Initiation

Initiation in itself is a process that is often misinterpreted or misunderstood

by individual practitioners, and it also raises a lot of controversy,

as initiatory systems are used by many magical groups to create

artificial hierarchies. There are many definitions of "initiation." This largely

depends on esoteric school or magical system which provides grounds for

the change in the spiritual level of the initiate-as initiation is, above all, a

change, transformation, transition from one level to another. This change

occurs in many different areas and on many different levels. In initiatory

systems used by esoteric groups and magical orders, this usually includes a

particular ceremony that represents the rite of passage through which the

initiate obtains a higher status. This is also connected with obtaining access

to knowledge that until that moment was beyond the initiate's reach.

True initiation, however, is not a singular ceremony but a process that

lasts for a certain period of time and confronts the adept with a particular

mystical experience. This experience is personal illumination, alchemical

transmutation, and spiritual transition that transforms the initiate's

consciousness through personal process in which the whole life and perception

of the world is changed.

Here we have to stress that there are many different levels of this "mystical

experience," and practically every day we are faced with events that influence

and change our consciousness to a lesser or greater extent. Life itself

confronts us with challenges that work as "lesser initiations." But true initiation

involves changes significant enough to turn the whole world upside

down. The world around is shattered, all beliefs and values are q uestioned

and lose their meaning, and the initiate feels like the whole life is falling

apart, while he can only watch helplessly, without being able to stop this.

In this process the initiate often goes through a breakdown, a dark night of

the soul, when the ego is temporarily dissolved and consciousness is being

rebuilt in order to enter the further stage of spiritual ascent.

The loss of ego creates inner emptiness, which often results in psychic

and emotional damage: depression, despair, lack of self-confidence, inability

of self-judgment, or fear of the surrounding world. This is experienced

as loss of something undefined but valuable, a desperate longing that cannot

be suppressed or satisfied. Very often the initiate does not recognize

what is going on and fails to pass the initiatory test, thus being unable to

progress from the darkness of depression to the light of illumination. This

failure may end in further mental disorders or suicide, as the person does

not see the light in the surrounding blackness and despair. This condition

is not necessarily triggered by magical practice. Radical changes

in consciousness may be caused by many different factors and

affect everyone.

Nevertheless, the very essence of all magical practices is to initiate certain

changes in the adept's consciousness; therefore, when taking first steps on

a magical path, we have to be aware of conseq uences. It is for a reason

that magical initiation has been described in many cultures and traditions

by means of death symbolism. For instance, candidates for shamans were

torn apart by spirits and their body parts were devoured in the initiatory

process. In alchemical allegory of initiation, we encounter the concept of

Nigredo, the blackening, which is the first phase of alchemical process in

which all ingredients are dissolved and left to putrefy. In psychological

terms, this concept corresponds to depression, the dark night of the soul,

and in magical symbolism, this signifies the death of the soul which is to

be reborn and empowered through the initiatory process. What is more,

when entering the " death stage," the alchemical Solve (dissolution), we have

no certainty how it will end, if we will succeed through the black phase

and enter the stage of Coagula (coagulation, binding), in which emptiness will

be filled by power and self-confidence. Initiation is a test, and whether

we pass it successfully or not depends only on our inner strength, determination

and self-awareness. A person unprepared for such an ordeal has

little chances of success, as this confrontation usually involves all that is

feared, rejected, seen as repulsive or forbidden. It is the descent into personal

"Underworld," confrontation with your own "dark side."

Qliphotic Initiation by Asenath Mason

Qlipothic initiatory system is based on the Qabalistic Tree of Night,

known as the Tree of Death. However, it is not possible to speak about the

Tree of Death without speaking of the Tree of Life, as they are both

complementary sides of the same model of the universe, two parts of the

greater whole. Initiation through the Qlipothic Tree is at the same time initiation

through its bright side. It is the descent into the depths of the soul through

successive levels of the Tree of Death, representing the alchemical Solve,

and it is the reconstruction of the soul through Sephirothic light of the alchemical

Coagula. The initiate starts the journey by entering the Nightside

through gateways hidden in the physical world (Lilith) and ascends through

the astral/moon plane (Gamaliel, Samael and A'Arab Zaraq), solar sphere

(Thagirion, Golachab, Gha'agsheblah), and stellar realm (Satariel, Ghagiel,

Thaumiel). On the material plane the initiate learns the foundations of the

path and opens the gateways to the Nightside. Ordeals of the astral realm

bring confrontation with the unconscious, thoughts, feelings, and dreams.

In the solar sphere the initiate unites with personal Daimon and learns the

meaning of Godhood. This brings understanding of human limitations and

possibilities of spiritual ascent. The Eye of Lucifer opens in the soul and all

illusions of the world are shattered. Gazing into Infinity, the initiate forms

his own definition of Creation. Finally, the path leads into the Void, the very

source of all manifestation, the womb of the Dragon.

Each successive initiation on the path is different and each brings a new

transformation, new change in consciousness of the initiate. Step by step we

become completely different persons, as if we were born anew. Also, each

initiatory ordeal confronts us with new challenges, and we have to be careful

and aware that each test can be failed and we might lose ourselves in

realms of darkness. Then it might take years, a lifetime, or even many incarnations

before we find our way back on the right track. The path through the

realms of the Qlipoth is harsh, winding, disappearing in the blackness of the

Night. Results of magical work are fast, but it is also easy to lose everything

any time.

Qlipothic initiation is also something that we have to deal with on our

own. It is a part of the left-hand-path tradition, which is in its essence solitary

and isolated. Ritual groups and left-hand-path magical orders usually

have a short existence, as they gather strong-willed, self-reliant individuals,

focused on their personal ascent and development of powerful personality,

who are not necessarily able to work in a group or find themselves subjected

to any hierarchy. It is even more difficult to find a genuine left-handpath

teacher, an advanced initiate, who might be interested in passing the

knowledge to others. If we reject self-proclaimed spiritual masters, whose

egos thrive on greed or delusions, we are left with the conclusion that the

Left Hand Path is a solitary road, and it should be approached as such indeed.

The best way to progress with the left-hand-path initiatory systems is

to work on your own, with gods, spirits, and all other manifestations of the

current as your guides and allies. A teacher or mentor can only point you at

the right direction, while the main core of the work is the combination of

self-knowledge and individual experience. It is our personal "dark side" that

is confronted, and only we alone are able to progress successfully through

the whole process, and it is our personal, inner Daimon who acts as the true

initiator. Magical practices release forces that trigger this transformation

manifesting both on the level of consciousness and in the events of the physical

universe. Initiatory ordeal usually occurs completely unexpected, when

we do not feel ready for it. But then, the only way to successfully emerge

from the ordeal is to confront it, as in fact, it would not be happening if we

were not open for it and ready to receive it.

It may come at a moment of reading a novel as easily as when we are

involved in a magical ritual. Quoting the words of Stephen Edred Flowers

from his Hermetic Magic, "True initiation is not the kind of thing a member

of the elect might choose to do in the same way one might choose to go to

the movies on Saturd ay night. It is not simply a matter of desire, but of Necessity.

It is a matter of pure survival for one who is truly elect."

Initiation also does not happen in a single ritual. It is the effect of conscious

and willed life experience, combined with moments in which understanding

of that experience is assimilated. True initiation is not an act of

magic; it is a process in which the whole life is turned into the Great Work of

magic. Through this process the initiate learns that the purpose of the path

is not to do magic but to become magic. Quoting the same author again,

"Rarely is true initiation coincidental with ceremonial activity."

The Left Hand Path is based on individual approach and views man

as an isolated, independent, self-reliant being. By taking successive initiatory

steps on the path, we build a powerful personality, charismatic

and self-confident. The greatest part of the work relies on our judgment,

intuition, experience, and expectations. Initiatory path is personal, and

initiatory experience manifests through the most personal and intimate

spheres of our lives. Everyone has to face their own "demons:" personal

taboos, weaknesses, obsessions, inhibitions, fears, fascinations, fantasies,

etc. By facing and understanding them, we learn how to use them as tools

of our personal spiritual evolution-we transcend barriers and limitations

of human nature, our consciousness expands and we become "god-like."

Each aspiring initiate would like to know what exactly happens on each

initiatory level, what we might expect, and how to prepare for all this. This

is not possible. All descriptions of initiations that are found in books are

usually obscure, abstract and vague because spiritual initiation is a uniq ue

experience for each initiate and no one will ever experience personal godhood

in the same way as another person. Therefore, there are thousands of

descriptions and explanations of what "self- deification" means and none of

them can be dismissed as false, as well as none of them is correct. This is

because there is no objective "Truth" to find and no universal system producing

the same results for everyone who steps onto the path. A left-handpath

initiate sees himself as God in potential, but the path is the process

of continuous learning and we never know what awaits us on initiatory

levels that we have not reached yet. One "self-deification" is never the same

as another

Personal experiences with "Initiation"

I personally think that as adepts we are constantly going through many initiations

the common perception and i would say misconception is that initiation takes place

as a single ceremony and in some cases it might be, but personally i think is an

ongoing process.

My first experiences with initiation didn't had to do with "Magick" or the "Occult"

i can say that my fisrt experiences were with practicing martial arts asa a young kid

i practice a bit of lima-lama and i think i reach our my firsrt belt after that we had to

move to another town, i was about 8 or 9 when this happen, then around thirteen

i got introduced to Capoeira this very fascinating Brazilian martial art that combines

fighting skills with dancing. I was able to reach to two levels of initiation within

Capoeira's belt or "corda" system which was belt green and yellow.

I write about these experiences cause they really are initiations within that system

it indicates that the student is ready to ascent to the next level after passing a test

of some sort.

If you think about your own life and if you're reading this you'll be able to recount

many types of initiations. My spiritual initiation i would say it started by smoking

Cannabis, that divibe flower really open my self to other concepts and ideas.

And is what drove to a "formal" spiritual initiation within Chan Buddhism on 2012

i was a part of this Buddhist retreat on Nayarit, Mexico and it was a very intense

experience to say the least, i might write about it someday, anyway it was 2 weeks

of complete silence, with a working shedule combine with intense group

meditations and yoga, as well as active meditation so for me it was a lot, like a

spiritual nuclear bomb to be honest, a lot happen is those 2 weeks i had a

Kundalini awakening experience and man when you're not really ready for it

it can drive you insane, i experience both sides the total ecstatic state of just

wanting to help, sare and connect, but when i had to go through the "below" side

it was a mess if i'm being honest, after that retreat my family was very concern

they had to take me to psychologists and psychiatrists, at the time i wasn't even

aware that i was going through a "spiritual emergency" and i had partially awaken

one serpent of the Kundalini paradigm i didi my research about it later on so i knew

that's what happened and that in itself was initiation. Altough i didi had a formal

Buddhist Initiation Ceremony when the retreat ended, the K experience (The good

and bad ) was another initiation in itself.

Fastfoward to 2015 that's when i got in contact with an old friend and we had a long

night of just talking and he introduce me to Magick formally at that time he

introduce me to the LBRP Golden dawn ritual and more into the classic ceremonial

aspect of.

So that was another initiation from there my ride has been a trip to be honest

but i feel magick was always there in some form or another.

Anyhow as you can see i had many initiations in my journey and i know im still

going through phases but Initiation is always there for the adept.

Death in this realm will be our initiation fully into the spiritual.

Thank you so much for reading and the support.

Initiation and Qliphotic Initiation excerpts from Qliphoth Opus III by Edgar Kerval.