Initiation

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The first step to initiation really is deciding that you want to be a witch (or whatever name you choose to call yourself). Once that initial decision is made the next step is up to you. Do you want to practice as a Solitary or in a Coven? Which tradition will you follow? Or even if you want to follow one at all?

Various Traditions have different requirements and ceremonies. If you decide to join a coven the High Priestess and Priest will guide you through their rituals for initiation, so here I will outline the steps for a Solitary practioner so that you can create your own rituals for self-initiation.

"Witchcraft, remember, is a religion, not something cool to try on for a few months and then discard when you're bored. Once you take your vow at your initiation, that's it - there is no turning back."
- Silver RavenWolf, Solitary Witch, The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation.

Because of this most covens ask the prospective initiate to devote a year and a day to study of the craft before they are even considered for initiation. So set aside time to study and make sure that you are ready to become a life long follower of this religion before you jump in and initiate yourself.

Dedication Ritual

- for telling the deities and universe that you are willing to spend a year and a day studying.
This ritual should be performed during the Waxing Moon, just before the Full Moon (refer to Spell Timing for an explaination of these terms). You might also want to read over the Rituals page for explainations of the below.

1. When preparing yourself for this ritual take more care than usual (not that you don't normally :D). You may wish to have a special robe made for this, or wear special jewellery or you may even wish to perform the ritual naked. The choice is yours. Do make sure that you have set aside time for this ritual as it should not be rushed and definatley not disturbed. So take the phone off the hook.

2. Set up your Altar as usual. Again you may want to embellish your Altar with a new cloth or special flowers. You might also want to give a special offering to the God and Godess. Make sure you have everything prepared and set up before you begin.

3. Cast your circle. Call the corners, and invite the Elements to join you. Invoke the God and Godess and ask them to join you to witness your dedication.

4. Declare your intention to dedicate yourself to learning, to decide if you do want to follow the path.

5. You might want to now take some time to meditate or reflect on your choice and begin to organise a plan of study.

Initiaion Ritual

- now that you are ready to take the plunge you can follow this directly of add to it as you see necessary.

1. Again, like the dedication, prepare yourself so that you are ready to present yourself to the Gods.

2. Set up you altar, make sure that you have everything ready.

3. Cast your circle. Call the corners, invite the elements to join you. Invoke the God and Goddess and ask them to join you and initiate you as a priest or priestess in their service.

4. Again Meditiation is the next step. You should have begun to discover in you dedication period aspects of Witchcraft that interest you. You might also want to take some time here to decide your next level of study and what you want to focus on.

Initiation

Dedication Ritual

Initiaion Ritual

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