www.florid.org
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www.florid.org
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Initiation Initiation is the process of entry into a secret society or similar organization. The idea of initiation was inherited by the Egyptians and Assyrians from older Neolithic peoples who possessed secret organizations or "mysteries" analogous to those of the Medwiwin of the North American Indians or those of the Australian Black-fellows. We read of initiation into the various grades of the Egyptian priesthood and the “mysteries” of Eleusis and Bacchus. These processes probably consisted of tests of courage and fidelity (as do the savage initiations) and included such acts as sustaining a severe buffeting, the drinking of blood (real and imaginary), and so forth. In the Papal Vuh, the saga of the Kiche Indians of Guatemala, we have a picture of the initiation tests of two hero-gods on the entrance to the native Hades. Indeed, most of the mysteries typified the descent of man into Hell and his return to earth, based on the corn-mother legend of the resurrection of the wheat plant. Initiation into the higher branches of mysticism, magic, and theosophy has been largely written upon. The process in regard to these is of course entirely symbolic, and is to be taken as implying a preparation for the higher life and the regeneration of the soul. |
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