The nature of esoteric initiation is often mis-construed by those who seek, and even often, by those who would pretend to grant it! It is suffice to say the initiation is the beginning of a new aspect of our interior development. One may have interior experiences, initiation however sets them apart, by making them progressive in their function, intensity, and purpose. Thus, one can say, that the whole of initiation is to assist us in having and understanding our progressive interior experiences. This however can be a bit of a stumbling block. Many schools, orders, and societies offer initiations into their various degrees, complete with beautiful rituals, titles, and what not. However, the student of alchemy, will most likely have realized by the time they begin their alchemical studies, that these exterior initiations are but ritualized shadows, imitations, promises of things to come, for real, true, and lasting initiation is only had from within.
Since alchemy has no set rituals, no lodges, or methods of advancement other than the Work itself, all initiation is said to be interior in this form of esotericism. We initiate ourselves into the Work, and the Work initiates us to higher (and deeper) levels of consciousness. To those who would object to this statement, ponder just this one question: "Are we not always our own initiator?" That is, are we not solely responsible for our starting, progressing, and finishing the Path? Is it not our own Higher Self that prompts us onward? It is from this Higher Self that in meditation, dreams, and sudden flashes of lucidity and clarity that we are initiated; initiated that is, back into the presence of our True Self, the center and origin of our Being.
In this light, an initiation may come to us, and it may be completely devoid of ritual or ceremony. It may be a sudden event that changes our life completely, and directs inward. It may even be a veritable incarnation of a kabbalistic or alchemical pathworking, unfolding around us. In the end however, as the word implies, initiation is only the beginning of the new stage of development, and that phase is only completed when we have been initiated into the next phase, at the hand of our Interior Master, our very Soul. It gives us little good to go around collecting ritual initiations at the hands of would be, or even authentic masters, as these are not things which one can hang on the wall like a diploma. It is best if we focus our energies on a singular path, and complete it, instead of running around looking for short cuts, and getting nowhere.
We then, as ego’s seeking the interior state of the spiritual, can only prepare ourselves for initiation, present ourselves at the door of the interior Temple, and knock. It is said, "Knock and it shall be opened to your; ask and it shall be given." We may knock, ask, wait in patience and silence, but never demand. True interior initiation comes but once, and is experienced only once, for that is all that is needed, as it creates within us a permanent change in consciousness. A permanent change that is at once expansive, unitarian, comprehensive, and evolutionary in nature. It is an ever expanding upward spiral of what Israel Regardie called, Light, Life, Love, Law, and
How many initiations we experience is dependent upon our chosen path, be it alchemical, kabbalsistic, or both. But even here, the idea of division is more of a function of our exterior consciousness than our interior awareness. We consume both spiritual food and material food in small does so that we do not choke or get indigestion, yet at the end of the meal, all of the needed food for our growth and survival is consumed. Initiation is the same, in that it is a small chunking of a larger piece of Life Consciousness. We receive in interior initiation exactly what we need for our growth, no more, or less. How many of these small spoon fulls of life we swallow depends on our chosen interior Path and the degree of progress we make on it. Thus, once again, the obligation and responsibility is ours.
In summary though, it might be said that we can be expected to experience an initiation for each plane of Awareness, and one for each of its sub-planes. How this works out mathematically is up for debate. One school of thought suggests that there are twelve planes, seven major, five minor, with each having its own sub-division of five planes, for a total of sixty levels of Being progressively available to us. However, each time we experience an initiation, there is in reality only One Being that is experienced, and our awareness of that One is expanded. To be concerned with the numbers or one’s place in creation before it is revealed to you is to feed the ego, not the soul.
