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by George D. Jackson
Within the magickal community, one of the most significant events that can occur to a person is the magickal initiation. The dictionary defines the word "initiate" a number of ways, which include to admit, introduce, take in, start, commence, inaugurate and institute. Note that all of these definitions are involved with causing change. Something new and different is added to one's experiences.
How one relates to this state of change is worth considering. Frequently, initiators like to tie to the initiation event a state of illumination, a sudden cognizance of universal facts. I prefer to view initiation as a recognition of the meaning of circumstances already in motion.
I view the universe as a place that is constantly in motion and in the most part governed by waves of probability, with occasional states of synchronicity, meaningful coincidence, thrown in to spice things up. This universal state becomes more evident if one accepts the view that the only observable constant is change itself.
This having been said, it should not seem unusual that people experience points of initiation fairly frequently on every level on which they exist. For the most part, people ignore or work around these points on a conscious level, particularly if the points are considered minor in nature. However, if several minor initiations are focused within a specific area, it is well to pay immediate attention before one is introduced to a major initiation that is rather traumatic. The lesson here is that it is good to be aware of small new events that are trying to tell one something important. The message can very well be "change or else."
In "consensus reality" or what the majority of people call the "real world," we generally go through a number of states of initiation in an accepted order. Some of them are eagerly anticipated, such as entering into one's first intimate relationship or starting a new job. It is well to understand that being separated from such a pleasant condition is an initiatory experience, also. One is introduced to a new state of mind. Sometimes we call these "learning experiences."
Within the magickal paradigm, initiation is a process. By this I mean an ongoing expansion of awareness that from time to time opens new mental, emotional and spiritual doors and reveals an unsuspected route for us to explore, rather than just a series of formalized ritual grades.
I had such an initiation experience in 1973, after participating in a large-circle energy exchange that was not related by intent to any kind of magickal initiation. I walked into a room by myself and stood gazing out of a window wondering what would come next for me. Suddenly, I received an answer. The window glass in front of me seemed to shift into a movie screen, and I witnessed what was going to happen to me for the next six months. Along with this sight came aura flares, a feeling that I had physically expanded till the top of my head was six inches below a fourteen-foot ceiling and a feeling that now I had the ability to wield certain levels of power. As this experience was subsiding, two people began to enter the room. They witnessed the end of this display and immediately turned to leave. My relationship with them changed in that moment, as all three of us believed in magick from a personal standpoint from then on.
As in most things, experience has a tendency to drive certain lessons home and make them real. To say that such an experience can be unsettling is understating the case, but this is an individual example of solitary initiation.
Magickal initiations have varied effects depending on the individual involved. With this in mind, I would like to generalize a bit while speaking of this process. In the process of initiation, an unconscious call frequently comes to one to move in an unfamiliar direction, along with a feeling of dislocation from what one has heretofore thought of as normal. This call and feeling can be accompanied by the crumbling of structures of belief that one has held dear. This period of instability is sometimes referred to as the "initiatory sickness" and can be marked by fear, anger, depression and a strong feeling of loss of personal control. At the core of this experience is the re-acquaintance with the triple levels of oneself (conscious, subconscious, and superconscious), within which all these experiences are generated.
Some further explanation is due here. One of the key factors in initiation is the conscious recognition that one has passed from an apprenticeship into at least a journeyman level of knowledge and power. The two portions of one's personality besides the conscious, the superconscious and the subconscious, now feel free to act in a more complete manner. Acting in concert, they make the conscious mind aware of complex patterns awaiting release. Within the adept, a realigning of magickal patterns can thus come, in which one gains the ability to deal with more difficult events.
Frequently, this energetic activity affects the initiate's consensus reality. This effect can be especially true if the initiate feels an underlying sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. The new adept may begin to shift probability on an unconscious level, with significant changes occurring in his or her consensus reality. I would like everyone who engages in magickal activity to be aware of this definite possibility. However, it is also well to know that the feelings of loss of conscious control and magickal ability that initiates sometimes experience during this period of unconscious redirection of personal power is, in the vast majority of cases, temporary.
With greater magickal power and ability can come more difficult and complex challenges. One needs to use the abilities one has newly acquired. Overcoming obstacles and putting new forces into motion promotes growth on every level. We can hope that among the things that occur in one's initiation is a shedding of some mental and emotional impediments that one had labored under and the emerging of a stronger self-confidence. These two effects alone can make the initiatory experience worth the cost -- the cost for magickal progress being time, emotion and energy if nothing else.
I have found that when one participates in a group magickal initiation, some other things are added. One of the most obvious is a validation from outside sources of power. Another is that, if the ritual is magickally successful, a more subtle and significant event takes place, which is the initiate's merging with the group's gestalt entity. This entity is the form created by the group's magickal and emotional connections, an entity that is greater than the sum of its parts and is powerful in its own right.
This bonding with the group's gestalt is the primary thing that sets magickal initiation apart from similar, more mundane events such as joining a club or service organization. It is a very large mistake to believe that simply walking away from a magickal group has severed the connection, particularly if powerful bonding spells were part of one's ritual of initiation to the group. Some magickal organizations employ powerful enhancement and bonding spells as part of their initiation rituals, and the individual undergoing these rites will not forget them on the subconscious level at the very least. This effect is something for every would-be initiate to consider before giving his or her consent and taking the vows involved. Magickal initiation causes change in a person.
If one has seriously made the decision to become an adept, the initiatory process will be repeated as he or she passes through the various magickal experiences. I believe it is worth the price!
George D. Jackson is an Adept V of the Sorcerer's Guild, a group dedicated to the enhancement of magickal work among its membership that is open to initiates of most magickal traditions. For more information on the guild, call (503) 233-4767.
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