Religious and spiritual . 18th century A spiritual initiation rite normally implies 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, hence the term secret society for such organizations, usually reserved for those at the higher level of understanding. One famous historical example is the
Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, thought to go back to at least the
Mycenaean period or "
Bronze Age". 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 and its "evolution operates within both the material world and the spiritual world". 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. Initiation is a key component of
Judaism,
Sufism and
Shiism,
Vaishnavism,
Sant Mat,
Surat Shabd Yoga,
Vajrayana Buddhism,
Wicca, and similar religious
gnostic 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.) One of the most recognized religious initiation rites is
baptism within
Christianity. Christian baptism is seen as both part of the individual's faith and conversion as well as their initiation into the Church. In the modern version of the
Roman religion, some of the communities use a form of the rite of Aries described in the book
Introduction to Magic, by the Italian Fascist
Julius Evola. This rite is also used by the Brotherhood of Myriam albeit with some minor differences. The rite symbolises the rebirth of the soul in spring in accordance with the cosmic and natural rhythms and corresponds to the Christian Easter, which is claimed to be a derivate of the rite of Aries. In the book
Pietas: An Introduction to Roman Traditionalism, the author makes the claim that the Rite of Aries, corresponds to the ancient
Minvervalia where the young Romans would go through their initiation and be introduced to the public cult.
Naval and military '', August 1941 Some communities on board a military vessel and also of military soldiers tend to form a closed 'family' which absorbs in members, who are often formally accepted, generally after a form of trial or
hazing. In addition, there can be similar
rites of passages associated with parts of naval and military life, which do not constitute true initiations as the participants are already and remain members of the same community. One such rite is associated with
crossing the equator on board a naval ship, but it can even be taken by passengers on board a
cruise liner, who are not and do not become members of anything but the so-called "equator crossing club". Another form, "Kissing the Royal Belly" or "Royal Baby", calls for initiates to kneel before a senior member of the crew, who wears a mock diaper. This "Baby" usually has a huge stomach covered with greasy materials ranging from cooking oil to mustard, shaving cream, eggs, and oysters. Junior sailors must lick the Baby's navel area, while the "baby" grabs and shakes their head to better smear the goo onto their faces.
Gang Gangs often require new members to commit crimes before accepting them as part of the gang. New members may be physically beaten by fellow gang members to demonstrate their courage, also known as "beat-in" or "jump-in", which occasionally results in a fatality. One study indicates that young people are more likely to be hurt in gang initiation than they are by refusing to join. Female members may be required to have sex with male members as a form of initiation, also known as "sex in", though they may also be "jumped-in" like their male counterparts. One study shows that female members who were "sexed-in" as part of gang initiation were thereafter viewed with lower respect than those that were "jumped-in", even when promised they would become full-fledged members. Another study found that sexed-in members face greater risks of sexual exploitation and
abuse by fellow male members.
Tribal . Tail hair of an elephant, a
metaphor for Kindi, crowns the hat. European-made buttons began to replace
cowrie shells as prestige items on such Bwami
paraphernalia as the Western presence grew in eastern Congo in the early twentieth century Tribes often have initiations. The initiation done in the
Bapedi tribe of South Africa is normally regarded as a stage where a boy is to be taught manhood and a girl to be taught womanhood. In many African tribes, initiation involves
circumcision/
genital mutilation of males and sometimes
circumcision/
genital mutilation of females as well. Initiation is considered necessary for the individual 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 rituals such as marriage. A man will not be allowed to marry or have any special relationship with a woman who did not go to an initiation, because she is not considered to be a woman. Initiation may be thought of as an event which may help teens prepare themselves to be good husbands and wives. Where modernization is occurring, initiation is not taken so seriously as before, although there are still certain areas which still perform initiations. tribe in Ethiopia In some African tribes, boys take about 3–4 months participating in initiation rites and girls take about 1–2 months.
Australian Aboriginal tribes usually had long periods of time to help prepare adolescent boys, teaching them traditional lore before they were ready to attend large elaborate ceremonies at the time of initiation when they were finally recognized as full-fledged men in their society. Most tribes had circumcision and
scarification as part of the male initiation rituals, while many
Central Australian tribes also practiced
subincision. A salient shared cultural feature of the Min peoples of the
New Guinea Highlands is initiation into a secret male religious cult. For example, the
Urapmin people used to practice a type of male initiation known in
Urap as
ban. These elaborate rituals were a central part of Urapmin social life. The
ban was a multistage process which involved beatings and manipulation of various objects. with a rite of passage instrument The
Sateré-Mawé people of
Brazil use intentional
bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become warriors. Among the various
Austronesian peoples,
head-hunting raids were strongly tied to the practice of
tattooing. In head-hunting societies, tattoos were records of how many heads the warriors had taken in battle, and was part of the initiation rites into adulthood. The
Sande society in West Africa initiates girls into adulthood by rituals including
female genital mutilation.
Historical China Chinese boys, under the
Rites of Zhou, initiate their adulthood when they are 20 years old (加冠) and girls when they are 15 (及笄). Yili (儀禮), a text in the chapter of the rites(?) (士冠禮) describes various details of the ceremonies involved. Nearing the late parts of the ceremony, the initiate gains an alias, or a "
Courtesy name"; thereafter use of their personal name is strictly prohibited except before parents and rulers. ==See also==