Initiation of First Degree

Wicca is a Mystery religion. The ancient Mystery cults were always Initiatory religions, and Wicca is Initiatory as well. To understand all that this means, we must understand what is meant by both the concept of Initiation, and the concept of Mystery or the Mysteries. And in fact the two concepts are profoundly interrelated, as we shall see.

In ordinary English, the word "initiation" means "the admission of a person into membership in a fraternity, club, etc., especially by means of a special or secret ceremony." In the esoteric sense, "Initiation" also means the establishing of a connection between the new member, the Initiate, and the "magickal contacts" or "magickal current" of the group, whether it be a ceremonial Lodge or a Wiccan Coven. In still another esoteric sense, "Initiation" refers to a spiritual experience that profoundly affects a person's understanding in ways that cannot be fully expressed in words: even if it were talked about, only someone having had a similar experience would understand it fully; and in this latter sense, the concept of "Initiation" brings us to the concept of a "Mystery."

The ancient Greek word myein originally meant "to close (eyes or mouth)", and later came to mean "to initiate into the Mysteries" because the Initiate's mouth had been closed by their Oath. From myein came mystes, meaning "one who was initiated into the Mysteries" and then mysterion, meaning "secret rite" and later, "divine secret." And from mysterion we get the English word mystery. Both the esoteric sense and the ordinary modern sense of the word mystery share the connotation of something beyond ordinary human knowledge or understanding; but in the esoteric sense a Mystery is a "Divine Secret" conveyed to an "Initiate" by a "secret rite," which the Initiate must keep secret ("closed mouth") from non-initiates.

Initiation into Wicca involves all the above functions: admission into the immediate "family" of a particular Coven, and to the larger family of any related Covens in that particular Tradition, and to the even larger, extended family of the Wicca; imparting of a Mystery by means of a secret rite; and establishing a connection between the Initiate and the Wiccan "magickal current." In Wiccan Initiation the postulant is consecrated as a "Priest" or "Priestess" as well as "Witch." By ordaining its Initiates to the Priesthood, Wicca recognizes the truth that an intermediary is not needed between the individual and the Gods; and at the same time, acknowledges that particular Initiate as having achieved such a relationship with those Gods.

The ancient Mysteries were not open to everyone; only the worthy and responsible person was regarded as suitable, someone who would not dishonor the cult nor divulge the sacred Mysteries to the unworthy and unprepared. Wicca, too, has its standards, demanding that the postulant be a "Proper Person, Properly Prepared." As with the ancient Mysteries, a "proper person" is a worthy and responsible one, who approaches the Mysteries with reverence and who will guard the secrets from the uninitiated.

These secrets are of several kinds, each for their different reasons. One set of secrets is necessary to preserve the privacy and security of the other members, whose names, home addresses, workplaces, and other personal information may not be revealed without their permission. A second set of secrets are necessary to guard magickal knowledge from those unprepared to handle such power, whether because of lack of knowledge and experience, or because of lack of ethical maturity and responsibility.

A third set of secrets deals with rites, techniques, and Mystery-symbols: on one level, this relates to the issue of guarding potentially dangerous knowledge from the unworthy; but on another level, it involves preserving certain symbols, customs, and methods as private to the Wicca, or to the particular Wiccan Tradition or Coven. On yet a third level, it involves guarding the Mysteries from the profane, for the rites and symbols build up stores of power and knowledge on the Inner Planes, and are themselves the keys that can unlock that store of knowledge and power, and the channels through which that store of knowledge and power can be tapped and used.

The ancient Mystery Initiates kept their Oaths of secrecy so well that the details of the Mystery Initiations remain a matter of conjecture for modern scholars; but what is known is that those Initiations involved an enactment of the central story in the life of the cult's deity by the Initiate, so that he or she participated in the suffering and often death of the deity, and shared in the deity's subsequent triumph and renewal or resurrection. For the central theme of Initiation is always the theme of death and rebirth; so much so that the Initiates of the ancient Mysteries referred to their fellow Initiates as the "twice-born."

From what little the ancient Initiates did say about the Rites of Initiation into the various Mysteries, we know that they all shared certain features or stages in common. The first stage was the Preparation, involving both the giving of preliminary instruction, and the ritual purification of the candidate immediately prior to the ritual of Initiation. The second stage was the Challenge, involving a ritual warning, then questioning, of the candidate, asking if he or she really wanted to proceed. The third stage was the Ordeal, the symbolic reenactment of the ordeal of the cult figure; it was also a symbolic test of the candidate's courage and worthiness. The fourth stage was the Oath, in which the candidate swore to keep the secrets from the uninitiated. Fifth was the Revelation of the Deity, which led to Rebirth, and involved the consecrating of the former candidate as a new Initiate. Sixth was the Presentation of Knowledge, when secret information regarding the symbols and ritual items was given. Seventh and last was the Proclamation of the new Initiate both to the assembled human members and to the Divine Powers. All of these features are found in the Wiccan rite of Initiation.

In terms of Preparation, in the Initiation into Wicca the postulant swears an Oath that "I will ever keep secret and never reveal the secrets of the Art, except it be to a proper person, properly prepared within a Circle such as I am now in." The secrets must be kept not only from the unworthy and unprepared, but also from the non-Initiate, for "properly prepared" has several senses. In one sense, it simply means sufficient maturity and self-discipline; in another sense, it means the preliminary instruction in the Wiccan philosophy and basic techniques; in a third sense, it means the preparation period immediately before the Initiation itself, a period of meditation and purification which aims to help the postulant achieve the proper mental state necessary to undergo Initiation. However in a fourth sense it means Initiation itself, the formal entry into Wicca which recognizes the new Initiate as a consecrated Priest(ess) and Witch, by which the Initiate is reborn into the specific Coven family, and thereby into the Initiatory Lineage of that Coven and Tradition, and into the Wiccan family at large.

At the beginning of the Wiccan rite of Initiation, the postulant is asked if he/she has "the courage to make the assay" and warned that "it would be better to rush on my Blade and perish than to make the attempt with fear in thy heart." This is the Challenge, to which the proper response is to give the "Perfect Words" or Passwords, "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust." As well as being the correct response to the Challenge, those passwords are also essential elements of being "properly prepared" for Initiation into Wicca, especially into that particular Coven.

In the Wiccan rite of Initiation the Ordeal consists of a symbolic scourging, which is a reenactment of the ordeal of the Goddess in the Legend of the Descent of the Goddess to the Underworld. It is also a symbolic test of courage; as such, it teaches a lesson about how the Witch must regard and confront life's trials and tribulations.

Following the Ordeal is the Oath, which we have already touched upon when discussing the Preparation stage. In the Oath the postulant swears not only to keep the secrets from the uninitiated, but also to never deny those secrets to an Initiate that is "properly vouched for by a Brother or Sister of the Art." This is an expression of "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" and reveals that the members of the Coven are equals, Brothers and Sisters who walk the Path of Initiation together, sharing together their acquired knowledge, their sorrows, and their joys.

In the Initiation ritual, after the Oath comes the Charge of the Goddess, fulfilling the function of Revelation of the Deity. This is followed by the consecration of the new Initiate as "Priest(ess) and Witch." At last he/she may be told the meaning of the sacred Tools, and be given her/his own "chief Tool of a Witch," as the Presentation of Knowledge. He/she is then Proclaimed to the Mighty Ones of the Four Quarters as a "Priest(ess) of the Goddess", an Initiated Priest or Priestess and Witch.