Initiation (Magic)

The cumulative effect of discipline restricts the dissipative habitual flow of the practitioner's life- energies and attention. It is the discipline, through imposing a willed set of controls in the place of illusory limitations, that brings initiation and subsequent liberation. The disciplinary methods employed in magic direct or bind the flow of these energies into a harmonic matrix of consciousness/energy. This can be a magical tradition or a coherent set of symbols for inner transformation. This builds higher levels of energy. During initiation, a window of opportunity is offered, both within the individual psyche and in imaginal worlds, through which these pressurized or shaped energies of the initiate are channelled. The initial experience is gained through dissolution of the habitual conditioned personality. Following this breakdown, a balancing power restructures experience into a new configuration. The newly liberated energies take on a pattern of simplicity, of health or of harmony. From this perspective the magical transformation does not involve the acquisition of new powers, rather it opens up a new worldview in which properties of consciousness/energy are released to act more appropriately than was possible when constrained by habitual patterns. During an initiation, experienced practitioners ensure the appropriate conditions, integrating through ritual the vital pattern of inner-world contacts. However the initiate must make the transition by which the ritual pattern is engendered. The initiation is not conferred. The first initiation is the beginning of a traditional process or journey whereby, through a series of encounters, the initiate transits through inner worlds. It is this apparent succession of encounters which can be understood as a sequence of initiations, each a harmonic of the first. Although explanations of magical arts tend to be divided and graded due to the nature of literary and verbal communication, experience occurs in highly-energized and concentrated bursts which may take years to decode into serial outer awareness.