I was just curious because a lot of Wiccan (and Witchcraft/Pagan) traditions require initiation to be a "true" Wiccan/practitioner. What are your thoughts on this? I was also curious because of personal reasons; because of my location and financial situation it's unlikely that I'll be able meet any other witches physically or be initiated into any paths. Can initiation be done online somehow? From what I've read, I cant imagine so.
Thanks to any and all replies made :)
Wiccan traditions may require initiation. However you are capable of practicing witchcraft without being initiated. The two are different. Wicca is a religion, witchcraft is a practice.
Sorry, I should have specified; I only meant to refer the two (separate) areas and their views on initiation. I was just wondering on the wider community's view on initiation and if it extends to the online world of Wicca, although I suppose what really matters is the individual traditions' views on initiation. I correct myself in this regard, anyhow.
Cunningham once posed a question 'if you must be initiated to become a witch, who initiated the first one?'
Anyone who claims you're not a 'true witch' unless you do X, Y, Z is missing the point imo. Of course, there are some traditions where you have to be initiated to practice. I've been an Eclectic Wiccan for 10 years, but if i were to join a British Traditional Wicca coven, I would start from the bottom because I wasn't initiated into the coven and I need to learn their path.
Personally, so long as you dedicate yourself to your path or the Lord and Lady, you're a Wiccan. [Of course if you don't worship a deity, or you don't feel ready, that's fine, but if you do worship a deity and follow a path, at least tell the deities in question]
When Wicca was developed by Gerald Gardner it was specifically created in such a way that initiation was required. While there are still some hard-core Wiccans from the older Traditions who would not consider one to be Wiccan without a proper initiation, the community has largely come to accept that a person could call themselves Wiccan without having undergone initiation at all.
In British Traditional Wicca, ie Gardnerian, Alexandrian, etc.. initiation is required before one even begins one's training in that Tradition. Someone who has not been initiated into that particular Tradition might still be considered Wiccan, but they wouldn't be British Traditional Wiccan.
Initiation requires both the person who is to be initiated, a specific group/Tradition to be initiated into, and someone to perform the initiation. The idea is that the initiation opens the newcomer into the group egregore or group mind of that Tradition and permits them to become part of the Tradition Mysteries. This is why the idea of " self-initiation " is ia contradiction in terms. You can dedicate yourself to your chosen spiritual path, but you cannot initiate yourself into it.
In my opinion, a proper initiation cannot be done over the internet. Rather it requires a face-to-face encounter between the initiator and the individual being initiated.
Not all covens or Traditions these days even require initiation and certainly it is not a requirement for Solitaries, at least not in my opinion. You may find old timers who would disagree, but that horse is long out of the barn. What you cannot do, of course, is to claim you are part of a Tradition which specifically requires initiation if you have not actually undergone the ritual. As an example, without proper initiation you could not claim to be Gardnerian, etc.
Theodore , in my opinion one cannot be both Wiccan and Christian, so the idea of a Christian-Wiccan coven makes no sense. The two religions are simply too different in focus, beliefs, and practices to be merged together. Trying to do so leaves one with a belief system that might work for you but really cannot be considered either Wiccan or Christian. In most cases when I see people trying to create this combination they are trying to take the care for nature and the spellwork out of Wicca and include it in their Christian practice. But Wicca isn't about nature and/or spellwork so what you end up with bears little resemblance to Wicca.
Whether a specific coven requires initiation or not is entirely up to that coven. So if you find a coven you'd like to join you would need to ask whether that particular coven requires initiation.
Yes,Christian Wiccas Is a laughable
Concept for folks like myself who are Christians who practice Magick or Witchcraft,You may come systems of magick into any religion but you cant mix two opposite religions and be taken seriously..Hoodoo and many other baths combine Christianity very well.Hoodoo is not a religion
