Part of the Casswiki article series Esoterica
Most often, this refers to a rite of passage signifying the change of an individual’s status within a society or organization. The term also connotes receiving some previously secret knowledge or mystical power. Initiation generally implies some spiritual or mystical dimension to the event.
It may be that originally initiation was a festivity held to mark a definite step on a student’s path. The step was however already taken and the initiation was simply the recognition of the fact. In modern occult circles it tends to happen that the cart is put before the horse, as it were, and the ritual of initiation is thought to in itself to impart some mystical power, knowledge or other advantage.
The matter loses its spiritual significance when initiation becomes a collectable item or purely a mark of hierarchical standing in an organization. Service-to-self oriented secret societies tend to like initiations because of the implied exclusivity of power and rank and the attendant secrecy. Also, initiations can mark a sort of career path which is by nature appealing to STS.