Goddess and God won’t listen to anyone who isn’t an athame-carrying member of a coven.Many wouldbe Wiccans believe this.
It doesn’t work this way.
True initiation isn’t a rite performed by one human being upon
One of the difficulties of this concept is that if we’re all inextricably tied up with other persons’ souls, if we continue to incarnate with them, we’re learning absolutely nothing. Therefore, announcing that you’ve found your soul mate is rather akin to stating that you’re not progressing on the incarnational spiral. *
One day you may know, not believe, that reincarnation is as real as a plant that buds, flowers, drops its seed, withers, and creates a new plant in its image. Reincarnation was probably first intuited by earlier peoples watching nature.
Until you’ve decided for yourself, you may wish to reflect upon and consider the doctrine of reincarnation.
* These are Celtic terms. Some Wiccans call this place Summerland, which is a Theosophical term.
* I realize I’m in dangerous water here again. Still, I’ve met many, many people who’ve made such announcements—only to tell me privately, “Boy, was I wrong.”
10
Concerning Initiation
MOST SHAMANIC AND magical religions utilize some sort of initiation ceremony whereby an outsider becomes a recognized member of the religion, society, group, or coven. Such rites also mark the new direction that the initiate’s life is taking.
Much has been made, publicly and privately, of Wiccan initiations. Each Wiccan tradition uses its own initiation ceremonies, which may or may not be recognized by other Wiccans. On one point, how-ever, most initiates agree: a person can be a Wiccan only if she or he has received such an initiation.
This brings up an interesting question: Who initiated the first Wiccan?
Most initiation ceremonies are nothing more than rites marking the acceptance of the person into a coven, and her or his dedication to the Goddess and God. Sometimes “power is passed” between the initiator and neophyte as well.
To a non-Wiccan, the initiation might seem to be a rite of conversion. This isn’t the case. Wicca has no need for such rites. We don’t condemn the deities with which we may have attuned before practicing Wicca, nor need we turn our backs on them.
The initiation ceremony (or ceremonies, since in many groups three successive rites are performed) is held to be of utmost importance to those Wiccan groups still practicing ritual secrecy. Surely anyone entering such a group should undergo an initiation, part of which consists of swearing never to reveal their secrets. This makes sense, and is a part of many coven initiations. But it isn’t the essence of initiation.
Many people have told me that they desperately need to undergo Wiccan initiation. They seem to believe that one cannot practice Wicca without this stamp of approval. If you’ve read this far, you know that such isn’t the case.
Wicca has been, up until the past decade or so, a closed religion, but no more. The inner components of Wicca are available to anyone who can read and understand the material. Wicca’s only secrets are its individual ritual forms, spells, names of deities, and so on.
This needn’t bother you. For every secret Wiccan ritual or Goddess name there are dozens (if not hundreds) of others published and readily available. At this moment, more Wiccan information has been released than ever before. While it once may have been a secret religion, today Wicca is a religion with few secrets. *
Still, many cling to the idea of the necessity of initiation, probably thinking that with this magical act they’ll be granted the secrets of the universe and untold power. To make things worse, some particularly narrow-minded Wiccans say that the Goddess and God won’t listen to anyone who isn’t an athame-carrying member of a coven.Many wouldbe Wiccans believe this.
It doesn’t work this way.
True initiation isn’t a rite performed by one human being upon
Similar Books
