← Home
praxis

Initiation

The ritual admission of an individual into esoteric knowledge or a sacred order through a formal rite of passage — testing, ordeal, or ceremony — marking a definite before/after threshold in the initiate's status and access. Distinct from hidden_sayings (the doctrine being concealed, not the rite of admission to it) and esoteric_lineage (the historical chain of transmission across generations, not a single individual's admission).

81 passages · 7 traditions
theosophy: 44 passagestheosophy44western_esoteric: 28 passageswestern_esoteric28neoplatonism: 4 passagesneoplatonism4biblical: 2 passagesbiblical2hinduism: 1 passagehinduism1native_american: 1 passagenative_american1platonism: 1 passageplatonism1
theosophy44
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page xvii]] INTRODUCTORY. ------- "Gently to hear, kindly to judge." -- S HAKESPEARE. S INCE the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it has become customary to c…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 2)
“"When Buddhi absorbs our E GOtism (destroys it) with all its Vikaras, Avalokiteshvara becomes manifested to us, and Nirvana, or Mukti, is reached," "Mukti" being the same as Nirvana, i.e. , freedom from the trammels of "Maya" or illusion.…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 4)
“*** According to the same tradition the now desolate regions of the waterless land of Tarim -- a true wilderness in the heart of Turkestan -- were in the days of old covered with flourishing and wealthy cities. At present, hardly a few ver…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 8)
“This statement is rendered more credible by a consideration of the following facts: the tradition of the thousands of ancient parchments saved when the Alexandrian library was destroyed; the thousands of Sanskrit works which disappeared in…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 10)
“Helped by his knowledge of landscapes left behind him, he can get a general and pretty correct idea of the transmural view, if he will only climb to the loftiest summit of the altitudes in front of him. Once there, he can gaze at it, at hi…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 2)
“2.[[3.]] " D ARKNESS" RADIATES LIGHT, AND LIGHT DROPS ONE SOLITARY RAY INTO THE WATERS, INTO THE MOTHER DEEP. T HE RAY SHOOTS THROUGH THE VIRGIN-EGG; THE RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL, AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL ( periodical ) GERM, W…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 3)
“unable either to measure the first abstraction yielded to you by the Deity, or to get hold of it, you still hope to subject to your measurements the mystery of the Secret Sciences which emanate from that Deity? . . . . And what would y…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 13 (part 6)
“Others moving in parabolic curves generally escape destruction, owing to their velocity. Some very critical readers will perhaps imagine that this teaching, as to the cometary stage passed through by all heavenly bodies, is in contradictio…”
Show all 44 →
western_esoteric28
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | Preface-f
“My heart was beating so hard that at each beat a loose brass knob on the bedstead rattled. Fortunately for me, my friend saw that something was seriously wrong and she sent for my family, who fetched me away. They were exceedingly suspici…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | Preface-h
“Moreover, there is a considerable literature on the subject to be found in quarters where one would least expect it - in accounts of folk-lore and ethnology, in the State Records of witch-trials, and even under the guise of fiction. These…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 3. A Case Of Modern Witchcraft-a
“THE part played by the ex-witch in occult attack is very marked. Again and again do the investigations of independent psychics point to witchcraft in a previous incarnation when trouble of this sort is afoot. The motive is nearly always v…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 5. Vampirism-d
“It was, in fact, the same method that I was instructed to use in dealing with my were-wolf, but it is a much more formidable task to absorb and transmute the projection of another person than to absorb one’s own, and could only have been ac…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-c
“They are never living normally in full possession of their faculties. An equally difficult problem is set to the non-human who is drawn into our midst. A single-element creature is bidden to control and assimilate an additional three elem…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-d
“The great Orders have their definite contacts and work strictly within them, keeping a firm hand on neophytes; outside the Orders there is a good deal of chaos and banditry, and it is unwise to venture far save in the company of an experien…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-e
“It is neither giddiness nor mountain sickness, but a curious oppression of the spirits by the overwhelming grandeur of nature. The same force, when not at a poisonous concentration, inspires the passion ate love of the hills or of the sea…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-f
“I smashed my way through two entire tea-sets and all the mantelpiece ornaments. The ornaments just fell off the mantelpiece one by one of their own accord. I actually saw two of them do it. I did not know at the time that the Element of…”
Show all 28 →
neoplatonism4
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XX
“Being impelled, therefore, from another principle, viz. from the world and the mundane Gods, from the arrangement of the four elements in the world, and the association of the elements according to [appropriate] measures, and also 259 from…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ad
“But Pythagoras, as he was astronomizing, happened to meet with the Phrygian piper at an unseasonable time of night, and persuaded him to change his Phrygian for a spondaic song; through which the fury of the lad being immediately repressed,…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-af
“But, in consequence of her alliance to this order, she produces twofold guardian triads, one in conjunction with her father, but the other herself by and from herself, imitating in this respect the whole vivific Goddess [Rhea] who constitut…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ah
“Proclus, in his MS. Commentary on the First Alcibiades of Plato, observes, “that in the mysteries some one of the more imperfect dæmons assumes the appearance of one that is more perfect, and draws down to himself souls that are not yet pu…”
biblical2
Genesis (American Standard Version, 1901) | 17:12-18:4
“[17:12] And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner that is not of thy seed. [17:13] He that is born in thy house…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 21:7-21:24
“[21:7] That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea. [21:8] But the other disciples…”
hinduism1
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 23
“Or spiritual consciousness may be gained by ardent service of the Master. If we think of our lives as tasks laid on us by the Master of Life, if we look on all duties as parts of that Master's work, entrusted to us, and forming our life-wor…”
native_american1
The Soul of the Indian | Chapter III-c
“The order was a secret one, and in some respects not unlike the Free Masons, being a union or affiliation of a number of lodges, each with its distinctive songs and medicines. Leadership was in order of seniority in degrees, which could on…”
platonism1
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1i
“They are temperate because they are intemperate-which may seem to be a contradiction, but is nevertheless the sort of thing which happens with this foolish temperance. For there are pleasures which they must have, and are afraid of losing;…”