Initiation
From Wikinfo
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also serve as a formal admission to adulthood in a community, and can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is reborn into a new role.
An initiation ceremony might include elements to show that a person has been initiated. These elements may include:
- A ritual or prayer
- Drinking wine
- Passing on an important family possession
- Vows of secrecy and/or obedience to the group
- A speech by an elder or other authority
The English word derives from the Latin, initium: "entrance" or "beginning," literally "a going in." The related English verb, initiate, means to begin or start a particular action, event, circumstance, or happening. Examples of initiation ceremonies might include Christian baptism or confirmation, Jewish bar or bat mitzvah, acceptance into a fraternal organization, secret society or religious order, or graduation from school or recruit training.
In unionized organizations, the "initiation" is typically no more than a brief familiarisation with basic procedures and the provision of a copy of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement that governs the work performed by members of the union. Some unions also charge a one-time initiation fee, after which the joining person is officially deemed to be a member in good standing.
A person taking the initiation ceremony in rites is said to be an initiate, a participant or candidate.
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Fraternal initiation
Once an initiation is completed, and the initiate is part of a group, further initiations into the organization's structure - usually accompanied by numbered "degrees," may take place.
This is especially true in modern fraternal organizations. The mostly all-male groups, popular in the 19th through the 20th centuries, formed to foster friendship among men in their communities.
These groups, which include the Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Columbus and Knights of Pythias, all shared similar initiation rites, which included
Initiations in most fraternal organizations are not religious in nature, though nearly all are said to make reference to a deity or "higher power" in the text of their rituals.
Religious initiation
Normally an initiation rite would imply a shepherding process where those who are at a higher level guide the initiate through a process of greater exposure of knowledge. This may include the revelation of secrets, usually reserved for those at the higher level of understanding.
In the ancient world
In the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, thought to go back to at least the Mycenaean period or bronze age. Other examples in the ancient world include the cults of Isis and Attis as well as the Mysteries of Mithras, all of which were popular in the Roman Empire and focused on religious devotion and offered initiates salvation and/or participation in the dying/rising drama of these gods. They also promised a measure of salvation to the participants.
Esoteric magic
In the context of ritual magic and esotericism, an initiation is considered to cause a fundamental process of change to begin within the person being initiated. The person conducting the initiation (the initiator), being in possession of a certain power or state of being, transfers this power or state to the person being initiated. Thus the concept of initiation is similar to that of apostolic succession. The initiation process is often likened to a simultaneous death and rebirth, because as well as being a beginning it also implies an ending as existence on one level drops away in an ascension to the next.
Christian initiations
The Rite of Initiation for members of the Catholic Church, called confirmation, is one of the church's seven sacraments. It is confered on individuals at the age of discretion, usually at the age of 7. The Catholic rite of initiation is performed publicly. Initiation into a religious order is more elaborate than into Catholic Christianity itself, and involves the candidate for initiation binding himself by solemn vows to stability in the community, conversion of life (in which are included chastity and poverty) and obedience. This follows a "testing" of the candidate for a period of time to discover if he is fit to enter into the monastic life.
Protestant Christians initiate members through a public ceremony of baptism, which, unlike in Catholic Christianity, may be performed on infants or young children. In conservative Christian denominations, adults are usually baptized in tanks of water, symbolic of Christ's baptism by John the Baptist, and symbolic of their rebirth as a Christian. In other traditions, the adult or child is simply sprinkled with water on their head to indicate the same transformation.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a secret initiation ceremony takes place in one of the various temples, which serve as centers for ritual ceremonies.
Eastern traditions
Initiation is a key component of Sant Mat, Surat Shabd Yoga and similar religious gnosis traditions. It denotes acceptance by the Guru and also implies that the Chela (student or disciple) agrees to the requirements (such as living an ethical lifestyle, meditating, etc.)
Initiation as a rite of passage
Initiation is performed almost in all cultural groups, but differently. In the Bapedi tribe of South Africa initiation is normally regarded as stage where a boy is to be taught manhood and a girl womanhood. In many African tribes initiation involves circumcision of males and sometimes circumcision/genital mutilation of females as well. Initiation is considered necessary for the individual in order to be regarded as a full member of the tribe. Otherwise the individual may not be allowed to participate in ceremonies or even in social ritual such as marriage.
Initiation may be thought to help build respect in teenagers and prepare them to be good husbands and wives. Where modernisation is occurring initiation is not taken as seriously as before, though there are still certain areas which still consider initiation seriously. A man will not be allowed to marry or have any special relationship with a girl who didn't go to initiation, because she is not considered as a woman.
In some African tribes boys take about 3 to 4 months participating in initiation rites and girls 1 to 2 months.
Australian Aboriginal tribes usually had long periods of preparing adolescent boys, teaching them the Law before they were ready to attend large elaborate ceremonies at the time of initiation when they were finally recognized as fully-fledged men in their society. Most tribes had circumcision and scarification as part of the male initiation rituals, while many Central Australian tribes also practised subincision.
The Jewish Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are also considered a public rite of passage into adulthood.
See also
External links
- Becoming a Monk from the Website of the Pluscardin Abbey, Scotland.
Adapted and greatly expanded from the Wikipedia article Initiation.
