Definitions HQ

An Initiation (n.) approximates ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a voluntary death — setting one foot on Proserpine's threshold and being permitted to return; that was the real purpose of all the mystery religions.

Initiation (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠magic for turning an animal into a human — those who refuse it, the Kavirondo say, remain “animals.”

An Initiation (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a drastic, often cruel ceremony like a sacrifice to the powers that would hold the young man back: the archetype forces the primitive to act against nature so as not to become her victim — the beginning of all culture.

Initiation (n.) systematically ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠alienates young men from their mothers so they can be reborn as spirits; priestly celibacy carries on the same archetype.

Initiation (n.) rites ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠(n.) are primitive psychotherapy for life's transitions; when the white man makes them lapse, the tribe loses its soul and disintegrates.

An Initiation (n.) into ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠manhood is so old it has become an instinctive mechanism, repeating itself without compulsion — in German student baptisms and the wilder rites of American fraternities.