What is an Astral Initiation Anyway?

When we look at one’s initiation what does it truly mean to you, the individual?  Is it man validating you and giving you a title, a position, credentials to throw around so loosely that it does not mean anything, or does it mean something far greater?

An initiation is a single journey of all who are of the path of the Old Religionists, the Golden Dawn, the Hermetic, Wicca, Druidism, and all paths associated to works and service to and with the Gods.  We all go on an individual journey in life, its’ experiences, our training and studies as an individual.  In all of the Ways of Old, that is the paths of the Ancients were all taught as oral traditions, held very sacred their Oaths of Silence that they took (as back then, as it should still be those Oaths were taken before the Gods, and have a high regard to uphold them).  Teachers, Mentors, Elders, True Mother’s or Father’s, Adeptus’s and all those of the learned have gotten there through hard work, studies, training, years of practice, and did so through their own dedication and patience to the studies and the tools provided to them.

When we look at the way of the Ancient’s in Sumer, Egypt, the Celtic lands (which are far and wide and covered many lands that today many would not think were Celtic in culture), Roman and Greek and more held sacred the Path of Initiation.  The Priests and Priestesses would go to the mountains, temples, caves, and inner sanctuaries to prepare for Initiations by setting up the altars with the candles, incenses and the place in which the Priest or Priestess was to be initiated would be placed.  From this one would never know what to expect as this rite is very sacred and between The One and the initiate alone.  If you look at history and how those Magi’s were Initiated before us, you see a similar pattern in all of them, they all go into the desert, to the top of a mountain, into the forest, and are gone for long periods of time to commune with The One, God, Goddesses and Gods, when we look at all of them they are all given great information and are initiated in the astral.

In The History of Magic by Eliphas Levi, in the chapter entitled Magic and the Revolution there are many stories of regenerating movement from well known Magi’s dating back to the time of Pharaoh.  I will mention two such here, the rest you will need to purchase a copy and read it in full for yourself to understand.

“The name Althotas, or that of Caglistro’s master, is composed of the word Thot, with the syllables Al and As, which, if read Kabalistically, are Sala, meaning messenger or envoy.  The name as a whole therefore signifies: Thot, the messenger of the Egyptians, and such in effect was he whom Caglistro recognised as the master above all others.

“Another title adopted by Caglistro was that of Grand Copht, and his doctrine had the twofold object of moral and physical regeneration.  The precepts of moral regeneration according to the Grand Copht were as follows:  “You shall go up Mount Sinai with Moses; you shall ascend Calvary; with Phaleg you shall climb Thabor, and shall stand on Carmel with Elias (Essene Teachings) and Mount Carmel is shaped like that of a triangle.  Now, according to S.L. MacGregor Mather’s “The Grimoire of Armadel Phaleg is the good angel of Mars (as well as all other Angelic sources).  Then we also find in the same work just mentioned, that of the Rod of Moses; it states; “Zainael is the Spirit who did teach unto Moses the methods of availing himself of the Rod with the which he did perform so many miracles in Egypt, and among the Chaldeans.  He hath much power to render those rich who avail themselves of his services.”  Another mention of Moses states; “Hethatia maketh you see even as Moses saw the benefits which he had received from God, when he was in the Desert of the Land of Midian.  These are all spirits and can only be seen and heard in the Astral Realm.  There are many more Magi’s who were initiated in the Astral Realm all dating back to the beginning of man and religious sacred rites of regeneration i.e. Astral Initiation.

Also we look at the works of Dennis William Hauck’s, The Emerald Tablet Alchemy for Personal Transformation.  This is an excellent work for all to have to find a deeper understanding to the rubrics of the Emerald Tablet and how to apply into your life.  But be warned the path in which you will embark on may not be the easiest when you open your heart and mind up to the teachings of Thot, for it is a journey in which one will come upon calcinations, dissolution and separation.  In the 7^th chapter entitled Separate the Earth from Fire he says the following; this is based on the Fourth Rubric of the Emerald Tablet; The All the powers of the Above.  This is the most difficult transition for many people to pass through as it does deal with the Above which is the realm of the astral.

“The ancients knew exactly what the powers from the Above were like because they experienced them directly within themselves.”  Also said, “It has been postulated that 5,000 or so years ago mankind lived in unconscious communion with the gods and followed divine “voices” in times of novel or stressful situations.”  Also saying, “The ancients remembered what it was like before full consciousness dawned in man and believed that the mental world of thought and imagination was every bit as real as the physical world in which they found themselves.  With the breakdown of the divine connection, the One Mind in man slowly split into duality of rational consciousness, although the archaic ability to exist in both realms is said to have survived in few genuine psychics and prophets.”  Furthermore, “Perhaps our thoughts have lost their intrinsic value because there are simply too many of them floating around and because nobody seems to care whether anyone’s thoughts are inherently true or not.”  And lastly, “We tend to think that imagination is the same as fantasy that dreams are just image soup that visions are psychotic, that myths are legends are just tall tales, and that our thoughts have no effect on reality.  Most of us really believe that the best use that can be made of the power of thinking is to plot, gain the upper hand, make more money, garner more esteem, or get an edge over someone else in the rat race.”

“As the Son of Heaven and Earth, “the initiate has inside himself not only the four earthly elements but also the three heavenly ones, which is why the ancients viewed the individual as a microcosm of the whole universe.  The same forces that shaped the cosmos are present in man.  This is the meaning of the Doctrine of Correspondences and the whole impetus for spiritual alchemy.  No matter how far man has fallen from grace, no matter how tightly shackled to the chains of physicality he has allowed himself to become, there is hope for him because he has all the elements necessary to set himself free.  All he has to do is purify the earthly elements in his soul and personality and activate the heavenly elements of his indwelling spirit.  This is the Great Work.”

Read about the German mystic Jacob Boehme as his is one of the most incredible of all he was so well mastered that when brought before a panel  of eminent theologians was assembled to exam him.  They found him to beyond their power to judge.

What does all of this represent?  The Astral Self, the Astral Initiation.

Then we have from the Gospel of Phillip; Water and Fire (67, 2-9)—“Soul and spirit have come into being from water and fire.  The attendant of the bridal chamber has come into being from water, fire and light.  Fire is chrism.  Light is fire.  I do not mean ordinary fire, which has no form, but other fire, which is pure white in appearance, beautifully bright and imparting beauty.”

There are so many more references to astral encounters, initiations, conceptions, marriages and more that go back through the ages of man.  Take the time to learn and find the truth for they are part of our history.

Initiation is a very personal experience and while in many if not all Initiations (that one considers valid) are all performed by man.  But when we really look at an Initiation it comes from a far Greater source than we mere ants of humans on this earth, they come from the Gods and Goddesses or from how you see your divine source of life.  All true initiations are from the Astral.

This past week on the Friday 28^th of June, I did my Astral Initiation into the E.O.G.D. Order.  As with any initiation I prepared myself through that of rituals that were needed to prepare my space as well as my spirit, body and mind, did the proper fasting and cleansing, prepared the items needed and took time to mentally prepare myself for the Astral event.  Upon the designated hour, I had set up the candles, set the incense, set the tools on my altar and began my journey.  I sat still focusing on that of the spirit and the energies that were from the Mental Plane and that of the illuminating lights that connected to my Higher Self my Crown and felt them as they went through me.  One never really knows how long they are under in this type of ritual.  All of a sudden I felt this amazing energy over me with the wings spread far and wide, white in colour and the head of the Ibis, I felt Thoth all around me carrying me on my new journey into this Initiation.  I had no words for what followed; it was beyond words, beyond ones’ description or that of anyone else’s comprehension of such a journey beyond in that of the Astral.

As first a practicing Old Religionist I do know how powerful the astral realm is, how dangerous it can be if one travels there without knowing how to protect themselves from the spirits, but it is the one form of Initiation in which is the Higher of them all, it is Validated by that of the Gods and in truth the only one who can validate any initiation is the Gods and no other.  I have had many journeys to the Astral and one of them I received a message about Future Earth and following that I came upon an article that was written by another in Arizona who too was spoken to by Ea on the future of earth which validated my vision, while following about 6 months later NASA saying they had found a system in which could be a future place for humanity.  It was as I had seen it in my vision.  All I will say on this is that it was a place and time in which humans only communicate via the Mental.  The Astral is very real.

An experience and Words of Wisdom from a former experience I went through many years back following an Initiation in which many tried to claim was invalid due to the envy of man.

I learned long ago from a wise woman, my “True Mother”, that initiation is not validated by the hands or man, but by the hands of the Gods it is only they who can truly initiate you.   Many years ago I went through a great trial, I was a solitary and then later joined an online school and as I grew within myself I felt that it was time for initiation, however, there was no one in my community who could perform this ritual, as I was a solitary, so I self-initiated to the Gods at that time I followed a more Celtic path.  Later as I continued with my training I was invited by a local group to audit their coven and see if I wanted to join, at a later time I did so, and within the next four months I had resigned.  In following this I was still with this online school and had met online a woman who claimed to be a High Priestess in the Wiccan community out of Canada, I studied under her and later she did my next initiation via the internet.  I prepared as I would for any initiation, fasted, prepared oils, soaps, and ritual garb and tools for the ceremony, it was a beautiful and powerful journey.  When at a later time I had asked if she had filed my papers with her organisation, she kept putting me off, so I did what any person with a mind would do, I sought out and contacted them myself; boy did I get a rude awakening, not only was she not a part of their organisation but she had stolen their watermark logo for my certificate.  But the HP of the organisation instead of being a person of love was out right rude, and without asking anything of me told me that my Initiation was not valid because they only do them in person at their location and it has to be performed by one of the heads to be so valid in the eyes of the Gods.  I was destroyed, or at the time I thought I was, full betrayal by someone who claimed to be in of the gods, they were not at all out for the Gods but for their own puffed up egos.

Shortly following this I had bumped into the old HP of the local coven I had been a part of where I live and he had the audacity to tell me I should step down as a Priestess as I was not ready and only when man blessed would I be; now I was already over the betrayal from the other at this time, so I sat and thought long and hard about this situation.  Flowing this I had a vision, it was of Dr. Leo L. Martello and he had led me to my “True Mother”, we had many amazing conversations over the next year and half and then I went to Salem, MA for the first time and we met and from there I have learned so very much and gained so much in knowledge and wisdom.  “The one thing she taught me and it stays with me every day.  We were in the hotel lobby where I was staying and she cast circle it was on Samhain night and as she placed her hand on me she said the following, “No man can validate a Priestess of the Gods, only they can if you lift your arms and eyes to the heavens and say I am of the Gods and they give you a sign that is all the validation one ever needs, the rest is just icing”.

Can an Initiation be revoked by those Gods who so validate it, yes.  If we do not stand up to the work and service for the Gods and to humanity in an honourable manner in helping those who seek us out when in need of healing, protection, bringing justice to those who have been falsely harmed or accused and so on.  Are Initiations in most cases done by the hand of man, yes, and no, if an Initiation is done correctly with then the HP and HPs or Hierophant, Arch Druid, etc they are simply the vehicles for the Gods.

An Astral Initiation is one of the most pure forms of initiation at the hands of the Gods.  Do all experience it in the same manner, no, of course not, do all feel the experience, I do not know for sure.  Is it best to have years of training prior to such an Initiation, yes, in that way you are better prepared and you know what to expect when you entree the Astral.

So, Always remember; when someone tells you, you are not valid because you were not taken in by the hand of man to be initiated, please ignore them for they do not know what they are talking about.  The only form of true initiation is that of the Astral.  If you are fortunate to be of a family who understands this and who themselves while doing the true work and service of the Gods performs an initiation pay attention to how much more powerful it is than one from one who seeks only his or her own self recognition.  You will feel the difference from within, as one will be truly guided by the hands of the Gods and the other will have no power at all.

Many Blessings in Light